IB Psychology HL - Memory and decision making

Localization of function

Localization of function

The theory that specific parts of the brain are responsible for specific behaviors or cognitive processes

The frontal lobe

Associated with executive functions (planning, decision-making and speech)

The Occipital lobe

Associated with visual processing

The Parietal lobe

Associated with the perception of stimuli

The Temporal lobe

Associated with auditory processing and memory

Amygdala

Plays a role in the formation of emotional memory and fear responses

Hippocampus

Responsible for the transfer of STM to LTM

Neuroplasticity

The brain’s ability to rearrange the connections between its neurons as a response to learning and experiences

Dendritic branching

Neurons connect to create a new trace in the brains after learning which cause the dendrites of the neurons to grow in number and connect with other neurons

Neurotransmission

The process by which neurons communicate with one another across synapses using neurotransmitters

Process of neurotransmission

Action potential (electrical impulse) travels down the axon → Releases neurotransmitters stored in the axon terminal → Reach the synaptic gap and diffuse across it → Reach the receptor sites on the post-synaptic membrane of another neuron

Inhibitory transmitter

Decrease the likelihood of a neuron firing

Excitatory transmitter

Increase the likelihood of a neuron firing

Neural pruning

Process by which extra neurons and synaptic connections are eliminated.

Agonist

A substance that binds to synaptic receptors and increase the effect of the neurotransmitter (e.g. Acetylcholine)

Antagonist

Drugs that block the receptor site and don’t allow the neurotransmitter to do its job (e.g. Scopolamine)

Hormones

Secreted by glands in the endocrine system. Acts slower but longer than neurotransmitters

Cortisol

Produced in the adrenal glands. It increases the amount of glucose in blood and increases metabolism of fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Also provides energy for “Fight or flight”.

Cortisol levels

Moderate: help in consolidation and retrieval of memories

High: impair memory retrieval and may lead to hippocampal impairment

Multi-store model of memory

Environmental input → Sensory memory -Attention→ STM -Encoding→ LTM -Retrieval→ STM

Primacy effect

The ability to recall words at the beginning of the list (rehearsed into LTM)

Recency effect

The ability to recall words that have just been spoken (still in STM)

MRI

Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Uses a magnetic field and radio waves to map the activity of hydrogen molecules. Non-invasive, high-resolution. Only shows structure and correlational (not cause & effect)

PET

Positron emission tomography observes metabolic processes by detecting the gamma rays emitted by a tracer (high radioactivity=high activity). Patient is inject FDG to see where it goes. Allows participant to perform task but invasive, slow and poor resolution.

fMRI

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging shows brain activity by measuring blood flow and oxygen levels detected through magnetism. Non-invasive and high resolution. Lack ecological validity.

Draganski (2004) aim

Determine whether or not learning a new skill has an effect on brain structure

Draganski (2004) procedure

21F and 3M (20-24 years old) non-jugglers had an MRI scan to serve as a base rate from grey matter and structure. 

Half learned a juggling routine, had a 2nd MRI, stopped juggling for 3 months and had a 3rd MRI.

Other half was a control group and also had another MRI 3 months later.

Draganski (2004) findings

VBM showed that jugglers had a larger amount of grey matter in the mid-temporal area in both hemispheres of the brain (visual memory)

After 3 months, this decreased.

No changes for the control group.

Newcomer aim

To investigate whether high levels of Cortisol interfere with verbal declarative memory

Newcomer procedure

51 employees/students of the Washington Medical Center (no  pregnancy, head trauma, mental illnesses, corticosteroids treatment) took part in the double-blind lab experiment. Either given a placebo tablet, low or high level of cortisol. Asked to listen and recall a prose paragraph every day for 3 days.

Newcomer findings

High cortisol levels impaired performance as they had the worst performance in the memory test.

Placebo and low dose performed similarly.

Antonova et al (2011) aim

To determine how significant the role of the agonist (ACH) in encoding spatial memories in humans is.

Antonova et al (2011) procedure

20M (mean age of 28) took part in a double-blind procedure. Random allocation of Scopolamine (antagonist) or placebo injection 70-90 pretest. Put into an fMRI scan while playing the VR Arena task (navigate around an arena to reach a pole). Then, 30 seconds of blank screen where participants are told to rehearse before finding the pole again from a new starting point. 3-4 weeks later they retook the test with the opposite injection (repeated measures design)

Antonova et al (2011) findings

Participants injected with Scopolamine demonstrated reduced activity in the hippocampus as it blocked ACH which is an agonist for the encoding of spatial memories in Humans.

Maguire et al (2006) aim

To see whether the brains of London taxi drivers would be somehow different as a result of their exceptional knowledge of the city and the many hours that they spend behind the wheel navigating the streets of London.

Maguire et al (2006) procedure

The quasi experiment involved 18 right handed taxi drivers being taken for MRI scans and memory tests. Their results were compared to 17 right handed bus drivers. VBM was used to measure grey matter density and pixel counting to calculate the area of the hippocampus. The memory tests looked at the participant’s abilities to recognize landmarks, faces and recall stories

Maguire et al (2006) findings

There were no significant differences in brain structure apart from the hippocampi. Taxi drivers had a larger posterior and a small anterior hippocampus than bus drivers. The posterior hippocampus is associated with navigation and spatial memory.

Milner (1966) and Corkin (1992) aim

To gain better understanding of the effects that the surgery (Dr. Scoville removed tissue from the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus, from both hemispheres following seizures) had had on patient HM, aged 27.

Milner (1966) and Corkin (1992) procedure

Method triangulation involved: psychometric testing (IQ), direct observations of behaviour, interviews with HM and his family, cognitive testing, MRI scan.

Milner (1966) and Corkin (1992) findings

HM could not acquire new episodic knowledge or semantic knowledge. This suggests that the memory systems in the brain constitute a highly specialized and complex system and the hippocampus plays a critical role in converting memories from the STM to the LTM. STM’s are not stored in the hippocampus as HM could retain some information after rehearsal. LTM’s are not stored there but organized as he remembered old ones but could not form new ones. Implicit memory contains several stores e.g. procedural, emotional and all are related to different brain areas.

Schema theory

It describes a pattern of thought or behaviour that organises categories of information and the relationships among them. In simple terms, this theory relates to how we all have common processes and are able to interact with each other and the world around us. It shows the way in which memory is derived from prior experience and knowledge.

Bartlett (1932) aim

Whether schema aids memory encoding and retrieval or distorts accuracy of recall.

Bartlett (1932) procedure

A sample of only British adults. They all took part in a series of memory tests using a method called serial reproduction. The text used in this study is a passage called “War of the Ghosts”, a Native American tale. Participant A read through the passage twice at their normal reading pace (only Participant A saw the original text). After 15-30 minutes, Participant B would then read through Participant A’s account twice and then reproduce their own account after another 15-30 minute interval. After that Participant C would then read Participant B’s account and so on.

Bartlett (1932) findings

Found that three patterns of distortion were identified: assimilation (aligning details with cultural expectation) , levelling (shortening the passage by leaving out information), and sharpening (adding details to make it make more sense). Concluded that memory is an active, reconstructive process where information is altered to fit existing schemas, aiming to create meaning.

Bransford and Johnson (1986) aim

To determine if schema activation would result in better understanding and retention of an ambiguous text.

Bransford and Johnson (1986) procedure

Sample size of 52 participants, randomly allocated into one of the 3 conditions (independent measures design). The first involved 17 participants who heard the text without knowing the topic. The second involved 17 participants who were only told the topic of the text after hearing it. Lastly, the third involved 18 participants who were told the topic of the text before hearing it. All conditions followed the same method. The participants were told that they were going to hear a tape-recorded passage and that they will later be asked to recall as much of it as possible. After listening to the passage, they were asked to rate their comprehension on a scale of 1 to 7 and recall as accurately as possible (the researchers rated this out of 18).

Bransford and Johnson (1986) findings

The study found that the lowest scoring group for both comprehension and recall was the condition who were told the topics after. The highest scoring condition was the one which knew the topic before hearing the passage. To summarise, this study concluded that schema activation helped participants to have a better understanding and retention of the passage.

Multi-Store Memory Model, Akinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Sensory stores holds information very briefly.

Short-term memory has very limited capacity.

Long-term memory has unlimited capacity .

Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) aim

Test the hypothesis that there are two distinct storage mechanisms that produce the serial position curve in free recall.

Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) procedure 1

240 army enlisted men were split into groups of 20. Given 20 word main lists which were formed of commonly known one syllable nouns. The groups either had 3, 6, or 9 seconds between words. Some heard the words repeated once, twice, three times or not at all. After each list, participants had 2 minutes to recall all they remembered (order did not) in a specific booklet.

Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) findings 1

First 15 words were remembered more accurately with 9 second gap. Demonstrates primacy effect.

Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) procedure 2

46 army enlisted men were split into 3 groups. Heard a list of words and would have to repeat it either immediately or 10 and 30 seconds with an interference task.

Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) findings 2

Participants remembered more at the beginning and end in the 0 second delay. Interference task removed the recency but not primacy effect. Implies separate memory stores.

Types of memory

Declarative memory (“knowing what”) is the memory of facts and events and refers to those memories that can be consciously recalled. There are two subsets of declarative memory:

Episodic memory contains the memory of specific events that have occurred at a given time and in a given place.

Semantic memory contains general knowledge of facts and people, for example, concepts and schemas, and it is not linked to time and place.

Procedural memory (“knowing how”) is the unconscious memory of skills and how to do things.

Working memory model / Baddeley & Hitch (1974)

Central executive is an attention control system that monitors and coordinates the operations of the other subordinate components. Limited capacity, modality-free and can focus or divide attention.

The phonological loop is the auditory component. Articulatory control system can hold info verbally. The phonological store can hold auditory memory traces.

The visuospatial sketchpad is the visual component. Includes storage and manipulation of visual patterns and spatial movements (2/3D).

The episodic buffer temporarily holds several sources of active information.

Landry and Bartling (2011) aim

Investigate if articulatory suppression would influence recall of a written list of phonologically dissimilar letters.

Landry and Bartling (2011) procedure

34 undergraduate psychology students randomly allocated into two groups where they were tested individually. The control group did not preform articulatory task, saw list for 5 seconds and waited another 5 before answering. The experimental group preformed task with articulatory suppression task (recall list of letters while saying the numbers one and two at a rate of 2 numbers per second) in between seeing the list and answering. 10 lists each consisting a series of 7 random letters that were phonically different, each series presented one at a time.

Landry and Bartling (2011) findings

The mean score of the control group was 75% comparted to 45% for the experimental group. These results support the experimental hypothesis as disruption of phonological loop through articulatory suppression results in less accurate working memory. The articulatory suppression prevents rehearsal of phonological loop because of overload.

Warrington and Shallice (1970) aim

Longitudinal study observing patient KF who suffered brain damage as a result of a motorcycle accident. (LTM was intact but impairment of STM).

Warrington and Shallice (1970) procedure

KF struggled had poor memory span but could learn and move info from STM to LTM. Method triangulation showed he forgot number orally but could remember them if shown visually.

Warrington and Shallice (1970) finding

Goes against the MSM as it shows that memory is more complex. Supports WMM as it shows the separate components (verbal and visual).

Loftus and Palmer (1974) aim

To investigate whether the use of leading questions would affect an eyewitness’s estimation of speed.

Loftus and Palmer (1974) procedure

45 students were divided into 5 groups. 7 short films of traffic incidents (taken from driver’s education films) were shown. Participants watched the videos and were asked to give an account of they accident they had seen. They answered a questionnaire and were asked the estimate the speed. Groups of 9 were either asked the same question with the verb ‘hit’, ‘collided’, ‘bumped’, ‘smashed’ or ‘contacted’.

Loftus and Palmer (1974) findings

Contacted estimated 31.8mph (6.1 mph too slow) while smashed estimated 40.5mph (1-4 mph too fast). This shows that verbs activate schemas that have different sense of meaning. The connotation of the verb influences how the memory is formed.

Yuille and Cutshall (1986) aim

To investigate whether leading questions could influence the memory of eyewitnesses in a real crime scene setting.

Yuille and Cutshall (1986) procedure

In Vancouver, an armed robbery was committed where the shop owner was shot. There were 21 witnesses and a lot of forensic evidence to corroborate their accounts. 4 months later, 13 agreed to participate. They were ask to give an account and asked questions. Half were asked about a broken headlight on the getaway car and the other half were asked about a yellow pannel (was in fact blue) on the car. Participants were also asked to rate their stress level.

Yuille and Cutshall (1986) finding

Eyewitness were notably reliable in their recollections. 10/13 participants correctly stated they did not see a broken headlight or a yellow panel. 79 to 84% of information witnesses gave matched up to original police reports. Contradicts Loftus and Palmer suggesting that the lack of emotional response to the video shown might have contributed to the impact of leading questions unlike the “adrenaline rush” witnesses had.

Flashbulb Memory Theory / Brown and Kulik

A highly vivid, resistant to forgetting, more accurate and consistent ‘snapshot’ of a moment which is consequential, surprising and emotionally arousing.

Special-mechanism hypothesis

Existence of a special biological memory mechanism that, when triggered by an event exceeding critical levels of surprise, creates a permanent record of the details and circumstances surrounding the experience.

Sharot (2007) aim

To determine the potential role of biological factors on flashbulb memories.

Sharot (2007) procedure

This quasi-experiment was conducted 3 years after 9/11 on 24 participants who were in NYC on that day. Took an fMRI while present with word cues on a screen. Along either the word “Summer” or “September” and they recalled events. Participants were asked to rate their memories for vividness, detail, confidence in accuracy and arousal. Also asked to write down their personal memories.

Sharot (2007) findings

Only half reported having flashbulb memories. From that, participants closer to the World Trade Center included more specific details in written memories and rated themself higher on scales. Activation of the amygdala was higher for participants when recalling 9/11 than summer. Participants far away from the towers had equal activation. Correlational suggestions that close personal experience may be critical in engaging the neural mechanisms that produce flashbubl memories.

Neisser and Harsch (1992) aim

To assess susceptibility of flashbulb memories to distortion.

Neisser and Harsch (1992) procedure

106 Emory University students were surveyed within 24 hours about the Challenger disaster (Space shuttle that exploded in 1986). 30 women and 14 men came back 2.5 years later and only 11 remembered the first survey. Interviews also took place. Questions included “What time was it?”, “What did you do after?”, “Who told you” and emotion based questions weren’t counted. Participants also rated their confidence.

Neisser and Harsch (1992) findings

Mean score of 2.95/7.0 accuracy in the question and 4.17 for confidence. This highlighted stark inconsistencies and the lack of coherence between surveys.

Kulkoffsky (2011) aim

The reseachers studied 5 countries (China, Germany, Turkey, the US and the UK) to see if there was any differences in the rate of flashbulb memories in collectivistic and individualistic cultures.

Kulkoffsky (2011) procedure

Natural experiment with 274 adults were given 5 minutes to recall as many memories as could of public events in their lifetime. Given questions similar to Neisser and Harsch as well as how personally important it was and how often they spoke about it.

Kulkoffsky (2011) findings

In collectivistic cultures, personal importance intensity of emotion was less than in individualistic cultures. Causing less rehearsal and lower chances of a flashbulb memory. However, events of national significance had no great difference.

Collectivistic culture

Culture that emphasizes the importance of group harmony and interdependence over individual goals and achievements. It values cooperation, loyalty, and maintaining social harmony. e.g. China

Individualistic culture

Culture that emphasizes individual goals, independence, and personal achievements over group harmony. Encourages self-expression, individual rights, and competition. e.g. USA

Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) aim

To test the theory that taking notes on laptops rather than by hand hinders learning. This is thought to be because when we take notes by hand, we cannot keep up with the professor verbatim and have to process information to summarize.

Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) procedure

109 UCLA undergraduate students including 27 males. They were separated into 4 groups: longhand study, longhand no study, laptop study and laptop no study. The method of taking notes was assigned based off the participant’s usual note taking style and study or not was random. They were shown 4 lectures (bats, bread, respiration and vaccines) through films of graduate students reading from a teleprompter with an individual private monitor and headphones. Participants were told they would be tested in one week on the content (not allowed to take notes with them). Study condition were given 10 mins to study their notes right before the test. There were 40 questions - 10 for each lecture and categorized into factual or conceptual.

Mueller and Oppenheimer (2014) conclusion

There was not significant difference between non-study laptop and pen/paper conditions (overall laptop scored 20.6 and pen/paper scored 19.4). In the study condition, longhand scored significantly higher than laptop (overall average of 25.6 compared to 18.3). Suggests that using technology to take notes might affect our ability to remember and understand important ideas as laptop notes tend to be taken verbatim, which prohibits skill of summarizing and are taken mindlessly. Does not support the external storage hypothesis which believes more detailed notes will do better.

Sparrow (2011) aim

To find out if the Internet has become an enormous transactive memory store. Investigate the prediction that we invest less effort in committing information to memory if we believe we can simply retrieve it from an external memory story (i.e. Google Effect)

Sparrow (2011) procedure

60 undergrad students from Harvard were asked to type 40 trivia facts into the computer. Some facts were new knowledge like an ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain and some were common like the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during re-entry over Texas in February 2003. 2×2 independent samples design. Half were told that the computer would store everything they typed for later reference, other half were told it would be erased. Half of each group asked to remember other half not.

Sparrow (2011) conclusion

Being asked to remember showed no significant difference but there was a difference if they believed the computer would store or erase information. Save scored 19 and 22% average while erased score 29 and 31% average. Participants who thought they would be able to retrieve the information appeared to make less effort to memorize it. Cannot be certain why as level of effort cannot be measured.

Transactive memory

Shared system where groups remember and store information collectively, relying on each other's expertise for recall.

Google effect

the phenomenon where people rely on the internet to retrieve information instead of remembering it, impacting memory recall.

External memory store theory

Memories stored outside the brain in the environment, such as in books or technology, aiding in memory recall.

Atler and Oppenheimer (2007) aim

Investigate how font affect thinking and cognitive disfluency

Atler and Oppenheimer (2007) procedure

40 Princeton students found at the student center completed the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) consisting of 3 questions that measures whether people use fast thinking and get the wrong answer or slow thinking and get the right answer.

Atler and Oppenheimer (2007) conclusion

10% of the students with the easy font got all the questions correct in comparison to 65% in the difficult font because system 2 thinking was used. This can interpreted at preliminary evidence that disfluency initiates systematic processing or perhaps rational thinking was not caused by disfluency but slower reading pace, allowing for more coherent thoughts.

Glass, Maddox and Love (2013) aim

To investigate whether playing a fast paced video game can improve strategic thinking

Glass, Maddox and Love (2013) procedure

72 female undergraduate at UT Austin who regularly play video games for less than 2 hours a week on average had their cognitive flexibility (ability to switch between tasks and think on your feet) measured. Then, asked to play 40 hours over 8 weeks of either Star craft (strategic thinking) or The Sims.

Glass, Maddox and Love (2013) conclusion

Results that showed that those who played star craft had shown greater improvement in cognitive flexibility, especially when it came to switching rapidly between contexts and retaining memory. Therefore, cognitive flexibility is a trainable skill and 40 hours of training with an RTS game that stresses rapid and simultaneous maintenance assessment and coordination between multiple information and action sources was enough for significant positive changes.

Bavelier (2011) aim

To investigate the connection between action games and decision making.

Bavelier (2011) procedure

Two groups of men and women, average age of 26, who claimed not to have played video games in the past year were assigned to action video game or simulation game to play for 50 hours. Then, they were asked to do a simple test on a computer screen. The screen showed a pattern of dots and they had to determine which wat the majority of dots were moving.

Bavelier (2011) conclusion

Both groups accomplished the task but the group that played the action video game did so faster with fewer errors because they were able to decipher a large amount of information more quickly to come to a decision.

Gandolphe and El Haj (2016) aim

To determine whether the level of international significance of an event impacts creation of flashbulb memories around it.

Gandolphe and El Haj (2016) procedure

Used the Charlie Hebdo attack on January 7th 2015 at 11 a.m. where 12 people were killed and 11 injured in Paris. 4 days later, 2 million people (including 40+ world leaders) rallied and 3.7 million more across France. Social media was swarmed by “Je suis Charlie” slogan.

Recruited 235 French participants through social networking answered a web-based question 4-5 weeks after. Questions involved the 5x date, time, place, number of shooters and victims and 10x emotion based questions. It asked participants not to search for any information. The responses were coded by 2 independent raters.