Cognition- Memory And Language Flashcards
What is memory?
Sternberg (2008) describes memory as
‘The mechanism we use to create,maintain and retrieve information about the past’
Processes in memory
Human memory consists of three interacting processes
Encoding- entering information into system
Storage- retaining memories over time
Retrieval- finding and recovering stored memories
Methods of testing memory
Free recall
Cured recall
Recognition
Modal model (Atkinson and Shiffrin,1968)
The multiple systems model- memory is not a single,unitary system. rather
Sperling (1960)
Investigated the number of items available for report in visual (iconic) memory
-Visual array compromising 3 rows of 4 letters for a very brief moment (50 msec)
-If direction is given to recall the letters immediately after the presentation,participants typically reported 9-12 letters. The recall decays rapidly if there is a delay before the direction (after 1s, only 4-5 items recalled)
Thus, the sensory register can hold only a limited amount of information for only a brief period (less than a second) before it is lost
Free recall
-Participants are asked to study a list of words
At recall- participants are asked to write down as many words as they could remember from the list
Cued recall
Participants asked to study a list of words
At recall- participants are asked to write down as many words as they could remember in categories
Evidence for the existence of separate short term and long term memory stores?
Serial position effect- the position of a word in a list affects recall
Primary effect-enhanced recall of first few items rehearsed and transferred into LTM
Recency effect-enhanced recall of last few items - still in STM
(Glanzer and Cunitz,1966)
Recall after distraction- recency effect eliminated
Recall reduces
Dissociation of function
-Research like Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) also represents an important tool in cognative psychology called dissociation of function
-Used to examine whether two structures or processes are independent
-Uses neuropsychological tests to determine which aspects are lost and which are preserved
-If scores on test measuring LTM are poor while scores on tests measuring STM are high (or visa versa) then processes must be separate
Evidence from patients
-HM(Scoville and Milner,1957)
Surgery to stop epileptic seizures- part of brain removed
Seizures stopped but left with severe amnesia
STM intact but LTM destroyed
KF (Shallice and Warrington,1970)
Motorcycle accident
Brain damage
LTM intact but severely impaired STM
Neuropsychological evidence- Amnesia
Anterograde amnesia
-Unable to acquire new memories since onset of amnesia but are able to recall data and events that happened previously
Retrograde amnesia -unable to remember events before onset amnesia
Clive wearing
Dual retrograde-antergrade
Like dory
Modal model- problems
-Suggests that information must pass through STM to reach LTM
KF was able to acquire and retain new memories despite impaired STM
Rehearsal not as important for LTM as model suggests some events in our lives encoded without rehearsal
The model is oversimplified
For example there are different types of LTM
Episodic for personal experiences and events
Procedural -how to do things
Semantic- general knowledge
Levels of processing (craik and Lockhart 1972)
-Argued memory consisted of one system
-Differences between STM and LTM can be explained by the level of processing rather than underlying theoretical structures
-Shallow processing-superficial perceptual aspects of the stimulus (eg appearance or sound of words) = short-term retention
-Deep processing-semantic processing for meaning=long-term retention
Memory is just a by-product of the depth of processing information
Working memory model (Badeley and Hitch,1974)
Is memory only static storage device? What if we thought about its dual role as a storage device and a place where information is manipulated and transformed? That’s working memory
-Role of working memory is therefore to temporarily store and manipulate information being used
One big change when we think about WM is how we measure capacity. We need a task that involves memory +processing
Operation span task
-Participants are shown a random number that needs to be remembered
-Each number is followed by a math problem and participants are asked to make a desicion on the veracity of the provided answer
- at recall, participants are asked to repeat the random numbers they had seen, in the order of presentation
-The average span is low compared to the regular span tasks (2-5.5)
Working memory components- central executive
-Oversees the processing of information
-Focuses attention and allocates resources to the task in hand
WM-components - Phonological loop
-Short term store for verbal information
Comprimises two components
1- phonological store
Stores auditory information (for a few seconds)
2- subvocal rehearsal
-So called ‘inner speech’
-Helps maintain information in phonological store
WM components- Visuospatial sketchpad
-Short term store for visual and spatial information
Comprimises two components
1- Visual cache
Stores information about patterns
2- inner scribe
Holds spatial information eg-sequence of movement
WMM- Badeley and Hitch 1974
The appeal of working memory is that its capacity is associated with a number of important variables
-Reading comprehension (Turley-Amed and Whitfield,2003)
-Episodic memory (McCabe and smith,2002)
Executive function (miyake et al ,2001)
General fluid intelligence (Engle et al 1999)
What is language?
‘The method of human communication, either spoken or written,consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way’
Hocketts design features of language (1960)
Semanticity
-There is a fixed relationship between a signal and a meaning.the words we use mean something
Arbitrariness
-Although they mean something they are arbitrarily chosen. The meanings exist by convention rather than for any logical or motivated reason
Duality of patterning
Combinations of arbitrary sounds form words that mean something
Structure dependence
Language combines words in rule governed ways to convey information
Creativity
There is an infinite number of combinations of words
Displacement
Use of language to refer to events in a different place at a different time
Spontaneous usage
Used not just as response but as free expression (+spontaneous acquisition )
Cultural transmission
Passed between individuals within a culture
Do animals have language?
-Animals do communicate but not like us
-Communication is the transmission of signals from sender to receiver
-Ants signal using pheromones (chemical messages)
-Honey bees use waggle dance
-No other species demonstrates all of the characteristics outlined by Hockett (Jean Atchison,1989)
No primate language
Do not have vocal apparatus for spoken language,but have been taught to use signs (eg nim Chimpsky,terrace et al 1979)
Can use signs symbolically
Can communicate requests (food)
Little evidence of ability to combine symbols systematically
Little evidence that they communicate much beyond requests
-Methodological problems with many studies
Potential for research bias
Potential for selective reporting
