Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 2024 PDF

Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory How to remember better Attitudes to study / Effort – Self-schema (strengths, weaknesses, age) – Learn, don’t collect...

Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory How to remember better Attitudes to study / Effort – Self-schema (strengths, weaknesses, age) – Learn, don’t collect Use context Avoid interference Study at the best time of day for you Deep encoding Prepare before lectures and tutorials Evaluate your study technique – Put effort into finding the best strategy Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Attitudes to study “I’m not very good at statistics because I’m an arts student.” “It’s been a long time since I went to school and my brain is old.” Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Memory and aging What happens to neurons across our lifespan, and what does this do to our memory? What might be behind poorer memory as we age? Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Aging and attitudes, and memory Rahal, Hasher and Colcombe (2001) – memory task where half the subjects were told it was testing memory ability and the other half were told it was assessing their ability to learn trivia Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory From Weiten, 2012, p.292 Recall vs recognition Free recall task: report items from earlier study episode Recognition task: Select previously studied items from mixture of old and new items Recognition is better than recall, why? Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Multiple-choice exams Easier because information provided and only have to recognise it? – Are SHORT ANSWER questions fairer? Why are multiple-choice questions so hard? Need to have processed elaborately to retrieve related information and choose correct answer – Should you study for RECALL or RECOGNITION ? – What should you do during a multi-choice exam? – Should you study MCQ questions ? Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Context Retrieval is best when encoding and retrieval MATCH – Mood – Time and place – Thoughts and feelings – Smells – Images – Nature of the task Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory What did Godden and Baddeley (1975) do? Adapted from Godden & Baddeley (1975) When was recall best? 14 13 Mean words recalled 12 Wet learning environment 11 Dry learning environment 10 9 8 Dry Wet Recall environment Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory When was recognition best? Adapted from Godden & Baddeley (1980) 77 Why the difference? 76 Percentage recognized 75 74 Wet learning 73 environment 72 Dry learning environment 71 70 69 68 Dry Wet Recognition environment Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Encoding – Avoid distractions E.g. noises, chatter, television, messages – Silence is best Music (liked and disliked) interferes as much as speech (Perham & Vizard, 2011) http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp.1731/full – Seek serenity before or after study periods Sleep Walk/Jog/Swim/Kayak with your phone switched OFF Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Avoid interference Competition from other material Retroactive – new material affects old material Proactive – old material affects new material Similarity is important Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Encoding Study at the ‘optimal’ time of your day (May, Hasher, and Stoltzfus, 1993) Google “Ostberg Morning Eveningness” Are you a ‘lark’ or an ‘owl’ ? Example is from: http://www.quibblo.com/quiz/8pHLm63/Are-You-a-Lark-or-an-Owl Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Encoding Deep processing Asking questions / Elaboration of material Structuring material semantically Self-referent encoding Reading the same information from different sources, different authors Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory ‘Deep’ processing Source: p.277 of Weiten, 2012 Is the logic circular? Semantic structuring of information allows for more effective chunking, and allows you to relate the information you are trying to learn to what you know – E.g. for neuroscience No structure: learn 100 parts of the brain and their function Structure: learn the lobes, what each lobe generally does, then sections of each lobe Elaboration creates more retrieval cues Organize your memories Gray, 2002 Gray, 2002 (“Psychology”, p.356) (“Psychology”, p.356) Source: p.776 of Science volume 333, 2011 Saving vs remembering Students increasingly “hoard” (collect but never utilise) course materials including lecture recordings and slides Does the comfort of external storage reduce organic memory performance? Source: Storm & Stone (2015), Psychological Science, 26(2) pp.182-188. Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Slide itself cannot be understood without an explanation Audio to text feed is awkward to read What should you do? 1. Listen to the explanation (the learning outcome may help you focus your attention) 2. Write down in your own words your understanding of the content  More transformation = better learning Poor: Slides/Recordings → Exam Poor: Slides/Recordings + Someone else’s notes → Exam Better: Slides/Recordings → Notes created by you → Exam Best: Slides/Recordings → Notes created by you → Self-testing → Exam Transformation Understanding necessary Content structured, schemas formed More retrieval cues Better learning and memory Cognitive Processes From Bransford & Johnson (1972, p.720) Lesson 6 Studying and memory In this condition the text was shown again a second time – you can see repetition without understanding does very little! Your memory and understanding is doubled if you understand the context beforehand. (studying before means less study overall)  Visualisation and the method of loci AKA memory journey, memory palace, mind palace Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory http://theconversation.com/the-memory-code-how-oral-cultures-memorise-so-much-information-65649 Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Examining study techniques Studying and memory Summarisation Certainly better than just copying Does depend on the skill/understanding of the learner Overall: LOW UTILITY Source: Dunlosky, J. and many others (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science, 14(1), 4-58. Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Examining study techniques Studying and memory Highlighting and underlining No evidence it is effective (Fowler & Baker, 1974; Hoon, 1974; Idstein & Jenkins, 1972; Stordahl & Christensen, 1956; all cited by Dunlosky et al., 2013) Could be effective if you are a good highlighter – Not too much! – The super-relevant information (but if you can do that you already understand) Overall: LOW UTILITY Source: Dunlosky, J. and many others (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science, 14(1), 4-58. Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Examining study techniques Studying and memory Rereading Good for recall, unclear whether it helps with comprehension Unclear how dependent effects are on students’ ability Inefficient compared to other techniques Overall: LOW UTILITY Source: Dunlosky, J. and many others (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science, 14(1), 4-58. Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Examining study techniques Studying and memory Practice Testing Strong and diverse evidence it is effective Direct and mediated effects Practicing recall and search Spacing matters Overall: HIGH UTILITY Source: Dunlosky, J. and many others (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science, 14(1), 4-58. Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Examining study techniques Studying and memory Distributed Practice Spacing effects (vs massed practice) Lag effects (longer = better) Materials reprocessed OR reminded of previous learning OR consolidation Overall: HIGH UTILITY Source: Dunlosky, J. and many others (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science, 14(1), 4-58. Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Test-Enhanced Learning (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006) Considered prose passages: ~260 words Participants: – Studied for 7 minutes; then Studied for 7 minutes OR – Studied for 7 minutes; then ‘tested’ for 7 minutes The recall ‘test’ was just a blank page with the title of the passage – Recall test: 5 minutes, 2 days, 7 days after Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Test-Enhanced Learning Source: Roediger, H., & Karpicke, J. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249-255.  Test-Enhanced Learning Experiment 2 – Four study/test periods instead of two – SSSS, SSST, STTT Source: Roediger, H., & Karpicke, J. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249-255. Cognitive Processes Lesson 6 Studying and memory Test-Enhanced Learning Source: Roediger, H., & Karpicke, J. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249-255.