Cognitive Psychology Unit 5

Cognitive Psychology

The study of mental activities including: Concept Formation, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Judgement Formation

Cognition

The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses (study of both logical and illogical thinking)

memory

A system that encodes, stores and retrieves information

Memory’s Three Basic Tasks

Encoding, Storage, Retrieval

What does the INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL say about the Human brain?

It takes essentially meaningless information and turns it into meaningful patterns

Encoding (Putting it In)

The more time we spend learning information, the more we remember, we can do it in three ways

Semantic Encoding

Encoding of meaning

Acoustic Encoding

Encoding of Sounds

Visual Encoding

Encoding of picture images

Storage (Keeping it in)

The retention of encoded material over time, in terms of storing material, we have three stages of memory (three types)

Retrieval (Getting it Out)

The locating and recovering of information from memory- while some memories return to us in a split second, other seemed to be hidden deeper, and still others are never “recovered” correctly

Sensory Memory

Shortest of our memories- fraction of a second, holds a large amount of information, far more than ever reaches consciousness

Do sensory images have meaning associated with them?

No, that is the job of the next stage of the working memory

How do sensory memories give us the impression of a constant flow?

SM last just long enough to dissolve into the next ones

Working Memory

Often known as short term memory, place where we sort and encode information before either transferring it to long-term memory or forgetting it.

How long does Working Memory hold information?

18-20 seconds, much longer than sensory memory (we recall digits better than letters)

What are Baddley’s Three Systems of Working Memory?

Central Executive, Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad, and the Phonolgical Loop

Central Executive

drives the whole system of memory, and allocates data to the subsystems (VSS & PL)

What does the central executive control?

our attention and coordinates working memory for a specific task

What else does the central executive deal with?

Cognitive tasks. such as mental arithmetic and problem solving

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

stores and processes information in a visual or spatial form, also used for navigation

Phonological Loop

\`stores and utilizes semantic (word) information and deals with spoken and written material (can be used to remember a phone number)

Working memory is subject to two limitations…

limited capacity and short duration

Chunking

any memory pattern or meaningful unit of memory

examples of chunking

memorizing a phone number, social security number, or credit card number

Rehearsal

repeating information to keep it from fading while in working memory

In working memory, what can information be connected or elaborated on?

long-term memories

The levels of Processing Theory

the idea that the way information is encoded affects how well it is remembered (the deeper level of processing = easy to remember)

Shallow Processing

Structural (appearance), Phonemic (sound)

Deep Processing

Samanic (lanaugue)

Which type of processing is easier to remember because it is more meaningful?

Deep processing

Where is the likely location for the working memory?

the frontal cortex

Where does one physical change in the brain occur during memory storage?

In the synapses

How do memories begin?

as impulses whizzing through the brain circuits, leaving a semi-permanent trace

Long Term Potentiation

the more a memory is utilized, the more potential strength that neuron has

Once Long-Term Potentiation has occurred…

even passing an electrical current through the brain will not erase well-stored memories

What type of memories would be wiped out by the passing of an electrical current through the brain?

more recent memories

Why can’t people who get concussions remember what happened to them?

They have not had a chance to “consolidate” their memories to the long-term

What does research show is the best way to remember things?

Study them and then sleep

Long-Term Memory

all of your knowledge of yourself and the world around you.

Long term memory is limitless unless

injury or illness occur

Is there a limit to long term memory?

no, there is no duration or capacity.

What does Long Term Memory Retrieval depend on?

Implicit and explicit memory

implicit memory

if it can affect behavior or mental processes without becoming fully conscious

What do explicit memories always contain?

Consciousness

Retrieval cues

Search Terms we use to activate memory (google search)

Flashbulb Memory

exceptionally clear and vivid memories, tending to be highly emotional. people remember when, what they were doing and what they felt (9/11)

Other factors affecting retrieval

encoding specificity principle, mood- congruent memory

encoding specificity principle

the more closely the retrieval cues match the way the information was encoded, the better the information will be remembered.

mood-congruent memory

we tend to selectively remember memories that match with our current mood

What are the two ways memories can be cued?

recall and recognition

recall

a retrieval method in which one must reproduce previously presented material

recognition

a retrieval method in which one must identify information that is provided which has previously been presented

Eidetic Imagery

Technical term for a photographic memory

eidetic memory is most common in

children, and declines as a person ages

Alzhemiers- Early stages

the most commonly recognized symptom is partial loss of the semantic memory

Alzheimer’s- Middle Stages

the individual has problems with his/her short term memory

Alzheimer’s - Later Stages

An individual’s long-term memory is impaired

Two types of forgetting

retrograde amnesia & anterograde amnesia

retrograde amnesia

unable to recall events that occurred before the development of amnesia

Anterograde Amnesia

Loss of the ability to create new memories after the event that caused the amnesia

What are the seven sins of memory

Transience, Absent-Mindedness, Blocking, Misattribution, Suggestibility, Bias, Persistence

Transience

the impermanence of long-term memories- based on the idea that memories gradually fade in strength over time

what is transience also known as

“decay theory”

Absent-Mindedness

forgetting caused by lapses in attention

example of absent-mindedness

forgetting where you parked or losing your keys

blocking

forgetting when a memory cannot be retrieved because of interference

proactive interference (part of blocking)

when an old memory disrupts the learning and remembering of a new memory

example of proactive interference

trying to put the dishes away in a new home

retroactive memory (part of blocking)

when a new memory blocks the retrieval of an old memory

example of retroactive memory

driving an automatic car after driving a manual

misattribution

memory faults that occur when memories are retrieved, but arre associated with the wrong time or person

source amnesia

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined AKA source misattribution

suggestibility

the process of memory distortion as the result of deliberate or inadvertent suggestion

Example of Suggestibility

eyewitness accounts play an important role of our legal system. Unfortunately they can be incredibly faulty.

Misinformation Effect

memories can embellished or even created by cues and suggestions

Bias

The influence of personal beliefs, attitudes and experiences on memory

expectancy bias

a memory tendency to distort recalled events to fit one’s expectations

self-consistency bias

a commonly held idea that we are more consistent in our attitudes and beliefs, over time, than we actually are

Persistance

a memory problem where unwanted memories cannot be put out of our minds

What do psychologists think that emotions strengthen?

the physical changes in the synapses that hold our memories, thus highly emotional memories can be harder to put out of the mind

Serial Position Effect

A form of interference related to the sequence in which material is presented

Items listed in the middle are generally,

are remembered less

Primacy

Relative ease of remembering the first information in a series

Recency

Strong memories of the most recent information in a series

Seven Sins of Memory

Transience, Blocking, Absent-Mindedness, Misattribution, Persistence

Transience

To prevent memory overload

blocking

to focus on task at hand

Absent-Mindedness

Ability to shift attention

Misattribution Bias/Suggestibility

focus on meaning not detail

Persistence

To remember especially emotional memories

Metacognition

Thinking about one’s thinking/thought processes; knowing our strengths and weaknesses as learners

Prototype

Mental Image or best example of a category based on prior experience/ schema

What does matching new items to the prototype provide?

A quick and easy method for including category

Overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct, to overestimate the accuracy of one’s belief and judgements

belief bias

the tendency for one’s preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning (making invalid conclusions valid & vice versa)

Belief Perseverance

Clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

Framing

the way an issue is posed, how an issue is framed can significantly affect decisions

example of framing

the best way to markret: “25% fat or 75% beef?”

Cognitive Maps

mental representations of a given place or situation