1. Chapter 7 Cognition

2. I will hand out a memory test (Handout 7A- 4). Please read the directions carefully, and listen closely. Now we will have a quiz. What do the results of this quiz tell you about memory? Let’s begin with an activity

3. Human memory is an information processing system that works constructively to encode, store, and retrieve information What is Memory?

4. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 What is Memory? Memory – Any system that encodes, stores, and retrieves information Remember this number -120741091101 Don’t write it down. I will see if you can remember it in a few slides.

5. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 -Metaphors for Memory Cognitive psychologists see human memory more as an interpretive system, such as an artist, rather than a system that takes an accurate recording, such as a video recorder

6. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Human memory is good at: Information on which attention is focused Information in which we are interested Information that arouses us emotionally Information that fits with our previous experiences Information that we rehearse (12 days of Christmas—can ANYONE tell me the 11 th day?)

7. On your notes page… Write down the names of the Seven Dwarves. Did you get them all? Can you recognize all seven now? Grouchy, Stinky, Fearful, Doc, Smiley, Jumpy, Hopeful, Shy, Droopy, Sleepy, Sniffy, Wishful, Puffy, Dumpy, Bashful, Lazy, Pop, Sneezy, Cheerful, Teach, Dopey, Shorty, Nifty, Grumpy, Wheezy, Happy, Stubby

8. Did you get all of them the first time? If not, why not? Why was the second task easier? Which ones did you have the hardest time remembering? The two non-”y” names? What do your WRONG answers tell us about how we recall memories? Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

9. EncodingStorageRetrieval Memory’s Three Basic Tasks

10. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 EncodingStorageRetrieval Modifying information to fit the memory system Elaboration/ elaborative rehearsal – Deliberate encoding in which you connect a new concept with existing information in LTM Memory’s Three Basic Functions

11. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Acoustic encoding – Conversion of information to sound patterns in working memory Encoding and Storage in Working Memory Elaborative rehearsal – Process in which information is actively reviewed and related to information already in LTM -Baker/baker paradox

12. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 EncodingStorageRetrieval Retaining encoded material over time Memory’s Three Basic Functions

13. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 EncodingStorageRetrieval Locating and recovering information from memory Memory’s Three Basic Functions

14. Each of the three memory stages encodes and stores memories in a different way, but they work together to transform sensory experience into a lasting record that has a pattern of meaning How Do We Form Memories?

15. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Three Stages of Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory Long-term Memory

16. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Three Stages of Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory Long-term Memory Preserves brief sensory impressions of stimuli

17. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The First Stage: Sensory Memory On the next slide, you will see a series of letters for one second Try to remember as many letters as you can

18. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 D J B X H G C L Y

19. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The First Stage: Sensory Memory How many can you recall?

20. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 D J B X H G C L Y

21. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The First Stage: Sensory Memory The actual capacity of sensory memory is about twelve items Sensory memory only lasts a few seconds There is a separate sensory register for each sense

22. In this video, the assembly line is a metaphor for sensory memory, coming at us with too much information. Lucy and Ethel, the workers who are unable to process everything coming at them, represent working memory. It is impossible to put everything from sensory memory into working memory.

23. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Three Stages of Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory Long-term Memory Preserves recently perceived events or experiences for less than a minute without rehearsal, also called short-term memory or STM (7 +/-2)

24. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Second Stage: Working Memory Working memory consists of A central executive Directs attention to material retrieved from LTM or to input from sensory memory A phonological loop Temporarily stores sounds The sketchpad Stores and manipulates visual images

25. (p.12 of Myers binder) I will be reading a series of random digits. When I complete the series, write down as many digits as you can in order. Let’s take a working memory quiz

26. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Encoding and Storage in Working Memory Chunking – Organizing pieces of information into a smaller number of meaningful units -120741091101-phone numbers Maintenance rehearsal – Process in which information is repeated or reviewed to keep it from fading while in working memory

27. Elaborative rehearsal/encoding “The general idea with most memory techniques is to change whatever boring thing is being inputted into your memory into something that is so colorful, so exciting, and so different from anything you’ve seen before that you can’t possibly forget it.” –Moonwalking with Einstein, page 91 Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

28. Encoding and Storage in Working Memory Let’s do an experiment (#29) Levels-of-processing theory – information that is more thoroughly connected to meaningful terms in LTM will be better remembered

29. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Three Stages of Memory Sensory Memory Working Memory Long-term Memory (LTM) Stores material organized according to meaning

30. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Third Stage: Long-Term Memory Procedural memory – Division of LTM that stores memories for how things are done--cerebellum Declarative memory – Division of LTM that stores explicit information (AKA fact memory) -temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex

31. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Semantic memory – Subdivision of declarative memory that stores general knowledge, including meanings of words and concepts Divisions of Declarative Memory Episodic memory – Subdivision of declarative memory that stores memories for personal events, or “episodes”

32. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Semantic memory Includes memory for: language, facts general knowledge Episodic memory Includes memory for: events, personal experiences Includes memory for: motor skills, operant and classical conditioning Long-term memory Declarative memoryProcedural memory

33. The Biological Basis of Long-Term Memory Consolidation – The process by which short-term memories are changed to long-term memories – in the brain unit, we will call it “long-term potentiation”

34. The Biological Basis of Long-Term Memory Anterograde amnesia Anterograde amnesia Anterograde amnesia Anterograde amnesia – Inability to form new memories Retrograde amnesia Retrograde amnesia Retrograde amnesia Retrograde amnesia – Inability to remember information previously stored in memory Ribot’s Law: recent memories are more likely to be lost

35. How Do We Retrieve Memories? Whether memories are implicit or explicit, successful retrieval depends on how they were encoded and how they are cued

36. Explicit memory – Memory that has been processed with attention and can be consciously recalled How Do We Retrieve Memories? Implicit memory – Memory that was not deliberately learned or of which you have no conscious awareness (priming, mere exposure effect, who you visited with this morning)

37. What’s the name of a spinning toy? What’s another name for soda? What’s another name for a police officer? Question

38. Retrieval Cues Retrieval cues – Stimuli that are used to bring a memory to consciousness or into behavior Priming Priming Priming – retrieving implicit memories with cues that stimulate a memory/action without awareness of the connection between the cue and the retrieved memory/action

39. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Recall and Recognition Recall – retrieving explicit memories in which one must reproduce previously presented information Recognition – retrieving explicit memories in which one must identify present stimuli as having been previously presented

40. Other Factors Affecting Retrieval TOT (tip of the tongue) phenomenon – The inability to recall a word, while knowing that it is in memory Mood congruent memory – A memory process that selectively retrieves memories that match one’s mood

41. Other Factors Affecting Retrieval Encoding specificity principle – The more closely the retrieval cues match the way the information was encoded, the better the information will be remembered

42. Why Does Memory Sometimes Fail Us? Most of our memory problems arise from memory’s “seven sins” – which are really by-products of otherwise adaptive features of human memory

43. Let’s take the Forgetting Frequency Questionnaire to see where your everyday memory stacks up.

44. Transience Absent- Mindedness Blocking MisattributionSuggestibility BiasPersistence Memory’s “Seven Sins”

45. Transience The impermanence of a LTM, because LTMs gradually fade over time

46. Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve Recall decreases rapidly, then reaches a plateau, after which little more is forgotten Percent retained 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Days 51015202530

47. Absent-Mindedness Forgetting caused by lapses in attention

48. Blocking Forgetting that occurs when an item in memory cannot be accessed or retrieved Proactive interference Retroactive interference Fork/crow; fork/plot Serial position effect Primacy: remember first items Recency: remember last items

49. Misattribution Memories are retrieved, but they are associated with the wrong time, place, or person

50. Suggestibility Memory distortion as a result of deliberate or inadvertent suggestion (e.g. the shill jurors in Brain Games) misinformation effect misinformation effect a.k.a. misinformation effectmisinformation effect

51. Factors Affecting the Accuracy of Eyewitnesses: Recollections are less influenced by leading questions if possibility of memory bias is forewarned Passage of time leads to increase in misremembering information Confidence in memory is not a sign of accuracy

52. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP8kJ5 A5xU8 Smashed40.8 mph Collided39.2 mph Bumped 38.1 mph Hit34.0 mph Contacted31.8 mph Actual speed36.2 mph Loftus’s Car Crash Study

53. Links about eyewitness testimony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6fRH5 MLBIU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u- SBTRLoPuo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4V6aoY uDcg

54. Bias An attitude, belief, emotion, or experience that distorts memories Egocentric bias – Recalling the past in a self-serving manner, e.g., remembering one's exam grades as being better than they were, or remembering a caught fish as bigger than it really was Self-consistency bias – incorrectly remembering one's past attitudes and behavior as resembling present ones A list of cognitive biases (it’s LOOONG) A list of cognitive biases (it’s LOOONG)

55. Persistence Memories cannot be put out of mind

56. Let’s look back at the Forgetting Frequency Questionnaire What “sin” is #4? What “sin” is #6? What “sin” is #9? What “sin” is #15? Look back

57. Improving Memory with Mnemonics Mnemonics – consciously making connections between new material and information already in LTM in order to aid in recall Mnemonic strategies include Method of loci Natural language mediators Natural language mediators (stories, acronyms [SOHCAHTOA, HOMES, ROYGBIV)

58. On your notes, write down the last two digits of your student number. Write “yes” if you plan to go to prom, and “no” if you don’t Then tell me how much you would be willing to pay for a fancy dinner before prom. Quick experiment

59. How Do Children Acquire Language? Infants and children face an especially important developmental task with the acquisition of language

60. Chomsky’s theories of language acquisition Innate theory of language – Children learn language by following an inborn program for acquiring vocabulary and grammar (NOT behavioral) Language acquisition device (LAD) – Theorized structure in the brain programmed with rules of language

61. How Children Acquire Language Early stages of language acquisition include the following: The babbling stage (~6 months) The one-word stage (~1 year) The two-word stage (~18 months) Telegraphic speech (short, simple sentences) The naming explosion (45 new words per day)

62. Learning language Phonemes – The smallest unit of sound in a language (~40) Morphemes – Meaningful units of language that make up words Grammar – The rules of a language Overregularization – Applying a grammatical rule too widely and thereby creating incorrect forms (e.g. using “hitted” and “foots”)

63. The maker doesn’t want it, the buyer doesn’t use it, and the user doesn’t see it. What is it? (If you’ve already heard this one, please wait to share your answer) Brain Break

64. Thinking is a cognitive process in which the brain uses information from the senses, emotions, and memory to create and manipulate mental representations, such as concepts, images, schemas, and scripts What Are the Components of Thought?

65. Concepts Concepts – Mental categories of items or ideas, based on experience Natural concepts represent objects and events Artificial concepts are defined by rules We organize much of our declarative memories into concept hierarchies

66. Schemas and Scripts Help you Know What to Expect Schema – A general framework that provides expectations about things (e.g. genres of films; sitcoms; weddings) Script – Basically a schema that’s a checklist in chronological order (meeting people; classroom behavior, table manners, dating)

67. Six glasses are in a row. The first three are filled with water, and the last three are empty. By moving only one glass, can you arrange them so that the full and empty glasses alternate? (Please wait to share until I ask for your answer) Brain Break

68. Good thinkers not only have many effective algorithms and heuristics, they know how to avoid the common obstacles to problem solving and decision making What Abilities Do Good Thinkers Possess?

69. Problem Solving Good problem solvers are skilled at Identifying the problem Selecting a strategy

70. Attach a lit candle on a wall (a cork board) so the candle wax won't drip onto the table below. To do so, one may only use the following along with the candle: a book of matches a box of thumbtacks How do we solve this?

71. Selecting a Strategy Algorithms – Problem-solving procedures or formulas that guarantee a correct outcome if correctly applied (opening a combo lock) Heuristics – Cognitive strategies used as shortcuts to solve complex mental tasks; they do not guarantee a correct solution (the early bird gets the worm vs. slow and steady wins the race)

72. Write an example from your life of an algorithm and a heuristic. Is a cheat code in a video game an algorithm or a heuristic? Is the advice to stay put when you get lost an algorithm or a heuristic? In your notes…

73. Heuristics Useful heuristics include: Working backward (what is the goal?) Searching for analogies (what situations are similar to this one?) Breaking a big problem into smaller problems (What are the steps required to complete this task?)

74. What type of person prefers algorithms? What type of person prefers heuristics? What is the difference between these people? Question

75. What is this object’s use?

76. Take one minute with your aisle partner and think of any possible use for a paper clip. Count how many you come up with. GO! Can you think of anything else?

77. Obstacles to Problem Solving Mental set – (definition of paper clip) the tendency to approach situations one way because that method worked in the past (a child pushes a door open, then tries to push every door open) Functional fixedness – Inability to perceive a new use for an object associated with a different purpose (the opposite of MacGyver; candle problem)

78. When a United States plane carrying Canadian passengers crashes in international waters, where should the survivors be buried?

79. Convergent thinking: looking for one answer Divergent thinking Divergent thinkingDivergent thinking Divergent thinking: looking for multiple possible answers Are you a creative thinker? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (not creative) to 5 (very creative) Then let’s take a survey (handout 7B-2) Problem solving

80. Those with a higher need for cognition feel more in control of their own fate, are more open to experience, and are more effective problem solvers Is this trait fixed? Or can it grow? Results

81. Unscramble These Words nelin ensce sdlen lecam slfal dlchi neque raspe klsta nolem dlsco hsfle naorg egsta

82. Unscrambled Words linen scene lends camel falls child queen pears talks melon colds shelf groan gates The algorithm you used to solve the 1 st column probably created a mental set, and kept you from seeing the multiple solutions for the words in the 2 nd column

83. Brain Break How can you physically stand behind your father while he is standing behind you?

84. Obstacles to good decisions Confirmation Bias Sunk Cost Fallacy Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias

85. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Sunk Cost Fallacy Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias seeking information with which we agree seeking information with which we agree Ignoring or finding fault with information that does not fit our opinions, and seeking information with which we agree (Why is it always your team that gets the bad calls?) seeking information with which we agree

86. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Sunk Cost Fallacy Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Justifying an increased investment in a de- cision, based on the prior investment —e.g. Vietnam, gambling

87. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Sunk Cost Fallacy Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Faulty heuristic caused by basing (anchoring) an estimate on a completely unrelated quantity (student number and prom dinner cost)

88. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Sunk Cost Fallacy Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Faulty heuristic strategy based on presumption that, once a person or event is categorized, it shares all features of other members in that category (leads to stereotype)

89. Representative heuristic This person is slim, wears glasses and a collar shirt, and likes to read poetry. Is it more likely that this person is a fast food worker or an Ivy League university English professor? How many fast food workers are there in the US? -Over 4 million How many university English professors? -200,000, at most

90. Judging and Making Decisions Confirmation Bias Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Faulty heuristic strategy that estimates probabilities based on anecdotes from personal experience (My dad smoked 2 packs a day and he lived to 100. Cigarettes are not as dangerous as people say.) Sunk Cost Fallacy

91. Knowing our brain’s limits helps us improve our memory, avoid mistakes, and make better decisions. The “moral” of this chapter

92. End of Chapter 7