Cognitive Psych Exam 2
Shepard and Metzlar results
(2-D and 3-D rotation). PET Scan results.
Upper-bound Estimate of STM capacity
30 seconds
What happens when you shift semantic category? (Wickens)
Consider, for example, a classic study by Wickens and his colleagues (1976). Their technique uses an important concept from memory research called proactive interference. Wickens and his coauthors (1976) demonstrated that release from PI could also be obtained when the researchers shifted the semantic category of the items. Their study employed five semantic categories, which you can see in Figure 4.3. Wickens and his colleagues initially gave people three trials on the Brown/Peterson & Peterson test. In other words, on each trial they saw a list of three words, followed by a three-digit number. After counting backward from this number for 18 seconds, they tried to recall the three words. On each trial in this study, participants saw three related words. For example, participants in the Occu- pations condition might begin with "lawyer, firefighter, teacher" on Trial l. On Trials 2 and 3, they saw lists of additional occupations. Then on Trial 4, they saw a list of three fruits—such as "orange, cherry, pineapple"—as did the people in the other four conditions. Look through the five conditions shown at the right side of Figure 4.3. Wouldn't you expect the buildup of proactive interference on Trial 4 to be the greatest for those in the fruits (control) condition? After all, people's short-term memory should be filled with the names of other fruits that would interfere with the three new fruits.
Why does deep processing really seem to help encoding?
Distinctiveness and elaboration
Gender differences in spatial tasks
In addition, a large portion of the gender differences in spatial rotation can be traced to the fact that boys typically have more experience with toys and sports (and perhaps even video games) that emphasize spa- tial skills (Voyer et al., 2000). In other words, this one area of cognitive gender differences can be reduced by providing girls with experience and training in spatial activities.
Gender differences in cognition generally
In other words, mental rotation is the only cognitive skill where a group of males is likely to earn higher scores than a group of females. However, we must emphasize that some studies report no gender differ- ences in mental rotation. Furthermore, some studies report that the gender differences disappear when the task instructions are changed and when people receive training on spatial skills (Matlin, 2012; Newcombe, 2006; Terlecki et al., 2008).
How do depressed vs non-depressed subjects differ in performance on tasks of working memory?
These researchers tested 35 hospitalized inpatients who met the criteria for major depression, as well as 29 hospital assistants who worked at the same hospital but did not experience depression. These findings emphasize the profound impact that depression has on the day-to-day cognitive activity of people suffering from depression" (p. 397). Poor performance on these daily activities could increase the level of depression even further. Clearly, clinical psychologists and other mental-health professionals need to know about these potential deficits in working memory for people who are clinically depressed.
What conclusion does your book reach about the analog vs propositional representation debate?
Thus, behavioral and cognitive neuroscientific data support the notion that mental imagery is represented in an analog format. There is at least one phenomenon, however, that is difficult for the analog account to accommodate—the effect of ambiguous visual images. We discuss this effect below, and pro- vide an explanation for why a propositional account may be more applicable under certain circumstances.
Echoic Memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds
Procedural Memory
a person's knowledge about how to do something
Positivity Effect
a phenomenon showing that people tend to rate previous negative events more positively with the passage of time
What is meant by the imagery debate?
an important controversy: Do our mental images resemble perception (using an analog code), or do they resemble language (using a propositional code)?
Proactive Interference
difficulty learning or recalling new material because some previously learned material continues to interfere with the formation of new memories
Baddeley's Working Memory Model
evidence for separate components of working memory § Subjects had to hearse a string of numbers (ranging from 0 to 8) while also performing a spatial reasoning task § Spatial Reasoning task: · Subjects briefly saw a sequence of letters, such as.... BA · Had to respond to statements (yes or no response) such as "A comes after B" or "B comes before A" § Notice: subjects are rehearsing digits to themselves (involves language) and doing a task that requires spatial knowledge... at the same time § Subjects were very fast and accurate at both tasks (error rate remained constant, at 5%, even when 8 digits had to be maintained) § Conclusion: separate working memory components for linguistic and visuospatial information processing
Pollyanna Principle
in memory and other cognitive processes, the principle that people usually process pleasant items more efficiently and more accurately then less pleasant items
What's the interaction between levels of processing and encoding specificity
is deep processing ALWAYS best in terms of facilitating recall?
Autobiographical Memory
o Autobiographical memory: your memory for events and issues related to yourself § Usually includes verbal narrative § May include imagery and emotional information o Research on autobiographical memory is often high in ecological validity
Levels of Processing
o Deep processing: extracting meaning from the stimulus o The "deeper" the processing, the more you do these things: § Thinking of associations to other facts or events § Creating an internal mental image § Relating stimulus to past experience o Shallow processing: focusing only on perceptual (form-based) properties of the stimulus § Rhymes with... § Size
Episodic Memory
o Episodic memory is information tied to specific time and place (episode); it is generally autobiographical § What did you have for breakfast this morning? § Was the word STEREO on the list you just studied?
Visio-Spatial Sketchpad
o Examining a visual scene requires you to move your eye to multiple locations in the scene o You must code up what is in the scene and where it is (spatial) o VSSP: the WM resource pool that allows you to temporarily store information about what you are viewing and where it is § Also important for navigation § Also allows you to create mental images in your head from verbal descriptions § In BH (1974): making decision about spatial location o Many studies demonstrate that when asked to do two visual tasks at the same time, performance suffers on both
Distance and mental imagery
o Example: Image scanning (Kosslyn, Ball, & Reiser 1978) § Subjects memorize a map of an island and used this to generate a mental image § They were given a starting point and an end point § They were asked to traverse the distance from the start point to the end point and then press a button § Response time varied with the distance between the points
How do we know sensory memory exists?
o In 1960, George Sperling developed a procedure for measuring the contents of iconic memory before the icon faded o Whole report vs. partial report · Whole Report o Whole report: you will briefly see a set of letters and numbers; try to remember as many as you can § Subjects can typically remember about5 of the letters and numbers o In the while-report condition, subjects can remember about 5 of the letters and numbers o In this condition, subjects must remember the letters and numbers long enough to report them § This requires several seconds o Thus, the whole-report condition taps a memory system that lasts for at least several seconds and can hold a small number of items § This system is called the "short-term memory system" or the "working memory system" o This condition does not tell us about iconic memory · Partial Report o Partial report: high beep = top row; medium beep = middle row; low beep = bottom row.. immediately after offset § Subjects can typically remember most or all of the items from the cued row o The partial report condition is designed to tap into the memory that is available immediately after the offset of the array of numbers and letters § When the cue is presented shortly after the array of letters and numbers, the subjects transfer information about the cued row from the iconic image into short-term memory, and then reported it § Because each row contains only 4 items and subjects must store only 1 row, performance is not limited by the fact that only 5 items can be stored in short-term memory § If subjects can report 90% of the letters in the cued row, they presumably had a memory of 90% of the entire array at the time of the cue · Sperlings conclusions o Sensory memory (iconic memory) does exist o Sensory memory has virtually infinite storage capacity o Sensory memory decays rapidly § Fades by 50% within approximately 150ms § Almost entirely gone within 500ms (definitely gone by two seconds)
What's a "chunk of information" in relation to STM Brown/Peterson & Peterson technique?
o Miller (1956): "the magical number 7, plus or minus 2" o STM capacity typically. Measured by "memory span" tasks o Miller concluded that the upper-bound limit of short term memory was 7+/-2 CHUNKS of information o Chunk: a basic unity (things often occurring together or can be easily grouped together) o Phone numbers 319 984 3 6 5 6 (=6 chunks) o This limited STM constrains how much information we can deal with during any cognitive task (capacity constraint)
Long Term Memory
o Our definition: the process by which information is encoded, stored, retrieved § Encoding (registration): receiving, processing and combining information § Storage: creation of a permanent record of encoded information § Retrieval (recall): calling back the stored information in response to some cue in a process or activity · General Facts about LTM o LTM storage is primarily modality-independent and meaning based o Evidence for meaning-based storage: § Bousfield (1953): recall order tends to reflect semantic relationships (e.g animal names recalled together, even though they were presented at different times) § Language memory: when asked to remember a paragraph, people remember the "gist" of the sentence, but don't remember the exact words
Recall Tasks
o Recall § Serial recall § Free recall § Examples: what is you phone number? What did you have for breakfast? Seattle is located in which state?
Relationship Between Encoding and Retrieval (Context-Dependent Memory)
o Recall is better if the context during retrieval is similar to the context during encoding o Also known as "context-Dependent" memory § Context provides lots of cues § Cues available during encoding increase memory during retrieval § What's it like to memorize 20 ft under water with a tank and breathing apparatus
Recency
o Recency effects happen because... § Since they appear later in the list (in time) they are still in short-term memory during recall
Recognition Tasks
o Recognition § Examples: multiple choice tests, police line-up, finding your car in a parking lot
Explicit Memory Tasks
o Recognition § Examples: multiple choice tests, police line-up, finding your car in a parking lot o Recall § Serial recall § Free recall § Examples: what is you phone number? What did you have for breakfast? Seattle is located in which state? o All things being equal, accuracy is usually greater on recognition task
Semantic Memory
o Semantic memory is information that is known without information about the learning context § 3 x 4 = 12 § Coca-Cola is sold in a red and white can
Serial Position
o Serial position effect: recall accuracy depends on the serial position (order) in a list where it appeared
Phonological Loop
o Serves the purpose of storing and rehearsing sound-based material § Sounds/words heard during speech perception § Or, subvocalization (internal pronunciation during reading or rehearsal) § In BH (1974): repeating lists of digits to yourself o We use the PL any time that we store and rehearse sound based information § Trying to remember a phone number § Things to buy at the store § Even the name of an object in the picture o Phonological buffer (storage) § Stores input in a sound-based code § Susceptible to decay § Capacity limitations o Subvocalization (processing) § Inner voice § Allows information in buffer to be rehearsed § Can be used to recode visual information into sound-based information.
Short Term Memory
o Short-term memory(traditional) is a passive process o The STM system just takes in and stores information o Short term memory: holds information that is currently being processes § Lasts no longer than 30 seconds unless rehearsed or repeated
Why a switch from short term memory to working memory?
o Short-term memory(traditional) is a passive process § What was traditionally thought of as "short-term memory" has been reconceptualized... now called "working memory" o Working memory is active o We don't just passively store information on a short-term basis
Ambiguous figures
o Subjects see an ambiguous figure, then it disappears o Asked to give a report of what the image depicted o THEN, asked to provide a secondary interpretation of it o Barely any of them could o When stimuli are complex or highly unfamiliar, propositional code may be used instead ("duck facing left") o Bottom-line: mental imagery is likely to represent in both analog and propositional codes, depending on the tests and stimulus complexity
Episodic Buffer
o The central executive is not allowed to store information § Only takes as input information from PL and VSSP and uses it to coordinate and plan action, shift attention, etc. o Episodic buffer: temporarily takes in info from LTM, PL, and VSSP and allows it to be combines and temporarily stored o More of a theoretical necessity, based on the formulation of the model, then something people actively study in detail
Eye Witness Testimony
o Ways in which eyewitness testimony can be distorted o Eyewitness testimony more likely to make errors if § They saw a crime committed during a stressful circumstance § There is a long delay between the original event and the time of the testimony § The misinformation is plausible § There is a social pressure § Someone has provided positive feedback
Flashbulb Memory
o When a very important event occurs, people report having vivid, contextually rich, and long-lasting memories of the event § As if a flashbulb briefly illuminated the scene as one takes a snapshot o Typical examples: § Assassination of JFK § Challenger & Columbia space shuttle accidents § Princess Diana's death § 9/11 o Talarico & Rubin (2003): subjects reported details about how they learn of 9/11, along with the details of a mundane event (what did I have for lunch)... this reporting happened on 9/12/01 o Some subjects came back a week later, some 6 weeks later, and some 32 weeks later o Were asked questions about each event - researchers recorded the consistent and inconsistent details o Why then are such memories so vivid? o There are several possibilities: § Lots of elaboration at the moment and shortly afterwards § More distinctive § Frequent rehearsal
What's meant by "cognitive workbench"?
o Working memory as a "cognitive workbench" o Think about hearing or reading this sentence: § Mary saw the man in the park by the big pond before deciding to run the other way. § Mary's seeing, a man, in a park, by a pond, pond is big... and for whatever reason, she's running away § Details of the even occur in meaningful chunks that unfold over time, and there has to be a place for those chunks to be temporarily stored until you can figure out how to appropriately combine them together
Working Memory
o Working memory is active o We don't just passively store information on a short-term basis o Working memory: a limited capacity system that provides the ability to simultaneously store and process information
Implicit Memory Tasks
o You get exposed to some sort of material, then do a cognitive task where you aren't explicitly asked to recall/remember o Sometimes, people have a hard time remembering when asked explicitly to remember something (fail at recall or recognition) o But, can still recognize previously encountered information in an implicit task o People often know more than they can reveal during explicit recall (telephone number example)
Self-Reference Effect
o You remember more information about a stimulus if you try to relate it to yourself (more extensive deep processing) o Rodgers (1977): process English qord according to specific instruction. Instruction focused on: § Visual characteristics of words (CAPS or lowercase), or § Sounds (rhymes with), or § Semantic characteristics, or § "How can this word be applied to yourself?" o Words with visual and sound focused instructions least well-remembered o Semantic condition substantially higher o % remember was extremely high in the "apply to self" condition o People more likely to recall a word that does apply to them than a word that does not o Why does self-reference effect happen? o We know ourselves well... thinking of "self" provides a rich set of cues about yourself § Cues ae distinctive § Cues can be easily linked to what you are trying to learn o Rehearsed more frequently if you can relate information to yourself
Sensory memory
o records information from each sense with reasonable accuracy (iconic and echoic memory) § Last no longer than 2 seconds § Most is forgotten
Consistency Bias
o we tend to exaggerate the consistency between our past feelings and beliefs and out current viewpoint
Know all of Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (Modal Model of Memory)
proposed that memory involves a sequence of separate steps. In each step, information is transferred from one storage area to another.
Auditory Imagery
the mental representation of auditory stimuli (sounds) when the sounds are not physically present
Mood Congruence
the observation that material is recalled more accurately if it is congruent with a person's current mood
Encoding Specificity Effect
the observation that recall is often better if the context at the time of encoding matches the context at the time of retrieval
Source Monitoring
the process of trying to identify the origin of a particular memory
False Memories
the proposal that most recovered memories are actually incorrect memories; in other words, these recovered memories are constructed stories about events that never occurred; this perspective is contrasted with the recovered-memory perspective
Recovered Memories
the proposal that some individuals who experienced sexual during childhood managed to forget that memory for many years; at a later tine this presumably forgotten memory may come flooding back into consciousness
Encoding
§ Encoding (registration): receiving, processing and combining information
Post-Event Mis-information
§ Loftus, Miller, & Burns (1978) · A video of a sports car stopped at an intersection with a yield sign, and the it turned and hit a pedestrian · Did another car pass the red Datsun while it was stopped at the yield sign? (consistent) · Did another car pass the red Datsun while it was stopped at the stop sign? (inconsistent) · The type of sign was not mentioned (neutral) § Loftus & Palmer (1974) · "how was were the cars going when they contacted each other?" · "how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?"
Retrieval
§ Retrieval (recall): calling back the stored information in response to some cue in a process or activity
Storage
§ creation of a permanent record of encoded information
Representation (in relation to mental imagery)
· Analog Code o Analog code: representation that closely resembles the physical object o Under this view, mental imagery is a close relative of perception o The activation during imagery would be similar to the pattern of activation experienced when viewing object o Example Representing the Queen of the UK as Queen Elizabeth (image) · Propositional Code o Propositional representations are close relatives of language (not exactly like language, but close) § Example: representing the queen of the UK as the stored language-like "A female, older, white hair, faint smile shaped mouth" o A propositional representation consists of a set of symbols and relations among the symbols
Central Executive
· Central Executive o Takes as input information from PL and VSSP and uses it to coordinate and plan action, shift attention, etc. o Central executive: § Plays a role in coordinating / planning action based on information that is integrated o Strong attention component: § Suppressing irrelevant information / action (selective attention network) o Does not "store" anything... just organizes, plans, and coordinates
Primacy
· Explanations for primacy and recency o Primary effects happen because earlier items: § 1. Don't have to compete (share attention) with any earlier items § 2. Early items get rehearsed more frequently · Thus, have a greater chance of making it to LTM
Iconic Memory
· Iconic memory o Prior to 1960, many scientists noted that visual information seems to persist for a few hundred milliseconds after the offset of a stimulus § This was based on introspection with no data o The "iconic images" seems like a visual image that fades rapidly (that image is called "icon") § This icon fades so quickly that it is gone before the subject can report what is present in the memory
Types of Amnesia
· Retrograde v. Anterograde Amnesia o Retrograde amnesia: no memory of the past (soap operas, although rarely this profound) o Anterograde amnesia: no new memories
What kind of amnesia did patient HM have? What were his behavioral symptoms of amnesia?
· The Famous Patient H.M. o HM had severe epilepsy and was given a bilateral medial temporal lobectomy, leading to profound anterograde amnesia with some retrograde amnesia
