Final Cognitive Exam Notes PDF

Lecture 1 - Learning Outcomes For this section of the course (lecture 1) you should be able to: 1) Describe and differentiate mind-body dualism from mind-body monism 2) Describe and differentiate Structuralism and Functionalism 3) Describe and differentiate the Cognitive and Behavioural Perspective...

Lecture 1 - Learning Outcomes For this section of the course (lecture 1) you should be able to: 1) Describe and differentiate mind-body dualism from mind-body monism 2) Describe and differentiate Structuralism and Functionalism 3) Describe and differentiate the Cognitive and Behavioural Perspectives of behaviour What we perceive depends on our perspective Perspectives on Behaviour 1. Guides to understanding 2. Viewpoints to understanding behaviour 3. Each considers different components to be important 4. Provide history and context for the study of psychology Psychology’s Intellectual Roots - Monism and Dualism Early Schools - Structuralism and Functionalism Six Perspectives on Behaviour Psychology's Intellectual Roots Monism - Mental activity and certain types of brain activity are inseparable - Mental events are a product of physical events - E.g., Chemical reactions in the brain produce emotions; decisions etc. Dualism - The idea that minds are one type of substance and matter is another Early Schools Structuralism Analysis of the mind in terms of its basic elements - Sensations (the basic elements of consciousness) Used introspection (“looking within”) to study sensations - Exposed participants to all sorts of sensory stimuli—lights, sounds, tastes—and trained them to describe their inner experiences - this method of studying the mind was criticized as being too subjective, and it died out after a few decades Functionalism - Held that psychology should study the functions of consciousness rather than its structure - Ask questions like: Why do we have memory? How does memory help us adapt to our environment? - Influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary theory-importance of adaptation to help organisms survive and reproduce - Endures in cognitive psychology (mental process) and evolutionary psychology (adaptive behaviour) Six Perspectives on Behaviour 1. The Psychodynamic Perspective 2. The Behavioural Perspective 3. The Humanistic Perspective 4. The Cognitive Perspective 5. The Sociocultural Perspective 6. The Biological Perspective The Behavioural Perspective Focuses on the role of the external environment in governing our actions Our behaviour is jointly determined by habits learned from previous life experiences and by stimuli in our immediate environment Behaviourism - Sought to discover laws that govern learning - the same basic principles of learning applied to all organisms - A school of thought that emphasizes environmental control of behaviour through learning - Proper subject matter of psychology is observable behaviour, not unobservable inner consciousness -Strongly opposed the “mentalism” of the structuralists, functionalists, and psychoanalysts Radical Behaviourism - B.F. Skinner The real causes of behaviour reside in the outer world The environment changes behaviour The Cognitive Perspective  Examines the nature of the mind and how mental processes influence behaviour - humans are information processors whose actions are governed by thought Embodied by Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience Cognitive Psychology Focuses on the study of mental processes - processes by which people reason, make decisions, solve problems, form perceptions, and produce and understand language Cognitive Neuroscience Seek to determine how the brain supports cognitive activities (e.g., learning language, acquiring knowledge, forming memories) Lecture 2: The Brain For this section of the course (lecture 2) you should be able to: 1) Name the major regions of the brain and their associated functions 2) Identify what types of research questions different methods of investigation can be used to answer 3) Be able to give examples of how brain structure and function map onto each other 4) Describe the development of the general brain regions Overview of the Brain Structure Function Methods of Investigation Structure of the Human Brain Hindbrain - contains some of the most evolutionarily primitive structures; responsible for transmitting information from the spinal cord to the brain, regulating life support functions, and helping to maintain balance Midbrain - contains many “relay” centres to transfer information between brain regions Forebrain - contains structures that are most directly implicated in cognitive processes such as memory, language, planning, and reasoning Cerebral cortex has four lobes Frontal - movement and planning Temporal – memory, language, audition, taste and smell Occipital - visual information Parietal - reception and integration of sensory information Frontal Lobe: Controls voluntary movement (motor cortex) Responsible for reasoning, planning, problem-solving, and decision-making  Regulates emotions and social behavioursPlays a key role in speech production (Broca’s area) Movement, planning and language production Temporal Lobe: Processes auditory information (hearing) Important for language comprehension (Wernicke’s area) Involved in memory formation and retrieval Plays a role in emotional responses and facial recognition Taste and smell Memory, language comprehension, taste, smell and hearing Occipital Lobe: Primarily responsible for visual processing Interprets visual information such as color, light, and movement Helps in recognizing shapes and objects Visual processing Parietal Lobe: Processes sensory information like touch, temperature, and pain Involved in spatial awareness and navigation Integrates sensory inputs to form a coherent understanding of the world Manages coordination of hand-eye movements Sensory info: touch, temperature, pain Structure of the Human Brain Hypothalamus Regulates basic biological functions - Hunger  - Thirst - Temperature - Sexual arousal - Also involved in emotions Amygdala Involved in - Aggression - Memory - Emotion Hippocampus Involved in - Learning - Memory - Emotion Medulla Controls vital medical functions - Breathing - Heart rate Spinal Cord Transmits signals between brain and rest of the body Cerebellum Controls - Coordinated movement - Also involved in language and thinking Thalamus Switching station for sensory information - Also involved in memory Sequence of Brain Development Prefrontal Cortex Executive Functioning: - Planning - Decision Making - Strategy Implementation - Inhibition - Working Memory *Longest period of brain maturation* Patient Investigation - How/what aspects of cognition are impacted by brain injury? - Helps depict causal relations between brain and cognition. Human Brain Lesions Naturally occurring/surgical lesions Two approaches: What function is supported by a given brain region? - examine a group of individuals with similar lesions (typically examine control group of patients with different lesions) What brain regions support a given cognitive function? - examine a group of individuals with similar cognitive impairment – can then examine the brain regions common to this deficit Localization of Language Double Dissociations Patient with damage to area X is impaired for cognition A but not cognition B Patient with damage to area Y is impaired for cognition B but not cognition A - e.g. Lesion to Broca’s area X impairs speech production (A) but not comprehension (B) - Lesion of Wernicke’s area Y impairs comprehension (B) but not production (A) Phineas Gage Phineas Gage is often referred to as the "man who began neuroscience."1 He experienced a traumatic brain injury when an iron rod was driven through his skull, destroying much of his frontal lobe. Gage miraculously survived the accident. The most famous person to have survived severe damage to the brain. He is also the first patient from whom we learned something about the relation between personality and the function of the front parts of the brain. Henry Molaison On September 1, Molaison allowed surgeons to remove a thumb-sized section of tissue from each side of his brain. It was an experimental procedure that he and his surgeons hoped would quell the seizures wracking his brain. And, it worked. The seizures abated, but afterwards Molaison was left with permanent amnesia. Molaison was influential not only for the knowledge he provided about memory impairment and amnesia, but also because it was thought his exact brain surgery allowed a good understanding of how particular areas of the brain may be linked to specific processes hypothesized to occur in memory formation. Most importantly, after removing his hippocampus, H.M. lost his explicit memory but not his implicit memory — establishing that implicit memory must be controlled by some other area of the brain and not the hippocampus. Advances in neuroimaging fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) - Measures blood flow and oxygen levels. - Good indication of which brain regions are engaged during a specific task. EEG (Electroencephalography) - Measures electrical brain signals. - Good indication of when specific brain processes occur.  Cognitive Psychology Quiz 2 Study Notes Objectives For this section of the course (lecture 3) you should be able to: 1) Describe the Gestalt approaches to perception as discussed in class. 2) Describe and differentiate different bottom-up models of perception, as discussed in class. 3) Describe the role of bottom-up and top-down processes in perception. 4) Describe and differentiate two types of visual agnosia. Lecture Outline: - Perspectives on Perception - Disruptions of Perceptions (THIS IS NOT ON THE TEST) Perspectives on Gestalt Approaches to Perception - 5 Major Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization Bottom-up Processes and Models of Perception  - Template Matching - Featural Analysis - Prototype Matching Top-down Processes and Perceptual Phenomena - Change Blindness - The Word Superiority Effect Form Perceptions -relates to pattern recognition - Gestalt perspective focuses on understanding how we come to recognize objects as forms - Form perception – we’re referring to the separation of what’s being the displayed into objects (figure) and the background (ground) - a white vase, the silhouettes of 2 faces Gestalt Principles of Perceptual Organization Principle of Proximity - (or nearness) - – we group together things that are nearer to each other Principle of Similarity - we group together those things that are similar Principle of Continuity - refers to the fact that we prefer to group together objects whose contours form a continuous straight or curved lines Principle of Closure - we mentally fill in any gaps to see a closed, complete whole figure Principle of Common Fate - elements that move (or luminance) together will be grouped together. The question that remains … How are these principles translated into cognitive or physiological processes? Challenge of current researchers: to investigate how the processes underlying these principles operate. Bottom up Processes “data-driven” or “stimulus driven” Unidirectional: stimulus to output Stimulus determine final percept Involves building percepts from small perceptual units - An example of bottom-up processing is when you are presented with an unfamiliar object and have to rely solely on the visual data to determine what it is, without any prior context or knowledge about it. The data you gather from the sensory input directly influences your final perception of the object. Bottom-Up Processes: Template Matching (Model) Comparing incoming information to stored templates A pattern is compared to all templates and identified by the template that best matches it A different template stored for each distinct object or pattern? - Previously stored patterns – called “templates” - As a model of perception, template matching works like UPC codes in that every object or event that we encounter and produce meaning from is compared to some previously stored pattern or template. - According to this model, the process of perception involves comparing incoming information to templates that we have stored, with the goal of finding a match. - This model implies that we’ve stored a different template for each distinct object or pattern we recognize - And if a number of templates match or come close, we need to engage in further processing to sort out which template is most appropriate Bottom-Up Processes: Template Matching (Model) Problems Lots of templates needed  Exactly the same (unique for each) Does not account for how we recognize new objects (how new templates are made) Does not deal well with stimulus variability - a separate template needed for each variation? Bottom-Up Processes: Featural Analysis (Model) Recognition of an object depends on recognition of its features Whole units are broken down into their components Components are recognized to infer the whole - In this model, recognition of an object depends on recognition of its features. - The perspective here – analysis of a whole into its parts underlies the basic processes used in perception. Instead of processing stimuli as whole units, we might break them down into their components, using our recognition of those parts to infer what the whole represents. - Features – the parts searched for and recognized Features = small templates that can be combined in many different ways Objects = combination of features 1st – recognize features 2nd – recognize combinations of features 3rd – identify object Visual Search An example of featural analysis is that if there are a group of stars and one circle, it is easier to identify the circle in that group compared to when there is a group of letters Q's and one circle, in which case it is more difficult to identify the circle within that group. This example demonstrates how visual perception influences how we categorize objects and how our minds link them with similar shapes. Bottom-Up Processes: Featural Analysis (Model) Problems There isn’t a good definition of what a feature is that is widely used If the same set of features applies to all objects, the list of possible features would be enormous How do we perceive objects so fast? Fingerprint Example The correct answer is the lower left print, which many students will guess. However, encourage students to notice how the two prints are not identical: They overlap partially, but not perfectly. Feature analysis does a better job of explaining how these two prints are identified as belonging to the same person. Although the bottom print does not perfectly match the “template” of the top print, they do share the same critical features: the same number of awhorls, of the same basic shape and location Bottom-Up Processes: Prototype Matching (Model) A pattern is compared to a stored representation (prototype) Prototype – an idealized representation of some class of objects An exact match is NOT required - a lot more flexibility compared to template matching - most people judge the letters toward the centre of the figure to be more prototypical Questions: When and how do we form prototypes? What processes are involved in matching prototypes? How do we know what prototypes to try to match inputs with? THEY BHKE EXAMPLE The phrase "THEY BHKE" is an example used in perception studies to demonstrate how our brains process ambiguous or unclear visual information. What do the words on the left say? Even though the second word seems to be nonsensical ("BHKE"), many people will still interpret the phrase as "THEY BIKE" because of the context. This happens because the brain tends to substitute familiar letters (in this case, interpreting "H" as "I") based on the context of the sentence, especially in ambiguous situations. Problem for bottom-up models of perception Bottom-up models of perception suggest that we perceive the world by processing sensory input in a linear, step-by-step fashion, starting from basic sensory data and building up to complex interpretations. However, "THEY BHKE" poses a challenge because it demonstrates that top-down processes, such as our expectations, prior knowledge, and context, influence how we interpret sensory information. Instead of purely relying on the raw data ("BHKE"), our brain uses context ("THEY") to interpret what it expects to see ("BIKE"). This shows that perception is not strictly bottom-up, as top-down influences play a significant role in how we make sense of ambiguous or incomplete sensory information. Top-Down Processes “theory-driven” or “conceptually driven” Perception is influenced by experience (e.g. knowledge, expectations, theories) - Example: - Imagine reading the following phrase: "THEY BHKE". Even though "BHKE" is not a real word, many people will still interpret the phrase as "THEY BIKE" because of the context provided by the word "THEY" and their prior knowledge of what makes sense in the sentence. In this case, top-down processes use expectations (that "BIKE" is a reasonable word to follow "THEY") to make sense of ambiguous or unclear information. - Another classic example is when you walk into a dimly lit room and see a shape on the ground. Based on your prior experiences, you might immediately recognize it as a chair, even though the visual data is unclear, because your brain is applying context and expectations (e.g., knowing there’s usually a chair in that room). Top-Down Processes: Change Blindness (phenomenon) Change blindness – the inability to detect changes to an object or scenes, especially from different perspectives Change blindness refers to the phenomenon where individuals fail to notice significant changes in their visual environment. MAJOR DIFFERENCE:  ○ Change blindness: failure to notice the difference between what was there before and what you see after (obvious change) ○ Inattentional blindness: failure to notice something that is fully obvious in front of you when your attention is engaged on something or someone else Top-Down Processes: Word Superiority Effect (phenomenon) Word Superiority Effect – the finding that letters are easier to perceive in the context of a word compared to an unfamiliar context or no context at all Disruptions of Perception: NOT ON THE TEST Visual agnosia- impairments in the ability to interpret visual information, although vision is not a problem ○ Apperceptive Agnosia ○ Associative Agnosia Demonstrates the distinction between SENSATION and PERCEPTION Apperceptive Agnosia ○ Unable to form stable representation of objects ○ It seems to be able to process a very limited amount of visual information ○ Can see contours and outlines ○ Difficulty in Perception and putting visual info together ○ Difficulty matchi ng objects Example: Object agnosia- difficult in object recognition even if multiple pictures are shown from different angles ○ Damage to Right hemisphere, posterior region (parietal/occipital lobe) Associative Agnosia ○ Can match objects and copy drawings ○ Cannot identify objects ○ Category-specific Example: prosopagnosia- struggle to recognize faces or can’t interpret facial expressions and cues ○ Difficulty in connecting visual perception to prior memory/ knowledge/meaning  ○ Damage to bilateral occipitotemporal border (Temporal/occipital love) Lecture 4 Attention In the Theater of Consciousness (metaphor) Dr. Bernard J. Baars - The question is how much can the spotlight (or/of our attention) keep track of – how much of our surrounding can we be conscious of? Even in cases where we try Lecture Outline Selective Attention Sensory Neglect /Hemineglect Divided Attention Learning Outcomes 1. Describe and differentiate different models of selective attention 2. Describe hemineglect/sensory neglect 3. Describe real world implications for divided attention Selective Attention  We limit what we pay attention to / focus on at a given moment Information is processed differently depending on whether we focus on it Dichotic listening task is used to study how individuals process information they are not attending to - Dichotic listening task: A person listens to an audiotape over a set of headphones. On the tape are different messages, recorded so as to be heard simultaneously in opposite ears. Participants in a dichotic listening task typically are played two or more different messages and asked to repeat aloud one of them. At the end of the task, participants are asked what information they remember from either message – the attended message or the unattended message. - The logic of the experimental setup is as follows: The person must concentrate on the message to be shadowed. Because the rate of presentation of information is so fast, the shadowing task is difficult and requires a great deal of mental resources. Therefore, fewer resources are available to process information for the nonshadowed, unattended message. - General findings: People can repeat the attended message with few errors. People can also relay some details about the unattended message (eg, whether the message contained speech or noise, the voice of a male or female) but could not recall the contents of the unattended message or the language it was spoken in. Models of Selective Attention Filter Theory Attenuation Theory Late-Selection Theory Filter Theory Limits on how much information a person can attend to at any time Bottleneck metaphor - Bottleneck metaphor: This theory uses the metaphor of a bottleneck to explain how attention works. Just as a bottleneck only allows a small amount of liquid to flow through at once, our attentional system only lets a limited amount of information pass through to higher-level processing. The "bottleneck" occurs early in the process, before the meaning of the unattended information is fully processed. Attentional filter is used to only let some information through  Filtering occurs before meaning is processed The filter is based on some physical aspect of the attended message E.g., location of its source, pitch, loudness Only information that gets passed the filter is processed Prediction: Individuals should not be able to recall any meaning of an unattended message Attenuation Theory Even if a message is not attended to, the information it contains is still available. While we process one stimulus, other stimuli are still processed at a lower level. Stereo metaphor: individuals can modify the “volume” of the incoming message Musical example Example: If you are at a party and having a convo with a friend, you can still hear snippets of other conversations around you, but you can focus on your friend; however, if you want to pick up on then you can, they just won’t be as clear Three kinds of analysis for incoming messages: Physical properties (e.g. loudness) are analyzed Message is parsed into syllables and words (linguistic) Meaning is processed (semantic) Meaningful units (e.g., your name) tend to be processed more easily The threshold for these units are lower -> they are recognizable at low volumes (Cocktail Party Effect) Late Selection Theory The attentional system determines which of the incoming information is most important. All stimuli are processed for their meaning before any selection to focus on All messages are routinely processed for at least some aspect of meaning Example: If you are listening to a podcast while reading, you fully understand the content from both and get to decide which one to focus on deeply Bottleneck metaphor - Only information that is judged to be most important is elaborated/processed more fully -> more likely to be retained The importance of a message depends on: - Personal significance (e.g. your name)  - Context - Level of alertness Disruptions of Attention: Sensory Neglect / Hemineglect - Often time, patients with parietal lobe damage neglect or ignore sensory information located in the visual field opposite the damaged hemisphere. Eg. If the right parietal lobe is damaged (as often is) the patient will neglect information the left visual field. This could include neglecting to eat from that side of the plate or only washing one side of their body. Sensory Neglect / Hemineglect Attention vs. Sensory Unawareness and disinclination to attend to one side of their body Damage to the parietal lobe Neglect occurs in the visual field that is opposite of the damaged hemisphere - Eating from only one side of a plate  - Neglecting to wash one side of their body - Denying that some of their limbs belong to them (extreme cases) *Generally caused by lesions to the right fusiform gyrus (FFA). Divided Attention Past research shows that we are limited in the number of things we can do at once In most cases we switch our attention back and forth between tasks we are trying to do at once When the tasks become more demanding, this becomes more difficult Cell Phone & Driving Experiment Strayer & Johnston (2001) Participants performed a pursuit-tracking tasks Follow a moving target on a computer screen, provide a specific response when the target flashed a different colour (e.g. stop at a red light) Condition 1 Pursuit-tracking task Condition 2 Pursuit-tracking task + listening to radio or talking on cell phone Strayer & Johnston (2001) cont. Results Listening to the radio did not cause people to miss more red lights or react more slowly to them compared to Condition 1 Talking on the phone increased red light misses and the response time to them compared to Condition 1 Cognitive Psychology Quiz 3 Study Notes Lecture 5 Lecture Outline Working Memory Central Executive Phonological Loop Visuospatial Sketchpad Learning Outcomes For this section of the course (lecture 5) you should be able to: 1. Describe working memory, as discussed in class. 2. Describe and differentiate different components of working memory, as covered in class. 3. Describe evidence for the different components of working memory, as covered in class. 4. Describe evidence related to individual differences in working memory, as discussed in class. Working Memory Baddeley and Hitch (1974) Working Memory: Limited-capacity system for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning. Moves beyond mere storage to manipulation of information. Consists of a limited-capacity “workspace” that can be divided between storage and control processing Original model consisted of three components: 1. Central Executive 2. Phonological Loop 3. Visuospatial Sketchpad Central Executive functions more as an attentional system vs. memory store - organizes resources needed for cognitive tasks coordinates information coming from the current environment with the retrieval of information about the past - enables individuals to use this information to select options or form strategies directs the flow of information - chooses which information will be operated on, when, and how thought to have limited amount of resources and capacity to carry out its tasks Visuospatial Sketch Pad maintains visual material through visualization involves the creation and use of mental images Phonological Loop used to carry out rehearsal to maintain verbal material  thought to play an important role in learning to read, comprehending language and acquiring vocabulary consists of two structures: - Short-term phonological buffer – maintains verbal information for short periods of time (e.g. a few minutes) if rehearsal is not prevented - Subvocal rehearsal loop – compensates for the rapid decay of information in the phonological buffer Phonological Loop continued incoming verbal information is translated into some sort of auditory code that is process through the phonological loop information from the phonological buffer decays rapidly, so the individual must subvocally rehearse the information the faster the rehearsal process, the more information can be maintained The Phonological Loop: Phonological Similarity Effect Confusion of letters or words that sound similar (Conrad, 1964). Procedure: Letters flashed on a screen and participants wrote letters in the order they were presented. Errors were more likely based on phonological similarity (“F” and ”S” confused) than visual similarity (“F” and “E”) Letters were seen but errors based on letters’ sounds. The Phonological Loop: Word Length Effect Memory for lists of words is better for short words vs. long words. Lists may contain the same number of words – e.g., eight words – but differ in length, which takes participants longer to pronounce/rehearse and to produce during recall (Baddeley et al., 1984). Note that the word effect does not occur under some conditions, e.g., neighborhood size (Jalbert et al., 2011). The Phonological Loop: Articulatory Suppression Decline in memory performance due to rehearsal interferences caused by speaking. This suppression causes rehearsal to be ineffective Participants who speak an irrelevant sound (e.g., “the, the, the...”) disrupts rehearsal (Baddeley, 2000; Baddeley et al., 1984; Murray, 1968) and can eliminate the word length effect (Baddeley et al., 1984). Individual differences in WM capacity Is WM capacity the same for all people? Daneman and Carpenter (1980): Reading span test Read 13- to 16-word sentences, each presented briefly as being read followed by the next sentence Remember last word of each sentence Dependent variable: How many last words remembered in presented order? Span ranged from 2 to 5 and correlated strongly with performance on a number of reading comprehension tasks and verbal SAT score. WM as source of individual differences in reading comprehension. Individual differences in WM (high-capacity vs. low-capacity) correlated with: Academic performance (Best & Miller, 2010; Best et al., 2011); Better chance of graduating from high school (Fitzpatrick et al., 2015); Ability to control emotions (Schmeichel et al., 2008); and Greater creativity (De Drue et al., 2012).  What is the mechanism that differentiates high-capacity and low-capacity individuals? Vogel et al. (2005) suggest the control of attention by the central executive. Lecture 6 Lecture Outline Short-term vs. Long- term memory Availability vs.Accessibility Explicit vs. Implicit Episodic vs. Semantic For this section of the course (lecture 6) you should be able to: 1. Describe each component of the dichotomies of memory discussed in class: Long-term vs. Short-term memory Episodic vs. Semantic Availability vs. Accessibility Explicit vs. Implicit Unitary vs. Multiple Memory Stores Long-term Memory vs. Short-term Memory: Serial Position Curve Long-term Memory vs. Short-term Memory:  Murdoch (1962) Distinction between short-term and long-term memories using the serial position curve Read stimulus list, write down all words remembered Figure 6.3 Serial position curve (Murdoch, 1962). Notice that memory is better for words presented at the beginning of the list (primacy effect) and at the end (recency effect). Memory better for stimuli presented at beginning Primacy effect gave more time to rehearse information, more likely to enter long-term memory (LTM) Figure 6.4 Results of Rundus’s (1971) experiment. The solid red line is the usual serial position curve. The dashed blue line indicates how many times the subjects rehearsed (said out loud) each word on the list. Note how the rehearsal curve matches the initial part of the serial position curve. Memory better for stimuli presented at end of list Recency effect: Stimuli still in STM Figure 6.5 Results of Glanzer and Cunitz’s (1966) experiment. The serial position curve has a normal recency effect when the memory test is immediate (solid red line), but no recency effect occurs if the memory test is delayed for 30 seconds (dashed blue line). Short-term/Primary Memory A place for storing very limited amounts of information for very short periods of time Capacity: 7 (+/- 2) units Effects of chunking (“re-coding”) Coding: based on acoustic traits Retention duration: 30 seconds or less, maintained through rehearsal Long-Term Memory Figure 6.1 Long-term memory covers a span that stretches from about 30 seconds ago to your earliest memories. Thus, all of this student’s memories, except the memory “I just sat down” and anything the student was rehearsing, would be classified as long-term memories. Long-term/Secondary Memory A place for storing large amounts of information for indefinite periods of time Capacity: virtually unlimited Coding: based on meaning Retention duration: indefinite - Accessibility vs. Availability Memory: Accessibility vs. Availability...forgetting occurs not because information in storage is destroyed, but because learned material becomes “inaccessible in a large and growing association network.”... it is useful to draw a distinction between what information or what traces are available in the memory storage and what are accessible. Tulving & Pearlston (1966) Closet Metaphor: Accessibility vs. Availability You may not be able to access the green purse on your closet shelf, but it is still available in your closet. *Tip of the tongue phenomenon* Types of Long-Term Memory Figure 6.14 Long-term memory can be divided into explicit memory and implicit memory. We can also distinguish between two types of explicit memory, episodic and semantic. There are a number of different types of implicit memory. Three of the main types are procedural memory, priming, and conditioning. Explicit vs. Implicit Explicit (Declarative) Memory  Intentional, conscious retrieval of facts or events from memory Implicit (Nondeclarative) Memory Unintentional retrieval of facts or events from memory Includes skill learning (procedural memory), classical conditioning, and priming (bias in responding to a stimulus based on past exposure) Implicit (Nondeclarative) Memory Procedural Memory Skill memory: memory for actions No memory of where or when learned Perform procedures without being consciously aware of how to do them People who cannot form new LTMs can still learn new skills (e.g., HM) Implicit (Nondeclarative) Memory Priming Presentation of priming stimulus changes person’s response to a test stimulus Perfect and Askew (1994) - Propaganda effect: more likely to rate statements read or heard before as being true - Involves implicit memory because it can occur when people are not aware of previously seeing or hearing statement - Implications for advertisements Classical Conditioning Pairing a neutral stimulus with a reflexive response Involves implicit memory when person has forgotten about original pairing of the stimulus and the response Episodic Memory: memory for information about one’s personal experiences “enables people to travel back in time, as it were, into their personal past, and to become consciously aware of having witnessed or participated in events and happenings at earlier times” – Tulving (1989) what, where, when, autonoetic consciousness organization of memories is temporal Semantic Memory: holds information that has entered your general knowledge base: the information is generic, doesn’t pertain to your personal experience - e.g., facts, concepts, and ideas  noetic consciousness organization of memories are based on meaning and meaning relationships among different pieces of information Neural Correlates of Episodic vs. Semantic Memory fMRI demonstrates that retrieving episodic and semantic memories activate different areas of the brain Figure 6.9 Brain showing areas activated by episodic and semantic memories. The yellow areas represent brain regions associated with episodic memories; the blue areas represent regions associated with semantic memories. Lecture 7: Concepts and Categorization Why do we need concepts? Concepts help simplify our world Allow us to organize our knowledge and predict the behaviour of new stimuli What happens when concepts are formed about people? Stereotypes are formed Through a cognitive approach: ○ Most stereotypes are the product of “normal” human thought processes Similarity-based category: Categorization is assumed to be based on the similarity of an instance to some abstract specification of the category or to one or more exemplars Conceptual structures: ○ Classical view ○ Prototype View ○ Exemplar view ○ Some parts of the schemata/scripts view Explanation-based category Classification is based on meaningful relationships among instances and categories The focus is on knowledge-derived information about the function or role of an object Conceptual structures: ○ Some parts of the schemata/scripts view ○ Some of the knowledge-based view Five Conceptual structures 1. Classical View All examples/instances of a concept share features (fundamental characteristics) Features are; ○ individually necessary: each example must have the feature if it is regarded as a member of the concept Example: three sides→ triangle ○ Collectively sufficient: anything with each feature in the set is automatically an instance of the concept Example: three sides, closed geometric figure→ triangle Implications: ○ Assumes that concepts mentally represent a list of features (assumes that all examples must have) ○ Assumes that membership is clear-cut; a member of a category will have all the necessary and sufficient features ○ All members within a category are created equal Example: all birds are equally bird-like Limitations: ○ Each individual has a unique conception of the “classical” view. So what you perceive as the classical view will differ from someone else ○ No way to explain why people think that some birds are “birdier” than others ○ No clearly defined boundaries  ○ Category membership is “graded” and boundaries between categories are “fuzzy/blurry” 2. Prototype View Idealized (not real) representations of some class of objects or events An abstraction that includes all the characteristic category features Prototypes of concepts include features or aspects that are characteristic of members of the category ○ These categories are NOT necessary and sufficient None of the individual features need to be present to count as a member of the category, but the more features present, the more likely the object is to be regarded as a member of the category ○ Example: “Bird” different types of birds come to mind This view; ○ Explains why certain members of a category are seen as more typical than others ○ Accounts for why it is difficult for people to provide strict definitions of concepts ○ Can explain why some classifications are especially easy to make and others are unclear Limitations; ○ Does not specify clear constraints for conceptual boundaries ○ typicality of an instance varies across different contexts and depending on how it is thought about 3. Exemplar View based on real instance/actual view Represented by multiple examples rather than a single prototype Assume that people categorize new instances by comparing them to exemplars from instances before Accounts for why it is difficult for people to provide strict definitions of concepts Can explain why some classifications are easy to make and others are unclear ○ Example: tomatoes are similar to BOTH fruit exemplars and vegetable exemplars Limitations: ○ Does not account for which instances will eventually be stored as exemplars and which will not ○ Does not account for how different examples are brought to mind when categorization occurs 4. Schemata View  Concepts are schema (framework for representing knowledge) Schcemate can be embedded in other schemata ○ Example: “taking a course” schema is part of the “going to university” schema Seen to share features with the prototype view ○ Abstracted information is stored across instances Seen to share features with the exemplar view ○ Information about actual instances is stored Schemas operate by selectively organizing the ongoing experience of each person into subjectively meaningful patterns Limitations: ○ Does not specify clear boundaries among individual schema ○ Not clear how new schemas are found ○ Not clear how schema is modified with experience ○ Now clear how schema are cued in different situations 5. The Knowledge-Based View People's theories and mental explanations about the world are intertwined with their concepts and proceed to the basis for categorization Knowledge of how the concept is organized is used to justify the classification and to explain why certain instances happen to belong in the same category Accounts for how a seemingly disparate collection of instances can form a coherent category in a given situation People can explain to themselves which specific features of instances are important and why, as well as which specific features are irrelevant and why Chapter 8: Visual Imagery What are images? Representation of perceptual experiences Internal construction was formed with the intention Private-cannot see the images others form Can aid memory performance Used by athletes-visualization improves later performance Strategy for coping with negative emotional events A form of deep encoding  Imagery and Memory Mnemonics 1. The method of loci Image a series of places that are in specific order to them Imagine the items that you have to remember in those locations Example: TV is in the living room, cereal is in the kitchen 2. Pegword method Create an easily recalled list of nouns (pegwords) - link words with numbers ○ Bun, shoe, tree etc Match images of memory items with the set of ordered cues ○ Buy bread- bun ○ Buy shoes as a gift- shoe Then imagine each memory item INTERACTING with one of the nouns 3. Interacting Images In the concept of paired associate learning, images that are interacting are MORE memorable vs. standalone images that are paired together Example: Spaghetti-dog (dog with spaghetti all over face)  This also applies to the method of loci Images for the items that you want to remember should be interacting with the images of your loci Why do visual mnemonics improve memory? 1. The Dual-Coding Hypothesis: Long-term memory contains two distinct coding systems: ○ Visual (mental pictures) ○ Verbal (abstract linguistic meaning) Memory is best when we construct both types of codes for an item Concrete nouns are better recalled than abstract nouns because they allow for both types of coding Experiment: ○ CC: both concrete words= 71.3% ○ CA: one concrete word, the second abstract= 62.5% ○ AC: one abstract word, the second concrete= 46% ○ AA: both abstract words= 37.8% *, therefore, the best predictor of memory is the imageability of a word (cocnrete>abstract) Concrete nouns are dual-coded whereas abstract nouns are coded only verbally The first noun in the pair acts as a conceptual peg on which the second noun is hooked Imagebailty of the first noun is critical (explains CA>AC) 2. The Relational-Organizational Hypothesis Imagery improves memory because imagery produces more associations between the items to be recalled In a paired-associate task, forming an image of the two items INTERACTING is better than just forming two separate mental images of the items Imagery and Perception Spatial correspondence between imagery and perception Mental scanning Participants create mental images and then scan them in their minds 1. Mental Rotation Participants were asked to compare two objects and decide if they were the same The objects were presented at different orientations Shepard and Metzler  2. Visuospatial Sketch Pad Creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus The mental rotation task Sheppard and Metzler; ○ Demonstrates the operation of visuospatial sketch pad because it involves visual rotation through space ○ Tasks that called for greater rotations took longer Cooper & Shepard: ○ Present a stimulus and then a cue about how much the stimulus will be rotated ○ Response now is just as fast for any angle of rotation ○ Easily rotate the images clockwise or counterclockwise before the actual times appeared ○ 3. Scanning Images Kosslyn Experiment ○ Form a mental image of the island map and its various locations ○ Image a small black speck moving across the island ○ Start at the hut, move to the beach and press the button once you arrive ○ Reaction times varied with the distance to be travelled ○ Images preserve spatial relationships  From Duck/rabbit example: ○ People who code the stimulus a duck tend to pay more attention to the beak and miss the modification on the other side ○ People who encode the stimulus as a rabbit tend to pay more attention to the head and notice the change more easily ○ People can see the same picture and encode different mental images of it Imagery & Perception Differences in experience Perception is automatic and stable Imagery takes effort and is fragile Quiz 5 Study Notes Lecture Nine: Language Lecture Outline: Language Structure of Language Speech Comprehension & Production Structure of Language The strangers talked to the players. Structure of Language 1. Phonology/Morphology Phoneme: smallest unit of sound we can make (e.g. mat vs. cat) 1. Phonology/Morphology Phoneme: smallest unit of sound we can make (e.g. mat vs. cat) Morpheme: smallest unit of sound we can make that has meaning (e.g. Take vs. taking) 2. Syntax Rule for how to put together sentences and phrases Tree Diagram  3. Semantics Rules for associating meaning with sentences How do we explain the following? 1. Anomaly: (abnormal meanings) Why can’t we say “Chocolate ice cream can drive a car”? 2. Self-contradiction: (contradicting meanings) Why can’t we say “My cat is not an animal”? 3. Synonymy: (synonyms/same meaning) Why does “John is not old enough” mean the same as “John is too young”? 4. Entailment: (if one thing is given/true then it leads to another thing to also be true) Why does “Pat is my aunt” mean that Pat is female? Structure of Language 3. Semantics Rules for associating meaning with sentences 4. Pragmatics Social rules of language Maxims (Rules) of Conversation 1. Quantity: Make your contribution just as informative as it needs to be, no more, no less. 2. Quality: Be truthful. Or at least make it clear when you are being sarcastic 3. Relation: Be relevant. 4. Manner: Be clear, avoid ambiguity, be brief. Speech Perception Visual cues help us identify sounds. Talking face-to-face is easier than talking on the phone. Speech Perception & Context Context is critical for speech perception Phonemic Restoration - Listeners “restore” missing phonemes by extrapolating upon other available linguistic information - Phoneme: smallest unit of sound we can make - e.g. mat vs. cat Phonemic Restoration Warren (1970) Replace a phoneme with a cough (*):  It was found that the *eel was on the axle. It was found that the *eel was on the shoe. It was found that the *eel was on the orange. It was found that the *eel was on the table. People “hear” w, h, p, and m sounds without even realizing that they were missing. Importance of Context Bransford and Johnson (1972) with context provided before the passage, participants recalled an average of 8 out of 14 distinct ideas without any context, or even with the context provided after the passage, participants only recalled about 3.6 ideas. Speech Production Errors: 1) Sound Substitutions 1. Sound substitutions and movements Sue keeps food in her vesk. Keep your hands off my weet speas. We need to wash the pons and pats. Speech Production Errors: 2) Word Substitutions Two broad classes of word substitutions (Garrett, 1988) 1. Meaning relations Toe vs. Finger Walk vs. Run 2. Form relations Guest vs. Goat Mushroom vs. Mustache We almost never make errors that involve BOTH form and meaning. Deficits in Language Collective deficits in language comprehension and production that result from brain damage Aphasias Broca’s area: Damage to this area is associated with difficulties in producing spoken language (expressive aphasia). Wernicke’s area: Damage is associated with difficulties in comprehending spoken language (receptive aphasia). Broca’s Aphasia A.k.a. expressive aphasia Characteristics: Halting, agrammatic speech Nouns & verbs ok; function words (the, or, an) impaired Damage to frontal areas of brain Wernicke’s Aphasia A.k.a. receptive aphasia Characteristics: Cannot comprehend and execute simple commands like “touchà your knee” Damage to temporal lobe of left hemisphere Lecture Ten:Problem Solving and Creativity We are going to start by doing some of our own problem solving - this will help bring to light some of the problem solving techniques that will be covered in this lecture. You have been given four short lengths of chain. Each length of the chain contains three links. Your job is to combine these four lengths of chain into one continuous necklace of 12 links with no breaks in the chain. You have the assistance of a jeweler who will break any given link for 2¢ and rejoin it together for 3¢. The problem: you have only 15¢ in your wallet. Can you put a complete necklace together for this amount of money, and if so, how? This is a classic example of a situation where means-ends analysis fails us. In order to solve this problem, one must make a first step which seems to take one further away from the goal. Learning Outcomes For this section of the course (lecture 10) you should be able to: 1. Describe and differentiate different types of thinking and problems. 2. Describe and differentiate problem solving techniques covered in lecture What is Thinking? Going beyond the information given (Bruner, 1957). A complex and high-level skill that fills up gaps in the evidence (Bartlett, 1958). The process of searching through a problem space (Newell & Simon, 1972). What we do when we are in doubt about how to act, what to believe, or what to desire (Baron, 1994). Types of Thinking Focused Thinking Begins with a clear starting point and has a specific goal e.g., goal based, problem solving Unfocused Thinking Has the character of day-dreaming, unintentionally calling to mind a number of different and loosely related ideas Types of Problems Well-defined Problems: Have a clear solution Present a small set of starting information Present a set of rules for solving Easy to study in the lab Ill-defined Problems: Goals not always clear Steps to solve are not always clear - E.g., how to ask for a promotion General Problem Solving Techniques Generate-and-test Means-end analysis Working backward Reasoning by analogy *Domain-independent techniques – can be used in a wide variety of problems Generate-and-Test Technique As the name suggests: Generate a number of solutions, then - Test the solutions Generate-and-test Think of all the CITIES that you can that begin with the letter “C.” Useful if there is a limited number of possibilities Problematic if: Too many possibilities No guidance over generation Can’t keep track of possibilities tested E.g., locker combination vs. retracing steps to find lost item Means-Ends Analysis Initial state: conditions at beginning of problem Goals state: condition at the end of problem Intermediate states: the various conditions that exist along pathways between the initial and the goal state Reduce the difference between initial state and goal state Involves generating a goal and then sub- goals Any sequence of moves beginning at the initial state and ending at the final goal state constitutes a solution path Forces the problem solver to analyze aspects of the problem before starting to work on it and to generate a plan to solve it Can make it more difficult to see that the most efficient path toward a goal isn’t always the most direct one There are three cats and three dogs on one side of a river with one boat. All animals need to get across the river. However, the boat will only hold two animals at once, and a minimum of one animal is required to pilot the boat to either bank. To further complicate the situation, dogs must never outnumber cats on either side of the river or the cats will be eaten. How do you get the cats and dogs across the river successfully? Starting state = || CCCDDD* (3 cats, 3 dogs on right bank with boat) Working Backward Involves creating sub-goals and reducing differences between the current state and the goal state (like means-ends analysis) But sub-goals are created working backwards from the goal state “I didn’t do great on the last test. How can I get an ‘A’ on the next test?” Before I do better I need to have a better understanding of the material Understand the material better, I need to be studying better. To improve how I study I need to do X Reasoning by Analogy Find comparisons between two situations and apply the solution from one situation to the other. “Principle-finding” analysis – moving beyond the details and focusing on the relevant structures of the problem - Induction of an abstract schema The Tumor Problem (Duncker, 1945) Given a human being with an inoperable stomach tumor, and rays that destroy organic tissue at sufficient intensity, by what procedure can one free him of the tumor by these rays and at the same time avoid destroying the healthy tissue that surrounds it? Solution: Send weak rays of radiation from several angles so that the rays converge at the site of the tumour. The radiation from any one ray will not be strong enough to destroy the tumour or surrounding healthy tissue. But the convergence of the rays will be strong enough to destroy the tumour. Gick & Holyoak (1980) Presented participants with the tumor problem But beforehand, participants read the story of the General  Presented participants with the tumor problem But beforehand, participants read the story of the General Some participants were told that the story of the General had a hint relevant to the tumor problem and others were not Results: 75% of the individuals who were told that the story of the General had a hint solved the problem correctly Only 30% of the individuals not told noticed the analogy https://app.jungleai.com/review-deck/multiple-choice-questions/IQ7JSUqXtQIJP2DyYrKY?r=kj5 JkT1kkiYW46z1Ssw8MonwJOuz6D&utm_source=friend_referral -