Magical thinking

time to begin the studying process. George Armitage Miller, one of the founders of what is known as “Cognitive Psychology” conducted studies on the limits of our capacity for human processing. His findings were published in 1956 in his paper The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on our Capacity for Processing Information. Miller found the average human learns in “chunks.” When we first hear information, it is stored in our short-term memory. Short-term memory capacity is low.…

Participants The participants for this digit span stud consisted of 3 subjects from a large public University. The participants comprised of 1 male and 2 female students with their age ranging from 18-21 years old. With regard to deficiencies, the male student reported that he has color-blindness, while the two female students did not report any deficiency. Apparatus This digit span experiment was conducted in the Social Sciences Laboratories at UCI. All three participants carried out the…

As one of the most insightful philosophers and psychologists of our time, William James’ influential theory of primary and secondary memory in 1890 kick-started the long standing dispute between theories of unitary and separate memory stores. Advocates of multi-store models focus heavily on distinctions between long term memory (LTM) and short term memory (STM), such as differences in their capacity of storage and duration of which information can be withheld within each store. Other theorists…

information can cause it to be more difficult to retain. Just one time looking at the internet or using technology throughout the day will make it more difficult to put away information in your brain. Overloading your brain can have a negative impact on thinking. It is also said that distraction makes it harder to form memories. Being on your phones, computers, or whatever the technology may be can damage how your brain works. Technology use, especially our smart phones is becoming a habit that…

The article, “The Digit Span Backwards Task: Verbal and Visual Cognitive Strategies in Working Memory Assessment”, by Hilbert, Sven, Tristan T. Nakagawa, Patricia Puci, Alexandra Zech, and Markus Buhner, aims at investigating the differences in performance between visualizers and verbalizers cognitive strategies by using digit span backwards. The digit span backwards has been used for many decades to assess the working memory capacity. The concept of working memory initiates the way we are able…

Working Memory Index On the Working Memory Index, which measures his ability to temporarily store and perform a set of cognitive operations on information that requires divided attention and the management of the limited capacity of short-term memory, Julian scored in the Low Average range on both subtests. On the first subtest, Digit Span, he was verbally presented with three sets of numbers. On the first set, Julian had to repeat the numbers back to the examiner in the correct order. On the…

Health Science Graduate students at Seton Hall University can employ different techniques when preparing for exams to improve their academic performance. They are able to utilize a variety of tools and strategies to prepare for tests that may allow them to recall and manipulate information according to the task at hand. One of these techniques includes studying using online games that are set up as quizzes in order to be constantly exposed to the information in a more entertaining fashion. Mini…

minimal mistakes. This is an indication of visual attention to a task with the ability to then repeat the task. Visually attending, and then applying what was seen, is an indication of cognitive flexibility and the ability to mentally shift from a thinking task to a physical one. Trent did not display signs of associated movement, synkinesia or dyskinesia/dysmetria while finger tapping. He had control of both hands throughout the task and, had completed the tapping in about 11.3 seconds. It was…

Devyn’s cognitive abilities were assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-V). The areas of cognitive processing ability measured include crystallized intelligence, short-term memory, visual-spatial processing, reasoning ability, and processing speed. The subtests measured different cognitive processing abilities and when combined form five index scores: Verbal Comprehension, Visual-Spatial, Fluid Reasoning, Working Memory and Processing Speed, which makes up the…

There is a distinct line between what is real and what is stored in our memory. False memories are memories for events which never actually occurred. These false memories can come from different sources and take on different forms. “Often times false memories come from our natural impulse to integrate several pieces of information into a single, coherent memory, and we misremember what individual pieces were learned apart from the whole” (Radvansky, 2011, p. 254). In the articles, Correcting…