Attention:
System for Selection/Prioritization:
- Linked with perception/memory.
- Involves being conscious of information held in short-term working memory.
Purposes of Attention:
- Selection for perception: Detecting and choosing what to process.
- Selection for action: Choosing which response or action to take.
Binding Problem:
- Concerns about how different properties of an item are correctly combined or bound into
the correct formation.
Controlled Attention:
- Operates under conscious/intentional control.
- Requires attentional resources/capacity.
- Subject to interference.
- Involves top-down processing/endogenous attention.
Exogenous Attention:
- Stimulus-driven.
- Triggered by bottom-up stimuli.
Frontal Lobe Damage:
- Patients may have difficulty inhibiting automatic responses and switching between tasks
due to a lack of control in attention mechanisms.
Stroop Effect:
- A well-learned response to a stimulus can slow down the ability to make a less
well-learned response.
Slips of Action:
- Errors in carrying out sequences of actions.
Bottleneck:
- Point in processing where parallel processing becomes serial.
Shadowing:
- Used in a dichotic listening task where participants repeat aloud the attended message
and ignore the other.
Early Selection:
- Selective attention operates on physical information from early perceptual analysis.
Breakthrough:
- Ability of information to capture awareness despite being in an unattended channel in
dichotic listening experiments.
Late Selection Model:
- Attention operates after all stimuli have been analyzed for their semantic properties.
Subliminal Priming Effects:
- Activation of mental processes without conscious awareness or confident report.
Galvanic Skin Response:
- Measurable change in skin conductivity in response to emotionally significant stimuli,
often used to detect unconscious processing.
Masking:
- Disruptive effect of an auditory/visual pattern presented immediately after a stimulus.
Object Selection, Inhibition, and Negative Priming:
Negative Priming:
- Response time is slowed to categorize a target item shown before in trials as a
distracting item that was ignored but semantically processed.
Distracting the Spotlight of Visual Attention:
Spotlight Analogy:
- Objects/events in the visual attention beam are highlighted and easily processed.
- Saccades are eye movements with suppressed information uptake between them.
Overt Attentional Orienting:
- Making eye movements to attend to a location.
Covert Attentional Orienting:
- Orienting attention without making eye movements.
Gaze-Mediated Orienting:
- Sharing attention with a person seen looking at something.
Cross-Model Cueing of Attention:
Cross-Model Cueing:
- Manipulating spatial relationships between visual and auditory stimuli.
Visual Search:
Feature Integration Theory (FIT):
- Proposes that different sensory features are coded by specialized independent
subsystems/modules.
- Attention is required for combining features and forming a temporary representation of
an object's properties.
Evidence For/Against FIT:
- Conjunction search time increases with the number of distractors; unique feature search
is independent.
- Attention to location is important in conjunction with search.
Attentional Engagement Theory:
Similarity and Target Efficiency:
- Emphasizes the importance of similarity between targets and distractors.
- Efficiency of target selection depends on how easy/efficient the target is.
Serial Search with Focal Attention:
- Requires a serial search with focal attention.
- Unaffected by display size when distractors are homogenous.
Response Rate and Spatial Proximity:
- Response rate between target and distractors influences target selection efficiency.
- Spatial proximity of distractor letters to the target letter and task nature are crucial factors.
Adjustable Visual Attention:
The amount of interference depends on incompatible distractors separate from the target.
- Visual attention is likened to an adjustable zoom lens; interference if the zoom is wide,
and response to the target if it's a narrowed beam.
Against Feature Integration Theory (FIT):
- Results contradict FIT, suggesting identification occurs after serial search and with a fixed
focus attention beam.
What' and 'Where' Pathways:
- The 'What' pathway includes motion/color maps.
- 'Where' pathway codes location.
Late/Early Attention:
- Attention could be late or early depending on the concurrent load on perception.
The importance of task differences influences attention timing.
Selective Filtering vs. Selective Set Paradigms:
- Differences between experiments supporting early and late selection are attributed to
overall attention demand in experimental tasks.
- Selective filtering tasks (e.g., dichotic listening) are more attention-demanding than
selective set tasks.
Selective Filtering and Selective Set Definitions:
- Selective filtering: Requires selecting one information source for further processing
(early selection).
- Selective set: Requires detection of a target from a small set of possibilities (late
selection).
Role of Attention in Behavioral Goals:
- Attention is necessary to achieve behavioral goals and overcome habitual responses or
temptations.
- Information from the perceptual system activates schema stored in long-term memory.
Contention Scheduler:
- Component in Norman and Shallice's model responsible for semi-automatic control of
schema activation.
- Ensures orderly activation of schemas.
Frontal Lobe Syndrome:
- Pattern of deficits in patients with damage to the frontal lobes.
- Manifests as distractibility, difficulty in goal-setting, changing behavioral goals, and
planning action sequences.
Executive Functions (Miyake et al.):
- Inhibition, shifting, and updating are proposed as three executive functions.
- Different prefrontal cortex activity patterns for each function.
Dual-Task Performance and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex:
- TMS indicates that dual-task performance activates the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex,
associated with complex executive control.
Combining Tasks:
Competition for Processing Resources:
- Tasks can be combined more easily when there's no competition for specific processing
resources.
- Linked to response/stimulus-response compatibility rather than a general limitation on
attentional capacity.
Attentional Blink:
- When two stimuli appear rapidly, the second stimulus may be missed due to attention
distribution.
Practice, Automaticity, and Skill:
Consistent Mapping vs. Varied Mapping:
- Consistent mapping: Distractors aren't targets, and targets are never distractors.
- Varied mapping: Stimulus-response associations change from trial to trial.
Automatic Processes:
- Goal-unrelated, unconscious, fast, and efficient.
- Gradually develop and, once automatic, do not draw on limited attentional resources.
Adaptive Control of Thought-Rational (ACT-R) Model:
- Four modules: Retrieval, imaginal, goal, and procedural.
- Procedural model uses IF-THEN condition-action rules.
Procedural Knowledge and Automatic Tasks:
- Procedural knowledge is unconscious and includes skills.
- Paying attention to an automatic task hinders the process.
Short-Term Memory:
Multi-Store Models of Memory:
- Long-term memory: Permanent storage.
- Short-term memory: Conscious awareness and receiving attention.
Clinical Evidence for LTM/STM Distinction:
- Patients with organic amnesia struggle with forming new long-term memories but have
intact short-term memory.
Digit Span and Phonological Loop:
- Impaired digit span may affect the phonological loop, specifically the phonological store.
The Recency Effect:
Recency and Primary Effects:
- Tendency to remember items presented at the end of a list (recency effect).
- Primary effect for items at the start of the list.
Measuring STM Performance:
Brown-Peterson Task:
- Technique for measuring the duration of short-term memory storage in normal
individuals.
STM Capacity:
Immediate Memory Span:
- Not a pure measure of short-term memory.
- Maximum span for letters or numbers is 5-9.
Working Memory Model:
Components of Working Memory:
- Central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad.
- Thinking of working memory as a mental workspace.
Phonological Loop:
Word-Length Effect:
- Phonological loop is implicated in tasks like digit span and word span.
Word-length effect: The word span limit is greater for short words than long words.
Sub-Components of the Phonological Loop:
- Phonological store (stores auditory information).
- Articulatory control (allows sub-vocal rehearsal).
Non-Speech Sounds and Verbal Material:
- Verbal material enters the phonological loop; irrelevant speech effect.
- Non-speech sounds do not enter the phonological loop.
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad:
Measuring Capacity:
- Measured by the number of visually presented objects one can hold consciously at one
moment.
Sub-Components of the visuospatial Sketchpad:
- Visual cache (stores visual information about shapes/colors).
- Inner scribe (holds spatial information and assists with physical actions).
Central Executive:
Functions of the Central Executive:
- Inhibition (suppressing dominant responses).
- Shifting (switching attention between different tasks).
- Updating (monitoring stored information and new input).
Impairment of Central Executive:
- Brain lesions can cause impairment of central executive functions.
- Dysexecutive syndrome involves deficits observed in frontal lobe patients.
Working Memory Theory - Episodic Buffer:
Episodic Buffer:
Definition: A hypothetical component of working memory.
Function:
- Integrates information from different sense modalities.
- Acts as a temporary storage system that links the phonological loop representations with
those from long-term memory.
Role:
- Provides a multidimensional workspace that allows for the integration of information.
- Enables a seamless flow of information between different sensory domains.
Controlled Attention Theory:
Definition:
- Proposes that working memory relies primarily on controlled attention.
- Controlled attention is the mechanism that temporarily activates short-term memory
before moving on to other cognitive processes.
Individual Differences in Working Memory:
Overview:
- There are individual differences in working memory performance.
- Complex span tasks correlate highly with cognitive abilities such as language
comprehension, fluid intelligence, and academic performance.
- The ability to control the contents of consciousness is a key feature of complex working
memory capacity.
Factors Influencing Working Memory:
- Low span indicates poor control of attention and an inability to suppress unwanted items.
- Controlled attention is linked to self-control in various domains (e.g., diet, exercise, racial
prejudice).
- Working memory scores vary with age, peaking at 20 and declining with age span.
Neuroimaging Studies and Working Memory:
Verbal and Visuospatial Tasks:
- Verbal working memory tasks primarily activate the left hemisphere.
- Visuospatial working memory tasks primarily activate the right hemisphere.
Object Recognition and Spatial Tasks:
- Object recognition tasks involve left parietal and inferotemporal zones in ventral
pathways.
- Spatial tasks involve right dorsal prefrontal parietal and occipital lobes in dorsal pathways.
Specific Components:
- Phonological loop: Left parietal/supramarginal gyrus.
- Visual cache: Inferior temporal.
- Articulatory control process: Left frontal/Broca's area.
- Central executive: Prefrontal.
Long-Term Memory - Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval:
Three Main Stages:
- Input stage: Encoding new information.
- Storage stage: Holding information for future retrieval.
- Output stage: Retrieval of information.
Encoding:
- The process of transforming a sensory stimulus into a memory trace.
First Memory Experiment - Ebbinghaus and the Forgetting Curve:
Ebbinghaus' Study:
- Used nonsense syllables for memory experiments.
- Investigated forgetting over time by plotting a forgetting curve.
Interference and Decay: The forgetting curve shows memories tend to dissipate over time.
- Decay: Memories fade away with time.
- Interference: Memories actively disrupted by the influence of other input.
Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF):
- Successful retrieval inhibits the retrieval of rival memory traces.
- Inhibitory mechanisms suppress unretrieved memories.
Meaning, Knowledge, and Schemas - Bartlett's Story Recall Experiments and Schema
Theory:
Bartlett's Study:
- Used the Native American folk tale "The War of the Ghosts."
- Participants recalled the story, and changes made were not random but based on
expectations.
Schema Theory:
- Information is perceived and encoded into memories based on past experiences.
- Comparisons with schemas lead to distortion or non-retention of information.
- Raises questions about the accuracy of eyewitnesses, news reports, historical events,
and personal memories.
Effect of Meaning and Knowledge on Memory:
Knowledgeable Individuals:
- More knowledgeable people are likely to remember events more accurately.
Schemas and Scripts:
- Scripts: Combine events expected in a situation to guide behavior.
- Schemas: Mental frameworks used to organize and interpret information.
Meaning and Mnemonic:
Mnemonic:
- Technique/strategy for improving memorability by adding meaningful associations.
- Utilizes existing knowledge in long-term memory.
Input Processing and Encoding - Levels of Processing Theory:
Levels of Processing Theory:
Overview:
- Processing new perceptual input involves extracting information at increasing depths of
analysis.
- Long-term storage requires active processing of input.
- Orienting Tasks:
- Set of instructions influencing the type of cognitive processing employed.
- Semantic Processing:
- Usually more effective than non-semantic processing.
- Semantic processing involves the left prefrontal cortex.
- Non-semantic processing involves the posterior sensory cortex.
- Elaborative and Maintenance Rehearsal:
- Elaborative rehearsal involves forming associative connections with other memory traces.
- Maintenance rehearsal maintains information in conscious awareness.
Retrieval and Retrieval Cues - Recall and Recognition:
Recognition vs. Recall:
- Recognition test involves presenting original test material again.
- Recall test requires generating items from memory without assistance.
- Spontaneous Recall, Cued Recall, Recognition:
- Spontaneous recall involves cues without the actual items.
- Cued recall provides retrieval cues.
- Generate and Recognize Theory:
- Recognition is considered a sub-process of recall.
- Recognition failure of recallable items is when items can be recalled but not recognized.
Cue-Dependent Forgetting and the Encoding Specificity Principle:
Cue-Dependent Forgetting:
- Memory retrieval is cue-dependent, relying on suitable retrieval cues.
- Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP): Successful retrieval requires cues with items stored
with the original trace.
- Feature Overlap:
- Feature overlap, the match between input and output features, is crucial for successful
retrieval.
- Recognition tests benefit more from feature overlap than recall tests.
Transfer-Appropriate Processing (TAP):
- Finding the most effective type of input processing that offers the closest match with
available retrieval cues.
- Aligns with the Encoding Specificity Principle and Levels of Processing Theory.
Context-Dependent Memory:
- Relies on revisiting or reinstating an earlier context as a retrieval cue.
- Effectiveness depends on paying attention to surroundings.
State-Dependent and Mood-Dependent Memory:
State-Dependent Memory:
- Retrieval is assisted by reinstating the mental state at retrieval present at the learning
stage.
- Mood-Congruent Memory:
- Subjects retrieve words congruent with their present mood.
- Selective cognition can lead to mood-dependent retrieval, affecting mood further.
Memory Systems: Memory systems refer to the various processes and structures in the
brain responsible for encoding, storing, and retrieving information. These systems include
working memory, long-term memory, and other components like sensory memory.
Episodic and Semantic Memory:
Episodic Memory:
Memory for specific episodes or events from personal experience.
Characteristics:
- Tied to a particular context of time and place.
- Involves memories of specific, unique events.
- Retrieval depends on feature overlap.
- Higher level of consciousness, involving "mental time travel."
Semantic Memory:
Definition: Memory for general knowledge and facts.
Characteristics:
- Involves general information without reference to specific episodes.
- Retrieval may depend on repetition, making the memory stronger.
- Knowledge is associated with particular words or shapes.
- In animals, it may be restricted to recalling general knowledge.
Brain Activation:
- Semantic Knowledge: Associated with the left temporal lobe.
- Recall of Contextual Episodes: Right prefrontal area.
- Episodic Memory and Imagination: Involves the hippocampus, allowing "mental time
travel."
Familiarity and Recollection:
Familiarity:
- Recognition of an item as having been encountered before.
- Automatic process without conscious effort.
- Judged by the perirhinal cortex.
Recollection:
- Remembering a specific event or occasion related to an item.
- Controlled process requiring conscious effort.
- Medial temporal lobes/hippocampus involved.
- Involves contextual information processed by the para-hippocampal cortex.
- Both familiarity and recollection blend in prefrontal cortex activation.
R and K Procedure - Remember and Know:
Procedure:
- Subjects indicate whether recognition responses are based on consciously remembering
(R) or simply knowing that the item is familiar without specific memory (K).
Implicit and Explicit Memory:
Explicit Memory:
Definition: Memory that a subject can consciously and deliberately report.
- Characteristics:
- Involves conscious effort.
- Can be reported and deliberately recalled.
- Draws on schema-driven processing.
- Linked to detailed memory for the entire life.
Implicit Memory:
- Definition: Memory whose influence can be detected indirectly, but the subject is unable to
report consciously.
- Characteristics:
- Influence detected through indirect tests or task performance.
- Doesn't require full conscious attention.
- Draws on stimulus-driven processing.
- More durable than explicit memory.
Age Differences:
- Elderly People:
- Tend to have worse explicit memory but better implicit memory than younger people.
- Implicit memory retrieval involves left/right parietal and temporal lobes.
- Reduced implicit memory involves frontal and occipital lobes and the left fusiform gyrus.
Implicit Memory in Everyday Life:
Applications:
- May underlie intuition and hunches.
- Explains distressing intrusive memories in PTSD.
- Associated with repressed traumatic memories in neurotic patients.
Processing Underlying Different Memory Systems:
Implicit Memory and Familiarity Judgments:
- Share dependence on unconscious automatic retrieval processes.
Explicit Memory and Recollection:
- Share dependence on controlled, effortful processes using associative/conceptual links.
Retrieval Practice and Retrieval Inhibition - Retrieval Practice and the Testing Effect:
Testing Effect:
- Learning is more effective when testing is involved.
Decay with Disuse:
- Memory decays if left unused for a long time.
- New theory of disuse: Unretrieved memories become inaccessible.
Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF):
Definition:
- Practicing the retrieval of a memory not only strengthens that trace but inhibits rival
memory traces.
- Inhibits retrieval of items in the same category.
RIF in Real-Life Settings:
Purpose:
- Suppress unwanted memories.
- Aids memory selectivity.
- Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) demonstrates RIF effects on exam revision.
Thinking and Problem Solving:
Early Research on Problem Solving:
Focused on observable behavior and learning through trial and error.
Gestalt Approach to Problem Solving: Distinguished between productive thinking
(insightful problem solving) and reproductive thinking (rote application of past solutions).
- Introduced concepts like functional fixedness and mental set as potential blocks to
solutions.
Information Processing Approach to Problem-Solving:
GPS (General Problem Solver):
- A computer program for solving problems with multiple possible solutions.
Problem-Solving Strategies:
- Heuristics: Methods not guaranteed for success.
- State-Action Tree: Representation of all possible situations.
- Problem Reduction: Divide-and-conquer approach.
- Hill Climbing: Assumes searching for steps moving closer to the goal.
- Means-End Analysis: Envisioning the end goal and determining the best strategy.
Problem Representation:
Representation:
- Participants construct a representation of a problem based on instructions.
- Past experiences may benefit or hinder problem solutions.
- Insight involves reorganizing elements of the problem situation.
- Constraint relaxation can help overcome impasse.
Representational Change Approach:
Insight:
- Occurs through relaxing self-imposed constraints on a problem.
- Decomposing chunked items in the problem is part of the process.
- Involves the frontal lobes of the brain.
Two-Process Model:
- Interplay of mental set and insight.
- Representational change is the process selected to solve a problem.
- Reinforcement of the selected procedure occurs assuming it is successful.
Problem Solving Analogy:
Analogy Process:
1. Interpretation and representation of the target problem.
2. Selection and retrieval of an analog from long-term memory.
3. Comparison of similarity between the source analog and the target problem.
- **Applications:**
- Analogical mapping helps in problem-solving based on similarity or dissimilarity.
- Schemas play a role in analogical transfer and solving similar problems in the future.
Are Analogies Spontaneously Used to Solve Problems:
Spontaneity:
- Analogical problem-solving is not automatic but requires the ability to coordinate goals
and prior resources.
- People tend to use analogs that are structurally similar to the target.
- Difficulty when analogs are structurally dissimilar.
- Source analog retrieval after a time interval.
Comparing Experts and Novices:
Knowledge and Problem Solving:
- Experts process information at a deeper level than novices.
- Specific/schema knowledge is crucial for effective problem-solving.