Cognition – all the mental structures and processes involved in the reception storage and use of
knowledge.
Includes:
Attention
Perception
Memory
Decision-making
Problem solving
Language
Behvaiourism – Watson – the only reliable indication of mental states is observable behaviour
Classical conditioning – Pavlov – learning process in which a naturally occurring stimuli is paired with
previously neutral stimuli invoking a response
Operant conditioning – Skinner – learning process in which the consequence of a response affects the
likelihood that the response will be produced again.
Associative learning – the creation of associations between stimuli or behaviour and consequences
Observational learning – Bandura – associative learning occurs through observation of others
Principles of the Cognitive Level of Analysis:
1)mental processes can and should be studies scientifically:
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Testable theories can be generated by using an information processing model of mental
processes
Theories can be studied scientifically
Explains phenomena that behaviourism cannot
Modern scientific applications enable scientific observation
Cognitive level can be triangulated with other two levels of analysis for a comprehensive
explanation of phenomena
2) mental representation guide behaviour
Memories – mediates cognitive representations of the world that intervene between input and
response
Schemas – Piaget (1926) cognitive structures that organize our knowledge of objects, events, ourselves,
and others.
Scripts – schemas that provide information about the sequence of events that occur in a more or
less unchanging order in particular contexts.
Self-schemas – schemas that organize information we hold about ourselves. i.e. memories that tell
us about our weaknesses and strengths
Social schemas – (eg. Stereotypes) schemas that prepare our experiences with information
representing generalized groups or types of people.
Bartlett (1932)
Assimilation – fit objects into a schema
Accommodation – alter schemas to fit new objects
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Loftus et al. (1974)
Weapons Effect – when recalling the identification of individuals, witnesses were significantly less
accurate when the individual was holding a weapon rather than another object. This shows us that
anxiety can divert our attention and corrupt our encoding of details in memory.
Ihlebaek (2003) – Memory of a robbery was better when viewed as a video than witnessed in real time,
this shows that the ecological problems with laboratory witness studies are significant.
Eysenk and Keane (2010) – Compared laboratory versus real-life witness scenarios. Found that real-life
witnesses are often the victims themselves – presumable heightening the emotional trauma, this stress
was absent in viewing video of an event, and that memory distortions most often involve peripheral
details rather than central ones.
Yuille and Cutshall (1986) – interviewed actual witnesses to a robbery 5 months after it occurred.
Despite intentionally misleading questions during recall, their later reports matched their initial police
reports closely.
Bransford & Johnson (1972)
Macrae et al (1994)
Brewer and Treyens (1981)
Memory - an active reconstructive process rather than a passive reproductive one.
3 Processes of memory:
Encoding
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Storage
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Retrieval
Attention – focussing awareness on a narrowed range of stimuli or events. It is selection of input and is
crucial to everyday functioning.
Theories or Models of memory (one cognitive process)
Multi-Store Model (MSM) – Atkinson and Schiffrin (1968) - Memory consists of 3 types of stores; sensory
stores, short-term stores and long-term stores that info progress through in linear fashion
Visual info – iconic memory, stored as visual form – decays in less than 1 sec
Auditory info – echoic memory, stored as acoustic form – decays in 2 to 4 secs
Short-term stores – limit of 7 discreet items, lasts 2 to 30 seconds
George Miller (1956)
Chunking – a group of familiar stimuli stored as a single unit
Rehearsal – the process of repeatedly verbalizing or thinking about information.
2 causes of memory loss:
1) Decay – an unknown physiological process
2) Interference - competing stimuli at the time of encoding or retrieval
Long-term Stores – unknown/unlimited capacity, decay rate unknown
Peterson and Peterson (1959)
Serial Position Curve – the linear curve generated on a graph by plotting accuracy of recalled items from
a list in the order of their presentation from first to last.
Primacy effect – the enhanced recall of items at the beginning of the list
Recency effect – the enhanced recall of items at the end of the list
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)
Biological support for the MSM model:
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Damage to hippocampus – HM (Milner 1966)
Alzheimer’s Syndrome
Anterograde amnesia – caused by lesioning or other damage.
Objections to MSM Model
Rehearsal is not always effective (maintenance rehearsal)
Shouldn’t each store use the same encoding? LTS uses all three
Cannot account for all the communication that occurs between LTS and STS – non-linear
Levels of Processing Model (LOP) – Craik and Lockhart (1972) - Memory is a byproduct of perception and
the deeper the level of processing, the more durable the memory is.
Structural encoding – how the item appears eg. Is the word in capital letters?
Phonetic encoding – how the item sounds eg. Does the word rhyme with another word?
Semantic encoding – what the item means eg. What is the definition of the word?
Craik and Tulving (1975)
Weaknesses of LOP model
How can processing depth be measured?
Does not explain rather it only describes – studies show that semantic encoding leads to elaborate and
networked memory codes, improving recall and preventing decay
Does not address the retrieval phase of memory – semantic encodings can be recalled with phonetic
cues
Enriching encoding:
Elaboration – linking stimuli to other info at the time of encoding
Visual imagery – creation of visual images that represent the words to be remembered
Self-referent encoding – making info personally meaningful
Model 3: Working Memory Model:
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Same as MSM but with smaller interactive subgroups of the STS
More active and less linear than MSM
More focus on function than structures of MSM
Baddley and Hitch (1976) – Showed that tasks that required two different parts of the STS could be
completed at the same time whereas two tasks that used the same parts of STS could not.
STS broken down into:
1) Phonological rehearsal loop
2) Visuospatial sketch pad
3) Executive control system
LTS also broken down into smaller components:
1) Declarative memory – facts and concepts
2) Procedural memory – skills
Flashbulb memories – evidence that LTS has unlimited capacity and durability
Brown and Kulik (1977)
Outlined defining characteristics of FBM’s
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Form from surprising and emotional information
Maintained by overt and covert rehearsal
Last longer and are more vivid than regular memories
Involve a special neural mechanism and structure
The memory involves the context more than the information itself
Conway (1994) - FBM’s are culturally specific
Niesser and Harsch (1992) – source monitoring of memory had changed over time
Talarico and Rubin (2003) – FBM’s were remembered as consistently as other memories from the same
time
Key characteristics have changed: 1) event emotionality and 2) event importance
Collectivist society - Identity is defined by the characteristics of collective groups. Individualistic
expressions are corrosive to the collective identity and are therefore inhibited.
Individualist society - persons are unique and autonomous and have distinctive qualities such as their
emptions. Sharing and expressing these emotions is an important part of reinforcing and establishing
uniqueness
Basabe and Ros (2005) - lower sharing, ruminating, and emotionality in collectivist cultures
Other evidence of LTS duration:
1) Hypnosis recall
2) Electrical stimulation of the brain
Organization of LTS
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Clustering – classification system based on common properties
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Conceptual Hierarchies - the tendency to remember similar or related items in groups
Schemas and Scripts
Semantic Networks - nodes representing concepts, joined together by pathways that link
related things.
Parallel Distributed Models- that thinking depends on patterns of activation in
interconnected networks, like a computer.
Context cues – placing yourself in the context of the original encoding event to trigger the recall of the
target information
Retrieval cue – a stimulus that that triggers other codes to move from LTM to STM/Working memory
State-specific memory – memories stored when the body is in one state (eg. Drunk) will be recalled the
next time a person is in that state.
Source monitoring – the process of making attributions about the origins of memories.
Retroactive interference – occurs when new information impairs the retention of previously learned
information
Proactive interference – occurs when previously learned information interferes with the retention of
new information.
Encoding specificity – a good retrieval cue is appropriate for the original encoding
The first scientific studies of forgetting were conducted by Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885) by memorizing
lists of nonsensical words
One example of how biology can affect cognition is _________________ disease
AD affects episodic memory most, also affects semantic memory but procedural memory remains intact
Two main features of brain tissue affected by AD:
1) Amyloid plaques
2) Neurofibrilary tangles
Both of these inhibit the production and activity of acetylcholine
Two structures affected by AD:
1) Medial temporal lobe – particularly the hippocampus which is important for episodic memory
2) Parietal lobe – location of the production of acetylcholine
Cognition and Emotion
Schacter and Singer (1962) – Two Factor Theory of emotion: 1) physiological arousal and 2) emotional
interpretation/lebelling
The strength of the arousal determines the intensity of the emotion and the labelling of the context
determines which emotion will be experienced/
Criticisms of TFTE
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Operational definition of arousal is pulse?
Adrenaline injections have been found to be unpleasant rather than neutral
Replication failures
Low ecological validity
Lazarus (1982) – Appraisal Theory of Emotion: Implicit series of evaluations made to determine emotion
Primary appraisal – personal relevance of situations, positive and negative valences only with
accompanying approach and avoidance reactions.
Motivational relevance
Motivational congruence
Accountability
Secondary appraisal – an evaluation of the coping strategies available in response to a situation
Problem-focused coping
Emotion-focused coping
Future expectancy
The summary of all of these factors leads to the core-relational theme (CRT)
Herrald and Tomaka (2002) – Core relational states could be produced in a participant by a confederate
with corresponding physiological arousals.
Spiesman et al. (1964) – primary appraisal could be replicated through a circumcision film
Ohman (2002) – appraisal occurs unconsciously
Key outcomes
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Outline principles that define the cognitive level of analysis
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Explain how principles that define the cognitive level of analysis may be demonstrated in
research
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Evaluate two models or theories of one cognitive process (memory)
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Discuss , with reference to relevant research studies, the extent to which one cognitive process
is reliable.
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Discuss to what extent cognitive and biological factors interact in emotion
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Explain how biological factors affect one cognitive process
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Evaluate one theory of how emotion may affect one cognitive process.
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Discuss how social or cultural factors affect one cognitive process.