Chapter Ten
Memory and Thought
Information Processing
Input
Central Processing
Output
Input
The information you receive from your
senses
Central Processing
The storing (in memory) and sorting (by
thought) of input in the brain
Output
The ideas and actions that result from
processing
Ch 10: Memory and Thought
Taking In Information
Storing Information
Retrieving Information
Central Processing Of Information
Taking In Information
Selective Attention
Feature Extraction
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
supresses…
• Like Picture in Picture
Criteria for Selective Attention
Importance
Novelty
Interest
Taking In Information
Selective Attention
Feature Extraction
Feature Extraction
Analyzing the information that selective
attention sends to us
Feature Extraction
Identify
Sort
Categorize
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???
Ch 10: Memory and Thought
Taking In Information
Storing Information
Retrieving Information
Central Processing Of Information
Storing Information
Sensory Storage
Short-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory
Other Models of Memory
Memory and the Brain
Sensory Storage
The memory system into which inputs
from the senses are received
Sperling (1960)
Demonstrated the phenomenon of
sensory storage
Duration: one second max
Storage Limit: 7-9 items
Tachistoscope
A device resembling
a microscope, which
allows control of
visual input down to
fractions of a
second
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
Short-Term Memory
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”
Transition to Long-Term Memory
Rehearsal
Intent to learn
Long-Term memory
Input stored according to features
Reconstructed or reassembled when
needed
Other Models of Memory
Tulving (1972)
Squire (1982)
Tulving 1972
Semantic Memory
Episodic Memory
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
Procedural memory
Declarative Memory
AKA explicit memory
Combination of semantic and episodic
memory
Descriptive
Procedural Memory
AKA implicit memory
Your knowledge of how to perform the
steps of a task
Demonstration
Procedural Memory
Priming
Conditioning
Conditioning
Takes place without conscious
awareness of the subject
Classical conditioning
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 neurons
Theories of Change
Theory #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 hippocampus
Procedural memories are stored in the
striatum, in the frontal lobes
Thompson (1987)
Simple memories are stored in one
specific location in the brain
Limits of plasticity
Selective Memory Problems
Prospagnosia - inability to recognize
familiar faces
Visual agnosia - inability to recognize
faces, words, or other visual cues
Neuronal Activity Research
Neuropsychologists
Memory and aging
Neurological basis of ADHD
Ch 10: Memory and Thought
Taking In Information
Storing Information
Retrieving Information
Central Processing Of Information
Retrieving Information
Recognition
Recall
Relearning
Forgetting
Improving Memory
Retrieval
The process of finding a stored memory
Recognition
The ability to say whether something is
familiar
Function of declarative, or explicit,
memory
Indexing
Indexing
The process of identifying a stimulus in
a variety of ways
Eyewitness Testimony
Uses recognition
Unreliable
* watch the following video at the scene
of the crime…
YUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Now look carefully at the lineup,
and see if you can identify the
bomber
write the number in your notes
without sharing or discussing with
others…
YUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
This is a photo of the rooftop bomber.
1
2
3
This is the culprit-absent lineup that was used
in the Wells, Olson, & Charman (2002) study
4
5
6
Loftus (1974)
Mistaken identity in courtroom and
lineup identification
Local Cases of Note
Lanell Geter
Randall Dale Adams
Loftus (1974)
Distortion of eyewitness testimony (auto
accident video)
Loftus (1979)
Stress impacts the ability to create a
strong, clear memory of an event
Recall
The active reconstruction of information
stored in memory
Influences
Knowledge
Attitudes
Experiences
Passage of Time
Inhelder (1969)
Bottle drawing experiment
Variations
Simplified
Enriched
Distorted
Confabulation
Eidetic Memory
Memory storage as accurate as a
picture
Requires no reconstruction
Possessed by less than 5% of the
population
Relearning
Learning something again
Function of procedural (implicit) memory
Quicker than original learning
Forgetting
Information which is stored in long-term
memory, but cannot be retrieved
Inhibiting Memory Retrieval
Decay
Interference
Repression
Decay
Fading away of sensory or short-term
memory
Interference
Proactive Interference
Retroactive Interference
Proactive Interference
Old learning inhibits the acquisition of
new learning
Retroactive Interference
New learning inhibits the recall of old
learning
Repression
Freudian concept
The pushing down by consciousness of
a traumatic memory into the
subconscious
Improving Memory
Mood
Meaningfulness
Association
Dissociation
Lack of Interference
SQ3R
Mood
Braid - hypnosis
Sirhan Sirhan - state-dependent
memory
Bower - validates state-dependent
memory
Meaningfulness
More meaning means easier recall
Association
Known items
Strong emotion
Fragrance experiment
Dissociation
Opposite of association
Roth (1990)
Lack of Interference
Overlearning
Divided studying
Mnemonic Devices
Aid to memorizing lists
Word play
HOMES
Ch 10: Memory and Thought
Taking In Information
Storing Information
Retrieving Information
Central Processing Of Information
Central Processing of Information
Thinking
Problem Solving
Creativity
Thinking
Changing, reorganizing, and
recombining the information already
stored in your brain to create new
information
Thinking
Units of Thought
Kinds of Thinking
Units of Thought
Image
Symbol
Concept
Rule
Image
A mental picture of a specific object or
event
Symbol
A sound or design that represents an
object or a quality
Words are the most commonly used
symbols
Concept
A symbol for a whole class or category
of objects that we have decided to
group together
Rosch - Theory of Prototypes
Rule
A statement about how concepts are
related to each other
Kinds of Thinking
Directed Thought
Non-Directed Thought
Metacognition
Directed Thought
AKA Convergent Thinking
Thinking with a purpose
Problem-solving
Relies on words
Non-Directed Thought
AKA Divergent Thinking
Free flow of thoughts
Free association
Relies on images
Serendipity
Metacognition
Thinking about thinking
Thinking about thought processes
Problem-Solving
Strategies
Set
Strategies
Segments
Backward
Brainstorming
Experience
Strategies
Segments
Backward
Brainstorming
Experience
Problem-Solving
Strategies
Set
Set
A response that has become habitual
because it works
Rigidity
Functional fixedness
Fallacious assumption
Inability to segment
Creativity
The ability to take what you already
know, and use it in a way that is new or
original
Characteristics of Creativity
Flexibility
Recombination
Insight
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 psychologist
Contemporary of Max Wertheimer and
Kurt Koffka
These 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)
Extra-credit projects
Optional
Requirements posted on the bulletin
board
Due the day you take the Ch 3 test
The End