Unit 5: Cognition

Models of Memory
Information Processing Model
Information processing model: compares our mind to a computer.
Encoded when our sensory receptors send impulses that are registered by neurons in our
brain, similar to getting electronic information into our computer’s CPU (central processing
unit) by keyboarding.
Store and retain the information in our brain for some period, ranging from a moment to a
lifetime, similar to saving information in our computer’s hard drive.
Retrieved upon demand when it is needed, similar to opening up a document or
application from the hard drive.
Donald Broadbent: modeled human memory and thought processes using a flowchart
that showed competing information filtered out early, as it is received by the senses and
analyzed in the stages of memory.
Attention: is the mechanism by which we restrict information.
Trying to attend to one task over another requires selective or focused attention.
We have great difficulty when we try to attend to two complex tasks at once
requiring divided attention, such as listening to different conversations or driving
and texting.
According to Anne Treisman’s feature integration theory, you must focus attention on
complex incoming auditory or visual information in order to synthesize it into a meaningful
pattern.

Levels-of-Processing Model
According to Fergus Craik and Robert Lockhart’s levels-of-processing theory: how long
and how well we remember information depends on how deeply we process the
information when it is encoded.
Shallow processing: we use structural encoding of superficial sensory information that
emphasizes the physical characteristics, such as lines and curves, of the stimulus as it first
comes in.
Semantic encoding: associated with deep processing, emphasizes the meaning of verbal
input.
Deep processing: occurs when we attach meaning to information and create associations
between the new memory and existing memories (elaboration).

Three-Stage Model
Atkinson–Shiffrin three-stage model of memory: describes three different memory
systems characterized by time frames: sensory memory, short-term memory (STM), and
long-term memory.
 Sensory memory: visual or iconic memory that completely represents a visual stimulus
lasts for less than a second, just long enough to ensure that we don’t see gaps between
frames in a motion picture.
Auditory or echoic memory lasts for about 4 seconds, just long enough for us to hear a
flow of information.
Selective attention: focusing of awareness on a specific stimulus in sensory memory,
determines which very small fraction of information perceived in sensory memory is
encoded into short-term memory.
Automatic processing: is unconscious encoding of information about space, time, and
frequency that occurs without interfering with our thinking about other things.
Parallel processing: a natural mode of information processing that involves several
information streams simultaneously.
Effortful processing: is encoding that requires our focused attention and conscious effort.

Short-Term Memory
Short-term memory (STM): can hold a limited amount of information for about 30
seconds unless it is processed further.
Chunk: can be a word rather than individual letters or a date rather than individual
numbers.
Alan Baddeley’s: working memory model involves much more than chunking, rehearsal,
and passive storage of information.
Working memory model: is an active three-part memory system that temporarily holds
information and consists of a phonological loop, visuospatial working memory, and the
central executive.

Long-Term Memory
Long-term memory (LTM): is the relatively permanent and practically unlimited capacity
memory system into which information from short-term memory may pass.
Explicit memory: also called declarative memory, is our LTM of facts and experiences we
consciously know and can verbalize.
Semantic memory of facts and general knowledge, and episodic memory of personally
experienced events.
Implicit memory: also called non-declarative memory, is our LTM for skills and procedures
to do things affected by previous experience without that experience being consciously
recalled.
Procedural memories: are tasks that we perform automatically without thinking, such as
tying our shoelaces or swimming.
Prospective memory: is our memory to perform a planned action or remembering to
perform that planned action.

Organization of Memories
Hierarchies: are systems in which concepts are arranged from more general to more
specific classes.
Concepts: can be simple or complex.
Prototypes: which are the most typical examples of the concept.
Semantic networks: are more irregular and distorted systems than strict hierarchies, with
multiple links from one concept to others.
Dr. Steve Kosslyn: showed that we seem to scan a visual image of a picture (mental map)
in our mind when asked questions.
 Schemas: are preexisting mental frameworks that start as basic operations and then get
more and more complex as we gain additional information.
Script: is a schema for an event.
Connectionism: theory states that memory is stored throughout the brain in connections
between neurons, many of which work together to process a single memory.
Artificial intelligence (AI): have designed the neural network or parallel processing model
that emphasizes the simultaneous processing of information, which occurs automatically
and without our awareness.
Neural network: computer models are based on neuronlike systems, which are biological
rather than artificially contrived computer codes; they can learn, adapt to new situations,
and deal with imprecise and incomplete information.

Biology of Long-Term Memory

Long-term potentiation (or LTP): involves an increase in the efficiency with which signals
are sent across the synapses within neural networks of long-term memories.
Flashbulb memory: a vivid memory of an emotionally arousing event, is associated with an
increase of adrenal hormones triggering release of energy for neural processes and
activation of the amygdala and the hippocampus involved in emotional memories.
The role of the thalamus in memory seems to involve the encoding of sensory memory
into short-term memory.
The hippocampus, frontal and temporal lobes of the cerebral cortex, and other regions of
the limbic system are involved in explicit long-term memory.
Anterograde amnesia: the inability to put new information into explicit memory; no new
semantic memories are formed.
Retrograde amnesia: involves memory loss for a segment of the past, usually around the
time of an accident, such as a blow to the head.
The cerebellum is involved in implicit memory of skills, and studies involving patients with
Parkinson’s disease have indicated involvement of basal ganglia in implicit memory too.

Retrieving Memories
Retrieval: is the process of getting information out of memory storage.
Multiple-choice questions require recognition, identification of learned items when they
are presented.
Fill-in and essay questions require recall, retrieval of previously learned information.
Often the information we try to remember has missing pieces, which results in
reconstruction, retrieval of memories that can be distorted by adding, dropping, or
changing details to fit a schema.
Hermann Ebbinghaus: experimentally investigated the properties of human memory using
lists of meaningless syllables.
He drew a learning curve.
He drew a forgetting curve that declined rapidly before slowing.
Savings method: the amount of repetitions required to relearn the list compared to the
amount of repetitions it took to learn the list originally.
Overlearning effect: Ebbinghaus also found that if he continued to practice a list after
memorizing it well, the information was more resistant to forgetting.
Serial position effect: When we try to retrieve a long list of words, we usually recall the
last words and the first words best, forgetting the words in the middle.
Primacy effect: refers to better recall of the first items, thought to result from greater
rehearsal
Recency effect: refers to better recall of the last items.
 Retrieval cues: can be other words or phrases in a specific hierarchy or semantic network,
context, and mood or emotions.
Priming: is activating specific associations in memory either consciously or unconsciously.
Distributed practice: spreading out the memorization of information or the learning of
skills over several sessions, facilitates remembering.
Massed practice: cramming the memorization of information or the learning of skills into
one session.
Mnemonic devices: or memory tricks when encoding information, these devices will help
us retrieve concepts.
Method of loci: uses association of words on a list with visualization of places on a familiar
path.
Peg word mnemonic: requires us to first memorize a scheme.
Context-dependent memory: Our recall is often better when we try to recall information
in the same physical setting in which we encoded it, possibly because along with the
information, the environment is part of the memory trace
Mood congruence: aids retrieval.
State-dependent: things we learn in one internal state are more easily recalled when in the
same state again.
Forgetting: may result from failure to encode information, decay of stored memories, or
an inability to access information from LTM.
Relearning: is a measure of retention of memory that assesses the time saved compared to
learning the first time when learning information again.

Cues and Interference

Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon: Sometimes we know that we know something but can’t
pull it out of memory.
Interference: Learning some items may prevent retrieving others, especially when the
items are similar.
Proactive interference: occurs when something we learned earlier disrupts recall of
something we experience later.
Retroactive interference: is the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old
information.
Sigmund Freud: believed that repression (unconscious forgetting) of painful memories
occurs as a defense mechanism to protect our self-concepts and minimize anxiety.
Misinformation effect: occurs when we incorporate misleading information into our
memory of an event.
Misattribution error: Forgetting what really happened, or distortion of information at
retrieval, can result when we confuse the source of information—putting words in someone
else’s mouth—or remember something we see in the movies or on the Internet as actually
having happened.
Language: is a flexible system of spoken, written, or signed symbols that enables us to
communicate our thoughts and feelings.

Building Blocks: Phonemes and Morphemes

Language is made up of basic sound units called phonemes.
Morphemes: are the smallest meaningful units of speech, such as simple words, prefixes,
and suffixes.

Combination Rules
 Each language has a system of rules that determines how sounds and words can be
combined and used to communicate meaning, called grammar.
The set of rules that regulate the order in which words can be combined into grammatically
sensible sentences in a language is called syntax.
The set of rules that enables us to derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences
is semantics.

Language Acquisition Stages

Babbling is the production of phonemes, not limited to the phonemes to which the baby is
exposed.
Holophrase: one word—to convey meaning.
Telegraphic speech: they begin to put together two-word sentences.
Overgeneralization: or overregularization in which children apply grammatical rules
without making appropriate exceptions.

Theories of Language Acquisition

Noam Chomsky says that our brains are prewired for a universal grammar of nouns, verbs,
subjects, objects, negations, and questions.
He compares our language acquisition capacity to a “language acquisition device,” in which
grammar switches are turned on as children are exposed to their language.

Thinking
Linguist Benjamin Whorf proposed a radical hypothesis that our language guides and
determines our thinking.
He thought that different languages cause people to view the world quite
differently.
Linguistic relativity hypothesis: has largely been discredited by empirical research.
Metacognition: thinking about how you think

Problem Solving
Algorithm: is a problem-solving strategy that involves a slow, step-by-step procedure that
guarantees a solution to many types of problems.
Insight: is a sudden and often novel realization of the solution to a problem.
Trial-and-error approach: This approach involves trying possible solutions and discarding
those that do not work.
Inductive reasoning: involves reasoning from the specific to the general, forming concepts
about all members of a category based on some members, which is often correct but may
be wrong if the members we have chosen do not fairly represent all of the members.
Deductive reasoning: involves reasoning from the general to the specific.

Obstacles to Problem Solving

Fixation: is an inability to look at a problem from a fresh perspective, using a prior strategy
that may not lead to success.
Functional fixedness: a failure to use an object in an unusual way.
 Amos Tversky and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman studied how and why people make
illogical choices.
Availability heuristic: estimating the probability of certain events in terms of how readily
they come to mind.
Representative heuristic: a mental shortcut by which a new situation is judged by how
well it matches a stereotypical model or a particular prototype.
Framing: refers to the way a problem is posed.
Anchoring effect: is this tendency to be influenced by a suggested reference point, pulling
our response toward that point.

Biases
Confirmation bias: is a tendency to search for and use information that supports our
preconceptions and ignore information that refutes our ideas.
Belief perseverance: is a tendency to hold onto a belief after the basis for the belief is
discredited.
Belief bias: the tendency for our preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, making
illogical conclusions seem valid or logical conclusions seem invalid.
Hindsight bias: is a tendency to falsely report, after the event, that we correctly predicted
the outcome of the event.
Overconfidence bias: is a tendency to underestimate the extent to which our judgments
are erroneous.

Creativity
Creativity: is the ability to think about a problem or idea in new and unusual ways, to
come up with unconventional solutions.
Convergent thinkers: use problem-solving strategies directed toward one correct solution
to a problem
Divergent thinkers: produce many answers to the same question, characteristic of
creativity.
Brainstorm: generating lots of ideas without evaluating them.

Standardization and Norms

Psychometricians: are involved in test development in order to measure some construct
or behavior that distinguishes people.
Constructs: are ideas that help summarize a group of related phenomena or objects; they
are hypothetical abstractions related to behavior and defined by groups of objects or
events.
Standardization: is a two-part test development procedure that first establishes test norms
from the test results of the large representative sample that initially took the test and then
ensures that the test is both administered and scored uniformly for all test takers.
Norms: are scores established from the test results of the representative sample, which are
then used as a standard for assessing the performances of subsequent test takers; more
simply, norms are standards used to compare scores of test takers.

Reliability and Validity

If a test is reliable, we should obtain the same score no matter where, when, or how many
times we take it (if other variables remain the same).
 Several methods are used to determine if a test is reliable.
Test-retest method: the same exam is administered to the same group on two different
occasions, and the scores compared.
Split-half method: the score on one half of the test questions is correlated with the score
on the other half of the questions to see if they are consistent.
Alternate form method or equivalent form method: two different versions of a test on
the same material are given to the same test takers, and the scores are correlated.
Interrater reliability: the extent to which two or more scorers evaluate the responses in
the same way.
Validity: is the extent to which an instrument accurately measures or predicts what it is
supposed to measure or predict.

Performance, Observational, and Self-Report Tests

Performance test: the test taker knows what he or she should do in response to questions
or tasks on the test, and it is assumed that the test taker will do the best he or she can to
succeed.
Performance tests include the SATs, AP tests, Wechsler intelligence tests,
Stanford–Binet intelligence tests, and most classroom tests, including finals, as
well as computer tests and road tests for a driver’s license.
Observational tests: differ from performance tests in that the person being tested does
not have a single, well-defined task to perform but rather is assessed on typical behavior or
performance in a specific context.
Speed tests: generally include a large number of relatively easy items administered with
strict time limits under which most test takers find it impossible to answer all questions.

Ability, Interest, and Personality Tests

General mental ability is particularly important in scholastic performance and in
performing cognitively demanding tasks.
Interests influence a person’s reactions to and satisfaction with his or her situation.
Personality involves consistency in behavior over a wide range of situations.
Aptitude tests are designed to predict a person’s future performance or to assess the
person’s capacity to learn, and achievement tests are designed to assess what a person
has already learned.

Ethics and Standards in Testing

Tests: are developed and used ethically to avoid abuse.
Numerous professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association,
have published technical and professional standards for the construction, evaluation,
interpretation, and application of psychological tests to promote the client's welfare and
best interests, protect assessment results from misuse, respect the client's right to know the
results, and protect test takers' dignity.
Personnel testing: requires informed consent and confidentiality from psychologists.
Professionals should use tests as intended.

Intelligence and Intelligence Testing

Reification: occurs when a construct is treated as though it were a concrete, tangible
object.
 Intelligence test developer David Wechsler said, “Intelligence, operationally defined, is the
aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to
deal effectively with his environment.”

Francis Galton’s Measurement of Psychophysical

Performance
Francis Galton: who measured psychomotor tasks to gauge intelligence, reasoning that
people with excellent physical abilities are better adapted for survival and thus highly
intelligent.
James McKeen Cattell: brought Galton’s studies to the United States, measuring strength,
reaction time, sensitivity to pain, and weight discrimination, using the term mental test.
French psychologist Alfred Binet was hired by the French government to identify children
who would not benefit from a traditional school setting and those who would benefit from
special education.
He collaborated with Theodore Simon to create the Binet–Simon scale, which he
meant to be used only for class placement.

Alfred Binet’s Measurement of Judgment

Binet believed that as we age, our knowledge of the world becomes more sophisticated, so
most 6-year-olds answer questions differently than 8-year-olds.
Children were given a mental age or level based on their test responses.
When a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old have mental ages 2 years below their chronological
ages, it can be misleading.
The younger child would lag behind peers more.
German psychologist William Stern suggested determining a child's intelligence by
comparing mental age (MA) to chronological age (CA).

Mental Age and the Intelligence Quotient

Lewis Terman: developed the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale reporting results as an IQ,
intelligence quotient, which is the child’s mental age divided by his or her chronological
age, multiplied by 100; or MA/CA × 100.

The Wechsler Intelligence Scales

David Wechsler: developed another set of age-based intelligence tests: the Wechsler
Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) for preschool children, the Wechsler
Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) for ages 6 to 16, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence
Scale (WAIS ) for older adolescents and adults.
Intellectual disability: Test takers who fall two deviations below the mean have a score of
70
Intellectual Disability
Over the past two decades, the term mental retardation has been replaced by intellectual
disability (intellectual developmental disorder).
To be considered intellectually disabled, an individual must earn a score at or below 70 on
an IQ test and also show difficulty adapting in everyday life.
Adaptive behavior: is expressed in conceptual skills, social skills, and practical skills.
Severity: is determined by adaptive functioning rather than IQ score.

Kinds of Intelligence
A contemporary of Alfred Binet, Charles Spearman, tested a large number of people on a
number of different types of mental tasks.
Factor analysis: a statistical procedure that identifies closely related clusters of factors
among groups of items by determining which variables have a high degree of correlation.
Louis Thurstone disagreed with Spearman’s concept of g.
John Horn and Raymond Cattell determined that Spearman’s g should be divided into
two factors of intelligences: fluid intelligence, those cognitive abilities requiring speed or
rapid learning that tend to diminish with adult aging, and crystallized intelligence, learned
knowledge and skills such as vocabulary that tend to increase with age.

Multiple Intelligences
Howard Gardner: is one of the many critics of the g or single factor intelligence theory.
He has proposed a theory of multiple intelligences.
 Three of his intelligences are measured on traditional intelligence tests: logical-
mathematical, verbal-linguistic, and spatial.
Five of his intelligences are not usually tested on standardized tests: musical,
bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, intrapersonal, and interpersonal.
Gardner has also introduced the possibility of a ninth intelligence—existential—
which would be seen in those who ask questions about our existence, life, death,
and how we got here.
Savants: individuals otherwise considered mentally retarded, have a specific exceptional
skill, typically in calculating, music, or art.
Peter Salovey and John Mayer labeled the ability to perceive, express, understand, and
regulate emotions as emotional intelligence.
Triarchic theory of intelligence: analytic, creative, and practical.
Analytical thinking: is what is tested by traditional IQ test and what we are asked to do in
school—compare, contrast, analyze, and figure out cause and effect relationships.
Creative intelligence: is evidenced by adaptive reactions to novel situations, showing
insight, and being able to see more than one way to solve a problem.
Practical intelligence: is what some people consider “street smarts.”

Creativity
Creativity: the ability to generate ideas and solutions that are original, novel, and useful, is
not usually measured by intelligence tests.
According to the threshold theory, a certain level of intelligence is necessary, but not
sufficient for creative work.

Heredity/Environment and Intelligence

Down syndrome: is primarily hereditary, whereas intellectual disability resulting from
prenatal exposure to alcohol
Fetal alcohol syndrome: is primarily environmental.
Phenylketonuria (PKU): results from the interaction of nature and nurture

Environmental Influences on Intelligence

Flynn effect: cannot be attributed to a change in the human gene pool because that would
take hundreds of years.
Theorists attribute the Flynn effect to a number of environmental factors,
including better nutrition, better health care, advances in technology, smaller
families, better parenting, and increased access to educational opportunities.
Heritability: is the proportion of variation among individuals in a population that results
from genetic causes.
According to the reaction range model, genetic makeup determines the upper limit for an
individual’s IQ, which can be attained in an ideal environment, and the lower limit, which
would result in an impoverished environment.

Human Diversity
Racial differences in IQ scores show African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanic
Americans typically scoring 10 to 15 points below the mean for white children.
When comparing groups of people on any construct, such as intelligence, it is important to
keep in mind the concept of within-group differences and between-group differences.
 The range of scores within a particular group, such as Hispanic Americans, is much greater
than the difference between the mean scores of two different groups, such as Hispanic
Americans and Asian Americans.

Stereotype Threat
Stereotypes: are overgeneralized beliefs about the characteristics of members of a
particular group, schema that are used to quickly judge others.
Stereotype threat: anxiety that influences members of a group concerned that their
performance on a test will confirm a negative stereotype, has been evidenced in studies by
Steele, Joshua Aronson, and many others.