PL3103 Cognitive Psychology - Week 5 - Learning & Long-Term Memory (PDF)

PL3103 Cognitive Psychology Dr. Cynthia Siew Today’s Topic: Learning and Long-term memory (Week 5) After today’s lecture, you will learn about: 1. The differences between short-term and long-term mem- ory, explicit and implicit learning, declarative and non- decla...

PL3103 Cognitive Psychology Dr. Cynthia Siew Today’s Topic: Learning and Long-term memory (Week 5) After today’s lecture, you will learn about: 1. The differences between short-term and long-term mem- ory, explicit and implicit learning, declarative and non- declarative memory. 2. Key theories and phenomena associated with explicit learning (i.e., levels of processing, distinctiveness, testing effect). 3. and implicit learning (i.e., classical & operant condition- ing, observational learning). Pixar’s interpretation of long-term memory Each memory = a ball stored neatly in shelves that all look the same. https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=V9OWEEuviHE Memory systems in long-term memory A large diverse variety of information is stored in our long-term memory! 1 Atkinson & Shiffrin’s model of memory (1968) Last week: STM is viewed as a temporary store of information, vs. LTM as a more permanent store. Limitations: Coarse-grained view of LTM as a single unitary store and rehearsal as the only form of learning permitted. Declarative memory (explicit memory) refers to memories that can be “declared” or explicitly described involves conscious recollection of previous memories Non-declarative memory (implicit memory) refers to memories that does not involve conscious recol- lection of previous memories 2 Types of declarative memory Semantic memory memory for general facts, concepts, and knowledge of the world more in Ch 6, Week 6 Episodic memory memory for a specific experience or event we focus on this for this lecture Autobiographical memory memory for important, personal experiences in our lives more in Ch 7, Week 7 Types of non-declarative memory Procedural memory memory for motor skills; “knowing how” to do something Priming facilitation of processing a stimulus that has been pre- sented before PollEv: Examples! In pairs, discuss a few examples of each memory type and share your answers on PollEv: Semantic memory Episodic memory Autobiographical memory Procedural memory Priming 3 Episodic memory Memory for specific experiences and events that occurred at a certain place and time - Where, When, What The constructive nature of episodic memory: Schacter & Addis (2007): “Episodic memory is a fundamentally constructive, rather than reproductive process that is prone to various kinds of errors and illusions.” useful to forget irrelevant information involved in future thinking: filling in the gaps with in- complete information Is episodic memory different from semantic memory? Complementary learning systems (McClelland et al., 1995) Memory encoding proceeds in two steps: 1. Recent experiences and (episodic) memories are stored in the hippocampus. 2. Information is transferred from the hippocamapus to the cerebral cortex through a process of consolidation. Consolidation (which occurs during sleep) integrates new infor- mation with old information, which transforms episodic mem- ories into semantic memories. episodic detail is usually lost the “gist” of the memory is extracted and retained in LTM this view suggests that semantic and episodic memories are not separate stores, but rather have different processes involved in encoding and retrieval. 4 Is episodic memory different from autobiographic memory? both episodic and autobiographical memory involve re- membering specific events that we have personally expe- rienced! research suggests that autobiographical memory have much more detail, structure and clear organization than episodic memory, where detail is lost very rapidly after the event more on this in a future lecture Learning How do we get new information into our long-term memory? Explicit and implicit learning Explicit learning intentional, explicit learning of new information and ma- terial Implicit learning classical conditioning operant conditioning observational learning Implicit learning: Classical and operant conditioning Pigeon Turn Can you spot both types of conditioning in this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtfQlkGwE2U 5 Classical conditioning: Learning the associations between stim- uli in the environment and (positive or negative) consequences for us. Operant conditioning: Behavioral changes (interpreted as learn- ing) that occur as a result of whether the behavior is rewarded or punished. Can pigeons read? Can we use pigeons in the military? https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=NeK8GNLylkc Implicit learning: Observational learning https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=qP1hJLepOhw Learning by watching others. Example: Bandura’s Bodo Doll Study (Social Learning Theory) https://www.youtube.com/embed/ dmBqwWlJg8U Implicit learning in the lab Serial reaction time (SRT) task (the OG Guitar Hero). Complete this short demo: https://try.cognitionlab.com/ demo/demo_types/implearn/shell.html Since it is a short demo, try it a second time. Did you feel that you were faster on the second round? https://cognitionlab.com/project/ serial-reaction-time-task/ 6  Destrebecqz, A., & Cleeremans, A. (2001). Can sequence learning be implicit? New evidence with the process dissociation procedure. 7 Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8, 343-350. What affects explicit learning? Explicit learning refers to the intentional learning of new infor- mation and material. levels of processing used to process the material – elaborative processing – self-referential effects – encoding specificity – transfer appropriate processing distinctiveness testing effect Levels of processing theory (Craik & Lockhart, 1972) Learning and memory for material is more effective when the material is processed at a deeper level of analysis. Shallow analysis is less effective (e.g., physical aspects of the stimulus) Deeper analysis is more effective (e.g., meaning or semantic aspects of the stimulus) Craik & Tulving (1975)’s Study Study phase Study 60 words under 3 conditions: shallow condition: decide if word is in upper or lowercase intermediate condition: decide if word rhymes with a tar- get word deep condition: decide if word fits in a sentence (Surprise) test decide which of the 180 words were shown previously (old- new recognition memory task) 8 Why was recall best for the deep task? Craik and Tulving argued that it is the depth of processing that mattered, not mere amount of processing (e.g. rehearsal). What are other ways to improve memory? elaboration: increasing the amount of processing for a certain kind (e.g., using the word in a simple vs. complex sentence) self-reference: make the information meaningful to your- self survival emphasis: make the information relevant to your survival Transfer-appropriate processing Morris et al. (1977): Recognition memory was better for the intermediate phoneme condition when the recognition test was a rhyming recognition task. 9 Memory performance is best when processing at time of re- trieval is highly similar to processing at the time of learning. Encoding specificity principle: We also encode the conditions surrounding a piece of information. When the conditions are the same at the point of retrieval, this acts like a cue to retrieve the information. The distinctiveness effect Memory traces that are different from other memory traces are better remembered. 1. Their distinctiveness acts like a retrieval cue. 2. Their distinctiveness reduces interference effects. TELEPHONE CUSHION LAMB STOVE MIRROR GIRAFFE MOUSE CUSHION LAMB MONKEY The testing effect: Roediger & Karpicke (2006)’s Study Method students read a prose passage about a scientific topic in 3 conditions 1. Read 4 times. No recall. 10  2. Read 3 times. 1 recall attempt. 3. Read 1 time. 3 recall attempts. More in Tutorial 3! Roediger III, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Recall memory is the best for STTT! Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term Take home message: Some “desirable difficulty” experienced in retention. Psychological Science, retrieving the information while learning about the information 17 (3), 249-255. is highly effective for learning. Evaluation: Is implicit learning different from explicit learning? Amnesic patients have more problems with explicit mem- ory than implicit memory, i.e., these patients’ implicit learning is relatively intact. Implicit learning is less influenced by age than explicit learning; younger and older adults show similar perfor- mance on the SRT. Implicit learning performance is less strongly correlated with IQ (and other individual differences like language acquisition) than explicit learning 11 Evaluation: Is implicit learning different from explicit learning? Neuroscientific, behavioral, and clinical evidence supports the distinction between these two types of learning and memory systems. Discuss: How can you use what you’ve learned about explicit learning to improve your forgetting curve? (or do well in this course!) Today’s Topic: Learning and Long-term memory (Week 5) After today’s lecture, you have learned about: 1. The differences between short-term and long-term mem- ory, explicit and implicit learning, declarative and non- declarative memory. 12  2. Key theories and phenomena associated with explicit learning (i.e., levels of processing, distinctiveness, testing effect). 3. and implicit learning (i.e., classical & operant condition- ing, observational learning). See you next week for the lecture on “Semantic memory”! 13