Chapter 7 Cognitive Psychology

Another example of repetition priming can be seen with ______.

word-stem completion

When using an fMRI to look at brain activity there is a difference in areas activated during "remember" and "know":

"remember"- hippocampus showing this area is crucial for source memory "know"- anterior parahippocampus showing this area is crucial for familiarity

Why do they think words similar in semantic (bread, butter) will be declared more quickly?

- The process of activating the butter node has already begun thanks to the subthreshold activation this node received from bread. This should accelerate the process of bringing this node to threshold and so will require less time to activate.

Cases of Hippocampal Amnesia-->

-EP -Clive wearing

SOOOO to sum it all up describe the chain of events leading to the sense of "familiarity"

1- you have encountered the stimulus before 2-because of that prior encounter (and the "practice" is provided) your processing of that stimulus is now faster and more efficient. SO increase in processing fluency 3-detect that increased fluency and this leads you to register the stimulus as somehow distinctive or special. 4- you try to figure out why the stimulus seems special and you reach a particular conclusion

Which of these sentences is measures memory directly and which indirectly: 1-which of these words were on the list I showed you earlier? 2-Which of these letter strings form real words?

1-directly 2-indirectly

Korsakoff's syndrome

A clinical syndrome characterized primarily by a dense anterograde amnesia. Caused by damage to specific brain regions, and it is often precipitated by a form of malnutrition that is common among long-term alcoholics.

What were the two types of fictitious names used for?

A comparison between those 2 types will indicate the prior familiarization (during the pronunciation task) influenced the participant's judgement of fame.

Familiarity

A general sense that a certain stimulus has been encountered before. -willing to make an inference about where that familiarity came form -you can attribute the familiarity to an earlier encounter, and thanks to attribution you'' probably respond yes to a recognition test.

context-dependent learning

A pattern of data in which materials learned in one setting are well remembered when the person returns to that setting, but are less well remembered in other settings.

Subthreshold activation

Activation below the response threshold and won't trigger a response BUT this activation is important because it can accumulate leading to a response threshold -It is in effect already "warmed up" so that even a weak input will now be sufficient to bring it to threshold

The distinction between explicit and implicit memory is also supported by evidence from cases of brain damage. Example: _____ (define).

Amnesia (disruption of memory due to brain damage)

Hippocampal Amnesia

Amnesia occurring after damage or loss of the hippocampus -impaired explicit memory, but normal implicit memory

What is double dissociation?

An argument by researchers to show that 2 processes or 2 structures are truly distinct. One must establish that each of the processes or structures can be disrupted without interfering the other.

One way to think about implicit memory is in terms of processing fluency(define).

An improvement in the speed or ease of processing. -recently encountered items are easier to recognize a second time

Describe Scuba Diver study on context-dependent learning: (Godden and Baddeley)

Asked scuba divers to learn various materials. Some of the divers learned the material while sitting on dry land; others learned it while underwater. -Within each group, 1/2 of the divers were tested while above water and half while below water. -Expected that divers who learned material while underwater will remember the material best if they're again underwater at the time of the test. This setting will enable them to use the connections they established earlier.

What Syndrome is an example of how you can have source memory without familiarity?

Capgras Syndrome: have detailed, accurate memories of what friends and family members look like and remember when last encountered the, but when these people are in view they seem hauntingly unfamiliar

So you can get the benefits of context-dependent learning through the strategy of _____. This is because what matters for memory retrieval is...

Context reinstatement (recreating the thoughts and feelings of the learning episode even if you're in a very different place at the time of recall). -This is because what matters for memory retrieval is the mental context, and not the physical environment itself.

Example: 1911 Swiss neurologist Édouard Claparède performed an informal experiment with a Korsakoff-syndrome patient -Describe what he did and what happened?

Doctor secretly place a pin in his hand before shaking her hand in which the patient received a painful pinprick -Later the patient could not explicitly remember him but when went to shake hands she flinched and pulled away. When he asked why she said sometimes people hide pins in their hands.

What are the two types/subdivisions of explicit memory?

Explicit = conscious 1-episodic memory-memory for specific events 2-semantic memory-general knowledge, not ties to any time or place

Define Source Confusion

Eyewitness may select someone from a photo lineup based only on familiarity, not on actual recall. (where a bit of information was learned or where a particular stimulus was last encountered is misremembered)

Describe the memory of Clyde Wearing?

Good memory for generic information -love for his wife -unable to remember events -disrupted episodic memory but intact semantic memory.

Describe a similar study among college students and reading an essay:

Had to read a 2 page article in either a quiet or noisy environment. -When later given the short answer test, those who read the article in quiet did best in quiet compared to being tested in a noisy environment.

How would the difference in delays between the "pronunciation" and "famous" list be interpreted?

Immediate: when you see a familiar name you decide its familiar but also know it was on the previous list. So it is familiar and distinctive. Have familiarity and source memory at same time. Delay: may not recall the earlier episode of the names. But broad sense of familiarity remains. More likely to rate the made up names as famous.

What are the 4 types/subdivisions of implicit memory?

Implicit= revealed by indirect tests 1-procedural memory-knowing how (memory for skills) 2-priming-changes in perception and belief caused by previous experience 3-perceptual learning-recalibration of perceptual systems as a result of experience 4-classical conditioning-learning about associations among stimuli

In all of these cases we have seen people being influenced by memories that they are not aware of: -in some cases... -in other cases...

In some cases, participants realize that a stimulus is familiar, but have no memory of the encounter that produced the familiarity In other cases, they do not even have the sense of familiarity, but they are nevertheless still influenced by the previous encounter with the stimulus.

How can we test for these unconscious memories? Describe.

Indirectly: If ask them "which of these melodies did you hear an hour ago?' they answer randomly confirming their amnesia. BUT if asked "Which of these melodies do you prefer?" They are likely to choose the ones that, in fact, they heard an hour ago indicating that they do somehow remember the earlier experience.

Another way to document the difference between source memory and familiarity is through "remember/know" distinction: (describe)

Involves pressing one button (indicating remember) if they actually recall the episode of encountering a particular stimuli -pressing a different button ("know") f they don't recall the encounter but just have a broad feeling that the item must have been on an earlier list.

THE MEMORY NETWORK--->

Just a reminder:

Describe a related pattern is Korsakoff patient involving a deck of cards with trivia questions? OR musical melody

Knowing the answer to trivial question the second time around Preferring a musical melody that they had been exposed to before but without memory of the prior exposure

What exactly do indirect memory tests look for?

Look at how a second encounter yields different responses than the first

EP

Mainly hippocampus -has semantic memory, but just as guesses (multiple choice: guessing) -damage in hippocampus, amygdala, some insula, fusiform gyrus

Korsakoff's Amnesia -describe how their memory is similar to that of H.M. -what is the likely cause of this type of amnesia

Malnutrition seen in long term alcoholics. They can remember events before the onset of alcoholism, can maintain current topics in mind as long as no interruptions (similar with H.M.) New info is displaced from the mind -Most alcoholic beverages are missing several key nutrients such as VITAMIN B1 (THIAMINE). This is often a result of thiamine deficiency

Explicit memory -requires: -revealed through:

Memory with awareness -requires source memory -tests of recall and recognition

Implicit Memory -requires: -revealed through:

Memory without awareness -requires familiarity -revealed through indirect tests

Describe the study done by Bechara 1995 in regards to double dissociation between explicit and implicit memory:

One patient had damage to the hippocampus, but an intact amygdala while the other patient had damage to the amygdala and an intact hippocampus -In the experiment, a blue light was followed by a loud boat horn, while other colors were not. -the learned association between the blue light and the horn was probed both explicitly (with a question) and implicitly (by looking at conditioned fear). Skin concordance test

Word-stem Completion

Participants are given 2 or 4 letters and must produce a word with this beginning. (ex. cla--- clam or clatter) -It turns out people are more likely to offer a specific words if they've encountered it recently -this priming effect is observed even if participants, when tested directly, show no conscious memory of their recent encounter with that word

Describe study on how familiarity of sentences can impact credibility:

Participants heard a series of statements and had to judge how interesting each statement was. -after hearing these, they were presented with more sentences, but now they had to judge the credibility of these sentences rating from true or false. -however some of these sentences were repeats from earlier presentation. Result: sentences heard before were more likely to be accepted as true: familiarity increased credibility. This effect was even found if participants were arned from the beginning step that these sentences may not be true.

Describe the False Fame procedure for jacoby, Kelley, Brown, and Jasechko:

Presented participants with a list of names to read out loud. Participants were told nothing about a memory test. -some time later, during the second step of the procedure, the participants were shown a new list of names and asked them to rate each person how famous each one was. (list contained, some real famous people, real not so famous people, and fictitious names invented). -These fictitious names were of 2 types: had occurred on the prior list or some were simply new names -For some the "famous" list was presented right after the "pronunciation" list, but for others there was a 24 hour delay.

Describe the lexical decision task done by Meyer and Schvaneveldt:

Presented participants with pairs of letter strings and they had to respond yes if both strings were words and no if otherwise (chair; bread vs. house, fime) -Also wanted to see if both strings were words that were semantically related (bread; butter) vs. not (cake, shoe) and how the relationship between the words would influence performance.

People with anterograde amnesia also demonstrate improvements in which kind of implicit memory? -Star example:

Procedural learning Anterograde can learn new implicit tasks -Drawing a star using a mirror. They got better each time even though they do not remember performing this task before.

Encoding Specificity

The tendency, when memorizing, to place in memory both the materials to be learned and some amount of context. As a result, these materials will be recognized as familiar, later on only if the materials appear again I similar context. (what's being encoded is very specific) Reminds use that what we encode is specific-- not just the physical stimulus as you encountered it, but the stimulus together with it's context.

(Smith, Glenberg, and Bjork) similar study but on room location: How performed different than other studied? Results: It is not the _____ context, but the ___ context that matters.

There was a twist to this experiment: (students learned information in one room and tested in a different room). Just before testing, participants were urged to think about the room in which they had learned. When tested these individuals did well as well as for those who did not have a room change. Its not the physical context, but the psychological context.

On a lexical decision task where the words (movie, cat, dessert, faucet,) are show, how will they perform when the word "movie" is shown a second time?

There will be a faster lexical decision upon the second presentation even if the person is not aware of it -we see that responses are more accurate when items are repeated.

Describe their ability to solve a puzzle that they have done before?

They won't be able to recognize the puzzle, but their speed at solving the puzzle will be much faster the second time and will be even faster the 3rd time. Cont

Describe the activation of a node from 2 sources example: What is the capital of south Dakota?

This question will activate the South Dakota nodes and activation spreads from there to associated nodes. Possible the connection between Dakota and Pierre is weak so may not receive enough activation to reach threshold. Things will go differently if participant given a hint, "its a man's name". Now Pierre node will receive activation from 2 sources making it more likely to hit its threshold

Describe the results:

Those with hippocampus damage had fear with no memory. Could not report explicitly which light was associated with the horn, but this patient demonstrated an implicit fear response to the blue light Those with amygdala damage had memory, but with no fear. Disrupted the implicit fear response to the blue light, but could explicitly report which light was with horn.

Clive Wearing

Viral encephalitis in 1985 -very severe anterograde amnesia, pretty bad retrograde as well -both episodic and semantic impairments even prior to illness Does have implicit memory: was able to anticipate what's going to happen in a movie he's seen over and over again (but he says he has never seen it before) -does know some things: has children from prior marriage, used to be a conductor -learned 4 or 5 semantic things but onoly if heavily cued and asked extensively

An example of this is changes in appearance: (describe).

We can detect sensitivity in increases in fluency, but we can also detect decreases. In viewing a picture of a well known actor, you might notice immediately something is new in his appearance, but unsure exactly what. (Change in appearance disrupted your well practiced perception of that familiar face so this new change makes perception less fluent then in the past). -when the attribution step fails and you can't figure out what changed, often make weak guesses like "new haircut?"

What does it mean when a stimulus feels special?

When a stimulus feels special (because of a change in fluency or a discrepancy between the fluency expected and the fluency experienced), you often want to know why

What were the results: -this provides clear evidence for the importance of _____.

When items are presented in pairs, the semantic relationship between words affects the speed of lexical decision -A word like "butter" will be recognized faster after having seen "bread" because its node has already received spreading activation. -this provides clear evidence of the importance of subthreshold activation

Can double dissociation be seen between implicit and explicit memory? If so give examples

YES -impairment of explicit with preserved implicit (HM) -impairment of implicit with preserved explicit (Capgras)

Lexical decision task -shows the pattern we call _____.

a test in which participants are shown string of letter sequences and must indicate, as quickly as possible, whether or not it is a word or not. Proposed people performed this task by "looking up" these strings in their "mental dictionary" -repetition priming

As more and more activation arrives at a particular node, the _____ for that node increases. Eventually, this will reach the nodes ____ and it will fire

activation level; activation threshold

Illusion of Truth

an effect on implicit memory in which claims that are familiar end up seeming more plausible.

Familiarity is more ____. (explain)

automatic -faster, less effortful, less reliant on intention

Results:

basically participants in the 24 hour delay forgot the real source of the familiarity and instead filled in a bogus source (maybe in a movie?) -so how they interpreted this feeling of familiarity impacted the conclusions they drew from it

Results like these help psychologists distinguish between the 2 types of memory -explicit which are usually revealed through... ex) -implicit which are revealed using___ and are often manifested as _____.ex)

direct memory testing ; ex) recall or recognition ; conscious indirect memory testing; priming effects (current behavior is demonstrably influenced by a prior event, but they may be unaware of this. ex) priming task; unconscious

Retrograde amnesia -often caused by?

disruption of memory for things learned prior to the event that initiated amnesia. -often caused by blows to the head. unable to recall events that occurred just before the blow.

Evidence supporting implicit memory:

empirical research regarding priming effects: -lexical decision -word-stem completion -tachistoscopic recognition Memory illusions and Misattributions -judgments on the "sense of familiarity" Clinical Cases

Does anterograde amnesia affect explicit or implicit memories?

explicit

Both H.M. and patients with Korsakoff's syndrome have damage to the _______ and surrounding brain regions.

hippocampus

Statements plainly identified as false when they were first hear still created the so-called _____

illusion of truth: these statements were subsequently judged to be more credible than sentences never heard before. pg. 259

Anterograde Amnesia -Damage to....

inability to remember experiences after the event that triggered the memory disruption -no loss of existing memories -damage to the hippocampus and surrounding brain regions

Nodes -These nodes are tied to each other via _____. -how is a node activated

individual unit within an associative network. Represent single ideas or concepts. -connection we will call associative links. - a node becomes activated when it has received a strong enough signal; once a node is activated it can then activate other nodes

For instance, just seeing a stimulus raises the activation level of the relevant detectors. Also thinking about _____ leads to a similar preactivation or fluency in the relevant cognitive mechanisms

its meaning

Further evidence for spread of activation and priming within networks comes from:

lexical decision task

Important to note that damage to the hippocampus DOES NOT disrupt... -instead...

memories that are already established -instead, the hippocampus is important for memory acquisition, or creating new memories

Source memory

recall of when, where, and how information was acquired. Recollection of the source of your current knowledge

recall vs. recognition

recall--> you're presented with a retrieval cue that broadly identifies the information you seek, and then you come up with the information on your own. Require memory search because you have to sought after item on your own. Depends heavily on memory conenctions Recognition--> refers to cases in which information is presented to you and you must decide whether its the sought out. Often depends on sense of familiarity information

Source memory is actually a type of ___. BUT ____ is truly distinct from source memory.

recall; familiarity

Their prediction, therefore, is that trials with related words will produce ____.

semantic priming (priming in this experiment is therefore the fact the 2 words in the pair are related in meaning) Define: a process in which activation of an idea in memory causes activation to spread to other ideas related to the first in meaning.

_____ often increases familiarity but not source memory

shallow/maintenance rehearsal

Illusion of truth is an example of why ____ and _____ work in the real world.

slander and propaganda.

The explanation we've just offered rests on the key assumption of:

summation of subtheshold activation (insufficient activation received from one source can add to insufficient activation from another source. Either alone wouldn't be enough, but combined can activate target node).

Define Spreading Activation -this is similar to?

the process through which the activation travels from one node to another via associative links -similar to neurons (input sums to reach a threshold, causing firing)

What is the processing pathway?

the sequence of detectors, and the connections between detectors, that the activation flows through in recognizing a specific stimulus

Korsakoff patients can have ____ memories.

unconscious memories

Processing fluency may underlie the feeling of familiarity for stimuli that....

we have previously encountered

Summation

when 2 subthreshold inputs add together bringing the node to threshold