Chapter 7 Cognition.

Chapter 7 Cognition

Let’s begin with an activity
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?

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

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

Memory’s Three Basic Tasks
Encoding Storage Retrieval Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Memory’s Three Basic Functions
Encoding Storage Retrieval Modifying information to fit the memory system Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

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

Acoustic encoding – Conversion of information to sound patterns in working memory notice it doesn’t say long-term memory it’s very hard to remember things that are acoustically encoded, yet that’s how we often study. That’s what I had half the room do yesterday. It didn’t work very well.

How the brain processes information
Parallel processing– Processing many aspects of a problem simultaneously (as opposed to step-by-step) Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

How Do We Form Memories? 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

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

The actual capacity of sensory memory is about twelve items Sensory memory only lasts a few seconds -being able to “hear” something even after you say “what?” There is a separate sensory register for each sense

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.

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) 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 Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Let’s take a working memory quiz
(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.

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

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

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 Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

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

Long-term memory Declarative memory Procedural memory 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 Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

The Biological Basis of Long-Term Memory
Long-term potentiation – The process by which short-term memories are changed to long-term memories – also called consolidation

-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 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 11th day?) Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

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

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

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) Explicit memory – Memory that has been processed with attention and can be consciously recalled

Iconic memory: visual memory – lasts < 1 second Echoic memory: auditory memory – lasts <4 seconds

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 (stories, acronyms [SOHCAHTOA, HOMES, ROYGBIV)

You try it too Give me a list of 10 random object pairs, and let’s try to memorize them right now.

Concepts Concepts – Mental categories of items or ideas
Natural concepts represent objects and events Artificial concepts are defined by rules Prototypes – a best example of a category – matching new items to a prototype makes sorting easy We organize much of our semantic memories into concept hierarchies

What is this?

Levels of processing Shallow processing—simple encoding based on structure or appearance of words Deep processing—encoding semantically, based on meaning; much more effective (e.g. activity on first day of the unit)

Distributed practice Spacing effect—distributed study is better than massed study (cramming) Testing effect—we learn better retrieving information than we do rereading it

Emotions affect memories
Flashbulb memories—a clear memory of an emotionally significant event

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

Did you get all of them the first time. If not, why not
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

Recall and Recognition
Recall – Reproducing previously presented information (tell me the 7 dwarves) Recognition – Identifying presented stimuli as having been previously presented (pick the 7 dwarves out of a list) Relearning – measure of memory assessing the amount of time saved when learning material again

Retrieval Cues Retrieval cues – Stimuli that are used to bring a memory to consciousness (e.g. mnemonic devices) Priming – retrieving implicit memories with cues that stimulate a memory/action without awareness of the connection between the cue and the retrieved memory/action (e.g. stop [from previous slide])

Other Factors Affecting Retrieval
TOT (tip of the tongue) phenomenon – The inability to recall, while knowing that it is in memory (what is the capital of North Dakota?) Mood congruent memory – Selectively retrieving memories that match one’s mood

Serial position effect– tendency to recall the first (primacy) and last (recency) items in a list.

Encoding specificity principle – The more closely the retrieval cues match the way the information was encoded, the better the information will be remembered (e.g. taking a vocab quiz underwater)

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

The Biological Basis of Long-Term Memory
Anterograde amnesia – Inability to form new memories (Memento, 50 First Dates) Retrograde amnesia – Inability to remember information previously stored in memory (The Bourne movies) Ribot’s Law: recent memories are more likely to be lost

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

Memory’s “Seven Sins” Transience Absent-Mindedness Blocking
Misattribution Suggestibility Bias Persistence

Blocking One item in memory prevents another from being retrieved
Proactive interference (old blocks new; e.g. forgetting a person’s married name) Retroactive interference (new blocks old; forgetting an old password)

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

Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve
Recall decreases rapidly, then reaches a plateau, after which little more is forgotten

Absent-Mindedness Forgetting caused by lapses in attention (where did I put my keys?)

Misattribution Memories are retrieved, but they are associated with the wrong time, place, or person (“I read that somewhere…”) -similar to source amnesia

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

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

Loftus’s Car Crash Study
Smashed 40.8 mph Collided 39.2 mph Bumped 38.1 mph Hit 34.0 mph Contacted 31.8 mph Actual speed 36.2 mph

Links about eyewitness testimony

Bias An attitude, belief, emotion, or experience that distorts memories Confirmation bias– Tendency to search for and remember information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore contradictory evidence. (e.g. similarities between Lincoln and Kennedy) Self-consistency bias – incorrectly remembering one's past attitudes and behavior as resembling present ones A list of cognitive biases (it’s LOOONG)

Persistence Memories cannot be put out of mind (e.g. PTSD)

Look back 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?

Brain Break 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)

What Are the Components of Thought?
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

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)

Brain Break 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)

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

Problem solving Convergent thinking: looking for one answer 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)

Selecting a Strategy Algorithms – Problem-solving procedures 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)

In your notes… 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?

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?)

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

What is this object’s use?

Can you think of anything else?
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!

How do we solve this? 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

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

Obstacles to Problem Solving
Functional fixedness – Inability to perceive a new use for an object associated with a different purpose (the opposite of MacGyver; candle problem) 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)

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

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

Need for cognition quiz
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?

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

Quick experiment On your notes, write down the last three 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 (whether you plan to go or not)

Obstacles to good decisions
Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Belief perseverance

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

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? -20,000, at most

Faulty heuristic strategy that estimates probabilities based on anecdotes from personal experience (Toyota Camry; plane crashes.) Anchoring Bias Representativeness Bias Availability Bias

Anchoring Bias clinging to your first idea even after the basis for that idea has been discredited (e.g. Birtherism) Representativeness Bias Availability Bias Belief perseverance

The effects of framing Framing– the way an issue is posed can significantly affect decisions (reframing?)

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

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”) 29

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) 29

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 28

Chomsky’s famous sentence
“Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.” This sentence points out the difference between syntax (order of words) and semantics (meaning of words) Chomsky used this sentence to theorize that humans are born with a universal grammar, and that all languages share certain properties.

Whorf’s hypothesis Linguistic determinism— language determines the way we think (e.g. 1984)

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

End of Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Cognition.

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