Chapter 10 memory new Reg. Psych 2011 no video

Chapter Ten

Memory and Thought

Information Processing

Input - The information you receive from your sensesCentral Processing - The storing (in memory) and sorting (by thought) of input in the brainOutput - The ideas and actions that result from processing

Taking In Information

Selective Attention– Picking and choosing from the

sensory input available to you

Broadbent (1960)

Theory of Selection

Dichotic Listening Task

Treisman (1964)

Attenuation Theory– Filter doesn’t eliminate, merely

suppresses…• Like Picture in Picture

Criteria for Selective Attention

ImportanceNoveltyInterest

Taking In Information Cont.

Feature Extraction– Analyzing the information that

selective attention sends to us

Feature Extraction

IdentifySortCategorize

Separated at Birth?

Semantic Feature Theory

Word meaning is a cluster of features that comprises our complete definition of a word

Rosch (1973)

Theory of Prototypes

Which one is the dog???

Storing Information

Sensory Storage– The memory system into which inputs

from the senses are received

Sperling (1960)

Demonstrated the phenomenon of sensory storageDuration: one second maxStorage Limit: 7-9 items

Tachistoscope

A device resembling a microscope, which allows control of visual input down to fractions of a second

Storing Information cont.

Short-Term Memory– Receives inputs from sensory storage– Input is analyzed and identified for

later storage in long-term memory– Duration: rarely longer than 20

seconds– Rehearsal - input must be repeated if

you want it to stay in short-term memory

Miller (1956)

Chunking - grouping similar inputs together to compact space– “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or

Minus Two”

Storing Information cont.

Transition to Long-Term Memory– Rehearsal– Intent to learn

Storing Information cont.

Long-Term memory– Input stored according to features– Reconstructed or reassembled when

needed

Other Models of Memory

Tulving 1972– Semantic Memory

• Knowledge of language and how it works• Includes grammar, syntax, diction,

denotation and connotation

– Episodic Memory• Events and experiences which are

completely unique to you• Includes flashbulb memories

LR Squire (1972)

Declarative memory• AKA explicit memory• Combination of semantic and episodic memory• Descriptive

Procedural memory• AKA implicit memory• Knowledge of how to perform the steps of a task• Demonstration• Priming • Conditioning -Takes place without conscious awareness

of the subject

Memory and the Brain

Learning - a relatively permanent change in behavior that results from experience

Theories of Change

Theory #1 - physiological changes in the structure of neuronsTheory #2 - physiological changes in either the molecular structure or the chemical structure of the brain

Where Memory Takes Place

Declarative memories are stored in the amygdala and the hippocampusProcedural memories are stored in the striatum, in the frontal lobes

Thompson (1987)

Simple memories are stored in one specific location in the brainLimits of plasticity

Selective Memory Problems

Prospagnosia - inability to recognize familiar faces (Larry from the video)

Visual agnosia - inability to recognize faces, words, or other visual cues (John from the video)

Neuronal Activity Research

NeuropsychologistsMemory and agingNeurological basis of ADHD

Retrieving Information

Retrieval• The process of finding a stored memory

– Recognition• The ability to say whether something is

familiar• Function of declarative, or explicit,

memory

Retrieving Information Cont.

IndexingThe process of identifying a stimulus in a variety of ways

Retrieving Information Cont.

Eyewitness Testimony– Uses recognition– Unreliable

Retrieving Information Cont.

Loftus (1974)– Mistaken identity in courtroom and

lineup identification– Distortion of eyewitness testimony

(auto accident video) – Stress impacts the ability to create a

strong, clear memory of an event (1979)

Retrieving Information Cont.

Recall– The active reconstruction of

information stored in memory• Influenced by:

– Knowledge– Attitudes– Experiences– Passage of Time

Retrieving Information Cont.

Inhelder (1969)– Bottle drawing experiment

Retrieving Information

Variations– Simplified– Enriched– Distorted– Confabulation

Eidetic Memory

Memory storage as accurate as a pictureRequires no reconstructionPossessed by less than 5% of the population

Relearning

Learning something againFunction of procedural (implicit) memoryQuicker than original learning

Forgetting

Information which is stored in long-term memory, but cannot be retrieved

Inhibiting Memory Retrieval

Decay• Fading away of sensory or short-term memory

Interference– Proactive Interference

• Old learning inhibits the acquisition of new learning

– Retroactive Interference• New learning inhibits the recall of old learning

Repression• Freudian concept of the pushing down by consciousness

of a traumatic memory into the subconscious

Improving Memory

Mood– Braid - hypnosis– Sirhan Sirhan - state-dependent

memory– Bower - validates state-dependent

memory

Improving Memory Cont.

Meaningfulness– More meaning means easier recall

Improving Memory Cont.

Association– Known items– Strong emotion– Fragrance experiment

Improving Memory Cont.

Dissociation– Opposite of association– Roth (1990)

Improving Memory

Lack of Interference– Overlearning– Divided studying

Mnemonic Devices– Aid to memorizing lists– Word play

• HOMES

Central Processing of Information

Thinking– Units of Thought

• Image - A mental picture of a specific object or event

• Symbol - A sound, design or word that represents an object or a quality

• Concept - A symbol for a whole class or category of objects that we have decided to group together (Rosch/Prototypes)

• Rule - A statement about how concepts are related to each other

Central Processing of Information

Kinds of Thinking Cont.

Metacognition– Thinking about thinking– Thinking about thought processes

Problem-Solving

Strategies• Segments• Backward• Brainstorming• Experience

Set• A response that has become habitual

because it works

Rigidity

Functional fixednessFallacious assumptionInability to segment

Creativity

The ability to take what you already know, and use it in a way that is new or original– Characteristics

• Flexibility The degree to which you are able to overcome rigidity in thinking

• Recombination The ability to take information you already have, and rearrange it to make something new

• Insight– The sudden emergence of a solution to a problem through

recombining– The “A-HA” experience

Wolfgang Kohler

German psychologistContemporary of Max Wertheimer and Kurt KoffkaThese three founded what became Gestalt psychology

Kohler (1925)

Demonstrates the existence of insight in animals (chimps)

Alpert (1928)

Demonstrates the existence of insight in young children (playpen)

The EndThe End