PSY270 MIDTERM Flashcards
what does mind information refer to?
the data the mind processes, stores + retrieves
what is sensory input?
initial contact our sensory systems have w/ our environment
raw data needed for perception to occur
what kind of process is attention?
a selective process
what is attention?
the process which allows us to focus on certain stimuli + filter out unimportant info
what is meant by attention as a selectional process?
we can choose to focus on certain stimuli + ignore others
is attention an absolute gatekeeper?
no, more like a filter
information that we don’t explicitly choose can still get through
what does the capacity of attention look like?
limited capacity
cannot attend to everything at the same time
what is detection?
the ability to perceive the presence of a stimulus
what is selection?
the ability to choose a specific stimulus to focus on among conflicting stimuli
what was the focus of Franciscus Donder’s work?
investigating detection vs. selection thru reaction time studies
what were Franciscus Donder’s findings?
that selection takes longer than detection
what did Colin Cherry’s work show?
that we selectively attend to information in our environment
proved how attention works
what model did Colin Cherry use in his work?
a dichotic listening paradigm
what is the Edwin Smith Medical Papyrus?
the first text to associate brain w/ behaviour, focusing on traumatic brain injuries + strokes
why was the Edwin Smith Medical Papyrus significant?
ahead of its time, focused on medical treatment for physical injury rather than spiritual
who was Abu Ali Sina (Avicenna)?
author of The Book of the Cure
what made Abu Ali Sina’s work significant?
advocated for an experimental approach
what did Abu Ali Sina (Avicenna) explore in his book?
links between the mind and body
who was Hasan Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen)?
author of The Book of Optics
what was The Book of Optics about?
perceptual research, unconscious interference and the behaviour of the 2 eyes
what law talks about the behaviour of the 2 eyes?
Hering’s Law
what is unconscious interference?
the idea that the mind makes guesses about the visual word based on visual clues, w/out our conscious awareness
who is Gustav Fechner?
author of Elemente Der Psychophysik (1860)
what did Elemente Der Psychophysik touch on?
relating physical stimuli to the perception + sensation they produce
what is Fechner’s Law?
a law stating that the strength of how we feel a stimulus grows in proportion to the logarithm of the stimulus’s actual intensity
what is psychophysics?
the study of the relationship between physical stimuli and mental experience
what method did Wilhelm Wundt use?
introspection
what is introspection?
the method of training observers to ask themselves what they thought they perceived, and to record those observations
what were 2 problems with introspection?
variability and verification
what was the issue of variability in introspection?
individual responses differ, causing inconsistency in reports
what was the issue of verification in introspection?
there’s no ‘ground truth’ to verify 1 person’s report against another’s
cannot confirm accuracy
what is Edward Bradford Titchner known for?
founding the structuralist school of thought
mentoring the first female PhD student in psychology
what is structuralism?
school of thought focused on understanding the structure of the brain opposed to its function
what did structuralism rely on?
the use of introspection
who was Margaret Washburn?
the first female PhD student in psychology, in 1894
mentored by Edward Titchner
what was J.B. Watson known for?
his behaviourist perspective
what is behaviourism?
an early 20th century school of thought focused on studying only observable behaviours thru learning
what was behaviourism known for?
rejecting introspection + focusing on control and prediction of behaviour
what was the behaviourist view of child-rearing?
that parents should focus on using scientific method for child-rearing rather than traditional nurturing techniques
whose ideas did B.F. Skinner build off of?
J.B. Watson’s behaviourist ideas
what did Skinner expand Watson’s ideas into?
principles of operant conditioning
what are respondent behaviours?
behaviours that are in response to a specific stimulus
what are operant behaviours?
behaviours that are not influenced by specific stimuli, but instead by the consequences
what did Skinner believe about behaviour?
that behaviours followed by reward + reinforcement were likely to be repeated; behaviours followed by punishment were NOT
who is Ulrich Neisser?
author of Cognitive Psychology
what did Ulrich Neisser do?
defined work for the modern era + ideas of psychology
what did Neisser emphasize as the central concept of understanding the mind?
information processing
what did Claude Shannon make?
information theory
what is information theory?
a theory viewing the mind as an active system that receives, processes, stores and retrieves information
what is the black box of cognition?
a metaphor used in behaviourism to describe the processes behind cognition that cannot be directly observed
what was the cognitive revolution?
a period during the 50s + 60s characterized by rapid + radical change in the field of cognitive psychology
what was a main characteristic of the cognitive revolution?
marked the departure from behaviourism
what did Dom Thomas Verner Moore do?
wrote a cognitive psychology text in 1939 contemplating cognition prior to any modern framework (like information theory)
why was Dom Thomas Verner Moore’s text significant?
it showed that not every psychologist was a behaviourist before the cognitive revolution
what did Edward Tolman do?
challenged the behaviourist view w/ his experiments on rats in mazes
what did Edward Tolman discover from his work on rats in mazes?
that humans + animals learn by acquiring info + forming mental representations of their environment
demonstrated rats could learn the layout of a maze w/out reinforcement
how did Edward Tolman view the black box of cognition?
argued against it; believed that internal cognitive processes are central to understanding how learning occurs
what is the mind-as-computer analogy?
an analogy for the brain emerging out of WWII + modern computing systems, drawing heavily on information theory
what were the 3 components of the mind-as-computer analogy?
inputs, outputs, and program
what is ‘input’ in the mind-as-computer analogy?
information received through perception (auditory + visual input)
what are ‘outputs’ in the mind-as-computer analogy?
observable behaviours (actions + decisions)
what is the ‘program’ in the mind-as-computer analogy?
the internal cognitive processes behind behaviour (attention + memory)
what are process models?
a model for cognitive processes that focuses on the sequence of mental operations
what do process models try to explain?
how information is transformed + moved through the different stages of processing
what are process models valuable for?
for complex cognitive tasks
what is an example of a process model?
Broadbent’s model of selective attention
what is Broadbent’s model of selective attention?
a model proposing steps to how attention selects relevant information from the environment
what kind of selection model is Broadbent’s model of selective attention + why?
an early selection model b/c it suggests that attention acts as a filter in the early processing stream
what are the 3 steps to Broadbent’s model of selective attention?
the sensory store, the selective filter, and the limited capacity channel
what are structural models?
models for cognitive processes that focuses on the physical organization of the brain + connections between diff brain areas
what is cognitive psychology?
the field focusing on the inner workings of the mind thru observation + analysis of behaviour
what levels of analysis does cognitive psychology rely on?
computational and algorithmic
what is cognitive neuroscience?
the field focusing on the biological structures + processes underlying cognitive functions
what level of analysis does cognitive neuroscience rely on?
the implementational level
what does cognitive neuroscience examine models for?
biological plausibility
what is biological plausibility?
the question of whether a structure can actually perform a specific task
what is electrophysiology?
a technique used in neuroscience to record the electrical activity of neurons
direct measurement of neural activity
what are the benefits + limitations of electrophysiology?
very good temporal resolution, limited spatial resolution
what is neuronal selectivity?
the tendency of individual neuron’s to respond to certain stimuli while remaining (partially) unresponsive to others
what did Charlie Gross find?
evidence for neuronal selectivity; recorded neurons in the visual cortex of macaques, found that certain neurons responded only to shapes representing the monkey’s own fingers
what do the findings of Charlie Gross suggest?
that neuronal selectivity exists; some neurons are tuned to respond to certain features + patterns of stimuli
what is fMRI?
a neuroimaging technique that measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow + oxygenation
what is fMRI good for?
spatial resolution (down to the mm precision) and localization of function
what is localization of function?
the idea that different parts of the brain specialize in different cognitive functions
is fMRI a direct or indirect measure of neural activity?
indirect measure b/c it reflects metabolic demands rather than electrical activity
what is EEG?
a neuroimaging technique that measures fluctuations of voltages in the brain
what is EEG good for?
temporal resolution – can tell us when something is happening down to the millisecond
portable
what is a limitation of EEGs?
they have poor spatial resolution
what were Hubel + Wiesel known for?
using electrophysiology to measure neuron activity in the visual cortex of cats + monkeys
what did Hubel and Wiesel find?
discovered feature detectors and discovered that visual info is processed in a hierarchical manner
what are feature detectors?
specialized neurons that respond selectively to features of visual stimuli (e.g., movement + orientation)
what does the hierarchical manner of visual processing mean?
that neurons in early visual areas respond to simple features; neurons in later visual areas respond to more complex features
what is population coding?
the idea that a specific stimulus is represented by a large group of combined neurons
what are the benefits of population coding?
it allows for complex + detailed representations
what is population coding best for?
brain systems that require continuous representation (e.g., the motor cortex)
what is the limitation(s) of population coding?
it is metabolically expensive – requires more energy + oxygen
what is sparse coding?
the idea that a small, selective group of neurons represent a stimulus
what is the benefit of sparse coding?
it is more metabolically efficient
what tasks is sparse coding ideal for?
tasks requiring efficiency + selectivity (e.g., attention + memory)
what does sparse coding intend to do?
use the optimal number of neurons to sufficiently represent a stimulus w/out using too many resources
in cognitive psychology, what is the main focus?
behaviour
in cognitive neuroscience, what is the main focus?
biological plausibility
if you’re looking to identify specific brain regions associated w/ a task, which neuroimaging technique is best?
fMRI
if you’re looking to study rapid changes in brain activity, which neuroimaging method would be best?
EEG
what are the limitations of fMRI?
bad temporal resolution, expensive, not portable
what is scene gist?
the idea that if you see a scene for a fraction of a second, you can have a good understanding of what is going on
is scene gist 100% accurate?
no, you may miss some finer details of the scene
who were Greene and Olivia?
researchers who used scene gist to study visual perception
how fast can we understand scenes?
in less than the blink of an eye; blinks last 150-200 ms, we can understand a static scene if shown for less than that
what is the binocular visual field?
the visual field that both eyes can see together
how large is the binocular visual field?
180-190º horizontal + 130-140º vertical
what does visual angle depend on?
the object’s size + the distance from the observer
what are photoreceptors?
the cells on the retina that are sensitive to light
what are the 2 types of photoreceptors?
cones and rods
what are cones for?
responsible for colour vision + visual sharpness
how many types of cones are there?
3 - each sensitive to a different wavelength of light: red, green, or blue
where are the cones most densely packed?
in the fovea
where does cone density decrease?
in the periphery
where do cones not exist?
only on the blind spot
what are rods for?
seeing in low-light conditions as they are highly sensitive to light
what is one property of rods that is different from cones?
they do not distinguish among colours
where is the peak distribution of rods?
in the periphery, 15-20º from the fovea
where are rods not present?
in the fovea
what is the optic disc?
the blind spot
what is eccentricity?
the angular distance something is from the fovea
which area has 0 eccentricity?
the fovea
what is the fovea?
the central point of the retina where vision is the sharpest
what is peripheral vision?
the ability to see objects outside of our direct line of sight
what are some characteristics of peripheral vision?
contains photoreceptors at a lower density
more sensitive to movement + dim light b/c of peak distribution of rods
what does peripheral vision do?
direct eyes to areas of interest by allowing the brain to quickly assess the environment
is peripheral vision inherently blurry?
no
what does colourblindness refer to?
issues w/ cone photoreceptors in the retina causing a deficit in colour vision
how does colourblindness typically occur?
from 1 or more cone types being missing or damaged
what is protanopia?
a type of colourblindness characterized by missing L cones (sensitive to red)
what is deuteranopia?
a type of colourblindness characterized by missing M cones (sensitive to green)
what is tritanopia?
a type of colourblindness characterized by missing S cones (sensitive to blue)
what is achromatopsia?
a rare type of colourblindness characterized by NO colour vision
what usually causes achromatopsia?
brain damage rather than damage to photoreceptors
what is peripheral vision not completely sufficient at?
object identification and localization
what is the problem of object recognition?
objects appear in various spaces, sizes and orientation; makes it difficult to create constant representations
what is image segmentation?
the process of separating a visual scene into distinct objects + their backgrounds
what are the 2 strategies the brain uses to handle the problem of object recognition?
individual representations and invariant representations
what are individual representations?
representations that encode specific features and characteristics
what are invariant representations?
representations that allow us to identify an object despite its orientation
what is occlusion?
where one object partially blocks another
can our brains still identify occluded objects?
yes
what is shape variability?
the idea that recognizing objects can be difficult b/c the same objects can vary in shape
what is perceptual consistency?
the idea that we can still recognize the same object despite it appearing in different states (lighting, viewpoint, etc..)
what are illusory objects?
a phenomenon where we perceive objects as being present that are not really there
what does unconscious interference have to do w/ our perception of illusory objects?
it can lead us to “fill in the gaps” and perceive an object that is not present
what is template theory?
a model suggesting that the visual system compares an object in the world to a stored representation of that object in memory
what are the issues w/ template theory?
due to object diversity, the brain would need a large # of templates (metabolically expensive)
struggles to explain how we can represent objects from different viewpoints
would require separate templates for every possible occlusion of an object
what is feature analysis?
a model that suggests the brain breaks down visual input into its basic features (lines, colours, edges) and uses them to construct object representations
what are the benefits of feature analysis?
it allows for the recognition of objects despite changes in viewpoint, shape and occlusion
less metabolically expensive
what are simple cells?
a type of neuron that respond best to oriented lines at a specific location on the retina
what are complex cells?
a type of neuron that respond best to oriented lines regardless of orientation
but have preferred motion directions
what are hypercomplex cells?
a type of neuron that respond to combinations for specific features
what do simple, complex and hypercomplex cells mean for the information the brain can encode?
the brain can easily encode a large amount of information b/c it’s broken down into basic components
what is adaptation?
a reduction in response rate to a stimulus after being presented w/ it a large number of times
a form of habituation w/in the visual system
what does adaptation do to a neuron?
cause it to become less sensitive to the presence of a certain feature
what are aftereffects?
visual phenomena that occur after prolonged exposure to a stimulus
why do aftereffects occur?
b/c the visual system adapts to the constant presence of a stimulus + leads to a change in perception when it is removed
what are low-level visual areas?
areas that contain simple cells and are low-level b/c they detect basic + localized features
what are mid-level visual areas?
areas that contain complex cells + are mid-level b/c they integrate information across a large spatial area + are sensitive to motion
what are high-level visual areas?
areas that contain hypercomplex cells + are high-level b/c they represent entire objects instead of features
what is visual agnosia?
a neurological disorder causing the inability to recognize familiar objects despite intact vision
how does visual agnosia occur?
due to damage in the ventral stream (the “what” pathway)
what is prosopagnosia?
a neurological condition causing the inability to recognize one’s own + other’s faces
what is the two visual streams hypothesis (TVSH)?
a hypothesis by Goodale + Miller that suggests the brain processes visual info across 2 distinct pathways
what is the ventral stream?
the “what” pathway; crucial for identifying + recognizing objects
what is the dorsal stream?
the “where” pathway; crucial for recognizing the spatial location of objects relative to the viewer + guiding actions
who was Patient D.F.?
a patient w/ damage to her temporal lobe that resulted in disassociation between perception and action
what could Patient D.F. not do?
could not identify objects or their orientation
what could Patient D.F. do?
could use visual info to guide her actions
why is Patient D.F. significant?
provided crucial evidence for TVSH
what is the fusiform face area (FFA)?
a part of the brain known for playing a key role in recognizing faces
what did Nancy Kanwisher show?
in her research, that the FFA exhibits a selective response to faces
what did Isabel Gauthier show?
that FFA is not exclusive only to faces
what are greebles?
novel + artificial objects created by Isabel Gauthier
what is the significance of greebles and the FFA?
Isabel Gauthier showed that individuals who became experts in “greebles” had increased FFA activity when viewing greebles
what is Balint’s Syndrome?
a rare brain disorder that affects how an individual sees + interacts w/ the world
what are the symptoms of Balint’s Syndrome?
trouble seeing more than 1 object at a time
difficulty reaching for objects
trouble moving their eyes to look at something new
what are perceptual assumptions?
the inferences that our brain makes based on our prior experiences and expectations to guide perception
what are perceptual biases?
the errors in perception that arise due to perceptual assumptions being misapplied
what kind of perceptions do we have?
non-veridical (not 100% accurate)
what is the likelihood principle?
the idea that we perceive the world based on the most likely interpretation based on our previous knowledge + experiences, not how it truly is
what are Gestalt principles?
how our brain tends to organize visual elements into groups + patterns
who is credited w/ creating the likelihood principle?
Hermann von Helmholtz in the 19th century
what is the proximity gestalt principle?
elements close together in space are perceived as belonging together
what is the similarity gestalt principle?
elements that share visual characteristics are perceived as a group
what is the closure gestalt principle?
that our brain tends to perceive a complete figure even if it’s incomplete
what is the good continuation gestalt principle?
our brain tends to perceive lines + contours as flowing smoothly even if they overlap
what is the common fate gestalt principle?
our brain tends to perceive objects moving together in the same direction as a group
what is the pragnanz gestalt principle?
our brain tends to perceive objects in their simplest + most symmetrical forms so they are easier to understand
what is light-from-above?
the idea that our visual systems assume light sources are above us
what is the oblique effect?
the idea that our brains are better at discriminating orientations that are closer to horizontal + vertical
what is face inversion?
the idea that our brains are better at processing faces when they are upright rather than inverted
what is the Thatcher illusion?
the idea that inverting the features sin a face + inverting the face only looks weird if it’s upright
what are semantic violations?
when objects appear out of context but in physically possible locations
what are syntactic violations?
when objects appear in the correct context but in physically impossible locations
who is Melissa Vo?
a researcher exploring how we quickly + unconsciously process scenes
what is scene grammar?
the implicit rules + principles that govern object placement and relationships w/ different environments
what is visual search?
a classic tool for studying attention + cognition that involves looking for a target among distractors
when is search easy?
when targets are defined by a single visual feature
when is search difficult?
when targets are defined by a combination of features
what is pop-out search?
when a target is defined by a single feature, so it’s easy to ignore everything else
does the number of distractors matter in pop-out search?
no
what is set size?
the total number of distractors in a search
how is reaction time affected in pop-out search?
reaction time does not change
is pop-out search parallel or serial?
parallel
what does parallel search mean?
that you do not have to go through every item on its own
what is conjunction search?
when a target has more than 1 feature, so you have to go from item to item
is conjunction search parallel or serial?
serial
what is serial search?
when you must go through each item 1 by 1
how is reaction time affected in conjunction search?
reaction time scales w/ set size
what is present vs. absent search?
when you must determine whether or not an object is present
how does absent vs. present search differ in feature + conjunction search?
in feature search, it doesn’t matter whether or not the target is present or absent
in conjunction search, you need to go thru half the items (on average) to determine whether the target is absent or presrnt
what separates real world search from visual search?
often it is much more difficult due to occlusion + complex environments
what is satisficing?
the idea of our brains prioritizing efficiency over completeness + accuracy
how did William James define attention in the Principles of Psychology?
as taking possession of the mind in clear + vivid form, of one of several simultaneously possible objects/trains of thought
what is the problem of attention?
the challenge of maintaining limited cognitive resources w/ an influx of sensory information
what is the limited capacity problem of attention?
the world is very detailed but there’s a limit to how much we can represent
what is the selectivity problem of attention?
the challenge of choosing which information to prioritize in the vast amounts of information we receive
what is the vigilance problem of attention?
the difficulty of maintaining focus over large periods of time (especially on monotonous tasks)
what is the interference problem of attention?
the challenge of the environment being full of potential distractors that compete for our attention
what is the multitasking problem of attention?
the challenge of being slower + less accurate when trying to do 2+ tasks at once
what are the consequences of the problems of attention?
inattentional blindness and change blindness
what is inattentional blindness?
when our attention is focused on one task + we fail to notice stimuli that is unexpected/irrelevant even if it is obvious
what is change blindness?
when our attention is focused on one task + we fail to notice change in a scene even if it is relatively large + obvious
what is the safety in numbers problem?
that we are less likely to notice + respond to events that happen rarely or infrequently
what is Broadbent’s early selection model?
a model that sees attention as an absolute gatekeeper
how does Broadbent’s early selection model work?
the brain selects sensory input before detecting it
if you choose to attend to something, it goes on for further processing, if you don’t, it’s gone
what is the cocktail party effect?
the effect where you can be in a crowded room + still hear your name in conversation
what is Moray’s 1959 experiment?
a dichotic listening paradigm that showed if participants heard their name in a prompt while attending to something else, they were more likely to respond
what do the cocktail party effect and Moray’s 1959 experiment show?
that attention is not an absolute filter + some info that you have no awareness of can get through
provide evidence against early selection
what is the flaw of the early selection model?
it argues for too much information being discarded
what is the late selection model?
a model that argues attention works after all stimuli (including task-irrelevant) has been recognized
what is the flaw with late selection models?
they are too metabolically expensive and argue for too much information getting through
what did Anne Treisman create?
both the attenuation model of attention + feature integration theory (FIT)
what is the attenuation model of attention?
a model that argues attention is not a gatekeeper, but more of a filter
how does the attenuation model of attention work?
irrelevant information is not completely blocked but instead reduced before detection + recognition occurs
what does the attenuation model of attention show?
that attending to 1 thing doesn’t block everything else
that we have some awareness of things we’re not attending to
what is feature integration theory (FIT)?
a theory that argues attention is what binds features into objects
how does feature integration theory work in pop-out search tasks?
doesn’t require binding (b/c there’s only 1 feature to search for)
how does feature integration theory work in conjunction search tasks?
does require binding b/c you must determine that 2 characteristics belong to 1 object
what is guided search?
a model that suggests the brain uses “feature maps” to guide where attention is directed during visual search tasks
what is attentional cueing?
a paradigm used to investigate how attention is shifted + the effects of shifted attention on our ability to process info
who created the attentional cueing paradigm + when?
Posner in 1980
what were the effects when a cue correctly predicted target location?
participants responded faster
what were the effects when a cue incorrectly predicted target location?
participants responded slower
what did attentional cueing show?
that shifting attention away from the cued location to a target costs more time, therefore slower reaction time
what is attentional capture?
when a salient stimulus grabs your attention despite being irrelevant to the task you’re doing
what is overt attention?
attending where we are looking
how can bottom-up factors drive overt attention?
b/c salient stimuli can draw our attention involuntarily
how do top-down factors drive overt attention?
b/c our knowledge + previous experiences can guide where we look for information
how can overt attention be studied?
through eye tracking
what is covert attention?
attending somewhere other than where you’re looking
what can we attend to?
objects (object-based attention) or locations (spatial attention)
can you attend to something that isn’t there?
yes
how difficult is multiple object tracking?
most people can easily do <2, but >4 is difficult
what does contralateral organization of the visual system mean?
that visual info processed in the right or left hemifield is processed in the opposite side of the brain
where is visual information not processed?
in the eyes
what is the LGN repsonsible for?
acting as a relay station that receives input from optic nerves
what is visual area V4 responsible for?
processing colour + form
what is the inferotemporal cortex responsible for?
processing shape + object recognition
what is the parietal cortex responsible for?
processing spatial information + using it to guide actions
what is the concept of retinotopic mapping?
that locations close together in the visual world are represented by neurons close together in the brain
what are the neuronal impacts of attention?
attention enhances neural activity in brain areas responsible for processing the attended information
what is the rapid serial visual representation paradigm (RSVP)?
a paradigm that focuses on how fast we can process information
what are the 3 tasks of RSVP?
memory task, detection (pre-cue) task, and category search task
what is the memory task in RSVP?
participants are asked to remember all images presented + tested on their ability to recall one of the pictures
what is the detection (pre-cue) task in RSVP?
participants are shown an image in advance + asked to point out when they see that image in the stream
what is the category search task in RSVP?
participants are given a category in advance + asked to report when they see a member of that category
what were the results of RSVP?
participants could successfully complete all 3 tasks w/ a presentation rate of 1fps but performance on category search declined at 4-8 fps
what did the results of RSVP show?
that detection tasks are less demanding than recognition + categorization tasks
what is the attentional blink paradigm?
a method to study the temporal limitations of attention
what did the results of the attentional blink paradigm show?
that the ability to detect a 2nd target is impaired if presented shortly after a 1st target
what is switch cost?
the idea that you are slower + less accurate when switching between tasks rather than doing 1 task
what are the 2 forms of distracted driving?
cognitive distraction and visual distraction
what is cognitive distraction in driving?
when attention is directed on a task other than driving but one is still looking at the road
what is visual distraction in driving?
when one is physically looking away from the road to focus on another task
what is attentional tunnelling?
a phenomenon where a person’s attention is so focused on a task that they fail to notice important events/information in the environment
what did Atkinson and Shriffin create?
the modal model of memory
what is the modal model of memory?
a theoretical framework to describe memory with 3 stages
what are the 3 stages of the modal memory model?
sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory
what is sensory memory?
the initial stage of the modal model where sensory info is briefly held
what does sensory memory do?
hold onto sensory information briefly so that attention can select relevant information to hold on to
what are the characteristics of sensory memory?
it has a large capacity + decays rapidly
what are the 2 subtypes of sensory memory?
iconic memory and echoic memory
what is iconic memory?
a subtype of sensory memory which acts as the temporary store for visual information
what is echoic memory?
a subtype of sensory memory which acts as the temporary store for auditory information
what is another term for short-term memory?
working memory
what does short-term (working) memory do?
holds a limited amount of information that is actively being worked
what is the capacity of short-term (working) memory?
3-4 items
what is rehearsal?
a method of repeating information in short-term memory to help transfer it to long-term memory
what does long-term memory do?
holds large amounts of information for extended periods of time
what are the characteristics of long-term memory?
vast capacity, durable, inactive
what is meant by long-term memory being “inactive”?
we do not have conscious awareness of everything in long-term memory
what is meant by long-term memory being “durable”?
more robust against decay
what is retrieval?
the process of moving information from long-term memory to short-term memory so that we can express it
what did Sperling (1960) do?
demonstrated the large capacity + rapid decay of iconic memory using a partial report paradigm
what did the results of Sperling (1960) show?
that participants could report more information immediately after presentation
what do the results of Sperling (1960) suggest?
that a large amount of information is initially available in iconic memory but decays rapidly
what were the effects of a visual mask in Sperling (1960)?
the visual mask worsened performance
what did the results of the visual mask show in Sperling (1960)?
that new sensory input can disrupt or overwrite information in iconic memory
what did Glanzer & Kunitz (1966) do?
used a free recall task to determine how presentation speed and “junk” impact memory
what is the primacy effect?
the effect where better recall is demonstrated for items at the beginning of a list
what causes the primacy effect?
privileged rehearsal – items at the beginning of a list have more time to be rehearsed
what is the recency effect?
the effect where better recall is demonstrated for items at the end of a list
what causes the recency effect?
the fact that items are still active in short-term memory at the time of recall
how did presentation speeds affect the primacy + recency effect in Glanzer & Kunitz (1966)?
slower presentation speed enhanced the primacy effect, did not change the recency effect
why did presentation speed affect the primacy + recency effect in this way?
b/c slowing the rate of presentation allowed more time for rehearsal, but STM storage was unaffected
what did Glanzer & Kunitz (1966) and Sperling (1960) provide evidence for?
the modal model of memory
what is anterograde amnesia?
the inability to encode new information after an accident (brain injury)
who was patient H.M.?
Henry Molaison, an anterograde amnesiac
what were patient H.M.’s ailments?
was unable to encode most new information, and was difficult to access LTM
what could patient H.M. do?
he could recall pre-surgery information + had functional STM
able to learn new motor skills + be classically conditioned + primed associations
what did H.M.’s postmortem exam reveal?
he had a partial hippocampal lesion
how did H.M.’s partial hippocampal lesion explain his condition?
hippocampus moves information from STM to LTM, explaining why he couldn’t encode new information
who was Clive Wearing?
an anterograde amnesiac
what were Clive Wearing’s ailments?
impaired declarative memory (could not name/label things), could not access LTM
what was Clive Wearing able to do?
could develop new procedural memories (skills, tasks) through repetition, could perform tasks
who was patient K.F.?
an anterograde amnesiac
what were patient K.F’s ailments?
had limited working memory capacity w/ a digit span of only 1 item
what could patient K.F. do?
could transfer some information from WM to LTM, could retrieve info from LTM
how do the cases of patient H.M. and K.F. differ?
b/c H.M. had short-term memory but could not transfer to long-term memory
K.F. had impaired short-term memory but could transfer to long-term memory
how do the cases of patient H.M. and K.F. break the modal model of memory?
b/c it provides the question: how is information getting to long-term memory if short-term memory isn’t there?
what is Baddeley’s working memory model?
a model that sees STM as a multi-component system that actively works info, rather than a passive storage unit
what is the central executive in Baddeley’s WM model?
the control centre that coordinates activity of the phonological loop + visuospatial buffer
what is the phonological loop in Baddeley’s WM model?
the subsystem which stores auditory + verbal information for immediate processing
what is the visuospatial buffer in Baddeley’s WM model?
the subsystem which stores visual + spatial info for immediate processing
what are the 3 pieces of evidence for the phonological loop?
phonological similarity, articulatory suppression, and word length effect
what is phonological similarity?
evidence for the phonological loop that shows our tendency to confuse letters/words that sound similar
what does phonological similarity show?
that information is stored in a phonological code (representation based on sound)
what is articulatory suppression?
evidence for the phonological loop that shows repeating irrelevant sounds while memorizing words impairs performance
what does articulatory suppression show?
that verbal rehearsal is important for retaining information in the phonological loop
what is the word length effect?
evidence for the phonological loop that shows we can remember more short words than long ones
what does the word length effect show?
that the phonological loop has a limited capacity
what are the capacity limits of the visuospatial buffer?
3-4 items, regardless of complexity
what is the proof of correlation between vSTM and higher cognitive functions?
there is a strong correlation between visuospatial buffer capacity and fluid intelligence
what did Alvarez & Cavanagh (2004) do?
investigated the capacity limits of vSTM in relation to object complexity
what did Alvarez & Cavanagh (2004) find?
that vSTM stores the same amount of complex objects as simple ones, but memory representations for complex objects are less precise?
what is contralateral delay activity (CDA)?
a difference in brain activity between the 2 hemispheres when we are holding information in vSTM
what does CDA tell us?
it provides evidence for the capacity limits of vSTM
what does CDA show?
it increases as you hold more items, but hits a hard limit that you cannot bypass
does complexity of an object affect CDA?
no
what is BOLD activity?
blood oxygen level dependent activity
what does BOLD activity do when you hold information in vSTM?
it increases
how much does BOLD activity increase when holding info in vSTM?
it increases in proportion to the # of items that are held in vSTM
what does BOLD activity tell us?
that there is a hard limit of vSTM capacity – past 3-4 items, BOLD activity plateaus
what is dual-task interference?
the effect where performing 2 tasks at once leads to a decline in performance in 1 (or both) tasks
why does dual-task interference occur?
b/c both tasks are competing for the same limited pool of cognitive resources
what does it tell us if dual-task interference does not occur?
that the 2 tasks pull from different cognitive resource pools + therefore don’t compete
do the phonological loop + visuospatial buffer rely on the same cognitive resources?
no
what is the difference of audio verbal vs. visual distractions in driving?
both have a level of distraction, but visual is more b/c it draws on the same resource pool as looking at the road
what is maintenance rehearsal?
the process of repeatedly thinking about + saying information to retain it in STM
what is maintenance rehearsal useful for?
temporarily maintaining info in STM
what is maintenance rehearsal not useful for?
transferring information from STM to LTM
what did Craik & Watkins (1971) predict?
that if studying longer + harder helps LTM encoding, then longer periods of rehearsal will lead to more accurate recall
what did the results of Craig & Watkins (1971) show?
that there is no relationship between longer rehearsal periods + better LTM recall
why does maintenance rehearsal not work well for LTM encoding?
b/c it does not facilitate meaningful connections that allow for LTM encoding
does it matter how long + hard you rehearse something?
not for LTM encoding
what is elaborative rehearsal?
a type of rehearsal that involves engaging w/ the information + making connections to facilitate its transfer to LTM
what are the 3 stages of processing?
shallow, medium and deep processing
what is shallow processing?
engaging superficially w/ material without considering its deeper meaning or making connections
how does shallow processing affect LTM recall?
leads to poor LTM recall
what is medium processing?
engaging w/ the information’s basic features and how they relate to one another
how does medium processing affect LTM recall?
leads to better LTM recall than shallow processing, but still not as effective as deeper processing
what is deep processing?
engaging w/ meaning + making deeper connections of information to existing knowledge
how does deep processing affect LTM recall?
leads to best LTM recall b/c it creates a network of associations which makes retrieval easier
what is incidental learning?
learning w/out intention
what is intentional learning?
learning w/ intention
in what stage of processing do intentional vs. incidental learning occur?
in any stage of processing
is incidental or intentional learning better than the other?
not particularly – the depth of processing matters more
what is the generation effect?
the effect where information is better learned + recalled when it is actively created by the learner
what causes the generation effect?
the fact that it is a type of deep processing, which facilitates better recall
what is summarization?
a technique that involves rewriting concepts in your own words
what kind of processing is summarization?
deep processing
how does summarization affect performance?
it leads to the best performance on recall tasks regardless of time elapsed
what are mnemonics?
techniques that help learning by providing ways to organize concepts
what are first-letter mnemonics?
a type of mnemonics that use the first letter of words to make acronyms that facilitate recall
what are peg-word mnemonics?
a type of mnemonics that provides a system that associates pre-existing knowledge with information you want to remember
what is the journey technique?
a type of mnemonics that focuses on imagining a journey + places information thru/out the trip
what is the mental loci/mind palace technique?
a type of mnemonics that focuses on a familiar space + associates information w/ places in the space
what is the narrative technique?
a mnemonics technique that involves adding backstory to information in a familiar space to remember it better
why are titles + labels effective for facilitating recall?
they help us to link information to pre-existing ideas + broader concepts
what are the mnemonic principles?
- minimize interference
- use pre-existing info
- use vivid imagery
what are the effects of spacing on memory?
information is better remembered if encoded in multiple spaced episodes rather than 1 massed episode
how much time is optimal for studying?
it depends on how long you want to remember it
what is encoding specificity?
the idea that memories are linked with the context they were encoded in
what is context reinstatement?
the idea that recalling a memory in the same context it was encoded In should facilitate better retrieval
what is the downside of context reinstatement?
it makes memories more difficult to retrieve in different contexts
what is state-dependent memory?
the idea that memories are better retrieved in the same context (location, mood state) they were encoded in
what is the issue with state-dependent memory?
it is not good for remembering information over long periods of time + thru different contexts
what is the link between mood and memory?
if mental state is matched from the time of learning and testing, then performance on recall tasks is better
what is the importance between being intoxicated and memory?
if state of intoxication (w/ weed or alcohol) is matched at the time of testing + learning, performance is better
what does testing do for encoding?
lead to better performance (practice tests)
