Liam PS Week 2

Cognition

Phonological Loop (Baddeley’s Model of Working Memory) (2)

1. Allows us to repeat verbal information to help us remember it.

2. Responsible for processing and storing spoken and written information.

Visuospatial Sketchpad (Baddeley’s Model of Working Memory) (2)

1. Helps us remember visual and spatial information through the use of mental images.

2. Responsible for processing what things look like and where they are located.

Episodic Buffer (Baddeley’s Model of Working Memory) (2)

1. Acts as a temporary storage system.

2. Allows information in working memory to interact with information stored in long-term memory.

Central Executive (Baddeley’s Model of Working Memory) (2)

1. Oversees and coordinates the entire working memory system.

2. Shifts and divides attention between tasks and manages the other components.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Cognitive development occurs through the formation and modification of schemas. We either assimilate new experiences to schemas or accommodate the schemas to take the new experience into account.

Schema (Piaget) (2)

1. A mental framework about how the world works.

2. Schemas shape our experiences and are continuously shaped by new experiences.

Assimilation (Piaget) (2)

1. Incorporating a new experience into an existing schema.

2. The new information is interpreted using what is already known.

Accommodation (Piaget) (2)

1. Modifying an existing schema to account for a new experience.

2. Occurs when new information does not fit into existing schemas.

Piaget’s four cognitive developmental stages (4)

1. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-age 2)

2. Preoperational Stage (Age 2-7)

3. Concrete Operational Stage (Age 7-11)

4. Formal Operational Stage (Age 12+)

Unattended Channel

Stimuli that are present in the background but are not being consciously focused on.

Treisman's Attenuation Model (4)

1. Treisman argued that attention is not an all-or-nothing filter.

2. Instead, the mind uses an attenuator, which functions like a volume knob.

3. Unattended sensory input is turned down rather than completely blocked.

4. This allows some unattended information to still be processed and potentially capture attention.

Cocktail Party Effect (3)

1. Occurs when information from an unattended channel captures your attention.

2. Example: Hearing your name mentioned in a crowded room while engaged in another conversation.

3. This effect can be explained by selective priming, where people are more likely to notice information they: 

   1. Encounter frequently, or

   2. Are expecting to hear or see.

Information-Processing Models

Explain how we are able to process information.

Task Similarity (Resource Model of Attention)

More similar tasks are harder to do together because they use the same resources.