modern approaches to cognition Flashcards
what is atkinson and shiffrin’s information processing approach?
argues that the brain is a bit like a computer processing info and that cognition can be thought of as the flow of info through a series of stores each which performs some computation or function.
according the the information processing approach what is cognitive performance constrained by?
limitations in the capacity of these stores, the way in which information is encoded (taken in), rehearsed, stored, retrieved, and linked to outputs.
what did McGilly and Siegler’s experiment on encoding on children do/ show? and how does it support the information processing approach
Children aged 5, 7 and 9 are presented with a list of numbers and told to remember some of them.
Ascending contiguous 3 4 5 6 7
Descending contiguous 8 7 6 5 4
Random 2 6 3 9 5
15 second delay
Measures:
Child asked to recall items
Child asked: did you do anything to help you remember the numbers?
- younger children made errors e.g. said 8
- older children use ENCODING STRATEGY in encoding of continous lists
- children repeat words during the delay–> older children use REHEARSAL to learn random lists
limitations on maths task can be explained by a lack of the necessary information processors.
what did Brainerd’s retrieval experiement do and show and what theory does it support?
kids 4-5
10 tokens: 7 rabbits 3horses
one token taken out and child has to guess which it is.
kids couldn’t do the task.
BUT…if they were reminded how many of each were in the bag just before making their choice they did make the correct response.
RETRIEVAL LIMITATIONS- children retrieving last response and not recalling task at hand when reminded of task at hand performence improved.
supports the info processing approach to cognition.
briefly outline multi-store model
input–> sensory register–> short term memory –> long term memory
briefly outline working memory model Baddeley and Hitch
propose that STM (working mem) is a bit more complicated and there is a CENTRAL EXECUTIVE controlling what to attend to, how to encode it and what to prioritize.
what did Willatts cloth pulling, executive function task do/ show?
The cloth pulling task
6- to 8-month-old infants are presented with an object which they can only retrieve by an intermediary action (pulling it towards them on a supporting cloth)
7-month-olds would sometimes retrieve the object by chance
(without watching it during their response)
8-month-olds demonstrated intentional means-end
Behaviour: they looked at their ‘goal’ when pulling the ‘means’
This required them to execute a sequence of actions in the correct order – exactly a central executive task.
Therefore the central executive is developing during this period of infancy.
what did Zelazo, Frye and Rupus’ executive function dimension card change sort task do/ show?
3 and 4 year olds asked to sort a stack of cards either by colour or shape.
1/2 way through rule change
3 yrs- continue sorting cards to first dimension
4-5yrs manage succesfull switch.
at 3-4 yrs executive function is still developing.
what did Mischel, Shoda and Rodriguez’s executive function delayed gratification task do/ show?
marshmallow test
can 4 yo wait 15 mins to receive a reward?
those who performed better also were better in real life measures. e.g. social skills, bmii
when does the ability to delay gratification occur?
between 4-5 and again until 1 3
what is the PFC involved in?
info processing (executive function and working memory)
how does the PFC change?
It changes throughout childhood and into adolescence – including changes in the number of neurons and the number of connective axons (Giedd et al, 1999)
how could the PFC be linked to children’s ability to perform the A not B task?
- The maximum delay period over which infants can remember where the object is on the A-not-B task increases with age (Diamond 1985).
- Monkeys with PFC lesions behave like 7-9 year old children
- working memory may not be developed enough
- correct response correlates with brain activity
what ways of infant brain recording have been used for A not B task?
EEG- Bell and fox
NIRS- Near Infrared Spectroscopy Baird et al.
what does childhood response to the marshmallow test predict?
vetrostriatal brain activity 40 yrs later
