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Cognition
The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought,experience, and the senses
Short Term Memory
Also known as working memory
If sensory information is recognized or considered important, it's "coded" and sent to STM
Limited capacity and only lasts around 12 seconds
Long Term Memory
If information is rehearsed or attended to in some way it's recorded and transferred into this
Unlimited capacity, may last forever
Semantic Memory
Factual knowledge that you have
Episodic memory
A type of memory which is autobiographical
Memories of events or experiences
Procedural Memory
A type of memory which relates to how one does something and the habits one has
Facial recognition
A type of memory which relates to one's ability to recall and recognize faces
memory models
models that explain how we store information
Multi-Store Memory Model (MSM)
The multi-store model is an explanation of memory proposed which assumes there are three separate memory stores, and that information is transferred between these stores in a linear sequence.
- oversimplified
Three main stores of Multi-Store Memory Model (MSM)
sensory memory
short-term memory (STM)
long-term memory (LTM).
Sensory buffer (MSM)
- temporary store
-holds information from the environment briefly
Short-term memory (MSM)
Information enters STM if attention is paid to the stimuli.
When we recall something information is retrieved from LTM and enters the STM.
Long term memory (MSM)
If information in STM memory is rehearsed, it moves to LTM.
If it is not rehearsed, then the information will be lost and displaced.
Primacy effect
Recalling beginning of list best
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) Aim
Multi Store Model
wanted to see if the interval of time between words on a list would increase the number of words recalled at the start of the list
(primacy effect)
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) Procedure
- 240 Army enlisted men.
- Independent samples design.
- First given two 5-word practice lists so that they could learn the procedure.
- They men were presented with 20 word list. All common one syllable words.
- The lists were the same for each group, except for the variation of time and repetition.
-Groups had either 3,6 or 9 seconds in between each word. Groups either heard the words repeated once, twice or zero.
- Participants then had 2 minutes to recall all the words.
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) Findings
The increased time interval between words led to an increase in the recall of all words in the list except for those at the end of the list.
The effect of repetition on recall was limited to the 3-second rate. There was no significant effect on recall in the 6 or 9-second rates.
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) Implications
- Supports the theory that the primacy effect is the result of rehearsal.
- The increased time interval allowed for more rehearsal, leading to a greater overall recall of the list of words.
- However, as words in the STM were still available in working memory, there was no significant change in the frequency of recall.
Working Memory Model
expands on MSM model.
suggests that STM is not a single store but rather consists of a number of different stores.
Components seen in Working memory model
- Central executive
- Phonological loop
- Episodic buffer
- Visuospatial sketchpad
Central Executive
attention control system that monitors and coordinates the operations of the other subordinate components, which are called slave systems.
- limited capacity prevents multi-tasking
Phonological Loop
Auditory component
-Processes spoken and written material
-Consist of two parts
-Phonological Store; Holds information in speech-based form for 1-2 seconds(inner ear)
-Articulatory control process; Used to rehearse and store information from phonological store(inner voice)
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
Visual component
-Processes and stores information in a visual form
-A temporary store for visual and spatial information from either sensory memory or LTM.
Episodic Buffer
act as a temporary and passive display store until the information is needed.
- it can store visual and auditory information
-Responsible for conscious awareness
Hitch and Bradley (1976) Aim
To demonstrate the different functions of working memory. Working Memory Model
Landy and Bartling aim
WMM
investigate if articulatory suppression would influence recall of written list of phonologically dissimilar letters in serial recall
Landy and Bartling procedure
WMM
-34 undergraduate psychology students
- Independent samples design
- participants tested individually
-asked to recall list of letters
- participants randomly allocated into two groups:
1. control group- didn't preform articulatory task, saw list for 5 seconds and waited another 5 before answering
2. experimental group- preformed task with articulatory suppression task
-had answer sheet with 7 blanks in a row
Landy and Bartling Findings
WMM
- experimental group had lower scores than control group
- mean recall % of control group 75% compared to experimental group 45%
Landy and Bartling Implications
WMM
In line with the WMM
-articulatory suppression prevents rehearsal of phonological loop because of overload, resulting in less accurate working memory
- The data supports the prediction of the WMM that disruption of the Phonological Loop results in less accurate working memory as it has a limited capacity.
Schema Theory
The theory of how humans process incoming information, relating it to existing information.
Schemas
Mental representation based on prior knowledge
What do we use schemas for?
Schemas can also assist in recall, guide our behavior, predict likely happenings and help us make sense of our experiences. However, schemas may also be stereotypes that cause us to misinterpret or incorrectly recall information.
Brewer and Treyens (1981) Aim
To investigate whether people's memory for objects in a room are influenced by existing schemas.
The role of schema in encoding and retrieving episodic memory
Brewer and Treyens (1981) Method
- 86 psychology students
- brought to a room that looked like an office. Had objects that were typical, and some atypical items.
-They were unaware the experiment had started.
- After 35-60 seconds the participant was taken to a nearby room.
- Then they were asked to recall objects in the room they remembered, divided into 3 conditions
1. recall condition: write down as many objects as they could remember from the office
2. drawing condition participants were given an outline of the room and asked to draw the object they could remember
3. verbal recognition condition: participants were read a list of objects and asked whether they though the object was in the room or not.
Brewer and Treyens (1981) Results
In the writing and drawing condition participants were more likely to remember items that were congruent with their schema of an office.
- The items incongruent with the schema of an office were not commonly recalled.
- when asked to select items on the list, they were more likely to identify incongruent items
- tendency to identify objects that were coherent with the schema but were not actually in the room
Brewer and Treyens (1981) support schema theory
Brewer and Treyens demonstrate how schemas influence memory recall. This is seen by the recall of objects consistent in an office schema, rather than the items incongruent with within an office schema.
Therefore, this study supports the assumption of schema theory that our previous understanding in a cultural setting influences our memory.
Thinking
The process of using knowledge and information to make plans, interpret the world, and make predictions about the world in general
Decision-making
The process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values and preferences of the decision-maker
Dual System Theory
There are two systems of thinking that help us get to conclusions.
System 1: Intuitive, automatic, unconscious, and fast way of thinking. More prone to error
System 2: deliberate, controlled, conscious, and slower way of thinking. Rational mode of thinking and effort required
Application of Systems
System 1 is used to reach a quick conclusion and then System 2 will go into further analysis to reach a more correct solution.
Tversky and Kahneman (1974) aim
Investigate the influence of anchoring bias on decision making
Anchoring bias
Tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered (the "anchor") when making decisions. During decision-making, anchoring occurs when individuals use an initial piece of information to make subsequent judgments.
Tversky and Kahneman (1974) procedure
- high school sample
- divided into 2 conditions:
1. Participants in the "ascending condition" were asked to quickly estimate the value of 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6 X 7 X 8 in five seconds.
2. Those in the "descending condition" were asked to quickly estimate the value of 8 X 7 X 6 X 5 X 4 X 3 X 2 X 1.
Tversky and Kahneman (1974) findings
the median for the ascending group was 512; the median for the descending group was 2250. The actual value is 40320.
Tversky and Kahneman (1974) implications
the anchoring effect played a role in the estimates of the participants, as the median of the ascending group was much lower than the descending group, meaning they were biased by using the first piece of information to estimate values.
relates to thinking and decision-making because participants used system one (fast, intuitive) due to the time restrictions to approximate a value for the multiplication.
Reconstructive Memory
States that memory is not an entirely accurate and complete reproduction of events but rather a reconstruction.
We recall the outline of the event, and use schemas to help fill in the gaps of information.
Loftus and Palmer (1974) Aim
To investigate whether the use of leading questions would affect eyewitness's estimation of speed.
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
-The study consisted of two laboratory experiments, both of which used an independent measures design.
- The IV in both experiments was the verb used.
- The DV in the first experiment is the Participants speed estimate and the DV in the second experiment is whether the Participants believed they saw glass or not.
The critical verb was changed for each group, including 'hit', 'smashed', 'collided', 'bumped' and 'contacted'.
Loftus and Palmer (1974) Findings
Experiment 1: Mean speed given for each of the different verbs. The verb 'smashed' elicited a higher speed estimate that the verb 'contacted'.
Experiment 2: the use of different verbs affected whether the participant claimed having seen any broken glass (stronger verb --> higher tendency to expect broken glass)
Loftus and Palmer (1974) Implications
This study shows how phrasing of question can influence memory. This is shown as the group who heard the word 'smashed' estimated a higher average speed as well as more of them recalled there being broken glass.
Demonstrates how memory is not reliable as it can be partially altered by the phrasing of an event.
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