Cognitive Psychology: Memory and Cognition

Autobiographical Memory

• Autobiographical memory involves small details forming larger cohesive units of memory.
• Events that stand out in one's life, especially during the "reminiscence bump" period, are key components.
• Transition points in life are often remembered.
• Flashbulb memories are vivid but not always accurate.
• The amygdala is heavily involved in flashbulb memories.
• Narrative rehearsal influences the formation of flashbulb memories.
• A well-known study related to narrative rehearsal is the Challenger study.

Everyday Memory

• "Tip of the tongue" phenomenon is common.
• Memory has a constructive nature.
• Source memory involves source monitoring and source misattribution.
• Inferences are made using schemas and scripts.
• The misinformation effect, studied by Loftus and Palmer, demonstrates how memories can be altered.
• Interference affects memory accuracy.
• Eyewitness memory can be influenced by suggestive questions, feedback, and familiarity.
• Source misattributions can occur in eyewitness testimony.
• Weapon focus can decrease the accuracy of eyewitness accounts.
• Specific suggestions exist for accurate investigation in eyewitness scenarios.
• False memories can be created.
• Prospective memory refers to remembering to perform intended actions in the future

Language

• Language extends beyond simple communication.
• The behaviourist view once dominated language study.
• The cognitive revolution, influenced by Chomsky, shifted the study of language.
• The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis concerns the relationship between language and cognition.
• Psycholinguistics is the study of the psychological aspects of language.
• The lexicon is a language's vocabulary.
• Hierarchical structure includes phonemes, morphemes, semantics, and syntax.

Perceiving Speech

• Phonemic restoration fills in missing sounds in speech.
• Speech segmentation involves perceiving individual words in a continuous stream of speech.
• Context affects speech perception.

Brain & Language

• Brain damage to language areas can be understood through resources like the Jill Bolte Taylor video.
• Aphasia can be Broca's or Wernicke's.
• Treatments include music therapy and can be observed in videos such as the Gabby Giffords video.

Language Characteristics

• Coherence refers to the overall understandability of a text or conversation.
• Inference can be anaphoric, instrumental, or causal.
• Conversations involve a "given-new contract" between speakers and listeners.
• Animals also exhibit forms of language.

Language Development

• A critical period hypothesis suggests there's a specific window for optimal language acquisition.
• The case of Genie is an example.

Reasoning

• Reasoning generally involves different forms of thought to come to conclusions.

Inductive Reasoning

• Involves reaching probabilistic conclusions
• Strength of arguments influences the likelihood of the conclusions.
• Heuristics are used

Decision Making

• Utility approach is used.
• Factors affect decisions.

Deductive Reasoning

• Syllogisms are a key element
• Includes categorical and conditional types
• Focus on determining validity.

Syllogisms

• Truth vs. validity needs considering.
• Belief bias can interfere with logical reasoning.
• Categorical syllogisms require determining validity, often using Venn diagrams.
• Conditional syllogisms involve antecedent and consequent relationships.
• Determining validity is key.
• Abstract vs. real-world contexts can influence reasoning, as seen in the Wason four-card problem.
• Pragmatic reasoning is another factor.
• Falsification is a key component.

Reasoning and the Brain

• The prefrontal cortex (PFC) has a role.

Reasoning Biases

• Reasoning Biases include:
  • Confirmation bias
  • Illusory correlation
  • Availability heuristic
  • Representativeness heuristic

cognitive myths

• Be aware and know at least one in detail.

Study notes covering autobiographical memory, everyday memory, language, reasoning, and cognitive biases. Key topics include the reminiscence bump, flashbulb memories, source memory, and the misinformation effect. Landmark studies such as the Challenger study and Loftus and Palmer's research are highlighted.