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Exemplar approach
use many exemplars as comparison (more appropriate for smaller categories)
Prototype approach
use a single prototype as comparison (more appropriate for larger categories)
"levels-of-processing" approach to memory
According to levels of processing theory, memory depends on the depth of processing that an item receives. Depth of processing distinguishes between shallow processing and deep processing.
shallow processing
involves little attention to meaning, as when a phone number is repeated over and over or attention is focused on a word's physical features such as whether it is printed in lowercase or capital letters.
Deep processing
involves close attention and elaborative rehearsal that focuses on an item's meaning and its relationship to something else. According to levels of processing theory, deep processing results in better memory than shallow processing
Self-reference effect
Memory is better if you relate the thing to yourself
Study of self-reference effect
Leshikar et al., (2015):
• Subjects studied adjectives and either determined whetherthey described themselves or not or whether the wordsthemselves were common or not
• Then completed an old/new recognition task (e.g., shownwords and asked whether they were old or new
• Words encoded "self-referentially" were better remembered8
Generation effect
Memory for material is better when a person generates the material him- or herself, rather than passively receiving it.
Testing effects
Replacing repetition with self-testing improves long-termretention of information
• Increasing opportunities for self-testing results in better long-term retention
• Initially if you have less repetition and self-test you rememberless information
• But across a delay, what you did remember you stillremember while items only studied seem to slip from memoryto a larger degree
Encoding-specificity principle
we encode information along with its context. For example, Angela encoded many experiences within the context of her grandparents' house. When she reinstated this context by returning to the house many years later, she remembered many of these experiences.
"Diving Experiment"
A classic experiment that demonstrates encoding specificity is D. R. Godden and Alan Baddeley's (1975) "diving experiment." In this experiment, one group of participants put on diving equipment and studied a list of words underwater, and another group studied the words on land (Figure 7.8a). These groups were then divided so that half the participants in the land and water groups were tested for recall on land and half were tested underwater. The results, indicated by the numbers, show that the best recall occurred when encoding and retrieval occurred in the same location.
state-dependent learning
learning that is associated with a particular internal state, such as mood or state of awareness. According to the principle of state dependent learning, memory will be better when a person's internal state (mood or awareness) during retrieval matches his or her internal state during encoding.
State-dependent learning example
For example, Eric Eich and Janet Metcalfe (1989) demonstrated that memory is better when a person's mood during retrieval matches his or her mood during encoding. They did this by asking participants to think positive thoughts while listening to "merry" or happy music, or depressing thoughts while listening to "melancholic" or sad music (Figure 7.8c). Participants rated their mood while listening to the music, and the encoding part of the experiment began when their rating reached "very pleasant" or "very unpleasant." Once this occurred, usually within 15 to 20 minutes, participants studied lists of words while in their positive or negative mood.
After the study session ended, the participants were told to return in 2 days (although those in the sad group stayed in the lab a little longer, snacking on cookies and chatting with the experimenter while happy music played in the background, so they wouldn't leave the laboratory in a bad mood). Two days later, the participants returned, and the same procedure was used to put them in a positive or negative mood. When they reached the mood, they were given a memory test for the words they had studied 2 days earlier. The results, shown in Figure 7.8c, indicate that they did better when their mood at retrieval matched their mood during encoding
Transfer-appropriate processing
the participants' retrieval performance depended on whether the retrieval task matched the encoding task. participants who had focused on rhyming during encoding remembered more words in the rhyming test than participants who had focused on meaning. Thus, participants who had focused on the word's sound during the first part of the experiment did better when the test involved focusing on sound. This result—better performance when the type of processing matches in encoding and retrieval
memory consolidation
the gradual, physical process of converting new long-term memories to stable, enduring memory codes
Synaptic consolidation and systems consolidation
Synaptic consolidation, which takes place over minutes or hours, involves structural changes at synapses. Systems consolidation, which takes place over months or even years, involves the gradual reorganization of neural circuits within the brain. synaptic and systems consolidation are processes that occur simultaneously—one that works rapidly, at the level of the synapse, and another that works more slowly, at the level of neural circuits.
standard model of consolidation
Proposes that memory retrieval depends on the hippocampus during consolidation, but that once consolidation is complete, retrieval no longer depends on the hippocampus.
ex: This standard model was based partially on observations of memory loss caused by trauma or injury. It is well known that head trauma, as might be experienced by a football player taking a hard hit as he runs downfield, can cause a loss of memory. Thus, as the player is sitting on the bench after the impact, he might not be aware of what happened during the seconds or minutes before getting hit. This loss of memory for events that occurred before the injury, called retrograde amnesia, can extend back minutes, hours, or even years, depending on the nature of the injury.
Multiple trace model of consolidation
the hippocampus is involved in the retrieval of episodic memories, even if they originated long ago. The hippocampus remains in active communication with the cortical areas, even for remote memories.
ex: Evidence for this idea comes from experiments like one by Asaf Gilboa and coworkers (2004), who elicited recent and remote episodic memories by showing participants photographs of themselves engaging in various activities that were taken at times ranging from very recently to the distant past when they were 5 years old. The results of this experiment showed that the hippocampus was activated during retrieval of both recent and remote episodic memories.
Reconsolidation
when a memory is retrieved (remembered), it becomes fragile, like it was when it was originally formed, and that when it is in this fragile state, it needs to be consolidated again—a process called reconsolidation. This is important because when the memory has become fragile again, and before it has been reconsolidated, it can be modified or eliminated. According to this idea, retrieving a memory not only puts us in touch with something that happened in the past, but it also opens the door for either modifying or forgetting the original memory.
Retrograde amnesia
loss of memory from the point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss of memory for the past
Graded amnesia
When amnesia is most severe for events that occurred just prior to an injury and becomes less severe for earlier, more remote events. (most common form of retrograde amnesia)
Anterograde amnesia
when you can't form new memories but can still remember things from before you developed this amnesia
Autobiographical memory
is memory for specific experiences from our life, which can include both episodic and semantic components
ex episodic: images of the cake, people at the party, and games being played
ex semantic: the time, and your general knowledge about what usually happens at birthday parties
source monitoring error
misidentifying the source of a memory
ex: erhaps you have had the experience of remembering that one person told you about something but later realizing you had heard it from someone else—or the experience of claiming you had said something you had only thought
Flash-bulb memories
a person's memory for the circumstances surrounding shocking, highly charged events. It is important to emphasize that the term flashbulb memory refers to memory for the circumstances surrounding how a person heard about an event, not memory for the event itself. Thus, a flashbulb memory for 9/11 would be memory for where a person was and what they were doing when they found out about the terrorist attack. Therefore, flashbulb memories give importance to events that otherwise would be unexceptional.
repeated recall
The idea behind repeated recall is to determine whether memory changes over time by testing participants a number of times after an event. The person's memory is first measured immediately after a stimulus is presented or something happens. Even though there is some possibility for errors or omissions immediately after the event, this report is taken as being the most accurate representation of what happened and is used as a baseline. Days, months, or years later, when participants are asked to remember what happened, their reports are compared to this baseline. This use of a baseline provides a way to check the consistency of later reports.
Eye-witness testimony
• The ways in which we are asked questions about an event can alter our memory of events
• Misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event may change how the person remembers that event later
•When Loftus and colleagues increased the aggressiveness of the word in their question about people remembered the cars traveling faster14From Loftus & Palmer, 1974
• Jurors carry misconceptions that memory works like a camera or video recorder
• Errors often due to: Attention, Familiarity, suggestion
• Ronald Cotton was exonerated for a crime he didn't commit. The original conviction was based mostly on eyewitness testimony given by the victim. DNA evidence proved his evidence 10 years later
reminiscence bump
the empirical finding that people over 40 years old have enhanced memory for events from adolescence and early adulthood, compared to other periods of their lives
self image (reminiscence bump)
proposes that memory is enhanced for events that occur as a person's self-image or life identity is being formed (Rathbone et al., 2008). This idea is based on the results of an experiment in which participants with an average age of 54 created "I am" statements, such as "I am a mother" or "I am a psychologist," that they felt defined them as a person. When they then indicated when each statement had become a significant part of their identity, the average age they assigned to the origin of these statements was 25, which is within the span of the reminiscence bump.
cognitive (reminiscence bump)
proposes that periods of rapid change that are followed by stability cause stronger encoding of memories. Adolescence and young adulthood fit this description because the rapid changes, such as going away to school, getting married, and starting a career, that occur during these periods are followed by the relative stability of adult life. One way this hypothesis has been tested is by finding people who have experienced rapid changes in their lives that occurred at a time later than adolescence or young adulthood. The cognitive hypothesis would predict that the reminiscence bump should occur later for these people. To test this idea, Robert Schrauf and David Rubin (1998) determined the recollections of people who had emigrated to the United States either in their 20s or in their mid-30s. Figure 8.4, which shows the memory curves for two groups of immigrants, indicates that the reminiscence bump occurs at the normal age for people who emigrated at age 20 to 24 but is shifted to later for those who emigrated at age 34 or 35, just as the cognitive hypothesis would predict.
cultural-life script (reminiscence bump)
he culturally expected events that occur at a particular time in the life span. For example, when Dorthe Berntsen and David Rubin (2004) asked people to list when important events in a typical person's life usually occur, some of the more common responses were falling in love (16 years), college (22 years), marriage (27 years), and having children (28 years). Interestingly, a large number of the most commonly mentioned events occur during the period associated with the reminiscence bump. This doesn't mean that events in a specific person's life always occur at those times, but according to the cultural life script hypothesis, events in a person's life story become easier to recall when they fit the cultural life script for that person's culture.
youth bias
the tendency for the most notable public events in a person's life to be perceived to occur when the person is young
memory and emotions
The medial temporal lobe structures must be important for memory consolidation of arousing events.
Found greater activation in Amygdala and other medial temporal lobe memory systems for emotional than neutral pictures as well
Evidence that memory is enhanced when emotions are high during encoding (see in animal studies inducing stress using cortisol injections).
narrative rehearsal hypothesis
The idea that we remember some life events better because we rehearse them. This idea was proposed by Neisser as an explanation for "flashbulb" memories.
controversy surrounding recovered memories
Contrary to the belief of clinicians, memory researchers claim that repressed memories do not exist, but instead the memories 'recovered' may have been forgotten, consciously repressed, or falsely implanted.
Schema
is a person's knowledge about some aspect of the environment. For example, a person's schema of a bank might include what banks often look like from the outside, the row of teller windows inside the bank, and the services a bank provides. We develop schemas through our experiences in different situations, such as making a deposit at a bank, going to a ball game, or listening to lectures in a classroom
script
is our conception of the sequence of actions that usually occurs during a particular experience. For example, your coffee shop script might be waiting in line, ordering a drink and pastry from the barista, receiving the pastry, paying, and waiting near "pickup" for your drink.
ex. dentist experiment
supermemorizers
-MRI of 10 super memorizes (compete in memory competitions)
-exceptional use of memory strategies (mnemonics, elaboration)
-not superior intelligence/brain structures
misinformation effect
misleading information presented after a person witnesses an event can change how the person describes that event later.
definition theory
we have definitions for all categories, and we can determine whether something is a category member based solely on that definition.
• Doesn't work well. Not all members of everyday categories have the same defining features
.• Example à What is a chair? A seat with four legs and a back. Fits just one person. But some chairs have a different number of legs or can fit two people, etc
prototype theory
we decide whether an item belongs to a category by comparing that item with a prototype.
• Prototype: an average representation of the "typical" member of a category
Exemplar theory
Concept is represented by multipleexamples (rather than a single prototype)
• Examples are actual category members (not abstractaverages)
• Representation is not abstract
Is the prototype or exemplar approach better?
• Exemplar approach: use many exemplars as comparison. More appropriate for smaller categories
• Prototype approach: use a single prototype as comparison. More appropriate for larger categories
• The exemplar approach and prototype approach aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Maybe use exemplars at first, prototypes later
how to determine the prototype?
the "typical" prototype is based on an average of members of a category that are commonly experienced. For example, the prototype for the category "birds" might be based on some of the birds you usually see, such as sparrows, robins, and blue jays, but doesn't necessarily look exactly like any one of them. Thus, the prototype is not an actual member of the category but is an "average" representation of the category
neural findings brain for prototype and exemplar
Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and anterior hippocampus (AHIP)significantly tracked abstract prototype information
• Lateral parietal cortex (Lat. Par.) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) significantly tracked specific exemplar information
• We have evidence of different regions in the brain tracking exemplars and abstract prototypes in the same task!19(Bowman & Zeithamova, 2018)
Collins and Quillian'sHierarchical model
it consists of levels arranged so that more specific concepts, such as "canary" and "salmon," are at the bottom, and more general concepts are at higher levels.
We can illustrate how this network works, and how it proposes that knowledge about concepts is organized in the mind, by considering how we would retrieve the properties of canaries from the network. We start by entering the network at the concept node for "canary." At this node, we obtain the information that a canary can sing and is yellow. To access more information about "canary," we move up the link and learn that a canary is a bird and that a bird has wings, can fly, and has feathers. Moving up another level, we find that a canary is also an animal, which has skin and can move, and finally we reach the level of living things, which tells us it can grow and is living.
You might wonder why we have to travel from "canary" to "bird" to find out that a canary can fly. That information could have been placed at the canary node, and then we would know it right away. But Collins and Quillian proposed that including "can fly" at the node for every bird (canary, robin, vulture, etc.) was inefficient and would use up too much storage space.
Spreading activation
activity that spreads out along any link that is connected to an activated node. For example, moving through the network from "robin" to "bird" activates the node at "bird" and the link we use to get from robin to bird, as indicated by the colored arrow in Figure 9.14. But according to the idea of spreading activation, this activation also spreads to other nodes in the network, as indicated by the dashed lines. Thus, activating the canary-to-bird pathway activates additional concepts that are connected to "bird," such as "animal" and other types of birds. The result of this spreading activation is that the additional concepts that receive this activation become "primed" and so can be retrieved more easily from memory.
Connectionist model
consist of a network of simple interconnected neuron-like units that process information in parallel. Connectionism is an approach to creating computer models for representing cognitive processes. We will focus on connectionist models designed to represent concepts. These models are also called parallel distributed processing (PDP) models because, as we will see shortly, they propose that concepts are represented by activity that is distributed across a network.
sensory-functional hypothesis
our ability to differentiate living things and artifacts depends on a memory system that distinguishes sensory attributes and a system that distinguishes functions.
multiple-factor approach
seeking to describe how concepts are represented in the brain by searching for multiple factors that determine how concepts are divided up within a category
embodied cognition
the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements
semantic category approach
proposes that there are specific neural circuits in the brain for some specific categories
Hierarchical organization of categories
• Superordinate: highest level, cannot be nested under another higher-level category label
• Basic: a sub-type of the superordinate category; can be further divided
• Subordinate: lowest level, cannot have additional categories nested under it
Top-down processing
The way we structure semantic information into categories is determined by our exposure and level of experience
• We tend to focus on different levels of hierarchy depending on expertise
• Expert birders tend to respond with more specific categories when identifying birds whereas non-experts tend to respond to more basic categories.
works from the brain to the sensory system, hence the top-down reference. Once this information is received by the sensory system, prior knowledge is activated, and the brain can form a hypothesis regarding the information being received.
study discussed in class
"Tracking prototype and exemplar representations in the brain across learning" - Caitlin R Bowman, Takako Iwashita, and Dagmar Zeithamova1
There is a long-standing debate about whether categories are represented by individual category members (exemplars) or by the central tendency abstracted from individual members (prototypes). Neuroimaging studies have shown neural evidence for either exemplar representations or prototype representations, but not both. Presently, we asked whether it is possible for multiple types of category representations to exist within a single task. We designed a categorization task to promote both exemplar and prototype representations and tracked their formation across learning. We found only prototype correlates during the final test. However, interim tests interspersed throughout learning showed prototype and exemplar representations across distinct brain regions that aligned with previous studies: prototypes in ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior hippocampus and exemplars in inferior frontal gyrus and lateral parietal cortex. These findings indicate that, under the right circumstances, individuals may form representations at multiple levels of specificity, potentially facilitating a broad range of future decisions
