Cognitive Psychology Exam II

Bahrick et al (1975)

Conducted a study that examined the duration of retention of information in long-term memory, demonstrating that people can recall information about school classmates even decades after graduation.

Episodic Memory

Personal experiences and events (Ex: First day of school)

Semantic Memory

General knowledge and facts (Knowing Paris is the capital of France)

Procedural Memory

Skills and actions (Riding a bike)

Memory processes: Encoding and Retrieval

Encoding: Process of transferring information into LTM

Retrieval: Process of accessing stored information

Levels-of-Processing approach

Craik and Lockhart (1972) proposed that memory depends on the depth of processing during encoding. Deeper, more meaningful processing leads to better retention.

Shallow processing: Focusing on physical features (Is the word in capital letters?)

Deep processing: Focusing on meaning (Does the word fit in a sentence?)

Craik & Tulving (1975) “elaboration”

Emphasized linking new information to existing knowledge in enhancing memory.

Self-reference effect

Rogers et al. (1977) found that information related to oneself is better remembered.

Encoding specificity principle

Memory is improved when the context at encoding matches the context at retrieval.

Transfer-appropriate processing

Memory is best when the cognitive processes used during encoding and retrieval align. (A rhyming test is better for things that were learned by with rhyming)

Marian & Fausey (2006)

Illustrated how language and context influence memory retrieval, showing that bilingual individuals recall events more accurately when the retrieval language matches the encoding language.

Explicit vs. implicit memory tasks

Explicit memory: Conscious recall of information (recall/recognition tests)

Implicit memory: Unconscious influence of past experience (improved performance on a task due to prior exposure)

Daniel Schacter

Highlighted how implicit memory can remain intact even when explicit memory is impaired. Repetition priming is an example of implicit memory, where prior exposure toa  stimulus helps with later processing.

Retrograde vs Anterograde Amnesia

Retrograde Amnesia: Loss of memories formed before the injury.

Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to form new memories after the injury.

H.M.

After surgery to treat epilepsy (removed hippocampus) he could not form new EXPLICIT memories, but could learn new skills (procedural memories). There was “dissociation” between memory types.

Warrington & Weiskrantz (1970)

Found that amnesic patients showed priming effects despite poor explicit recall.

Mirror-drawing task

Demonstrated that H.M. could improve with practice without consciously remembering the task.

Schema

Mental framework that helps organize and interpret information.

Consistency bias

The tendency to reconstruct the past to fit the present self-concept. Honig (1997) showed garment workers recalled their past attitudes as being more aligned with their current views (politically).

Source monitoring vs Reality monitoring

Source monitoring: Attributing the origin of a memory (Ex: Did I read it or hear it somewhere?)
Source monitoring errors: Misattributing the source (confusing dream with reality)

Reality monitoring: Distinguishing between real and imagined events. (Did I tell my friend about the plans or not?) Henkel (2011) found that taking photos can impair memory for details of the experience.

Flashbulb memories

Vivid, detailed memories of surprising and emotionally significant events. Talarico & Rubin (2003) found that while participants rated flashbulb memories as more vivid and accurate, they were actually no more accurate than ordinary memories over time. Emotional intensity enhances perceived vividness, but not necessarily accuracy.

Gary Graham

Highlights fallibility of eyewitness testimony.

Post-event misinformation effect

Incorporating misleading information after the event into memory.

Retroactive interference

New information interferes with the recall of old information.

Loftus et al. (1978)

Demonstrated that leading questions can alter memory.

Lotus and Palmer (1974)

Showed that verb choice (“smashed” vs. “hit”) influenced speed estimates in recall of a crash.

Constructivist approach

Suggests that memory is reconstructed not replayed. 

Factors that affect accuracy in eyewitness testimony

Stress, weapon focus, cross-racial identification (own-ethnicity bias)

Confidence does not always correlate with accuracy. To improve eyewitness testimony:

Use unbiased lineups, instructing that the perpetrator may not be present in a lineup, avoiding suggestive questioning.

Expertise in memory

Expertise is context-specific. Experts differ from novices in organization of knowledge, pattern recognition, and use of strategies.

Own-ethnicity bias

Refers to tendency to better recognize faces of one’s own ethnicity group.

VanWallendeel & Kuhn (1997) and Walker & Hewstone (2006)

Confirmed own-ethnicity bias effect, showing higher accuracy for same-ethnicity identifications.

Pollyanna principle

States that people remember pleasant events more accurately than unpleasant ones. Balch (2006) showed that background music matching the emotional tone of an ad improved memory. 

Positivity effect

Refers to tendency for older adults to recall more positive information. Walker et al. (1997, 2003) found that people recall positive events more frequently than negative ones.

Recovered-memory perspective

Traumatic memories can be repressed and later accurately recalled

False-memory perspective

“Recovered” memories may be constructed or suggested, not accurate

Roedinger & McDermott (1995) Experiment

Participants studied word lists (bed, rest, sleep) associated with a “lure” word (sleep). Results showed high false recall and recognition of the lure word, demonstrating how easily false memories can be created.

Total-time hypothesis

Suggests that amount learned depends on the total time spent learning. However, how that time is distributed is critical.

Distributed practice effect (specing effect)

Learning is more effective when study sessions are spread out over time (spaced learning) rather than concentrated in a single session (massed learning, or “cramming”)

Desirable difficulties

Introduced by Robert Bjork, refers to learning conditions that make retrieval harder during practice but lead to better long-term retention (spaced practice and varied practice).

Testing effect

Demonstrates that actively retrieving information from memory improves long-term recall more than passive rereading.

Roediger & Karpicke (2006)

Participants studied a passage and either restudied it or took a free-recall test. Results were that those who took the initial test recalled significantly more after a delay than those who only restudied. Active retrieval enhances long-term retention.

Mnemonics

Memory aids or techniques that help organize and retrieve information.

Bower & Winzenz (1970)

Participants who formed interactive mental images between word pairs had significantly better recall than those who merely repeated the words.

Location technique (Method of Loci)

A powerful imagery technique where items to be remembered are mentally placed along a familiar path or location. Retrieval involves “walking” the path and visualizing each item.

Chunking

Grouping individual items into larger, meaningful units.

Hierarchy technique

Organizing information into a hierarchical structure. (Biological classification system)

First-letter technique

Using the first letters of a list to form an acronym or acrostic. (ROYGBIV for colors of a rainbow)

Narrative technique

Creating a story that links unrelated items together.

Retrospective memory

Memory for past events and previously learned information

Prospective memory

Memory for actions to be performed in the future (Remembering to take medication or attend a class)

Absentmindedness & Prospective memory failure

Absentmindedness is more likely when routines are interrupted or when attention is divided. External memory aids (such as a calendar/to-do list) are often used to support prospective memory.

Metacognitioin

Refers to our knowledge and awareness of our own cognitive processes.

Metamemory

Subset of metacognition focusing specifically on our knowledge and beliefs about our own memory.

Accuracy of metamemroy

People are often poor at predicting their own memory performance.

Foresight bias

Tendency to be overconfident about future memory performance, especially for easily processed material.

Dunning et al. (2003)

Low performing students significantly overestimated their exam performance. High-performing students were more accurate or slightly underestimated their performance. Therefore, those lacking knowledge or skills (low performers) often lack metacognitive ability to recognize their own limitations.

Tip-of-the-tounge effect

Subjective feeling of knowing a word or name of something but temporarily being unable to retrieve it. This is a metacognitive topic as it involves awareness, we know that we know the word but can’t recall it immediately.

Bilinguals often experience more of TOT effect possibly due to interference between languages or less frequent use of specific words in each language.

TOT can also occur in deaf individuals using sign language, showing a universal phenomenon not limited to spoken language.

Metal imagery

Mental representation of sensory experiences without external stimuli.

Imagery as “knowledge-driven”

Imagery relies on top-down processing, where prior knowledge shapes the mental images we form

Perception vs. imagery

Perception is the immediate experience of external stimuli, while imagery is the internal recreation of sensory experiences.

Behaviourists view

Behaviorists rejected imagery as unscientific because it is unobservable, focusing instead on measurable behaviors

Shepard & Metzler (1971)

Participants judged whether two 3D block figures were the same or mirror images. Reaction time increased linearly with the angular disparity between the figures. Therefore, people mentally rotate objects at a constant speed, supporting the idea that imagery is a spatial, analog process.

Mental rotation

Applies to letters, numbers, and other symbols. Studies with ASL showed similar mental rotation processes. Kosslyn et al. demonstrated that visual imagery shares mechanism visual perception.

Analog code vs Propositional code

Analog: Mental images resemble physical objects. Imagery is a close relative of perception. Supported by mental rotation studies.

Propositional: Mental images are abstract, language-like symbols. Imagery is a close relative of language, not perception.

O’Craven & Kanwisher (2000)

Brain regions active during visual perception (FFA) are also active during mental imagery

Kossyln et al (2010)

Approximately 90% of the brain regions activated during perception are also active during imagery

Prosopagnosia patients and mental imagery

Individuals who cannot recognize faces also struggle to form mental images of faces.

Ambiguous figure

Images that can be interpreted in more than one way

Reed (1974)

Participants could identify alternative interpretations of ambiguous figures when drawing them, but not through mental imageryC alone.

hambers & Reisberg (1985)

Participants could not reverse ambiguous figures mentally unless they drew them

Finke et al (1989) 

Showed that mental imagery can be flexible when guided by interpretive cues

Cognitive map

Mental representation of a physical environment

Spatial cognition

Ability to understand and navigate spaceIv

Individual differences

People vary in spatial cognitive skills

Roskos-Ewoldsen et al (1998)

Demonstrated that people form cognitive maps even from limited exposure to an environment

Thorndyke (1981)

People underestimate distances between landmarks in the same category and overestimate distances between landmarks in different categories.

Same-category heuristic

Grouping nearby locations in the same category

Hirtle & Mascolo (1986) (Semantic clustering)

Organizing locations based on meaning rather than physical proximity

Border bias

People overestimate distances across borders (state lines)

Mishra & Mishra (2010)

Confirmed border bias in consumer behavior related to geographic locations

90 Degree angle heuristic

People tend to “straighten” angles in memory to 90 degrees

Moar & Bower (1983)

Participants distorted remembered maps to fit right-angle schemas

Similarity to schemas

Heuristics simplify spatial information by aligning it with pre-existing mental frameworks

Rotation heuristic

People mentally rotate misaligned maps to fit a north-up orientation

Stevens & Coupe (1978)

Participants misremembered the relative positions of cities due to state boundaries

Alignment heuristic

People align geographic features mentally, leading to systematic errors

Tversky (1981)

Demonstrated alignment errors in cognitive maps

Franklin & Tversky (1990)

Participants imagined themselves in a 3D environment and identified objects in different directions. They measured the speed and accuracy of different directional judgements. They found that the fastest responses were for “above/below”, then “front/back”, slowest for “left/right”.

Spatial framework model

Explains how people construct mental representations of space based on body-centered coordinates

Situated cognitive approach

Cognitive processes are deeply influenced by the physical and social context in which they occur. Last paragraph on p155 states that spatial cognition is not purely internal but is shapes by interaction with the environment.