Psychology 200 Midterm Review Ch. 1 What is cognitive psychology?

The scientific study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information Concerned with: How we attend to and get information about the world How that information is stored and processed by the brain How we solve problems, think, and formulate language

Cognitive Psychology not recognized until 1967 Franciscus Donders (1868) 1st cognitive psychology experiment Examined reaction time Difference between simple reaction time vs. choice reaction time

Herman Ebbinghaus (1885/1913) Learned nonsense syllables Savings curve

Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism Established first laboratory (1879): Germany

Psychological methods should be modeled after Chemistry and Physics Structuralism: the identification of the basic building blocks, or structures, of the mind Introspection: Systematic self-observation of ones own conscious experience William James - Harvard Professor brother of Henry James, the novelist Principles of Psychology (1890) Equally influential but different than Wundt Less emphasis on scientific rigor More arm-chair theorizing about psychological process Functionalism: how the mind functions to adapt organisms to their environment Behaviorism Study of observable behavior Internal processes (thoughts, feelings) cannot be studied

 Stimulus-response psychology Vary environment, observe response Principle of reinforcement Reliance on animal models/research J.B. Watson and B.F. Skinner A "cognitive revolution occurred and increased interest in the study of mental processes (cognitions) Turing (1950)-wanted to develop a machine that would be indistinguishable from a human Turing test-computer program judged successful if its output was judged as coming from a human Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Attempt to create systems that show intelligence Ex.) chess playing games and other computer card games In An Experiment Random sample of participants Manipulate the Independent Variable Create experimental group Create control group Randomly assign participants Measure the Dependent Variable Same for all groups Control all other variables Prevent confounds Can infer a causal link between x and y with statistical significance Correlational Studies Cannot infer causation Simply measure variables of interest Nature of relationship Positive Correlation Negative Correlation

Strength of relationship Determined by size of r

Key ideas in cognitive psychology One must have an explanatory theory of why things occur, but a theory cannot have support without data Cognition is adaptive, but not perfect (ex. false memories) Cognitive processes interact with each other and with other non-cognitive processes (ex. cant study because very upset) Important to study cognition through a variety of methods Support from many methods = better support for your hypothesis

Research leads to real world applications and applied, real-world research supports better understanding of basic principles (ex. eyewitness accounts of crime or suspects) CH 2 What is cognitive neuroscience?

Field of study that links the brain and other aspects of the nervous system to cognitive processing and observable behavior

The brain-organ in our bodies that most directly controls our thoughts, emotions, and motivations Localization of function Nervous system- basis for our ability to perceive, adapt to, and interact with the world around us

Basic Unit of Brain: Neuron

How do we study the brain? Postmortem studies Look for people with brain damage while still alive and document their behavior After death, examine brain for lesions-areas with tissue damage Paul Broca-speech production

Animal studies in vivo techniques Electrodes inserted into brain of animal, selective lesioning Cant do on humans!!

Electroencephalogram (EEG)- recording of the electrical frequencies and intensities of the brain EEG can be used to study sleep and awake states EEG waves are averaged over a large number of trials (Ex. 100) to obtain an event-related potential (ERP) Information not well localized/specified, but is a good measure of change in the brain MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)-provides a still image revealing the structures of the brain Computer produces 3-D image of brain Metabolic imaging-changes in brain take place as a result of increased glucose and oxygen consumption in the brain Can pinpoint localized activity during a given task PET (positron emission tomography)- to track glucose consumption, mildly radioactive glucose substance is injected into person Positrons are formed by area which is being activated by task Positrons are detected through scan Localized activity (ex. occipital lobe during a vision task)

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) based on oxygen consumption Placed in an MRI machine (magnetic field produces change in oxygen atoms) More active brain areas=more oxygen Less invasive than PET, but costly machinery

Anatomy of Brain Brain is divided into 3 major areas:

Forebrain Midbrain Hindbrain

Forebrain-top and front of brain Cerebral cortex-outer layer of hemispheres Basal ganglia-motor function (associated with damage in Parkinson's disease) Limbic system-emotions, motivation, memory, learning Thalamus-relays incoming sensory information to appropriate cortex area; consists of many nuclei Hypothalamus-survival instincts (fighting, fleeing, eating, mating); controls endocrine system; role in controlling consciousness

Limbic system contd... 3 interconnected structures: Amygdala-roles in emotion, anger and aggression Septum-roles in anger and fear Hippocampus-memory function, in particular formation of new memories rather than retaining old memories; also important in spatial memory Korsakoffs syndrome-deterioration of hippocampus Midbrain-controls eye movement, hearing, consciousness, attention, coordination Reticular Activating System (RAS)-regulation of consciousness (sleep, wakefulness, arousal, attention) Brain stem-connects forebrain to spinal cord Brain stem=hypothalamus, thalamus, midbrain, hindbrain Hindbrain: Medulla oblongata-controls heart activity, breathing, and swallowing Point of fiber crossover from body to brain (where spinal cord enters skull and joins brain) Cerebral cortex Part of forebrain Enables us to think, plan, coordinate thoughts and actions; use language (makes us human!) Pons-relay station; contains neural fibers that pass signals form one part of brain to the other Cerebellum-controls body coordination and balance

 1-3 mm layer wrapped around the surface of the brain/80% of brain Sulci-small grooves Fissures-large grooves Gyri-bulges between sulci/fissures Surface is gray in color=gray matter Interior is white=white matter Hemispheres Right and left hemispheres Contra lateral control=opposite side Ex.) motor information from left hemisphere directs motor responses to right side of body

Ispilateral control=same side Ex.) Odor to right nostril goes primarily to right side of brain

Corpus callosum-dense area of neural fibers connecting two hemispheres to each other/allows for communication Hemispheric specialization Right hemisphere-spatial abilities Little grammatical/phonetic understanding But does have some semantic knowledge damage=problems following conversations Left hemisphere-language

Brocas area- speech production (Broca, 1861) Aphasia=loss of speech production Wernickes area- language comprehension Can speak, but speech doesnt make sense Lobes of the brain 4 lobes divide the 2 cerebral hemispheres Frontal Parietal Temporal Occipital 1) Frontal-higher thought process, such as abstract reasoning

2) Parietal-somatosensory processing (touch, pain, temperature, limb position) 3) Temporal-auditory processing 4) Occipital-visual processing Some information travels ipsilaterally, some travels contra laterally Crossover occurs at the optic chiasma

Anatomy of brain Primary motor cortex In frontal lobe Planning, control, and execution of movement (contra laterally)

Primary somatosensory cortex Brain disorders Vascular disorder-caused by stroke Blood flow to brain is suddenly disrupted Result is loss in cognitive functioning In parietal lobe Receives info about pressure, texture, temp, pain

Brain tumor a.k.a. neoplasms Can occur in white or grey matter Benign or malignant

Head injury CH 3 Perception Perception basics Adaptation, perceptual constancy, depth perception Closed-head-skull remains intact Open-head-skull penetrated (ex. A bullet) Loss of consciousness=possible damage to brain

Gestalt view of perception Theories of perception

Bottom up (template theory, prototype theory, feature theory, structural description theory) Top down (context effects)

Perceptual deficits Agnosias Color blindness

Perception is the process of recognizing, organizing and interpreting information How do we achieve perceptual stability? Sensory Adaptation Occurs when sensory receptors change their sensitivity to the stimulus Constant stimulation leads to lower sensitivity and therefore cells cease fire until there is a change in stimulation We may stop detecting the stimulus

Our senses respond to change Perceptual Constancy Object remains the same even though our sensation of the object changes

Depth Perception The ability to see the world in 3 dimensions and detect distance Vision only has a 2-dimensional view We must interpret the information given to perceive depth We take flat images and create a three dimensional view Optical illusions demonstrate that this interpretation does not always have to be correct Depth cures are either monocular or binocular

Monocular Depth Cues Can be represented in just 2-dimensions Texture Gradients Grain of item

Relative Size Bigger is closer

Interposition Closer are in front of other objects

Linear Perspective

Parallel lines converge in distance

Aerial Perspective Images seem blurry, the farther away

Motion Parallax Objects get smaller at decreasing speed in distance

Binocular Depth Cues Based on 3-dimensional information Binocular Convergence Eyes turn inward as object moves towards you, brain uses this information to judge distance

Binocular Disparity Each eye views a slightly different angle of an object; Brain uses this to create a 3-d image

Approaches to object and form perception Object Perception Viewer-centered representation Object is stored in the perspective seen Store multiple views of object as seen under various conditions Viewpoint dependent process Object-centered representation Object is stored in a way that best represents the object Viewpoint invariant process Gestalts View of Perception Opposite view of structuralism-Is reflective of functionalism Basic Tenet is a holistic approach The whole is more than a sum of its parts.

Law of Prgnanz Individuals organize their experience in as simple, concise, symmetrical and complete manner as possible

Gestalts Principles of Visual Perception Figure-Ground Organize perceptions by distinguishing between a figure and a background

Proximity

Elements tend to be grouped together according to their nearness

Similarity Items similar in some respect tend to be grouped together

Continuity Closure Items are grouped together if they tend to complete a figure Based on smooth continuity which is preferred to abrupt changes of direction

Symmetry Prefer to perceive objects as mirror images

Theories of Perception Direct Perception theories Perception comes from the stimuli in the environment Bottom up processing Parts are identified, put together, and then recognition occurs

Constructive Perception theories People actively construct perceptions using information based on expectations Top down processing

Bottom Up Processing Theories First consider physical stimulus (the bottom) being perceived then work way up to higher organizing processes Template theories Prototype theories Feature theories Structural description theories

Template Theory Basics of template theory Multiple templates are held in memory To recognize the incoming stimuli, you compare to templates in memory until a match is found

Weakness of theory Problem of imperfect matches

Cannot account for the flexibility of pattern recognition system

Prototype Theories Modification of template matching (flexible templates) Takes various instances of an object and abstracts out the common characteristics No match is perfect; a criterion for matching is needed Solso & McCarthy (1981) Participants were shown a series of faces Later, a recognition test was given with some old faces, a prototype face, and some new faces that differed in degree from prototype Feature Theories Attempt to match features of a pattern to features stored in memory rather than to match a whole pattern to a template Recognize objects on the basis of a small number of characteristics Detect specific elements and assemble them into more complex forms

Structural-Description Theories Biederman (1987) Describes how 3D images are identified Breaks objects down into geons (geometric ions) Geons can be cylinders, wedges, cones, etc. Objects are identified by geons and relationship between them Recognition By Components (RBC) theory

Top-down Processing (Constructive Perspective) Perception is not automatic from raw stimuli

Processing is needed to build perception Top down processing occurs quickly and involves making inferences, guessing from experience, and basing one perception on another Perception both affects and is affected by the world as we perceive it Top-down processing We quickly form and test various hypotheses regarding percepts Percepts based on 3 things: What we sense What we know

What we can infer Can be unaware of the judgments we are making

Stop sign example Context Effects Influences of the surrounding environment on perception Bottom-up theories dont explain context effects

Deficits in Perception Agnosia Inability to recognize and identify objects or persons despite having knowledge of the characteristics of the objects or persons Glasses example Shows the specialization of our perceptual systems No discernable damage to their visual abilities Caused by lesions (in visual areas of cortex)

Perceptual Deficits Prosopagnosia Inability to recognize faces, including one's own Cannot recognize person from face Can recognize individuals from voice Can recognize objects Can discriminate whether two faces are same or different

Simultagnosic Unable to pay attention to more than one object at a time Normal visual fields, yet act blind Perceives only one stimulus at a timesingle word or object

Disturbance in temporal region of cortex Anomalies in color perception Color blindness More common in men, is genetic

 Problem in viewing different wavelengths (very long, medium, short) Red-green color blindness (cant distinguish between the two) Blue-yellow color blindness Rod monochromacy (achromacy) CH 4 Attention & Consciousness Attention Is the concentration of mental energy that must be used to process incoming information Selective Limited Both conscious and preconscious No color vision at all/only shades of grey Pure color blindness Cones are nonfunctional

Consciousness is feeling of awareness Content of awareness (some of that which we are paying attention to) Attention & consciousness partially overlap But some attentional processing can occur without conscious awareness Ex) Signing your name

Preconscious Attention Information that is available for cognitive processing, but lies outside our immediate awareness How do we study preconscious awareness? Priming Recognition of certain stimuli is affected by prior presentation of the same or similar stimuli Facilitative Priming Target stimuli (e.g., BUTTER) are processed faster if preceded by a related word (e.g., BREAD) Negative Priming Effect Priming effects Tip of the tongue experiences Automatization Habituation

 Target stimuli (e.g., PINE) is processed slower if preceded by a word related to targets alternate meaning (PALM relating to hand) Tip-of-the-tongue Experiences You know you know the word but you cannot fully retrieve the word Paradigms used to generate TOT states Show pictures of famous people or politicians and have participants name them Ask general knowledge questions to generate TOTs

Controlled vs. Automatic Processing Automatic processing Requires no conscious control But, may be aware you are performing them

Controlled processing Requires conscious control Occurs sequentially, i.e., one step at a time

Many tasks start off as controlled and eventually become automatic (ex. driving a car) Automization Process by which a procedure changes from being conscious to automatic (result of practice) 2 explanations: Integrated components theory Practice leads to integration of steps; consolidation of steps into a single process; less and less attention is needed Instance Theory Retrieve from memory specific answers, skipping the procedure; thus less attention is needed Habituation Decrease in responsiveness when exposed to a repeated stimulus Dishabituation Change in familiar stimuli causes one to notice it again Smokers who quit, suddenly notice how much their clothes smell of smoke If clock breaks, suddenly owner notices the clock isnt chiming People who smoke do not notice the smell of cigarettes on their clothes, but nonsmokers do People get used to hearing the chiming of their clocks

 Both habituation and dishabituation occur automatically (without conscious effort) Functions of Conscious Attention Signal Detection Searching Selective Attention Divided Attention

Signal detection theory What factors contribute to our ability to detect important events in the world? SDT-theory of how we detect stimuli that involves 4 possible outcomes Characterizes our attempt to detect a signal (target) Vigilance and SDT Vigilance is attending to a set of stimuli over a length of time in order to detect a target signal (passively waiting for a stimulus) Vigilance decreases rapidly over time (fatigue), thus misses and false alarms increase Search Actively searching for a target (ex. searching for Cheerios in the cereal aisle) Number of targets and distracters influence accuracy Feature search vs. conjunctive search Feature is a simple more obvious search In conjunctive we look for a combination of features (ex. integration of line features)

Treismans Feature-Integration Theory Individual Feature processing is done all at once. Simultaneous processing is done on the whole display and if feature is present-- we detect it. Conjunctive searching requires an additional step of attention to the integration or combination of the features. Attention to particular combination of features must be done sequentially to detect presence of a certain combination. Similarity Theory Disagrees with Treismans FIT theory Similarity between targets and distracters is important; not number of features to be combined The more shared features among items in display, the more difficult to detect a particular target

Selective Attention is selectively concentrating on one aspect of the environment while ignoring other things Selective Attention Cocktail Party Problem How are we able to follow one conversation in the presence of other conversations? Cherry (1953) Concept of shadowing-listen to 2 different messages & repeat back only one of them (ignore the other) Binuaural presentation-same message in both ears Dichotic presentation-different message in each ear Cherrys Study Results Almost impossible to track only one message during presentation of 2 different messages Noticed in unattended ear: Change in gender Change to a tone

Did not notice in unattended ear: Changed language Changed topic, same speaker If speech was played backwards

Broadbents Filter Model Sensory memory Filter Identifies attended message based on physical characteristics Only attended message is passed on to the next stage Holds all incoming information for a fraction of a second Transfers all information to next stage

Detector Processes all information to determine higher-level characteristics of the message Short-term memory Receives output of detector Holds information for 10-15 seconds and may transfer it to long-term memory

Treismans Attenuation Theory Attenuator Analyzes incoming message in terms of physical characteristics, language, and meaning

Attended to message is let through the attenuator at full strength Unattended message is let through at a much weaker strength Dictionary unit Contains words, each which have thresholds for being activated Words that are common or important have low thresholds Uncommon words have high thresholds Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Some people have problems in sustaining attention Symptoms Inattention Hyperactivity Impulsivity Not everyone who is overly hyperactive, inattentive, or impulsive has ADHD Behavior must be demonstrated to a degree that is inappropriate for the person's age 3-5% of children in the U.S. have ADHD (~2 million children)

Cognitive neuroscientific approaches to attention & concentration Two attention systems; two functions (Posner, 1995) Anterior frontal lobe system Tasks requiring awareness (planning or writing) Posterior parietal lobe system Tasks involving visuospatial abilities (playing Tetris, vigilance tasks) PET, EEG studies

Chapter 5 Short Term and Working Memory Memory Is the mechanism we use to create, maintain and retrieve information about the past 3 common operations of memory: encoding, storage, retrieval

Processes in Memory Encoding Storage Processes used to maintain information in memory Processes used to store information in memory

Retrieval Processes used to get information back out of memory

3 types of recall tasks Free Recall Recall all the words you can from the list you saw previously

Cued Recall Recall everything you can that is associated with the Civil War Participants are given a cue to facilitate recall

Serial Recall Recall the names of all previous presidents in the order they were elected Need to recall order as well as item names

Recognition vs. recall Recall tasks usually elicit deeper levels than recognition tasks Recognition tasks tap receptive knowledge Recall tasks require expressive knowledge

Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) 3 memory stores: Sensory store limited info for very brief periods Short-term store limited info for longer periods Long-term store a lot of info for very long periods (indefinitely)

Identified as hypothetical constructs rather than distinct physiological structures

Sensory store vs. Iconic store

 Sensory store initial repository for much of the info that eventually enters short and long-term memory Researchers argue for an iconic store rather than a sensory store Iconic store visual sensory register, holds info for very short periods of time Info stored as visual icons Visual items represent what you are viewing

Sperling (1960) Iconic Memory Research Whole report procedure Flash a matrix of letters for 50 milliseconds Identify as many letters as possible Participants typically remembered 4/12 letters

Partial Report Procedure Flash a matrix of letters for 50 milliseconds Participants are told to report only one row Time interval manipulated between when they were shown stimuli and when they were told which row to remember When told immediately before or after display what to report, subjects were able to report 9/12 items When told 1 second later, recall was only 4-5 items

Short-Term Memory Attention Attend to information in the sensory store, it moves to STM

Rehearsal Repeat the information to keep maintained in STM

Retrieval Access memory in LTM and place in STM

Material typically remains here for 30 seconds, unless it is rehearsed Information stored acoustically rather than visually How much information can we hold in short-term memory? Levels of Processing Model of Memory Craik & Lockhart (1972)

Memory doesnt comprise 3 stages, but rather varies along a continuous dimension of depth of encoding Different ways to process information lead to different strengths of memories Deep processing leads to better memory; elaborating according to meaning leads to a strong memory Shallow processing emphasizes the physical features of the stimulus; the memory trace is fragile and quickly decays Distinguished between maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal

Levels of Processing Model Self-reference effect Very high recall of words when a person is asked to relate words to them self Determined by whether the word describes you

Criticisms of LOP model Circular definition of levels Levels are defined as deeper because the information is retained better, but the information is viewed as being retained better because the levels are deeper

Working Memory Most widely used and accepted model today Holds the most recently activated portion of long term memory and it moves these activated elements into and out of brief temporary memory storage Ex) having a conversation Working memory (WM): limited capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning Working memory differs from STM STM is a single component WM consists of multiple parts Working memory differs from STM STM holds information for a brief period of time WM is concerned with the manipulation of information that occurs during complex cognition Working Memory Model Central Executive Focuses attention on relevant items and inhibiting irrelevant ones

Plans sequence of tasks to accomplish goals, schedules processes in complex tasks, often switches attention between different parts

Updates and checks content to determine next step in sequence of parts Multiple-Memory Systems Model Tulving (1972) Semantic Memory General knowledge Facts, definitions, historical dates Left hemisphere activity

Episodic Memory Event memories (first kiss, 6th birthday) Right hemisphere activity

Procedural Memory Memories on how to do something (skiing, biking, tying your shoe) Cerebellum activity

Deficient Memory Amnesias-severe loss of explicit memory Retrograde Amnesia Loss of memory for events that occurred before the trauma Antereograde Amnesia No memory for events that occur after the trauma Infantile Amnesia Inability to recall events of young childhood Extremely rare for someone to recall many memories before age 3 Studying amnesia victims can help us understand how normal memory functions Double Dissociations Support the notion that particular structures of the brain play particular vital roles in memory Support for distinction between STM vs. LTM; explicit vs. implicit memory

Study antereograde amnesiacs using implicit and explicit memory tests Amnesiacs show normal priming (implicit), but poor recognition memory (explicit)

 They did not remember having seen the word list, but completed the word fragments at the same rate as normal

Alzheimers Disease Leads to memory loss and dementia in older population Atrophy of the cortical tissue (diminished cognitive activity) Alzheimer brains shows abnormal fibers that appear to be tangles of brain tissue and plaques (patches of degenerative nerve endings) The resulting damage of these conditions may lead to disruption of impulses in neurons

Over the age of 65 are labeled late onset Early onset is rare but can affect those in their mid 30's and in middle age Incidence increases with age-by 80 years the chances are over 50% Symptoms (Gradual, Continuous & Irreversible) Memory loss Problems doing familiar tasks Problems with language Trouble knowing the time, date, or place Poor or decreased judgment Problems with abstract thinking Misplacing things often, such as keys Changes in mood and behavior Changes in personality

These symptoms could be an early sign of Alzheimer's when it affects daily life Drugs used to slow process Aricept-slows destruction of acetylcholine Namenda-inhibits a chemical that overexcites brain cells and leads to cell damage and cell death

Etiology of disease Linked to a genetic mutation Or possibly environmental influences (none have been definitively identified)

Brain Structures and Memory Hippocampus

Critical for integration and consolidation of sensory information Transfer of newly synthesized information into LTM Essential for explicit memory

Other structures for implicit memory Basal ganglia-procedural knowledge Cerebellum-memory of classically conditioned responses

Neurotransmitters Serotonin and acetylcholine enhance neural transmission associated with memory Alcohol disrupts serotonin activity (remember Korsakoffs syndrome?)

Emotionally charged memories CH 6 AND 7 Short and Long Term Memory Encoding Storage How you retain coded information in memory How you transform input into a representation that can be put into memory Amygdala activation associated with recall The more emotionally charged the memory, the greater probability the memory will be later retrieved

Retrieval How you gain access to information stored in memory

How is information coded into STM? Auditory coding Represent items in stm based on their sounds

Visual coding Remember visually like a floor plan

Semantic coding Represent items in terms of their meaning

Encoding Processes Creating an acoustic code

What it sounds like

Creating a semantic code What it means

Creating a visual code What it looks like

Type of code may rely on type of task Evidence exists for a variety of encoding types for STM Conrad (1964) Found evidence for the use of an acoustic code in STM Participants made acoustic errors F for S, B for V, P for B

Not visual errors E for F, O for Q, R for P

Participants encoded items acoustically even though stimuli were presented visually Shulman (1970) Results The Homonym and Synonym probes produced similar error rates - this suggests that an equal amount of acoustic and semantic processing must be taking place Homonyms - e.g. "bawl" for "ball" Synonyms - e.g. "talk" for "speak" Identical to the original word

Posner & Keele (1967) Evidence for visual encoding in STM Letter matching task Two letters separated by brief interval Participant had to indicate if same letter A-a A-A A-M No Measure reaction time Yes Yes

If letters were the same visually (a-a) participants were faster than if the letters were not the same visually (A-a)

 Results indicate that visual code was also present Baddeleys Working Memory Model An integrated model of memory with 4 elements Visuo-spatial Sketch Pad Briefly holds visual and spatial information Form a picture in your mind or do tasks like solving a puzzle

Phonological Loop Used to maintain verbal information for a short time and for acoustic rehearsal 2 parts: phonological store: limited capacity Episodic Buffer Integrates information from different parts of working memory so they make sense Long Term Memory System that is responsible for storing information over long periods of time Archive of past events and knowledge we have learned Stretches from a few moments ago until as far back as can remember Capacity Thus far limitless Increases storage and communicating with LTM (makes interchange between WM and LTM Articulatory rehearsal process: rehearsal to keep info from decaying in phonological store Use when: trying to remember phone #

Duration Potentially permanent

Type of code may rely on type of task LTM refers to memory that may be held permanently Evidence exists for a variety of encoding types for LTM Semantic Visual Acoustic

Transfer from STM to LTM Deliberately attend to info to comprehend it Consolidation Integrating new information into previously stored information

Implicit vs. Explicit Memory Tasks Explicit memory Involves conscious recollection Participant knows they are trying to retrieve information from their memory Ex) recall of words, facts, or pictures

Implicit memory Recollect something but are not consciously aware we are trying to do so The completion of the task indirectly indicates memory

Ex) the meaning of words in your book Multiple-Memory Systems Model Tulving (1972) Semantic Memory General knowledge Facts, definitions, historical dates Left hemisphere activity

Episodic Memory Event memories (first kiss, 6th birthday) Right hemisphere activity

Procedural Memory Memories on how to do something (skiing, biking, tying your shoe) Cerebellum activity

Mnemonic devices Categorical clustering Organize list into categories (ex. shopping list organized by types of foods)

Interactive images Visually imagine objects represented by the words

Pegword system Associate each word with a word on a previously memorized list (ex. One in bun, Two is shoe, Three is tree)

Method of loci Visualize walking around an area you know well with distinctive landmarks

Acronyms USA, FBI, MMPI, PAI

Acrostics My very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Keyword system Form an image that links the sound and meaning of a new word with sound and meaning of known word

Retrieval Getting information back out Multiple processes can be used to enhance retrieval Different strategies are used for short term storage and long term storage

What Contributes to Forgetting? Decay theory Memory is weakened with disuse Gradual disappearance of the info

Interference theory Proactive: old memories interfere with recall of new information (ex. a friends maiden name) Retroactive: new memories interfere with recall of old information (ex. cant remember the name of your best friends ex-boyfriend because she has been with new boyfriend for 2 years)

CH 8 Autobiographical Memory Recollection of past events specific to the person

Combination of episodic and semantic memories Episodic: people at party, games played Semantic: time party began, where you were living at the time, and general knowledge of what occurs at parties

As time progresses, lose episodic and retain semantic Learn to read: dont remember the process or students in class but remember

More complex than memory testing in labs Consists of spatial, emotional, and sensory components

Visual component Individuals with a loss of vision have a negative effect on AMall types not just visual memories

Constructive Nature of Memory Prior experience influences how we recall information Having retrieval cues can help us recall more information, but cues can also lead to errors Loftus & Palmer (1974) Participants were all shown the same video of an accident between two cars Some subjects asked: How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other? Others were asked: How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?

Roediger & McDermott (1995) Present a list of associated words, missing one target word (e.g., tired, bed, night, dream, etc., but not SLEEP) With immediate recall, participants tend to recall the non-presented target item More importantly, when asked whether they remember or know the word was on the list, they report an actual memory for the item

Mistaken identification in a forensic context 10,000 people per year may be wrongfully convicted on basis of mistaken eyewitness identification (Cutler & Penrod, 1995) Eyewitness identification particularly weak when identifying people of a race other than the race of the witness Increased confidence in I.D. does not correspond to accuracy

Why do people make mistakes? Confirmation bias

People look for, interpret and create information that verifies an existing belief

Pressure to chose someone from a lineup Witnesses pointing to wrong person in court

When do these mistakes occur? The moment the crime is committed Too dark, poor vision, distance, quick actions

During the investigation Examination of lineup, nudged by police Pressure to help solve the crime Pressure to identify someone, anyone

How do we process information? Weapon focus effect More attention to the weapon than to the facial or physical features of the person holding it Narrowing of attention to the weapon Limits how much attention they can pay to other aspects of the situation Also affects processing of auditory information

System variables Under control of criminal justice system Composition of lineup, instructions, feedback

Estimator variables Factors beyond control of criminal justice system Impact on eyewitness can only be estimated

Race of eyewitness people better able to recognize own-race faces Experience contact with other races is important for holistic recognition

Advantage occurs at encoding stage People encode more qualitative information about own-race faces, information that can be used when making subsequent identification attempts

Gender

 Age

Inconclusive evidence Women make slightly more accurate ids and more errors

Older people and children make more errors Make more mistaken identifications BUT when culprit is present do pretty good

Witnesses who make accurate ids generally take less time to look at a lineup than those who make a mistake Simultaneous presentation Suspect and foils are presented at the same time

Sequential presentation Suspect and foil are shown one at a time

Which is better? Wrong id 39% (simultaneous) vs. 19% (sequential)

What leads to mistakes? Simultaneous people make a relative judgment Sequential people make an absolute judgment

Is a confident witness more likely to be accurate? The relationship between confidence and accuracy is complex. A meta-analysis (Sporer et al. 1995) concludes that the confidence-accuracy relationship is stronger for choosers (witnesses who make an identification in a lineup) than for non-choosers (witnesses who reject lineups, that is, who say that the culprit is not present in the lineup). A number of factors can inflate confidence Repeated questioning can increase a witnesss belief in the accuracy of their reports (Shaw & McClure, 1996); information that a co-witness has identified the same person increases confidence (Luus & Wells, 1994). Interviewer feedback

Problem with jurors Unaware of factors that affect retention

Weapon focus, violence, other-race effect

Unable to figure out what may be wrong with a lineup or photo spread Not told about those eyewitnesses who could not identify the suspect

Safeguards against mistaken ids Cross-examination Attorneys need necessary information to be able to examine effectively Knowledge of factors that influence eyewitness performance Aware of factors that influence accuracy of eyewitness memory

Cautionary jury instructions Five conditions: Viewing opportunity Length of time between crime and id Level of certainty of eyewitness Witnesss degree of attention Accuracy of prior description of criminal

Can Painful Abuse Memories be repressed? Skeptics argue that repression (or in some cases dissociation) of sexual memories is a concept without any scientific merit If repression does not exist, there can be no such thing as a recovered repressed memory; rather, a recovered memory of abuse can only be a false memory of abuse Results vary dependent upon characteristics of sample (volunteers, children, child services, adult recall, etc.) Some abuse memories are not traumatic, and thus are presumably not be repressed, rather they may be forgotten, like any memory Post-traumatic stress syndrome may also occur One symptom is recurrent, intrusive thoughts about the traumatic incidentthis is the opposite of repression Some may handle memory of sexual abuse by blocking out of mind either by repression or dissociation

Flashbulb Memories

 Some researchers propose that events that are particularly surprising or arousing will yield flashbulb memories Where were you when the OJ verdict was read? JFK was assassinated? Bombing of the twin towers?

Emotion and Memory There is a strong relationship between the emotionality and vividness of memory This does not mean that the memory is accurate

Emotional events seem to be less resistant to forgetting over time Perhaps they are perceived better Perhaps we think about them more

Context and memory Encoding specificity Memory is improved when information available at encoding is also available at retrieval

Under water vs. on land Under the influence of alcohol or drugs Maybe for the next test come study in the classroom??

Schacters 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)