UNIT 4: COGNITIVE LEVEL OF ANALYSIS

Day 6: Memory

Outcome(s):

Evaluate two models or theories of one cognitive process with reference to research studies

Warm Up

Cognitive psychologists divide memory processes into three main stages --- put them in their correct sequence

storageretrieval encoding

Agenda

1. Reading Quiz2. Schema review3. Memory demo4. Intro to Memory5. Organizer – evaluate two memory models

FYI – Quiz Next Class (Dec. 19th) – 10 multiple choice, 1 SAQ

Reading Quiz

Schema review

Networks of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations about particular aspects of the world

Schema theory and memory processes Encoding: transforming sensory information into a

meaningful memory Storage: creating a biological trace of the encoded

information Retrieval: using the stored information

Schema Theory – Supporting Studies Barlett – “War of the Ghosts” (1932_ Anderson & Pichert (1978) – read excerpt of research on page 72 Brewer Treyens (1978) French & Richards (1933)

Can you…

name the seven dwarves…..

Was it easy or hard?

It depends on several things….

If you like Disney movies?

When was the last time you have seen the movie?

Are people around you being loud pain in the butts so you cannot concentrate?

Memory Demonstration

1. Take out a scrap sheet of paper and listen quietly as a list of words is read.

2. [list]3. Take about one minute to write down as

many words as you can remember, regardless of the order.

4. Memory Demonstration – graphs on board to indicate the position of the word and the number of people who may have remembered it

Memory Demonstration

Trends: Words at the beginning and the end of the list

are more frequently remembered due to primacy and recency effect.

The word "night" should have a high frequency due to repetition.

The word "artichoke" should be remembered because of its linguistic distinctiveness.

In a group of native speakers, those who remember toss will most likely remember turn because of chunking.

Memory demonstration

The serial position effect, a term coined by Hermann Ebbinghaus, refers to the finding that recall accuracy varies as a function of an item's position within a study list. When asked to recall a list of items in any order people tend to begin recall with the end of the list, recalling those items best. This is known as recency effect. Among earlier list items, the first few items are recalled more frequently than the middle items; this is known as the primacy effect.

Memory

Recall vs. Recognition

Recall

you must retrieve the information from your memory

fill-in-the blank or essay tests

Recognition

you must identify the target from possible targets

multiple-choice tests

Multi-Store Memory Model

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968): among the first to suggest a basic structure of memory

Multi-store model

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vmpRKsk_nk

You need to pay attention to something in order to remember it, and you need to give the material a form (code) which enables you to remember it. Rehearsal means keeping material active in memory by repeating it until it can be stored.

Information enters Sensory memory (which is modality specific – related to difference senses) – stays here for a few seconds then goes to the…

Short-term memory (STM) – around 7 items capacity, duration about 6-12 seconds (#s better than letters)

Long-term memory (LTM): vast storehouse of information

Working Memory Model

Baddeley and Hitch (1974) Working memory model

Central Executive – “controlling system”

Slave systems: short-term storage systems dedicated to a content domain (verbal and visuo-spatial, respectively)

Attentional control – the central executive’s most important job. This happens in two ways Automatic level: based on habit and controlled

more/less automatically by stimuli from the environment

Supervisory attentional level: deals with emergencies or creates new strategies when the other ones are no longer sufficient

Episodic buffer: role of the buffer is to act as a temporary and passive display store until the information is needed

Phonological loop: divided into two components Articulatory control system: inner voice, can hold

information in verbal form Phonological store: inner ear; holds speech-based

material in phonological form Visuospatial sketchpad: the “inner eye” – deals

with visual and spatial information from either sensory memory or LTM

Evidence of Working Memory Dual-task techniques: interference

tasks Baddeley and Hitch (1974) – asked

participants to read prose and understand it, while at the same time remember sequences of numbers. In dual-task experiments, there was a clear and systematic increase in reasoning

Findings show that even though there was impairment, it was not catastrophic

Multi-tasking – performing different cognitive tasks at the same time without disruption

Pickering and Gathercole (2001) Working Memory Test Battery for Children

There is an improvement in performance in working memory from 5 years until about 15 years

Capacity of working memory during childhood varies wildly across individuals of the same age

Provides evidence to the fact that there are problems with working memory associated with academic performance Example: deficits in phonological loop linked to

problems in math and reading

Holmes et al. (2008)

Studied the association between visuospatial sketchpad capacity and children’s mathematics attainment in relation to age Children ages 7-8 and 9-10 studied age

related differences between visual and spatial memory

Findings: Older children – mathematical performance could be predicted by performance on visual patterns test

ERQ

Evaluate two models or theories of one cognitive process with reference to research studies.

O’NeillPeriod 1AReport to Room 207