Week 10

Question 1

• Encoding

Answer 1

getting material into memory

Question 2

Retrieval

Answer 2

getting it out again

Question 3

Encoding-retrieval

Answer 3

interactions

Question 4

Encoding and Retrieval

Answer 4

Studying words in an experiment
• Identify a word through the visual word identification system
• Perform the study task and encode the word into memory
• Associated with contextual information
• At test
• Use cues provided by the experimenter - “focus on the study list”
• and self-generated cues - e.g., think of the words I rated as
pleasant in the study task
• Try to retrieve words from the memory of the study task
• Retrieval processes may be different for recall and recognition

Question 5

Encoding

Answer 5

• So encoding is entering material into memory
• A theory of encoding into LTM was given in the modal
model
• Information maintained by rehearsal in STM until transferred to
LTM
• Largely a structural account - memory as stores
• Problems:
• Memory is affected by how material is processed at study
• In fact, rehearsal does NOT produce good long term memory!
• Also, there are multiple ways to encode material in STM and LTM

Question 6

The Levels of Processing (LOP)

Answer 6

• In studying words, Ps can attend to three aspects
• letters & orthography (spelling)
• phonology (pronunciation)
• meaning (semantics)
• Recall of studied words is better after semantic processing than rehearsal
(Craik & Lockhart, 1972)
• Rehearsal = say the word aloud or silently, over and over
• Levels of Processing theory, a continuum of depth:
• Orthographic phonological semantic

Question 7

LOP effect

Answer 7

• Intentional learning instructions vs. one of three study tasks (Craik,
1977)
• Is it in upper or lower case? (letters: orthographic)
• FROG - does it rhyme with DOG? (phonological)
• Is it a living thing? (semantic)

Question 8

Intention to learn

Answer 8

• Does it matter whether there is an intention to learn, over and above specific
study tasks? (Hyde & Jenkins, 1973)
• Study task x Instruction about later test
 Rate pleasantness (semantic) Memory test! No test instruction vs. letter checking task (orthographic) Memory test! No test instruction

Question 9

Evidence for LOP

Answer 9

• Jacoby, Craik & Begg, 1979
• Imagine object and evaluate size differences at study
• horse-goat vs. cat-elephant
• Small size differences better memory for words (unexpected test).
• LOP: Deeper semantic analysis with small size differences
• LOP is valid in many situations

Question 10

LOP: Elaboration

Answer 10

• Connections: Provide retrieval cues and paths
• Craik & Tulving 1975, Study task
• Does CHICKEN fit in the sentence?
A: The girl cooked the _______
B: The great bird swooped down and carried off the
struggling ______
• Recall of words (chicken) better for elaborate condition
(B).
• More connections with event memories, concepts.

Question 11

Deep processing and learning

Answer 11

• There is a large educational literature showing the benefit of
semantic and elaborate processing in student learning
• Elaborative processing associated with:
• Organisation
• Imposing your own order on items enhances memory
• Method of loci, other mnemonics
• Promotes connections
• Chunking (not just a STM thing)
• Semantic processing promotes chunking based on meaning or
structure of items (e.g., skilled vs novice chess players
memory of the location of pieces on a board).
• Understanding… à

Question 12

Understanding and memory

Answer 12

• Recall was better when interpretation was provided at outset
• Understanding promotes connections
• Interpretation unifies - fewer elements to remember

Question 13

Independent assessments of depth?

Answer 13

• PROBLEM with LOC; Logical or conceptual: Circularity
(Baddeley, 1978)
• Deep processing is that which promotes good memory
• Direct attempts to measure the critical aspect of deep processing
that promotes memory were not successful
• Is processing time an index of depth? (Craik & Tulving, 1975)
• No. Deep processing does not necessarily take longer.
• Is processing difficulty the critical factor?
• No, difficult but superficial (orthographical) tasks did not
improve memory
• does the word WITCH match CCVCC?
• where C = consonant, V = vowel

Question 14

Empirical problems with LOP

Answer 14

• Meaning or distinctiveness?
• “Has a trunk” identifies elephant better than
“contains two letter Es”
• Semantic processing enhances distinctiveness of
memories?
• Pit meaning against distinctiveness: Does distinctive
non-semantic processing produce good memory?
• Eysenck & Eysenck 1980:
• Words with atypical spelling-sound
correspondences, e.g., love, glove
• Distinctiveness x Semantic coding condition
• Recognition test

Question 15

Conditions: Eysenck & Eysenck

Answer 15

Semantic Non-semantic
Distinctive
Atypical descriptor
saggy glove
Distinctive pronunciation
glove rhymes with stove
Non-distinctive
Typical descriptor
leather glove
Correct pronunciation
glove rhymes with love

Question 16

Distinctiveness vs. connections

Answer 16

• Connections and relationships support retrieval
(semantic)
• Provide retrieval cues and paths
• So helps access memories of the study phase
• Distinctiveness helps to discriminate among
retrieved items that are similar or related
• And among the study-list encounter with an item and prior
encounters with that item
• Especially useful for recognition tests

Question 17

What else helps encoding?

Answer 17

• Rhyme working with semantic cues
• The oral tradition (David Rubin)
• Rhyme and meaning work together to
provide structure, integration, cues
e.g., Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool
Yes sir, yes sir ……………………………………….?

Question 18

Emotion and encoding

Answer 18

• When people are asked for their clearest
memories of childhood most reported
emotionally-charged events (Rubin & Kozin)
• accidents, birthdays, etc
• Lab experiment
• Cahill & McGaugh showed Ps a slide show of a
hospital visit with graphic surgery slides embedded
in it.
• One group told the surgery was real, the other that
it was faked (for training).
• “Real” group showed better memory for the
emotional material (not other slides)

Question 19

What does emotion do?

Answer 19

• Increases arousal: Arousal increases attention…
• Is there an emotion effect beyond the attention effect?
• Induce emotion just after material has been presented
• Nielson et al. - surgery vs. neutral material just after Ps listen to a word list to be
remembered.
• Emotion group showed a memory benefit for words
Emotion is about important events –
threat, opportunity, pain, love,
friendship.
We have evolved to encode
emotional events better because
they are the important events

Question 20

Flashbulb memories

Answer 20

• People report vivid detailed memories from the time of major and
consequential disturbing events
• World Trade Centre Towers, tsunamis in Indonesia and Japan
• Many studies conducted over the years suggest that people’s confidence
in their “flashbulb” memories is misplaced
• Forgetting is similar to that of other memories but people have much
more confidence in their 9/11 memories (Talarico & Rubin)
• 9/11 memories for distress changed over time and were predicted by
current appraisal of importance of the attack (Levine et al.)

Question 21

Retrieval cues

Answer 21

• Things that are forgotten are not necessarily lost from
memory
• Decay is not a major cause of forgetting
• Many memories are intact - just not accessible!
• Tip of the tongue effect - I know the word, just
can’t access it!
• Where do the words go…?
• Multiple study and recall attempts with a list of 36 words (Tulving, 1967)
• On each recall attempt, Ps remembered nearly 4 words that they had
not recalled on the previous test
• (But they also forgot 3.9 words from the last test)

Question 22

Useful retrieval cues

Answer 22

• Suppose contextual information is encoded with an item at study
• If Ps study the picture of the character
• Then dinosaur might be a good retrieval cue for the characters/actors.
• This cue can be provided in the test or generated by the participant

Question 23

Encoding retrieval interactions

Answer 23

• So, for good memory
• Material should be encoded in a way that improves its
accessibility at test
• Effective retrieval cues should be provided at test

Question 24

Encoding-retrieval interactions

Answer 24

• Much of the early memory work was done with
word lists in recall and recognition tests
• Later, it was realised that what works depends
upon how the material is going to be used and
how memory is to be probed at test
• The relationship between study and test is vital
• Semantic encoding is useful for conceptually
(semantically) based tests
• Recall, recognition, many university exams.

Question 25

Encoding-retrieval interactions

Answer 25

• How encoding processes and test factors combine
• Stein, 1978
• Ps study words with one capital letter
• rocK
• Group 1 - does the word fit?
• The \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ rolled down the hill
• Group 2 - which is the capital letter?
TEST
 A. Choose study words from
distractors
B. Choose word from Rock,
rOck, roCk, rocK
Higher accuracy after sentence study Higher accuracy after letter-task study

Question 26

Stein results

Answer 26

Semantic test does better in semantic study

Case test does better in case study

Question 27

TAP: Transfer appropriate processing

Answer 27

• Morris, Bransford & Franks, 1977.
• Superiority of semantic study reflects the fact that most memory
tests are semantically based.
• Compared a standard recognition test with:
• a phonological test requiring Ps to choose words that sounded like
study words
• Encoding:
Does word fit in sentence (semantic) vs. Does word rhyme with …..?
• Semantic study better for recognition but not for phonological test
• TAP: Transfer is best when test processes overlap with processing at study.

Question 28

State dependent learning

Answer 28

• Environmental context, state-dependent learning
• Re-instate as many of the study conditions
as possible (e.g., situation)
• A classic and related example, Baddeley & Godden
Divers studied words
20 feet underwater or by the water’s edge
Recall in water Recall on land Recall in water Recall on land
So: 2 x 2 factorial design: wet-wet, wet-dry, dry-wet, dry-dry

Question 29

Repeated retrievals - effects on encoding

Answer 29

Memory is a reconstructive process
• Bartlett and the War of the Ghosts
• Ps study a Native American folk-tale (schemas)
• On testing, Ps modified the story in line with the familiar elements of their own
culture
• But on repeated testing over time, Ps will also have opportunities to encode
information consistent with their own schemas
• So there is an interplay between encoding and retrieval
• An issue in repeated questioning in legal testimony
• And a consideration in testing for student learning

Question 30

Testing effects in student learning

Answer 30

• Are tests just for assessment or to help ongoing learning?
• Opportunities for encoding provided by tests
• INDIRECT test effects:
• Students study more if they have a test
• DIRECT test effects
• Additional encoding of material encountered or
retrieved during tests
• Effects of tests on ease of retrieval

Question 31

Roediger & Karpicke, 2006

Answer 31

• Review of evidence on direct effects of tests on
learning & memory
• Early study by Spitzer 1939
• All 6th grade children in 91 Iowa schools! (N =
3605)
• Study 600-word articles on peanuts or bamboo
• test = 25 multi-choice questions
• Varied number and timing of tests
• No additional study opportunities given
• no feedback on tests

Question 32

In the lab - recall of words

Answer 32

• Roediger & Karpicke, 2006
• List of 40 words to memorise
• Twenty trials with the list
Standard group Repeated study Repeated test
(study-test alternation)
STST ….. SSST ………… STTT ………..

Question 33

Multi-choice tests - bad news?

Answer 33

• If multi-choice tests allow students to
choose a familiar answer without making
retrieval efforts
• Then testing effects may not be observed
(Chan et al., 2006)
• But well designed m-c tests do work
• Little et al., 2012: when plausible
distractors are given, students think about
why each alternative is correct or incorrect
• Multi-choice tests fostered learning about
both correct and incorrect alternatives

Question 34

How does testing help?

Answer 34

• Most theories focus on the benefit of retrieval effort
• Bjork - “desirable difficulties”
• Bjork suggests that retrieval promotes biochemical
processes that consolidate memory traces
• This doesn’t happen if material is already available
in WM
• Retrieval may also increase access paths, effective
cues
• Transfer-appropriate processing
• Retrieval practice on one test enhances retrieval on a later
(similar) test

Question 35

Overview - Cognitive psychology’s learning tips

Answer 35

• Review by Roediger, 2013
• Rigorous research evaluation of learning and teaching tips (US Govt report)
Effective or effective in some
situations (*)
Distribute practice - often but not for too long
Distribute practice - often but not for too long
* Interleave practice - mix
problems and topics
* Elaborative interrogation - ask why * Self-explanation something is true
* Self-explanation
Not recommended!
Re-reading text as a study method
Highlighting text as a study method
Summarising text as a study method
Generating images for text-based learning
Devising key-word mnemonics

Question 36

Erasing memories?

Answer 36

• Upon retrieval a memory
may be reconstructed
• During this process certain
drugs (Beta-adrenergic receptor blockers) may be used
to disrupt the process…

Question 37

Putting it all together

Answer 37

So far I have talked about
• Learning
• Attention/Working memory
• Long-term memory
Minimizing surprise, or….
maximizing the sensory evidence
for an agent’s existence (a model
Learning distractor layout and target placement pairings facilitates:
• Attention
• Contextual cueing involves long-term
memory
of its world).
A predictive/Bayesian brain

Question 38

Contextual Cueing

Answer 38

Incidental
- Implicit (recognition test at chance)
- Typically 12 different repeats each b
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