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Summary Cognitive Psychology - Sternberg
Kognitions- und Emotionspsychologie II (Universität Wien)
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Cognitive Psychology – Sternberg (Chapter 5-12)
5. Memory: Models and Research Methods ……………………………………………….... 4
5.1. Tasks Used for Measuring Memory
5.1.1. Recall versus Recognition Tasks
5.1.2. Implicit versus Explicit Memory Tasks
5.1.3. Intelligence and the Importance of Culture in Testing
5.2. Models of Memory
5.2.1. The Traditional Model of Memory
5.2.2. The Levels-of-Processing Model
5.2.3.An Integrative Model: Working Memory
5.2.4. Multiple Memory Systems
5.2.5. A Connectionist Perspective
5.3. Exceptional Memory and Neuropsychology
5.3.1. Outstanding Memory: Mnemonists
5.3.2. Deficient Memory
5.3.3. How Are Memories Stored?
6. Memory Process ………………………………………………………………………………..9
6.1. Encoding and Transfer of Information
6.1.1. Forms of Encoding
6.1.2. Transfer of Information from Short-Term Memory to Log-Term Memory
6.2. Retrieval
6.2.1. Retrieval from Short-Term Memory
6.2.2. Retrieval from Long-Term Memory
6.2.3. Intelligence and Retrieval
6.3. Processes of Forgetting and Memory Distortion
6.3.1. Inference Theory
6.3.2. Decay Theory
6.4. The Constructive Nature of Memory
6.4.1. Autobiographical Memory
6.4.2. The Effect of Context on Memory
7. The Landscape of Memory: Mental Images, Maps, and Propositions ………………14
7.1. Mental Representation of Knowledge
7.1.1. Communicating Knowledge: Pictures versus Words
7.1.2. Pictures in Your Mind: Mental Imagery
7.1.3. Dual-Code Theory: Images and Symbols
7.1.4. Storing Knowledge as Abstract Concepts: Propositional Theory
7.1.5. Do Propositional Theory and Imagery Hold Up to Their Promises?
7.2. Mental Manipulations of Images
7.2.1. Principles of Visual Imagery
7.2.2. Neuroscience and Functional Equivalence
7.2.3. Mental Rotations
7.2.4. Zooming in on Mental Images: Image Scaling
7.2.5. Examining Objects: Image Scanning
7.2.6. Representational Neglect
7.3. Synthesizing Images and Propositions
7.3.1. Do Experimenters’ Expectations Influence Experiment Outcomes?
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7.3.2. Johnson-Laird Mental Models
7.3.3. Neuroscience: Evidence for Multiple Codes
7.4. Spatial Cognition and Cognitive Maps
7.4.1. Of Rats, Bees, Pigeons, and Humans
7.4.2. Rules of Thumb for Using Our Mental Maps: Heuristics
7.4.3. Creating Maps from What You Hear: Text Maps
8. The Organization of Knowledge in the Mind ……………………………………………..19
8.1. Declarative versus Procedural Knowledge
8.2. Organization of Declarative Knowledge
8.2.1. Concepts and Categories
8.2.2. Semantive-Network Models
8.2.3. Schematic Representations
8.3. Representations of How We Do Things: Procedural Knowledge
8.3.1. The “Production” of Procedural Knowledge
8.3.2. Nondeclarative Knowledge
8.4. Integrative Models for Representing Declarative and Nondeclarative Knowledge
8.4.1. Combining Representations: ACT-R
8.4.2. Parallel Processing: The Connectionist Model
8.4.3. How Domain General or Domain Specific is Cognition
9. Language ……………………………………………………………………………………….24
9.1. What Is Language?
9.1.1. Properties of Language
9.1.2. The Basic Components of Words
9.1.3. The Basic Components of Sentences
9.1.4. Understanding the Meaning of Words, Sentences, and Larger Text Units
9.2. Language Comprehension
9.2.1. Understanding Words
9.2.2. Understanding Meaning: Semantic
9.2.3. Understanding Sentences: Syntax
9.3. Reading
9.3.1. When Reading Is a Problem – Dyslexia
9.3.2. Perceptual Issues in Reading
9.3.3. Lexical Processes in Reading
9.4. Understanding Conversations and Essay: Discourse
9.4.1. Comprehending Known Words: Retrieving Word Meaning from Memory
9.4.2. Comprehending Unknown Words: Deriving Word Meanings from Context
9.4.3. Comprehending Ideas: Propositional Representations
9.4.4. Comprehending Text Based on Context and Point of View
9.4.5. Representing the Text in Mental Models
10. Language in Context ………………………………………………………………………….29
10.1.
10.1.1.
10.1.2.
10.1.3.
10.1.4.
10.2.
10.2.1.
Language and Thought
Differences among Languages
Bilingualism and Dialects
Slips of the Tongue
Metaphorical Language
Language in a Social Context
Speech Acts
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10.2.2.
10.2.3.
10.3.
10.4.
10.4.1.
10.4.2.
10.4.3.
Characteristics of Successful Conversations
Gender and Language
Do Animals Have Language?
Neuropsychology of Language
Brain Structures Involved in Language
Aphasia
Autism
11. Problem Solving and Creativity …………………………………………………………….34
11.1.
11.2.
11.2.1.
11.2.2.
11.3.
11.3.1.
11.3.2.
11.3.3.
11.3.4.
11.3.5.
11.4.
11.4.1.
11.4.2.
11.4.3.
11.5.
11.5.1.
11.5.2.
The Problem-Solving Cycle
Types of Problems
Well-Structured Problems
Ill-Structured Problems and the Role of Insight
Obstacles and Aids to Problem Solving
Mental Sets, Entrenchment, and Fixation
Negative and Positive Transfer
Incubation
Neuroscience and Planning during Problem Solving
Intelligence and Complex Problem Solving
Expertise: Knowledge and problem Solving
Organization of Knowledge
Innate Talent and Acquired Skill
Artificial Intelligence and Expertise
Creativity
What Are the Characteristics of Creative People?
Neuroscience Creativity
12. Decision Making and Reasoning …………………………………………………………39
12.1.
12.1.1.
12.1.2.
12.1.3.
12.1.4.
12.1.5.
12.1.6.
12.1.7.
12.1.8.
12.2.
12.2.1.
12.2.2.
12.2.3.
12.2.4.
12.3.
12.3.1.
12.3.2.
12.3.3.
12.3.4.
12.4.
12.5.
Judgement and Decision Making
Classical Decision Theory
Heuristics and Biases
Fallacies
The Gist of It: Do Heuristics Help Us or Lead Us Astray?
Opportunity Costs
Naturalistic Decision Making
Group Decision Making
Neuroscience of Decision Making
Deductive Reasoning
What is Deductive Reasoning?
Conditional Reasoning
Syllogistic Reasoning: Categorical Syllogisms
Aids and Obstacles to Deduce Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning
What Is Inductive Reasoning?
Causal Inferences
Categorical Inferences
Reasoning by Analogy
An Alternative View of Reasoning
Neuroscience of Reasoning
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5. Memory: Models and Research Methods

Memory
= the means by which people retain and draw on their past experiences to use that
information in the present (Encoding, Storage, Retrieval)
5.1 Tasks Used for Measuring Memory
5.1.1 Recall versus Recognition Tasks
= expressive knowledge
 Recall

Recognition
= receptive knowledge

Serial recall
= recall it the exact order in which they were presented

Free recall
= recall in any order

Cued recall
= shown items in pairs, during recall presented with only one item of each pair
 recall each mate

Relearning
= the number of trials it takes to learn once again items that were already learned in
the past

Recognition better than recall (even with extensive training, the best measured recall performance is
about 80 items)
5.1.2 Implicit versus Explicit Memory Tasks

Implicit memory
 Priming (e.g. word stem completion tasks)
 Procedural knowledge (e.g. mirror tracing)
 Doesn’t change over time

Explicit memory changes over time

Process-dissociation model (Daniels et.al., 2006; Jacoby, 1991)
 Implicit and explicit memory both have a role in virtually every response
 Two-process theory: intentional vs. automatic uses of memory
5.1.3 Intelligence and the Importance of Culture in Testing

Culture relevant tests measure skills and knowledge that relate to the cultural experiences of the tasktakers
5.2 Models of Memory
5.2.1 The Traditional Model of Memory

Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)
 Sensory
 Short-term
store
store

Long-term store
o Structure = stores (hypothetical constructs)
o Information = memory
Sensory Store

= initial repository of much information which eventually enters the short- and long-term stores

Iconic store = discrete visual sensory register that holds information for very short periods
Sperling's Discovery

Independent variable: whole report vs. partial report + delay of tones

Dependent variable: number of letters recalled
Results:  Partial report advantage at -100,0, +150ms intervals
 Partial report reduced at 300ms interval
 Partial report eliminated at 1 second interval


Problem: output-interference
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Subsequent Refinement

Just one letter must be recalled from two rows of eight letters

Results: 12 out of 16 correct (75%)

Usage of backward visual masking (= mental erasure of a stimulus caused by the placement of one
stimulus where another one had appeared previously) at intervals >100ms, and under 250ms  iconic
memory can be erased
Short-Term Store

Limited capacity  7 +/- 2 chunks (increased by chunking)

Limited duration  ca. 30sec (increased by rehearsal)

Inforamtion ist stored acoustically rather than visually
Long-Term Store


Perhaps of infinite capacity and duration (Penfield, 1955, 1969)
 Very long-term storage
Permastore
 Can occur even for information that have been passively learned
 Separate memory system?
5.2.2 The Levels-of-Processing Model

Memory varies along continuous dimension in terms of depth of encoding

The level at which information is stored depends on how it is encoded

Three levels of processing in progressive order of depth: physical, phonological, semantic

The deeper the processing, the higher the level of recall achieved

Self-reference effect
 participants show very high levels of recall when asked to relate words meaningfully to the
participants by determining whether the words describe them

Revision of LOP
 The better the match between the type of elaboration of the encoding and the type of task
required for retrieval, the better the retrieval results
 Two kinds of strategies for elaboration the encoding
o Within-item elaboration = elaboration of encoding of the particular item in terms of its
characteristics
o Between-item elaboration = elaboration of encoding by relating each item's features to
features of items already in memory
5.2.3 An Integrative Model: Working Memory
The Components of Working Memory (Baddeley, 1990)

Central executive: coordinates attentional activities and governs responses

Visuospatial sketchpad: visual images
 Visual cache (passive)
 Inner scribe (active)

Phonological loop: inner speech for verbal comprehension and for acoustic rehearsal
 Phonological storage: holds information in memory (passive)
 Subvocal rehearsal: puts information in memory (active)

Episodic buffer
 Binds information from the visuospatial sketchpad and the phonological loop as well as from longterm memory into a unitary episodic representation
 Integrates information from different parts of working memory

Subsidiary "slave systems": perform other cognitive or perceptual tasks
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Neuroscience and Working Memory


Areas involved in visuospatial sketchpad
 Prefrontal cortex
 Supplementary motor, premotor area
 Posterior parietal area


Superior parietal area
Occipital lobe
Areas involved in phonological loop
 Left hemisphere: Broca's area and Insula
Measuring Working Memory

Retention delay task: old or new?

Temporally ordered working memory load task: old ow new?

Temporal order task: which is the most recent?

N-back task: find and repeat n-back

Temporally ordered working memory load task: reproduce in correct order

Temporally ordered working memory load task: reproduce final items in correct order
Intelligence and Working Memory

Recent work suggests that a critical component of intelligence may be working memory
 There are indications that a measure of working memory can provide almost perfect prediction of
scores on tests of general ability
 Significant relationship between working memory and general intelligence
5.2.4 Multiple Memory Systems

Distinction of two memory systems (Endel Tulving ,1972)
 Semantic memory: general knowledge (facts)
 Episodic memory: personal experiences

Evidence for semantic vs. episodic memory
 Lesions in the frontal lobe appear to affect recollection regarding when a stimulus was presented,
but they do not affect recall or recognition memory that a particular stimulus was presented
 Some people have only trouble to recall facts
 Other people have only trouble to recall personal events

It is not clear that semantic and episodic memory are two distinct systems
 Boundary is fuzzy
 Methodological problems with some of the supportive evidence
 Perhaps episodic memory is a specialized form of semantic memory
5.2.5 A Connectionist Perspective

Connectionist parallel distributed processing (PDP) model

Key to knowledge representation lies in the connections among nodes (elements) stored in memory

Fits nicely with the notion of working memory as comprising the activated portion of long-term memory

Activation spreads through nodes within the network

Prime = node that activates a connected node
 Priming effect = resulting activation of the node

Integrate several contemporary notions about memory
 Working memory comprises the activated portion of long-term memory and operates through at
least some amount of parallel processing
 Spreading activation involves the simultaneous activation of multiple links among nodes within the
network
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
Contemporary cognitive-psychological conceptions of working memory, network models of
memory, spreading activation, priming, and parallel processing mutually enhance and support
one another

Effectively explain priming effects, skill learning, and several other phenomena of skill learning

Have failed to provide clear predictions and explanations of recall and recognition memory that occurs
following a single episode or a single exposure to semantic information
5.3 Exceptional Memory and Neuropsychology
5.3.1 Outstanding Memory: Mnemonists
 Mnemonist = someone who demonstrates extraordinarily keen memory ability, usually based on
using special techniques for memory enhancement
 Synesthesia
o Can interfere with ability to follow a conversation
o Hard to understand abstract concepts
 Can be learned to some extent

Hypermnesia = process of producing retrieval of memories that would seem to have been forgotten
 Achieved by trying many and diverse retrieval cues to unearth a memory
 Risk: individuals may create a new memory, believing it is an old one
5.3.2 Deficient Memory
Amnesia
What is Amnesia?


= Severe loss of explicit memory
= inability to recall events prior to a dramatic event
Retrograde amnesia

Anterograde amnesia
= inability to recall events that occur after a traumatic event

Infantile amnesia
= inability to recall events that happens in very early childhood
Amnesia and the Explicit-Implicit Memory Distinction

Explicit memory is impaired, implicit memory is not impaired

Declarative knowledge is impaired, procedural knowledge is not impaired
Amnesia and Neuropsychology

Dissociations:
 Normal individuals show the presence of a particular function
 People with specific lesions on the brain show the absence of that particular function
 This absence occurs despite the presence of normal functions in other areas

Double dissociations:
 People with different kinds of neuropathological conditions show opposite patterns of deficits
 Can be observed if a lesion in brain structure 1 leads to impairment in memory function A but not
in memory function B
 A lesion in brain structure 2 leads to impairment in memory function B but not in memory function
A
 Offer strong support for the notion that particular structures of the brain play particular vital roles
in memory
 Support distinctions between explicit and implicit memory
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Alzheimer's Disease

Causes dementia and progressive memory loss

Leads to atrophy of the brain (especially in hippocampus and frontal and temporal regions)

Formation of plaques (protein deposits outside neurons) and tangles (pairs of filaments that become
twisted around each other in cell bodies and dendrites)

Diagnosed when memory is impaired and when there is at least one other area of dysfunction in the
domains of language, motor, attention, executive function, personality, or object recognition

Symptoms are of gradual onset

Progression is continuous and irreversible, but can be slowed

Incidence increases exponentially with age

Early-onset Alzheimer's: linked to genetic mutation; people with this mutation always develop this
disease

Earliest signs typically include impairment of episodic memory, alter semantic memory also begins to
fade

No difference between emotionally charged information and non-emotionally charged information

Most forms of implicit memory are spared until near the end of its course

Ends in death
5.3.3 How Are Memories Stored?
 Cerebral cortex  Specific sensory properties of a given experience appear to be organized
across various areas
 Long-term memory
 Explicit memroy of experiences and other decalarative information
 Hippocampus
 Encoding of declarative informatin
 Integration and consolidation of separate sensory information as well as
spatial orientation and memory
 Transfer of newly synthesized information into long-term strucutres
supporting declarative knowledge
 Complex learning
 Recollection of information
 Control priming effect
 Basal ganglia

Cerebellum


Classically conditioned responses
Many cognitive tasks in general

Amygdala


Emotional events
Memory consolidation

Long-term potentiation: repeated stimulation of particular neural pathways tends to strengthen the
likelihood of firing

Enhancement neural transmission associated with memory
 Serotonin
Korsakoff syndrome = severe form of anterograde amnesia
 severe or prolonged alcohol abuse
 alcohol consumption disrupts the activity of serotonin

Acetylcholine

Hormones
Low levels of acetylcholine in people with Alzheimer's
 severe loss of brain tissue that secretes acetylcholine
Stimulate increased availability of glucose in the brain
 enhances memory function
Highly arousing events
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6. Memory Process
6.1 Encoding and Transfer of Information
6.1.1 Forms of Encoding
Short-Term Storage

Acoustically encoded rather than a visually or semantically
Long-Term Storage

Semantically encoded rather than visually or acoustically

Levels of processing influences encoding in long-term memory
 People move more information into long-term memory when using semantic encoding strategies
than when using nonsemantic strategies
o Not seen in people with autism  when engaged in semantic processing, people with autism
show less activatoin in Broca's area than do healthy people  Broca's area may be related
to the semantic deficits autistic patients often exhibit
6.1.2 Transfer of Information from Short-Term Memory to Log-Term Memory

Interference = when competing information interferes with stored information

Deliberately attending to information to comprehend it

Making connections or associations between new information and what is already known and
understood

Consolidation = process of integrating new information into stored information

Stress
 Impairs memory function
 Can enhance memory function through the release of hormones

Metamemory strategies:
 Component of metacognition
 Involve reflecting on our own memory processes with a view to improving our memory
 Important when transferring new information into long-term memory by rehearsing it
Rehearsal

= repeated recitation of an item  practice effects

Overt rehearsal (aloud) vs. covert rehearsal (silent)
Elaborative and Maintenance Rehearsal

Elaborative rehearsal:
 meaningful integration of an item into what is already in long-term storage
 meaningful connection to one another

maintenance rehearsal:
 repetition of an item
 temporarily maintains information in short-term memory without transferring it to long-term
memory

Without any kind of elaboration, information cannot be organized and transferred
The Spacing Effect

Distribution of study session over time affects consolidation of information in long-term memory

Spacing effect = the greater the distribution of learning trials over time, the more information is
remembered over long periods
 Context for encoding may vary
 Usage of different strategies and cues for encoding
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Sleep and Memory Consolidation

Amount of REM sleep is important for memory consolidation

Memory processes in the hippocampus are influenced by the production and integration of new cells
into the neuronal network
Neuroscience and Memory Consolidation

Cells of the hippocampus that are activated during initial learning are reactivated during subsequent
periods of sleep

During this activity, the hippocampus shows extremely low levels of acetylcholine
 when acetylcholine is given during sleep, decalarative memory is impaired

Integrating new experiences to rapidly leads to disruptions in long-term memory systems (McClelland
et.al.)

Cosolidation makes memories less likely to undergo interferences or decay
 After a memory is recalled, it may return to a more unstable state
 memory may fall victim to interferences or decay  Reconsolidation

Reconsolidation: same effect as consolidation, but it is completed on previously (relatively new)
encoded information
Organization of Information

Mnemonic devices




Categorical
clustering
Interactive images

Pegword system

Method of loci

Acronyms


Acrostics
Keyword system
= specific techniques to help memorize information which add meaning to
otherwise meaningless items
= organization of a list of items into a set of categories
= imagination of objects represented by words one has to remember as of
the objects are interacting with each other
= association of each word on a previously memorized list and formation
of an interactive image between the two words
= visualization of well-known landmarks and linking them to specific
items to be remembered
= devising a word or expression in which each of its letters stands for a
certain other word or concept
= forming sentences
= creating an interactive image that links the sound an meaning of a
foreign word with the sound and meaning of a familiar word
The relative effectiveness of the methods for encoding is influenced by the kind of task required at the
time of retrieval
= physical constraints that prevent people from acting without at least
Forcing functions
considering the key information to be remembered

Retrospective memory
= memory for past experiences

Prospective memory
= memory for information people need to remember in the future
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6.2 Retrieval
6.2.1 Retrieval from Short-Term Memory
Parallel or Serial Processing?

Parallel processing: response times should be the same, regardless of the size of the information

Serial processing: response times should differ according to the size of the information
Exhaustive or Self-Terminating Processing?

Exhaustive serial processing: comparison of test digits against all other digits, even if a match was
found partway through the list  positive responses would al ltake the same amount of time

Self-terminating serial processing: comparison of one digit only against those digits needed to make a
response
The Winner – a Serial Exhaustive Model – with Some Qualifications

Research supports the serial exhaustive model

It appears that which process individuals use depends in part on the stimuli that are processed
6.2.2 Retrieval from Long-Term Memory

Memory fails could be largely a result of retrieval, rather than storage fails

Categorization dramatically can affect retrieval

Difficult to distinguish between availability and accessibility of information

Availability = presence of information stored in long-term memory

Accessibility = degree to which people can gain access to the available information
6.2.3 Intelligence and Retrieval

It appears that the relation between inspection time and intelligence may not be related to learning
 Initial recall performance is mediated by processing speed  older, slower people show deficits
 Speed of information processing may influence initial performance on recall an inspection time
tasks, but speed is not related to long-term learning
 Perhaps faster information processing aids in performance aspects of intelligence test tasks,
rather than contributing to actual learning and intelligence
6.3 Processes of Forgetting and Memory Distortion
6.3.1 Inference Theory

Retroactive interference:
 Occurs when newly acquired knowledge impedes the recall of older material
 Caused by activity occurring after learning but before recall

Proactive interference:
 Occurs when material that was learned in the past impedes the learning of new material
 Interfering material occurs before rather than after learning of the new material
 Amount increases with increases in the length of time between when the information is presented
and when the information is retrieved
 Increases as the amount of prior learning increases
 Stronger effect in older adults than in younger people
 Seems to be associated with activation in the frontal cortex (Brodmann area 45)
 Seen to a lesser degree in alcoholic patients  alcoholic patients may have difficulty integrating
past information with new information  difficulty binding together unrelated items in a list
 Release from proactive interference = enhancement in performance by switching mid-task to
another task

Schemas = mental frameworks that represent knowledge in a meaningful way

Serial-position curve: primacy effect vs. recency effect
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6.3.2 Decay Theory

Information is forgotten because of gradual disappearance, rather than displacement, of the memory
trace

Contrasts with interference theory

Difficult to test because under normal circumstances, preventing participants from rehearsing is difficult
 Recent-probes task: does not encourage participants to rehearse the items presented
o Participants are shown four target words
o Participants are presented with a probe word
o Participants decide whether or not the probe word is identical to one of the four target words

Decay has a relatively small effect on forgetting in short-term memory

Interference accounts for most of the forgetting

Even if both decay and interference contribute to forgetting, it can be argued that interference has the
strongest effect
6.4 The Constructive Nature of Memory

Memory is constructive: prior experiences affect how and what things are recalled from memory
6.4.1 Autobiographical Memory

Refers to memory of an individual's history

Subject to distortions

Self-esteem is important in the formation and recall of autobiographical memory
 Positive self-esteem: remember more positive events
 Negative self-esteem: remember more negative events

When people misremember, they usually tend to be wrong with regard to minor and marginal aspects

Flashbulb memory = a memory of an event so powerful that the person remembers the event as vividly
as if it were indelibly preserved on film
 Important to the individual
 Surprising
 Emotional effect

The emotional intensity of an experience may enhance the likelihood of recalling the particular
experience ardently and perhaps accurately

Medial temporal lobe
6.4.2 Memory Distortions

Transience: memory fades quickly

Absent-mindedness

Blocking: people sometimes have something that they know they should remember, but can't

Misattribution: people often cannot remember where they heard what they heard or read what they
read; sometimes people think they saw/ heard something they did not see/ hear

Suggestibility: if one suggests to another person if they might have seen something they might think
they actually did

Bias

Persistence: people sometimes remember things as consequential that are inconsequential
The Eyewitness Testimony Paradigm
What Influences the Accuracy of Eyewitness Testimonies?

Suggestive questions

Line-ups

Feedback to other eyewitnesses (post-identification feedback effect)

Level of stress
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Children as Eyewitnesses

The younger the child, the less reliable the testimony can be expected to be

When a questioner is coercive or even just seems to want a particular answer, children can be quite
susceptible to providing the answer the questioner wants to hear

Children may believe that they recall observing things that others have said they observed

Children are easily impressed by the presence of an uniformed officer
Can Eyewitness Testimonies Be Improved?

Using methods to reduce potential biases

Reduce the pressure to choose a suspect from a limited set of options

Ensure that each member of an array of suspects fits the description given by the eyewitness, yet
offers diversity in other ways
Repressed Memory

= memories that are alleged to have been pushed down into unconsciousness because of the distress
they cause

Some therapists might inadvertently plant ideas in their clients' heads
 Showing that implanted memories are false is often extremely hard to do
 Source-monitoring error
 Spreading activation
6.4.3 The Effect of Context on Memory

Expertise enhances confidence in recollected memories

Moods and states of consciousness also my provide a context for encoding that affects later retrieval of
semantic memories

External contexts may affect ability to recall information

Encoding specificity = how information is encoded has a strong effect both on how, and on how well,
information is retrieved

Self-reference effect = when people generate their own cues for retrieval, they are much more potent
than when others do so
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7. The Landscape of Memory: Mental Images, Maps, and Propositions
7.1 Mental Representation of Knowledge

Knowledge representation = the form for what people know in their minds about things, ideas, events,
etc.

Two main sources of empirical data on knowledge representation
 Standard laboratory experiment
o Indirect
o Observation of how people handle various cognitive tasks that require manipulation of
mentally represented knowledge
 Neuropsychological studies
o Observation of how the normal brain responds to various cognitive tasks involving
knowledge representation
o Observation of the links between various deficits and in knowledge representation and
associated pathologies in the brain
7.1.1 Communicating Knowledge: Pictures versus Words

Symbolic representation = relationship between the word and what it represents is arbitrary

Pictures:
 Aptly capture concrete and spatial information in a manner analogous to whatever they represent
 Convey all features simultaneously

Words:
 Handily capture abstract and categorical information in a manner that is symbolic of whatever
they represent
7.1.2 Pictures in Your Mind: Mental Imagery

Imagery = mental representation of things that are not currently seen or sensed by the sense organs

Visual imageries seem to be the most common

Visual images are used to solve problems and to answer questions involving objects

Visual images can be used to cure physical and psychological illness

Usage of mental images can help to improve memory
7.1.3 Dual-Code Theory: Images and Symbols

People use pictorial and verbal codes for representing information in their minds

Mental images are analog codes

Analog codes: resemble the objects they are representing

Verbal information seems to be processed differently than pictorial information

Research undermines dual-code theory
7.1.4 Storing Knowledge as Abstract Concepts: Propositional Theory

Suggests that people store mental images as epiphenomena

Epiphenomena = secondary and derivate phenomena that occur as a result of other more basic
cognitive processes

Mental images more closely resemble the abstract form of a proposition

Proposition = the meaning underlying a particular relationship among concepts
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What is a Proposition?

Predicate calculus:
 Expresses the underlying meaning of a relationship
 Strips away various superficial differences in the ways people describe the deeper meaning of a
proposition
 Would need to be translated by the brain in a format suitable for its internal mental representation
 [Relationship between elements]([Subject element], [Object element])
Using Propositions

May be used to describe any kind of relationship (e.g. actions, attribute, positions, class membership)

Any number of proposition may be combined to represent more complex relationships, images, or
series of work

Pictorial and verbal information are encoded and stored as propositions

By retrieval, the proposition is recreated as the verbal or imaginal code
7.1.5 Do Propositional Theory and Imagery Hold Up to Their Promises?
Limitations of Mental Images

Propositional code may override the imaginal code

Semantic information tends to distort recall of visual images in the direction of the meaning of the
images
Limitations of Propositional Theory

Evidence suggests that people do not necessarily need a propositional code to manipulate information,
but can manipulate mental imagery directly

It appears that propositional codes are less likely to influence imaginal ones when participants create
their own mental images, rather than when they are presented with a picture to be represented

Propositional codes may influence imaginal ones
 especially likely to occur when the picture used for creating am image is ambigous

Evidence seems to indicate there are multiple codes rather than just a single code
7.2 Mental Manipulations of Images

Functional-equivalent hypothesis: visual imagery is not identical to visual perception, but it is
functionally equivalent to it

People use images rather than propositions on knowledge representation for concrete objects that can
be pictured in the mind
7.2.1 Principles of Visual Imagery

Table 7.2
7.2.2 Neuroscience and Functional Equivalence

Participants either viewed or imagined an image
 Activation of similar brain areas in frontal and parietal regions
 No overlap in the areas associated with sensory processes

Schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations
 Internally generated material without externally provided stimuli
 Abnormal activation of the auditory cortex
 Activation of areas involved with receptive language
 Malfunction of the auditory imaging system and problematic perception processes
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7.2.3 Mental Rotations
How Does Mental Rotation Work?

Response times for answering the questions about the rotation of the figures form a linear function of
the degree to which the figures are rotated

Response time are longer for degraded stimuli (e.g. blurry, incomplete, less informative)

Response times are longer for complex items

Response times are longer for unfamiliar figures than familiar ones

Older adults have more difficulty with mental rotation than do younger adults

Practice effects may occur

May be an automatic process
 Not impaired when engaging in simultaneous tasks involving memory recall
 Familiarity and practice enhance response times
 Enhanced response times may be the result of increasing automatization of the task across years
 Automatic processes may be a sign of more effective visuospatial skills  increases speed is
associated with increased accuracy in spatial memory
Intelligence and Mental Rotation

The ability to mentally rotate positively correlates with overall intelligence
Neuroscience and Mental Rotation

Same individual cortical cells in the motor cortex tend to respond for actual rotation and mental rotation

Areas associated with hand movements are particularly active

Same brain areas involved in perception also are involved in mental rotation tasks

Evidence supports the hypothesis of functional equivalence between perception and mental imagery
Gender and Mental Rotation

Number of studies found an advantage for males over females

Studies which did not found a gender difference, often used characters (e.g. letters or numbers)
 different processes for characters than other objects

Young children: no gender difference either in performance or in neurological activation

More activation of the parietal regions in men and additional inferior frontal activation in women
 different strategies

Women have a proportionally greater amount of grey matter in the parietal lobe than do men
 performance disadvantage for mental rotation for women

Training causes gender difference to decrease or even to disappear
7.2.4 Zooming in on Mental Images: Image Scaling

People use mental images the same way they use actual percepts

Participants take longer to describe the details of smaller objects than to describe details of larger
objects

When mental images are used for describing attributes about an object, respond times are faster when
the object is larger

When no mental images are used for describing attributes about an object, respond times are faster
when the physical attributes are distinctive for the object, the physical size of the object has no effect

Children respond more quickly regarding larger attributes in the imagery and nonimagery condition

Adults respond more quickly in both conditions; much greater difference in the nonimagery condition
 Support dual-code view: responses based on the use of imagery differs from responses based
on propositions & development of propositional knowledge and ability does not occur at the
same rate athe the development of imagingal konwledge and abilty
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7.2.5 Examining Objects: Image Scanning

Images can be scanned in much the same way as physical percepts can be scanned

Strategies and responses for imaginal scanning should be the same as for perceptual scanning

Linear relationship between the distances separating pairs of objects in the mental map and the
amount of time it takes to scan from one object to another
7.2.6 Representational Neglect

People suffering from spatial neglect often also suffer from representational neglect

In scenes, representational neglect is present only when a vantage point is given
7.3 Synthesizing Images and Propositions
7.3.1 Do Experimenters’ Expectations Influence Experiment Outcomes?

First experiment: experimenter expectancies influenced participants' responses in three tasks: image
scanning, mental rotations, and comparing perceptual performance with imaginal performance

Second, third experiment: experimenter expectancies did not influence participants' responses
7.3.2 Johnson-Laird Mental Models

Mental representations may take any of three forms: propositions, images or mental model

Here, propositions are fully abstracted representations of meaning that are verbally expressible

Mental models = knowledge structures that individuals construct to understand and explain their
experiences

People who were born blind are slower in their responses than sighted people but also show faster
response times when scanning shorter distances and they were faster when answering questions
about images of larger objects
 Spatial imagery appears nit to invlve representations that ar analogs to visual percepts

Haptic imagery shares a number of features with visual imagery (e.g. similar active brain regions)

Auditory imagery: the relative response times to mentally change sounds in pitch are analogous to the
time needed physically to change sounds in pitch

Faulty mental models are responsible for many errors in thinking  expereince can help correct them
7.3.3 Neuroscience: Evidence for Multiple Codes
Left Brain or Right Brain: Where Is Information Manipulated?

Both hemispheres may be partially responsible for task performance

The apparent right-hemisphere dominance observed in humans may be the result of the
overshadowing of left-hemisphere functions by linguistic abilities
Two Kinds of Images: Visual versus Spatial

Visual imagery: use of images that represent visual characteristics such as colors and shapes

Spatial imagery: images that represent spatial features such as depth, dimensions, distances, and
orientations

Evidence suggests that visual and spatial imagery are independent

Knowledge of object labels and attributes taps propositional, symbolic knowledge

The ability to rotate or manipulate the size of images taps imaginal, analogous knowledge
7.4 Spatial Cognition and Cognitive Maps

Spatial cognition: deals with the acquisition, organization, and use of knowledge about objects and
actions in two- and three-dimensional space

Cognitive maps: internal representations of our physical environment, particularly centering on spatial
relationships
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7.4.1 Of Rats, Bees, Pigeons, and Humans

Rats, bees and pigeons form cognitive maps of their environment

Hippocampus plays a crucial role in the formation of cognitive maps

Humans seem to use three types of knowledge when forming and using cognitive maps:
 Landmark knowledge = information about particular features at a location and which may be
based on both imaginal and propositional representations
 Route-road knowledge: specific pathways for moving from one location to another; may be based
on both procedural knowledge and declarative knowledge
 Survey knowledge: estimated distanced between landmarks; may be represented imaginally or
propositionally
7.4.2 Rules of Thumb for Using Our Mental Maps: Heuristics

As the density of intervening landmarks increases, estimates of distances increase correspondingly

The more landmarks, the larger the estimated distance

People estimate the distance between two places to be sorter when traveling to a landmark than when
traveling to a nonlandmark

In estimations of distances between particular physical locations, route-road knowledge appears often
to be weighed more heavily than survey knowledge

Right-angle bias

Symmetry heuristic

Rotation heuristic

Alignment heuristic

Relative-position
heuristic

Semantic or propositional knowledge (or beliefs) can also influence imaginal representations of maps

Propositional knowledge about semantic categories may affect imaginal representations of maps
= people tend to think of intersections as forming 90-degree angles more often
than they really do
= people tend to think of shapes as being more symmetrical than they really are
= when representing figures and boundaries that are slightly slanted. People
tend to distort the images as being either more vertical or more horizontal
than they really are
= people tend to represent landmarks and boundaries that are slightly out of
alignment by distorting their mental images to be better aligned than they
really are
= the relative positions of particular landmarks and boundaries is distorted in
mental images in ways that more accurately reflect people's conceptual
knowledge about contexts in which the landmarks and boundaries are located,
rather than reflecting the actual spatial configurations
7.4.3 Creating Maps from What You Hear: Text Maps

People may be able to create cognitive maps from verbal descriptions
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8. The Organization of Knowledge in the Mind
8.1 Declarative versus Procedural Knowledge

Converging operations = the use of multiple approaches to address a problem

The in which knowledge is represented influences hoe effectively knowledge can be manipulated for
performing any number of cognitive tasks
8.2 Organization of Declarative Knowledge

Concept
= the fundamental unit of symbolic knowledge; an idea about something that provides
a means of understanding the world
 May be captured in a single word
 Each concept relates to other concepts
 Organization by the means of categories

Category

Schemas
= a group of items into which different objects or concepts can be placed that belong
together
 share a common feature
 similar to a certain prototype
= mental frameworks of knowledge that encompass a number of interrelated
concepts; hierarchically organized semantic networks
8.2.1 Concepts and Categories

Distinction between natural categories and artificial categories
 Speed it takes to assign objects to either category seems to be about the same for both types
 Relatively stable

Concepts
 Not stable, can change
 Ad hoc categories:
o Described in phrases
o Content varies, depending on the context
 Have a basic level of specificity: level within a hierarchy that is preferred to other levels
Feature-Based Categories: A Defining View

An object needs to have defining features to be assigned to a certain category

Each feature is an essential element

Together, these features uniquely define the category

Some categories do not lend themselves to featural analysis
Prototype Theory: A Characteristic View

Grouping things together by their similarity to an averaged model of this category
Prototypes and Characteristic Features

Prototype = an abstract average of all the objects in the category

Objects are compared to the prototype in order to put them into a category

Characteristic features describe the prototype but are not necessary for it

Stereotypes of different groups of people consist of a conglomerate of average features
Classical and Fuzzy Concepts

Classical concepts = categories that can be defined through defining features
 Tend to be inventions that experts have devised for arbitrarily labeling a class that has associated
defining features
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
Fuzzy concepts = categories that cannot be easily defined
 Evolve naturally
 Built around prototypes
Real-World Examples: Using Exemplars

Instead of using a single abstract prototype for categorizing a concept, people use multiple, specific
exemplars

Exemplars = typical representatives of a category

Categories are set up by creating a rule and then by storing examples as exemplars; objects are then
compared to the exemplars to decide whether or not they belong in the category the exemplar
represents

Maybe not enough resources within the mind to store all the exemplars one would need to typify
membership in a category

VAM (varying abstract model): prototypes and exemplars are just two extremes on a continuum of
abstraction
 people use a number of intermediate representations that represent subgroups within the category
A Synthesis: Combining Feature-Based and Prototype Theories

Each category has a prototype and a core

Core refers to the defining features something must have to be considered an example of a category

Prototype encompasses the characteristic features that tend to be typical of an example but that are
not necessary for being considered an example
Theory-Based View of Categorization
How Do People Use Their Theories for Categorization?

People understand and categorize concepts in terms of implicit theories, or general ideas they have
regarding those concepts

People distinguish between essential and incidental features of concepts
Finding the "Essence" of Things

Essentialism: certain categories have an underlying reality that cannot be observed directly

Essentialist beliefs about the characteristics of groups are often associated with the devaluation of
these groups and increased prejudice; members of a particular group are intrinsically one way and
cannot change

How people learn about concepts and category depends partly on the tasks they need to do with those
concepts and category (e.g. making classifications, making inferences)
Intelligence and Concepts in Different Cultures

Measured differences in intellectual performance may result from differences in cultural complexity

Complexity of a culture is extremely hard to define
8.2.2 Semantic-Network Models

Knowledge is represented in the form of concepts that are connected with each other in a web-like form
Collins and Quillian's Network Model

Knowledge is represented in terms of a hierarchical semantic network

Semantic network = a web of elements of meaning (nodes) that are connected with each other through
links (labeled relationships)

Concept of inheritance: lower-level items inherit the properties of higher-level items
 high degree of cognitive economy
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Comparing Semantic Features

Knowledge is organized based on comparison of semantic features

Features of different concepts are compared directly, rather than serving as the basis for forming a
category
8.2.3 Schematic Representations
Schemas

Similar to semantic networks, but more task-oriented

Can include other schemas

Encompass typical, general facts that can vary slightly from one specific instance to another

Can vary in their degree of abstraction

Can include information about relationships
 Concepts
 Attributes within concepts
 Attributes in related concepts
 Concepts and particular contexts
 Specific concepts and general background knowledge

Can give rise to stereotypes
Scripts

= Particular kind of schema

Contains information about the particular order in which things occur

Less flexible that schema

Include default values for the actors, the props, the setting, and the sequence of events expected to
occur  values taken together compose an overview of an event

Experts share a common understanding of scripts that are known by insiders to the field of expertise

Frontal and parietal lobe are involved in the generation of scripts

Typicality effect = when a person is learning a script, if both typical and atypical actions are provided,
the atypical information will be recalled more readily
 increased effort in processing required for atypical information
8.3 Representations of How We Do Things: Procedural Knowledge
8.3.1 The “Production” of Procedural Knowledge

Acquired through practice

Once a mental representation is constructed, that knowledge is implicit

Practice tends to decrease explicit access

As explicit access increases, speed and ease of gaining implicit access increases

Most nondeclarative knowledge can be retrieved more quickly than declarative knowledge

Involves serial processing of information through “if-then” rules

Rules are organized into a structure of routines (instructions regarding procedures for implementing a
tasks) and subroutines (instructions for implementing a subtask within a larger task governed by a
routine)

Many routines and subroutines are iterative: they are repeated many times during the performance of a
task

Production system: comprises the entire set of rules (productions) for executing the task or using the
skill (can contain bugs)

Bugs = flaws in the instructions for the conditions or for the executing actions
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8.3.2 Nondeclarative Knowledge

Perceptual, motor, and cognitive skills (procedural knowledge)

Simple associative knowledge (classical and operant conditioning)

Simple non-associative knowledge (habituation and sensitization)

Priming
 Semantic priming: meaningful context or meaningful information
 Repetition priming: a prior exposure to a word or other stimulus primes a subsequent retrieval for
that information
 Amount of activation between a prime and a given target node is a function of
o The number of links connecting the prime and the target
 increasing number of links decreases likelihood of priming effect
o The relative strengths of each connection
 increasing strengh increases likelihood of priming effect
8.4 Integrative Models for Representing Declarative and Nondeclarative Knowledge
8.4.1 Combining Representations: ACT-R

ACT (adaptive control of thought) model of knowledge representation and information processing

Synthesis of some features of serial information-processing models and of semantic-network models

Procedural knowledge is represented in the form of production systems

Declarative knowledge is represented in the form of propositional networks

Proposition = the smallest unit of knowledge that can be judged to be either true or false; describes
abstract relationships among elements

Networks include images of objects and corresponding spatial configurations and relationships, and
temporal information (temporal strings)
Declarative Knowledge within the ACT-R

Nodes can be either active or inactive at a given time

A node can be activated directly by external or internal stimuli, or indirectly by the activity of one or
more neighboring nodes

Spreading activation

Limits on the amount of information that can be activated at any one time

Activation weakens linearly to the distance of the node activated first
Procedural Knowledge within the ACT-R

Knowledge representation occurs in three stages: cognitive, associative, and autonomous

Proceduralization = the overall process by which people transform slow, explicit information about
procedures into speedy, implicit implementations of procedures
 Construction of a single production rule that effectively embraces two or more production rules;
streamlining of the number of rules required for executing the procedure
 Production tuning: involves generalization and discrimination
8.4.2 Parallel Processing: The Connectionist Model

Distribution of parallel processes better explains the speed and accuracy of human information
processing
How the PDP Model Works

PDP = parallel distributed processes

Represented in a network

Comprises neuron-like units

Pattern of connections represents the knowledge, not he specific units
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
Differing cognitive processes are handled by differing patterns of activation

A given neuron may be inactive, excitatory, or inhibitory

Whenever people use knowledge, they change their representation of it
 Knowledge representation is a process not a product
 What is stored is a pattern of potential excitatory or inhibitory connection strenghts
 New information strengthens or weakens the connections between units
 The ability to create new information by drawing inferences and making generalizations allows for
almost infinte versatility in knowledge representation and manipulation  ability to accommodate
incomplete and distorted information
Criticism of the Connectionist Models

Neglect properties that neural systems have

Propose systems that neural systems do not have

Some aspects are not yet well defined (e.g. explaining the recall of a single event)

Do not satisfactorily explain how people often quickly can unlearn established patterns of connections
when presented with contradictory information
Comparing Connectionist Models with Network Representations

network representation
 nodes represent concepts
 information is in the nodes

connectionist models
 represents patterns of activation
 information is in the connections
8.4.3 How Domain General or Domain Specific is Cognition?

The mind is modular: divided into discrete modules that operate independently of each other

Each independent module can process only one kind of input

Domain specificity exists in language, face recognition, scenes, bodies, …
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9. Language

Language

Communication

Psycholinguistics

Linguistics
= psychology of our language as it interacts with the human mind
 Considers production and comprehension of language
= the study of language structure and change

Neurolinguistics
=the study of the relationship among the brain, cognition, and language

Sociolinguistics
= the study of the relationship between social behavior and language

Computational
linguistics
= the study of language via computational methods
= the use of an organized means of combining words in order to communicate
 Makes it possible to think about things and processes people currently
cannot see, hear, feel, touch, or smell
= exchange of thoughts and feelings (verbal or nonverbal)
9.1 What Is Language?
9.1.1 Properties of Language

Communicative

Arbitrarily symbolic
 Referent = the thing or concept in the real world that a word refers to
 Principle of conventionality: meanings of words are determined by conventions
 Principle of contrast: different words have different meanings

Regularly structured

Structured at multiple levels (sounds, meaning units, words, and phrases)

Generative, productive

Dynamic
9.1.2 The Basic Components of Words

Phone
= the smallest unit of speech, a single vocal sound

Phoneme

Phonemics
= the smallest unit of speech sound that can be used to distinguish one utterance in
a given language from another
= the study of the particular phonemes

Phonetics

Morpheme

Content morphemes

Function morphemes

Lexicon
= the study of how to produce or combine speech sounds or to represent them with
written symbols
= the smallest unit of meaning within a particular language
= the words that convey the bulk of the meaning of a language
add detail and nuance to the meaning of the content morphemes or help
the content morphemes to fit the grammatical context
= entire set of morphemes in a given language or in a given person’s linguistic
repertoire
9.1.3 The Basic Components of Sentences

Syntax = the systematic way in which words can be combined and sequenced to form meaningful
phrases and sentences

A sentence comprises at least two parts: a noun phrase and a verb phrase
9.1.4 Understanding the Meaning of Words, Sentences, and Larger Text Units

Semantics = the study of meaning in a language
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9.2 Language Comprehension
9.2.1 Understanding Words

Coarticulation

Speech segmentation
= simultaneous pronunciation of more than one sound (Result of the
anticipation of the next word)
= the process of trying to separate the continuous sound stream into distinct
words
The View of Speech Perception as Ordinary

Template-matching or feature-detection processes
(1) Speech sounds are analyzed into their components
(2) Components are analyzed for patterns and matched to a prototype or template
 Require decision-making processes above and beyond feature detection or template matching 
cognitive nad contextual factors influence perception of speech (e.g. phonemic restauration
effect)

Phonetic refinement theory
 Start with the analysis of auditory sensations and shift to higher-level processing
 Identification of words on the basis of successively paring down the possibilities for matches
between each of the phonemes and the words already known
 The initial sound that establishes the set of possible words people have heard need to be the first
phoneme alone

TRACE model
 Speech perception begins with three levels of feature detection
o Acoustic features
o Phonemes
o Words
 Speech perception is highly interactive  lower levels affect higher levels and vice versa

Phonemic restauration effect = integration of what is known with what is heard when perceiving speech
 Similar to the visual phenomenon of closure
 Gestalt principles: symmetry proximity, similarity
The View of Speech Perception as Special
Categorical Perception

= discontinuous categories of speech sounds

Perception of speech sounds is experienced categorically

People are better able to discriminate between two different categories than within categories

People with reading disabilities: vice versa
The Motor Theory of Speech Perception

Movements of the speakers vocal tract are used to perceive what is said

Motor parts of the cortex are involved in the production and perception of speech

McGurk effect = perceptual phenomenon that demonstrates an interaction between hearing and vision
in speech perception  illusion occurs when the auditory component of one sound is paired with the
visual component of another sound, leading to the perception of a third sound

In situations in which background noise may make speech perception more difficult, lip reading to
augment the perception of speech is particularly important  integratoin of articulatory, visual and
auditory information  may also be due to naturally occuring processes to integrate information across
sensory modalities
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9.2.2 Understanding Meaning: Semantic

Denotation = strict dictionary definition of a word

Connotation = a word’s emotional overtones, presuppositions, and other non-explicit meanings

Denotation and connotation together form the meaning of a word

Being able to comprehend the conceptual meanings of words is important

When retrieving the meaning of words, people may rely on their perceptual features and the function
9.2.3 Understanding Sentences: Syntax

Grammar = the study of language in terms of noticing regular patterns (patterns relate to the functions
and relationships of words in a sentence)

Prescriptive grammar: describes the “correct” ways in which to structure the use of written and spoken
language

Descriptive language: describes the structures, functions, and relationships of words in language
Syntactical Priming

People tend to use syntactical structures and read faster sentences that parallel the structures of
sentences they have just heard

Sentence priming: independent of its grammatical correctness, a sentence is rated more grammatically
correct when a sentence with the same structure was presented before
Speech Errors

When speech errors occur they do so in grammatical correctness (nouns are switched for nouns, verbs
for verbs, propositions for propositions, etc.)
Analyzing Sentences: Phrase-Structure Grammar

Humans seem to have a mental mechanism for classifying words according to syntactical categories
which is separate from the meaning of words
(1) Parsing: when composing sentences, people seem to analyze and divide them into functional
components
(2) People assign appropriate categories to each component
(3) Syntax rules are used to construct grammatical sequences of the parsed components

Sentences are organized in hierarchical structures of embedded phrases
A New Approach to Syntax: Transformational Grammar

Relationship among different phrase structures that involve transformations of elements within the
sentences (Chomsky, 1957)

Transformational grammar involves transformational rules (Chomsky, 1957)
 Rules guide the ways in which an underlying proposition can be arranged into a sentence
= underlying syntactical structure that links various phrase structures through
Deep structure
various transformation rules
Surface structure = any of the various phrase structures that may result from such transformations


Relationships between Syntactical and Lexical Structures

Each lexical item contains syntactical information, which indicates
 The syntactical category of the items (noun, verb,…)
 The appropriate syntactical contexts in which the particular morpheme may be used (pronouns as
subjects, direct objects,…)
 Any idiosyncratic information about the syntactical uses of the morpheme (treatment of irregular
verbs,…)
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
By making the mental lexicon more complex, the syntax is made simpler

Critics: too much focus on syntax, too less on meaning

Thematic roles = ways in which items can be used in the context of communication
 Agent = “doer” of any action
 Patient = direct recipient of the action
 Beneficiary = indirect recipient of the action
 Instrument = means by which the action is implemented
 Location = place where the action occurs
 Source = where the action originated
 Goal = where the action is going
9.3 Reading
9.3.1 When Reading Is a Problem – Dyslexia

Dyslexia = the difficulty in deciphering, reading, and comprehending text

Impaired processes:
 Phonological awareness
 Phonological reading
 Phonological coding
 Lexical access

= sound structure of spoken language
= reading words in isolation
= remembering strings of phonemes that are sometimes confusing
= ability to retrieve phonemes from long-term memory
Kinds of dyslexia
 Developmental dyslexia: difficulty learning the rules that relate letters to sound
 Acquired dyslexia (brain injury)
9.3.2 Perceptual Issues in Reading

Two basic kinds of processes
 Lexical processes: used to identify letters and words; activate relevant information in memory
about these words
 Comprehension processes: used to make sense of the text as a whole
9.3.3 Lexical Processes in Reading
Fixations and Reading Speed

When reading the eyes move in saccades as they fixate on successive clumps of text
 Longer on longer words, unfamiliar words, and the last word in a sentence (“sentence wrap-up
time”)

Readers fixate up to about 80% of the content words in a text

Extraction of useful information from a perceptual window of characters about four characters to the left
of a fixation point and about 14 or 15 characters to the right of it

Saccadic movements leap an average of about 7-9 characters between successive fixations
Lexical Access

= the identification of a word that allows people to gain access to the meaning of the word from memory

Interactive process: combines information of different kinds (features of letters, the letters themselves,
the words comprising the letters,…)

Interactive-activation model (McClelland, Rumelhart)
 Activation of lexical elements occurs at multiple levels: feature level, letter level, word level
 Activity at each level is interactive
 Information at each level is represented separately in memory
 Information passes from one level to another bidirectionally
 Bottom-up and top-down processes
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
Word-superiority effect: letters are read more easily when they ar embedded in words than when they
are presented either in isolation or with letters that do not form words (Reicher-Wheeler effect)

Sentence-superiority effect: people take about twice as long to read unrelated words as to read words
in a sentence

Context effects occur on a conscious and preconscious level
Intelligence and Lexical-Access Speed

Lexical-access speed = the speed with which people can retrieve information about words stored in
long-term memory
9.4 Understanding Conversations and Essay: Discourse

Discourse involves units of language larger than individual sentences

Understanding discourse: knowledge of discourse structure and a greater context (physical, social,
cultural,…)
9.4.1 Comprehending Known Words: Retrieving Word Meaning from Memory

Semantic encoding = the process by which people translate sensory information into a meaningful
representation (representation is based on understand of the meanings of words)

People with larger vocabularies are able to access lexical information more rapidly than those with
smaller vocabularies
9.4.2 Comprehending Unknown Words: Deriving Word Meanings from Context

Most of the vocabulary is learned indirectly through context information

High-verbal people perform a deeper analysis of the possibilities for a new word’s meaning; they used
a well-formulated strategy for figuring out word meanings

Low-verbal people seem to have no clear strategy
9.4.3 Comprehending Ideas: Propositional Representations

People extract the fundamental idea from groups of words and store them in a simplified
representational form in working memory (Kintsch)
 Representational form: propositions
 Propositions that are thematically central to the understanding of a text (=macropropositions) will
remain in working memory longer than propositions that are irrelevant to the theme
 Thematic structure = macrostructure
9.4.4 Comprehending Text Based on Context and Point of View

Varying the retrieval situations or cues can cause different details to be remembered
9.4.5 Representing the Text in Mental Models

Creation of a mental representation that contains the main elements of a text

Elements are simpler and more concrete than the text itself

To form mental models one must make at least tentative inferences about what is meant

Passages of text that lead to a single mental model are easier to comprehend than are passages that
may lead to multiple mental models

Bridging inference = an inference a reader/ listener makes when a sentence seems not to follow
directly from the sentence preceding it
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10. Language in Context
10.1 Language and Thought
10.1.1 Differences among Languages

Different order of subject, verb, object

Different ranges of grammatical inflections
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
 Linguistic = assertion that speakers of different languages have differing cognitive systems and that
these different cognitive systems influence the ways in which people think about the world
relativity

Language may not determine thought but just influence it (facilitates it)

Language affects perception

Language affects encoding, storage and retrieval
Linguistic Relativity or Linguistic Universals?

Linguistic universals = characteristic patterns across all languages of various cultures
Colors

A systematic pattern seems universally to govern color naming across languages

All languages take their basic color terms from a set of 11 color names: black, white, red, yellow, green,
blue, brown, purple, pink, orange, gray

When only some of the color names are used, the naming falls into a hierarchy of five levels
 Black-white
 Yellow, green, blue
 Purple, pink, orange, gray
 Red
 Brown

Color names can have an impact on perception and cognition
Verbs and Grammatical Gender

To be (Spanish vs. English)

Put in/ put on – tight fit/ loose fit (English vs. Korean)

Gender of objects (German vs. Spanish)
Concepts

When fluent in more than one language, thought in influences according to which language is spoken
or being read in at the moment

Language and thought interact with each other throughout the life span
10.1.2 Bilingualism and Dialects
Bilingualism – An Advantage or Disadvantage?

Positive effects
 enhanced executive functions
 the onset of dementia may be delayed
by as much as four years


Additive bilingualism: a second language is acquired in addition to a relatively well-developed first
language  increased thinking ability

Subtractive bilingualism: elements of a second language replace elements of the first language
 decreased thinking ability (children from backgrounds with lower SES may be more likely to be
subtractive bilinguals)

Threshold effect = individuals may need to be at a certain relatively high level of competence in both
languages for a positive effect of bilingualism

Simultaneous bilingualism vs. sequential bilingualism
Negative effects
 smaller vocabularies
 slower access to lexical items in
memory
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Factors That Influence Second Language Acquisition

There do not appear to be critical periods for second-language acquisitions

Age and proficiency in a language are negatively correlated

The kinds of learning experiences that facilitate second-language acquisition should match the context
and uses for the second language once it is acquired
Bilingualism: One System or Two?

Single system hypothesis: two languages are represented in just one system or brain region

Dual-system hypothesis: two languages are represented somehow in separate systems of the mind

Individuals who suffered from brain injury: recovery of one or both languages seems contingent on age
of acquisition of the second language and on pre-incident language proficiency

Some aspects of two languages may be represented singly, other aspects may be represented
separately
Language Mixtures and Change

Prolonged contact between people of two different language groups  sharing of the same vocabulary
 pidgin = language that has no native speakers

Pidgin can deveop into a distinct linguistic form: own grammar  becomes a creole

Modern creoles may resemble an evolutionarily early form of language (=protolanguage)

Dialect = regional variety of a language distinguished by features such as vocabulariy, syntax, and
pronounciation

Linguicism = a sterotype based on dialect
Neuroscience and Bilingualism

Learning a second language  increase of gray matter in the left inferior parietal cortex  positively
correlated with proficiency

Negative correlation between age of acquisition and density in the left inferior parietal cortex
10.1.3 Slips of the Tongue

Inadvertent linguistic error may occur at any level of linguistic analysis

Indicate that that language of thought differs somewhat from the language through which thought is
expressed

Kinds of errors
 Anticipation = usage of an element before it is appropriate in the sentence
 Perseveration = usage of language that was appropriate earlier
 Substitution = one element is substituted by another
 Reversal/ transposition = switch of two elements
 Spoonerisms = reversal of initial sounds of two words
 Malapropism = one word is replaced by another that is similar in sound but different in meaning
 Insertions or deletion/ blending of sounds
10.1.4 Metaphorical Language

Juxtapose two nouns in a way that positively asserts their similarities, while not disconfirming their
dissimilarities

Four key elements:
items being compared
tenor: topic of the
vehicle: way in which the
metaphor
tenor is described in terms

ways in which the items are related
ground: set of the similarities
tension: set of
between tenor and vehicle
dissimilarities
Comparison view: highlights importance of comparison
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
Anomaly view: emphasizes the dissimilarity

Domain-interaction view: integrates aspects of comparison and anomaly view

Another view: metaphors are an non-literal form of class-inclusion statements
10.2 Language in a Social Context

Pragmatics = the study of how people use language

Use of language changes in response to contextual cues

Proxemics = the study of interpersonal distance or proximity

Interpersonal space is important in all kinds of interactions
10.2.1 Speech Acts
Direct Speech Acts

Speech acts: address the question of what you can accomplish with speech

Five basic categories based on the purpose of the acts (Searles’s taxonomy: Table 10.1)
 Classifies almost any statement that might be made
 Shows different kinds of things speech can accomplish
 Shows the close relationship between language structure and language function
Indirect Speech Acts
Types of Indirect Speech Acts

Four basic ways
 Asking of making statements about abilities
 Stating a desire
 Stating a future action
 Citing reasons

Often anticipate what potential obstacles the respondent might pose

Indirect requests that ask permission are judged to be the most polite

Indirect requests that speak to an obligation are judged as the most impolite
Pinker’s Theory of Indirect Speech

Communication is always a mixture of cooperation and conflict

Indirect speech gives the speaker the chance to voice an ambiguous request that the listener can
accept or decline without reaction adversely to it

Indirect speech can serve three purposes
 Plausible deniability
 Relationship negotiation
 Language as a digital medium of indirect as well as direct communication
10.2.2 Characteristics of Successful Conversations

Conversations thrive on the basis of a cooperative principle: people seek to communicate in ways that
make it easy for our listener to understand what they mean

Successful conversations follow four maxims/ conversational postulattes (Grice, 1967)
 Quantity
 Quality
 Relation
 Manner
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10.2.3 Gender and Language

Males: political views, sources of personal pride, what they like about the other person, object
properties, impersonal topics

Females: feelings toward parents, friends, fears; disclose more about themselves, psychological and
social processes

Differences in conversational style largely center on differing understandings of the goals of
communication
 Males: world as a hierarchical social order in which the purpose of communication is to negotiate
for the upper hand, to preserve independence, and to avoid failure
 Females: seek to establish a connection between the two participants, to give support and
confirmation to others, to reach consensus through communication
10.3 Do Animals Have Language?

Chimpanzees

The gorilla Koko

The parrot Alex










Able to use sign language
Not as structures and organized as human language
Not spontaneously acquired
Can use about 1000 signs
Can communicate effectively with humans, expressing desires and thoughts
Evidence suggests he is able to understand and use humor
Seems to be able to use language in a novel way (combining signs in new
ways, forming entirely to signs)
Could produce over 200 words
Could express a variety of complex concepts (present, absent, zero-like
concept)
Evidence suggests he was capable of novel combinations of words to form
new ways of expressing concepts
10.4 Neuropsychology of Language
10.4.1 Brain Structures Involved in Language

Broca’s and Wernecke’s areas

Association cortex in the left hemisphere

Posterior cortex

Portion of the left temporal cortex
The Brain an Word Recognition

Middle part of the superior temporal sulcus responds more strongly to speech sounds than to nonspeak sounds; stronger in the left hemisphere
The Brain and Semantic Processing

Ventral temporal lobes

Dorsal prefrontal cortex

Angular gyrus

Posterior cingulate gyrus

Inferior frontal gyrus

Mostly left hemisphere
The Brain and Syntax

The ERP N400 occurs when individuals hear an anomalous sentence (semantic violations)

The more anomalous the sentence, the greater the response  P600 (syntactic violoations)
The Brain and Language Acquisition

Left hemisphere: better at processing well-practices routines

Right hemisphere: better at dealing with novel stimuli
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The Plasticity of the Brian

Neurological language functioning appears to redistribute to other areas of the brain after a posttraumatic recovery of linguistic functioning
The Brain and Sex Differences in Language Processing

Letter-recognition and word-meaning: activation in left temporal lobe in both sexes

Rhyming task: inferior frontal region of left hemisphere active in men; inferior frontal region of both
hemispheres active in women

Females have superior verbal skills; males have a larger language area
 the size of the language are in the brain may be inversely related to the ability to use language
The Brain and Sign Language

Processing of signing and speech in terms of linguistic function
10.4.2 Aphasia

Aphasia = impairment of language functioning caused by damage to the brain
Wernicke’s Aphasia

Caused by damage to Wernicke’s area

Notable impairment in the understanding of spoken words and sentences

Involves the production of sentences that have the basic structure of language spoken but make no
sense
Broca’s Aphasia

Caused by damage to Broca’s area

Production of agrammatical speech at the same time that verbal comprehension ability is largely
preserved
Global Aphasia

Combination of highly impaired comprehension and production of speech

Caused by lesions to Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas
Anomic Aphasia

Involves difficulties in naming objects or in retrieving words

Sometimes specific categories of things cannot be recalled
10.4.3 Autism

Autism = a developmental disorder characterized by abnormalities in social behavior, language, and
cognition

About half of the children with autism fail to develop functional speech

Speech tends to be characterized by echolalia: repetition of speech they have heard

Problems with semantical encoding of language

May result from an extreme male brain: almost totally inept in empathy and communication; very strong
in systematizing

May result from executive dysfunction
 explains the repetitive motion, difficulties in planning, mental flexibility, and self-monitoring
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11. Problem Solving and Creativity

Problem solving = an effort to overcome obstacles obstructing the path to an solution

How people solve problems depends partly on how they understand the problem
11.1 The Problem-Solving Cycle

The problem solving cycle includes:
(1) Problem identification
(2) Problem definition
(3) Strategy formulation: analysis vs. synthesis, divergent thinking vs. convergent thinking
(4) Organization of information
(5) Allocation of resources: experts and better students tend to devote more mental resources to
global planning
(6) Monitoring
(7) Evaluation

Emotions can influence how the problem-solving cycle is implemented
11.2 Types of Problems

Well-structured problems: have clear paths to solutions

Ill-structured problem: lack clear paths to solutions
11.2.1 Well-Structured Problems

Move problems: require a series of moves to reach the final goal state

Errors when trying to solve well-structured problems
 Inadvertently moving backward
 Making illegal moves
 Not realizing the nature of the next legal move
= the universe of all possible actions that can be applied to solving a problem, given
Problem space
any constraints that apply to the solution of the problem


Algorithms

Humans use heuristics to solve problems due to the limited capacitiy of working memory
= sequences of operations in a problem space that may be repeated over and over
again that, in theory, guarantee the solution to a problem
Isomorphic Problems

Formal structure is the same, only the content differs

It is often extremely difficult to observe the underlying structural isomorphism of problems

It is difficult to be able to apply problem-solving strategies from one problem to another
Problem Representation Does Matter!

A major determinant of the relative ease of solving a problem is how the problem is represented

There might be a relationship between the working-memory capacity and the ability to solve analytic
problems
11.2.2 Ill-Structured Problems and the Role of Insight

Problem solvers have difficulty constructing appropriate mental representations for modeling illstructured problems and theirs solutions

Much of the difficulty is in constructing a plan for sequentially following a series of steps that inch ever
closer to their solution

Domain knowledge and justification skills (because of different representations and alternative
solutions in ill-structured problems) are important for solving problems of any kind
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
Preceding ill-structured problems are insight problems: you need to see the problem in a novel way;
restructure the representation

Insight = a distinctive and sometimes seemingly sudden understanding of a problem or strategy that
aids in solving the problem
Early Gestalt Views

Productive thinking: involves insights that go beyond the bounds of existing associations

Reproductive thinking: based on existing associations involving what is already known

Insightful thinking is productive
The Neo-Gestalt View

When given routine problems, problem solvers show remarkable accuracy in their ability to predict their
own success in solving a problem prior to any attempt to solve it

When given insight problem, problem solvers show poor ability to predict their own success prior to
trying to solve it  succesfull problem solvers pessimistic about their ability and vice versa
Insights into Insight

Sleep has shown to increase the likelihood that an insight will be produced
Neuroscience and Insight

Networks that are active during sleep are also active during problem solving

Activity in the right anterior superior-temporal gyrus increases when a person experiences an insight

Burst of high-frequency activity is recorded during insight

Before insight even become conscious, activity in the right hemisphere can be observed

Right hippocampus is critical on the formation of an insightful solution

Neural correlates measured even before an individual sees a problem can predict if insight will occur
 activity in frontal lobes  some people are more likely to use insight than others + insight involves
some advances planning that occurs before a problem is even presented
11.3 Obstacles and Aids to Problem Solving
11.3.1 Mental Sets, Entrenchment, and Fixation
= a frame of mind involving an existing model for representing a problem, a problem
 Mental set
context or a procedure for problem solving (e.g. stereotypes)
 Entrenchment = a fixated mental set that works well in solving many problems but that does not
work in solving one particular problem
= the inability to realize that something known to have a particular use may also be
 Functional
used for performing other functions (prevents people from solving new problems by
fixedness
using old tools in novel ways)
11.3.2 Negative and Positive Transfer

Transfer = any carryover of knowledge or skills from one problem situation to another

Negative transfer: occurs when solving an earlier problem makes it harder to solve a later one

Positive transfer: occurs when the solution of an earlier problem makes it easier to solve a new
problem
Transfer of Analogies

When the domains or the contexts for two problems are similar, people are more likely to see and apply
the analogy to solve the problem

Analogies are often not found, unless they are explicitly sought
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Intentional Transfer: Searching for Analogies

What matters in analogies is how closely their structural systems of relationship match (not the content)

Transparency: people see analogies where they do not exist because of similar content
11.3.3 Incubation

= putting the problem aside for a while without consciously thinking about it

Minimizes negative transfer

Incubation depends on the time available, the cognitive demand, the kind of task

Seems to help because people continue to process, below consciousness, information about a problem
11.3.4 Neuroscience and Planning during Problem Solving

Planning saves time and improves performance

Frontal lobes and prefrontal cortex are essential for planning for complex problem-solving tasks

Greater bilateral prefrontal activation when giving an incorrect answer than when giving a correct one
11.3.5 Intelligence and Complex Problem Solving

Intelligent people take longer during global planning and take less time for local planning
11.4 Expertise: Knowledge and Problem Solving

Expertise = superior skills or achievement reflecting a well-developed and well-organized knowledge
base
11.4.1 Organization of Knowledge

Learners perform better when they are presented new material in a coherent way

Experts perform better when they are presented with material in a low coherent way
 need to focus more
Elaboration of Knowledge

Biggest difference between experts and novices are the kinds of schemas they use for solving
problems within their own domain of expertise
 Experts:
 Novices:
o Large, highly interconnected units of
o Relatively small and disconnected units of
knowledge
knowledge
o Organization according to underlying
o Organization according to superficial
structural similarities among knowledge
similarities
units

Difference between experts and novices in how they classify problems, describe the essential nature of
problems, and how they determine and describe solutions

The ability to apply a visual representation to a variety of problems allow greater flexibility and an
increased likelihood that a solution will be found
Reflections on Problem Solving

Communicating problem-solving strategies (verbal protocols, writing descriptions) can lead to an
increased problem-solving ability

Experts seem to spend more time determining how to represent a problem than do novices, but they
spend much less time implementing the strategy for solution

Experts seem able to work forward from the given information to find the unknown information they
implement the correct sequence of steps, based on the strategies they have retrieved from their
schemas in long-term memory
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
Novices seem to choose to work backward from the unknown information to the given information; they
use means-ends analysis
Automatic Expert Processes

Experts use schematization and automatization

Schematization = developing rich, highly organized schemas

Automatization = consolidating sequencing steps into unified routines that require little or no conscious
control

The freeing of their working-memory capacity may better enable them to monitor their progress and
their accuracy

Automaticity may hinder problem solving by making them less flexible, but the highest level experts are
less vulnerable to falling prey to their own expertise  wisdom to realize their own susceptibiluty to
becoming entrenched and take this susceptibility into account
11.4.2 Innate Talent and Acquired Skill

Practice is crucial in becoming an expert

Interaction between innate abilities modified by experience

Experts in some domains perform at superior level by virtue of prediction skills

Experts tend to use a more systematic approach to difficult problems within their domain

Genetic heritage seems to make some difference in the acquisition of at least some kinds of expertise
11.4.3 Artificial Intelligence and Expertise
Can a Computer Be Intelligent?

Computers are programmed  before any intelligent programms are considered, it should be
considered the issue of what would lead to describe a computer program as being intelligent
The Turning Test

Conducted with a computer, a human respondent and an interrogator

The Interrogator has one conversation with the computer and one conversation with a human
communicating through the computer

The computer will try to fool the interrogator into believing that it is human

The human will be trying to show the interrogator that he/ she is human

The computer passes the test if an interrogator is unable to distinguish the computer from the human
Expert Systems

= computer programs that can perform the way an expert does in a specific domain

Simulate performance in just one domain, often a narrow one

Based on rules that are followed and worked down

Cannot replace humans
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11.5 Creativity

= the process of producing something that is both original and worthwhile
11.5.1 What Are the Characteristics of Creative People?

Creativity is sometimes measured through divergent production = the generation of a diverse
assortment of appropriate responses (Guilford, 1950)

Creativity as a cognitive process

Creativity as broad knowledge and commitment

Personality: flexible beliefs and broadly accepting attitudes toward anything different from themselves,
more open to new experiences, self-confident, self-accepting, impulsive, ambitious, driven, dominant,
hostile, less conventional

Intrinsic motivation > extrinsic motivation

Creative individuals have the ability to make serendipitous discoveries and to pursue such discoveries
actively

People who are labeled as creative go for a large quantity of ideas of which some of them will be
valued

Creative individuals
 Tend to have moderately supportive, often strict and relatively chilly early family lives
 Highly supportive mentors
 Show early interest in their chosen field
 Early interest in exploring uncharted territory
 Only after gaining mastery and about a decade practicing their craft, do they have their initial
revolutionary breakthrough
 Generally dedicate all their energies to their work
 Sometimes abandon, neglect, or exploit close relationships during adulthood
 About a decade after their initial achievement, most make a second breakthrough that is more
comprehensive and more integrative but less revolutionary
 Whether a creator continues to make significant contributions depends on the particular field

The investment theory of creativity
 Multiple individual and environmental factor must converge for creativity to occur
 Creative individuals take buy-low, sell-high approaches to ideas  sees hidden potential in
unrecognized or undervalued ideas
11.5.2 Neuroscience Creativity

Prefrontal regions are especially active during the creative process, regardless of whether the creative
thought is effortful or spontaneous

Brodmann’s area 39

Selective thinning of cortical areas seems to correlate with intelligence and creativity: left frontal lobe,
lingual, cuneus, angular, inferior parietal, fusiform gyri

Relative thickness of the right posterior cingulate gyrus and right angular gyrus
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12. Decision Making and Reasoning

Fallacy = erroneous reasoning

Judgment and decision making are used to select from among choices or to evaluate opportunities
12.1 Judgement and Decision Making
12.1.2 Classical Decision Theory
The Model of Economic Man and Woman

Decision makers are fully informed regarding all possible options for their decision and of all possible
outcomes of their decision options

Decision makers are infinitely sensitive to the subtle distinctions among decision options

Decision makers are fully rational in regard to their choice of options
Subjective Expected Utility Theory

The goal of human action is to seek pleasure and avoid pain  in making decisions, people will seek to
maximize pleasure (referred to as positive utility) and to minimize pain (referred to as negative utility)
 Subjective utility = the calculation based on the individual’s judged weightings of utility (value),
rather than objective criteria
 Subjective probability = the calculation based on the individual’s estimates of likelihood, rather
than on objective statistical computations
12.1.3 Heuristics and Biases
Heuristics

= mental shortcuts that lighten the cognitive load of making decision
Satisficing

People show bounded rationality = being rational within limits

Options are considered one by one, and then an option is selected as soon as the one that is
satisfactory or good enough to meet the minimum level of acceptability is found

Increases when working-memory resources are limited

Used in industrial contexts

The appropriateness varies with the circumstances
Elimination by Aspects

When faced with far more alternatives than people feel that they reasonably can consider in the time
that is available

Elimination of alternatives by focusing on aspects of each alternatives, one at a time
(1) Focus on one aspect (attribute) of the various options
(2) Form a minimum criterion for that aspect
(3) Eliminate all options that do not meet that criterion
(4) For the remaining options, select a second aspect for which a minim criterion is set by which to
eliminate additional options
(5) Continue using a sequential process of elimination of options by considering a series of
aspects until a single option remains

The use of heuristics and biases limit and distort the ability to make rational decisions

Conditional probability = the likelihood of one event, given another
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Representativeness Heuristic

The probability of an uncertain event is judged according to
 how obviously it is similar to or representative of the population from which it is derived
 the degree to which it reflects the salient features of the process by which it is generated (such as
randomness)

People reason in terms of whether something appears to represent a set of accidental occurrences,
rather than actually considering the true likelihood of a given chance occurrence

More frequently used when people are highly aware of anecdotal evidence based on a very small
sample of the population

People fail to understand the concept of base rates

Base rates = prevalence of an event or characteristic within its population of events or characteristics
Availability Heuristic

Judgements are made on the basis of how easily people can call to mind what they perceive as
relevant instances of a phenomenon

Is used when it confirms their beliefs about themselves

Is used when its use leads to a logical fallacy
Anchoring

Anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic: people adjust their evaluations of things by means of certain
reference points called end-anchors
Framing

The way in which the options are presented influences the selection of an option (e.g. people tend to
choose options that demonstrate risk aversion when they are faced with an option involving potential
gains)
Biases
Illusory Correlation

People are predisposed to see particular events or attributes and categories as going together, even
when they do not
Overconfidence

= an individual’s overvaluation of her/his own skills, knowledge, or judgement

May occur because people do not realize how little they know or that their information comes from
unreliable sources
Hindsight Bias

When people look at a situation retrospectively, they believe they can easily see all the signs and
events leading up to a particular outcomes

Hinders learning because it impairs one’s ability to compare one’s expectations with the outcome

Experience does not reduce the bias
12.1.4 Fallacies
Gambler’s Fallacy and the Hot Hand

Gambler’s Fallacy = a mistaken belief that the probability of a given random event, such as winning or
losing at a game of chance, is influenced by previous random events

Hot hand effect = a belief that a certain course of events will continue
Conjunction Fallacy
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
An individual gives a higher estimate for a subset of events that for the larger set of events containing
the given subset
Sunk-Cost Fallacy

Represents the decision to continue to invest in something simply because one has invested in it
before and hopes to recover one’s investment
12.1.5 The Gist of It: Do Heuristics Help Us or Lead Us Astray?

Take-the-best heuristic: identifying the single most important criterion for making that decision
 Often leads to good decisions
 It produces even better decisions than far more complicated heuristics
 Belongs to a class of heuristics called fast-and-frugal heuristics (FFH)

Fast-and-frugal heuristics (FFH)
 Based on a small fraction of information
 Decisions are made rapidly
 Set a standard for rationality that considers constraints (e.g. time, information, cognitive capacity)
 Consider the lack of optimum solutions and environments in which the decision is taking place
 Form a comprehensive description of how people behave in a variety of contexts
12.1.6 Opportunity Costs

= the prices paid for availing oneself of certain opportunities
12.1.7 Naturalistic Decision Making

Much of the research is from professional settings (e.g. hospitals, nuclear plants)

The situations share features, e.g. Ill-structured problems, changing situations, high risk, time pressure,
team environment

The models which are used to explain performance in high-stake situations allow for the consideration
of cognitive, emotional, and situational factors of skilled decision makers and also provide a framework
for advising future decision makers
12.1.8 Group Decision Making
Benefits of Group Decisions

Enhance the effectiveness of decision making

Enhance the effectiveness of problem solving

Increase in resources and ideas

Improved group memory

Characteristics:
 Small
 Open communication
 Members share a common mind-set


Members identify with the group
Members agree on acceptable group behavior
Groupthink

= a phenomenon characterized by premature decision making that is generally the result of group
members attempting to avoid conflict (Janis, 1971)

Results in suboptimal decisions

Conditions that lead to groupthink (Janis):
 Isolated, cohesive, and homogeneous group empowered to make decisions
 Objective and impartial leadership is absent
 High levels of stress impinge on the group decision-making process
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
Symptoms (Janis, 1971)
 Closed-mindedness
 Formation of a “mindguard”


Rationalization
Feeling invulnerable


Squelching of dissent
Feeling unanimous
Antidotes for Groupthink

Leader should encourage constructive criticism, be impartial, and ensure that members seek input from
people outside the group

Subgroups
12.1.9 Neuroscience of Decision Making

Prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex are active during decision making

Monkeys: parietal regions, the amount of gain associated with a decision affects the amount of
activation observed in the parietal region
12.2 Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning = the process of drawing conclusions from principles and from evidence (people move from
what is already known to infer a new conclusion or to evaluate a proposed conclusion)
12.2.1 What is Deductive Reasoning?

Deductive Reasoning = the process of reasoning from one or more general statements regarding what
is known to reach a logically certain conclusion, often to a specific application of the general statement

Based on logical propositions

Proposition = an assertion, which may be either true or false

Premises = propositions about which arguments are made
12.2.2 Conditional Reasoning
What is Conditional Reasoning?

The reader must draw a conclusion based on an if-then proposition

One can reach deductively valid conclusions that are completely untrue with respect to the world

People are more likely mistakenly to accept an illogical argument as logical if the conclusion is factually
true

Deductive validity = logical soundness of the reasoning

Modus ponens argument: the reasoner affirms the antecedent  if p, then q. p, therefore q

Modus Tollens argument: the reasoner denies the consequent  if p, then q. not q, therefore not p
The Wason Selection Task

Participants are presented with a set of four two-sided cards

Each card has a number on one side and a letter on the other side

Face up are two letters and tow numbers

The letters are a consonant and a vowel

The numbers are an even and an odd number

Each participant is told a conditional statement

The task is to determine whether the conditional statement is true or false

One does so, by turning over the exact number of cards necessary to test the conditional statement

The participant must not turn over all cards that are not valid tests of the statement

The participant must turn over all cards that are valid tests of the conditional proposition
 Most participants knew to test for the modus ponens argument, but failed to test for the modus
tollens argument
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Conditional Reasoning in Everyday Life

Most people appear to have no difficulty in recognizing and applying the modus ponens arguments

Few people spontaneously recognize the need for reasoning by means of the modus tollens arguments

In everyday life people tend to be better at recognizing the need for reasoning by means of the modus
tollens arguments
Influences on Conditional Reasoning

Beliefs regarding plausibility influence whether people choose the modus tollens argument

Pragmatic reasoning schemas = general organizing principles or rules related to particular kinds of
goals (e.g. permissions, obligations, causations)
 Help deuce what might reasonably be true

One’s performance may be affected by perspective effects
Evolution and Reasoning

Humans may possess a schema-acquisition device which facilitates the ability to quickly glean
important information from our experiences and helps to organize that information into meaningful
frameworks
 Social exchange: inferences related to cost-benefit relationships and inferences that help detect
whether someone is cheating in a particular social exchange
12.2.3 Syllogistic Reasoning: Categorical Syllogisms

Syllogisms = deductive arguments that involve drawing conclusions from two premises
 Comprise a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion
What are Categorical Syllogisms?

The premises state something about the category memberships of the terms

Each term represents all, none, or some of the members of a particular class or category

Each premise contains two terms
 One of them must be the middle term, common to both premises
 The first and the second terms in each premise are linked through the categorical membership of
the terms (one term is a member of the class indicated by the other term)

Four kinds of premises
 Universal affirmatives: All A are B
 Universal negative statements: None A are B
 Particular affirmative statements: Some A are B
 Particular negative statements: Some A are not B
How Do People Solve Syllogisms?

Atmosphere bias
 If there is at least one negative premise, people will prefer a negative solution
 If there is at least one particular in the premises, people will prefer a particular solution

People tend to believe that the reversed form of the premise is just as valid as the original one

People solve syllogisms by using a semantic process based on mental models

Mental model = an internal representation of information that corresponds analogously with whatever is
being represented

The choice of a mental model may affect the reasoner’s ability to reach a valid deductive conclusion

Some model are better than other others for solving some syllogisms  a person is more likely to
reach a deductively valid conclusion by using more than one mental model

The difficulty of many problems of deductive reasoning relates to the number of mental models needed
for adequately representing the premises of the deductive argument
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
People seem to solve logical problems more accurately and more easily when the terms have high
imagery value
12.2.4 Aids and Obstacles to Deduce Reasoning
Heuristics in Deductive Reasoning

Overextension errors: people overextend the use of strategies that work in some syllogisms

Foreclosure effects: people fail to consider all the possibilities before reaching a conclusion

Premise-phrasing effects: may influence people’s deductive reasoning
Biases in Deductive Reasoning

Generally relate to the content of the premises and the believability of the conclusion

Reflect the tendency toward confirmation bias

Confirmation bias: people seek confirmation rather than disconfirmation of what they already believe

To a lesser extent, people show the opposite tendency to disconfirm the validity of the conclusion when
the conclusion or the content of the premises contradicts the reasoner’s existing beliefs
Enhancing Deductive Reasoning

Try to avoid heuristics and biases that distort reasoning

Engage in practices that facilitate reasoning

Consider more alternative conclusions

Training and practice seem to increase performance on reasoning tasks

Mood affects syllogistic reasoning  when in bad mood, people tend to pay more attention to details
12.3 Inductive Reasoning
12.3.1 What Is Inductive Reasoning?

Inductive reasoning = the process of reasoning from specific facts or observations to reach a likely
conclusion that may explain the facts; usage of the probable conclusion to attempt to predict future
specific instances

In inductive reasoning, a logically certain conclusion can never be reached

Forms the basis of the empirical method (when rejecting the null hypothesis)

People use inductive reasoning because
 It helps them to become increasingly able to make sense out of great variability in their
environment
 It helps them to predict events in their environment, thereby reducing their uncertainty
12.3.2 Causal Inferences

= how people make judgements about whether something causes something else

If people see two events paired enough, they come to believe that the first causes the second

Discounting error: once one of the suspected causes of a phenomenon is identified, people stop
searching for additional alternative of contributing causes

Self-fulfilling prophecies
12.3.3 Categorical Inferences

Bottom-up strategies: based on observing various instances and considering the degree of variability
across instances; from these observations, people abstract a prototype; once a prototype/ category has
been induces, the individual may use focused sampling to add new instances to the category; he/ she
focuses chiefly on properties that have provided useful distinctions in the past

Top-down strategies: include selectivity searching for constancies within many variations and selectivity
combining existing concepts and categories
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12.3.4 Reasoning by Analogy

Are used in everyday life as people make predictions about their environment  connection of
perceptoin with memories by means of analogies  analogies activate conceps and items stored in the
mind that are similar to the current input  prediction of what is likely in a given situation
12.4 An Alternative View of Reasoning

Dual-process theory: two complementary systems of reasoning can be distinguished
(1) Associative system: involves mental operations based on observed similarities and temporal
contiguities
 Can lead to speedy responses that are highly sensitive to patterns and to general tendencies
 Detection of similarities between observed patterns and patterns stored in memory
 People may pay more attention to salient features than to defining features of a pattern
 Imposes rather loose constraints that may inhibit the selection of patterns that are poor
matches to the observed pattern
 E.g. representative heuristic
 Belief-bias effect: occurs when people agree more with syllogisms that affirm people’s
beliefs, whether or not these syllogisms are logically valid
 False-consensus effect: people belief that their own behavior and judgements are more
common and more appropriate that those of other people
(2) Rules-based system: involves manipulations based on the relations among symbols
 More deliberate procedures for reaching conclusions
 Careful analyzing of relevant features of the available data, based on the rules stored in
memory
 Imposes rigid constraints that rule out possibilities that violate the rules
 Evidence in favor of rule-based reasoning:
o People can recognize logical arguments when they are explained to them
o People can recognize the need to make categorizations based on defining features
despite similarities in typical features
o People can rule out impossibilities
o People can recognize many improbabilities

Sloman: both systems are required

Systems may be conceptualized within a connectionist framework
 Associative system: represented easily in terms of pattern activation and inhibition, which readily
fits the connectionist model
 Rule-based system: may be represented as a system of production rules
 Deductive reasoning may occur when a given pattern of activation on one set of nodes entails or
produces a particular pattern of activation in a second set of nodes
 Inductive reasoning may involve the repeated activation of a series of similar patterns across
various instances
12.5 Neuroscience of Reasoning

Prefrontal cortex: problem solving and decision making

Basal ganglia: reasoning, working memory, cognition, learning

Left lateral frontal lobe, lateral parietal cortex, precuneus, left ventral fronto-lateral cortex: syllogistic
reasoning

Left-fronto-lateral cortex + basal ganglia: conditional and syllogistic reasoning

Conditional reasoning: increased negativity in the anterior cingulate cortex after task presentation
 suggests increased cognitive control
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