Midterm 2- Cognitive Psyc 100

explicit memory

intentional retrieval of memories

implicit memory

procedural memory that alters performance based on previous experiences

how you perform tasks that you do everyday

recall tasks

cued recall- provide specific cues to aid retrieval

-Ex: What is Capital of Romania, it starts with B

free-recall tasks- asked to retrieve information without any additional context for the information

-used for the retrieval of semantic memories

ex: what is the capital of romania

serial recall tasks- requires participants to recall a list of items in a specific order, usually the order in which they were presented

semantic memory

involves general knowledge we have but doesnt contain information about the time and place we learned that knowledge

used by free recall

ex: what is the capital of blank

recognition tasks

do not require you to generate any information but instead asked to verify whether information has been experienced before or

identifying which information has been encoded in the past

ex: when you see a face in a crowd that you have met before

prospective memory

remembering a future task

episodic memory

involves episodes from one’s daily experiences, has contextual info

retrieving is based on whether retrieval task is recall or recognition

Eagle and Leiter (1964) recall and recognition

Conditions: Half of participants were told they needed to remember words for a memory test (intentional learning) other half were given a task to perform on the list of items but werent told about the memory test (incidental learning)

results: recall was higher for intentional learning but recognition was better for items studied in the incidental condition

how implicit memory is measured

measured by the advantage shown for studied items compared with unstudied items

other ways involve conceptual cues (categories or semantic knowledge questions)

prospective memory

remembering to perform a task at some point in the future

ex: stopping at the store to get milk, calling your mom on her birthday, remembering to study for a test

retrieval is from cues in our environment

ex: seeing someone blow out candles on TV reminds you to call your mom

event-based tasks

prospective memory retrieval is from cues in our environment

ex: seeing someone blow out candles on TV reminds you to call your mom

time-based tasks

prospective memory retrieval is from time cues

ex: needing to take medicine at 9 pm, glancing at clock and seeing it is close to 9

interference

occurs when other information prevents the retrieval of the target information

consolidation

neural process by which the memories are strengthened and more permanently stored in the brain

the two types of consolidation

system consolidation: memories are stored in cortical areas of the brain, can take up to months to complete

synaptic consolidation: occurs within/across neurons, individual cells that make up the tissue in the brain, sleep aids in maintaining

why forgetting occurs

interference and the lack of consolidation

autobiographical memory

significant experience that we personally experienced

elaborative encoding

processing the meaning of the information

shallow processing

encoding info according to its surface features

level of processing effect

encoding information according to its meaning aids in long-term memory

spacing effect

an effect showing better memory when information is studied in smaller units over time instead of all at once, as in cramming

Encoding variability theory accounts for the spacing effect by assuming that, as the lag between repetitions increases, the memorial representations approach independence.

primacy effect (serial position effect)

information encoded first shows memory advantage

recency effect (serial position effect)

information encoded last shows a memory advantage

mnemonics

memory techniques that have been used by humans for thousands of years to remember information

bizarreness effect

the human mind notices unusual things, and some types of mnemonics use this to help your remember

method of loci

uses images and known locations to remember items

testing effect

reviewing information by means of a retrieval task aids later retrieval

two ways of using the testing effect

mixing topics (e.g. if studying for multiple exams take turns in one study session)

explanatory questioning (elaborative interrogation and self-explanation) (most effective)

encoding specificity

matching the circumstances of encoding and retrieval memory aids

can involve: stimuli in the environment, ones mood, thoughts about the info, physiological state, processing state

transfer-appropriate processing

an effect in memory showing that matches in processing between encoding and retrieval improve memory

Ebbinghaus forgetting curve

people tend to continually halve their memory of newly learned knowledge in a matter of days or weeks unless they actively review the learned material

availability

whether or not a memory is stored

accessibility

whether or not a memory can be successfully retrieved

reasons for retrieval failure

lack of consolidation, decay, interference, ineffective retrieval cue

synaptic consolidation

involves structural changes at synapses

the process by which these connections, or synapses, become stronger over time. It's like reinforcing the pathways between neurons so that the memory becomes more stable and less likely to be forgotten.

basically the process of strengthening the connections between neurons to solidify memories in your brain, making them more resistant to forgetting

system consolidation

involves the gradual reorganization of neural circuits

the process by which memories transition from temporary storage to more permanent storage areas in the brain, making them easier to access and less likely to be forgotten, much like saving and organizing files on a computer's hard drive.

levels of processing

the depth/level of processing impacts memory retention rather than the duration of repetition of exposure

deep processing leads to better memory than shallow

intentional vs incidental learning

asking a teacher a specific question vs refers to the process of acquiring new knowledge or information without intention, often through exposure to various media such as cartoons and films (wouldve happened with or without care)

encoding specificity principle

a memory theory within psychology that suggests that the environment or context in which information is encoded will affect how well people remember that information during retrieval

testing effect

suggests long-term memory is increased when part of the learning period is devoted to retrieving information from memory

generation effect

refers to finding that subjects who generate information remember the information better than they do material that they simply read

state-dependent learning

if individuals learn particular materials in one state (e.g., after having consumed a particular drug), then later recall will be better if they return to that same state

environmental context effect

describes the influence of environmental factors on one's perception of a stimulus. The impact of context effects is considered to be part of top-down design.

the seven sins of memory

written by Daniel Schacter

outlines seven memory failures that occur in individuals with normal memory abilities

describes these “sins” of memory as by products of the way memory functions and typical of everyone to varying degrees

transcience

first sin

term for normal forgetting of information over time

most information is forgotten very quickly after its encoded but over time, less and less information is forgotten

active processes of interference and interrupted consolidation seem to contribute to most forgetting

absentmindedness

second sin (error)

a lack of attention during encoding or retrieval result in poor memory

failure of prospective memory (remembering to do a future task)

blocking/ tip of the tongue

third sin (error)

an experience of knowing that you know info but being unable to retrieve it

retrieval suppression or the think/no think paradigm

happens most often with names or unusual words

source misattribution

fourth sin (error)

phenomena when we remember learning something from a different source than from the one we actually learned it from

false recall, false recognition, studies on deja vu

suggestibility

fifth sin (error)

others suggestions and statements can alter our memories for events in ways we do not even realize, resulting in the alteration of actual memories and the creation of false memories for events we never even experienced

hearing about.and imagining an event multiple times can create a memories for the event that seems as real to us as something we experienced

bias

sixth sin (error)

occurs when our current experiences or knowledge alter our memory of a past experience

our current experiences and knowledge bias the ways we remember past experiences

consistency bias and false recollection

persistence

seventh sin (error)

experiencing unwanted memories over and over

issue because it is disruptive

(PTSD)

the reconstructive nature of memory

we dont record and store all aspects of our experiences together, instead we encode and store the pieces of an experience (sights, sounds, scents) and attempt to put the correct pieces back together when we retrieve our memory of the experience

this process occurs automatically w/o awareness

Bartlett’s Studies

conducted studies on ppl’s abilities to reproduce simple stories, passages and figures

was interested in the accuracy of reproduction of the text or figures over time and the types of errors participants made

when ppl made errors in the stories they tended to be consistent with their cultural biases

showed that the ppl relied on their own experiences and knowledge to fill in the details based on their general memory of the events, instead of remembering the details of these events

schema

general knowledge structure for an event/situation

Brewer and Treyens (1981)

showed that our memory lies on schemas with an experimental task

scripts

provide general structure for a familiar event but they involve an ordered set of actions that one holds in memory

sometimes used in routine procedures

ex: script for going out to a restaurant

Bransford and Johnson (1973)

gave participants a passage to read and remember

participants remembered about 15-23% of the ideas when no topic was given to them prior to reading the passage

when participants were told ahead of time that it was about a topic they remembered 32-40% of the ideas

the effects of the participants knowledge had the most influence during encoding while the passage was first read

memory errors in the laboratory

memory researchers have conducted studies on how memory errors are created and ways to reduce the errors in situations where accurate memory is important

the DRM procedure

Roediger, McDermott, and Deese published a study on false memories

asked ppl see or hear a list of words that are all related to a single theme; however, the word that names the theme is not itself included

people are very likely to remember later that the theme word was presented - likely relying on that schema

Suggested that two important processes are at play: spreading of activation of related items in memory/activation monitoring theory (sleep schema is activated, then activation spreads to other related concepts in the network

Researchers using tis have discovered that electrophysical brain activity is similar for false memories and for true ones.

spreading activation

when a concept or schema becomes activated, that activation then spreads to other related concepts in the network

source monitoring

helps us accurately identify studied list items

when we attempt to recall/recognize items, we consider whether a generated (in recall) or presented (in recognition) item was actually studied in the list

we try to determine the source of the item to decide if it was studied or not

when we monitor the source for the theme items that werent studied, source misattribution can occur, allowing us to believe the item was studied along with the related list items

post-event misinformation effect

when a person's recall of episodic memories becomes less accurate

changes their memory of the event to create memory errors

Loftus & Palmer (1974)

how changing verbs/words in sentences affects memory

asked a question different way using different words yielding in stronger responses of false memories (suggestive questioning)

suggestive questioning

question posed to a witness in such a way that leads them to a specific answer, which can lead to an alteration of their memory for an event

Loftus et al (1978)

stop sign study

asked 2 different questions

experimental: yield sign 40% correct

control: traffic sign 75% correct

shows the misinformation effect/memory trace replacement/source monitoring error/retroactive interference

false negative/positive in eyewitness identification

person was guilty but witness failed to identify them or person was innocent but wrongly accused

possible reasons for errors

encoding factors, misattributed familiarity, post identification feedback

false memory

memory about something that didnt happen

Loftus & Pickrell 1995

Lost in shopping mall “your parents told me when you were 5 years old….”

(false memory) trying to convince you that something happened

3 true events + 1 false events

6 out of 24 participants claimed that they remembered the fictitious event

cognitive interview

helped police question witnesses in a way that limits suggestibility and misleading information, which increases accurate witness retrieval of event details

relies on 4 techniques designed to enhance retrieval of the details of an event

(1) the original context is reinstated in the witness’ mind (2) the witness reports everything they remember even if its incomplete to allow for retrieval of info a witness may have less confidence in (3) the witness takes different perspectives of the event in their retrieval and (4) the witness receives events in different temporal orders

retrograde amnesia

loss of memory for events that occurred before the brain damage

affects episodic memory but not semantic

anterograde amnesia

affects memory of events after damage

(affected H.M)

episodic memory is affected/damage (memory deficit)

Clive Wearing

man with 7 sec memory

Patient H.M

removed/ damaged hippocampus

amnesic syndrome

loss of memories like facts, information and experiences

STM is fine

Alzheimer’s disease

progressive amnesia

impairs episodic and semantic memory

impairs performance on implicit memory tasks

structure of language

form (phonology and orthography), meaning (semantics), grammar (syntax) and use (pragmatics)

phonemes

5 distinct sound units, two vowels and three consonants

different languages are made up of different sets of these

orthography and phonology

1. the basic elements of sounds of a language, sounds are made up of vibrations in the air that we hear

2. the basic visual elements of letters that make up a written language

morpheme

smallest unit of language that conveys meaning in spoken language or grammatical properties in written language

ex: cow (1) and cows (2) or textbook/football (2)

can stand alone (free) or must be attached to others

an added one may change the meaning or syntactic class (noun or verb)

syntax

corresponds to the grammatical rules for how we order the words and phrases of our sentences

ex: “man bites dog”, “dog bites man” (2 diff meanings)

structure specifies how words are related, not by meaning but by the grammatical properties (nouns and verbs) of the words

semantics

the aspect of language related to meaning

however, not all meaning comes from the semantics of the words, some meaning comes from how we use those words

pragmatics

use of language within particular context

includes sentence meaning or producer meaning (what the producer intended to communicate)

coarticulation

sounds that make up phonemes and words often overlap

categorical perception

speech is perceived as discrete categories , our perceptual processes become attuned to the different phonemes in spoken languages

word superiority effect

letters are easier to identify in the context of words

we also use top-down contextual information to help us interpret incoming languages

phoneme restoration effect

use their knowledge of the word to “fill in” the missing input (aka top-down processing)

mental lexicon

collection of the representations of these words in our long-term memory

explanations of both the word superiority effect and the phoneme restoration effect rely on having mental representations of the word

organized along many dimensions

more frequently a word is used the faster it is recognized

priming

words may be “primed” by other words

people recognize a string of letters as a real word faster if it is preceded by a semantically related word compared to an unrelated word

syntactic parsing

building the syntactic structure is part of the process that explains how a sentence is understood

deep and surface structure

derived from phrase structure rules and the linear order that is produced

transformations of the deep structure result in the final surface structure

two general approaches to syntactic processing

syntax-first approach: syntactic information alone is used to construct one syntactic structure based on a set of parsing principles (i.e simpler structures are preferred over complex ones)

interactive approach: syntactic information is used in conjunction with other sources of information to build the initial syntactic structure

Arnold et. al (2000)

anaphoric inferences

using a pronoun to refer back to something (or someone) in another sentence

its one way in which we use inferences to bind sentences together into cohesive texts aka they allow us to make sense of what we are reading from one sentence to the next is described as discourse

mental model or a situational model

a mental representation of the current interpretation which may or may not be influenced by inferences drawn from a script or schema

representations of what the text is about

paradox of language

the purpose of producing an utterance is to convey meaning, the mistakes we make when speaking often shows disruptions in meaning but appear to obey the rules of syntax and phonology

tip of the tongue state

a situation where you have accessed the semantic and syntactic representations of a word but not the phonological form of the word

the perceptual loop

we use our comprehension system to monitor our ongoing productions not only after we have said them but also before their actual articulation

(Levelt 1983) even before we articulate our planned utterances, we run our “inner speech plan” through our comprehension system to look for errors so that we can make correction before articulation

the alignment theory

proposes that the goal of a conversation is the alignment of the representations of the producer and comprehender

successful communication involves aligning the phonological, syntactic, semantic, and situational models in both people

occurs through priming