Cog Psych Exam 3

To avoid the social desirability bias and assess participants' true stereotypes, which memory task might be more useful? implicit or explicit? Why?

Whats the issue using explicit -social desirability Problem w explicit task is Knowing what is being tested so changing to more desirable answer so that don't look like a sexist To avoid this, you'd use implicit bc they can't fake it since they don't know whats being tested and their brain automatically responds

• Abstraction • Verbatim memory

Abstraction- a memory process that stores the meaning of a message but not the exact words Verbatim memory- word-for-word recall

Distinguish between schemas and scripts. Explain how the two are connected.

Activities and specific occasions often follow a particular schedule of events. We know that a wedding tends to involve a ceremony, followed by a celebratory meal and reception, whilst a commute to work might involve leaving the house, walking to the bus stop, paying the bus driver and taking a seat until you arrive outside your office. We create event schemas known as 'scripts', so that we can prepare for, and adapt to, repeated situations.

Schemas and Memory Selection The Status of Schemas and Memory Selection Information describes a minor event, and time is limited. (4) 1. remember what? 2. do not remember what? 3. people rarely create? 4. when info describes ?

Information describes a minor event, and time is limited. 1. Remember schema-consistent details accurately. 2. Do not remember schema-inconsistent details accurately. 3. People seldom create a completely false memory for a lengthy event that did not occur. 4. When information describes a major event that is inconsistent with the schema, people ARE likely to remember it.

• Schema - - schema theories propose ? -what themes are illustrated? Schema consist/inconsist information ex:

*generalized knowledge about a situation, an event, or a person -especially helpful when psychologists try to explain how people process complex situations and events *schema theories propose that people encode "generic" information about a situation, then use this information to understand and remember new examples of the schema top-down and bottom up processing (theme 5) active processing (theme 1) schemas can lead to errors Schema consist/inconsist information -in general ppl will not remember schema consistent information/details unless its shocking/violates schema or if ur really motivated -in dentist waiting room and theres couple sleeping on top of eachother... this is very shocking.. you'd see this at an airport but not at a dentist office so u really remember it bc it was uncommon

• Boundary extension

*our tendency to remember having viewed a greater portion of a scene than was actually shown Top down processing -using our schemas/previous knowledge to fill in the gap *Intraub and colleagues—see photo then draw replica of photo; participants consistently produced a sketch that extended the boundaries beyond the view presented in the original photo -ex: drawing of garbage *activate a perceptual schema *relevance in eyewitness testimony situations -ppl only saw half their face but they might fasely remember seeing their face and give a description which could be inaccurate

• Constructive model of memory (Constructive approach) • False alarm Overall, this approach states:

*people integrate info from individual sentences in order to construct larger ideas *later cannot untangle the constructed info from the verbatim sentences Bransford and Franks (1971) - listen to sentences from several different stories -recognition test including new items -people convinced that they had seen these new items before (false alarm) -false alarms particularly likely for complex sentences consistent with the original schema -false alarms unlikely for sentences violating the meaning of the earlier sentences This approach states: -most of time we don't need verbatim memory, its ok to just learn the gist/meaning of it. -tested that by giving ppl sentences and give them a verbatim test.. more complex sentence becomes, the more likely they will make false positives (yes ive seen that before) but only if the new sentence goes in line of the original line.. if it goes against it then we'd say new •leaving us to make smart errors

Provide an example of a subordinate-level category and superordinate category for each basic-level word: guitar, tree, car.

*super-basic-sub* Instrument-- Guitar--electric guitar Plant--Tree--palm tree Vehicle--car-- Toyota

• Understanding

-construct a mental representation of the problem, based on the information provided in the problem and your own previous experience -most important part of any problem is understanding it to begin with -once u understand it, u can take steps to reach that goal state by overcoming the obstacles in ur way -the smartest ppl in the world are ones who can see and solve problems.. seeing commonalities and converge 1. Paying attention to Important information 2. methods of representing the problems ex: spent millions of dollars on a building but kept getting lots of complaints that the elevators were taking way too long. Eventually ppl threatened to leave the lease and the building was about to go bankrupt. So they said ok we solve it and were gonna install a hundred million dollar elevator but a very smart guy said wait... it's not the elevator, people got bored waiting for the elevator... so they installed mirrors and got no complains.

• Episodic memory

-long-term -declarative memory -episodes -we store memories of personal experiences that are tied to particular times and places.

• Semantic memory ex: allows us to: (3)

-longterm -declarative includes encyclopedic knowledge, lexical or language knowledge, conceptual knowledge ex: a square has 4 equal sides allows us to: ♣ code objects -important so we know whats going on.. w out coding we wouldn't know if its safe or not, we would not survive very well ♣ make inferences -tell u this is a tool, u know this will help u efficiently do something that's man made and accomplish a task ♣ decide which objects are similar -important for survival and other areas

Prototype approach • Proto-typicality

-members of a category differ in prototypicality -how close items are to prototypes -the member or members of the category with the highest summed similarity to all members of the category o High prototypicality- that a category member closely resembles the category prototype o Low prototypicality- the category member does not closely resemble a typical member of the category 4 effects of prototypicality: ♣ family resemblance ♣ typicality ♣ naming ♣ priming

How is bottom-up processing and top-down processing both used when solving problems?

-previous- ive experienced so I know what to expect -u don't have previous so u don't have experience so bottom up takes over but nxt time u then have the experience so top down takes over -u use both

• Schema therapy

-reason why ur feeling depression bc u have bad schemas of urself -picked on as a child, im not loveable im ugly and then u grow up and feel ok I found a bf Im in college and then break up and u feel those feelings again -schema therapy in clinical psychology helps them come up with other explanations as to why they broke up with u,, ur not just not lovable

In Depth: Schemas and memory integration: Research on Inferences Based on Gender Stereotypes • Implicit memory task (2)

-task does not directly ask for either recall or recognition; shows the effects of previous experience when we are not making a conscious effort to remember 1. Using *neuroscience techniques* to assess gender stereotypes - *measure brain waves* ♣ Osterhout, Bersick and McLaughlin (1997)—ERP technique ♣ stereotype-consistent sentences vs. stereotype-inconsistent sentences ♣ change in ERPs for stereotype-inconsistent words but not for stereotype-consistent words -Read stereotype consistent sentencing and inconsisent -Measure brain waves/diff rain reactions -When u hear something new, u get a spike/wave in ur brain "I just saw something new I need to pay attention" -u don't know whats being measured and u cant fake it 2. Using the *Implicit Association Test* to assess gender stereotypes ♣ Nosek, Banaji, and Greenwald (2002) ♣ Implicit Association Test (IAT)—based on the principle that people can mentally pair related words together much more easily than they can pair unrelated words -*all about speed* ♣ Stereotype-Consistent pairings (male/math vs. female/arts) ♣ Stereotype-Inconsistent pairings (female/math vs. male/arts) -Categorizing words&concepts together, u categorize ones closely related faster than ones not closely related -Men/math was categorized faster

Prototype Approach • Family resemblance - this allows for? - - - -ex Rosh & Mervis 1975

-things in a particular category resemble one another in a # of ways. -this allows for some variation within a category so there is *no definite criteria* that every member of a category must meet. *no single attribute shared by all examples of a concept *each example has at least one attribute in common with some other example of the concept *no single attribute serves as the necessary and sufficient criterion for membership in the category -Ex: category of vehicles: car, truck, plane, hoverboard, skateboard, etc... most prototypical is car and all of those examples don't all share one attribute.. like they don't all have tires and they don't all run on gas, elevator moves ppl up and down, skateboard moves horizontally. Rosh & Mervis 1975 *Prototypicality judgments about members of several categories *List attributes possessed by each item *The most prototypical item also had the largest number of attributes in common with the other items in the category (Rosch asked 200 American college students to rate (on a scale of 1 to 7) whether they regarded the following items as a good example of the category furniture. This ranged from chair and sofa, ranked number 1, to a love seat (number 10), to a lamp (number 31), all the way to a telephone, ranked number 60.)

Provide your own explanation for the exemplar approach with your own exemplars.

-we store numerous actual examples (best examples and worst examples) within the category *when asked a question about a category, people consider both prototypes and information about less typical examples of the category* -affected by the context of a given situation Exemplar theory-proposal concerning the way humans categorize objects/ideas -argues that individuals make category judgments by comparing new stimuli with instances (exemplars) already stored in memory. EX: tables come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, yet that all have in common that they are solid objects with legs and a flat surface on top. Therefore, it is possible for a human to place a formal dining table, a TV tray and a medical examining table all into the exemplar category of "table." Being able to categorize objects in this way, rather than having to analyze and label each new item individually greatly simplifies the human thought processes.

In Depth: Schemas and memory integration: Research on Inferences Based on Gender Stereotypes • Explicit memory task Problem?

-when u know ur memory is being tested -recall tasks and recognition tasks. Dunning and Sherman (1997) ♣ read sentences followed by recognition-memory test ♣ "new" sentences consistent or inconsistent with gender stereotypes ♣ more likely to mistakenly "remember" a new sentence as "old" when it was consistent with a gender stereotype -Read sentences "woman stood around pool and talked" -Measure memory -Given old with new sentences (woman stood around pool and gossiped, woman stood around pool and talked about sports) task, some are consistent w stereotypes and some are inconsistent w stereotypes Stereotype—woman don't talk about sports, they talk about gossip -Previous experiences affect our memory and performance in various tasks -They found that people remembered stereotypes consistent with gender Problem w explicit task is: -Knowing what is being tested so changing to more desirable answer so that don't look like a sexist (social desirability) -They said old a lot and less likely woman talk about sports

• Prototype approach -can account for -can be applied to Exs Charactersitics of prototypes (3) Problems

-you decide whether an item belongs to a category by comparing that item with a prototype -a "typical" member in a category. It is based on an average of members of a category that are commonly experienced. -can account for our ability to form concepts for groups that are loosely structured -can be applied to social relationships, inanimate objects, nonsocial categories -EX: a prototypical bird is a pigeon -EX: a prototypical vehicle is a car Characteristics of Prototypes: 1. Prototypes are supplied as examples of a category 2. Prototypes are judged more quickly after semantic priming 3. Prototypes share attributes in a family resemblance category Problems: -Need to acknowledge that concepts can be unstable and variable (prototype ratings can shift) --EX: 9/11— switch in prototype—before 9/11 typical vehicle was a car, after it was a plane, and 5 months later it was a car again.. this doesn't account -we often do store specific info about individual examples of a category

What are some important characteristics of prototypes? How are prototypes affected by semantic priming?

1. Prototypes are supplied as examples of a category Mervis and colleagues (1976) -prototype ratings for examples of categories items rated most prototypical were the same items that -other people had supplied most often in the category norms -accounts for typicality effect—when judging whether an item belongs to a particular category, typical items judged faster than atypical items 2. Prototypes are judged more quickly after semantic priming -semantic priming effect—people respond faster to an item if it was preceded by an item with similar meaning -priming facilitates the responses to prototypes more than it facilitates the responses to nonprototypes -priming inhibits judgments for nonprototypes (Rosch color studies) -family feud example: scope/microscope/mouthwash scope 3. Prototypes share attributes in a family resemblance category -no single attribute shared by all examples of a concept -each example has at least one attribute in common with some other example of the concept -no single attribute serves as the necessary and sufficient criterion for membership in the category (Rosch and Mervis (1975))

• Problem representation

2nd factor to understanding the problem is methods of representing the problem Methods of Representing the Problem ♣ Symbols • translating words into symbols • oversimplification • misremembering the problem o problem is we have difficulty translating words into symbols.. we misremember information ♣ Matrices ♣ Diagrams • instructions for assembling objects • hierarchical tree diagram • graphs

What are some advantages the network models have over the exemplar and/or prototype approach?

?? main advantages of network models: -flexibility -they can explain more phenonema than the other two can simply about network and how their connected to eachother -major advantage * they incorporate our actual -they use these models to account for semantic and all cognition

• Category

A mental representation of the relation of different concepts based on the structure of the world has to do with the hierarchical relationship between concepts three levels: superordinate, basic-level, and subordinate The process by which things are placed into groups A more specific group

• Matrix

A method of representing the problem Chart showing all possible combinations of items most useful for complex, stable, categorical information • Can use a matrix to represent the problem and to see she indeed corrected her insertion • Ex: you'd use a matrix if you wanted to make a chart that lists the possible combinations that can be formed with four basic flavors of cake and three basic flavors of frosting

What purpose do schemas serve? a set of? allows you to? a cognitive ? for? form the?

A schema is a set of linked mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to situations. -allows you to navigate familiar, recurrent and similar situations by following the same sequence of actions. - it's a cognitive framework for storing info and relating it together. - they form the basis for knowledge in the head.

• Hill-climbing heuristic

A type of heuristic where you look ahead & select an operator that you judge will bring you closer to your goal BUT cannot take you away from your goal when you reach a choice point, choose the alternative that seems to lead most directly toward your goal state useful when only the immediate next step can be seen less direct alternative may have greater long-term benefits encourages short-term goals, rather than long-term solutions o backpacking-going up mountain and there was a split in the mountain and he didn't have a map... he noticed one went uphill and one went downhill so he took the one that went uphill and ended up having a further walk. If he went downhill instead it eventually would've went back uphill and gotten him there way quicker.

Why is it important for us to categorize things and make inferences in our daily lives?

An inference refers to those conclusions and logical implications that people make, even when they were never directly stated in the original stimulus. Inferencing creates info which is not explicitly stated in the text -it is a creative process. -very important for text understanding in general bc txts can't include "world knowledge" -World knowledge is knowledge about situations, persons or items that most people share, and therefore don't need to be explicitly stated. -Each person should be able to infer this kind of info, It would be impossible to write a text, if it had to include all info it deals with; if there was no such thing like inferencing or if it was not automatically done by our brain. ex: hammers used to pound nails.

• Analogy approach The Structure of the Analogy Approach: • Problem isomorphs • Surface features • Structural features

Analogies are examples from one domain (the source), whose elements can be used to aid problem solving in another domain (the target). Using a solution to a similar, earlier problem to help in solving a new problem Creative breakthroughs in science, engineering, arts, politics brothers used a bird to build a plane where they altered the sides of wings science we compare our brains with computers take a step back and look at the underlying features of problems (structural) and don't get distracted by surface features The Structure of the Analogy Approach: ♣ determining the real problem: that is. The abstract puzzle underneath all the details ♣ problem isomorphs: refers to a set of problems that have the same underlying structures and solutions but different specific details. ♣ surface features • Specific elements that make up a problem. For example, in the radiation problem, the rays and the tumor are surface features. Contrast with Structural features. ♣ structural features • The underlying principle of a problem. For example, in the radiation problem, needing high intensity to fix something surrounded by material that could be damaged by high intensity. Contrast with Surface features. common across problems. Allowed the analogy to be applied. ex: How does plane fly? Object in flight needs to have certain things (wing flaps) to support its structure and applied it to an inanimate object (like a bird) ♣ failure to see analogies Factors Encouraging Appropriate Use of Analogies ♣ trying several structurally similar problems before the target problem ♣ training to sort problems into categories • If we wanna use them appropriately we will see structural features (underlying commanality) if we don't use that then we don't see the analogy ex: eye-witness task -not just a recognition task or a memory task, it's also a social task • detect liars seeing if they itch their noise, or figet their finger, etc / behavior or language (surface features).... no everyone does this • what is a lie? A lie is a fake story... • how do people tell real stories? (Structural features)

Suppose that a young child has just asked you whether a potato is a vegetable; you quickly answer "yes." Then the child asks whether eggplant is a vegetable, and you answer "yes" more slowly. You have just demonstrated a. the priming effect. b. the typicality effect. c. the feature-comparison effect. d. parallel distributed processing.

B

Which level category out of the 3 stated in the previous question is most likely to produce the semantic priming effect? Why?

Basic level names are more likely to produce semantic priming effect. Priming with basic level names is helpful Basic level names are special and are used more often

Differentiate between semantic memory and episodic memory.

Both long term declarative memories Semantic memory -organized knowledge about the world -understanding of words, encyclopedia type of knowledge, all the facts u have in ur head -"I know" more typical ur drawing from this type of memory Episodic memory -episodes/experiences -your memories for events that happened to you -"I remember" what ur saying is ur going back and mentally time traveling in ur mind like a video clip where ur replaying it

• Bottom-up processing • Top-down processing

Bottom-up processing -perception starts at the sensory input, the stimulus. Thus, perception can be described as data-driven -Mental processes that begin with the sensation of individual stimulus features which are brought together to form perception Top-down processing -refers to how our brains make use of information that has already been brought into the brain by one or more of the sensory systems. -Previous knowledge -Mental processes that bring pre-existing knowledge or expectations to bear upon perception Example of 2 signs -Bottom up- one sign is red, one sign is yellow, both have brown squiggly lines thru the black letters -Top down- one sign says slow, one says stop—previous knowledge tells us red octagon = stop and yellow signs typically mean caution/slow EX: Burning ur hand on fire -Bottom up- touches fire and burns hands this is painful -Top down- next time u know to avoid fire bc u remember it hurts EX: Dollar bill -bottom up- vending machine rejects dollar when its put upside down -top down - u can see it folded, upside down, etc. and still know it's a dollar bill

Compare and contrast the exemplar approach and the prototype approach. How might these two approaches coexist? Discuss possible advantages/disadvantages of each.

Comparing the Exemplar Approach with Prototype Approach -Both make decisions about category membership by comparing to a stored representation The Exemplar Approach: -the stored representation is a collection of numerous specific members of the category, not a typical member (prototype approach) -do not need to perform any kind of abstraction process (don't need to devise list of features or a prototype) which would force you to discard useful, specific data about individual cases Problems -exemplar approach may be more suitable for categories with relatively few members (so as not to overwhelm semantic memory) -prototype approach may be more suitable for categories with numerous members -individual differences in representations may be substantial Conclusions -both approaches may coexist -different hemispheres (left—prototypes; right—exemplars) -different categories may require different strategies for category formation Coexist—certain concepts u have very few exemplers -Love- u might not have many examples so u can use exemplar -Birds- u cant save all those bc theres thousands so u use other -some categorize have very few so u can keep exemplers -some don't have too much bc u cant keep that all in ur brain

How might our life experiences, values, and culture create biased schemas? What implications might this have on our memory integration?

Culture puts ideas into semantic structure -bottom line this shows previous experiences/stereotypes/schemas all affect our performance Memory integration—our background knowledge encourages us to take in new info in a schema- consistent fashion. Bartlett (1932)—memory as the complex interaction between the participants' prior knowledge and the material presented; individual's unique interests and personal background often shape the contents of memory "The War of the Ghosts" study—Native American story read and recalled by British students Participants tended: -to omit material that didn't make sense from their own viewpoint -to shape the story into a more familiar framework -to add extra material to the story, making inferences so that the story made more sense from their perspective -to borrow more heavily from their previous knowledge as time passed before additional recall

• Exemplar • Exemplar approach

Exemplar -actual members of the category that a person has encountered in the past. -"specific remembered instances" -the more frequently an item is encountered, the more stored representations (exemplars) of it will be held in memory -ex: If a person has encountered sparrows, robins, and blue jays in the past, each of these would be an exemplar for the category "birds" Exemplar approach -first learn some specific examples of a concept (exemplars), then classify each new stimulus by deciding how closely it resembles those specific examples and then places it into its appropriate category -we store actual examples within the category -best example and worse example are valuable

What contribution did Gestalt psychologists make in the area of insight problems?

Gestalt: emphasize organizational tendencies, especially in perception and in problem solving. They argued that the parts of a problem may initially seem unrelated to one another, but a sudden flash of insight could make the parts instantly fit together into a solution. -problem solving involves restructuring -"whole is more than sum of its parts" --> perceive problems as a whole -how people represent a problem in their mind -how solving involves reorganization or structuring of the problem representation the idea that reorganization is associated with insight

The Exemplar Approach A Representative Study on the Exemplar Approach Heit and Barsalou (1996) What does this mean regarding the prototype approach? Problem with Exemplar approach? Prototype approach and Exemplar Approach are?

Heit and Barsalou (1996) *one group provide first example that comes to mind of seven basic-level categories *another group rates the typicality of each category and of each example with respect to "animal" *researchers try to create equation to predict typicality of the categories based on the exemplars in terms of frequency and typicality ratings -tried to use those ratings and how common it was used as an example and use raw data to find whats the most prototypical *exemplar frequency and exemplar typicality did accurately predict which of the seven categories were most typical for the superordinate category "animal" *less typical exemplars increase the correlation* -when u include good/typical examples and bad/nontypical examples, it increases our prediction What does this mean regarding the prototype approach? *when asked a question about a category, people don't just consider prototypes, they also include info about less typical examples of the category* Problem We can't store all exemplars if there's too many (Fewer examples-->exemplar approach) -there are thousands of insects-can we store all examples of those? no Prototype approach and Exemplar Approach are? -compatible theories... it just depends on circumstance

Explain possible advantages/disadvantages of using a heuristic to solve a problem vs using an algorithm.

Heuristics- we use smart mistakes to solve things • Advantage: Efficient • Disadvantage: you're not guaranteed to find a solution Algorithm • Advantage: always produces a solution • Disadvantage: sometimes inefficient

Differentiate between insight and non-insight problems.

In psychology, insight occurs when a solution to a problem presents itself quickly and without warning. It is the sudden discovery of the correct solution following incorrect attempts based on trial and error. Solutions via Insight have been proven to be more accurate than non-insight solutions. Insight Versus Noninsight Problems: Metacognition During Problem Solving Janet Metcalfe (1986)—people's confidence builds gradually for noninsight problems, but shows a sudden leap in solving insight problems - "feeling-of-warmth" scale ×Participants were asked to give "ratigs of warmth" (i.e. estimated closeness to solution) every 15 secs as they worked on problems. With algebra, logic, and tower of Hanoi problems, there was a gradual increase in warmth before a solution was reached. However, with insight problems there was barley any increase in warmth until right before a solution was reached.

• Insight problem • Noninsight problem

Insight problems -seems impossible until sudden solution appears -Large working-memory capactiy = solve insight problems faster o being able to see or understand something clearly. It often includes having an understanding of a cause and effect relationship, namely if you do "A" then "B" will happen. o "Aha" moment o How do you get down from an elephant? You don't! You get down from a duck. o With anagrams, you jumble the letters to make a new word, for example: bedroom to boredom or meteor to remote. Noninsight problem -gradual solution o problems that take long thought processing

Semantic Priming and Lexical Decision Tasks Sentence Verification Tasks

Lexical Decision task: -participants must judge as quickly as they can whether or not a string of letters is a word or not -Doctor YES -xffxere NO -Pluckban NO Priming makes this faster (more closely assoc. w it, should prime us faster) -show the word nurse before Mediated priming -stripes will prime lion (stripes are related to tiger and tigers are related to lions) - it primes the word but not as fast -word is not directly linked but u go thru another word to get to it -silk silk silk silk u primed and then milk overlapped Sentence Verification Tasks: -participants are asked to decide as quickly as possible if a sentence is true or false -Tigers have stripes -Tigers have lungs -Tigers have spots -Tigers have gills -sentence verification tasks supports *typicality effect* typicality effect- closer assoc, the faster u respond

How can diagrams be useful for representing problems? What other methods are useful for representing problems? Think about which types of methods would be most appropriate for different types of problems.

Matrices are most useful for complex, stable, categorical information. × Diagrams × instructions for assembling objects × hierarchical tree diagram × graphs

• Mental set • Fixed mindset • Growth mindset

Mental set -using the same solution from previous problems, even though the problem could be solved by a different, easier method -A preconceived notion about how to approach a problem, which is determined by a person's experience or what has worked in the past. -overactive top-down processing -Water-jug problem -A problem, first described by Luchins, that illustrates how mental set can influence the strategies that people use to solve a problem. Set can prevent you from choosing a good solution strategy o "Persistence of set" in the water jar problem (Luchins, 1942) ♣ Problems 2 thru 6 can all be solved by filling Jar B, then subtracting Jar A once, then subtracting Jar C twice. This creates a "set" for solving the problems this way. ♣ Problems 7 and 8 can be solved using the same method as the previous problems, but they could be solved more efficiently by starting with Jar A instead. The "set" for starting with Jar B often prevents people from seeing the simpler solutions. ♣ Problem 9 can not be solved in the same way as problems 2 thru 6. You must break out of the set to find a solution o example of theme 2: mistakes in cognitive processing can often be traced to a strategy that is basically very rational. Fixed mindset -Individuals with a fixed mindset believe that their qualities (such as intelligence and other personality traits) are "set in stone"- how God made you is basically who you are. One's traits are fixed — not something that can be practiced or developed. Growth mindset -Individuals with a growth mindset, believe that effort or training can change one's qualities and traits.

Explain how overactive top-down processing could occur when solving problems.

Mental set- basing off previous experience, which inhibits u from using a easier method to get to the solution

What do the network models propose?

Network models of semantic memory propose a netlike organization of concepts in memory, with many interconnections; the meaning of a concept depends on the concepts to which it is connected

Network Models • Node • Spreading activation ex:

Node- a concept or one unit located within a network -Our brains tend to keep our memories in nodes, which it then connects with associated other memories. scope—where these 2 nodes interact -this explains concepts bc to this model concept is the connections between our neurons Spreading activation- this explains how ur mind wanders and u end up wondering how did I get here? --> The connections -jump around/activation spreading, until u fail to have a connection/overlap of two items and then activation stops. ex-throwing rock into pond. Throw rock in and it creates a wave and it ripples out to other areas of pond ex: tool- hammer, blah blah blah blah to maybe a douch bag and eventually ur spreading activation dies off ex: duck- blah blah blah to Donald duck to Disney to daphly duck

• Gender stereotypes • Stereotype threat

Our stereotypes can influence our beliefs about our own abilities: struggling with a popular stereotype may cause additional anxiety that may lead to less effective problem solving Gender stereotypes • Over generalizations about the characteristics of an entire group based on gender Stereotype threat • if you belong to a group that is hampered by a negative stereotype—and you think about your membership in that group—your performance may suffer

How is attention and problem-solving interrelated when understanding problems?

Paying Attention to Important Information × identifying and then attending to the most relevant information Theme 4 (interrelated, not isolated) is illustrated cognitive processes are interrelated. This is illustrated bc we're using attention, solving problem, working memory... all to solve the problem in front of you (interrelated) while filtering out unimportant features. Bransford and Stein (1984) × algebra story problems × distracting negative thoughts -the more they wrote down neg thoughts, the longer it took them, the more errors they make -instead of focusing on the problem they are focusing on negative thoughts × effective problem solvers read the description of a problem very carefully, paying particular attention to inconsistencies

What cognitive skills might experts take advantage of more than non-experts when faced with problems?

Problem-Solving Strategies -experts more likely to use the *means-ends* heuristic effectively -experts more likely to emphasize *structural features* when using the analogy approach Speed and Accuracy -parallel processing -serial processing -Anagram study Metacognitive Skills -experts better than novices at monitoring their own problem solving -experts better at judging the difficulty of the problem, allocating time, recovering from errors -experts underestimate the amount of time novices will require to solve a problem in the experts' area of specialization Experts -process problems at a parallel level. They can see the underlying structure and the features simultaneously Novices -take one approach at a time, apply it, doesn't work, then try another... takes long

Background on Schemas and Scripts Identifying the script in advance: Schemas and Memory Selection: Enhanced Memory for Schema-Consistent Material -Brewer and Treyens/waiting room -Neuschatz and coauthors/lecture schema Enhanced Memory for Schema-Inconsistent Material -Davidson/stories

Remember more information when script-identifier given before event compared to after. Schemas and Memory Selection: Enhanced Memory for Schema-Consistent Material *Brewer and Treyens (1981) -recall objects from waiting room; -highly likely to recall objects consistent with "office schema" -"remembered" items that were not in the room, but were consistent with "office schema" (((brought them into a room and then moved them to a diff room and then surprise memory test and say recall everything in the room.. people weren't rlly paying attention so they had to use their schemas of what a professors office look like. -like saying books but books weren't in the room))) *Neuschatz and coauthors (2002) -"lecture schema" -Likely to make schema consistent errors -Not likely to falsely remember events inconsistent with schema. (lecture scheme- drawing from schema of what a lecture is typically like.. like saying a teacher came in and asked if anyone had questions) Enhanced Memory for Schema-Inconsistent Material -people are more likely to recall schema-inconsistent material when that material is vivid or surprising Davidson (1994)—read stories describing well-known schemas; people especially likely to recall schema-inconsistent events that interrupted the normal, expected story -if there were porno magazines in the office then ppl would've remembered it bc its vivid and violated their schema

How do schemas help us encode new information?

Schema theories propose that ppl encode "generic" info about a situation, then use this info to understand and remember new examples of the schema -mental concepts which are used to recognize and develop an understanding of otherwise complex objects and ideas, from recognizing people, animals and objects in our immediate environment, to processing other types of info, such as what to expect during a repeated activity Schemas also affect the way in which memories are encoded and retrieved EX: When we are given a electronic device that we do not recognize (e.g. a new type of phone), previous experience of electronics (embodied in a schema) will tell us that it should have an on/off button, and so we seek that to turn it on before trying to use it.

How can schemas lead to errors?

Schemas are like stereotypes, and alter mental processing of incoming info -their role in eyewitness testimony can be negative, as what somebody expects to see may distort their memory of was actually witnessed. -Schemas can also hinder our understanding of new concepts, leading us to fall back on prior knowledge rather than encouraging us to try to understand an idea anew.

Describe how family feud illustrates spreading of activation.

So when you activate one concept, you're pulling up related concepts along with it. This general elevation and availability is called spreading activation. Family feud asks you a topic and you have to jump from thought to thought to try to figure it out

• Superordinate-level categories • Basic-level categories • Subordinate-level categories

Superordinate-level categories (high level/most broad/ abstract) ♣ "animal" ♣ "furniture" Basic-level categories (moderately specific) -We use basic level names more often when identifying objects -more basic then youre more accurate -when we prime, itll help us out more.. showing 2 apples and the word apple will help better than showing 2 apples and the word fruit ♣ "dog" ♣ "chair" Subordinate-level categories (low level/ very specific) ♣ "terrier" ♣ "bar stool" Im using an electronic device (super) Im using an apple laptop (sub) - well that's more info than he needs so u would just say -> im using a laptop (basic)

• Prototype can be? prototype theory refers to? allows us to: for example:

The item that is most typical and representative of the category -we organize each category on the basis of this -representation of properties within a conceptual category that can be used as a reference when categorizing various stimuli -can be an abstract, idealized example; may not exist -could be lil bits of pieces that u put together to create the object. it doesn't have to be real it can be imaginary -ex: a super bird -what is perceived to be a complete image "perfect object" of something with all expected qualities and characteristics present and u compare it to each knew item to .to place it in its category -prototype theory refers to graded categorization where some members of a category are more central, or more perfect, than others. -allows us to loosely structure a broad concept -For example, when asked to give an example of the concept furniture, chair is more frequently cited than, say, stool.

• Algorithm • Exhaustive search

The process follows a prescribed procedure ADV:always produces a solution DISADV: sometimes inefficient & u wont find the answer quickly exhaustive search—try all possible answers ♣ ex: breaking into someones phone and it's a 4 digit iphone, just use a computer and it would run thru all possible combinations and break it eventually... that's why iphones have locks after a certain amount of attempts

• Pragmatic view of memory (Pragmatic approach) Overall, This approach states:

This approach overrules the other one. -It says sometimes u need to encode verbatim *people pay attention to the aspect of a message that is most relevant to their current goals Murphy and Shapiro (1994) ♣ read letters from "Samantha" to cousin or boyfriend ♣ bland vs. sarcastic comments ♣ recognition test on original, paraphrased, or irrelevant sentences ♣ correct recognition was higher for sentences from the sarcastic condition than for sentences in the bland condition ♣ more false alarms for paraphrases of bland sentences than sarcastic sentences ♣ more accurate in their verbatim memory for the sarcastic version than for the bland version wrote letter to boyfriend/cousin -to cousin "id never thought id be pregnant so long"... its no big deal.. -to a boyfriend it sounds sarcastic like ur blaming him. he felt attacked/took it personal so he remembered it verbatim

• Means-ends heuristic • Hobbits-and-Orcs problem

Type of heuristic -Identify the "ends" (goal) you want and then figure out the "means" to reach them -divide into *subproblems* -reducing the difference between the initial state and the goal state for each subproblem -These may appear to increase the distance to the goal state but in the long run can result in the shortest path to the goal can be used in either forward or backward direction -ex: sometimes in a game u have to go back a few levels to get something -ex: football player turns around and throws the ball to a team mate who is further away to score backpacking—what can I cook the fish with? searching for a flat rock... dug it up, rinse it off, then put it in the fire (cant pick any rock bc some rocks will blow up in fire), and then cook fish -closer and closer to cooking my fish Greeno (1974)—Hobbits-and-Orcs problem •3 obbits, 3 ors.. boat only can bring 2 ppl at a time, ur job is to get everyone on one side but cant have too many orcs •means= boat and number of ppl •ends= how to get them on the other side •in order to reach that end u have to increase the distance in order to solve the problem. -organizing a sequence of moves to solve a subproblem -sometimes the solution requires temporarily increasing the distance to the goal

Introduction: semantic memory schemas

We have an enormous amount of information at our disposal, and we use this information efficiently and accurately (Theme 2). Typical English-speaking adults know anywhere between 20,000 and 100,000 words! When given a piece of information people can go beyond that information and actively retrieve additional related information (Theme 1) we have an idea of what its like to go thru processes and have a schema of it -ex: what its like to be a college student doing all this efficiently and accurately -ex: going thru grocery store and knowing what we can eat tn, etc. going above and beyond the information ex: typing something in google, google cant go above and beyond by inferring that u meant something else. Our brain is much faster than any computer

Look around in the room you are studying in. Find an object and try to come up with different functions rather than what it is typically used for.

You see a coin and think its use is only for currency But, you can use the coin to tighten a screw

• Concept allows us to? ex:

a mental representation of a class of object/ event of what u see in ur head -an idea/mental image that allows for things which share common properties to be grouped together or categorized -allows us to decrease the amount of info we need to learn, perceive, remember, and recognize "is this a fruit?" create mental representation of what fruit is and match it to concept. Use concepts to create category of fruit and place objects in that category

• Script

a simple, well-structured sequence of events-in a specified order-that are associated with a highly familiar activity we have these schemas in our daily lives interpret information

Prototype approach • Graded structure

all members of categories are not created equal -we need flexibility -a concept of which the boundaries of application can vary considerably according to context or conditions, instead of being fixed once and for al -vague in some way, lacking a fixed, precise meaning, without however being unclear or meaningless altogether. -ex: what is a bachelor? Well that's a single male... well is my baby cousin a bachelor? No... -ex: what is a tool? A hammer... what do we use in class? A computer, a pencil, phone, iclicker.... A pickle jar is a tool (it helps us keep food fresh longer)... we need flexibility

Distinguish between a category and a concept. Explain how they are connected.

category- -a set of objects that can be treated as equivalent in some way. but most of our categories seem much more informative- they share many properties - the more specific group concept- -The mental representations we form of categories -mental representation of what u see in ur head -at the core of intelligent behavior. -closely related to our knowledge of the world, and people can more easily learn concepts that are consistent with their knowledge. -main difference is that concept is so abstract idea that u use to create the category -concept of tool is really a definition -what do u consider love to be? Ur definition is concept -when I show u examples then u place them into categories Concept of vehicle—it transports people from A to B Examples of category—boat, plane, car ex: "is this a fruit" create mental representation of what fruit is and match it to concept. Use concepts to create category of fruit and place objects in that category

• Expertise

consistent exceptional performance on representative tasks for a particular area o Experts use top down processing o Knowledge Base o Memory o -memory skills of experts tend to be very specific o -chess experts' memory is better only if the information fits a particular schema

How can gender stereotypes influence one's implicit memory? Think about other stereotypes and their influence on implicit memory as well.

cultural puts ideas into semantic structure bottom line this shows previous experiences/stereotypes/schemas all affect our performance

Give an example of the analogy approach. Explain how problem isomorphs could occur and why.

example of problem isomorphs: -basis of a problem -structure is precise, features are diff -tracking applications and looking at other universities to see how they do it.. well they are universities so they have problems too... it's a tracking problem so who tracks things? Fedex. Go ask them how they do it. We use that to track here -blood flows into major areas of ur heart -zoom out of city and take a time lapse of what happens during the day -cars go in to the city and at the end of the day they leave. City having economical issues... how does abody function? A city is a living organism, ppl are blood, and building structures are heart,liver, etc... body fosters more blood so u can address the issue similary to trying to get more ppl into their city

• Heuristic

general rule o a mechanism for solving problems. strategy in which you ignore some alternatives and explore only those alternatives that seem especially likely to produce a solution costs and benefits of using heuristics we use smart mistakes to solve things, we can heuristics like trying their birthday for the password common syllables efficient but youre not guaranteed to find the answer

• Heuristic

general rules that are typically accurate theme 2 (accurate & efficient) -simple, efficient rules which people often use to form judgments and make decisions. They are mental shortcuts that usually involve focusing on one aspect of a complex problem and ignoring others.

3 commonalities: • Initial state • Goal state • Obstacles

initial state: describes the situation at the beginning of the problem. Recognizing there's a problem in front of you. -Ex: figuring out his car is leaking oil... why is it leaking? goal state: is reached when you solve the problem... how to fix it Obstacles: describe the restrictions that make it difficult to proceed from the initial state to the goal state. -Ex: had no jack, had no clothes to change into..

• Inference

means to figure out what happened from the traces or effects of what happened "When dana was leaving the store with a balloon, she fell and the balloon floated away" inference—she tripped and fell, she was young, etc. -this info wasn't in the sentence but we concluded all of this. -what allows us to do this? general knowledge or semantic memory.. allows us to go above and beyond, emphasizes theme 1- cognitive processes are active, not passive

• Network Models

models of semantic memory propose a netlike organization of concepts in memory, with many interconnections -the meaning of a concept depends on the concepts to which it is connected -implies that the long term memory store is a chain of past events.

• In Depth: Stereotypes and Problem Solving

o Potential Explanations ♣ arousal/anxiety and working memory ♣ thought suppression reduces working memory capacity • interfere with the ability to construct problem-solving strategies

• Functional fixedness

o a cognitive bias that limits a person to using an object only in the way it is traditionally used (familiarity with an object's function can inhibit other possible uses) assign stable uses to an object and fail to think about the features of the object that might be useful in helping solve a problem example of theme 2: mistakes in cognitive processing can often be traced to a strategy that is basically very rational. An effect that occurs when the ideas a person has about an object's function inhibit the person's ability to use the object for a different function. Candle Problem ♣ A problem, first described by Duncker, in which a person is given a number of objects and is given the task of mounting a candle on a wall so it can burn without dripping wax on the floor. This problem was used to study functional fixedness. ♣ He found that some people will have difficulty in solving a problem when one element has a fixed function that must be altered. ♣ The box is not just a container holding tacks, it can be used to hold the candle on the wall to prevent the wax from dripping. ♣ Next set of people he placed the tacks next to the box and all the participants solved it easier.

• Memory integration

our background knowledge encourages us to take in new information in a schema-consistent fashion.

Prototype approach • Semantic priming effect priming facilitates priming inhibits examples: mediated priming

people respond faster to an item if it was preceded by an item with similar meaning -over and over at a conscious level, and it affects ur behavior. Priming- presentation for one stimulus affects responses to a stimulus that follows priming facilitates the responses to prototypes more than it facilitates the responses to nonprototypes priming inhibits judgments for nonprototypes (Rosch color studies) ♣ 2 colors.. same or diff shades of colors, prime trials, no prime trials... prime would be red and show them fire engine color red—ppl judge faster on that task it improved their ability. -Color swatch -Show 2 colors -Tell me whether same color or diff color -Show u red before hand then show u fire engine red- helpful -Show u red and then show u burgundy red- not helpful this shows prototypes are special and are stored in a special place in our cognitive system. EX: silk,silk,silk,silk,silk what does a cow drink? milk. no cows drink water... this is priming. ♣ Family feud example: • Name a type of Scope... ppl were stuck on all the type of measurement scope and didn't think of mouthwash scope -if they were shown mouthwash scope in previous trials then they would say mouthwash scope quicker. ♣ Name something that's white... think of white things and then ppl are stuck on animals until someone breaks it and goes outside of the box mediated priming- prime ur performance thru not a direct word but thru an indirect word ex- lions roar well yes -prime that by flashing the word tiger before that -so its response is faster

Thinking

requires you to go beyond the info you were given or that's right in front of you, so you can reach a goal -transformation of knowledge

Prototype approach • Typicality effect

the ability to judge highly prototypical objects more rapidly. when participants are asked to list as many objects in a category as possible, they tend to list the prototypical/stereotypical members first. Faster reaction time to statements like "A______is a bird" for high prototypical items (like robin) than for low prototypical items (like ostrich)

Schemas and Memory Abstraction The Current Status of Schemas and Memory Abstraction 2 approaches?

two approaches: Constructive & Pragmatic -quite compatible -in many cases we integrate info into large schemas -in some cases we know that specific words matter and pay close attention to precise wording

• Problem solving

used when you want to reach a certain goal, but the solution is not immediately obvious and obstacles block your path -initial state -goal state -obstacles

• Gender stereotypes

widely shared sets of beliefs about the characteristics of females and males

• Metacognition

• Metacognition- metacognition refers to the act of thinking about thinking, or the cognition of cognition. It is the ability for you to control your own thoughts. o It really is the knowledge and regulation of cognitive phenomena which means, you can control your own thoughts. Ex: awareness that you have difficulty remembering people's names in social situations.