Cognition + memory Flashcards
cognitive psychology
area that studies mental processes of thinking, memory, perception, planning
inattentional blindness
failure to see something in our view because attention is preoccupied
in the brain
inattention example
counting basketball passes and dont see big gorilla cross the frame
change blindness
failure to update representations between views
attention is limited
feature search vs conjunction search
F - visual search task, visual pop-out
eg. slanted line amongst straight lines.
C - selective attention required, features are combined
eg. find yellow square amongst red squares and yellow circles.
selective attention
binds simple features together
- slow and serial binding
Top-down attention
Voluntary, purposeful, strategic directing of attention
- used in visual search eg. finding fruit in fridge
Bottom-up attention
Reflexive capture of attention
- (grab attention on their own)
- eg. party loud conversation, but if someone says your name, you hear it
attention prioritises emotion
attention often prioritises emotional information
- eg sensitive to emotional stimuli
Dot probe task
reaction time tested
participants choose which side dot appears as fast as possible
stimuli with emotional face - attention grabs to image faster
- spatial attention has oriented to that side
Attention bias
bias towards emotionally threatening over neutral images in people with anxiety
cognitive bias modification
emotion-induced blindness task
- searching for rotated picture in a series
- keeps us from seeing things as emotional stimuli is prioritised
Memory is
the process that allows us to record, store and retrieve experiences and information
3 core components
E, S, R
- encoding - information in and interpreted
- storage - stored for later usage
- retrieval - info back to forefront
3 stage model of memory
SEE NOTES FOR DIAGRAM
- sensory memory
- working memory
- long term memory
atkinson shfriifin 1968
- sensory memory
brief high capacity representation of what is being sensed
- iconic - visual sensory memory lasts 1/4 of a second
- echoic - auditory sensory memory lasts 2-4 seconds
12 items of screen, then indicate a tone for which item is recalled
when images disappear, iconic memory is lingering
unattended info is lost
2 working memory
short term
a limited capacity system that temporarily stores and processes information
- luck and vogel - coloured dots test, measuring visual working memory
Working memory model
central executive and 3 buffers
-
visuospatial sketchpad - navigation, visual stimuli
episodic buffer - take info from long term to working memory
phonological loop - auditory stimuli
- buffers managed by central executive
memory is limited
- a limited amount of info can be held at any given time
7 + / -2 items = memory span, now up to 4 items - information last about 20-30 seconds if not actively used/processed
rehearsal helps
3 long term memory
transfers memory into long-term storage
no known capacity
eg. series of words
first few remembered most = primacy effect
last few = recency effect, retrieved
serial position effect
E, D, I, P
types of long term memory
4 types: here is E, D
explicit memory - requires conscious or intentional memory retrieval
declarative - involves factual knowledge
- 2 subcategories:
- episodic (personal experience)
- semantic (general factual knowledge)
types of long term memory
I and P
implicit memory - memory that influences our behaviour without conscious awareness
procedural - involves skills and actions, classically conditioned responses
depth of processing
using elaboration
- structural- shallow - uppercase word?
- phonemic - deeper - rhyme?
- semantic - deepest - fit in a shoebox?
context-dependent memory
remembered with tested in same environment
- cues to assist memory recover
- easier to remember events that match your internal state/mood
- environment and mood as retrieval cues
emotions influence mood
flashbulb
flashbulb - vivid recollection of doing something when something emotional occured
- emotions enhance consolidation
how are memories formed?
Formed by series of biochemical events that occur between and within neruons, synaptic change (memories occur with synaptic change)
Long term potentiation LTP - enduring increase in synaptic strength
areas of brain for memory
SEE NOTES W8 FOR DIAGRAM
hippocampus - for spatial memory, consolidation
ALSO, cortex, thalamus, cerebellum
types of amnesia
R, A, I
- retrograde - memory loss for events before onset of amnesia
- anterograde - memory loss for events after onset of amnesia, struggle new ones
- infantile - loss of early experiences, 2-4yo, retrieval/encoding issues
Neurodegeneration
Dementia
Impaired memory and cognitive deficits, interfere with normal functioning
neurodegeneration
Alzheimer’s disease
progressive brain disorder that is the most common cause of dementia
memory loss over time:
– environmental
genetic influences
what is Hyperthymestic syndrome
highly superior autobiographical memory
misinformation effect is
the distortion of a memory by misleading post-event information
memories as a constructive process
eg. participants told about memory that they were ‘lost in the mall’ - 25% of people remembered expeirence that never occurred.
Source monitoring
- source confusion
- internal
- external source monitoring
E - distinguishing between external sources (what i saw, what someone told me)
I - between internal sources - what i thought, what i said
confusion - mistakes in keeping track of where info came from.
source monitoring errors
- memories may be combined
- susceptible to being misremembered
Heuristics are
rules of thumb
- make fast judgement based on partial data
- intuitive, efficient
- subject to bias and failure
types of heuritics
- availability - decision on what comes to mind
- recognition - recgonised objects that higher value that those not recognised
- anchoring/adjustment - rely on first piece and adjust from there
Schemas are:
mental framework
help us perceive, organise, process information
- based on experience and expertise
- encode in ways fit with pre-existing assumptions
Factors on memory during eyewitness testimonies
- disproportionate focus on weapons
- racial disparities
- influence of leading questions
- facial features covered
-anxiety or stress
