Cognitive Processes Flashcards
What is behaviourism?
It suggests that all behaviours are learnt from our interactions with the environment. As such, innate or inherited factors have very little influence on behaviour.
What are the main limitations of behaviourism seen in? ( broad categories)
Language
Need for internal mental representations
Concepts like attentional overloads and limits
How does language display a limitation of behaviourism?
Language suggests that behaviour can’t be adapted from environment because:
If not, children should say phrases/sentences the exact same way their parents and friends say it, but in reality they rephrase it and say different yet similar things
Also, the existence of the innate language acquisition device proposed by chomsky introduces a ‘nature’ aspect to behaviourism
How does need for internal mental representations pose a limitation of behaviourism?
behaviourists focus on observable behaviours and thus discount importance of internal mental processes and ignores environment. As such, this fails to explain complex behaviours that involve planning, problem solving etc which all require internal mental processes
What is attentional overload
Indiivdual exposed to more stimuli than they can process at one time –> decreased performance
What is attentional limit
Constraints on ability to process and focus on information. Suggests liited cognitive reserves
How does attentional overload and limits pose a limitation for behaviourism?
Ultimately, it neglects to account for the selective nature of attention where people pick certain things to focus on, based on internal goals or priorities.
This indicates a more complex system in the mind, than just behaviours due to whatever people do
What led to the Cognitive revolution? What is it?
Caused by the fall of the behaviourism movement. The movement rejected behaviourism, and suggests that mental processes such as perception, memory, language and problem solving were essential to understanding behaviours –> suggests mind functions as an info processing system
Explain Tolman’s perspective on internal mental representations and describe evidence he found in the maze navigation that supported this
Introduced concept of internal mental representation which are referred to as “cognitive maps”
Suggests behaviour isnt a simple S-R chain, but influenced by internal cognitive processes. His radical proposal is that rats form an internal map of their environment when placed in the maze
Evidence:
Tolman placed rats in a maze. Findings show that when food reward was introduced later, rats that had previously explored maze found the shortest path to food much faster than rats that weren;t allowed to explore as much - suggests that rats learnt layout of maze during unrewarded exploration, forming cognitiv map of the environment –> this shows latent learning, where rats had learnt about enviro without reinforcement, and counteracts the S-R idea
Explain what additive factors method is. What does it allow psychologists to draw inferences about?
Technique used to investigate internal states of cognitive processes by examining how diff variables affect reaction times
Ultimately suggests that if two experimental facotrs selectivey influence two different stages by increments, the factors will have additive effects on reaction time
For example, if we find that increasing a set size by 2 items adds 50ms to the reaction time, and reducing stimulus quality adds 30ms, if these effects are additive, then increased set size by 2 items and decreased stimulus quality together should add 80ms to reaction time
What is the memory scanning task?
GIven a set of numbers, the person needs to find out whether another number (it could be part of that set or not), is actually part of it
I.e. Remember the numbers 1 2 5 7
Was 3 in it?
What are the stages proposed in the memory scanning task?
Stimulus –> stimulus encoding (stimulus quality) –> serial comparison (size of positive set) –> binary decision (response type positive or negative) –> translation and response organisation (relative frequency of response type) –> response
What are the aims of technology?
Measure speed of mental events
Reduce cognitive and attention overload
Use of computers as metaphors
What are the aims of the cognitive revolution?
Understand internal mental processes
Explore differences in human cognition and artificial intelligence
Explain the cognitive model of memory (?!)
Sensory input –> sensory memory (here, unattended info is quickly lost) –> working short term memory (unrehearsed, info is quickly lost ) –> long term memory (some info is lost over time)
What is mental chronometry
Measures how long certain thoughts take
What are the key components of mental chronometry and how do they mean
Simple RT = time taken to do something basic (i.e. press button to any light)
The choice RT is the press one button to red light and another button to green light
Ultimately Choice RT - simple RT - estimate of stimulus evaluation time (i.e. the subtractive memory)
Only issue is that the whole task has changed, and thus people do them differently –> cant draw inferences by simply subtracting
What are the different ways of memory searches?
Serial and Parallel
What are the two ways to conduct a serial search?
Exhaustive
Self-terminating
What is an exhaustive serial search?
Involves checking every item, one by one, even if we have already found the target
What is a self-terminating serial search?
Involves checking every item, one by one. However, in this procedural method, it stops searching as soon as target is found
What is a parallel search
All items are explored at the same time to determine if the target is there
What do the graphs of the parallel self-terminating search look like? Why?
If there is a positive response, it should be flat, because the individual looks at the entire set siultaneously with no loss of efficiency –> YES responses are unaffected by how many items in the positive set
If there is a negative response, even tho subjects access all items simultaneously, If there is some variability in access times across items and if they have to wait until all have been accessed before they can deicde no, then the longer it should take for no responses. This explains a graph that increases at a decreasing rate for a negative response
If this isn’t clear, think of a horse race where we vary the number of horses running. The no. of horses corresponds to memory set size. As the osberver, we are seated at the finish line and can only tell a particular horse ran the race by whether they cross the finish line. A positive deicison that a particular horse was in the race can be made as soon as it crosses the finish line, and that speed is unaffected by the rest. Meanwhile, a negative decision can only be made when the slowest horse has crossed the finish line –>
What do the graphs of the serial self-terminating search look like? Why?
Here, the negative response and positive response are both increasing (diagonal line up), however the negativee response is above the positive response
For the positive response, it would increase, but as it could stop as soon as it finds the number, it has a lower curve than negative response which has to finish the whole thing before it can confirm a negative response.
However, the negative response is increasing greater than the positive response (so the lines aren’t parallel exactly)
What do the graphs of the serial exhaustive search look like? Why?
Here, the negative and positive response lines are parallel, but the negative response is above the other.
(Maybe - not confirmed), but the negative response kind of stimulates a double check? or once the positive response is identified, the rest is sped up, but we still do an exhaustive search (ykwim)
(I’m pretty sure that this is the one that humans use)
Why don’t we use introspection?
As we could tell from memory scanning tasks, introspection or simply reflecting isnt possible as its inaccurate, and things happen too quickly for us to process
We will also have cognitive biases involved when reflecting on ourselves
What is the certainty effect
Refers to peoples tendency ot give proportionate weight to outcoems that are certain, compared to those that are only probable (even if probabilistic outcome has higher expected value)
I.e. option A to guarantee $100 winning or option B to have a 50% chance of winning $300. Even though E(x) of B is $150, people still pick A
What is the pseudocertainty effect
When people mistakenly think they are making a certain choice in a situation where things are actually uncertain, Often occurs in multi step decisions
I.e. first stage = 75% chance of moving to second stage
Second stage = Option A - 100% chance to win $30
Option B - 80% chance to win $45
People choose Option A because it seems like a sure win, forgetting the first stage, so it isnt a sure win, but its only 75% likelihood
What is focussed attention?
Focused attention is when all of your cognitive resources are directed to completing a certain task, and ignoring everything else
I.e. reading a book in a quiet room
What is divided attention?
Divided attention is when your cognitive resources are split towards paying attention to multiple tasks/stimuli
Results in decreased concentration per task and could contribute to cognitive overload
What is inattentional blindness?
Failure to notice a fully visible but unexpected object because our attention was directed towards something else/another task
When we fail to see things in plain sight because we are focused on one thing
I.e. missing a person pass in a gorilla suit because of focussed on number of basketball passes in the video
What is change blindness?
Person fails to notice significant change in a visual scene, which would have been noticeable if we paid close attention, but because of the way the change was introduced, it goes unnoticed
Missing that a person’s shirt colour has gradually changed
What is the difference between inattentional and change blindness?
Key difference is that inattetional is because our attention was diverted, whilst change was that we weren’t having enough attention to notice something that was already in view
Explain what an early locus of attention is, and give an example
An early locus of attention suggests that attention filters info at an early stage of processing, before meaning is fully processed. It acts as a filter that selects which sensory input is processed further because attention filters it out early
For example, in a noisy room, but focussed on conversation with someone, we might not notice specific content of background, because attention is filtering it out early
Explain what an late locus of attention is, and give an example
A late locus of attention suggests that attention filters info at a later stage, after the information has been processed. Thus, it argues that attention filters out all the irrelevant information
I.e. hearing your name mentioned in a crowded room, we might only become aware of it after it has processed and then we direct our attention to it
Explain what an flexible locus of attention is, and give an example
Refers to ability to dynamically shift focus of attention based on context or task demands. This allows for adaptability as attention can be adjusted either way depending on the situation
I.e. switching between focussing on immediate details of a task (early selection), and broader context or implications of our attention (late selection)
What is exogenous attention, give an example
Attention which is automatically and involuntarily drawn to a stimulus due to its salient or distinctive features (i.e. driven by external stimuli, rather than conscious effort or intentions)
I.e. sudden noise or bright flash which occur when reading a book –> draws our attention
What is endogenous attention, give an example
Attention which is intentionally and consciously directed towards a specific stimulus or task based on internal goals, expectations and desires. Involves a voluntary, top-down central process
I.e. searching for a friend in a crowded room, or reading a book
What is a guided search
Form of endegenous attention, where attention si directed towards a specific stimuli based on goals, expectations etc. Involves focussing our attention
What is attentional capture
Occurs when external stimulus grab our attention automatically. Stimulus draws an automatic response
Form of exogenous attention
What is the Feature Integration Theory (what stages associated)
Pre-attentive stage: Involves taking in the basic feature of visual scene (such as colour, shape and orientation), and are processed indepdently and parallel across the visual fiel. Occurs automatically and no focused attention required
Focused attention stage: Attention required to combine basic features into a unified perception of an object. (Takes more effort). Attentional spotlight. This is a slow, serial process
What is the visual evidence supporting the Feature Integration Theory
Feature targets: Targets can be identiifed based on a single feature, such as colour or shape
I.e. finding a red circle among green circles because colour (feature) is sufficient to identify target
Conjunction targets: Targets that require the combination of two or more features such as a red circle among green squares and circles. Searching for these require focused attention ebcause search integrateds multiple features (like colour and shape) to identify target. Thus, the search is serial and attentionally demanding
I.e. finding a red circle among green circles and squares
The fact that we can identify feature targets immediately indicates an idea of the pre-attentive stage, whilst we struggle to find conjunction targets, it can indicate a focused attentional stage
Understand and give examples of situations where focussed visual or auditory attention leads to limited processing of other stimuli
The gorilla in the suit, and counting how many basketballs passed
Phone vibration influencing a student studying
Explain Galotti’s experiment and its significance
Involved participants participating in a dichotic listening task, and only have to listen to one message coming into one ear and repeat it (whilst the other is saying something else)
Here, the listener is only aware of voice, not language of sound –> crude physical differences indicating an early locus of attention
Another might lead participants to have the messages switched halfway through –> some participants swithced ears they were listening to, indicating a late locus of attention
What are the different ways memory could be classified (2 classifcations)
Iconic vs echoic/sensory memory
Short term/working memory vs long term memory
What are some important features of short and long term memory we should know
Capacity, rate of forgetting, type of code
What is the capacity of short term memory
7 +- 2
What is the capacity of long term memory
Unlimited (technically)
What is the rate of forgetting of short term memory
20 seconds
What is the rate of forgetting for long term memory
Not forgetting, but rather interference with memory
What is the type of code involved with short term memory
Phonological (i.e. how the words sound)
What is the type of code involved with long term memory
Semantic (i.e. what the words mean)
What are features of iconic memory (what is iconic memory)
Iconic memory refers to an individual’s visual memory. It typically lasts ~200ms, but has unlimited capacity
This is seen when we are flashed a lot of different letters on different rows, and we have to recite one of the rows, we are able to recite any row, but we can’t recite the whole thing —> because our memory lasts very short, but we have a lot of capacity
What are features of echoic memory (what is echoic memory)
Refers to an individual’s auditory memory (i.e. memory of what they hear)
People can normally remember the last 8 seconds of a conversation or speech etc
Has unlimited capacity as well (?! - depending on how much they hear)
QUite accurate
What are the potential reasons for differences in iconic and echoic memory
Could be because we evolved for language, and language requires holding auditory information
We have adapted to echoic memory lasting longer because if not, we can’t understand sentences or what people are trying to say
What is primacy?
tendency to recall info presented at the start of a list better than info at the middle
Why might primacy occur
Because of repetition - items at the beginning are encountered first, so we have more time to rehearse them and memrosie them
Limited attnetion span –> focused when we start reading something at the beginning
Memory is limited –> less effort to rehearse and recall the first item than the items later on in the list
What is recency?
Tendency to be able to remember the last few items in a serial list, and tend to ignore the middle few items
Why might recency occur
Could be because of memory limitations; our short term memory is more likely to retain and recall recent inforamtion, making recent info the most accessible –> overmphasis on recent events
What sort of amnesia did Clive Wearing suffer from
Retrograde and anterograde amnesia
How did the amnesia affect Clive Wearing
Clive had good short term memory, and had procedural memory, however he couldn’t convert the short-term memory into long-term memory, so it would result in him forgetting stuff that he was just told in like 2-3 minutes.
Perfect short0term memory but can’t encode it into long term memory
What are the 3 components of working memory
Central Executive
Episodic buffer
Slave Systems
What is the function of the central executive
Accts as the control centre of the working memory system. Directs attention, coordinates the activity of other components such as the slave systems. Also manages cognitive tasks such as problem solving, reasonning and decision making
Allocates attention
What is the function of episodic buffer
Integrates info from the phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad and long term memory into a coherent, multi dimensional representation
What do the slave systems consist of
Phonological loop
Visuospatial sketchpad
What is the function of the phonological loop
Responsible for temporary storage and manipulation of verbal/auditory information. Key role in language processing, reading and verbal reasoning
Composes of:
Phonological store (storing auditory info), articulatory rehearsal process (inner voice) - allows us to rehearse and refresh info in the phonological store, preventing it from decay
What is the function of the visuospatial sketchpad
Responsible for temporary storage and manipulation of visual and spatial information. Involved in tasks like navigating a space, and understanding spatial relationship
Composes of:
Visual cache (stores visual info, usch as the shapes, colours and pattenrs of objects), inner scribe (manages spatial info and movement, such as arrangement of objects in space and sequence of physical actions)
Be able to describe three pieces of evidence supporting the existence and nature of the phonological loop within working memory.
Counting demonstration (how many words in this sentence) (you woulld count on your fingers)
Speed of speech (people who speak faster have higher working memory capacity)
Effect of language efficiency / digit span (mandarin counting in demo)
Understand the nature of the limit of short-term memory and how it can be worked around using chunking and hierarchical chunking
Chunking is a technique that helps to increase the effective capacity of STM by organizing information into larger, more meaningful units, or “chunks.” Instead of remembering each item individually, chunking allows people to group several items together. For example, remembering the sequence “177614921789” might be difficult, but grouping it as historical dates like “1776, 1492, 1789” makes it more manageable. By organizing information into familiar patterns, chunking helps reduce the number of discrete items STM needs to store.
Hierarchical Chunking
Hierarchical chunking builds on this by arranging information in layers or levels of chunks. This method is especially useful for more complex or nested information, such as long sequences or structured data. For instance, a phone number with an area code can be stored hierarchically as the area code (first level) and the rest of the number (second level), which are then chunked as two units rather than a series of individual digits. In cognitive terms, this hierarchical structuring reduces cognitive load by creating a nested organization of information, making it easier to recall and manipulate.
What is semantic memory
Refers to the long term memory of the meaning of different things / general knowledge about the world.
Considered part of declarative memory
I.e. knowing that Paris is the capital of France or understanding the concept of gravity
What is episodic memory
This is also a type of memory of events that happen to us / recollection of specific events
Also considered part of declarative memory
I.e. remembering your last birthday party or the first day at a new job
What is the hierarchical model of memory
Suggests that concepts are organised in a hierarchical structure. It can be visualised as a tree, with broad cateogires branching into narrow categories
The structure is hierarchical meaning that the nodes are organised from general to specific. At the top of the hierarchy are broad, general concepts (e.g. animal), while specific categories (i.e. bird) is further down the hierarchy
Nodes refer to concepts or ideas
Has the idea that lower level nodes inherit the properties of higher level nodes
SUperset relationships is a connection between the general concepts in the hierarchical tree, whereas property relationships are the properties of each general concept
What is sentence verification tests?
Involves measuring the time taken to verify sentences. I.e. is this true?
A robin is a bird
A robin can breathe
A robin can swim
Proposed that time to verify sentence depends on distance between concepts
Sentence verification time is a function of distance between concepts in hierarchical networks, and time to evaluate a statement
What else could affect time to verify a sentence?
Strength of initial activiation
Amount of time since the initial activation
What is the typicality effect?
People take longer to make decisions about less typical examples
I.e. a penguin is a bird > A robin is a bird
What is the category size effect?
Means that time to verify a statement about a category membership increases as size of cateogry increases (It takes longer to confirm a larger category than smaller ones)
I.e. verifying a dog is a mammal takes longer to confirm than a dog is an animal
The typicality and category size effects findings are inconsistent with assumptions of hierarchical organisation of knowledge
What is the propositional network model of storing meaning
Suggests that memory is encoded by relationships with concepts, and how these relationships form ‘propositions’ which are complex ideas
What are the implications for memory of specific sentence structure in propositional networks
Ultiamtely, what’s stored in memory is the underlying meaning, not the exact wording or syntax of the sentence
As a result, we struggle to recall the exact words or structure used
The memory is for relationships, not details
What is the parallel distributed processing model of memory?
Inspired by the function of neural networks in the brain, where knowledge is stored in a distributed and parallel manner across multiple interconnected units
Suggests that memories are stored as patterns of activation acorss netowrk, and each experience or new info creates a specific pattern of connections
Exposure to new examples which share features with another broader cateogry allows them to inherit the properties. I.e. exposure to a new example that shares features with known birds will allow it to inherit properties of other birds
What are benefits of PDP model?
Enables efficient storage of memory through creating generalisations
Allows for the recognition of pattenrs –> useful for noisy and incomplete data
Processes info in parallel –> faster and more efficient processing
Learning flexibility as it adjusts connections between units based on experience
What are drawbacks of PDP model?
As it leads to generalisations, this can contribbute to racist and stereotypical assumptions
Imposing what they know on something else doesn’t make it correct
Hard to study because it is unique to us
What are examples of the use of a PDP model
Youtube, instagram and tiktok recommendations
In this case, they are generalising us base on some features that we exhibit, and likening those to other people with similar features –> generalisation into a connection
What is the ‘war of ghosts’ experiment
Performed by Bartlett (1932), it involved giving a passage from ‘war of ghosts’ which was unfamiliar to participants. It involved supernatural elements which weren’t common in participants’ own cultural experiences
Aimed to measure accuracy of reconstruction memory and how schemas can influence them
Participants asked to recite later on, and many made transforrmations to the story in the forms of :
‘Hunting seals’ became ‘fishing’
‘Canoe’ became boat
‘paddles’ became ‘oars’
What was the finding of the ‘war of ghosts’ experiment?
Shows how people aren’t blank slates, and instead they use filters of what we commonly associate with the certain stereotype.
This reflects the nature of schema
Ultimately shows how schema is adopted in different cross-cultural situations
What is schema?
Schema refers to generalised mental representations, or concepts describing a class of objects, people scenes or events
Schemas enable us to be more efficient
In other words, they function as mental templates that guide how we perceive, understand the world around us
Influences how we perceive new information (i.e. schema for a restaurant might involve seeing menus, waiters and tables etc)
What are the benefits of schemas
Improves memory economy and decreases mental resources needed
What are the drawbacks of schemas?
Also result in distorted experiences and perceptions if what occurs doesn’t match a schema
It is also an underlying cause of stereotypes
What happens if info doesn’t fit into a schema?
It could be omitted, or made more memorable because it is an exception to the preconceived idea
What are the different types of schema?
Person schema (stereotypes)
Event schemas (scripts)
What is a person schema (sterotype)?
These represent info about individuals and their traits. They help us understand and predict people’s behaviours
I.e. a schema about a friend with the traits of friendly, reliable, humorous etc
However, they can cause racism, even though they were built to make us more efficient
I.e. racial and gender stereotypes
What are event schemas (scripts)?
Involves preconceived ideas of what to do in certain situations
This sort of schema typically varies according to culture
I.e. Dining, birthdays, shopping, uni etc. –> singing happy birthday and eating cake during a birthday
What are issues with script transference
Script transference is when we implement scripts from another situation to a similar situation, however it could sometimes not work because they aren’t expecting the same
I.e. in HS, we wait for teacher to tell us what to do, and we just aim to do well. We could try implement this script into uni, but it won’t work –> so this would lead to disaster because of the misapplication of a script
How can the structure of schemas help?
Helps with:
How we perceive events happening in front of us
How well we encode what has happened
Expectations we have of everything
How well we cope
What is priming?
It involves the exposure to a stimulus which might influence the response to a subsequent stimulus without conscious intention. It works due to our unconscious assocations between stimuli (dentists drill –> pain –> anxiety)
What is an example of priming
Saying “Money, withdraw, robbery” or “river, float, boat” would have different effects on the interpretation of the folllowing sentence;
He walked towards the bank
Ultimately, the display or mention of one concept leads to a spreading activation to other related concepts (this is how priming works)
What is procedural memory
It is a form of long term memory which involves knowledge of how to perform various tasks and skills. It is learnt through gradual, incremental experiences.
Unlike declarative memory, this is largely below level of consciousness
What are examples of procedural memory
Knowing how to ride a bike
Why might it be hard to verbalise procedural memory
Might be because of:
the lack of detailed awareness when performing a learnt skill
us performing complex tasks without being conscious of exact processes being used (i.e. driver not thinking about how to shift gears whn driving –> hard to articulate)
Automatic nature of the behaviour makes it hard to reflect how its done
What is implicit memory
Refers to memory that influences our thoughts and behaviours without conscious awareness
WHat is explicit memory
Involves memory that has conscious awareness and recall of information.
Compare the duration of implicit and explicit memory
Implicit memory tends to be more durable and resistant to forgetting over time (long duration)
Meanwhile, explicit memory tends to be less durable and more vulnerable to forgetting over time
Compare the levels of processing required for implicit and explicit memory
Implicit memory is less affected by level of processing. Instead, skills and habits often improve with practice and repetition regardless of depth of initial processing (i.e. learning to ride a bike improves with repetition, and doesn’t rely on cognitive processing)
Meanwhile, explicit memory is significantly influenced by level of processing - deeper processing leads to better retention and recall compared to shallow processing
Compare the impacts of modality/format changes on implicit and explicit memory
Modality has no effect on explicit memory, but affects implicit memory greately
Modality and format changes such as : Visual/auditory, case/font
What is an explicit memory test. Give examples
Involves the conscious, deliberate recall and recognition of information, which requires individuals to actively retrieve and articulate their memories (i.e. short answer or multiple choice questions)
What is an implicit memory test. Give examples
Assesses unconscious or automatic memory processes that influence behaviour and performance without explicit recall or awareness
I.e. word fragment completion or performing procedural learning tasks (i.e. complete the word a_n_e___
How can stem completion establish implicit memory
Assess implicit memory by examining how exposure to words or concepts affects subsequent responses without requiring conscious recollection
I.e. given certain prompts initially, and then asked to fill out the word blanks later on
Explain the DRM false memory paradigm
In this, participants are presented with a list of words which are all related to a specific theme.
I.e. if theme was “sleep”, participants might see words like “bed”, “rest”, tired etc
After this, participants were asked to recall or recognise words from here
Here, some words aren;t mentioned but semantically related, which might create false memories. The fact we use semantic memory can cause false memories.
This was sort of the purpose of this false memory paradigm to explore it
What were the findings of the DRM false memory paradigm
A common finding is that participants will falsely recall or recognise the theme as being part of the list, despite the word not being presented
Participants show a significant number of false memories in some of the words
Reasons for this false memory might be: fitting memory to schemes and scripts, source confusion,semantic memory and more
What were flashbulb memories
They refer to the vivid, detailled and long lasting recollections of our personal circumstances surrounding the moment we learn about a highly emotional or significant event
Characterised by clarity and strong emotions/impact that they have
I.e. remembering what you were doing when you heard the news of 9-11 or other disasters
Why might we be able to remember flashbulb memories
Because they are rehearsed more frequently (i.e. telling friends and family what happened)
What is a finding about the accuracy of flashbulb memories
Even though we are more confident about flashbulb memories, they decay like others
What study looks at evidence regarding flashbulb memories and their differneces/similarities with ordinary memories and their significance
Talarico and Rubin (2003) study
What does the Talarico and Rubin (2003) study find?
Looked at accuracy of participants flashbuulb memories of 9/11 terrost attacks by comparing original memories and memories reported 1,6,32 weeks later
The data showed that as tiem goes on, both flashbulb memories of 9/11 terrorist attacks and everyday memories slowly lost their accuracies
However, flashbulb memories were actually slightly less consistent than the everyday memories
Also, flashbulb memories were reported with more confidence than everyday memories, but not as accurate - and both fade over time
What study looks at the best and worst remembered kinds of memory associated with 9/11
Conway et al’s flashbulb memory study
What was the Conway et al’s flashbulb memory study
It was a study on 9/11 attacks, and 678 people completed a survey in 2001. Half were retested before the anniversary and half were tested after. In 2003, a final study was given to the remaining 319 particpants
Each survey asked for recollections and confidence ratings of their experiences in 9/11
T
What was the best remembered kind of memory in 9/11
Best remembered memory was in response to “did you donate blood within the first few days after these events?” - had a 96% consistency rate, and had the most confident response
This was followed by Q’s like “where were you when you first learnt about the attacks” and “were you alone or with others when you found out about 9/11?”
What was the worst remembered kind of memories in 9/11
In response to “what time did you learn about these events?” - had the least consistency at around 31% and the lowest confident rating
This was followed by questions like “who was the first person who called you on the phone after this event?”
Summarise findings of Conway et al study
Best remembered were contextual details, and worst remembered were specific factual details
What is infantile amnesia
This is where adults are unable to recall memories from the early years of their lives, typically from birth to around 3-4 years of age - this is a common experience
What are the potential causes of infantile amnesia
Lack of development neurologically –> i.e. immature hippocampus –> inability to form new memories
Lack of developed self concept
Infants rely heavily on implicit memory rather than explicit memory –> lack of declartive memory –> inability to remember
Lack of ability to fully process and encode emotions which support LT memory
What is a reminiscence bump
This is when older adults have an enhanced memory for events that occurred during adolescence and early adulthood. They remember more autobiographical memories from ages 10 to 30 than other periods
What is the key evidence for reminiscence bump
Autobiographical memory studies, corporate studies etc
What was Kim Peek’s unique ability, and its relation to DRM tests
His corpus callosum was severed, which might have caused neurons to make unusual connections
He could basically memorise vast amoutns of informaion and recall any random details –> instant recall and rote memory with good focus on detail
As such, in relation to the DRM, he doesn’t have any false memories, and remembers everything perfectly
Might be because he had difficutly with conceptual memory –> can’t integrate related concepts –. isn’t influenced by semantic connections like most people
does memory deteriorate with age?
Yes
Why does memory deteriorate with age?
Because w age, the myelin sheaths begin to deteriorate leading to slower responses and slower capabilities for recall
WHat is another thing that might play into why older people have worse memory
Older people may internalise negative stereotypes about how aging can result in worsened performance in tasks (stereotype threat)
Labels have a significant impact, as seen by a study by Ruhal et al, where half the subjects were told it was testing memory ability, and the other was told it was the ability to learn trivia
Results show that older people score 12% worse in terms of accuracy compared to younger people when told it was a memory test. This is compared to only a 1% difference in memory neutral instructions between old and young people
Also, in cultures where agiing is respected and the elderly are valued, older adults experience less ccognitive decline
Do older people perform better on recognition or recall tasks
They typically perform better on recognition tasks compared to recall tasks
What is the method of loci
Also known as the memory journal/palace. It involves visual neumonics
Aims to improve memory by associating info with specific physical locations in a mental map
Involves placing items of information at specific points in the mental map
When recalling info, a person would mentally retrace steps through the mental palace
How was method of loci used in ancient cuiltures?
Used in cultures like ancient China, wh may have needed it to memorise classical texts.
What is the difference between recall and ecognition
Recall: reports/recites items from an earlier study episode
Recognition: Selects previously studied items from mixture of old and new items
Is recognition or recall better? (effort wise)
Overall, reconition is better than recall as it takes less effort
For example, after 2 days, recognition has a 75% retention, whereas recall is a 10% retention
What is the strategy to study for McQ exams?
Difficult because of the distractions which are very similar to correct answer –> easy for recognition memory to make mistakes –> try to recall the answer to the question and dont be misled by the distractions
Explain and provide evidence suggesting tech is reducing amunt of memory being committed to organic memory
Due to a concept called cognitive offloading –> involves relying on devices for external memory stores
A study by Sparrow et al (2011) - shows that when faced with difficult questions, people are primed to think of computers and if they expect to have future access to info, they have lower rates f recall of info and enhanced recall for where to access it
If told that info was saved and accessible later –> worse recall, but if they were told that the info would be erased, it was better rememebred
What is transfer appropriate processing
Suggests that memory is not just how well info is encoded but also the match between the encoding and retrieval processes.
It suggests that there is an increased effectiveness of memory retrieval when cognitive processes used during learning are similar to those used during retrieval (remembering)
Factors may include: mood, time and place, thoughts and feelings, smells, images, nature of task (i.e. recall vs recog)
How did Godden and Baddeley’s (1975) Swimming pool study contribute to transfer appropriate processing
Involved placing half the participants in a wet enviro to study, and the other half in a dry enviro. Then, half the wet enviro placed in dry to recall, and same vice versa for both.
You would expect that particiaptns who had to study in the wet environment will experience discomfort –> decreased recall, however althoguh dry learning enviro had a slightly better recall than wet, what was evident is that the highest mean words recalled always occurred in the same context (i.e. wet study, and wet recall, and dry study and dry recall)
Ultimately shows that recall was significantly better when learning and testing environments matched, which ecohoes the idea of transfer appropriate processing
What is proactive interference
Occurs when newer information interferes with the retrieval of older memories.
In other words, learning something new makes it harder to remember something you learnt before.
This could be remedied by sleeping immediately after new info
What is retroactive interference
Occurs when the older information interferes with the retrieval of newer information
Learning something previously makes it harder to learn something new
Could be remedied by studying first thing in the morning
What is level of processing
Refers to how deeply information is processed/understood
There is shallow and deep processing
What are the depths of processing for structural, phonetic and semantic encoding?
Structural –> phonetic –> semantic (in terms of increasing depth of processing)
What is a shallow depth of processing
Superficial engagement with info, such as focus on physical characteristics (i.e. appearance of words, font size and colour)
What is deep processing
Involves a meaningful analysis of information, such as thinking about meaning and making connections to other knowledge
Involves asking questions, structuring material semantically and self-referent encoding
Ultimately results in greater memory
Semantic structuring of information allows for more effective chunking and allows you to relate the info we are trying to learn with what is known
What was Roediger and Karpicke’s (2006) experiment, and what did it fine
Participants put into 2 groups;
Studied for 7 minutes, then studied for 7 minutes (SS)
OR
Studied for 7 minutes, then tested for 7 minutes (ST)
Recall test was done either 5 mins, 2 days or 7 days after
Results show that SS was most effective in 5 minutes, but then for 2, 7 days, ST caused the highest mean test score
Test repeated for four study/test periods instead of two (SSSS, SSST, STTT).
This second test found that for a test 5 mins after, SSSS had the highest retention, followed by SSST and STTT. However, for a test 1 week after, STTT had the highest retention, followed by SSST and SSSS
Ultimately all shows that taking memory tests and studying improves long term memory retention, than just studying
What was the method for Bransford and Johnston’s 1972 balloon study
Participants were either given context or no context (no schema). The context was a drawing of a balloon in the air with a guitar etc
For the ‘without context’, participants listened to a brief, ambiguous narrative about a balloon and actions associated with it. Narrative wasn’t structured or easy to understand without context
For the ‘with context’, participants saw the drawing before being presented with the story. After listening to narrative, particpants had to recall details of story and drawings they had scene
Purpose was to see if a meaningful content (or schema) allows for abiility to recall info
What were the findings of the balloon study
Participants with a clear context (schema) recalled significantly more accurately than those who received ambiguos context free narratives
Underlies the importance of schema, as when participants are given a schema, they are better able to integrate new info with existing knowledge –> better encoding
Links to encoding because suggests that already having a schema in place allows for more efficient encoding
What were the findings of Dunlosky et al (2013) related to?
Summarisation, Highlighting and underlining, rereading, practice testing, distributed practice
What did Dunlosky et al (2013) find, related to summarisation
Better than just copying
Does depend on skill/understanding of learner
Overall low utility
Summarisation performs better than note-taking
What did Dunlosky et al (2013) find, related to highlighting and underlining
No evidence its effective
Could be effective if you are a good highlighter
Overall low utility
What did Dunlosky et al (2013) find, related to re-reading
Good for recall, but unclear if it helps with comprehension
Unclear how dependent effects are on student’s ability
Overall low utility
Although, after rereading a couple times, the proportion of correct responses increases
What did Dunlosky et al (2013) find, related to practice testing
Strong evidence that its effective
Includes the blurting method
Sppacing matters
Direct effects
Practice tests improve exam grade for exams with both repeated and new questions, even when compared to restudy methhods
Overall high utility
What did Dunlosky et al (2013) find, related to Distributed practice
Overall high utility
Spacing is important (compared to massed practice)
Lag effects (longer wait = better)
Materials reprocessed or reminded of previous learning or consolidation
A study found that the proportion correct after 6 study sessions, found that a gap of 30 days between sessions scored the highest on the final test, followed by 1 day and then 0 days between sessions
However, for the first 4 sessions, the 0 day condition has the highest proportion correct, however, for 0 and 1 day conditions, the next 2 sessions, they were very similar and the 30 day rest period was the worst. However, a final test 30 days after the final practice session, condition 3 (30 days rest) had the highest proportion correct, followed by 1 day and 0 days between sessions
Suggests that spacing is important in distributive practice
