Memory and Problem Solving

Cognitive psychologists study:

The acquisition of knowledge, planning, and problem solving

Example of what cognitive psychologists study:

A cognitive psychologist studying the behavior of pre-school 5-year old children in a free-play situation would be most interested in the children's problem-solving strategies

Mental processes involved in acquiring, storing, and recovering knowledge

Memory

Memory creates:

An internal record of an experience

Basic memory tasks:

Encoding, storage, retrieval

Acquiring information into the memory system

Encoding

Retaining information over time

Storage

Recovering information from memory storage

Retrieval

What enters our sensory memory?

Everything that our senses hear, see, taste, touch, and smell

Sensory memories give:

A sense of flow and continuity to experiences

Without sensory memories, experiences would seem to be:

A confusing barrage of sounds, sights, tastes, textures, and odors

Sensory memory's capacity is:

Large but not unlimited

Sensory memory holds visual images for up to:

One-half second

Sensory memory holds auditory messages for up to:

2 to 4 seconds

There is a sensory register for:

Each sense

Iconic memory records:

Visual information

Example of when iconic memory is used:

When you glance at a graph, map, or painting

Echoic memory records:

Auditory information

Example of when echoic memory is used:

When you recover the last few words of your parents telling you to have a good day at school

The temporary storage site where sensory information is processed, evaluated, and analyzed

Short-term memory

The information in short-term memory can be:

Forgotten or added to long-term memory

How does short-term memory interact with long-term memory?

Accesses and retrieves information from long-term memory

Short-term memory has a what capacity?

Limited

Research indicates that the working capacity of short-term memory is typically ___ pieces of information

7

Short-term memory holds information for approximately how long?

30 seconds

A single unit of information

Chunk

How can the capacity of short-term memory be extended by chunking?

By grouping separate chunks of information into a new chunk

Example of chunking:

The four digits 2-0-2-0 can be combined to form the date 2020 and thus remembered as one chunk of information

The process of repeating information to keep it in short-term memory

Maintenance rehearsal

Most students use maintenance rehearsal as a way of:

"Cramming" information before a test

Advantage of maintenance rehearsal:

Keeps information fresh in short-term memory

Disadvantage of maintenance rehearsal:

Not an efficient method of transferring information to long-term memory

Is rehearsal a vital process?

Yes

What cannot happen without rehearsal?

Information cannot be transferred to long-term memory

The depth of processing determines:

How well information will be remembered

Shallow processing means:

Encoding on a basic level

Deep processing means:

Encoding on a meaningful level

Process by which new information is actively reviewed and related to information already stored in long-term memory

Deep processing

Example of shallow vs deep processing:

A student trying to learn the word vivacious might try repeating the definition "full of life" over and over again. An alternative and much more effective strategy would be to relate the English word vivacious to the Spanish word vivir, "to live."

The active process of elaborative rehearsal will greatly facilitate:

Transferring information into long-term memory

Advantages of deep processing:

Improves organization of the material, encourages thinking about the meaning of the material, and increases connections between the material and prior knowledge

Long-term memory serves as a:

Storehouse of information

When properly organized and integrated, information is:

Readily available for retrieval

The capacity of long-term memory is:

Unlimited

The duration of long-term memory can be:

Permanent

Procedural memory includes:

Motor skills, habits, and other memories of how things are done

Examples of procedural memory:

Remembering how to roller skate, ride a bicycle, tie a shoe, and write a signature

Other than motor skills, habits, and other memories of how things are done, procedural memory also includes:

Classically conditioned responses to conditioned stimuli

Example of procedural memory including classically conditioned responses to conditioned stimuli:

Phobias and attitudes towards a variety of groups

Subdivisions of declarative memory:

Episodic and semantic

A subdivision of declarative memory that stores memories of personal experiences and events

Declarative memory

Types of long-term memory

Procedural and declarative

Examples of episodic memories:

Your first romantic kiss, your "sweet sixteen" birthday party, and attending your older brother's or sister's wedding

A subdivision of declarative memory that stores memories of facts, concepts, and general knowledge

Semantic memory

Examples of semantic memory:

Pythagorean theorem, the names of the three branches of government, and the functions of short-term memory

Semantic memory typically does not show evidence of decline between the ages of:

30 and 60

Subdivisions of serial-position effect:

Primacy and recency effects

Information from the beginning of a list is remembered better than material in the middle

Primacy effect

Information from the end of a list is remembered better than material in the middle

Recency effect

Example of serial-position effect:

You remember the first and last people you meet at a party better than those you meet in-between

Retrieval cues include:

Recall and recognition

The use of a general cue to retrieve a memory

Recall

Example of recall:

Teacher asks you to write down everything you remember about yesterday's lesson on long-term memory without referring to your notes

The use of a specific cue to retrieve a memory.

Recognition

Example of recognition:

Your language arts teacher asks you to define the term allusion by saying, "It's like in Taylor Swift's song Love Story when she says, 'Cause you were Romeo, I was a scarlet letter.'

Profession of Herman Ebbinghaus:

German psychologist

Herman Ebbinghaus conducted pioneering research on:

Forgetting

What did Herman Ebbinghaus do in his experiments?

Invented three-letter nonsense syllables such as TIX and ZEL, then tested his recall of them after varying amounts of time

Ebbinghaus's famous forgetting curve shows:

Two distinct patterns

1st distinct pattern shown by Ebbinghaus’s famous forgetting curve:

Memories of relatively meaningless information are lost shortly after they have been learned

2nd distinct pattern shown by Ebbinghaus’s famous forgetting curve:

Following the initial plunge in memory, the rate of forgetting levels off and then slowly declines

The Ebbinghaus forgetting curve can be applied to:

Common experiences

Examples of common experiences that the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve can be applied to:

Learning names at a party or cramming facts before an exam

Why are learning names at a party and cramming facts before an exam examples of common experiences that the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve can be applied to?

Most of the names and facts are then quickly forgotten

According to the interference theory, forgetting takes place when:

One memory must compete with another similar memory

The similarity between the two similar memories creates:

Interference and forgetting

Proactive interference occurs when:

Old information interferes with recalling new information

Example of proactive interference:

You learn and perform a dance routine for your Fall school play. You then experience trouble remembering a new dance routine for the winter play because of proactive interference from the prior fall routine

Retroactive interference occurs when:

New information interferes with recalling old information

Example of retroactive interference:

For example, you learn how to drive on a car with a manual transmission ("stick shift"). Your parents then buy you a new car with an automatic transmission. On a family vacation, your parents rent a car with a "stick shift." You have trouble driving the rental car because of retroactive interference from driving your new automatic-transmission car

Encoding failure occurs when:

Poorly encoded information is passed from the short-term memory to the long-term memory

______ is vital to retention

Paying attention

The most common causes of encoding failure:

Divided attention

What happens when we try to perform multiple tasks?

The information is not properly encoded into long-term memory

Example of encoding failure:

Text-messaging a friend while parking your car at the mall. By dividing your attention between texting and parking, you created an encoding failure that might come back to haunt you a few hours later when you try to find your car.

Encoding vs retrieval failure:

Takes place when information is not properly stored in long-term memory vs when information stored in long-term memory is available, but momentarily inaccessible

Causes of retrieval failure:

Interference, faulty cues, and emotional states

Example of emotional state that causes retrieval failure:

Test anxiety

A common example of retrieval failure

The “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomenon

The “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomenon describes:

The feeling that at any moment a name or place you are trying to remember is just out of reach but will soon pop out from the "tip of your tongue.”

A severe memory loss

Amnesia

People who suffer from retrograde amnesia are:

Unable to remember some or all of their past

Retrograde amnesia especially affects:

Episodic memories for recent events

Leading causes of retrograde amnesia:

Automobile and motorcycle accidents

Example of retrograde amnesia:

On August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Fayed, and driver Henri Paul were all killed in a car accident in Paris. Fayed's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was the only survivor. Because of severe head injuries, Rees-Jones suffers from retrograde amnesia and cannot recall particulars of the accident

People who suffer from anterograde amnesia are:

Unable to form new memories

The best-known and most extensively studied case of anterograde amnesia is that of:

Henry Molaison

Henry Molaison is also known as:

H.M. or “The Man Who Couldn’t Remember”

H.M. suffered from:

Severe epileptic seizures

In 1953, H.M.’s surgeon removed his:

Medial temporal lobes, including hippocampus