Implicit Memory Flashcards
Describe a task used to measure implicit learning
Serial time reaction task:
Four lights are displayed with a button under each. The task is to press the button under the light that flashes as quick as you can.
they embed a pattern within the sequence. The pattern is more complex than say 1, 2, 3, 4 etc.
Subjects are faster with structured than random sequences even if they have no explicit knowledge of this.
How was it shown that we implicitly memorise the rules of language?
artificial grammars (Pothos, 2007). In these studies, people are given sequences of letters. These sequences are created using an algorithm such as rolling a dice and choosing a path to choose letters and make up nonsense words. For example, in this case, the sequences VVPXXVS, TPPTS, and TTXVS are valid or “grammatical” sequences, whereas ZLFKL, KKGGF, and FZZZL are not.
During an initial learning phase, people are shown a series of letter strings that were generated using the algorithm and asked to simply copy them. Even in the absence of explicit memorization, people learn not just the sequences that were seen but also the “grammar,” or production algorithm, used to generate them. (Subjects are faster with structures than random sequences even if they have no explicit knowledge of this.)
How is are different brain areas involved at different levels of expertise
At first you have to consciously think about how you do something as you do it as you learn it (metacognitive stage) this involves the hippocampus and frontal cortex.
At some point you get to know the correct sequence of actions and you shift to cognitive control- Am I doing it right? Correct speed? etc.
Eventually, so fine tuned you no longer require this, and all that is required is representation of the activity in the brain- cortical/ subcortical. (e.g typing or shoelaces)
What happens when an expert ‘chokes under pressure’?
The expert shifts to consciousness processing (earlier stage, different system). This conflicts with highly automised skills
Should novices and experts focus on accuracy or speed?
Novices should focus on accuracy, experts on speed
This means that experts pay less attention on being really controlled and accurate and just trust their own representations.
If an expert and novice do a dual task, the novice is much more affected, why is this?
The novice is still cognitively thinking about the task, so another cognitive task interferes with this while the expert is simply using procedural memory which does not require so much cognitive control
What type of learning remains intact with dementia?
Procedural learning (despite not consciously remembering practising- would come up with an alternate explanation)
How did Cohen and Squire measure this procedural learning in amnesia patients?
Mirror reading task
They performed as well as controls when the words were never repeated but got less of an advantage from repeated words
How else was procedural memory measured in AD?
Mirror tracking task- procedural learning is largely intact in Alzheimer’s Dementia disorder compared to controls
Why is the influence displayed by Darren Brown and the lecturer’s Chinese study not subliminal persuasion?
They passed by the posters and saw them (consciously process them) but were not really paying attention or consciously linking them to the task later
Name and describe an effect which demonstrates subliminal effects
‘the Coca Cola effect’
Quick, non perceived slides saying drink Coca Cola in a commercial. But this is not true.
Rumour was based on popcorn study in cinema which didn’t even happen.
Can subliminal effects work tho?
It has very minor effects (eg in emotion) that are short lived
What similar effect is more effect than subliminal effects?
supraliminal effects - the key for successful influencing is that the subjects (consumer) does not realise the original cues when they are buying something; while they may have seen they were not consciously aware of the link
Describe 5 tasks which measure Implicit memory
Savings (Ebbinghaus)
Word identification (yes/no)- being exposed to semantically related things beforehand makes you faster on deciding whether it is a word or not
Category generation (name any fruit- influenced by exposing people to fruits)
Word stem or fragment completion (finishing words)
Picture fragment completion
Describe a picture fragment task study which was carried out
Patients with anterograde amnesia were shown images then the next day they were shown degraded images (lines essentially) and asked what the pictures depicted e.g aeroplane
