Midterms - Cognitive Psychology PDF

LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE RENE DESCARTES (1596 – 1650) – PSYCHOLOGY Rationalism COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY - “Corgito ergo sum” - the study of how people perceive, learn, - Mental representat...

LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE RENE DESCARTES (1596 – 1650) – PSYCHOLOGY Rationalism COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY - “Corgito ergo sum” - the study of how people perceive, learn, - Mental representations remember, and think. Descartes raised, directly or indirectly, EXAMPLES: virtually all the significant issues related to the foundations of the science of the How people perceive various shapes mind. Why do they remember some facts and forget others He had taken the principles from his How they learn language writings on meteors, optics, mathematics, COGNITION (Ashcraft, 2002) and mechanics and considered their applicability to human phenomena. - the collection of mental processes and activities used in perceiving, learning, - Innate ideas remembering, thinking, and understanding, JOHN LOCKE (1632-1704) – Empiricism and the act of using those processes. - “tabula rasa” (“blank slate”) FROM PLATO TO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY both sighted and blind people ought to be able to learn the meanings of words like 2.1 PHILOSOPHICAL ANTECEDENTS OF statue and feel but the blind ought to be PSYCHOLOGY unable to acquire words like picture and see.. PLATO (ca. 428-348 B.C) – Rationalism - Learning - Nature of reality - Humas are born without knowledge Reality resides not in the concrete objects we perceive but in the abstract forms that No innate ideas these objects represent. 2.2 PHILOSOPHICAL ANTECEDENTS OF - How to investigate reality COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Observation is misleading STRUCTURALISM The route to knowledge is through logical Goal of psychology analysis To understand the structure of the mind ARISTOTLE (ca. 384- 322 B.C) – Empiricism and its perceptions by analyzing those - Nature of reality perceptions into their constituent components Reality lies only in the concrete world of objects that our bodies sense Method - How to investigate reality Introspection – looking inward at pieces of information passing through The route to knowledge is through consciousness empirical evidence, obtained through experience and observation Proponents Observations of the external world are Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Titchener the only means to arrive at truth. FUNCTIONALISM 2.3 EMERGENCE OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY Goal of psychology KARL LASHLEY (1890-1958) To study the processes of mind rather than its contents - Psychobiological arguments against behaviorism Method - Playing piano Various methods – introspection, observation, experiment On a behaviorist, stimulus-response account, an activity such as rapidly Proponents playing a correct sequence of notes from William James –Principles memory on an instrument would involve of an associative chain of stimuli and Psychology (1890) responses Such associative chains can not explain BEHAVIORISM the behavior; input is never put into a Goal of psychology static system, but always into a system that is actively organized To study observable behavior Any hypotheses about internal thoughts NOAM CHOMSKY and ways of thinking are nothing more - Linguistic arguments against behaviorism than speculation We can not say anything meaningful - Arguments from language acquisition about cognition Behaviorists can not explain how children Method can produce novel sentences they never heard Animal experiments, conditioning Infinite number of sentences we can experiments produce can not be learned by Proponents reinforcement – there must be a cognitive algorithmic structure in our mind John Watson, B.F. Skinner underlying language GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY ALAN TURING Goal of psychology - Development of first computers To understand psychological phenomena as organized, structured wholes His “Colossus” computer helped break The whole differs from the sum of its parts the German “Enigma” codes during the World War II Method It has been estimated that this work Various methods – experiment, shortened the war in Europe by two years observation - Analogy between computers and human Proponents minds Hardware (brain), Software (mind) Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Köhler Thinking can be described in terms of algorithmic manipulation of some information These ideas gave rise to the information processing paradigm in psychology – cognitive psychology  Disadvantages RESEARCH METHODS IN COGNITIVE - Often very expensive; risk of making PSYCHOLOGY inferences about normal functions based on abnormal brain functioning How does scientific investigation work? 3. Self-reports - Theory development Characterization - Hypotheses formulation - Participant’s reports of own cognition in - Hypotheses testing progress or as recollected - Data gathering Advantages - Data analysis - Introspective insights from participant’s point of Ecological Validity view, which may be unavailable via other means - The degree to which particular findings in one Disadvantages context may be considered relevant outside of - Inability to report on processes occurring that context. outside conscious awareness 1. Controlled Laboratory Experiments - Data gathering may influence cognitive Characterization process being reported - An experimenter conducts research in a 4. Case Studies laboratory setting in which he controls as many Characterization aspects of the experimental situation as possible - Intensive study of a single individual Advantages Advantages - Enables isolation of causal factors - Richly detailed information about individuals, including information about historical and - Excellent means of testing hypotheses current contexts Disadvantages - Very good for theory development - Often lack of ecological validity Disadvantages 2. Psychobiological Research - Small sample; questionable generalization to Characterization other cases - Studies the relationship between cognitive 5. Naturalistic Observation performance and cerebral events and Characterization structures - Observing real-life situations, as in classrooms, Examples: postmortem studies, animal studies, work settings, or homes studies in vivo (PET, fMRI, EEG) Advantages Advantages - High ecological validity - “hard” evidence of cognitive functions by relating them to physiological activity Disadvantages - Lack of experimental control 6. Computer Simulations and Artificial - Cognitive psychologists need to learn a variety Intelligence of different kinds of techniques to study cognition Characterization 4. Basic research in cognitive psychology Simulation: Attempt to make computers may lead to application, applied research simulate human cognitive performance may lead to basic understanding AI: Attempt to make computers demonstrate - Basic research often leads to immediate intelligent cognitive performance (regardless of application its resemblance to human cognitive processing) Example: finding that learning is superior when Advantages it is spaced out over time rather than crammed - Clear testing of theoretical models and into a short time interval predictions - Applied research often leads to basic findings Disadvantages Example: eyewitness testimony research has - Limits of hardware and software enhanced our basic understanding of memory KEY THEMES IN COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY systems and of the extent to which humans construct their own memories 1. Data without a theory is meaningless, theory without data is empty LESSON 2: PERCEPTION Example: the observation that people’s ability to PERCEPTION recognize faces is better than their ability to - In order to receive information from the recall faces environment we are equipped with sense organs e.g. eye, ear, nose. Each sense organ is part of - This is an interesting generalization but it does a sensory system which receives sensory inputs not explain why there is such a difference and transmits sensory information to the brain A theory provides - A particular problem for psychologists is to - An explanation of the data explain the process by which the physical energy received by sense organs forms the - Basis for prediction of other data basis of perceptual experience. 2. Cognitive processes interact with each SENSATION other and with noncognitive processes - refer to the physical stimulation of the sensory - Even though cognitive psychologists often try receptors. to study specific cognitive processes in isolation, they know that cognitive processes PERCEPTIONS work together - involves interpreting this sensory information Examples - Sensory inputs are somehow converted into - Memory processes depend on perceptual perceptions of desks and computers, flowers processes and buildings, cars and planes; into sights, - Thinking depends on memory sounds, smells, taste and touch experiences. - Motivation interacts with learning SENSATION DOES NOT EQUAL PERCEPTION! 3. Cognition needs to be studied through a variety of scientific methods - There is no one right way to study cognition PERCEPTUAL BASICS to which they rotate indicates to your brain how near or far an object is. Sensory Adaptation - Occurs when sensory receptors change their Binocular Disparity sensitivity to the stimulus - refers to the difference in image location of an Our senses respond to change object seen by the left and right eyes, resulting from the eyes' horizontal separation (parallax). - ganzfled effect PERCEPTUAL ILLUSIONS PERCEPTUAL CONSTANCY Sometimes we cannot perceive what does exist Object remains the same even though our sensation of the object changes Sometimes we perceive things that do not exist - Size constancy vs. shape constancy Sometimes we perceive what cannot be there DEPTH PERCEPTION MAJOR THEORIES Binocular depth cues vs Monocular cues - A major theoretical issue on which Binocular cues psychologists are divided is the extent to which perception relies directly on the information - include stereopsis, eye convergence, disparity, present in the environment. Some argue that and yielding depth from binocular vision through perceptual processes are not direct, but depend exploitation of parallax. on the perceiver's expectations and previous Monocular cues knowledge as well as the information available - include size: distant objects subtend smaller in the stimulus itself. visual angles than near objects, grain, size, and GESTALT THEORY motion parallax MONOCULAR DEPTH CUES - perceptions are naturally organized according to certain patterns Texture gradients - whole is different from the sum of the - Grain of item parts GESTALT PRINCIPLES Relative size GESTALT THEORY: FIGURE GROUND - Bigger is closer - The figure-ground principle states that people Interposition instinctively perceive objects as either being in the foreground or the background. They either - Closer are in front of other objects stand out prominently in the front (the figure) or Linear perspective recede into the back (the ground). - Parallel lines converge in distance GESTALT THEORY: SIMILARITY Aerial perspective - The principle of similarity states that when things appear to be similar to each other, we - Images seem blurry farther away group them together. And we also tend to think Motion parallax they have the same function. - Objects get smaller at decreasing speed in GESTALT THEORY: PROXIMITY distance - The principle of proximity states that things that BINOCULAR DEPTH CUES are close together appear to be more related Binocular Convergence than things that are spaced farther apart. - is the phenomenon where your eyes rotate inwards to focus on an object, and the degree GESTALT THEORY: COMMON REGION and isolated words. This is because the meaning of the surrounding words provide a context to aid - The principle of common region is highly understanding. related to proximity. It states that when objects are located within the same closed region, we TOP DOWN PROCESSING THEORY perceive them as being grouped together. - Stimulus information from our environment is GESTALT THEORY: CONTINUITY frequently ambiguous so to interpret it, we require higher cognitive information either from - The principle of continuity states that elements past experiences or stored knowledge in order that are arranged on a line or curve are to makes inferences about what we perceive. perceived to be more related than elements not Helmholtz called it the ‘likelihood principle’. on the line or curve. - For Gregory perception is a hypothesis, which GESTALT THEORY: CLOSURE is based on prior knowledge. In this way we are - The principle of closure states that when we actively constructing our perception of reality look at a complex arrangement of visual based on our environment and stored elements, we tend to look for a single, information recognizable pattern. TOP DOWN PROCESSING SUMMARY - In other words, when you see an image that - A lot of information reaches the eye, but much has missing parts, your brain will fill in the blanks is lost by the time it reaches the brain (Gregory and make a complete image so you can still estimates about 90% is lost). recognize the pattern. - Therefore, the brain has to guess what a GESTALT THEORY: FOCAL POINT person sees based on past experiences. We - The focal point principle states that whatever actively construct our perception of reality. stands out visually will capture and hold the - Richard Gregory proposed that perception viewer’s attention first. involves a lot of hypothesis testing to make BOTTOM-UP AND TOP-DOWN THEORY sense of the information presented to the sense organs. - This controversy is discussed with respect to Gibson (1966) who has proposed a direct - Our perceptions of the world are hypotheses theory of perception which is a 'bottom-up' based on past experiences and stored theory, and information. Gregory (1970) who has proposed a - Sensory receptors receive information from the constructivist (indirect) theory of perception environment, which is then combined with which is a 'top-down' theory. previously stored information about the world Bottom-up Processing which we have built up as a result of experience. - is also known as data-driven processing, - The formation of incorrect hypotheses will lead because perception begins with the stimulus to errors of perception (e.g. visual illusions like itself. Processing is carried out in one direction the Necker cube) from the retina to the visual cortex, with each successive stage in the visual pathway carrying CRITICAL EVALUATION OF out ever more complex analysis of the input. GREGORY’S THEORY Top-down Processing 1. The Nature of Perceptual Hypotheses - refers to the use of contextual information in - One would expect that the knowledge we have pattern recognition. For example, understanding learned (from, say, touching the face and difficult handwriting is easier when reading confirming that it is not 'normal') would modify complete sentences than when reading single our hypotheses in an adaptive manner. 2. Perceptual Development AFFORDANCE - Relying on individual constructs for making - Are, in short, cues in the environment that aid sense of the world makes perception a very perception. Important cues in the environment individual and chancy process. include: 3. Sensory Evidence OPTICAL ARRAY: The patterns of light that reach the eye from the environment. - Constructivists like Gregory frequently use the example of size constancy to support their RELATIVE BRIGHTNESS: Objects with explanations. That is, we correctly perceive the brighter, clearer images are perceived as closer. size of an object even though the retinal image TEXTURE GRADIENT: The grain of texture gets of an object shrinks as the object recedes. They smaller as the object recedes. Gives the propose that sensory evidence from other impression of surfaces receding into the sources must be available for us to be able to do distance. this. RELATIVE SIZE: When an object moves further GIBSON (1966) AND BOTTOM UP away from the eye the image gets smaller. PROCESSING Objects with smaller images are seen as more - James Gibson (1966) argues that perception is distant. direct, and not subject to hypotheses testing as SUPERIMPOSITION: If the image of one object Gregory proposed. There is enough information blocks the image of another, the first object is in our environment to make sense of the world seen as closer. in a direct way. His theory is sometimes known as the ‘Ecological Theory’ because of the claim HEIGHT IN THE VISUAL FIELD: Objects further that perception can be explained solely in terms away are generally higher in the visual field. of the environment. VISUAL ILLUSION BOTTOM UP PROCESSING - Gibson's emphasis on DIRECT perception - Gibson (1972) argued that perception is a provides an explanation for the (generally) fast bottom-up process, which means that sensory and accurate perception of the environment. information is analyzed in one direction: from However, his theory cannot explain why simple analysis of raw sensory data to ever perceptions are sometimes inaccurate, e.g. in increasing complexity of analysis through the illusions. visual system. - He claimed the illusions used in experimental BOTTOM UP PROCESSING: FEATURES work constituted extremely artificial perceptual situations unlikely to be encountered in the real OPTIC ARRAY world, however this dismissal cannot realistically - The starting point for Gibson’s Theory was that be applied to all illusions the pattern of light reaching the eye, known as BOTTOM-UP OR TOP-DOWN PROCESSING? the optic array, containing all the visual information necessary for perception. - Neither direct nor constructivist theories of perception seem capable of explaining all INVARIANT FEATURES perception all of the time. Gibson's theory - the optic array contains invariant information appears to be based on perceivers operating that remains constant as the observer moves. under ideal viewing conditions, where stimulus Invariants are aspects of the environment which information is plentiful and is available for a don’t change. They supply us with crucial suitable length of time. Like Gregory's, have information. typically involved viewing under less than ideal conditions.  - the “mind” seems separate from the brain, apparently non-physical. LESSON 3: COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE - research suggests that the mind is a product COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE of the brain. - Field of study linking the brain and other aspects of the nervous system to cognitive - all of our thoughts and behaviors result from processing and, ultimately, to behavior. the interactions of the physical parts of the brain. LOCALIZATION OF FUNCTION FROM NEURON TO THE BRAIN: - Whether specific areas of the brain control STRUCTURE OF THE NEURONS specific abilities or behaviors. NEURONS THE MISSION OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE Individual neural cell - determine how the brain processes Transmit electrical signals from one information, builds memories, and makes location to another in the nervous system decisions. SOMA - figure out what makes us who we are. Responsible for the life of the neuron NEUROSCIENCE IS A RELATIVELY NEW Connects the dendrites to the axon FIELD DENDRITES - combines biology and psychology to connect Receives information from other neurons neural functions to behaviors. - “Neuroscience” was first used in the 1960s AXON WHICH PARTS MATTER? Long, thin tube that extends from the soma and responds to the information, when - explanations in cognitive neuroscience can be appropriate at the level of individual molecules or at the level MYELIN of systems or neurons. - all thoughts, memories, moods, and decisions White fatty substance which insulates and are brought about by the physical substance of protects axons and speeds up the conduction of information the brain. NODES OF RANVIER - alterations to the anatomy or chemistry of the brain result in changes to behavior. - the brain Small gaps in the myelin coating along the and therefore our thoughts and behaviors are axon, which serve to increase shaped by evolution. conduction speed even more Adaptation TERMINAL BUTTONS Mechanisms such as behaviors or Small knobs found at the ends of the physical traits that enhance the branches of an axon reproductive success of organisms that SYPNASE possess them. Our current thoughts or behaviors are Small gaps, which serve as a juncture between the terminal buttons of neurons adaptations that benefitted our and dendrites ancestors. FROM NEURON TO THE BRAIN: Selective lesioning ORGANIZATION OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM - Surgically removing or damaging part of the PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (PNS) brain to observe resulting functional deficits - all of the nerve cells except those of the brain 3. ELECTRICAL RECORDINGS and the spinal cord EEG Consists of: - Recording of electrical activity in the brain, Somatic voluntary part (sensory and which appears as waves of various widths and motor nerves) heights Autonomic involuntary part ERP Sympathetic (activated under stress) Parasympathetic (maintains body - EEG waves associated with a particular event functions) or task averaged over a large number of trials CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM ADVANTAGE Consists of: - Very good temporal resolution Brain – most directly controls our 4. STATIC IMAGING TECHNIQUES thoughts, emotions, and motivations - allow for the observation of large abnormalities Spinal Cord of the brain, such as damage resulting from strokes and tumors METHODS OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE NEURONS Examples: - individual neural cell CT: computerized axial tomography - transmits electrical signals from one location MRI: magnetic resonance imaging to another in the nervous system - a strong magnetic field is passed through the brain of a patient and a rotating scanner detects 1. POSTMORTEM STUDIES various patterns of electromagnetic changes in Characterization the molecules of the brain. - Researchers look carefully at the behavior of 5. METABOLIC IMAGING people who show signs of brain damage while they are alive After the patients die, the - relies on changes that take place within the researchers examine the patient’s brains for brain as a result of increased consumption of lesions. glucose or oxygen in active areas of the brain Examples Examples: - Paul Broca’s patient Tan PET: positron emission tomography - Speech problems, linked to lesions in an area - Increased glucose consumption in active brain of the frontal lobe now called Broca’s area areas 2. ANIMAL STUDIES fMRI: functional magnetic resonance imaging - increased oxygen consumption in active brain Single-cell recordings areas - Microelectrodes are inserted into the brain of an animal to measure the activity of a single neuron CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BRAIN IS THE BRAIN EQUIPPED TO UNDERSTAND - Results are subjected to independent peer ITSELF? review to reduce the biases that may have The brain has evolved to control three specific been introduced by the experimenter. classes of behaviors: THE PAYOFFS OF COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE Homeostatic behaviors – which maintain a normal range of survival parameter HEALING DISORDERED Agonistic behaviors – which defends against - Depression affects as many as 1 in 10 rivals individuals. Reproductive behaviors – which promote the - Techniques such as rTMS and deep brain continuation of the species. stimulation have been identified that can help alleviate the symptoms of conditions such as BIASES AND PITFALLS IN HUMAN depression, Parkinson’s disease, and COGNITION obsessive-compulsive disorder. - the anchoring bias refers to the tendency to be overly influenced by a single observation, ENHANCING HUMAN ABILITIES typically the first observation - Understanding how humans make decisions - the confirmation bias is the tendency to seek can provide insight into how to encourage us to out and emphasize information that matches make better decisions. our existing beliefs - Brain interface devices, such as cochlear - there is a long list of biases and heuristics that implants and implanted electrodes to enable adversely affect our ability to observe and paralyzed patients to move devices outside draw accurate conclusions about our own their own body, can restore lost functions to brain individuals Availability heuristic BLUEPRINTS FOR ARTIFICIAL COGNITION Affect heuristic - Researchers are learning from the brain to illusory correlation improve the abilities of our computing devices, belief bias such as speech recognition, locomotion, and A TOOLBOX OF CRITICAL-THINKING object recognition. TECHNIQUES - Such artificial “neural networks” are now being The scientific method provides a systematic used to recognize patterns of brain activity in way to study a process and avoid biases and brain imaging studies. heuristics. - Much remains to be done to find artificial - Make observations about the world. Develop equivalents to much human cognition a hypothesis to explain the observations. Generate testable predictions about the - Eyewitnesses are very compelling in the hypothesis. courtroom, but are notoriously unreliable. Perform experiments to test - Cognitive neuroscience can help understand the predictions and explain the factors that influence the - The results of one experiment help to refine memory of such witnesses the hypotheses for the next experiment. BRAIN-COMPATIBLE SOCIAL POLICIES - Experiments are repeated and extended to - our policies regarding punishment and show they are reproducible. treatment of addicts. - Such research suggests ways to attack the REALTIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTENTION AND demand for the drugs within the reward system CONSCIOUSNESS of the brain. ATTENTION + CONSCIOUSNESS - Modern neuroscientific research has important implications for criminal punishment and NO ATTENTION + NO CONSCIOUSNESS rehabilitation. ATTENTION + NO CONSCIOUSNESS - ‘It is estimated that about 25% of the American NO ATTENTION + CONSCIOUSNESS prison population has a mental illness, so providing appropriate care is important. CONCEPTS OF ATTENTION AND LESSON 4: ATTENTION AND CONSCIOUSNESS CONSCIOUSNESS ATTENTION PRECONCIOUS PROCESSING - is the means by which we actively process a - information that is available for cognitive limited amount of information from the processing but that currently lies outside of enormous amount of information available conscious awareness exists at the through our senses, our stored memories, and preconscious level of awareness our other cognitive process. PRIMING CONCIOUSNESS - processing of certain stimuli is facilitated by - more directly concerned with awareness prior presentation of the same or similar stimuli. – it includes both the feeling of awareness and Sometimes we are aware of the prime the content of awareness, some of which may sometimes we are not. Even when we are not be under the focus of attention. aware of the prime, the prime will influence the THE NATURE OF ATTENTION AND processing of the target. CONSCIOUSNESS ANTONY MARCEL (1983) DIFFERENT CONCEPTIONS OF - participants had to classify series of words into CONSCIOUSNESS various categories (e.g. pine-plant) BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL - primes where words with two meanings such as palm followed by target word (tree or hand) - different levels of arousal (sleep, coma, hyperactivity) Is this a plant? METACOGNITIVE Prime – PALM - reflection on your own cognitive process Target – TREE - being aware of cognitive processes - if the participant was consciously aware of seeing the word “palm”, the mental pathway for PSYCHOANALYTIC only one meaning was activated - Unconscious information – we do not have access to it in normal awakened state - if the word “palm” was presented so briefly that the person was unaware of seeing the word, PHENOMENOLOGICAL both meanings of the word appeared to be - what it is like to have an experience of activated. something - individual, subjective aspects of experience TIP-OF-THE-TONGUE PHENOMENON ATTENTION - we try to remember something that is known to be stored in memory but that cannot quite be 1. VIGILANCE AND SIGNAL DETECTION retrieved - we vigilantly try to detect whether we did or did not sense a signal (a particular target stimulus - people who can not come up with the word, of interest) but who thought they knew it, could identify the first letter, indicate the number of syllables, or VIGILANCE approximate the word’s sounds - a person’s ability to attend to a field of stimulation over a prolonged period, during BLINDSIGHT which the person seeks to detect the appearance of a particular target stimulus - lesions in some areas of the visual cortex EXAMPLE: - (Mackworth, 1948) - patients claim to be blind - participants were watching a clock hand took - when forced to guess about a stimulus in the a double step - substantial deterioration after “blind” region, they correctly guess locations half an hour of observation and orientations of objects at above-chance - vigilance can be increased with training levels 2. SEARCH CONTROLLED VERSUS AUTOMATIC PROCESSES SEARCH - scan the environment for particular features CONTROLLED PROCESS - whereas vigilance involves passively waiting - require intentional effort; full conscious for a signal stimulus to appear, search involves awareness; consume many attentional actively seeking out the target resources; performed serially; relatively slow DISTRACTERS AUTOMATIC PROCESS - nontarget stimuli that divert our attention away - little or no intention or effort; occur outside of from the target stimuli conscious awareness; do not require a lot of attention, performed by parallel processing; fast - can cause false alarm - many tasks that start off as controlled 2 KINDS OF SEARCH: processes eventually become automatic ones FEATURE SEARCH AUTOMATIZATION - when we can look for some distinctive features - the process by which a procedure changes from being highly conscious to being relatively of a target we simply scan the environment for automatic those features HABITUATION CONJUCTION SEARCH - we become accustomed to a stimulus, we - we look for a particular combination of features gradually notice it less and less (e.g. music and studying) SEARCH:THEORY DISHABITUATION FEATURE-INTEGRATION THEORY (ANNE - a change in a familiar stimulus prompts us to TREISMAN) start noticing the stimulus again - Each of us has mental map for representing SENSORY ADAPTATION the given set of features for a particular item - physiological phenomenon; not subject (shape, size, color features) to conscious control; occurs directly in the sense of organ, not the brain - During feature searches we monitor the THE COCKTAIL PARTY PROBLEM (CHERRY, relevant feature map for the presence of any 1953) activation in the visual field - the process of tracking one conversation in the - During conjunction searches, we can simply face of the distraction of other conversations use the map of features, we must conjoin SHADOWING two or more features into an object - listening to two different messages and representation at a particular location repeating back only one of the messages as SIMILARITY THEORY (DUNCAN AND soon as possible after you hear it HUMPHREYS) DICHOTIC PRESENTATION - As the similarity between target and distracter increases, so does the difficulty in - listening to two different messages (presenting detecting the target stimuli a different message to each ear) and attending to only one of them - Factors influencing search SELECTIVE ATTENTION:FILTER AND - Similarity between the target and the BOTTLENECK THEORIES distracters BROADBENT’S MODEL - Similarity among distracters (p. 86, 87) - we filter information right after it is registered GUIDED SEARCH THEORY (CAVE AND at the sensory level WOLFE) - all searches involve two consecutive stages MORAY’S SELECTIVE FILTER MODEL - selective filter blocks out most information at Parallel Stage – simultaneous activation of all the sensory level, but some highly salient the potential targets messages are so powerful that they burst through the filtering mechanism (e.g. your Serial Stage – sequential evaluation of each name) of the activated elements TREISMAN’S ATTENUATION MODEL MOVEMENT-FILTER THEORY (MCLEOD ET AL.) 1. We preattentively analyze the physical - Movement-filter – can direct attention to properties of a stimulus (stimuli with stimuli with a common movement target properties) characteristics 2. We analyze whether a given stimulus has a pattern, such as speech or music - movement can both enhance and inhibit 3. We sequentially evaluate the incoming visual search messages, assigning appropriate 3. SELECTIVE ATTENTION meanings to the selected stimuli messages STROOP EFFECT (STROOP, 1935) - demonstrates the psychological difficulty in DEUTSCH AND DEUTSCH’S LATE FILTER selectively attending to the color of the ink MODEL and trying to ignore the word that is printed - placed the signal-blocking filter later in the with the ink of that color process, after sensory analysis and also after some perceptual and conceptual analysis of - since reading is an automatic process (not input had taken place readily subject to your conscious control) you find it difficult intentionally to refrain from NEISSER’S SYNTHESIS reading and instead to concentrate on - two processes governing attention identifying the color of the ink Preattentive Processes (rapid, automatic, long-term memory includes complex coding, parallel) sorting, and recall functions Attentive Processes (controlled, occur later, serial) Brain Areas Included in Memory Hippocampus SELECTIVE ATTENTION: ATTENTIONAL RESOURCE THEORIES – a primitive structure deep in the brain, plays - we have attentional resources specific to a the single largest role in processing information given modality as memory Amygdala explains why we can study and listen to a music – an almond-shaped area near the but not listen to news hippocampus, processes emotion and helps 4. DIVIDED ATTENTION imprint memories that involve emotion Cerebral Cortex - the attentional system must perform two or more discrete tasks at the same time – the outer layer of the brain, stores most long- term memory in different zones, depending on Much better performance at two or more what kind of processing the information involves: automatic tasks (driving a car and speaking) language, sensory input, problem-solving, and than controlled tasks (wring and so forth comprehending read text) ◦ In addition, memory involves communication Lesson 5: Memory among the brain’s network of neurons, millions Memory of cells activated by brain chemicals called – it is the retention of, and ability to recall, neurotransmitters information, personal experiences, and Brain and Memory procedures (skills and habits). (Skeptic Dictionary) Types of Memory - is a label for a diverse set of cognitive Short-term Memory capacities by which humans and perhaps other – closely related to “working” memory—is the animals retain information and reconstruct past very short time that you keep something in mind experiences, usually for present purposes. before either dismissing it or transferring it to (Standford Encyclopedia) long-term memory Memory Systems - shorter than you might think, lasting less than Sensory Register a minute – environmental input, stimuli - it’s what allows you to remember the first half ▪ Quick Scan for Importance of a sentence you hear or read long enough to ▪ Precoding make sense of the end of the sentence. But in Working or Short-Term Memory order to store that sentence (or thought, fact, ▪ Coding idea, word, impression, sight, or whatever else) ▪ Rehearsal for longer than a minute or so, it has to be ▪ Recoding transferred to long-term memory Long-Term Memory Long-term Memory ▪ Process – is anything you remember that happened more ▪ Store than a few minutes ago ▪ Recall - long-term memories aren’t all of equal strength. Information processing within the sensory Stronger memories enable you to recall an register, working or short-term memory, and event, procedure, or fact on demand—for example, that Paris is the capital of France. - it proposed that human memory involves a Weaker memories often come to mind only sequence of three stages: through prompting or reminding ▪ Sensory memory (SM) Explicit (conscious) ▪ Short-term memory (STM) - Episodic Memory: specific personal events ▪ Long-term memory (LTM) and their context -Semantic Memory: general knowledge Memory Span about the world – the number of items, usually words or Implicit (unconscious) numbers, that a person can retain and recall - Priming - is a test of working memory (short -term - Procedural Memory memory) - in a typical test of memory span, an examiner Sensory Memory reads a list of random numbers aloud at about – is the ability to retain impressions of sensory the rate of one number per second. At the end information after the original stimulus has of a sequence, the person being tested is asked ceased to recall the items in order. The average span for - it refers to items detected by the sensory normal adults is seven to nine receptors which are retained temporarily in the sensory registers and which have a large Memory Process capacity for unprocessed information but are – human memory, like memory in a computer, only able to hold accurate images of sensory allows us to store information for later use. In information momentarily order to do this, however, both the computer and ▪ Iconic Memory we need to master three processes involved in ▪ Echoic Memory memory: Encoding Declarative Memory – the process we use to transform information so – is the aspect of human memory that stores that it can be stored facts Storage - it is so called because it refers to memories that – it simply means holding onto the information can be consciously discussed, or declared Retrieval - it applies to standard textbook learning and – it is bringing the memory out of storage and knowledge, as well as memories that can be reversing the process of encoding. In other 'travelled back to' in one's 'mind's eye’ words, return the information to a form similar to Procedural Memory what we stored – is the long-term memory of skills and Methods of Improving Memory procedures, or "how to" knowledge (procedural Recall knowledge) - involves digging into the memory and bringing - it is considered a form of implicit memory back information on a stimulus/response basis - e.g., "What is the capital of New Zealand?" Models of Memory Answer: "Wellington" The Atkinson-Shiffrin Model - often needs prompting with cues to help us – also known as the Multi-store model, is a retrieve what we are looking for. psychological model proposed in 1968 by - it is not a reliable form of memory and many of Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin as a us experience the feeling that we know the proposal for the structure of memory answer but simply can't dig the information out. This is the technique we use to remember Relate information to what you already know people's names, hence we often forget them - there are three types of recall: Organize information Free recall – when no cues are given to assist retrieval Understand and be able to interpret complex Serial recall material – when items are recalled in a particular order Cued recall Rehearse information frequently and “over- – when some cues are given to assist retrieval learn” Recognition (re+cognition) Be motivated and keep a positive attitude – is a process that occurs in thinking when some event, process, pattern, or object recurs Healthy habits to improve memory - coming from the base cognition; cognition has Regular exercise various uses in different fields of study and has - reduces the risk for disorders that lead to generally accepted to be used for the process of memory loss, such as diabetes and awareness or thought cardiovascular disease Relearning - increases oxygen to your brain – another means of remembering is through - may enhance the effects of helpful brain relearning chemicals and protect brain cells - relearned information may return quickly, even Managing stress if it hasn't been used for many years - cortisol, the stress hormone, can damage the hippocampus if the stress is unrelieved Tips for memory improvements - stress makes it difficult to concentrate Brain exercises Good sleep habits – memory, like muscular strength, is a “use it or - sleep is necessary for memory consolidation lose it” proposition. The more you work out your - sleep disorders like insomnia and sleep apnea brain, the better you’ll be able to process and leave you tired and unable to concentrate during remember information the day Aerobics Not smoking – the best way to improve our memories seems - smoking heightens the risk of vascular to be to increase the supply of oxygen to the disorders that can cause stroke and construct brain, which we can do by aerobic exercising. arteries that deliver oxygen to the brain Walking for three hours each week suffices, as Memory and aging does swimming or bicycle riding – several factors cause aging brains to experience changes in the ability to retain and General guidelines to improve memory retrieve memories: ◦ The hippocampus is especially vulnerable Pay attention to age-related deterioration, and that can – you can’t remember something if you never affect how well you retain information learned it, and you can’t learn something — that ◦ There’s a relative loss of neurons with age, is, encode it into your brain — if you don’t pay which can affect the activity of brain chemicals enough attention to it called neurotransmitters and their receptors ◦ An older person often experiences Involve as many senses as possible decreased blood flow to the brain and processes nutrients that enhance brain activity - in nature, the interfering items are said to less efficiently than a younger person originate from an over stimulating environment Forgetting (Retention Loss) – refers to apparent loss of information already Proactive interference encoded and stored in an individual's long term - Underwood (1957) provided early evidence memory that things you've learned before encoding a - it is a spontaneous or gradual process in which target item can worsen recall of that target item old memories are unable to be recalled from - in a meta-analysis of multiple experiments, he memory storage showed that the more lists one had already Amnesia learned, the more trouble one had in recalling – is loss of ability to memorize information or to the most recent one. This is proactive recall information stored in memory interference, where the prior existence of old - is most commonly associated with either brain memories makes it harder to recall newer damage through injury or degeneration of brain memories cells in dementia Retroactive interference Anterograde Amnesia - occurs when later learning interferes with – a patient cannot retain any new memory previous learning; Retrograde Amnesia - i.e., learning new things somehow overwrites – the patient cannot recall the past events or obscures existing knowledge Repression Output interference - refers to the inability to recall information, - occurs when the act of retrieving interferes with usually about stressful or traumatic events in the retrieval of the actual information needed in persons' lives, such as a violent attack or rape the first place - the memory is stored in long term memory, but - primarily, this is caused by the limited capacity access to it is impaired because of psychological of the short-term memory defense mechanisms - persons retain the capacity to learn new information and there may be some later partial or complete recovery of memory - this contrasts with e.g. anterograde amnesia caused by amnestics such as benzodiazepines or alcohol, where an experience was prevented from being transferred from temporary to permanent memory storage: it will never be recovered, because it was never stored in the first place - formerly known as "Psychogenic Amnesia" Interference theory - also known as retrieval interference (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006), refers to the idea that forgetting occurs because the recall of certain items interferes with the recall of other items