Cognitive Psychology
Winter 2004
-Discussion Section-
Memory
III. Memory for general
knowledge
Cognitive functions
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Perception
Emotion
Attention
Motivation
Memory
Action
Imagery
Decision-making
Reasoning, problem-solving
Language
Overview
•(Briefly): 7 sins of memory review
•Memory for general knowledge.
•Nickerson & Adams paper
•Review for midterm (except categorization).
Take home from seven sins:
•Transience
•Absentmindedness
•Blocking
•Misattribution
•Suggestibility
•Bias
•Persistence
A central paper. You
should be able to:
•Name them
•Explain what they are
•Know empirical evidence
of their reality
•Explain the adaptive
system they derive from.
Memory for general knowledge
•Basic distinction: Episodic vs. Semantic.
•Many differences
Endel Tulving
•Intuitively clear:
State, Chicago?
Knowing Facts, „Knowledge“
Ate, Breakfast?
Recall of Personal experiences
Repetition
with invariant
core
Memory for general knowledge
•Semantic memory models:
•Hierarchical model
•Feature comparison model
Networks,
Feature lists, etc.
•ACT model
•Schemata
Very 70´s and
80´s style.
Inspired by
Computer science
•Scripts
•Connectionist models, neural networks
•Episodic memory models: ?
90s, Neuroscience
inspired
Memory for general knowledge
•Hierarchical model
-Spread of activation
-Nodes
-Semantic priming
-RT based studies
-Typicality
Semantic network
Hierarchical
•Feature comparison model
•Memory as a linked feature list
•Every concept consists of a set of elements (features)
•There are defining and characteristic features
•The more defining features, the easier. Explains category size effect
(abstractness)
Memory for general knowledge
•ACT theory
•A central psychological theory
•Combines working memory, declarative
and procedural memory.
•Nodes, Production rules
•Conditions, actions
•Activated production rules create nodes
John Anderson
Memory for general knowledge
•Schemata
•Organized information
•Contain fixed slots and variable content
•Questionnaire (template) model of memory
•Default values
•Scripts
•Schema for routine events
•Restaurant example
•Allows inferences, leaving things unsaid. Problem: Intrusions.
Memory for general knowledge
•Connectionist models
•Parallel processing
•Learning (unobserved)
•Layers (Input, Processing, Output)
•Nodes and Links
•Weights
•Increasingly popular, powerful
•Hard do damage, robust  plausible
James McClelland
Nickerson & Adams
Nickerson & Adams
1c
Nickerson & Adams
1$?
Nickerson & Adams
•Basic points:
•Familiarity does not guarantee retention.
•Even if there were literally thousands of
presentations of the information.
•Crucial are importance, which generally
leads to the deployment of attention.
•In the absence of these, memory is poor.
•People are not necessarily aware of this.
Introspection is a bad measure of memory
for everyday objects.
Nickerson & Adams
 Study tip: Try to think that the
course material is important and pay
attention. Try to care. That way,
memory will naturally be much better
than if you just read/hear the stuff.
Review for midterm:
•2nd midterm is on next Wednesday, as scheduled
•Topics are basically Memory and Categorization
•No cheating!
•Try to study on the weekend. Email me for questions
•QALMRI: As usual, thu night. But it helps to
understand Classification.
•Material from Lecture, Book, Discussion section
and papers. Look online for my slides.
•No screwed up questions this time. (I hope)
•Don´t panic, it could be worse.
Concepts to know
•Interference:
Proactive
1
vs.
2
Retroactive
1
•Explicitness:
Explicit
vs.
Bla
Implicit
2
Concepts to know
•Modal model of memory:
Sensory memory  Short term memory
Storage
Long term memory
Retrieval
Information
Response
•Encoding specificity
-Context effect
-State dependent
learning
-Cues!
Concepts to know
•Working memory = structured STM
Central
executive
Visuospatial
sketchpad
Phonological
loop
•Memory structure
LTM
Knowing how to...
Knowing that...
Declarative
Procedural
Implicit
Episodic
Vivid Recall
Semantic
Knowing
Explicit
Concepts to know
•Basic functions of memory
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
•Sins of memory
7
Topics to know
Short term memory
Coding, Capacity, Retention duration, etc.
Serial position effects (primacy, recency, use).
Mnemonic strategies: Chunking, rehearsal.
Working memory
Inferference (Proactive, retroactive)
Memory search (serial, exhaustive)
Long term memory
Coding, Capacity, Retention duration, etc.
Levels of processing theory
Forgetting: Decay, Interference, Overwriting
Encoding specificity: State-dependent learning,
Context effects, spacing, cues, mood dependent
learning.
Autobiographical memory
-Flashbulb memory (Vivid, yet not more accurate)
-Eyewitness testimony (Constructive, Post hoc)
-Repressed memories (Controversial, doubtful)
-Amnesia (Symptoms)
Memory for general knowledge
•Dichotomies:
Implicit vs. Explicit memory
Declarative vs. Procedural memory
Semantic vs. Episodic memory
•Models:
Hierarchical model
ACT model
Network models
Connectionist model
Feature comparison model
Scripts
Schemata
Highly inspired by Computer
Science, Linguistics