Cognition. Memory Information Processing Model Thinks of the brain like a computer Simplified...
-
Upload
arline-carson -
Category
Documents
-
view
214 -
download
0
Transcript of Cognition. Memory Information Processing Model Thinks of the brain like a computer Simplified...
Cognition
Memory
Information Processing Model
Thinks of the brain like a computerSimplified version of realityThree steps:
◦Both take in information (encoding)◦Both store information (storage)◦Both get the information back out to be used (retrieval)
Atkinson/Shiffrin Info Proccessing
1. record information that might be remembered in sensory memory (< 30 seconds)
2. Information that is processed goes to short-term memory, where it is encoded through rehearsal (roughly 1 minute)
3. Rehearsed info moves to long-term memory to be retrieved later
Modified (modern) Info Processing
2 updates in the modern model
◦Some information is processed unconsciously, automatically, and directly to long-term memory (skips steps 1 and 2)
◦“short-term” changed to “working” – focuses on important aspects of sensory memory and combines them with previously learned items from long-term memory; also solves problems
Really Modern Theory
Connectionism: memories are specific activation patterns of neural networks
Encoding: Automatic Processing
Can be automatic or effortfulAutomatic processing depends on parallel processingUsed for
◦Space: Visually, where was information on the page? Where did you turn to get to the store?
◦Time: You automatically remember what order things happened in (what if this were not true?)
◦Frequency – how many times things happen◦Well-learned information – such as words in your native language
Processing that initially takes effort can become automatic (like reading)
Automatic processing can make mistakes, similar to top-down processing
Spring is theThe most beautiful Time of the year
Encoding: Effortful Processing
Requires attention and conscious effortMakes more durable memoriesRehearsal helps: repeating material more often increases
retentionRepeating material after you have learned it
(overlearning) also increases retentionDemonstration of rehearsal
Spacing Effect
Information is retained better when rehearsal is spread out over time
Study enough to learn something, then come back the next day to practice
The longer the time between practice sessions, the better the retention years later
Rehearsing by testing also improves retention (sometimes better than studying)
CRAMMING IS NOT AS EFFECTIVE AS STUDYING EVERY DAY
An Experiment on the Spacing Effect
Midterms are coming! Optional experiment to help you prepare:
Study 5 days a week for 10 minutes on two units/week and keep a log of your time
The next Monday, stop by before or after school and take a short review quiz
Get at least one point added to your midterm for each completed quiz and log pair
This week: units 1 and 2
Serial Positioning Effect
Demonstration of the serial positioning effectPeople immediately remember the last item of a list best
(recency effect – term still in working memory)People later remember the first item of a list well
(primacy effect – more rehearsal, less interference)Items in the middle of the list are remembered relatively
poorly
Figure 7A.6 The serial position effect Immediately after Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd introduces this long line of officials to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, President Karzai will probably recall the names of the last few people best. But later Karzai may recall the first few people best.
From Craik & Watkins, 1973© 2010 by Worth Publishers
Types of Encoding: Semantic
Semantic encoding is based on meaning Memorizing meaningful information requires 1/10th of the
effort needed to process nonsense info (demonstration)Rephrasing in your own words is semantic encodingSelf-reference effect: information that we relate to
ourselves is remembered bestMost effective type of encoding
Types of Encoding: Visual
Vivid images are encoded well – causes rosy retrospection, or only remembering the best parts of an experience
Works best on concrete words that have definite imagesMany mnemonics are visual - ex: peg-word system,
method of loci
Types of Encoding: Acoustic
Based on sound of wordsRhyming can help encode more effectively and
permanently ◦Ex: “If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit,” “Twenny fo’, no more
po’”Example of acoustic mnemonic: keyword system – find a
word that sounds like what you need to rememberSetting to music also helps
A few more mnemonics
First letter method – ex: PEMDAS, My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas, All Cows Eat Grass◦Useful for when the order of terms is important
Substitution method – substitute each number for a letter (companies do this with phone numbers all the time) or substitute each word for a number (usually the number of letters that are in the word)
Organizing Information: Chunking
Organizing information into meaningful units makes it easier to remember
Ex: Take 10 seconds to remember these numbers: 14921776151719452001
Try it again with chunking: 1492 1776 1517 1945 2001Acronyms in the first-letter method (ROY G. BIV)
Organizing Information: Hierarchies
Start with broad concepts and divide them into narrower ideas down to individual facts
Recall is better for words put into meaningful groupsTaking notes in outline form is effective (most textbooks
are organized this way)
Storage: Sensory Memory
Our senses temporarily record all the information that they take in
Iconic (visual) memory lasts a few tenths of a secondEchoic (auditory) memory lasts 3-4 seconds
Storage: Working Memory
Short term memory dies within 20 seconds with no rehearsal
The capacity of working memory is the “Magical Number Seven, plus or minus two” (only four items without rehearsal)
Storage: Long-Term Memory
The brain does not store distinct memories in specific locationsMemories are stored in groups of neurons that communicate at
synapsesIn sea slugs, learning increases serotonin production at some
synapses, which makes them more effectiveLong Term Potentiation (LTP) (increase in neuron’s firing
potential): Stimulating memory-circuits makes them more sensitive◦ sending neurons fire with a lower threshold◦ receiving neurons grow more receptor sites
Drugs that enhance the production of the protein CREB may enhance LTP and therefore memory
Drugs that boost NT glutamate may also improve memory
After LTP, disrupting the brain won’t destroy old memories but will destroy very recent memories that have not had time to be processed
Stress Hormones and Memory
Amygdala increases activity and proteins available in memory-forming areas
Memories of traumatic experiences tend to be permanently imprinted very quickly
“Flashbulb memories” of surprising/significant events are clear and relatively accurate, but they can be rewritten with rehearsal
Prolonged stress can shrink the hippocampus, decreasing memory potential
Sudden stress may block older memories from being called up
Long-Term Memory: Implicit Memory
AKA nondeclarative (can be used without being described)
Some implicit memories are procedural – remembering how to do something
Learning without awarenessNo conscious recallMotor skills and classical conditioning use implicit
memoryFormed in the cerebellum
Long-Term Memory: Explicit Memory
AKA declarative (people can talk about them)Uses conscious recallFacts and general knowledge; also personal
experiencesProcessed in hippocampus during slow-wave sleep
◦Left hippocampus is better at verbal info◦Right is better at visual-spatial info
Contrasting Explicit and Implicit Memories
Explicit is explainable, implicit is impossible to explainWe retain implicit memories from infancy and early
childhood but not explicit memories◦hippocampus develops later◦most memories are stored with words that young children don’t
knowMany brain-damaged amnesia patients retain the ability
to retrieve and encode implicit memories but not explicit
Encoding/Storage Problems
Alzheimer’s Disease: a senile plaque of proteins builds up on neurons and kills them. Interferes with storage and encoding by killing parts of networks where memories are stored and areas that process new memories
Korsakoff’s Syndrome – vitamin deficiency associated with alcohol abuse. Associated with a smaller hippocampus and steady decline in the ability to lay down new memories and retain old ones, as well as confabulation (making up information to fill in gaps in memories)
Retrieval
RecallRecognitionRelearning more quickly
◦All signs of memory
Retrieval: Cues
Cues are words, sounds, smells, sights, or context that you associate with something
When you see a cue, the association calls up a memoryThe more cues you have the better you remember
Retrieval: Context Effects
You remember things better in the same context in which you learned them
Experiments underwater vs on landMay explain déjà vu – the experience may have the same
context as something you’ve done before
Retrieval – State-Dependent Memories
Returning to your emotional/mental state at the time the memory was encoded may help you retrieve the memory
We tend to retrieve memories that are congruent with our moods (remember negative events when we are sad)
Forgetting: Encoding failure
If we don’t pay attention to something, we won’t remember it
Older adults don’t encode things as quickly as younger adults
Forgetting: Encoding failure
Forgetting: Storage Decay
At first retention drops dramatically, but after a while it levels off
Physically, LTP changes wear off Newer learning disrupts original learning
Forgetting: Retrieval failure
Interference◦Proactive – old learning disrupts new learning (go to last
semester’s classes by mistake), aka forward-acting◦Retroactive – new information disrupts old information (forgetting
former classmates’ names after meeting new people)◦Retroactive interference doesn’t happen to info learned in the
hour before sleep
Forgetting: Retrieval Failure
Motivated forgetting – we forget details that don’t fit with our current views
Repression – Freud says we forget painful memories to protect ourselves◦Happens rarely if ever – most emotional memories don’t go away
Memory Construction
Misinformation effect – telling someone false information will cause them to remember it instead of the truth
Imagination effect – imaging events can cause us to remember them as real
Source amnesia – we forget where we got a memory from (a story, real life, a dream)
Thinking
Language
Phonemes: building blocks of sound
Phoneme – basic unit of sound◦“b”◦“k”◦“d”◦“m”◦“ah”◦And so on
We know which differences in speech are meaningful and which are not
Phoneme practice
How many phonemes in the word “cat”?How many in the word “ball”?How many in the word “hope”?How many in the word “psychology?”
Morphemes: Building blocks of meaning
A morpheme is the smallest possible unit of meaning◦“bat”◦“man”◦“ed”◦“s”◦“violet”
What are (is) the morpheme(s) in the word “cow”?What are (is) the morpheme(s) in the word “present”?What are (is) the morpheme(s) in the word “jumped”?What are (is) the morpheme(s) in the word “Asian?”What are (is) the morpheme(s) in the word “dishwasher?”
Grammar: Semantic Rules
Semantic rules affect meaning ◦Ex: adding “ed” to the end of a verb means it happened in the
past◦Changing the endings of verbs to match plural nouns
Grammar: Syntax Rules
Syntax is the order in which words are usedIn English, we put adjectives before nouns and subjects
before verbs – “The blue skirt,” but this is not true in other languages “La falda azul”
“A verb crumpled the milk”◦This is grammatical, but it doesn’t make sense – syntax without
semanticsSometimes syntax leaves room for interpretation
◦“The boy saw the man with the telescope.”◦This is useful for humor
Hot Potato
1 – Say a sentence that is syntactically correct but does not have semantic meaning
2 – Describe your weekend plans in telegraphic speech.3 – Give three examples of morphemes4 – Give an example of a semantic or syntactical rule in a
language other than English5 – Say five different phonemes6 – Use one of the vocabulary words from this unit in a
sentence
Stages of Speech production
Babbling stage – 4 months, babies are capable of producing any phoneme in any language
10 months – most babbling uses phonemes of the language spoken in the child’s home
10 months – babies stop being able to distinguish phonemes that are not part of their native language
Stages of Speech Production
One-word stage – (1 year) Children pack a sentence’s worth of meaning into a single word
Children learn about 1 word/week◦“NO!”◦“down”◦“uh-oh”
◦Children’s pronunciations are simplified because of their physical limitations – they understand differences between adult pronunciations of words
Stages of Speech Production
Two-word (telegraphic) stage (18 months)– generally begins with nouns, verbs, and adjectives, in proper order
Children learn about 1 word/day◦“doggie run”◦“want juice”◦“allgone sock”
Try to say something with telegraphic speech
Theories of Language Acquisition
Skinner: Language is learned through operant conditioning◦Association – put sounds with symbols and meaning◦Imitation – learn by repeating what is heard◦Reinforcement – children are reinforced for correct grammar and
vocabulary usage
Problems with Skinner’s idea◦Children say things they have never heard before and have not
been taught (“I hate you, Daddy!”)◦Overgeneralization – application of rules when they do not apply◦Child: “My teacher holded the baby rabbits and we petted them”◦Mother: “Did you say your teacher held the baby rabbits?”◦Child: “Yes”◦Mother: “Did you say she held them tightly?”◦Child: “No, she holded them loosely”
Theories of Language Acquisition
Noam Chomsky: humans are born with innate language abilities
Universal grammar is at the root of every language (all languages have the same parts of speech and types of sentences
At 7 months we learn to recognize statistical patterns of language, such as where sounds divide into words and which syllables commonly go together
The Critical Period
The younger a person is, the easier it is for them to learn a language and the more native-like their pronunciation will be
Children who are not exposed to language before age 7 have difficulty learning any language◦Typically deaf children born to hearing, non-signing parents
Languages can be learned after the critical period, but it takes a lot more effort
Bilinguilism
People who speak multiple languages often describe themselves differently in one language vs the other◦Score differently on personality tests
Show better understanding of their first language than monolinguals do
Linguistic Determinisim
Theory: Our vocabularies determine what we can thinkIgnores visual aspect of thinkingStudies:
◦gendered languages describe objects differently◦Korean children who learn verbs before nouns do better at
solving problems with tools (actions), but English-speaking children are initially better at categorizing things (nouns)
Visual Thinking
Cognitive maps can be made of places we are familiar with and places we have never been
Visual imagery can be measured on clarity and our control in manipulating it