Human Memory & Learning PDF

Human Memory & Learning  Working Memory Working Memory - The ability to hold information in mind for a brief time and work with it. – Mental math – Shopping https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your_working_me mory_makes_sens...

Human Memory & Learning  Working Memory Working Memory - The ability to hold information in mind for a brief time and work with it. – Mental math – Shopping https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your_working_me mory_makes_sense_of_the_world?referrer=playlist- – Working the_complexity_of_memory Enemies of working memory: – Anxiety, Fatigue, Distraction – Others?  Semantic & Episodic Memory Semantic Memory – Your storehouse of more or less permanent knowledge. Episodic Memory - The ability to remember the episodes of your life.  Collective Memory Collective Memory - The kind of memory that people in a group share (whether family, community, schoolmates, citizens of a state or a country). A Simple Model of Memory  Encoding Encoding - The initial experience of perceiving and learning events. – So much to encode! – How do we narrow it down? Attention / Selective attention – Distinctiveness helps as well.  Recoding Recoding – Taking information from one form and converting it in a way that makes sense to us. – Helps us organize the complexities of the world so it makes sense to us. Make meaning of new information. Create images of information. We can “chunk” information  Storage Memory Trace (engram) - The change in the nervous system that represents our experience. – Physical representation of a memory in the human brain! – The chemistry of the brain changes with each new memory. – Consolidation – The neural changes that occur over time to create the memory trace of an experience.  Retrieval How do you “retrieve” information from your computer hard drive? – When you open a Word document you get a perfect version of what you stored previously. – Human memory is not like this! EVERY memory we “remember” is a re-creation based on our collection of memory traces.  Retrieval We can only retrieve information that is based on memory traces that are ACCESSIBLE in the brain. – Most of our memories are probably not accessible. – Cues in the environment can help Related to the Encoding Specificity Principle But what if a cue has too many memories connected to it?  Measuring Retrieval Production Tests ▪ Generation of studied info ▪ Example = Free Recall Recognition Tests ▪ Selection of studied info Example = Multiple Choice True/False  What else do we remember? Procedural Memory: Memory which is implicit; meaning that we learn it without knowing it or having https://www.youtube.com knowledge of learning it! /watch?v=JliczINA__Y – Do you have to “think about” tying your shoes? – Signing your name?  9/19/24 A Question Does marijuana impact driving skills? Research Designs Research Designs 1 2 The Experimental Approach The Experimental Approach Experiments: Most powerful? Maybe, but: – Random assignment to Groups – Confounding variables? – Manipulation of an Independent Variable – As control of the experiment – Look for changes in a Dependent Variable increases, likeness to the real world decreases. – Often thought of as the most powerful research design – Placebo Effect – Demand Characteristics 3 4 1  9/19/24 Does marijuana impact driving The Quasi-Experimental Approach skills? How would you design an experiment? § No random assignment – Groups? – Independent variable? § Independent variables – Dependent variable? determined by naturally – Potential confound occurring groups. 5 6 The Correlational Approach The Correlational Approach No control; passive observation of two or more Positive correlation: two variables in the world. variables go “up” or “down” together. – As IQ scores increase, grades Relationships between variables are measured using in university increase. a correlation coefficient (CC). Negative correlation: two Intelligence Alcohol variables move in opposite Height – CCs allow us to determine whether two variable are directions. related. – As alcohol consumption UPEI Grades Attention Intelligence Does level of intelligence relate to success in university? increases, attention decreases. CCs range from -1 to +1 7 8 2  9/19/24 The Correlational Approach Very helpful because we can observe relatively easily. Facebook Depression – No need for complicated experiments But: Depression Facebook – Cannot make causal inferences. – Although IQ and grades are related, we cannot say that higher IQ Facebook causes higher grades. No Friends – Lack of control. It could be that higher grades cause higher IQ Depression scores! 9 10 Does marijuana impact driving The Survey Approach skills? Often using questionnaires to sample a large number of people from the population How would you design a correlational study? – Very often can do Important issues: correlational analysis. Sample Size – Used in opinion polls. – Good way to assess attitudes Representativeness and self-reported Generalizability behaviours. 11 12 3  9/19/24 The Qualitative approach § Typically based on the in- depth analysis of a small number of individuals. § Helpful for topics that are more difficult to talk about. How would you design a qualitative study? § Important when research is interested rich description of participants’ perspectives. 13 4 Conditioning and Learning  Classical Conditioning “Learning by Association” – Repeated pairing of stimuli. – Creates an association between the two.  Classical Conditioning Components Unconditioned Stimulus (US) – A stimulus that elicits a particular response without prior training Unconditioned Response (UR) – A response that occurs to a stimulus without prior training Conditioned Stimulus (CS) – A stimulus that does not elicit a particular response initially, but comes to do so as a result of CC Conditioned Response (CR) – The response that is eventually elicited by the conditioned stimulus after repeated pairings with the unconditioned stimulus  Pavlov’s Experiment ▪ Originally ▪ CS (Bell) → Nothing ▪ US (Meat) → UR (Salivating) ▪ Many Trials ▪ CS (Bell) : US (Meat) → UR (Salivating) ▪ Eventually ▪ CS (Bell) → CR (Salivating)  Conditioned Emotional Response ▪ Originally ▪ CS (Instructions) → Nothing ▪ US (Quiz) → UR (Anxiety) ▪ Many trials ▪ CS (Instructions) : US (Quiz) → UR (Anxiety) ▪ Eventually ▪ CS (Instructions) → CR (Anxiety)  Extinction https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7frOWBiU ▪ After conditioning ▪ CS (Bell) → CR (Salivating) ▪ Many Trials ▪ CS (Bell) : US removed (No meat) ▪ Eventually ▪ CS (Bell) → Nothing 8D4 (extinction)  Blocking Blocking – Occurs when a previous association prevents another association from being formed.  Operant Conditioning Learning by Consequences: – Animals learn how to behave based on the outcome of their choices. – Based on reward and punishment  Operant Conditioning Operant Conditioning - Occurs when a behavior is associated with a significant event. Reinforcement and Punishment ADD TAKE AWAY SOMETHING SOMETHING INCREASE Positive Negative BEHAVIOR Reinforcement Reinforcement DECREASE Positive Negative BEHAVIOR Punishment Punishment Reinforcers increase behavior Punishers decrease behavior  Observational Learning Also called Social Learning Theory Four Parts or Stages 1. Attention 2. Retention 3. Initiation 4. Motivation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerCK0lRjp8  William James Everyone knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others. (James, 1890; pp. 381–382)  Attention as Selective In practice, any time we are being “attentive” we are engaging in Selective Attention – We necessarily have to “narrow” our focus to important aspects of experience. – Occurs on a continuum Very focused to Very unfocused Models of Selective Attetion Filter Model Selection occurs very early and is somewhat “all or nothing”. Non-selected information not processed at all. Attenuation Model Meaningful information leads to shifts in attention even when we are not attending to it. Info gets through the filter. Late Selection Model All information is processed Only relevant information is consciously available.  Multimode model: disagrees with earlier models. – The stage where we select information to attend to changes depending on the task. – Sometimes we need to take in more information before deciding.  Multitasking Selective attention does allow for what we think of as “multitasking”. – But limited attentional capacity does not allow us to do multiple tasks equally well!  Attention Central to Learning What happens when we lack the capacity to attend? – Why would this impact learning? Memory? – ADHD – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZrZa5pLXk  Think, Pair, Share Filter Model Thinking about attention and ADHD, Attenuation Model which model of attention seems to be most relevant? Why would ADHD have such a dramatic impact on learning? Late Selection Model  9/11/24 g y What is psychology? o lo h The study of... yc – The brain and nervous Group processes? s system? Therapies? P – Human behaviour? – Mental illness and health? Families? – How people interact? Adults? – Thinking? Reasoning? Children? – Memory? Learning? The Science and Art – Oppression? of an Exciting Discipline 1 2 Science At the outset, do you think psychology is a What distinguishes science from science? other areas? – Systematic Observation – Why / Why not? – Generation of Hypotheses – Science is “democratic” and can be objective – Builds up; is cumulative Observation – Hypothesis - Theory 3 4 1  9/11/24 What does this have to do with What causes happiness? Psychology? What are the secrets to a happy life? Is this a worthy question? How does this differ from questions we might ask in other sciences? 5 6 Psychology’s Measurement Happiness? Dilemma What are some challenges The most interesting with studying happiness? phenomena are abstract – It’s not calcium. and subjective. We have a basic measurement – Intelligence problem? – Personality – Depression If we cannot measure we cannot do science. – Psychopathy – Trust So how do we address this issue? 7 8 2  9/11/24 Measurement in Psychology Psychology’s Ethics Issue Simple perceptual tests. Psychologists study what it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KND_b means to be human. Psychometric measures. – Requires the use of human participants / subjects in research. Physiological measures. – Often involves emotions, traits, behaviours that are negative. – Research can be well-meaning, BDE8RQ Imaging. but... 9 10 Ethical Research in Psychology Applied Psychology Applied Science: Informed consent application of scientific Confidentiality knowledge to practical problems or situations. Privacy – Clinical Benefits / Costs – Social Deception – Sport – Industrial – Justice – Design / Marketing 11 12 3  9/11/24 Psychological Science Psychological Research An overview of the research process: 1. Idea for the study 2. Designing the study 3. Application to Research Ethics Board 4. Collecting data 5. Analyzing data 6. Peer review publication process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhfNty https://www.youtube.co L_Cj0&list=PLU1QAd55Cz_vOK7TNLhBB m/watch?v=CvFmYbfVI QbnWvJdh2p5v HA 13 14 4  9/17/24 Scientific Reasoning & Theories Thinking like a Psychological Scientist Testing hypotheses based on samples using https://www.ted.com/talks/phil_plait_the_sec inductive reasoning ret_to_scientific_discoveries_making_mistakes 1 2 Inductive Reasoning Features of Good Scientific Theories What comes next? Accuracy But what if you knew this? 3 4 1  9/17/24 Features of Good Scientific Theories Features of Good Scientific Theories Consistency Scope 5 6 Features of Good Scientific Theories Features of Good Scientific Theories Simplicity Fruitfulness 7 8 2  9/17/24 Features of Good Scientific Theories Which is falsifiable? Falsifiable § Classical music increases intelligence. § Eating before exams increases performance. Explanation § Cannolis are delicious. § The mind does not exist. THEORY PREDICTION 9 10 Do standing desks increase Interpreting Research (Correctly) productivity? Research Hypothesis: 3 Options: Standing desks increase productivity 1. Results Support Hypothesis Standing Desks (Experimental Group) 2. Sitting > Standing Typing Task Random Assignment (Measurement) 3. No difference between groups Traditional, Seated Desks (Control Group) 11 12 3  9/17/24 What has science proven? What Trusting Science without Proof can science explore? Why do you think media reports of science talk about “proof”? 13 14 Null-Hypothesis Significance Testing H 0=No relationship vs. H A=There is a relationship 15 4 Human Memory & Learning  Working Memory Working Memory - The ability to hold information in mind for a brief time and work with it. – Mental math – Shopping https://www.ted.com/talks/peter_doolittle_how_your_working_me mory_makes_sense_of_the_world?referrer=playlist- – Working the_complexity_of_memory Enemies of working memory: – Anxiety, Fatigue, Distraction – Others?  Semantic & Episodic Memory Semantic Memory – Your storehouse of more or less permanent knowledge. Episodic Memory - The ability to remember the episodes of your life.  Collective Memory Collective Memory - The kind of memory that people in a group share (whether family, community, schoolmates, citizens of a state or a country). A Simple Model of Memory  Encoding Encoding - The initial experience of perceiving and learning events. – So much to encode! – How do we narrow it down? Attention / Selective attention – Distinctiveness helps as well.  Recoding Recoding – Taking information from one form and converting it in a way that makes sense to us. – Helps us organize the complexities of the world so it makes sense to us. Make meaning of new information. Create images of information. We can “chunk” information  Storage Memory Trace (engram) - The change in the nervous system that represents our experience. – Physical representation of a memory in the human brain! – The chemistry of the brain changes with each new memory. – Consolidation – The neural changes that occur over time to create the memory trace of an experience.  Retrieval How do you “retrieve” information from your computer hard drive? – When you open a Word document you get a perfect version of what you stored previously. – Human memory is not like this! EVERY memory we “remember” is a re-creation based on our collection of memory traces.  Retrieval We can only retrieve information that is based on memory traces that are ACCESSIBLE in the brain. – Most of our memories are probably not accessible. – Cues in the environment can help Related to the Encoding Specificity Principle But what if a cue has too many memories connected to it?  Measuring Retrieval Production Tests ▪ Generation of studied info ▪ Example = Free Recall Recognition Tests ▪ Selection of studied info Example = Multiple Choice True/False  What else do we remember? Procedural Memory: Memory which is implicit; meaning that we learn it without knowing it or having https://www.youtube.com knowledge of learning it! /watch?v=JliczINA__Y – Do you have to “think about” tying your shoes? – Signing your name?  9/19/24 Statistics The Research Study The Numbers of Psychology Testable Research Question Set up Research Design – Experiment? – Quasi-experiment? – Survey? – Qualitative? Collect Data Analyze Data Draw Conclusions 1 2 Variables Variables Categorical: Placement Measured: Any variable in only one category is that goes beyond possible. categorical. – No “degrees” of a – Gives us a “degree” variable. of something. – You either “are” or – Answers “how much” “are not.” of something. – A data sample is – A sample is summarized using summarized using frequencies etc. the mean etc. 3 4 1  9/19/24 Distributional Thinking Distributional Thinking Do Arts and Sciences majors Imagine a quasi-experiment differ on measures of creativity? – Creativity measured using a “UPEI Creativity – How might you go about answering Scale” this question? 10 questions like: “I like creative writing (T/F).” What type of study? 1 point for each answer of True What type of measures? Possible scores are 0-10 Given to 50 Arts majors and 50 Science Majors 5 6 Statistics Measures of Central Tendency We use statistics to do a number of things, including: Central Tendency: If you have an array of scores, how can we summarize the – Describing a sample’s data to best represent all the scores in scores on variables. the data – Determining whether two or groups differ. Mean: Often referred to as “average” – Generalizing what we learn from samples to an entire – Represents the exact mid-point of all the population. combined values – The most sensitive and accurate of – Central tendency and measures of central tendency dispersion are key foundational concepts – Sensitivity is also a disadvantage 8 7 8 2  9/19/24 Measures of Central Tendency Measures of Central Tendency Median: The central Mode: Most frequently occurring value value of a set of numbers – Used primarily with nominal – Slightly different data – Can have bi-modal data in calculation steps which two values are “tied” depending on data set. – Main advantage is that it – Biggest advantage is works with nominal level data. that it is not impacted – Unaffected by extreme values by extreme values – Not as sensitive as mean and median – Not as sensitive as mean 9 10 Statistical Significance Dispersion: Give us more information about the scores – What if you found that the mean creativity how “spread out” scores were: CLASS 1 MARK CLASS 2 MARK CLASS 3 MARK Central they are. (/10) (/10 (/10) Luke 7.6 Jason 7.5 Sam 8.5 Laura 7.6 Chris 5.5 Sarah 7.5 – Science Students: 6.7 Tendency Two data sets can have the exact same mean but have & Matt 7.6 Margo 9 Jackson 7.0 – Arts students: 5.6 Kate 7.6 Jennifer 5.5 Shauna 7.0 very different levels of Dispersion Lisa 7.6 Hope 10.5 Mack 8.0 dispersion or variability. 7.6 7.6 7.6 – Two classes taking same test. MEAN – Difference = 1.1 Understanding dispersion would tell us something about performance. What would you conclude? 9/19/24 11 11 12 3  9/19/24 Statistical Significance Statistical Significance Why could you not conclude Determining whether the difference between 2 that Science majors are more means is “large enough” to be statistically creative than Arts majors? significant makes use of basic probability theory. – What are the potential confounds? – The question is: If we assessed 50 Arts and 50 Science students 1000 or 1 000 000 more times, how often – What other factors could explain would we get a difference as large as our observed the difference? difference? 13 14 Statistical Significance Statistical Significance Scientific Standards: Tools of Psychology Research: – If we would get the difference fewer – We don’t need to sample infinite than 5 percent of the time, we state p