Cognitive Psychology Exam 3 Flashcards
1
Q
The generation effect refers to
A
the memory benefit of generating information rather than simply observing it
2
Q
According to the levels of processing theory, memory durability depends on the depth at which information is ___
A
encoded
3
Q
Encoding Definition
A
The process of storing information into long-term memory during the learning experience
4
Q
Does Repetition help with memory encoding?
A
No
5
Q
What does the experiment with reporting all words that start with the letter D show?
A
There is no difference in the D words remembered regardless of how many times it was repeated (measured with amount of intervening words)
6
Q
What does the penny experiment show?
A
You have seen pennies so many times (lots of repetition), but this did not lead to a lot of encoding!
7
Q
Does having the intent to remember help you remember things? What experiment proved this?
A
Nope, and the EG checking/pleasantness experiment where some people where warned about the memory test
8
Q
What else does the EG checking/pleasantness group show?
A
That depth of processing is important because pleasantness group remembered much better
9
Q
Levels of Processing Theory
A
The deeper the stimulus is processed, the better it is encoded
10
Q
Which is deepest to shallowest encoded? Structural, Phonemic, Category?
A
Category –> Phonemic –> Structural
11
Q
___: Is the word in capital letters?
___: Does it rhyme with weight?
____: Is it a type of fish?
A
Structural, Phonemic, Category
12
Q
Ways to establish deep processing?
A
- Survival
- Self-reference
- Imagery
- Understanding
- Organization
- Generation
13
Q
Which experiment showed that survival is a good way to deeply encode information?
A
Judging list of words on survival, moving, and pleasantness
14
Q
Which experiment showed that self-referance is a good way to deeply encode information?
A
Answering whether words describe you vs words that are commonly used
15
Q
What does the fact that you remember birthdays closest to your own prove?
A
Self-reference helps with memory encoding
16
Q
What did the laundry paragraph experiment show and prove?
A
Having context before aids with memory –> proves understanding information helps you encode information more deeply
17
Q
What experiment shows that generating information helps with memory encoding?
A
Word-pair generating experiment
18
Q
Three Characteristics of Levels of Processing Theory
A
Increased elaboration leads to better encoding
Richer network of semantic connections during encoding
More ways to retrieve information during recall
19
Q
Does testing help with encoding and memory?
A
Yes, especially after 2 days and 1 week (not so much after 5 minutes)
20
Q
How is storage/consolidation involved in learning/memory
A
The strengthening of information in long-term memory after the learning experience
21
Q
New memories are fragile so you should study with ___
A
breaks between information to help information consolidate – delay condition
22
Q
How do we know hippocampal replay assists learning?
A
Rats replay information during sleep and when we disrupt the hippocampal replay, the rats do not do as well the next day
23
Q
What happens with the neocortex and hippocampus during sleep?
A
During wakefulness, input goes into the neocortex and then initial storage. During sleep, hippocampus replays event and puts the memory back into the neocortex
23
Q
Can the mouse experiment that proves hippocampus is important for learning be generazlied to humans and how do we know?
A
Yes, because of the Harvard Experiment which did a similair thing. They can shorten ISIs and still get better at the task Then they stay the night in the lab, they are either given a bed and can go to sleep, or they are forced to stay awake. Three days later, we test them with the same task, and see that people who were sleep deprived on the first night, are really bad at the task and the people who slept initially were good at the task
PROVES: sleep is also involved in memory consolidation in humans
24
What does the Tetris Dream Experiment Show and Prove?
Shows:
- Experts: didn’t improve that much because they are already good
- Novices: improve a lot at tetris
- Amnesics: don’t improve at tetris
Proves: experience-related dreams exist but you may not need a hippocampus for that and it might not be so linked to memory
25
The principle of ___ states that we encode information along with its context
encoding specificity
26
Locations, songs, and smells highlight the importance of ____ in long term memory
retrieval cues
27
Memory performance is enhanced if the type of task at encoding matches the type of task at retrieval. This is called _____
transfer-appropriate processing
28
Retrieval Definition
The process of accessing information stored
into long-term memory
29
Tip-of-the-tongue effect
Tip-of tongue is associated with partial information
30
Based on the standard model of memory why does the tip of the tongue effect exist?
There is not enough spread of activity between nodes
31
What is the difference between accessibility and availability
Available = the information is stored in memory
Accessible = the information can be retrieved
32
Does the presentation of cues increase recall and what experiment proves this?
Yes, and the experiment with sentences like "A lampshade can be used as a hat." It was difficult to remember all of these without a retreival cue but when given the word lampshade, people more easily remembered the word hat.
33
How does the tip of the tongue effect relate to retrieval cues?
If something is on the tip of your tongue, you may just need a good cue!
34
What exactly is a cue?
Cues are simply nodes in a memory’s network
35
Is the context of studying important and how do we know this?
Yes, and through the studying underwater vs on land experiment which shows that if you study and are tested in the same context, you will preform better.
36
Encoding Specificity Definition
Matching context between encoding and retrieval assists performance
37
What does the experiment with studying with noise/without noise prove?
Context is important
38
How does encoding specificity relate to the standard model of memory?
Memories are distributed networks of associations and context is just another set of associations.
39
What is a more succesful retreival cue? Rhyme or Meaning
Depends on which one was used during encoding -- transfer-processing approach
40
Transfer-appropriate processing approach
Better performance when the type of processing matches during encoding and retrieval
41
Can transfer-appropriate processing approach be explained through associative networks?
No, deeper processing does not always result in better retrieval which goes against the levels of processing theory.
42
What is the difference between proactive interference and retroactive interference?
Proactive interference – information you learned earlier on interferes with remembering something now
Retroactive interference – information you learn later that interferes with the remembering the initial information
43
What does the proactive interference experiment show and prove?
People had trouble with retrieval and a possible explanation may be that there is competition during retrieval because each session may create one large network
44
What was the retroactive Interference experiment and results?
Have people study a list of noun pairs in multiple sessions and the first part of the list is the same for both sessions but not the second part. In the test phase, they are supposed to fill in the second word for each pair but only from the first session.
Control condition: use completely new list in session 2 and in tes condition they ask them to fill in nouns from session 1 → separating out contexts
Results: Experimental condition had MUCH worse performance due to retrieval competition
45
What is Constructive memory?
Memories are not a carbon copy of the past
Prone to revision and error
Does retrieval cause changes?
46
Can retrieval induce forgetting?
Yes, for the items that aren't rehearsed as seen in the Grocery and Games Experiment
47
What is an alternative explanation for retrieval inducing forgetting?
Blocking: Practiced words occupy the ‘response channel’ (they come to mind so quickly that they block the unpracticed words)
48
What are the conclusions on retrieval induced forgetting?
Memories are constantly in swing
Elements can be suppressed and activated
Retrieval biases towards recent goals
49
What are the conclusions on Retrieval in general?
The effectiveness of retrieval depends on
what you do with information
Retrieval is error prone (interference)
Retrieval can change memories (retrieval induced forgetting
49
What does neuroscience say about retreival induced forgetting vs blocking?
we can see with MVPOA that, the brain
50
What type of memory does this refer to: A person’s knowledge, experiences, and expectations contribute to what
gets remembered?
Constructive
51
What is an everyday memory?
an Everyday Event
52
Two important considerations for autobiographical memories
Multidimensional
Some autobiographical memories are remembered better than others
53
What does it mean for a memory to be a multidimensional memory?
The memory includes several sensory-modalities, the memory takes place in three-dimensional space, there are thoughts and emotions associated with the memory
54
What makes certain events memorable?
More special events, you are either really happy or really upset about it
55
What autobiographical memories remain?
Memories are stronger for events that are distinct from our day-to-day experiences
and remininsce bump (early adulthood memories)
56
Why is there a reminiscence bump in early adulthood?
- Time of self-image formation
- Time of rapid change with new events
- Time where important cultural events occurs
57
How do we know emotion affects memory?
experiment with neutral, negative, and positive pictures of animals, also activity in the amygdala
58
Does the experiment with the animals prove that the amygdala is necessary for emotional memories to be remembered better than neutral ones?
no
59
What does the Amygdala Experiment with Emotional Memory show and prove?
Group 1: typical amygdala function
Group 2: impaired amygdala function
Shows: participants with normal amygdala remembered scary photos better than other photos. People with damaged amygdala couldn’t remember the scary photo better
Proves: amygdala activation is important for consolidating emotional memories
60
Flashbulb Memories defintion
Any memory where a person
remembers the circumstances
surrounding how they heard about the event
61
When do flashbulb memories typically occur?
Under Highly Emotional Circumstances
62
What are flashbulb memories associated with?
Overt narrative rehearsal -- a person typically reports many vivid details long after the event occurred
63
Are flashbulb memories more accurately remembered than regular memories?
Nope
64
If flashbulb memories are emotional and distinctive, why aren't they remembered more accurately
Constructive Nature of Memory
65
What does it mean for memory to be inherently constructive?
Affected by a person’s
knowledge, expectations, and
experiences
Remembering something may
distort or change the memory
based on new information.
66
What does the window words experiement show and prove?
When constructing memory, we can construct false memories such as the word window even though the word window was never actually mention just because it is semantically related to all of the other ones
67
What does Princess Diana's Death say about the constructive nature of memory?
Her death was announced through the radio but people often answered that they watched it on the news because they typically find out news on tv and not over radio
68
Can we construct false memories and how?
Yes, memories about starting fights were induced
* Start by remembering real events
* Leading questions shaped the false
memory
* Vivid imagery to give the memory more
dimensionality
* Social pressure to “remember” it.
69
What is a source monitoring error?
Source Monitoring is the process of knowing where a memory is from
Source Monitoring Errors occur when you retrieve information but misremember where the information came from
70
Explain the fake name experiment
People were shown a list of fake names
Then they were asked to identify which names are of famous people with a list of real famous people, previously fake names, new fake names
Two groups: immediate group, 24 hour wait time
Results: people started remembering the previously identified fake names as famous people because it is familiar to them (especially in the delay group) → misattributing the source and committing a source monitoring error
71
Why does fake news work?
fake news works because even though people initially see that a source is fake, they still remember the information and forget that it was coming from a fake
72
How can we reduce fake news?
Present the fact that the headline is fake after the fact
73
Scripts definition
previous knowledge about the
typical sequence of actions in a known situation
74
Schema Definition
A person’s knowledge about some aspect of the environment
75
What is misleading post-event information?
According to this theory, misleading post-event information generates an automatic updating of memory that results in a permanent loss of the original information.
76
3 Implications of imperfect memory on eyewitness testimony?
1. Perception and Attention
2. Familiarity
3. Suggestion
77
How does Perception and Attention affect Memory
People can’t remember an
event well if the event is not perceived
78
What is weapons focus?
When witnessing a crime that includes a weapon,
participants are less likely to remember information about the perpetrator because they are focused on the weapon
79
What is the "butcher on the bus" phenomenon
occurs when one believes that a person is familiar (often upon seeing their face in an atypical context) while failing to recall any information about that person whatsoever
80
Suggestion Experiment
Particiaptns watched crime and saw a lineup of suspects but participant was not in lineup
Three groups: one group had positive feedback about their choice, one had no feedback, one had negative feedback and told them their choice was wrong
Results: positive feedback was associated with more confidence in their choices by participants
81
How can we improve eye witness testimony?
1. Inform the witness that the perpetrator may not
be in the lineup
2. Use fillers that look similar to the actual suspect
3. Use a blind lineup administrator who does not
know who is the suspect
4. Have witnesses rate their confidence
immediately
82
Does the definitional approach to categorization work well for natural objects like birds, plants, and trees
no
83
Priming with a color category name (pink) would lead to fast judgements about stimuli that
are dissimilar from each other
84
Concept Definition
A mental representation of a class or individual. Also, the meaning of objects, events, and abstract ideas
85
Options for understanding what kind of thing something is
1. Definition
86
Definitional Approach to Categorization
List of rules, with output being either TRUE or FALSE
87
What is the difference between something that is necessary and something that is sufficient
Necessary:
Need to be US native to become president
Need to have gas in your car to drive
Sufficient:
Earning 70% is sufficient to pass this class
Being in St. Louis is sufficient for being in the USA
88
How do we learn artificial concepts?
Either Incremental Learning Theory or Hypothesis Testing
89
Incremental Learning Theory Definition
You incrementally get better at classification
90
Hypothesis Testing Definition
You will always be no better than guessing, until you hit the right hypothesis.
91
What are the criteria for an artificial category?
Features are well-defined
no within category variability
categorization follows a rule
92
Natural Categories Criteria
Hard to enumerate all features
Some examples are better category members
There is family resemblance
93
Family Resemblance Definition
(definitions do not include all members, allows for variation within category)
94
3 options for how the brain determine's an items category:
1. Best Single Example
2. Central Tendency
3. Collections of Examples
95
Best Single Example Definition
when they see an object they compare it to the best example in the category
Ex. when they see a squash they compare it to an orange (best example of fruit) and broccoli (best example of broccoli) and decide which it is closer to
Prototype View
96
Central Tendancy Definition
take all the items in the category and compare against average of category
Compare different fruit and vegetable averages to decide which it is closer to
Prototype view
97
Collection of Examples Definition
– compare all objects in the category
Compare all the fruit and vegetables and see which category it is closer to with a technique called clustering and see if your object falls in the boundary of the cluster
Exemplar view
98
What does the experiment with the circles and prototypes show and prove?
Results: all of the instances they have seen before were classified more accurately and quickly. The new prototypes were classified even more rapidly than new instances. After a week delay, there was no loss of performance on prototypes but there was loss of performance on the instances.
PROVES: we do NOT use the best single example because these people never even saw the prototype but were really good at classifying the prototype.
99
What is the New Prototype Explanation?
Maintain an average for each category (prototype)
Adjust average with each new instance
During test, compare to available prototypes, and choose closest
100
What are the issues with the prototype explanation?
People are sometimes sensitive to the specifics of particular instances
People are sensitive to the variability of instances
101
What is the Examplar Explanation for what is stored?
Each exemplar is stored or forgotten
When a new case comes in, compare it to the stored examples
102
How would the Exampler View explain the effects from the little dots experiment?
| (int terms of old vs new instance not examplars themselves)
Old instances classified more accurately and rapidly than new instances
Prototypes classified more rapidly and accurately than other new instances
No loss of performance on prototype after week delay,
but instances show forgetting
103
How does the Exemplar View explain the effects?
One way to categorize: average distance to all exemplars
in a category
- Looks just like prototype explanation
- Averaging during comparison, not learning
Another way: distance to closest exemplar
- Can account for issue cases
104
If you know a lot about a category, would you be more likely to use a prototype or an exemplar approach?
Exemplar
105
How does a Connectionist Network work
In an untrained network, all the ‘weights’ (associations) between nodes
are set to 1.0
Connectionist network
Next, some input is presented, and output is calculated
Then, an error or learning signal is computed:
Error signal = Desired output - Actual output
This signal tells network how it should change connection weights
(this happens slowly)
106
Backpropogation definition
learning signal is sent back through network
107
When does the connectionist network continue until?
Threshold is reached?
108
What does the Representation Layer show
After a lot of trials, similar items have similar concepts which shows learning and gives a graded representation
109
What are the strengths of the connectionist network?
Not all or none, but graded representations like the brain
can explain generalization
biologically motivated
110
How are concepts represented in an actual brain?
with embodied (grounded condition) Information about an object is not just
represented in any distributed way:
Representations use the same neural regions
that are activated when you experience it
(sensory information)
111
What does it mean for a concept to be a stimulater?
Embodied cognition proposes that concepts are programs for interacting with things
112
Use the banana example to explain a concept as a simulater
Concepts:
- yellow
- sweet
- fruit
Stimulate:
- motor information for peeling
- anticapation of satiation
113
What evidence is there for embodied cognition?
- motor word experiment and move body parts showed that neural region are used for movement and reading words that are associated with that movement --> shown through neuroimagine
114
What is the behavioral evidence for the embodied cognition hypothesis?
Manmade vs natural items experiment with pinching/squeezing
Results: increased response time when object does not match the pinch or squee (couch should be squeeze and penny should be pinch)
115
Hub and Spoke Model
A hub-and-spoke network, often called star network, has a central component that's connected to multiple networks around it. The overall topology resembles a wheel, with a central hub connected to points along the edge of the wheel through multiple spokes.
116
What are the 3 types of evidence for the embodied grounded condititon?
MRI, Behaviroal, TMS
117
Gestalt Psychologists consider problem solving as a process involving
Reorganization or restructuring
118
What is the definition of a problem?
A situation in which there is an obstacle between
a present state and a goal and it is not immediately
obvious how to get around the obstacle.
119
What is the definition of problem solving?
The application of ideas, skills or information
to achieve a solution to a problem.
120
4 ways to solve problems?
1. Trial and Error
2. Insight
3. Applying an algorithm
4. Using an analogy
121
What is Thorndike's Law of Effect
Responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular
situation become more likely to occur again in that
situation, and responses that produce a discomforting
effect become less likely to occur again in that situation -- found this through the experiment with cats in the box
122
When is Trial and Error not useful?
- when there are a large number of possible actions
- many intermediate states
- ex. rubik's cube
123
Definition of Insight
Sudden realization of a problem’s solution
124
Characteristics of Insight Problem Solving
Sudden solution, restructuring, suppressing competing wrong answers
125
What do the insight experiments show in terms of warmth?
in the building up group (algebra), people feel progressively more warm
but in the sudden jump group (insight) people felt less warm and then they eventually felt super warm when they got it
126
Three phases of Insight
1. Initial search through wrong representation
2. Impasse
3. Restructuring
127
What did the dominos experiment show and prove?
restructuring with bread and butter made it the quickest
and restructuring can be external -- restructured representations aids insight
128
What are the matchbox candle experiment and Maier's two string tests examples of?
Functional Fixedness
129
What is an important aspect of insight?
suppressing irrelevant information
130
Definition of Algorithms
A sequence of actions used to achieve a desired outcome
131
Characteristics of problem solving through algorithms
Goal directedness
Sequence of operations
Cognitive operations
subgoal decompositions
132
Problem Space Theory
1. Initial Space
2. All states in between
3. Goal State
133
What is an operator?
Operators (actions to move between states)
134
Heuristics Definition
Practical method to problem solving, not optimal but sufficient to reach short-term goal
135
What is stereotyping an example of?
Heuristics
136
What is Repeat-state avoidance?
Aversion to take actions that takes you back to previous state
137
Difference Reduction
People prefer actions that lead to the biggest similarity between current and goal state
138
What is a means end analysis
Set up a goal state or subgoal state
Look for difference between current state and this state
Find operator that eliminates this difference
Repeat this process until goal state is reached
139
What is a benefit of the means end analysis ?
Reduced risk of exponential growth of possibilities
140
People are most succesful at noticing an analogous relationship between problems if they focus on
Structural features
141
The main purpose of the checkerboard problem was to demonstrate that
the way the problem is presented can influence the ease of problem solving
142
The creating the object study showed that people were more likely to come up with creative uses for pre-inventive objects if they____
made the object themselves
143
Algorithms Definition
A sequence of actions uses to achieve a desired outcome
144
How do we know that the brain cares about subgoals?
There is a reward-like signal for getting closer to a subgoal but without a behavioral preferance
145
What does the subgoal study with the envelope and house show and prove?
The closer the subgoal, the more activity in the reward-related brain regions
PROVES: maybe brain is trying to solve problems by setting subgoals
146
What is the problem with our subgoal conclusion from the envelope experiment?
Maybe participants falsely assumed their overall distance decreased and it wasn't about subgoals at all
147
What is the evidence for pseudoreward for subgoals?
Experiment: envelope jumped to two locations and people were asked to choose which one to go to
RESULTS: brain sets subgoals and cares about it but behaviorally humans understand that subgoals don’t actually matter even though there is still a reward-like singal
Could be used for trial and error learning
148
What are algorithims?
Sequence of cognitive operations
Directly aimed towards goals
Made feasible by decomposing in subgoals
149
What are the issues with setting subgoals?
1. How do you find good subgoals?
2. How do you find operators?
3. How to deal with uncertainty
4. What if there are multiple ways to subgoal?
150
Four ways in which we can solve problems
1. Trial and Error
2. Insight
3. Applying an algorithm
4. Using an analogy
151
How do we solve new problems?
Using prior experience
152
What is the structure mapping theory?
Base domain: familiar
Target domain: new
You are trying to find relationships that exist in the base domain and relate them to relationships that exist in the target domain
153
What are some aspects of the structure mapping theory?
You need correspondence between domains
Match relations instead of just attributes
Focus on systematicity
Carry relations over from base to target
154
What is the alignment of differences?
Alignable: corresponding relations
Nonalaignable: no corresponding relations
155
What does the castle and cancer experiment show and prove?
People with source story, were more likely to answer the target problem correctly especially with a hint.
Proves: people use structure mapping theory
156
Three stages of using an analogy
1. Noticing the analogy
2. Mapping the source problem to the target problem
3. Applying the mapping
157
What determines a match?
1. Structural Similarity
2. Surface Similiarity
158
Structural Similarity Definition
Relationships between objects are comparable
159
Surface Similarity Definition
Objects are comparable
160
Which type of similarity hurts performance and what experiment tells us this?
Surface Similarity and Water Jug Experiment
161
What is Analogical Reasoning
Carrying over from a source domain to a target domain
Notice similarity, map to the target, apply the mapping
Surface and structural similarity encourage noticing
(but surface similarity can be misleading)
162
What is special about expertise?
1. experts know more
2. experts knowledge is organized differently (more focused on structural relations)
3. sometimes experts spend more time analyzing problems
163
What is involved in creativity
Generating different potential solutions (divergent thinking)
Generating many ideas
164
How can we increase the chances of generating many ideas and different potential solutions?
To increase chance of being more creative, make your environment as varying and stimulating as possible
165
What is a positional solution to functional fixedness?
Actively work against prior associations
166
What does the MRI study on creativity show and prove?
Result 1: More creative uses in low-constraint condition (didn't study word pairs)
Result 2: More activity in default network and control network in high-constraint condition (studied word pairs)
Result 3: stronger coupling between control and default network in high-constraint condition
PROVES: Creativity is an interaction between mind wandering and memory retrieval AND top down executive functioning
