Cognitive Psychology Exam #3

Encoding

the process of storing information into long-term memory during the learning experience.

Repetition

repeating information over and over. 

Craik and Watkins, 1973

Task was to report the last word you hear that starts with the letter ‘D.’ Then gave participants a surprise memory test where they needed to report all words that started with ‘D.’ There was a difference in the number of intervening words (degree of repetition). NO effect of repetition (number of intervening words) on recall success

Penny example

participants drew pennies from memory, resulting in numerous errors, showing that even when we see things thousands of times, repetition alone does not make for better encoding.

Intention to remember Hyde and Jenkins experiment

Participants see a list of words and are asked to make two judgments, does it contain an E or a G, how pleasant is the word. Then participants were given a memory test. Two groups: one is warned of the memory test, the other is not. Results showed that there were no statistically significant effects of the incidental or intentional groups (no difference in ability to recall). However, there was a big difference in the amount recalled for those who rated pleasantness and those who had to point out E or G, showing that the depth of processing is most important for better encoding.

Levels of processing

an early idea linking the type of encoding to retrieval, proposed by Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart. memory depends on the depth of processing that an item receives, either deep or shallow processing.

Craik and Lockheart, 1972 levels of processing experiment

Craik and Lockheart, 1972: Participants were asked to recall words that belonged to three categories. Is the word in capital letters (structural level of processing, shallowest). Does it rhyme with the word weight (phonemic level of processing, middle of shallow and deep). Is this a type of fish (category level of processing, deepest). Results showed that the deepest level of processing increases memory the most because those in that category-condition recalled the most words when taking a memory test.

Levels of processing survival experiment

participants rated the pleasantness of words presented, the relevance of words to moving somewhere, and the relevance of words on how important they are to their survival. Results showed that participants remember the most words under the survival condition, showing the importance of evolution with memory and encoding.

Self-reference

Relating words to yourself. Does this word describe you (self condition) or is this word commonly used (common condition). People are much more likely to remember the birthdays of others when they are close to their own birthday. Ex: I remember my friend’s January birthday more than my other friend’s April birthday because my birthday is in January.

Understanding

If you understand something during encoding, you remember it better.  Understanding the context before the task increases encoding, rather than not having any context prior to the task, and then context after the fact. Ex: vague laundry description.

Generation

generating material yourself, rather than passively receiving it, enhances learning and retention.

Roediger and Karpicke, 2006 levels of processing in testing experiment

Participants studied some prose from the test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL). Two conditions: study, then study again; study, then test. Final test after 5 minutes, 2 days, or 1 week. Results: only in the 5 minute delay does it help to study and then restudy, in the other conditions (2 days and 1 week), those who studied and then were tested performed much better.

Storage/consolidation

The strengthening of information in long-term memory after the learning experience. 

Muller and Pilzecker, 1900 storage and consolidation experiment

 participants either studied a set of words and then immediately studied a new set of words, or studied a set of words and then a delay before studying the new set of words. Those who had a delay had a higher recall rate than those who had to study two lists of words back to back.

Standard model of memory

The hippocampus plays a supporting role in memory. The hippocampus binds pieces of information together, but overtime, consolidation occurs, and these memories are fully encoded, so we no longer need the hippocampus. 

Hippocampal replay during sleep

A lot of consolidation occurs in our sleep. Mouse runs through a maze, place cells (in the hippocampus) fire when mouse is in a particular location, these same patterns occur when mouse sleeps, showing hippocampal replays/consolidation during sleep.

Interference with hippocampal replay

Hippocampus replay assists learning. Researchers disrupted hippocampus replay during sleep in mice which hurt their performance on the maze task.

Sleep-driven consolidation in humans Stickgold et al., 2000s experiment

Was there a T or an L in the middle, was the array of slanted lines vertical or horizontal. Researchers varied ISI to find the shortest ISI where accuracy was >80%. Participants either sleep in the lab or are forced to stay awake. Results: people who are sleep deprived are TERRIBLE at the task. Sleep is necessary for task improvement.

Consolidation and dreaming tetris experiment

27 participants played 7 hours of Tetris over 3 days.Each night, they slept in the lab. They were woken in the first hour, and asked about their dreams. Results: no improvement for amnesics, tons of improvement for novices. People were dreaming of Tetris, even amnesics. No need for hippocampus for dreams, but needed for improvement on the task.

Tip of the tongue effect

a measure of something (making associations around a person or thing, length of name, the first letter of name…etc). Since there is not enough spread of activity between nodes, the availability is there but not the accessibility

Cued vs. uncued recall

Cued recall: retrieval of memory from LTM with the help of cues

Uncued recall: retrieval of memory from LTM without assisstance

encoding specificity Godden & Baddeley diving study

Remember a list of words on land or in a body of water. Later, participants were asked to retrieved info either in the same condition as encoding or different. Results: those who studied on land did better at retrieving on land. Those who studied underwater did better at retrieving underwater

encoding specificity Grant et al. noise study

Participants read a study on psychoimmunology with either headphones or no headphones on. The two groups were assigned to either study in quiet or with noise, and when take a test, they were assigned the same condition or the other. The test scores revealed that those who took the text with noise had better results with the studied with noise. Those who took the test in quiet, did better when they studied in quiet

encoding specificity Eich and Metcalf mood study

Participants studied a list of words while listening to either sad or happy music. After two days, the participants were asked to recall the list of words with either the same kind of music or different. They found that the test scores were better for those who studied and tested in the same kind of music. 

encoding specificity Goodwin et al. alcohol study

One group of participants studied under the influence of alcohol, while the other group studied sober. The test results show better test scores for those who studied drunk and took the test drunk, than those who studied drunk and took the test sober.

encoding specificity

Best memory performance when study and test context match

Transfer appropriate processing Morris et al. study

Donald Morris and coworkers did an experiment that showed that retrieval is better if the same cognitive tasks are involved during both encoding and retrieval. 

Part 1: Participants heard a sentence with one word replaced by “blank,” and 2 seconds later they heard a target word. There were two encoding conditions. In the meaning condition, the task was to answer “yes” or “no” based on the word's meaning when it filled in the blank. In the rhyming condition, participants answered “yes” or “no” based on the sound of the word.

Part 2: Participants in both the meaning group and the rhyming group were presented with a series of test words, one by one. Some of the test words rhymed with target words presented during encoding; some did not. Their task was to answer “yes” if the test word rhymed with one of the target words and “no” if it didn’t. 

Results: The participants’ retrieval performance depended on whether the retrieval task matched the encoding task. 

Proactive vs. retroactive interference

Proactive interference: previously learned information interferes with learning new information

Retroactive interference: new information interferes with learning previously learned information

Evidence for proactive interference Greenberg and Underwood’s experiment

Participants studied 10 pairs of adjectives. After a few days, they were asked to recall the old list and studied a new one. This process was repeated two more times. Even though there was never more than one list tested, the results still showed interference. Possible explanations include competition during retrieval

Evidence for retroactive interference Underwood and Postman’s experiment

Participants were divided into two groups: Group A was asked to learn a list of word pairs (Cat-tree, candle-table, apple-lake). They were asked to learn a second list of word pairs (Cat-glass, candle-whale, apple-sadness). Group B was asked to learn the first list of word pairs only. Both groups were asked to recall the first list of word pairs. Results: Group B's recall of the first list was more accurate than that of Group A.

Anderson paradigm

If only asked to remember toilet paper and not flour, it will inhibit your memory for flour when you try to retrieve category because flour is unpracticed

Inhibition vs. response blocking

Practiced words occupy the ‘response channel’ (they come to mind so quickly that they block the unpracticed words)

Retrieval induced forgetting Wimber’s neuroimaging study

There is two training phases (1) first associate (they were asked to remember faces) (2) second associate (they were asked to remember objects)(competitor images). When the word “sand” was said, the participants would remember the first object and when the word “antique” was said, the participants would remember the second object. In the select retrieval phase, the participant was asked which photo went with the first sand in the training phase. The participant would answer the face. Last part was the visual recognition of all associates. Participants were showed four pairs of photos (each photo had one origin picture that was paired with a new image), and were asked to determine which was the original

Results: over time through the tests, the participants forgot about the competitor and increased their memory for target images. On a difference R vs. Repetition graph, results show increase similarity for the target and decreased similarity for the competitor. Actively suppressing!

Autobiographical Memories

memory for specific experiences from our life, which can include both episodic and semantic components. Some autobiographical memories are remembered better than others. More special events (graduation, birthday, winning championship) are remembered better than everyday memories. Episodic and semantic components

Multidimensionality

autobiographical memories include several sensory modalities, take place in 3D space, and there are thoughts and emotions associated with the memory. 

Emotions and distinctiveness associated with events

autobiographical memories are either really happy or really upsetting are remembered more.

Reminiscence Bump

The enhanced memory for adolescence and young adulthood found in people over 40. 

Self-image hypothesis

a hypothesis for the reminiscence bump stating that memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person’s self-image or life identity is being formed.

Cognitive hypothesis

a hypothesis for the reminiscence bump stating that periods of rapid change that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding of memories. Adolescence and young adulthood fit this description because the rapid changes, such as going away to school, getting married, and starting a career, that occur during these periods are followed by the relative stability of adult life.

Cultural life script hypothesis

distinguishes between a person’s life story, which is all of the events that have occurred in a person’s life, and a cultural life script, which is the culturally expected events that occur at a particular time in the life span.

Dolcos et al. 2005 emotion and memory study

Participants were shown a series of pictures. Some pictures have a strong emotional valence (negative or positive) and some of them were neutral. 1 Year later, participants were asked which pictures they recognized while during an fMRI scan. More correct recognitions were given for emotional images than neutral images. Activation for emotional recognitions was shown not just in the hippocampus, but also the amygdala.

Cahill et al., 1995 amygdala activation study

Participants with brain damage were shown a series of pictures. Group 1 had typical amygdala function, while Group 2 had impaired amygdala function. Unexpectedly, one of the slides had a scary picture. The impaired amygdala group showed no memory benefit for the scary picture, showing evidence that amygdala activation is important in consolidating emotional memories.

Flashbulb memories

A person’s memory for the circumstances surrounding shocking, highly charged events. It is important to emphasize that the term flashbulb memory refers to memory for the circumstances surrounding how a person heard about an event, not memory for the event itself. Ex: After 9/11, they took people who witnessed the event and asked them to tell them what happened on 9/11 and what happened in the days prior (to them). Then, years later they asked the same thing. People believed that they remembered it very vividly. However, their memories decayed over time. Flashbulb memories are not more accurately remembered than regular memories. 

Constructive Nature of Memory

Memory is affected by a person’s knowledge, expectations, and experiences. Remembering something may distort or change the memory based on new information.

Overt rehearsal

offers the opportunity to include new information with the event, expectations and outside knowledge about the event may distort or change how the event is remembered. Ex: hearing about the death of Princess Diana.

DRM paradigm

Both real and false memories are constructed. DRM paradigm is a false memory induction, people remember “window” because it was semantically related to the other words. The constructive nature of memory can lead to false memory, the non-present lure item (window) was consolidated with the rest of the list. 

Jacoby et al., 1989 source monitoring error study

Participants read a list of fake names, then asked to recall and decide whether the same were famous or non-famous, the names were of real famous people, previously fake names, and new fake names. Then they were divided into two groups (tested right after or tested 24 hrs later). Those who were tested 24 hours later were more likely to identify the previously shown non-famous names as famous. The name was familiar but the source was no longer attached (they thought they had read about the fake famous people from a magazine).

Fake news Brashier et al. 2020 study

Participants were shown 18 real and 18 fake political headlines, pulled from social media with an accompanying fact check (either before, during, or after participants were shown the information). One week later, participants were asked to rate the veracity of the headlines. Fact check after lead to best real/fake accuracy because participants were updating the information as it was being encoded. The information has become divorced from the source, no longer discredit the bad source of the info. 

Scripts

Previous knowledge about the typical sequence of actions in a known situation

Schemas

A person’s knowledge about some aspect of the environment, what features would be present in a typical version

Brewer and Treyen schema study

Participants believed they were there for another study and waited in the office area for 35 seconds. Then they were called into another room and asked to recall items from the previous room. Many participants reported items that were not in the room, but fit into a typical office schema  (books). 

Loftus and Palmer (1974) eyewitness study

Participants watched a video of a car crash and were asked to report how fast the cars were going. Key manipulation: they were asked how fast the cars were going when they “smashed,” “collided,” “bumped,” “hit,” or “contacted” each other. 1 week later, ps in the smashed condition estimated higher speeds and were more likely to report broken glass on the ground. This is misleading post-event information: autobiographical memory was reshaped by the way the question was framed

Lindsay (1970) eyewitness study

Participants viewed slides of a man stealing a computer with a female narrator. They either had a misleading narrative told by a female narrator followed by a 2-day delay before taking a memory test (difficult/similar), OR 2-days after viewing the images, they had a misleading narrative told by a male narrator followed by a memory test (easy dissimilar). The participants who had a female narrator had 27% narrative-related errors, while the participants who had a male narrator had only 13% narrative-related errors. Showing that misleading postevent Information is more likely to affect memory when it is closer to the actual memory. 

Reasons for poor eyewitness

perception and attention, familiarity, suggestions.

Perception and attention as a reason for poor eyewitness

People can't remember well if the event is not perceived.

Weapons focus

when witnessing a crime that includes a weapon, participants are less likely to remember information about the perpetrator, this effect increases if the weapon is used.

familiarity as a reason for poor eyewitness

Recognizing someone from somewhere, but can't recall any information about them. Butcher on the bus phenomenon. Ross et al.: participants viewed a film of a male or female teacher reading to students. They then watched a female teacher get robbed. Everyone in the male teacher condition thought that the male teacher was the robber. Participants misidentified an innocent bystander as the perpetrator because he was familiar, showing a source monitor error.

Suggestion as a reason for poor eyewitness

receiving feedback about the memory. Participants watched a video of a crime and were later shown a photo spread, however the perpetrator was not in the lineup. 3 manipulations: given confirming feedback, given no feedback, given disconfirming feedback. Participants then rated how confident they were about their selection. Results: confidence after confirming feedback = 5.4, after given no feedback= 4.0, after given disaffirming feedback = 3.5. These ratings persisted long after the feedback was received. 

Improvements to eyewitness testimony

1. Inform the witness that the perpetrator may not be in the lineup, use fillers that look similar to the actual suspect, use a blind lineup administrator who does not know who the suspect is, and have witnesses rate their confidence immediately. 

Concepts

a mental representation of a class or individual. Also the meaning of objects, events, and abstract ideas

Incremental Learning theory

you incrementally get better at classifications because for every stimulus and category, you increase associations when right and decrease associations when wrong.

Hypothesis testing

you will always be no better than guessing until you hit the right hypothesis. 

Family resemblance

when definition do not include all members of a category, family resemblance refers to the idea that things in a particular category resemble one another in a number of ways 

Typicality

how much does the member represent the category?

Three different ways to determine typicality

Compare to the best example in that category

Central tendency: average representation across members

Compare to all the examples at the same time

Prototype view

every category has an average or best example that is used as a prototypical version of that category 

Comparing to the best example and the average representation across members are prototype views

Posner and Keele prototype experiment

Train participants to discriminate A instances from B instances, but the prototypes were never shown. They did this to test old instances, new instances, and prototypes. Results: Old instances classified more accurately and rapidly than new instances. Prototypes were classified more rapidly and accurately than other new instances. No loss of performance on prototype after a week delay but old instances were forgotten over time. This is because you maintain an average for each prototype/category and adjust average with each new instance. During test, you compare to avaliable prototype and choose the closest.

Issues with prototype view

People are sometimes sensitive to the specifics or particular instances

People are sensitive to the variability of instances

Exemplar view

remembering and representing all exemplars that will play a role during categorization. Each exemplar is stored or forgotten and when a new case come in, it is compared to the already stored cases. Comparing to the collection of all examples is a exemplar view.

Connectionist networks

The Input units are similar to sensory cortext, where information is activated. The output units are behaving or responding to input units. The hidden units are where interesting complex computations are performed. The lines that connect can be seen as axons in the brain. A connection weight determines how signals sent from one unit either increase or decrease the activity of the next unit.

Rogers & McClelland network model of semantic organization

Network that tries to answer questions that are combinations of items which are either animals or plants.

Learning in the R&M model

Backpropagation is repeated until the threshold is reached and there is good enough performance. Backpropagation: the learning signal is sent back through the network and is used to update the connections. Not actually learning! Instead, it’s making random associations. Initial representation layers are similar and after many trials, the representation layers are more unique. Strengths of this model includes being similar to the brain (makes graded representations), making generalizations, and it is biologically motivated

Hauk et al. Neuroimaging study

Neural evidence for embodied cognition . Task 1: read the words “pick”, “lick”, “kick”, etc

Task 2: move your feet, finger, or tongue.

Results: Neural regions that were used during movements showed similar patterns when participants were reading the words. 

Behavioral Evidence for grounded cognition

Task: Natural or Manmade? Participants were given a device that allowed for participants to pinch and squeeze for natural or manmade. Idea: the pinching will be more associated with smaller items. Results: Participants were much faster at squeezing large objects than squeezing small ones. Pinching was much faster for smaller objects than pinching larger ones. Main takeaway: motor actions are automatically activated when we think of objects.

Podric et al. TMS study

Hub and Spoke Model: Many representations across the brain that are bound to the Anterior Temporal Lobe (ATL) (hub of concept information). Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation disrupts different areas/ representations across the brain (all in unique ways).

If the IPL TMS and the ATL TMS are stimulated…There are very specific impairments in IPL TMS, and there are global impairments in ATL TMS

Problem

a situation in which there is an obstacle between a present state and a goal and it is not immediately obvious how to get around the obstacle.

Problem-solving

The application of ideas, skills or information to achieve a solution to a problem.

Four ways to solve a problem

trial and error, insight, applying an algorithm, and using an analogy

Thorndike animal studies for trial-and-error

Animal studies: placed a cat in a puzzle box to observe its escape behavior. Over time, the cat improved its ability to open the box's mechanism to access food outside. 

Law of effect

Responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation.

Limitations of trial and error

Not always useful and can be problematic when there are a large number of possible actions, and many intermediate states 

Insight

the sudden realization of a problem’s solution. For example, “Eureka.” Insight often follows taking a break from the problem. 

Characteristics of insight

Sudden solution, restructuring, suppressing irrelevant information

Insight experiment

Participants solved problems and provided intermittent ratings of how close they felt they were to the solution (warmth). Two conditions: an algebra problem, and a word problem designed to invoke a sudden solution. Results: as time went by, those in the algebra condition reported feeling gradually closer to a solution. However, for those in the insight condition, as time went by, they only suddenly felt close to the solution, rather than a gradual increase in confidence. 

Restructuring

answer becomes suddenly clear once the right restructuring is found. Otherwise, you must find a new pathway to the answer. 

External restructing Kaplan and Simon chess experiment

Asked participants “Suppose that a domino will cover exactly two squares on the board. Is it possible to take a set of dominos and place them so that the 32 squares on the board are exactly covered in dominos (that is, the dominos must not go off the edge of the board or overlap each other)? Explain your reasoning.” Four conditions: A board filled with blank squares. A board with pink and black squares. A board in which the squares were labeled with the words "pink" and “black,” instead of the colors themselves. A board in which the squares were labeled with the words "bread" and "butter.”They found that performance increased from problems 1 - 4. The correct answer is that it is not possible to cover the board in dominos. Consider the board with pink and black squares. On an unmutilated board there are 32 black and 32 pink squares. Because each domino must cover both a black and a pink square it would be possible to cover the board exactly. However, on the unmutilated board there are 32 black squares but only 30 pink squares. Therefore, it is not possible to cover the board exactly.

Suppressing irrelevant information

Suppressing the things that feel compelling but are not right. Ex: sun vs. moon in shine/beam/struck

Kounios neuroimaging study

Participants solved problems while being scanned, provided insight ratings after solutions. Looking at neural activity prior to the problem (during preparation), they found that there was increased activity in the anterior cingulate cortex. Author's interpretation: ACC reflects suppressing extraneous thoughts, monitoring for competing responses, and shifting to a new strategy. Kool’s interpretation: activity before task is not the best measure of what happens during the task. Perhaps increased activity in the default network prior to insight.

Functional fixedness

a cognitive bias where people only see an object's typical use, making it challenging to think creatively about other possible uses. It can limit problem-solving and creativity. Ex: Pin the candle to the wall in such a way that when it is lit, no wax drips on the floor. Functional fixedness would be only viewing the box as a tack holder, rather than it also being a candle holder. Another ex: Maier’s two string test.

Algorithms

a sequence of actions used to achieve a desired outcome. Characteristics include: goal directedness, sequence of operations, cognitive operations, and subgoal decompositions.

Problem space theory

problem-solving as a mental representation of a problem with an initial state, a goal state, and potential moves. Problem solvers use heuristics to explore the space, and insight can lead to sudden solutions. It's a framework for understanding human problem-solving processes. Operators are actions that can move between states.

Tower of Hanoi

a puzzle with three rods and disks of different sizes. The goal is to move the entire stack from one rod to another while following rules: one disk at a time, no larger disk on top of a smaller one. It's used to teach problem-solving and recursion.

Full planning

considering every step/planning all of your moves. This becomes exponentially hard.

Heuristics

practical method to problem-solving, not optimal but sufficient to reach long-term goals.

Repeat state avoidance

aka backup avoidance. Aversion to take actions that takes you back to the previous state. This does not work if you are in a problem state with dead ends.

Difference reduction

People prefer actions that lead to the biggest similarity between current and goal state. Works badly in the Hobbit and Orcs problem: a riddle where a hobbit needs to figure out how to cross a bridge with orcs without exceeding the weight limit or being outnumbered. It requires finding a safe strategy, often involving multiple trips and pairing orcs.

Means end analysis

set up a goal state or a subgoal state, look for difference between current state and this state, find an operator that eliminates this difference, repeat this process until the goal state is reached. Benefit: reduced risk of exponential growth of possibilities

Means end analysis in Tower of Hanoi

means-end analysis that reduces difference between initial and goal state by creating subgoals. Subgoals reduce problem space, so search becomes more manageable.

Subgoal pseudoreward MRI study

To answer how do we know that the brain cares about subgoals, we must know reaching a subgoal is good, but not in the same way that reaching a goal is good (subgoal should not be a primary reinforcer). Assume pseudo’-reward that enforces subgoal but is not a primary reinforcer. A reward-like signal occurs for getting closer to subgoal but without behavioral preference.

Ribas Fernandes’ Subgoal study

a truck rotates randomly after every move. Participants move a truck with a joy stick at each step to collect envelopes. At some point, the envelope changes location (thus, the subgoal is changed) before being delivered to the house. If envelope jumps anywhere on the ellipse, overall distance to goal is preserved, while if it was on the circle, overall distance to subgoal is preserved. Results: activity in several reward-related brain regions encodes how much closer the subgoal jumped. Closer subgoal = more activity in brain