Cognitive Processes Lecture Notes PDF

Cognitive Processes Aug. 20th Introduction Name: Alan Hernandez Cognition: Learning & Memory UTA Email: coming soon! In the meantime, contact me through Canvas Office hours Tuesday: 11:30 am – 1:30 pm Wednesday: 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm Office: Life Science Building 404 Ap...

Cognitive Processes Aug. 20th Introduction Name: Alan Hernandez Cognition: Learning & Memory UTA Email: coming soon! In the meantime, contact me through Canvas Office hours Tuesday: 11:30 am – 1:30 pm Wednesday: 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm Office: Life Science Building 404 Appointments & online meetings also work! Class intro Syllabus – on Canvas Review it as soon as you can More info about... Exams Assignments/Activities Grades Textbook: Cognitive Psychology (3rd edition) McBride, Cutting, Zimmerman Quick review Exams 3 exams (including final) Online (Canvas) Bring laptop to class on exam days Must be present in the room to take exam Use LockDown Browser Will not use webcams Check syllabus for exam dates Quizzes We’ll have a few of them Dates announced in class They can be Multiple choice, T/F Assignments (Sage Vantage) Knowledge checks as you read through the textbook chapters Due dates will be announced in Class/Canvas In-class Activities/Attendance Activities can be... Short written answers Polls Surveys And they can also count as attendance Although attendance may also be taken on a sign-in sheet Optimizing learning... In Module section on Canvas... Optimizing Learning in College: Tips from Cognitive Psychology Study Habits (Kornell & Bjork, 2007) Learning Strategies What causes lightning? https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=VqXnN_FQfrc  Which condition benefits learning the most? A. Images with text Lightning comes from Thunderstorms form As air rises in the The updraft carries the electrical charges that when warm, moist air atmosphere, clouds form positively charged ice caption build up within a storm rises high into the when water vapor in the crystals higher and s cloud. atmosphere. This rising air cools into water drops higher into the cloud. air is called an updraft. called droplets. These The thunderstorm cloud cloud droplets and ice is mostly negatively crystals collide and form charged, which causes a larger particles, called mostly positive charge to graupel. form on the ground. B. Animati on with audio narratio n Learning Strategies Static vs Multimedia/animation Multimedia Can contain larger amounts of extraneous info E.g., movement, sound effects Cognitive resources can be devoted to Irrelevant details Instead of processing the learning material Static media Reduction of irrelevant info More resources available to process learning material Can engage in generative processing (that helps learning) e.g., mental animation, explanations Static media can be better, or just as good, as multimedia for learning i.e., multimedia does not necessarily provide a boost to learning Learning Strategies Study vocabulary erklären list – to explain If you were studying for an stehen – to stand laufen – to walk upcoming exam (e.g. German vocabulary exam)... How would you study? Restudy/ Test over Read list a the Which method leads to better second erklärentime – to explain vocabulary (& check erklären – ??? learning? stehen – to stand answers) stehen – ??? laufen – to walk laufen – ??? A. Rereading the material? B. Testing yourself over the material? Learning Strategies Study vocabulary erklären list – to explain Restudying vs Testing stehen – to stand laufen – to walk Testing provides greater benefits to retention (vs restudying) Helps practice recalling/retrieving Restudy/ Test over Read list a the the info from long-term memory second vocabulary i.e., same process involved during erklärentime – to explain (& check erklären – ??? an exam stehen – to stand answers) stehen – ??? laufen – to walk laufen – ??? Learning Strategies Learning about the Sleep Sta ges Which condition benefits learning the most? A B When someone begins to fall asleep, they enter stage 1, during which an EEG records low-amplitude waves of mixed- but mostly high-frequencies. Next, the person enters stage 2 sleep. This is characterized by the presence of phenomena on an EEG known as sleep spindles and K complexes...  Which condition benefits learning the most? A B C When someone begins to fall asleep, they When someone + enter stage 1, during which an EEG records low-amplitude waves of mixed- begins to fall asleep, but mostly high-frequencies. Next, the they enter stage 1, person enters stage 2 sleep. This is during which an EEG characterized by the presence of records low- phenomena on an EEG known as sleep amplitude waves of spindles and K complexes... mixed-but mostly high-frequencies...  Learning Strategies Single Code vs Dual Code Dual code presentation Better retention when info presented in dual modalities E.g., auditory & visual (presentation/diagrams) Different modalities use different resource pools Less likely to have an overload of info E.g., redundant info from (visual) text and audio Can create greater amount of retrieval routes Learning Strategies Spaced learning vs Massed learning (Kornell & Bjork, 2008) Spacing learning is more effective than “massing” it It helps... Create different learning “episodes” Practice retrieving info from LTM Improve attention (by having “breaks between learning sessions) Spacing helped inductive learning i.e., learning of a category from previous examples Helps compare/contrast examples... Which can lead to noticing how categories/concepts relate to each other Also aids retention Learning Strategies Consider the following scenario... Two assignments ask students to learn the list of cranial nerves using a mnemonic device. Assignment A includes a commonly used mnemonic device PROVIDED by the instructor to assist students in their learning. Assignment B asks students to CREATE their own mnemonic device to assist their learning. After 2 weeks, all students are asked to list the cranial nerves in order. Which condition benefits learning the most? A. Using the provided mnemonic device (Assignment A) B. Using the created mnemonic device (Assignment B) Learning Strategies Generating vs Non-Generating Generation demands more cognitive resources that promote retention Can require more attention, helping to encode the info better More likely to engage in active processing Structuralism Goal: Wilhelm Wundt (sitting down) Investigate “immediate” experience i.e., stimuli without any interpretation Research structure of the mind by looking for... Basic components/elements E.g., sensations: sight, hearing, taste, etc. Connections between elements Rules or laws for the interactions of elements Structuralism What method did the structuralists use? Introspection Method learned (by his graduate students) through lengthy training Did not involve the “common” introspection of thoughts Self-report of experience during experiment Experiments included presentation of physical stimuli (e.g., a light)... stimulus presented with systematic variations/changes Participants (his students) reported judgements of size, duration, intensity, shape, color of stimulus Must not include interpretation or meaning Structuralism Introspection “rules”: Proper training of subjects (i.e., students) Repeated presentation of stimulus Why would these rules be important? Early psychology Beginning of standardized methods Intended to be suitable for the “rigor” of scientific research Repeated observations to increase reliability and accuracy of self- reports Consider... 1. What do you think might be the main issues or limitations with the method of structuralism? Subjective method Not testable How do you confirm subject has access to the How do you... element? Compare observations? Is the output/response the same as the Assess accuracy of observation? element? Is element info forgotten between perception and (verbal) response Structuralism Interest in the mind mostly regarding sensation and perception “Higher” consciousness/functions E.g., memory Unable to be scientifically studied No (available) reliable method for such investigations Functionalism William James (1842-1910) Resisted stripping consciousness to elements i.e., mind should not be reduced to elements Asserted consciousness should be studied as a continuous and ongoing whole Conceptualized consciousness more like a... Continuous flow of experience i.e., a single “stream of consciousness” (James considered it a bit pretentious to try to be so exact) i.e., in finding the mind’s basic elements Functionalism What is the mind’s function? How does it work? What is its purpose? For James, the main function was action Focus on the use or function of the mind... On its ability to adapt/survive in the environment Structuralism  Functionalism Contents of the mind  processes of the mind (“what the mind does”) Function? Structure? Where? Can mental processes be observed? Some proposed that if they can’t be observed, can’t scientifically investigate them Can’t be observed, then not scientific Focus on what is observable and measurable Introspection not a good scientific method For psychology to be conducted as a (proper) science... Shift in its focus Mind/consciousness  Behavior Behaviorism “Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods...” Watson (1913) “The time seems to have come when psychology must discard all reference to consciousness; when it need no longer delude itself into thinking that it is making mental states the object of observation.” Watson (1913) Behaviorism John Watson (1878 – 1958) The aim of psychology should be controlling & predicting behavior “practical” aim Focus on method: Conduct studies that yield results that are... Reliable (e.g., replicable) Observable Psychology could benefit from using methods from animal studies E.g., not using introspection (unreliable) Behaviorism Animals & humans Can learn about human behavior from observing/understanding animal behavior Conditioned reflexes basis for behavior “Elements” of behavior for developing complex behaviors E.g., motor reflex Repeatedly pairing a bell sound with a shock After a while, the sound of the bell alone can cause the reflex Behaviorism “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant- chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” Little Albert Fear conditioning Behaviorism Little Albert Initially unafraid of a rat Then, the pairing of... White rat with loud noise (metal bar struck by hammer) Loud noise to elicit fear (i.e., crying) So that, he associates the rat with fear Behaviorism Later, check if fear generalizes to similar stimuli E.g., other animals (rabbit, dog), furry objects (fur coat, santa mask)  Predictions 1. Will there be a conditioning of fear? If not, why do you think there was no conditioning? 2. If so, do you think the fear response will generalize to the other stimuli? Animals: Rabbit, dog Furry objects: Coat, Santa mask Behaviorism Generalization Rabbit: no response, stares at rabbit Only cried when rabbit placed on lap Was the crying due to conditioning? Behaviorism Generalization Coat: Tries to move away Was it fear? Or due to coat shoved in his face? Behaviorism Generalization Dog: Showed signs of distress Was it fear? Or Watson’s movement of dog on leash? Behaviorism Generalization Mask: He backs away Was it fear? Overall, at best, weak and inconsistent conditioning Behaviorism B.F. Skinner (1904 – 1990) “Stronger” behaviorism than Watson Dismissed any non-observable factor Reduction to stimulus-response (S-R) pairings Psychology to be conducted using only... Observable terms Such as concrete objects Move away from theoretical terms Unobservable things E.g., memory, motivation Behaviorism Skinner Box Used for operant conditioning Reinforcement of behavior to shape it Reinforcer – food pellets Operant – level pressing Behavior prior a reinforcer is more likely to be repeated in the future (reinforced) i.e., behavior depends on what happens after it Skinner: Human learning is operant conditioning E.g., language: child’s “speech” rewarded by parent’s smile or other rewarding behavior Behaviorism Pigeon Missile Behaviorism 1. Aside from the ones mentioned, what other limitations do you see in behaviorism? Hint: think of the methods and topics Animal studies: There are some similarities between animals and humans But, some human behavior too complex or different e.g., language Overambitious: Attempted to explain everything about psychology only in terms of behavior Only using S-R pairings, or operant conditioning 2. According to behaviorists, what kind of role do people have during learning? Passive, learning depends on subjecting people to pleasant/unpleasant stimuli to increase or decrease behavior Strong environmental influence Behaviorism Eventually, behaviorism criticized for inability to... Deal with complex issues/functions/behaviors For example Memory Language Learning Emotion Behaviorists - Structuralists Behaviorists focus on stimulus- Respons Stimul response pairs ignored the mind us e/ Behavio (internal processes) r Disregarded introspective reports Introspecti ve report Previous psychologists (e.g., structuralists) did focus on the mind... Stimul us But relied on introspective reports unreliable for their aim  Introspection? But, later argued that... Able to make inferences about Introspecti ve report internal processes by... What is Using introspective reports as data used their in combination with empirical Respons relationshi observations Stimul p? e/ i.e., what is the relationship between the us Behavio report data and observation of responses/behaviors r Introspective reports not necessarily taken as validly reflecting the mind The introspective process doesn’t have to be perfect to be useful i.e., the observer’s report doesn’t have to be 100% correct  Introspection? Although, that leaves the Introspecti questions... ve report What are we accessing? What is And how? their Respons relationshi Stimul p? e/ us Behavio r Class Activity #1 (part 1) Given your previous answers... 1. When we make judgements about our own cognition, what are we accessing in our minds? 2. Are we accurate in our assessments about our own cognition? 3. What do you think influences our accuracy? Metacognition Metacognition Knowledge or awareness of our own cognition (“thinking about thinking”) E.g., what we know about our ongoing memory processes Also involves the modification of our cognitive processes E.g., rereading a sentence we don’t understand Should investigate it as it seems to influence... Other thoughts Behavior Metacognitive Judgment Judgement of Learning (JOL) Assessment about how well something is learned For example: For the following word pair (seen before)... crowd – ? How likely are you to remember the second word? 0% (not at all) – 100% (definitely) A few more questions... Let’s take a short assessment of our metacognition There are no right or wrong answers, simply try to answer as accurately as possible Consider... 1. During class time I often miss important points because I'm thinking of other things. 2. When reading for a course, I make up questions to help focus my reading. 3. When I become confused about something I'm reading for class, I go back and try to figure it out. 4. If course materials are difficult to understand, I change the way I read the material. 5. Before I study new course material thoroughly, I often skim it to see how it is organized. 6. I ask myself questions to make sure I understand the material I have been studying in class. 7. I try to change the way I study in order to fit the course requirements and instructor's teaching style. 8. I often find that I have been reading for class but don't know what it was all about. 9. I try to think through a topic and decide what I am supposed to learn from it rather than just reading it over when studying. 10.When studying for a course I try to determine which concepts I don't understand well. 11.When I study for class, I set goals for myself in order to direct my activities in each study period. 12.If I get confused taking notes in class, I make sure I sort it out afterwards. Metacognition Metacognition Knowledge or awareness of our own cognition (“thinking about thinking”) E.g., what we know about our ongoing memory processes Also involves the modification of our cognitive processes E.g., rereading a sentence we don’t understand Should investigate it as it seems to influence... Other thoughts Behavior When we make a metacognitive judgement, what information are we using? i.e., what are we accessing in our cognition? Metacognitive Judgements Direct Access View Having direct access to our memory traces E.g., directly assess the current strength of a memory Or assess its change in strength Use access to make metacognitive judgements Do you think we have direct access to our memory traces? E.g., assessing how strong is a memory Yes No Why? Class Activity #1 (part 2) Do you think we have direct access to our memory traces? E.g., assessing how strong is a memory Yes No Why? (1 sentence) How likely are you to remember the second word when given the first? 0% (not at all) – 100% (definitely) water – water loaf – bread note – card vine – smart Decide... Based on your previous judgements 1. which pair would receive the highest JOLs? A. water – water B. loaf – bread C. note – card 2. Which pair is most likely to be remembered? D. vine – smart Metacognitive Judgements (Castel et al., 2007) After studying word pairs of different types (see figure)... Compare predicted & actual memory performance Overall, predictions did not match actual memory recall If we have access to memory trace, then learn – smart smart – smart predictions & performance should have vine – smart clever – smart matched Does not support Direct access view If we don’t have direct access, what do we use to make metacognitive judgments? Word Pairs (Mueller et al., 2012) crowd – TiE – CoAT Participants studied word rice pairs displayed in different formats 4 sec. each, then made judgement of learning table – cellar – hurt Word Pairs (Mueller et al., 2012) crowd – TiE – CoAT What do you think will be rice results? Why? table – cellar – hurt  Metacognition (Mueller et al., 2012) Participants made metacognitive crowd – TiE – CoAT rice judgement based on prior belief Prior belief: related words easier to remember (relative to non-related words) From belief inferred they will be more likely to be recalled Pre-study survey “described a hypothetical experiment in which students studied both related and unrelated pairs” Expected correct recall: 68% for related words 36% for unrelated table – cellar – hurt Metacognitive Judgements Belief/theory-based judgements Based on remembered content of beliefs or knowledge E.g., based on info from long-term memories Such as, belief semantic relatedness helps learning Anagrams (Topolinski et al., 2016) Participants saw anagrams edisepo itnstiao u (5 sec. each), then made solution judgement Types of anagrams: Short or long With solution or without solution (nonanagrams) Easy or hard to pronounce  Anagrams (Topolinski et al., 2016) edisepo itnstiao 1. What do you think will be u results? Why?  Anagrams (Topolinski et al., 2016) Easier pronunciation more edisepo itnstiao u likely to be considered solvable Regardless of anagram length or “solvability” Metacognitive judgement made based on how easy anagram was to read From this ease, inferred which would be solvable Cue-Utilization View Cue-Utilization View Base metacognitive judgments on inferences made from cues Accuracy dependent on validity of cues Judgements can be accurate if... Cues (used at judgement) are similar to factors that influence memory performance Cue-Utilization View Intrinsic Cues Characteristics of learning material For example: Relationship between items Related words given higher JOLs cow-pasture (↑) vs eye-string (↓) Concreteness “concrete” words (e.g., cup) (↑) vs abstract words (e.g., justice) (↓) Extrinsic Cues Conditions at encoding For example: Massed vs Spaced study # of repetition of study words Encoding processes E.g., focusing on how words sound, imagery Trivia Questions What is the largest planet in the solar system? Jupiter What is the name for the astronomical bodies that enter the earth's atmosphere? Meteors What is the last name of the man who proposed the theory of relativity? Einstein What is the name of the largest ocean on earth? Pacific What is the name of the legendary one-eyed giant in greek mythology? Cyclops Cue-Utilization View Experience-based judgements Can be based on an experienced process E.g., Internal experience of a memory For example: Retrieval latency/fluency (Benjamin et al., 1998) Higher prediction ratings for answers to trivia questions retrieved more quickly Fastest Slowest Cue-Utilization View Experience-based judgements Can be based on an experienced process E.g., Internal experience of a memory For example: Retrieval latency/fluency (Benjamin et al., 1998) Higher prediction ratings for answers to trivia questions retrieved more quickly Encoding Fluency (Castel et al., 2007) Ease of encoding smart – learn – vine – smart smart clever – smart smart  Cue-Utilization View Similar result when presenting words with different volume levels (Rhodes & Castel, 2009) Perceptual fluency Ease of perceiving (i.e., hearing) led to higher judgements of learning (JOL) Correct recall: same between volume conditions i.e., cue of fluency not diagnostic of memory performance If they had access to memory trace, would have been more accurate in our metacognitive judgements Metacognitive illusion Cue not diagnostic of memory recall Metacognition Are our metacognitive judgements always inaccurate? What can we do to make metacognitive judgments more accurate? For example, study crowd – rice Then make judgment of learning (JOL) E.g., How likely are you to remember the second word when given the first? A. Immediately after studying pair B. Or make a delayed judgments (e.g., 25 min. after) Immediate JOLs Judgment made using info from short-term memory E.g., can mistake the fluency of retrieval with how well something is known Delayed JOLs Assessing info from Long-term memory (LTM) Judgment based on more stable, diagnostic info Greater intervals between study & JOL  can help accuracy Info from STM no longer available Helps improve monitoring accuracy Metacognition To improve the accuracy of our metacognitive judgements... Delay making JOLs E.g., 20 min. after studying material Retrieve from LTM Test over the material i.e., recalling the material, rather than rereading/restudying it E.g., study cow – skate  test cow - ?? Testing using cue only Multiple study-test rounds Metacognition Processes Monitoring Evaluating our own cognition E.g., assessing what I’m currently thinking about Imperfect monitoring Criticism of introspective methods But, even if flawed, can still... Be used in conjunction with other empirical data Show how metacognitive judgement can act as input which can influence behavior/actions Control Actions that change or regulate our cognition i.e., self-regulation of actions that can influence cognition Based on the info from our monitoring Metacognition Is the following sentence true? “Thiss sentence contains threee errors.” Metacognition Processes Meta level Awareness of ongoing cognition “higher level” than object-level Object level Can be our current cognition E.g., reading, learning/encoding, recalling, others thoughts we may have, behaviors Metacognition Processes For example, during learning... While reading (object level) a textbook chapter, can think of the goals you have (i.e., understand the material) (meta level) Based on assessment (monitoring) of comprehension we can select (control) to reread a chapter that we didn’t fully understand Once we believe we’ve understood it (monitoring) we can decide to stop reading the chapter (control)  Metacognitive Processes Monitoring and control can Monitoring occur at different stages of the learning process i.e., metacognitive processes influence how we learn/study How may metacognitive Control judgements (e.g., JOL) influence how we allocate (i.e., control) study time? Study time allocation Discrepancy reduction Attempt to master the material Focus on reducing difference between... What is learned/known & what is to be learned Prioritize unlearned material i.e., driven by low JOLs For example: difficult material Drawback: Time constraints: might not have enough study time to master material Spend too much time on very difficult material Study time allocation Region of proximal learning Takes into account study time available 1. Begin by “eliminating” well-learned material 2. Then, study unlearned material if it’s learnable E.g., not too difficult (low priority) Prioritize unlearned material considered easy Then move on to more difficult material Focus on greater “pay-off” i.e., given time limit, what can I learn? Drawback: May not learn difficult material as it was not studied (i.e., considered unlearnable given time constraints) Study time allocation Agenda-based regulation Agenda determines what gets prioritized In addition to JOLs, studying influenced by... Available time Plans/goals E.g., getting an “A” Incentives E.g., prioritize material worth more on exam Or material considered more important (likely to be tested) Drawback: Change in plans/goals E.g., study some chapters more thinking exam will focus on them, but turns out exam will not test them much