test 3 Flashcards
memory
the retention and retrieval of information or experience over time
- occurs through three processes: encoding, storage, retrieval
3 processes of memory
1: encoding
2: storage
3: retrieval
encoding
information gets into memory
- requires effort
- must pay attention, process deeply, elaborate and use mental imagery
- e.g. listening to a lecture, you encode information into memory
depth of processing
- according to the processing deeper processing stimuli produces better memory
levels of processing
-level of memory processing
- shallow, intermediate, deep
- deeper processing producing better memory
shallow processing
- noting physical features of a stimulus
- e.g. shapes of the letter mom
intermediate processing
giving stimulus a label
- as in reading the word mom
deep processing
thinking about the meaning of a stimulus
- thinking about the meaning of the word mom and about your own mother
elaboration
(deep processing)
formation of a number of different connections around the stimulus at any given level of memory
self-reference
relating material to your own experience
- helps to elaborate deeply on information
- drawing links to your own life
hippocampus activated:
when individuals are using elaboration during encoding
mental imagery
- most powerful way to remember
- person makes up pictures that are associated with each thing that needs to be remembered
Paivio’s argument
memory is stored in one of two ways: verbal code (word or label) or image code
dual code hypothesis
(Paivio)
memory for pictures is better than memory for words and pictures
- pictures are stores in both image codes and verbal codes
storage
encompasses how information is retained overtime and how it is represented in memory
Atkinson-Shiffrin theory
memory storage involved 3 separate systems
1: sensory memory: time frames of a second to several seconds
2: short-term memory: time frames up to 30 seconds
3: long-term memory: time frames up to a lifetime
sensory memory
holds information from the world in its original sensory form for only an instant
- rich & detailed
- loose information quickly unless we use strategies that transfer into short term or long term memory
echoic memory
(echo)
auditory sensory memory
- retained in several seconds
iconic memory
(icon = image)
retained for about one-quarter of a second
short-term memory
- limited capacity memory system
- information is usually retained for only as long as 30 seconds unless we use strategies to retain it for longer
- passive storehouse
individuals are limited in how much information they can keep without external aids
range of 7 +- 2
chunking
grouping or “packing” information into higher-order units
- can be remembered as single units
working memory
combination of components
- short term memory and attention
- allow us to hold information temporarily as we perform cognitive tasks
- beneficial in early detention stage of Alzhimers disease
3 part model of working memory
- phonological loop
- visa-spatial sketchpad
- central executive
long term memory
permanent type of memory
- stores huge amounts of information for a long time
explicit memory subdivided
- episodic memory
- semantic memory
implicit memory subdivided
- procedural memory
- priming
- classical conditioning
explicit memory remembering:
- who
- what
- where
- when
- why
implicit memory remembering:
how
episodic memory
retention of information about where, when and what
- how we remember life’s episodes
semantic memory
type of explicit memory pertaining to a persons knowledge about the world
- knowledge of chess, geometry, who drake is
implicit memory or non declarative memory
behaviour is affected by prior experiences shout conscious recollection of the experience
- skill of skiing
procedural memory
- implicit memory process that involves memory for skills
priming
- activation of information that people already have in storage to help remember new information better and faster
- involuntary and unconscious process
schema
pre-exisitng mental concept or framework that helps people to organize and interpret information
script
schema fro an event
- information about physical features, people, and typical occurences
connectionism
(parallel distributed processing (PDP)
memory is stored thought the brain in connections among the neurone
- several work together processing single memory
specific brain structures involves in particular aspect of memory:
- frontal lobes
- episodic memory
- amygdala
- emotional memory
- temporal lobes
- explicit memory, priming
- hippocampus
- explicit memory, priming
- cerebellum
- implicit memory
memory retrieval
information was retained as a memory comes out
serial position effect
tendency to recall the items at the beginning and end of a list more easily than those in the middle
recognition
memory task where individual only has to identify
encoding specificity principle
information present at the time of encoding or learning tends to be effective as retrieval cue
autobiographical memory
episodic memory
- persons recollections of their life experiences
flashbulb memory
emotionally significance events people often recall with more accuracy and vivid imagery than everyday events
- neil Armstrong walking on the moon
repression
defensive mechanism where a person is so traumatized by an event they forget it and the forget the act of forgetting it
most forgetting takes place soon after we learn it
encoding failure
information was never entered into the long-term memory
interference theory
people forget because memories are lost from storage
- & bc information gets in the way of what they want to remember
proactive interference
occurs when material that was leaned before disrupts the recall for material learned later
retroactive interference
occurs when material learned later disrupts the retrieval of information learned earlier
tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon
“effortful retrieval”
- occurs when we are confident that we know something but cannot pull It out of memory
retrospective memory
remembering information in the past
prospective memory
remembering information about doing something in the future
- timing and content
anterograde amnesia
inability to make new memories
retrograde amnesia
memory loss for a segment of past events
memory
- Memory is the process by which we observe, store, and recall information
- Memories may be visual, auditory, or tactile
- Memory processes may involve multiple systems
- Conscious
- Automatic
encoding
- Attention:
- Spotlight analogy
- Sensory detection
- Recognition of meaning
- Response selection
levels of processing
- Shallow processing - structural encoding
(capital letters, what color, etc…) - Intermediate processing - phonemic encoding
(rhyming, homonyms, etc…) - Deep processing - semantic encoding
(meaning or symbolism)
facilitating encoding
- Elaboration
- Visual Imagery
- Self Referential Encoding
- Rehearsal and Over-learning
- Deep and Transfer Appropriate processing
- Distributed practice
- Organize information
mnemonic devices
- Verbal mnemonics:
- acrostics, acronyms, and rhymes
- Visual mnemonics:
- link method, method of loci, keyword
- SQ3R
encoding specificity
- Encoding specificity principle: Idea that ease of retrieval of a memory depends on match of encoding with retrieval
- Poor recall if shallow learning is examined using a deep processing technique
- Student who reads multiple choice items in test book and then takes an essay exam will likely not do very well
- State-dependent memory
- Poor recall if shallow learning is examined using a deep processing technique
storage
- Assumes that memory consists of 3 stores:
- Sensory registers
- Iconic (visual)
- Echoic (auditory)
- Short-term memory (STM)
- Long-term memory (LTM)
characteristics of STM
- STM is a variant of memory that is of limited duration:
- Information in STM fades after 20-30 seconds (without rehearsal)
- STM has limited capacity storage
- STM capacity is about 7 items of information
- Capacity is constant across cultures
- STM capacity is about 7 items of information
- STM Involves rehearsal
- Maintenance: information is repeated
- Elaborative: information is related to other knowledge
working memory
Working memory is temporary storage and processing of information used to
- solve problems
- respond to environmental demands
- achieve goals
Working memory may consist of three modules
- Visual Memory Store
- Verbal Memory Store
- Central Executive
working memory stores
Visual memory store
- A temporary image (20-30 sec) that provides information about the location and nature of objects
Verbal memory store
- Involves storage of verbal items
- Limited capacity
- Shallow: Items are processed in order of presentation and are subject to interference
Working memory stores are independent
- Brain damage may alter visual but not verbal
LTM
- LTM refers to the representations of facts, images, actions, and skills that may persist over a lifetime
- LTM involves retrieval of information
- LTM is theoretically limitless in capacity
- The serial position curve supports the existence of STM versus LTM
- Primacy effect reflects LTM
- Recency effect reflects STM
working memory and LTM
- Evidence supporting a distinction between working memory and LTM
- Working memory is easily accessed, but is limited in capacity
- Neurological studies in which brain damage impairs memory
- LTM impairment: person shows normal working memory, but cannot transfer information to LTM
- Working memory deficit: person has a memory span of 2 digits, but normal LTM
- Chunking: LTM information is used to increase item size in working memory (e.g. IBM, USC, CIA)
functional aspects of memory
- Recall for information may be a function of our interest in the information:
- Men show better recall for workbench construction details than details on how to make a shirt…
networks of association
- LTM is organized in clusters of information that are related in meaning
- The network is composed of interconnected nodes
- A node may contain thoughts, images, smells, emotions, or any other information
- Mnemonic devices allow one to add concepts to existing networks
varieties of LTM
- Declarative memory
- Semantic: “generic” knowledge of facts
- Episodic: memories of specific events
- Autobiographical
- Procedural memory: for skills
- Explicit memory: Conscious retrieval of information
- Recall versus recognition - Implicit memory: Skills, conditioned learning, and associative memory
repressed memories
- Retrieval failures
- Motivated forgetting
- Denial
- Repression
- Psychogenic amnesia
- False Memory Syndrome
“seven sins of memory”
- Memories are transient (fade with time)
- We do not remember what we do not pay attention to
- Our memories can be temporarily blocked
- We can misattribute the source of memory
- We are suggestible in our memories
- We can show memory distortion (bias)
- We often fail to forget the things we would like not to recall (persistence of memory)
language
- A language is a system of symbols, sounds, meanings, and rules of combination that allows for communication among humans
- Phonemes: the smallest units of sound
- Morphemes: the smallest units of meaning
- Phrases are composed of morphemes
- Sentences: strings of morphemes and phrases that express a thought or intention
nonverbal communication
- Nonverbal communication includes:
- vocal intonation
- body language (crossed arms)
- gestures (often involving the hands or fingers)
- physical distance
- facial expressions
- touch
language development
- 100 basic phonemes
- Babbling (6 - 18 months)
- Words (10 - 13 months)
- Vocabulary spurt (18 – 24 months)
- Receptive vs. productive vocabulary
- Fast Mapping
- Over and Under-extensions
- Overregularizations
language development
- The case for nurture: (behaviorist)
- B.F. Skinner argued that children imitate the utterances of their parents
- Skinner suggests that children receive differential reinforcement for speech sounds
- The case for nature (Nativist)
- Chomksy argued that language acquisition appears to be universal across culture (could not be accounted for by learning)
- Interactionist
critical periods for language acquisition
- Critical periods assume that an organism must develop a function within a limited time frame or it will not develop at all
- Children easily learn second languages, adults have great difficulty
- Isolated children have language impairments:
- Genie: was isolated as a child and was unable to learn complex language as an adolescent
problem solving
- Problem solving refers to the process by which we transform one situation into another to meet a goal
- Problems vary by definition:
- Well-defined versus ill-defined
- Strategies of problem solving:
- Algorithms are systematic procedures that will produce a solution to a problem
- Hypothesis testing: make an educated guess about a problem; then test it
- Mental simulation: mental rehearsal of the steps needed to solve a problem
problem solving: barriers
- Irrelevant information
- Functional fixedness
- Mental set
- Unnecessary constraints
approaches to problem solving
- Algorithms
- Heuristics
- Forming sub-goals
- Working backward
- Searching for Analogies
- Changing the representation of the problem
base rate fallacy
- Fear of flying vs. driving
- Anthrax vs. influenza
- SARS vs. viral encephalitis
impact of vivid events
Which of the following are more frequent causes of death in Canada?
Homicide or Diabetes
Flood or Pneumonia
All accidents or Stroke
All cancers or heart disease
Tornados or Alzheimer’s disease
Drowning or Leukemia
Motor vehicle accidents or cancer of the digestive system
regression toward the average
- Rookie of the year rarely has a better second season
- Sports Illustrated Jinx
developmental psychology
- The focus of developmental psychology is on how humans develop and change over time
- Change can occur across the life span of the person
- Cradle to grave developmental psychology
- Assumes that change is inevitable
- Change can be continuous or discontinuous
- Change can occur across the life span of the person
core developmental issues
- Delineate the interacting forces of nature and nurture
- Maturation: Refers to biologically determined changes that follow an orderly sequence
- Determine the importance of early experiences
- The notion of “critical periods”
Assess whether change is continuous or in qualitative stages
critical periods
- Critical period concept suggests that the brain is set to acquire a function during a limited period of time.
- If key experiences do not occur during a critical time period, the function may not develop or may not be fully developed
- The case of Genie: a girl who was isolated until the age of 13. Although Genie made some gains in language, her syntax never approached normal levels. The case of Genie supports a critical period for language acquisition (yet some point to her gains later in life)
- Measles can cause mental retardation if contracted during certain fetal periods