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Chapter 11: Cognitive Psychology: Memory, Language, and Problem-Solving

MEMORY

  • According to the modal model, memory is divided into three separate storage areas: sensory, short-term, and long-term.
  • Each type of memory has four components: storage capacity, duration of code, nature of code, and a way by which information is lost.

Sensory Memory

  • Sensory memory is the gateway between perception and memory.
  • Information in sensory memory is referred to as iconic if it is visual and echoic if it is auditory.
    • The iconic store lasts for only a few tenths of a second while the echoic store lasts for three or four seconds.
  • Visual persistence - A quickly moving fan also may generate such a perception.
  • In 1960, researcher George Sperling experimented on memory and partial report.
    • He first presented participants with a matrix of three rows of four letters each for just milliseconds.
    • Sperling called this ability to recall these lines of letters iconic memory or short-term visual memory.
    • This suggests that the capacity for iconic memory is quite large, but the duration is incredibly short, and the information is not easily manipulable.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

  • Short-term memory holds information from a few seconds up to about a minute.
  • Psychologist George Miller found that the information stored in this portion of memory is primarily acoustically coded, despite the nature of the original source.
  • Maintenance rehearsal is simple repetition to keep an item in short-term memory until it can be used (as when you say a phone number to yourself over and over again until you can dial it).
  • Elaborative rehearsal involves organization and understanding of the information that has been encoded in order to transfer the information to long-term memory (as when you try to remember the name of someone you have just met at a party).
  • Effortful processing, when we make a conscious effort to retain information.
  • Automatic processing - can occur unconsciously when we are engaged with well-practiced skills, like riding a bicycle.
  • Another useful mnemonic device is to use short words or phrases that represent longer strings of information.
  • The dual-coding hypothesis indicates that it is easier to remember words with associated images than either words or images alone.
  • One aid for memory is to use the method of loci.
    • This involves imagining moving through a familiar place, such as your home, and in each place, leaving a visual representation of a topic to be remembered.
  • Self-reference effect - It is also easier to remember things that are personally relevant.
  • Items in short-term memory may be forgotten or they may be encoded (stored and able to be recalled later) into long-term memory.
    • Items that are forgotten exit short-term memory either by decay—that is, the passage of time—or by interference—that is, they are displaced by new information.
  • One type of interference is retroactive interference, in which new information pushes old information out of short-term memory.
  • The opposite of retroactive interference is proactive interference, in which old information makes it more difficult to learn new information.
  • Primacy (remembering the first items)
  • Recency (remembering the last items) effects.
  • Serial position effect - The recency effect tends to fade in about a day; the primacy effect tends to persist longer.
  • Chunking - Grouping items of information into units.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

  • Long-term memory is the repository for all of our lasting memories and knowledge, and it is organized as a gigantic network of interrelated information.
  • Evidence suggests that information in this store is primarily semantically encoded—that is, encoded in the form of word meanings.
    • However, certain types of information in this store can be either visually encoded or acoustically encoded.
  • Episodic memory, or memory for events that we ourselves have experienced.
  • Semantic memory, also known as declarative, which comprises facts, figures, and general world knowledge.
  • Procedural memory—that is, memory consisting of skills and habits.
  • Declarative (or explicit) memory is a memory a person can consciously consider and retrieve, such as episodic and semantic memory.
    • In contrast, nondeclarative (or implicit) memory is beyond conscious consideration and would include procedural memory, priming, and classical conditioning.
  • Recalling items in long-term memory is subject to context-dependent memory.
  • State-dependent memory also applies to states of mind, meaning that information memorized when under the influence of a drug is easier to access when in a similar state than when not on that drug.
  • Spreading activation - The activation of a few nodes can lead to a pattern of activation within the network that spreads onward.
  • A phenomenon that many psychologists believe occurs in the long-term store is the flashbulb memory, which is a very deep, vivid memory in the form of a visual image associated with a particular emotionally arousing event.
  • Memory reconstruction occurs when we fit together pieces of an event that seem likely.
  • Source confusion is one likely cause of memory reconstruction.
  • Elizabeth Loftus and other psychologists are studying the existence of false or implanted memories.
  • Framing - Repeated suggestions and misleading questions can create false memories.
  • Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909) studied the phenomenon of forgetting.
    • His “forgetting curve” showed that most forgetting occurs immediately after learning, and he then showed that this could best be addressed by spaced review of materials.

LANGUAGE

  • Language is the arrangement of sounds, written symbols, or gestures to communicate ideas
  • Phonemes are the smallest units of speech sounds in a given language that are still distinct in sound from each other.
    • Phonemes combine to form morphemes, the smallest semantically meaningful parts of language.
  • Grammar, the set of rules by which language is constructed, is governed by syntax and semantics.
  • Syntax is the set of rules used in the arrangement of morphemes into meaningful sentences; this can also be thought of as word order.
  • Semantics refers to word meaning or word choice.
  • Prosody is the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech.
  • Holophrases are single terms that are applied by the infant to broad categories of things.
  • Overextension - It results from the infant not knowing enough words to express something fully.
  • Underextension is when a child thinks that his or her “mama” is the only “mama.”
  • Telegraphic speech - This speech lacks many parts of speech.
  • Noam Chomsky postulated a system for the organization of language based on the concept of what he referred to as transformational grammar.
  • Surface structure of language— The superficial way in which the words are arranged in a text or in speech
  • Deep structure of language—The underlying meaning of the words.
  • Language acquisition device, which facilitates the acquisition of language in children.
  • Critical period for the learning of language.
  • B.F. Skinner, a noted behaviorist, countered Chomsky’s argument for language acquisition.
    • Skinner explored the idea of the “language acquisition support system,” which is the language-rich or language-poor environment the child is exposed to while growing up.
  • Benjamin Lee Whorf, in collaboration with Edward Sapir, proposed a theory of linguistic relativity, according to which speakers of different languages develop different cognitive systems as a result of their differences in language.

CONCEPTS

  • A concept is a way of grouping or classifying the world around us.
  • Typicality is the degree to which an object fits the average.
  • Prototype - An image emerges in our brain.
  • A superordinate concept is very broad and encompasses a large group of items, such as the concept of “food.”
  • A basic concept is smaller and more specific—for example, “bread.”
  • A subordinate concept is even smaller and more specific, such as “rye bread.”

COGNITION

  • Cognition encompasses the mental processes involved in acquiring, organizing, remembering, using, and constructing knowledge.
  • Reasoning, the drawing of conclusions from evidence, can be further divided into deductive and inductive reasoning.
  • Deductive reasoning is the process of drawing logical conclusions from general statements.
  • Syllogisms are deductive conclusions drawn from two premises.
  • Inductive reasoning is the process of drawing general inferences from specific observations.

PROBLEM-SOLVING AND CREATIVITY

  • Problem-solving involves the removal of one or more impediments to the finding of a solution in a situation.
  • Divergent thinking - If many correct answers are possible.
  • Convergent thinking - If the problem can be solved only by one answer.
  • The availability heuristic means that the conclusion is drawn from what events come readily to mind.
  • The representativeness heuristic also can lead to incorrect conclusions.
  • Heuristics contrast with algorithms, which are systematic, mechanical approaches that guarantee an eventual answer to a problem.
  • Insight is the sudden understanding of a problem or a potential strategy for solving a problem that usually involves conceptualizing the problem in a new way.
    • Problems requiring insight are often difficult to solve because we have a mental set, or fixed frame of mind, that we use when approaching the problems.
    • Mental set refers to the tendency for people to approach problems in a certain way based on their prior experiences and beliefs.
  • Confirmation bias, the search for information that supports a particular view, hinders problem-solving by distorting objectivity.
  • The hindsight bias, or the tendency after the fact to think you knew what the outcome would be, also distorts our ability to view situations objectively.
  • Belief perseverance affects problem-solving.
    • In this mental error, a person sees only the evidence that supports a particular position, despite evidence presented to the contrary.
  • Framing, or the way a question is phrased, can alter the objective outcome of problem-solving or decision-making.
  • Creativity can be defined as the process of producing something novel yet worthwhile.

Next Chapter: Chapter 12: Cognitive Psychology: Intelligence and Testing