Cognitive Psychology

Primary Memory

short term, the degree of relationship of stored info to consciousness, very consciously aware or short term

Secondary Memory

not consciously aware of long term memories unless try to be, long term

Chunking

taking info that belongs together and grouping it so that is it easier to remember

Sensory Memory

short duration store for sensory info
Echoic: auditory, 3-4 seconds
Iconic: visual, 1/10 second
Haptic: smell, 2 seconds

Implicit Memory

unaware of it, ex: how to tie a shoe

Explicit Memory

aware of it

Semantic Memory

dates of events, details

Episodic Memory

pertaining to events in your own life

Short Term Memory

in hippocampus, info gets lost or stored in cortex, use rehearsal or memory strategies to move to long term memory

Long Term Memory

stored in cortex, if need to remember something then hippocampus retrieves info to bring to consciousness

Ebbinghaus (1885)

used himself as a subject, memorized nonsense syllables because if use real words it contaminates your memory, went back and relearned lists, looked for methods of saving.
Learning curve: takes time to get it at first, then each subsequent time gets better until a point when start forgetting
Retention Curve: over time you stop forgetting

George Miller (1950s)

pioneer of cognitive revolution, thought that human mind was interesting
Magical #7: plus or minus two, number of terms a person can hold in short term memory
took people and gave them lists of varying lengths and most people could remember 7 at a time

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Standard model of memory:

Brown (1958) Peterson (1959)

wanted to find out how long info could staying their memory without rehearsal
subjects have to remember three letters and then count backwards by three
info in short term memory decays over time, duration of short term memory is 18 seconds, didn't take into account that counting is interference

Proactive Interference

Each additional time you do something, performance declines because info tried to remember on first trial is interfering with new info/ old info interferes with making of new memories (new vs old bf)

Retroactive Interference

New info interferes with memory of old info (new locker combo)

Wickens (1972)

performance with each trial declines
given fruits to remember for three trials, fourth trial given new list, when change category performance goes up

Decay Vs Interference Theory

Waugh and Norman (1965): think the reason for bad memory is interference not time
subjects given a list of digits to remember, have a probe and asked what digit came after the probe
digits were presented either slow or fast

Sternberg (1966, 2004)

Thinks that the way we scan our memory is different for short and long term: short term scans everything in memory without stopping even if found what looking for, unlike long
Parallel search: scan all items in short term memory at once
Serial Self-terminating search: if find answer, stop scanning
Serial Exhaustive Search: scan everything, one thing at a time, whether something is found or not

Baddeley Model (1974, 1986)

focuses on functionality of working memory
replaces atkinson and shiffrin concept
focuses on function: hold and manipulate info
working memory not just short term: also place where you manipulate info, has different parts
reading comprehension: use working memory to read what currently looking at and remember what you read before

Central Executive

attentional control: focus attention, select strategies, coordinate behavior, information long term memory, inhibits so tells you what to pay attention to and what not to pay attention to
drives the whole system
control and regulation of attention, inhibition
allocates to the subsystems
located in frontal lobe, executive functioning

Phonological Loop

process verbal info, component of working memory, deals with spoken and written material, language and sounds
subvocalization: say words in your head when read
Phonological Store: short term store of auditory info, storage area of phonological loop, inner ear
Articulatory Loop: rehearses and refreshes info, inner voice

Visuospatial Sketchpad

processes visual info, visualization: imagine something
inner eye
Visual Cache: responsible for visual part of subsystem, temporarily stores visual info about form and color (what)
Inner scribe: deals with spatial info, refreshes visual info in cache (visual moving things) (where)

Working Memory: Independent Capacities

Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
1. given simple true false task (BA), then added digits to memorize: took slightly longer to answer but didn't make errors, so separate working memory for visual and verbal info
2. spatial task of matching, same results
3. spatial F letter tracing, took longer to answer about corner when pointing than when speaking
4. asked to memorize checkerboard, spatial tracing a lady bug and repeating numbers, numbers didn't interfere

Phonological Similarity Effect

Items that are phonologically similar are more difficult to store in working memory
evidence of phonological loop
letters that rhyme, sound the same can cause confusion

Word Length Effect

performance on a recall task is worse when the items are long words versus short words
evidence of articulatory loop
longer words take longer to repeat so take more of working memory

Articulatory Suppression

When you're asked to repeat something out loud while trying to memorize something else, knocks out ability to rehearse

Episodic Buffer

integrates info from the other subsystems, communicates with long term memory and includes a sense of time

Source Misattribution

external source monitoring: confusing two different sources that are both external
Internal source monitoring: can't remember things inside your own head
reality monitoring: when we get confused between what's real and what's imagined
source monitoring error: confuse memory

Misinformation Effect

misinformation is given, can contaminate memory, imagining an event can contaminate as well

Critical Lure

false recall, a word that has to do with a list of words that is said, but the word is not actually on the list

Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM)

Deese gave students list, asked to recall, 44% recalled critical lure
R&M used Deese's methods but used recognition instead of recall, recognized the lure 84% of the time

Implanted Memory

Loftus and Pickell (1995): given 4 topics to write about, three real one fake, 25% falsely remembered details about event that never occurred
Wade & Gary (2002): shown a pic of themselves riding in a hot air balloon, asked repeatedly if remember, 50% report remembering, demonstrated overconfidence

Eyewitness Memory

stress uses up mental resources so don't have enough working memory to process, can't pay attention well
leading questions: forces someone to think a certain way
plausible misinformation: makes people question what happened
after long delays: memory decays over time
repeated questioning: implants memories
confidence is not correlated with accuracy

The Cognitive Interview

Geiselman etc: suggests three strategies for improving eyewitness memory
return to the scene: helps memory
report using free recall: say "tell me what happened", not specific questions
reverse time-sequence: have people tell them what happened from end to beginning so no filling in the blanks

Anterograde Amnesia

inability to make new memories, but sometimes only for episodic memory, damage to hippocampus

Retrograde Amnesia

loss of memory previously gained, anything learned or events that occurred

Patient HM

Henry Moliason, medial temporal lobe removed anterograde amnesia, some retrograde

Mirror Tracing Task

Milner: patient HM and other subjects had to trace a star in a mirror
identical implicit learning: muscle memory
no explicit learning: no conscious recollection of doing it, all got better with practice

Craik and Tulving (1975)

depth of processing model: three different levels of processing
Structural: word in capital letters?
Phonemic: word rhyme?
Sentence: would word fit the sentence?

Amygdala

memories are linked to emotional content, almond sized structure in front of hippocampus, responsible for memory, decision making, emotional reactions (more fear and anger), when scared remember things more

Flashbulb Memories

remarkably vivid and permanent memories, something permanently etched into brain, highly emotional content or personal relevance, highly rehearsed or elaborated

Talarico and Rubin (2003)

flashbulb memory research: subjects tested about 9/11, retested after various delays
similar pattern of retention and memory errors for flashbulb and ordinary memories, ratings of confidence declined for everyday event but not for flashbulb memory

Encoding Specificity

memory is associated with context, emotion, depth of processing, and prior knowledge
refers to broad category of encoding
ability to retrieve info is effected by the way the info was encoded (same room)

Goodwin etc (1969)

state dependent learning: male medical students memorized 5 word sentences while sober or intoxicated, memory test two days later sober or intoxicated
intoxicated learners make more errors, but no use trying to recall while sober if learned drunk

Tip-of-the-Tongue

trying to remember something but can't seem to access word
subjunctive experience of knowing word but not at moment

Feeling of Knowing

more vague, seems to be info that you know but don't know it right now, don't feel like you are about to find it

Hippocampus

involved in learning, memory, and emotions, where short term memory goes through when stored, retrieves memory

Unitization

two separate items grouped together and remembered as a unit, so when one recalled, other one remembered as well

Mental Imagery

mental representation of stimuli when those stimuli are not physically present, visualization while reading a book, planning how to do something, top-down processing

Bower (1970)

had some subjects visualize images together and some imagine images separately
recognition: no different
free recall: interacting group remembered twice as many word pairs

Mnemonic

mental strategies for remembering useful information
first letter: ROYGBIV

Method of Loci

memorizing a list of words by picturing two words together in a place you are familiar with (rooms in a house)

Peg-Word Method

memorizing something by using something already familiar with (one=bun, two=shoe)

Roediger and Karpicke (2006)

effect of studying vs testing: some students told to study after already studying, some just took test
study/study group better after 5 minutes
study/test group better after 1 week
testing allows material to be accessed and solidified

Total Time Hypothesis

doesn't work very well, the amount of time you spend studying determines how well you do on the test

Retrieval Practice Effect

when you test yourself, practice retrieval

Distributed Practice Effect

if study multiple days, way more effective than studying info all at once

Analog Code

people create visual representation of the imagery, copy of the stimulus

Propositional Code

people create verbal representation of the imagery, description of stimulus

Kosslyn (1975)

subjects asked to imagine rabbit next to elephant or next to fly, then asked questions about the rabbit
faster responses with rabbit next to fly because in mind rabbit is closer up so more details
use mental images like photographs
support for analog code

Cooper and Shepard (1973)

mental rotation: measured response time and accuracy determining if R is facing correctly
subjects used the shortest distance to upright, larger degrees of rotation take longer

Mirror Neurons

monkey mimicking a human with peanut, motor neurons simulate other peoples actions, intentions, emotions, thoughts, neurological basis for empathy and learning

Reed and Johnsen (1975)

limitations of analog code: subjects asked to identify hidden components
performed slightly better than change, correct 55% of the time

Slezak (1991)

ambiguous figures: demonstrates limitations of analog code
subjects asked to name silhouettes of animals, then asked to mentally rotate images
1/3 able to identify other animals

Picture Superiority Effect

the fact that concepts learned as pictures are more memorable than concepts learned as words
subjects reviewed over 600 photos, remembered 98%

Dual-Code Hypothesis

abstract concepts are primarily represented verbally, concrete concepts have dual codes, have concrete image of it, but also verbal representation so encoded twice

Sensory Semantic Theory

pictures have two advantages: 1. perceptually more distinct 2. more easily associated with meaning

Kelley (1998)

studied words, lines of common objects, and unfamiliar faces
subjects fMRI scanned while memorizing words, line drawings, and faces
encoding words: left prefrontal cortex
encoding faces: right prefrontal cortex
encoding drawings: both dually encoded

Nelson (1974) Klatzky (1976)

Nelson: doesn't support sensory semantic theory
memory test using pictures ranging from distinct to non distinct and verbal description
all pictures remembered better than verbal description
Klatzky: subjects shown droodles, half with labels
droodles with labels more memorable, meaning makes things more memorable and pictures have a lot of meaning to us

Hegarty (1992)

pulley system visualization: subjects asked questions about pulley system, spatial questions take longer than visual questions, increase in error rate when increasing mental animation
only mentally animate to degree necessary to answer problem

Fillenbaum (1966)

semantic code: refers to meaning
students listened to sentences "the door was open" and then given memory test, got sentences correct but made errors "the door was not shut"
shows we store things based on meaning

Network Theory

all info in semantic memory is stored using nodes and links, each piece of info is a node, meaning determined by related concepts : robin = bird = animal

Quillian (1968)

TLC model: Teachable Language Comprehender
hierarchical node link system, subclasses and superclasses, system allows for negations (flowers that smell/don't smell)
spreading activation: things associated with what is activated, also get activated, but can be falsely activated causing errors

Semantic Distance Effect

the farther the connection between two things, the longer it takes to connect them or categorize
Ostrich animal? yes Ostrich bird? yes, but takes longer to answer

Typicality Effect

subjects more likely to respond to "robin = bird?" faster than "penguin = bird?" because more typically think of a robin when think of birds

Feature Based Theory of Knowledge

knowledge is organized in clusters based on different features, we compare the features and pick out what information we need from the clusters

Perceptual Theory of Knowledge

assumes that our understanding of things is based on the perceptual mode (visual auditory) in which we experience them

Connectionist Theory of Knowledge

knowledge depends on the entire pattern of connections in the brain, every node of knowledge is connected directly or indirectly and perceptual experiences are key component to the network

Ganis (2004)

subjects scanned in MRI while looking at images, scanned while imagining images
difference is almost zero in frontal and parietal lobes
shows that when we see something we store it and when we remember it, activate same area of brain (perceptual theory)

Solomon and Barsalou (2001)

students asked questions: does horse have mane?
measured answer time, then asked if pony and lion have mane?
subjects responded more quickly to pony because primed by similarity, already have picture of mane in head but according to horse (perceptual theory)

Schemas

generalized knowledge about a situation, event, or person
Event: horror movie, have an idea of what it'll be like
person: idea about personality
role: how person (doctor) will act
self: what you are good at, not good at
gender: sex linked characteristics to determine sex

Scripts

highly familiar activities, even schema, has a beginning, middle, and end
tells us what behavior we should have in certain situations, very organized (restaurants: appetizer, meal, dessert)

Brewer and Treyens (1981)

Office Schema: students asked to wait in room for 35 seconds, given surprise memory test
looked to see what they remembered was consistent with office schema, or inconsistent
highly likely to recall office items, incorrectly and correctly (assume they're there)
sometimes use top down processing to fill in the blanks

Davidson (1994)

schema inconsistency: subjects read 3 stories about routine events, tested about stories later
more likely to remember atypical features because everything else is just routine, so when something odd happens, remember it more
remember more because actually paying attention rather than in the office schema

Wapman and Belle (2014)

gender schemas: students and kids given car crash scenario, doctor says "I can't operate, this is my son" who did it?
mother. but no one guesses that first, because of gender stereotypes even if they have a mother who is a professional, even a doctor

Stereotype

a person schema applied to a whole group of people, oversimplified understanding of the qualities of a group of people

Constructive Model of Memory

integrate info from different sources to construct larger ideas
store and access gist of information
don't remember word for word
create a larger picture with all info

Pragmatic Model of Memory

focus attention to aspects that are most relevant
people know that they only need to recall the gist of something, so that's what we use
sometimes focus on elements of memories that are highly relevant

Bransford and Franks (1971)

Constructive approach: asked subjects to listen to sentences from different stories
given recognition test (old or new sentences)
false alarms especially likely when sentences were consistent with original schema
because using a gist, not verbatum

Primacy Effect

early part of a list remembered better than middle of list

Recency Effect

last things on a list remembered better than middle of list

Retrospective Memory

part of episodic memory that allows us to travel back in time to retrieve a fact and relive those memories

Prospective Memory

part of episodic memory that allows us to travel forward in time to remember to do something, take a pill