Cognitive Psychology - Exam 2

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Serial Position Effect

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when people are asked to recall items presented earlier in a list inany order; the initial and final items of the list are those best recalled (freerecall list of words)

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Primacy effect

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Primacy effect – initial words on list are recalled reasonably well

-Retrieval from LTM

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Recency Effect

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Ø Recencyeffect – final items on the list are recalled first and well

-Can be eliminated without affecting the primacy effect by delaying recall for 30 seconds

-Retrieval from STM

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Anterograde Amnesia

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Anterogradeamnesia – refers to difficulty in remembering events that occur after theonset of amnesia (after trauma) (present/future)

Ø Reflects a disruption in the transferof events to long-term memory during learning

Ø Short-term memory is ok (recency)

Ø Transfer into long-term is affected (primacy)

-Case of H.M.

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Retrograde Amensia

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Retrograde amnesia – refers to the loss of memory of events that occurred prior to the onset of the illness (past)

--Reflects forgetting from long-term memory

--Caused by hippocampal lesions

--Disrupts new learning

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conslidation

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Consolidation – process of successfully storing an event in long-term memory and strengthening its representation so it can be later recalled

--Takes place over an extended period of time

--Hippocampus plays a major role

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Chunking

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 Chunking – relating separate items in a meaningful way so as to form an integrated representation in STM

 Grouping meaningful information together to form coherent “chunks” of information

 G.A. Miller (1956)

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Short-Term Memory

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Temporary storage

Holds info needed for current process

Capacity - about 4 chunks of info (4-7 items)

Duration is less than 30 seconds (~20 seconds)

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Long-Term Memory

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Relatively permanent (virtually permanent)

Hard to test span

Lifetime of memories

Differ in strength

Capacity is unknown

Duration is measured in decades (50+ years)

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Proactive interference

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Proactive interference – past learning interferes with the ability to learn and remember new information

--Old information blocks learning of new information (parking, phone numbers)

--Example: 1st learning a list of words (List A) would interfere with learning and recall of a second list (List B)

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Retroactive interference

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 Retroactive interference – recent learning interfering with the recall of previous learning ---New information blocks retrieval of old information (passwords)

-- Example: a person who learns List A, List B, and then recalls List A does worse than one who learns List A, rests, and then recalls List A (Learning List B interferes with recall of List A)

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Procedural Memory

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Procedural (nondeclarative) memory – the skills & conditioned responses that reflect KNOWING HOW to respond to the world

Implicit memory – uses mental representations that are not accessible to conscious reflection

--Motor skills (running, typing)

--Perceptual skills & priming (reading, appreciating visual arts)

--Highly cognitive skills (writing, problem solving)

--Conditioned responses – stimulus triggers a learned response

---Cerebellum

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Declarative Memory

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Declarative memory – knowledge of events, facts, and concepts (KNOWING WHAT)

--Knowing what the world presents to us

--Explicit memory – one is consciously aware of the kinds of mental representations involved

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Semantic Memory

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Semantic memory – stores knowledge of concepts and facts

•Example: Knowing what a baseball is

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Episodic Memory

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Episodic memory – recollection of events that took place at specific places and times in the past

•Encoded in terms of visual-spatial and temporal relations

•Hippocampal system

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Maintenance Rehearsal

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Maintenance rehearsal – recycling information within STM/WM by covertly verbalizing it

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Elaborative Rehearsal

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Elaborative rehearsal – linking information in STM with information already stored in LTM

Examples include:

-- Organizing items into categories

-- Associating items with other known info

-- Forming visual/auditory images of the items

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Transfer-Appropriate Processing

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Transfer-appropriate processing – test performance hinges on engaging in an encoding process that is compatible w/ the demands of the test (Ex: different kinds of studying depending on type of test)

Motivated by limitations of L-O-P:

-Fair memory test assesses precisely what was encoded

-- E.g. attended to sound – test for sound

--Attended to meaning – test for meaning Application: Test preparation

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Encoding Specificity & Selective Encoding

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3-store model assumes that encoding and storing events in LTM involves rehearsal

Stress may cause a failure to encode the events adequately

Example: next in line to give a public address can lower substantial recall of the speech given; because attention is focused on worries

Christianson (1992) - only peripheral get lost under high stress

Central features (gist) of the event are remembered especially well through effects of: )Selective attention, Elaboration, Distinctiveness)

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Spaced Practice

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Spaced practice is better for recall then cramming

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Prospective Memory

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Prospective memory – remembering to take some action at a specific time in the future

Embedded in ongoing daily activities that demand action

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Reconstructive Retrieval

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Reconstructive retrieval – schema-guided construction of episodic memories that interpret/embellish/integrate/alter encoded memories

Bartlett “War of the Ghosts” (1932) 3 kinds of errors thru RR (leveling, assimilation, sharpening)

Roughly 8,500 miscarriages of justice occur each year

-- Focus is on:

--- Reconstructive retrieval --- Selective encoding

--- Misleading questions --- Implanted memories

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False Memory

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False verbal memory (memory illusions) – illusion of memory as a result of hearing/reading a list of words that are semantically related to the falsely remembered word

Delusional false memory – false memory experienced by an individual who has strong beliefs that a bizarre event could occur

False memories are implanted through:

-- Suggestion (Children) -- Leading questions

-- Suggesting evidence -- Repeated accusation

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Misinformation Effect

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Misinformation effect – distortions in memory created by misleading information introduced through the questions used by an interrogator of a witness

Types:

-- Misleading questions from interrogator

-- Discussion with other witnesses

-- News reports about the incident

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Repression

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Repression – unconscious mechanism that prevents thoughts from entering awareness

An inhibitory process of excluding (painful) events from retrieval

Controversial

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Leveling

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Leveling – refers to a loss of details (shorter version)

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Assimilation

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Assimilation – recollection was rationalized or normalized to fit with preconceived notions• Changing concepts to more familiar ones

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Sharpening

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Sharpening – remembering details that were not actually stated but that could be inferred from general knowledge

• Filling gaps for coherence

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Source Monitoring

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Source monitoring – evaluative processes that attribute mental experiences to specific sources

Important for successful encoding and retrieval, and for avoiding false memories

Monitoring failures common in patients w/lesions in prefrontal cortex

2 sources:

-- External sources – perceived events in the environment

-- Internal sources – thoughts, fantasies, and dreams

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Distinctive Memories

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Distinctiveness – how the items to be learned are different from one another and from other items already stored in memory

The more an item stands out, the easier it is to find

Distinctive memory representations can be discriminated from other related memories

Flashbulb memory – vivid recollection of autobiographical event that carries with it strong emotional reactions

-- Illustrates the power of distinctiveness in enhancing memory

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Autobiographical Memories

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Conway (1992) - Found that people remembered autobiographical events in terms such as “when I lived in X” or “when I worked for Y”

Autobiographic memories are:

--- Episodic – anchored to place, time, landmark events

--- Organized as a narrative (sense of self)

--- Subject to biases like other memories

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Retrieval Cues

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Retrieval cues - Associated with knowledge in memory

3 levels of retrieval cues:

--- Lifetime periods (years/decades) – serve to orient us in autobiographical time and trigger more specific recollections

--- General events – chronologically organized personal experiences (falling in love, taking a first job, graduating) that serve to remind one of related general events

--- Concrete images/sensory replays of a specific event

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3 types of Memory Distortions (False Memory)

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Selection – selective encoding of information that fits with prior knowledge (making sense) (Selection of a subset of event features)

Interpretation – inferences and suppositions are made to conform new material to activated schema

--- Prior knowledge (schemas) provides a basis for interpreting the meaning of events, and these interpretations become part of memory

Integration – combining features of different events into a unified memory representation (“Gist processing” – new material that matches a schema is integrated with info in LTM Elaborative rehearsal)

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Levels/Depths of Processing

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Levels (depths) of processing (LOP) – refer to a memory superiority for events attentively processed at a semantic level as compared with a sensory level

Processing events semantically in reference to one’s self-concept results in particularly strong memory storage

Semantic processing (meaning) leads to better encoding than surface processing (sound, appearance)

Info can be processed deeply/shallowly (Deeper = Stronger encoding)

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Confabulation

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Confabulation – narrative account of autobiographical events that never happened

-- A breakdown in the ability to attribute fantasies to an internal imagined source and to edit this content to prevent false recollection

Systematically distort memory for actual information

Korsakoff’s syndrome – severe anterograde amnesia, and poor memory for recent events

-- Caused by chronic alcoholism