cognition: memory
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Cognition: Memory. Memory. Definition: Learning that has persisted over time Happens in three stages: Encoding – getting information in Storage – maintaining information over time Retrieval – getting memory back out. Encoding: Getting Information In. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Cognition: Memory
MemoryDefinition: Learning that has persisted over timeHappens in three stages:1. Encoding – getting information in2. Storage – maintaining information over
time3. Retrieval – getting memory back out
Encoding: Getting Information In
Automatic processing – we unconsciously encode information about space, time and frequency and well-learned information
Effortful processing – encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
Can be boosted through rehearsal – conscious repetitionspacing effect – retaining information better when rehearsal is spread out over time
serial position effect – tendency to better recall the last and first items in a list
What We EncodeLevels of processing:
Visual encoding – encoding of picture imagesAcoustic encoding – encoding of soundsSemantic encoding – encoding of meaning
Organizing information for encoding:Mnemonics – memory aids, especially those that use vivid imagery and organizational techniquesChunking – organizing items into familiar, manageable units
Often happens automatically
Storage: Retaining Information
Information processing model:1. Sensory memory – immediate
memory; information is kept here for a few seconds or lessIconic memory – fast-decaying store of visual informationEchoic memory – fast-decaying store of auditory information
2. Short-term memoryLimited in duration and capacityCapacity is generally 7 +/- 2 “bits” of informationSlightly better for random numbers than random lettersSlightly better for what we hear than what we see
3. Long-term memoryUnlimited
Storing Memories in the Brain
Memories are not stored in precise locations in the brainLong-term potentiation (LTP) – increase in a synapse’s firing potential after a brief, rapid stimulation
Thought to be a neural basis for learning and memory
Flashbulb memory – a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Stronger emotional experiences produces stronger, more reliable memoriesProlonged stress can corrode neural connections and shrink the hippocampus
Amnesia victimsHave implicit (or nondeclarative) memory – how to do something
The cerebellum helps form and store implicit memoriesOften don’t have explicit (or declarative) memory – memory of facts and experiences
The hippocampus helps process explicit memories for storage
Infantile amnesia – we have no accurate memories before age 3 because
Most explicit memories are indexed by words non-speaking children don’t haveHippocampus is one of the last brain regions to mature
Retrieval: Getting Information Out
Retrieval cuesTastes, smells and sights aid in recall of associated episodesPriming – activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory
Context effectsdéjà vu – sense that “I’ve experienced this before”
Cues from current situation might subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
State dependent memory – what we learn in one state can be more easily recalled when we are again in that state
Losing keys while intoxicated and remembering their location while again intoxicated
Mood-congruent memory – tendency to recall experiences that are consistent w/one’s current good or bad mood
When depressed, we recall sad events which perpetuates the depression
Why we forget
A.Three sins of forgetting1.Absent-mindedness -
inattention to details2.Transience - storage decay
over time3.Blocking - inaccessibility of
stored info
B.Three sins of distortion1. Misattribution - confusing the source
of the information2. Suggestibility - lingering effects of
misinformation3. Bias - belief-colored recollections
C.One sin of intrusion1. Persistence - unwanted memories
Retrieval failureProactive interference – disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new informationRetroactive interference – disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old informationRepression – in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings and memories
Most memory researcher think repression rarely occurs
Memory ConstructionMisinformation effect – incorporating misleading information into one’s memory of an event
“How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other
Source amnesia – attributing to the wrong source of an event we have experienced, heard about, read about or imagined
Madonna vs. Lady Gaga
False memories may feel as real as true memories
The most confident and consistent eyewitnesses are the most persuasive but often not the most accurate
Children’s memories are especially unreliable and easily influenced
Improving MemoryStudy repeatedlyMake the material meaningfulActivate retrieval cuesUse mnemonic devicesMinimize interferenceSleep moreTest and retest
Cognition: Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity
and Language
CognitionCognition – mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating
Concepts – mental groupings of similar objects, events, ideas or peoplePrototypes – mental image or best example of a category
Solving ProblemsStrategies
Algorithms – step-by-step procedures that guarantee a solutionHeuristics – simple thinking strategy that often allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently
Faster, but more prone to errors than algorithms
Insight – sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem
Creativity – the ability to produce novel and valuable ideas
Five components of creativity identified by Robert Sternberg1. Expertise2. Imaginative thinking skills3. A venturesome personality4. Intrinsic motivation5. A creative environment
Obstacles to Problem Solving
Confirmation bias – tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidenceFixation – inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective
Mental set – tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the pastFunctional fixedness – tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions
Using and Misusing Heuristics
Representativeness heuristic – judging the likelihood of things in terms of how they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes
May lead us to ignore other relevant information
Availability heuristic – estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory
If instances come readily to mind, we assume such events are common
Overconfidence – tendency to be more confident than correctBelief perseverance – clinging to one’s initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discreditedIntuition – effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit conscious reasoning
See chart on p. 310 for its pros and cons
Framing – how an issue is posed can significantly affect decisions and judgments
LanguagePhoneme – smallest distinctive sound unit in languageMorpheme – smallest unit of language that carries meaning
Ex: “I”, “s” to indicate something is plural, “ed” or “pre”
GrammarSemantics – set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words and sentencessyntax – rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences
Language DevelopmentReceptive language – ability to comprehend speech
Develops by 4 months
Productive languageBabbling stage – spontaneously uttering a variety of sounds
Begins around 4 monthsBy 10 months language can be identified
One-word stage – child speaks mostly in single wordsUsually from age 1 to 2
Two-word stage – speaks mostly in two-word statements
Usually starts about age 2Telegraphic speech – early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram, using mostly nouns and verbs
Explaining Language Development
B.F. Skinner: Operant learningArgued babies learn to talk through association, imitation and reinforcement
Noam Chomsky: Inborn universal grammar
Believed that given adequate nurture, language will naturally occur
Statistical learning and critical periodsChildhood is a critical period for mastering certain aspects of language
Thinking and LanguageLanguage determinism – Benjamin Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think
More likely words influence our thinking