Intro to Psych Final

memory statistic

‘In a study of DNA exonerations, by the Innocence Project, 84% of the wrongful convictions rested, at least in part, on mistaken identification by an eyewitness or victim’

the memory is the most

critical mental facility we possess with regard to our ability to operate as humans. it is based on memory of one sort or another that we make almost all decisions about what to do.

memories are more often

incorrect than we might think leading, in some cases to dire consequences

3 major distinctions about memory

1. Three stages of memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval

2. There are different memories for storing information for short and long periods.

3. Different memories are used to store different kinds of information (for example, one system for facts and another for skills).

what are the three stages of memory?

encoding, storage space, and retrieval

encoding stage

Enter information into memory; transform a physical input (sound waves) corresponding to a name, for instance into the kind of code or representation that memory accepts, and ‘place’ that representation in memory;

storage stage

transform a physical input (sound waves) corresponding to a name into the kind of code or representation that memory accepts, and you ‘place’ that representation in memory;

retrieval stage

If one also stores a face with a name, then seeing a person helps recal the name.

Current Research on Memory

Much of current research on memory attempts to specify the mental operations that occur at each of the three stages of memory and explain how these opera ions can go awry and result in memory failure.

Brain-Scanning Studies

These experiments involve two parts (encoding and retrieval)

part 1 (encoding) of brain-scanning studies

In Part 1, which focuses on encoding, participants study a set of verbal items – for example, pairs. [L. Hemisphere]

part 2 (retrieval) of brain-scanning studies

In Part 2, which focuses on retrieval, participants have to recognize or recall the items when cued with the category name. In both parts, positron emission tomography (PET) measures of brain activity are recorded while participants are engaged in their task. [Mostly R. Hemisphere]

Brain lesions differentially affect different types of remembered information, suggesting

that there is more than one memory system.

Learning and memory

lifelong brain adaptation to environment

Several similarities between experience-dependent brain development and learning

Similar mechanisms at different times and in different cortical areas

Memories range from

stated facts to ingrained motor patterns.

Anatomy: several memory systems -

Evident from effects of brain lesions

Learning is

the acquisition of new knowledge or skills.

Memory

is the retention of learned information.

Declarative memory (explicit) –

memory of facts and events

declarative memory is made up of what?

episodic memory, semantic memory, and explicit memory

episodic memory

for autobiographical life experiences and

semantic memory

for facts.

declarative memory is also called explicit memory

because it results from more conscious effort.

nondeclarative memory (implicit) is made up of several categories, one of which is

Procedural memory

Procedural memory is made up of

motor skills, habits, behaviors

Nondeclarative memory (implicit) results from

direct experience

forming nondeclarative memories usually require

repetition and practice over a longer period of time, but these memories are less likely to be forgotten.

Procedural Memory

A type of nondeclarative memory which involves learning a motor response In reaction to sensory input

procedural memory occurs in two categories of learning:

Nonassociative learning and associative learning

Nonassociative learning

a change in behavioral response that occurs over time in response to a single type of stimulus.

There are two types of nonassociative learning:

habituation and sensitization

habituation

Stop reacting & no longer notice a stimulus that has no meaning

Sensitization

a form of learning that intensifies your response to all stimuli, even ones that previously evoked little or no reaction

Associative learning

behavior is altered by the formation of associations between events In contrast to changed response to a single stimulus

Classical conditioning (Pavlov)

involves associating a stimulus that evokes a measurable response with a second stimulus that normally does not evoke this response

stimuli for classical conditioning

Stimulus 1: Unconditional Stimulus (US) – no training to yield a response

Stimulus 2: Conditional Stimulus (CS) – requires training before it yields a

response

Conditioned Response (CR) the learned response to the CS

Instrumental conditioning (Thorndyke)

an individual learns to associate a response, a motor act, with a meaningful stimulus, typically a reward. As in Classical Conditioning, a predictive relationship is learned

memory consolidation

sensory information → short-term memory OR working memory

• if the info goes to short-term memory it goes through consolidation to long-term memory as time progresses

Amnesia

serious loss of memory and/or ability to learn

what causes amnesia?

concussion, chronic alcoholism, encephalitis, brain tumor, stroke

Limited amnesia is a common type of amnesia caused by

trauma

Dissociated amnesia

no other cognitive deficits (rare)

Following Trauma to the Brain, two different types of memory loss may occur:

Retrograde amnesia and Anterograde amnesia

Retrograde amnesia

memory loss for things prior to brain trauma

Anterograde amnesia

inability to form new memories after brain trauma

Transient global amnesia

• Brief cerebral ischemia, in which the blood supply to the brain is temporarily reduced, or concussion to the head from trauma, such as a car accident or a hard blow while playing football, might be implicated.

• Sudden onset of anterograde amnesia

• Lasts a shorter period, from temporary ischemia (e.g., severe blow to head)

what are possible causes of transient global amnesia

seizures, physical stress, drugs, cold showers, and even sex

what are symptoms of transient global amnesia

disoriented, ask same questions repeatedly; attacks subside in couple of hours; permanent memory gap

Jean Piaget (1952a) demonstrated that,

prior to the age of 7 or 8, children think in an intuitive rather than a logical, or rational, manner.

jean piaget two glasses experiment

• In one task, children aged from 4 to 7 years were presented with two identical glasses of orangeade (glass Al and glass A2) and asked whether there was the same amount of drink in each glass. All the chil­dren replied that the two glasses held the same amount of drink.

• The contents of one of the two glasses was then poured into one or more glasses that differed in size from the original glasses, such as two smaller glasses (Bl and B2) or one thinner glass (C).

• The children were then asked which of the glasses contained the most drink.

• The contents of one of the two glasses was then poured into one or more glasses that differed in size from the original glasses, such as two smaller glasses (Bl and B2) or one thinner glass (C).

• The children were then asked which of the glasses contained the most drink.

• In some cases this meant making a comparison between glass Al and glasses Bl and B2, in others the comparison was between A and C.

• Most children under the age of 7 stated the drinks were no longer equal once the second drink had been poured out of glass A2.

children’s reactions to jean piaget’s two glasses experiment

Responses were varied:

• One of the children when comparing Al with Bl and B2, argued that there was more drink in Al.

• Another child answered that there was more in Bl and B2 than in Al.

• Later on, when shown a different comparison, the same child stated that there was more in C (the thin glass) than in Al (the wider glass).

• Children aged 7 and older were less likely to make these mistakes. They knew that the amount of liquid remained the same, regardless of the number of glasses, or shape of the glasses, containing it.

• They also knew that if one glass started off with more liquid, there would continue to be more when it was poured into different glasses.

children’s reactions to jean piaget’s two glasses experiment (explained)

• When the younger children were asked to compare glass Al with glasses Bl and B2, they made two errors.

• They either claimed that there was less in B 1 and B2 because the level of the liquid was lower than in Al, or they claimed there was more drink in Bl and B2, because there were more glasses.

• When asked to compare Al with C, they made the mistake of thinking that C had more liquid because the level was higher.

children’s reactions to jean piaget’s two glasses experiment (interpretation)

• The older children were capable of seeing that the level of the liquid alone does not indicate the quantity of water. They could also tell that if a wide glass and a thin glass both had the same level of liquid there was less in the thin glass.

• The younger children relied on simple perceptual clues as to the quantity of liquid. A glass with a higher level looks as though it contains more liquid

• The older children come to know that, logically, the glasses cannot contain different quantities. Nothing has been added to the quantity, nor taken away from the quantity; it has merely been transformed into a new shape.

Conservation of Liquid; Continuous

• Piaget (1968) referred to this new concept as conservation, which he defined as 'the invariance of a characteristic despite transformations of the object or of a collection of objects possessing this characteristic’

• Piaget claimed that the ability to conserve develops during the third stage of cognitive development, the concrete operations stage, which occurs between the ages of 7 and 11 years.

• Prior to this, children are in the pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years), and do not yet think logically.

Conservation of Number, Mass, Weight, Volume

Example:

• In each case, children are asked whether the two items are the same or if there is more of one than the other.

• Once they have confirmed that the two rows of buttons, balls of clay, or glasses of liquid are the same, one of the pair is transformed to make it appear longer/taller.

• The children are then asked whether the two items are the same or different.

Results & Findings of Piaget’s Glass Experiment

The children Piaget studied developed conservation of liquid, number and mass at around 7 to 8 years of age, but he found that children do not discover conservation of weight until 9 or 10 years, and it is not until 11 or 12 years that they develop conservation of volume, which Piaget assessed by using tasks in which objects are put in water so as to displace some of the liquid, thus making the level higher.

Interpretation & Future Studies

• Research by other psychologists has demonstrated that children in the pre-operational stage are able to pass conservation tasks when modifications are made to the experiments.

• Children who gave a wrong answer the first time, take a second question to think again as a cue that they should change their answer.

• To test this hypothesis, they gave some participants a version of the task in which they saw the original, equal, arrangement of two rows and then watched the transformation before they were asked to make a judgement.

• Rose and Blank (1974) found that 6-year-olds were less likely to make errors on the modified task than when given the standard version of the task.

Why Study Conservation?

• Because it illus­trates many of the issues that cognitive developmental psychologists are interested in, such as what children know and don't know, what their intellectual abilities are and how their knowledge and rational ability changes over time.

• The researchers who followed Piaget were interested in clarifying the results of the original studies, by examining the conditions under which children pass and fail conservation tasks.

Cognition

the study of the thought processes or mental activity by which we acquire and deal with knowledge.

Examples of Cognition

Memory, Attention, Language, Social cognition, Reasoning, Problem - solving

What do Children Know at Different Ages?

• One of the basic questions we attempt to answer is: What do children know at different ages?

• For example, many studies have demonstrated that children can perceive depth by the time they are 5 or 6 months old;

• Psychologists have also found that at about 4 years of age, children come to 'know' that other people have thoughts or knowledge that can differ from their own; this is known as having a theory of mind.

• However, understanding what children know, and what skills they have at different ages, doesn't tell us how they think or how they acquire knowledge. We need to know also the structure of children’s knowledge and the processes by which knowledge and skills are acquired.

Structure & Acquisition of Knowledge

• Issue: whether the structure of knowledge changes qualitatively over time.

Questions we must ask:

• How do children gain knowledge from the environment?

• How do they store and organize knowledge?

• How do they reorganize knowledge to generate new knowledge and regulate their actions?

• How does new knowledge change prior knowledge?

• How does acquisition affect development?

Studying Cognitive Development

One needs a theory to investigate the processes of knowledge acquisition and structure of knowledge. Without a theory, we are just fumbling amongst experimental data, we cannot ascertain how or why children produce the behaviours they do.

Three theories have had a dramatic impact on the field. These are:

1. (Piaget, 1983 e.g.) Piaget’s cognitive-developmental theory,

2. (Vygotsky, 1978, 1986), Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development, and

3. (Klahr & MacWhinney, 1998; Siegler, 1996). The information processing approach to cognitive development

Vygotsky (1896–1934) Cognitive development Theory

• Vygotsky believed that children actively explored their environment and were influential in shaping their own knowledge. Unlike Piaget, however, Vygotsky emphasized that a child’s social environment was an extremely important force in their development.

• And, through social interactions with more experienced and more knowledgeable members of their society – parents, relatives, teachers, peers –children were able to acquire the knowledge and skills a culture deemed to be important.

• Vygotsky believed that parents and teachers worked at a level that was optimal for stimulating children’s development

Vygotsky (1978) believed that the interactions between parents and children which led to intellectual development took place in a specific way.

He called this The Zone of Proximal Development:

• ‘The difference between the child’s actual developmental level As determined by independent problem solving and their potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers’

Klahr & MacWhinney, (1998) Cognitive development theories

(Klahr & MacWhinney, 1998) Information processing theories are useful to the study of cognitive development in that they require a researcher to map out the series of steps which they believe best describes the flow of information through the human mind, adding precision to accounts of cognitive development.

Information processing theories also stress the importance of identifying the mechanisms which underlie developmental change: they do not simply provide a description of change but also model how change occurs.

Finally, information processing theories often force us to address the factors that affect development but which previously may not have been considered.

Why Study Cognitive Development?

Theoretical Reasons

• Philosophical

• Evolution

• Understand how cognitive processes develop

Practical Reasons

• To apply the results of research to facilitating children's mental growth.

For example:

• Have an interest in evaluating the impact of television, books and computer games on cognitive development.

• inform educational practice, or

• be interested in the diagnosis and treatment of childhood disorders.

Research: Cognitive Development

Observational Research

• An observational study is one in which children are studied in a naturalistic setting, such as the home or at school. This may be an indi­vidual case study or a study of a group of children either cross-sectionally or longi­tudinally.

• Examples: include video or audio recordings of children, checklists of behaviours and questionnaires for parents to fill in.

• Advantage of this type of research is that children behave naturally, in a way they may not behave in an experimental setting.

• Disadvantages are that interfering factors cannot be controlled for and that there may be a subjective interpretation of children's behaviour by observers.

Question: Are There Stages of Development?

• Does development proceed in stages or do skills and knowledge change in a continuous way? [P.9]

• Continuous: the child slowly develops over time.

• Discontinuous, Stages, Steps: There will be a long period of no development, followed by a sudden developmental leap.

The Importance of Theories

• A theory is a frame of reference for examining behaviour.

• A good theory must be able to do three things: describe, explain and predict behaviour.

• A theory of cogni­tive development describes changes over time in one or several aspects of behaviour or psychological activity.

Examples:

• A theory of perception describes what the perceptual abilities of children are and how they change over time;

• A theory of lan­guage development describes what children's language abilities are and how they change over time.

Theory of Cognitive Development

• A theory of cognitive development explains why children develop the' way they do, and how change occurs.

• A theory is often designed to explain certain cognitive achievements, but in order for the theory to be tested it has to make novel predictions that can then be tested against the data. If the predictions are upheld, the theory is supported, if not it has to be discounted or modified.

Piaget’s Theories

1. In contrast to the assumptions of behaviourist theories: [Environment; reward & punishment] - Piaget argued that children actively explore their world, and their thoughts are ultimately derived from their actions on the world.

2. Piaget's theory explains cognitive development in terms of the interactions between the maturation of cognitive structures and environmental influences. His theory explains the process by which the development observed in children comes about.

Schemes

1. A scheme is an interrelated set of actions, memories, thoughts or strategies which are employed to predict and understand the environment.

2. According to Piaget, Children construct cognitive structures which Piaget termed schemes.

3. As children grow, they develop and refine their schemes.

Biological Approach to Development

• Piaget took a biological approach to development, focusing on the general processes by which living organisms adapt to the world.

• Central to Piaget’s theory were two biological concepts:

  • Organization

  • Adaptation

Organization

Organization refers to the individual’s tendency to organize their cognitive structures or schemes into efficient systems

Organization can take place independently of interaction with the environment.

Children naturally begin to link together schemes, creating a more organized and interrelated cognitive system.

Organization - Example

a) Infants eventually begin to link together schemes developed for reaching, grasping and sucking objects, combining these into more complex structures that can be generalized to other situations and thus further their ability to negotiate the environment.

b) Initially they cannot combine these actions but via the process of organization they are able to do so.

Adaptation involves

the creation of cognitive structures or schemes through our interactions with the environment, allowing us to adjust to the demands posed by that environment.

Adaptation takes place through two complementary processes called

assimilation and accommodation (Piaget, 1952).

Assimilation refers to the process of

integrating the environment into one’s current psycho logical structures (That is, assimilation uses current schemes to interpret new knowledge.

We assimilate new information into existing thought processes or cognitive structures. That is: we take in information and process it in a way that is compatible with our current view of the world and with our current cognitive structure.

Example, when presented with the liquid conservation task, a child may use an existing cognitive structure, based on a comparison of height, to determine that the glass of orangeade with the highest level has the most liquid.

Accommodation is the opposite process of assimilation

it occurs when old schemes are adjusted to better fit with the demands of the environment.

A child notices discrepancies between information coming in and the thought processes or cognitive structures she already has and changes her thought processes and cognitive structures as a result.

Example: If the child realizes that the two glasses cannot be accurately compared on the basis of height alone, she may modify the cognitive structure used for comparison to include an integration of both height and width information

Assimilation & Accommodation

Example:

a) up the token and continue their explorati An infant sees a circular ring and can assimilate this new object into their experience, applying their grasping scheme.

b) Then the infant encounters a much smaller object, such as a plastic token. The child cannot grasp it using their standard grip. They are forced to accommodate to the object, altering their grip so as to be able to pick on.

Piaget believed that development occurred as a result of our predispositions to organize and adapt to new experiences

a) At some points in time, we will be able to assimilate most new experiences, whereas at others, we will be forced to accommodate and adapt our structures to the environment.

b) Piaget argued that when we can assimilate changes in the environment we are in a state of cognitive equilibrium, a ‘steady state’ which our system aims for.

c) However, when forced to accommodate we enter into a state of cognitive disequilibrium.

Piaget (1896–1980): Stages of Development

Viewed cognitive development of children progressing through stages (periods of development)

• Sensorimotor stage: from birth to 2 years (thinking about the world through their actions)

• Preoperational stage: from ages 2 to 7 years (can use symbols and carry out operations mentally)

• Concrete operational stage: from 7 to 12 years (the child's thinking becomes increasingly logical)

• Formal operational stage: adolescence (gaining the ability to think abstractly, no longer tied to concrete reality but now moves into possible and/or hypothetical thought)

Piaget’s Object-Hiding Tasks

Piaget showed the infant an attractive object which was then hidden under a cloth cover or beneath a cup. By substage 4, infants could set aside the obstacle and retrieve the object, coordinating two schemes:

• A means (pushing aside the cup) and

• A goal (grasping the object).

• Piaget regarded this means-end behaviour as the first truly intelligent behaviour and the foundation of all later problem solving;

Object Permanence

• The fact that substage 4 infants could retrieve a hidden object indicated that they had achieved some appreciation of object permanence, but

• This was limited i.e. if an object were moved to a new location, infants of this level of ability would still search for the object in the place in which it had first been concealed, revealing that they did not view the object as existing independently of their actions on it;

• Research has supported the existence of Piaget’s substages, but other studies indicate that young children have more advanced cognitive abilities than he gave them credit for.

Piaget’s ‘Three Mountains Task’

• In this task, the child sits on one side of a table upon which is a three-dimensional model of a number of mountains and some distinctive landmarks such as a cross and a house.

• Importantly, some landmarks can only be seen from certain perspectives and children were allowed to experience this for themselves by walking around the entire table.

• The child was then seated on one side of the table and a doll was placed on the opposite side.

• The child’s task was to choose from a set of photographs which best described what the doll could see.

• Before the age of 6 or 7, children have great difficulties with this task and often respond by picking the photograph which is consistent with their own point of view.

Bruner, 1983; Wood, Bruner, & Ross, 1976,

described the term Scaffolding when considering ZPD.

Scaffolding

an interactive process in which adults adjust both the amount and type of support they offer to a child, leading to eventual mastery of the skill being taught.

When adults provide effective scaffolding for a child, they initially try to encourage them to operate at the limit of their ability. If the child does not respond, the adult will use more specific behaviours to direct them, and, in addition, they may vary the type of instruction offered.

As the child begins to experience success, the adult intervenes in more indirect ways, reducing their level of instruction and encouraging the child to move

The key to effective scaffolding is

sensitivity to the child’s level of development (Rogoff, 1998; Wood & Middleton, 1975).

Social Psychology

• Social psychology is the branch of psy­chology concerned with the way individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by others.

• Social psychologists study how people are affected by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

• Social psychologists often study individual behavior in a social context.

Person Perception

The process of forming impressions of others.

However, impressions are often inaccurate because of the many biases and fallacies that occur in person perception.

Effects of Physical Appearance

• Many studies have shown that judgments of others' personality are often swayed by their appearance, especially their physicical attractiveness.

• People tend to ascribe desirable personality characteristics to those who are good-looking.

• Research suggests that little correlation exists between attractiveness and personality Traits;

• Research has found that people have a strong tendency to view good-looking individuals as more competent than less attractive individuals

• Attractive persons tend to secure better jobs and earn higher salaries than less attractive individuals

Possible Consequences of Attractiveness

• Independent raters found that physical attractiveness boosted persons their actual income by 10%-12%

• One 2009 study compared the impact of brains versus beauty on income. As one would expect (and hope), intelligence was more strongly related to earnings (correlation .50) than good looks. But the correlation of .24 between attractiveness and income was not trivial.

Stereotyping

• Observers are quick to draw inferences about people based on their style of nonverbal expressiveness. Based on "thin slices" of behaviour, observers can make accurate judgments of individuals1 racial prejudice, social status, and intelligence

• Stereotyping is a normal cognitive process that is usually automatic and that saves on the time and effort required to get a handle on people individually

• Most people who subscribe to stereotypes realize that not all members of a group are identical. Eg some lawyers aren't manipulative, but lawyers are more likely than others to have these characteristics.

• These are widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group.

• The most common stereotypes in our society are those based on gender, age, and membership in ethnic or occupational groups: Italians, Americans, etc

• Stereotypes save energy by simplifying our social world. However, this energy savings often comes at some cost in terms of accuracy ignoring the diversity within social groups and fostering inaccurate perceptions of people.

• Even if stereotypes mean only that people think in terms of slanted probabilities, their expectations may lead them to misperceive individuals with whom they interact.

Stereotypes & Perception

• Perception is subjective. People often see what they expect to see

• Stereotypes create biases in person perception that often lead to confirmation of people's expectations about others. If someone’s behaviour is ambiguous, people are likely to interpret what they see in a way that's consistent with their expectations

• People not only see what they expect to see, but they also tend to overestimate how often they see it

Illusory Correlation

• This occurs when people estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they have actually seen.

• People also tend to underestimate the number of disconfirmations they have encountered, as illustrated by statements like ‘I've never met an honest lawyer."

• Example: librarian vs waitress, classical music vs drinking beer