Chapter 10 – Memory and Thought & Chapter 11 – Thinking ...



Chapter 10 – Memory and Thought & Chapter 11 – Thinking and Language

Dr. Zimbardo Video #9

Chapter 10

Section 1 – Taking In and Storing Information

The Process of Memory

a. Memory – the storage and retrieval of what has been learned or experienced.

b. First Memory Process is Encoding – the transformation of information so the nervous system can process it

i. Use your senses of hearing, sight, touch, taste, temperature etc to encode and establish a memory

ii. Acoustic codes are when you attempt to memorize by saying something out loud or to yourself repeatedly

iii. Visual codes are when you attempt to memorize by keeping mental pictures of the object, etc.

iv. Semantic codes are when you attempt to memorize by making sense of the object, etc.

c. Second Memory Process is Storage – the process by which information is maintained over a period of time

i. How much is stored is dependent upon the effort in encoding the material. (100 trillion bits or more)

ii. Information can be stored for seconds or forever

iii. Like a filing cabinet

d. Third Memory Process is Retrieval – the process of obtaining information that has been stored in memory

i. How quickly and easily is dependent upon how efficiently it was encoded and stored (as well as genetics etc.)

Three Stages of Memory(Figure 10.2)

e. Sensory Memory – very brief memory storage immediately following initial stimulation of a receptor

i. Senses of sight and hearing hold information/input for a fraction of a second before it disappears

1. Example of a movie or TV where one doesn’t see the blank spaces or gaps between frames

ii. Visual Memory = Iconic Memory, duration 1 sec

iii. Auditory Memory = Echoic Memory, duration 1 to 2 sec

iv. Serves 3 functions

1. Keeps the person from being overwhelmed with information

a. Billions of senses felt every day, many a one time

2. Gives a person decision time

a. Can decide whether or not to pay attention

3. Allows for continuity and stability

f. Short-Term Memory – memory that is limited in capacity to about 7 items and in duration by the subjects active rehearsal (20 secs without rehearsal)

i. Maintenance Rehearsal – system for remembering that involves repeating information to oneself without attempting to find meaning in it

1. Helps keep information in short-term memory longer

ii. Chunking – grouping items to make them easier to remember

1. Seven items of any kind

2. Chunk items as fast as they come

iii. The Primary-Recency Effect – we are better able to recall information presented at the beginning and end of a list

1. Forgetting things in the middle.

iv. Working Memory

1. Short term memory is also know as this

2. Serves as a system for processing and working with current information

g. Long-Term Memory – Storage of information over an extended period of time

i. Capacity is seemingly endless

ii. Contains representations of countless faces, experiences and sensations

iii. In the process of long term memory, the least important information is dropped and the most important is retained to long-term memory

iv. Types of Long-Term Memory

1. Semantic Memory – knowledge of language including its rules, words and meanings.

2. Episodic Memory – memory of one’s life, including the time of occurrence

3. Declarative Memory – memory of knowledge that can be called forth consciously as needed

4. Procedural Memory – memory of learned skills that does not require conscious recollection

h. Write Figure 10.2 (Page 275) on board

Memory and the Brain

i. What happens to the brain when something is stored in long-term memory?

i. A change in neuronal structure of nerves

ii. Molecular or chemical changes in the brain

Video – PBS: The Mind and the Brain: Learning and Memory

Section 1 Review

Section 2 – Retrieving Information

- The problem of memory is to store many thousands of items in such a way that you can find the one you need when you need it.

- The solution to retrieval is organization

A. Recognition – memory retrieval in which a person identifies an object, idea or situation as one he or she has or has not experienced before

a. You may not be able to remember a particular person, but if their name is said, you will recognize the name

b. We can recognize the sound of a particular instrument no matter what tune is being played on it. We can also recognize a tune, no matter what instrument it is being played on.

i. Shows that information may be indexed under several headings so that it can be reached in a variety of ways

ii. The more categories the features are filed in, the more easily they can be retrieved

B. Recall – memory retrieval in which a person reconstructs previously learned material

a. Involves a person’s knowledge, attitudes and expectations

b. Reconstructive Process – the alteration of memories that may be simplified, enriched or distorted depending on an individual’s experiences, attitudes or inferences

i. Confabulation – the act of filling in memory gaps

1. Remembering information that was never there in the first place

c. Schemas – conceptual frameworks a person uses to make sense of the world

i. Sets of expectations about something that is based upon on past experiences

d. Eidetic Memory – the ability to remember with great accuracy visual information on the basis of short-term exposure

i. Photographic memory

ii. Extremely rare

e. State-Dependent Learning – occurs when you recall information easily when you are in the same physiological or emotional state or setting as you were when you originally encoded the information

Relearning

f. Measure of both declarative and procedural memory

g. You will relearn material you have “forgotten” with fewer repetitions than someone learning the information the first time

Forgetting

h. May involve decay, interference or repression

i. Decay – fading away of memories over time

i. Items quickly decay in sensory storage and short-term memory

ii. Not certain if long-term memories ever decay

iii. Some “forgotten” memories can be recovered through meditation, hypnosis or brain stimulation

j. Interference – blockage of a memory by previous or subsequent memories

i. Proactive Interference – An earlier memory blocks you from remembering related new information

1. Move into a new home and new phone number but your old address or phone number gets in the way

ii. Retroactive Interference – A later memory or new information blocks you from remembering information learned earlier

1. The new information is remembered but having trouble remembering the old data

iii. 2 separate concepts, one doesn’t necessarily cause the other

iv. Repression - a person may subconsciously block memories of an embarrassing or frightening experience

k. Amnesia – loss of memory caused by a blow to the head, the result of brain damage, drug abuse or severe psychological stress

i. Infant amnesia – relative lack of early declarative memories

1. We don’t remember earlier than 2 or 3 years old

Improving Memory

l. Meaningfulness and Association

i. Elaborative Rehearsal – the linking of new information to material that is already known.

1. remembering the letters DFIRNE by the word FRIEND

ii. You will remember more vividly information that you associate with things already stored in memory or with a strong emotional experience

iii. The more categories that information is indexed under, the more accessible it is

iv. Overlearn information

v. Space out learning

vi. Study a little at a time

m. Mnemonic Devices – techniques for using associations to memorize and retrieve information

i. Using rhymes or other verbal clues

1. Thirty days has September

2. My dear aunt Sally

3. Every good boy does fine

4. Roy G. Biv

ii. Forming Mental Picture

Section 2 Review

Chapter 10 Review – Recalling Facts and Critical Thinking

Chapter 11

Section 1 – Thinking and Problem Solving

Video - PBS: The Mind and the Brain: Thinking

A. Thinking – changing and reorganizing information stored in memory to create new information

a. Units of Thought

i. Image – a visual, mental representation of an event or object

1. Only highlights of the original

2. An effect way of thinking about concepts

ii. Symbol – an abstract unit of thought that represents an object or quality

1. A sound, object or design

2. Words, stand for something other than itself

3. Where an image represents a specific sight or sound, a symbol may have numerous meanings

4. Numbers, letters, punctuation marks and icons

iii. Concept – a label for a class of objects or events that have a least one attribute in common

1. Animals, music, liquid, beautiful people

2. Enables us to chunk large amounts of information

iv. Prototype – a representative example of a concept

1. Has most the characteristics of the particular concept

v. Rule – a statement of relation between concepts

1. Complex unit of thought

2. A person can’t be in 2 places at one time; mass remains constant despite changes in appearance

b. Kinds of Thinking

i. Directed Thinking – a systematic and logic approach/attempt to reach a specific goal or answer

1. The solution to a problem

2. Also know as convergent thinking

3. Depends on symbols, concepts and rules

4. Deliberate and purposeful

5. Solve problems, formulate and follow rules and set, work toward and achieve goals

ii. Non-Directed Thinking – consists of a free flow of thoughts with no particular plan and depends more on images

1. Rich in imagery and feelings such as daydreams, fantasies and reveries

2. When relaxing or escaping from boredom or worry

3. Also known as divergent thinking

4. May provide unexpected insights into one’s goals and beliefs

iii. Metacognition – the awareness of one’s own cognitive process

1. Thinking about thinking

2. Thinking about a strategy may cause one to change to another strategy

Problem Solving

c. One of the main functions of directed thinking is to solve problems, bridge the gap mentally between the present situation and a desired goal

d. Strategies – specific methods for approaching problems

i. Break down a complex problem into smaller, more easily solved, subgoals

ii. Work backward from the goal you have set

iii. Use strategies you have used before

1. We tend to shy away from new situations that require new strategies

2. The more unusual the problem, the more difficult it is to devise a strategy for dealing with it

iv. Algorithm – a fixed set of procedures that will lead to a solution if followed correctly

1. Mathematical and scientific formulas

2. Playing chess or checkers

v. Heuristics – experimental strategies, or rules of thumb

1. Basically shortcuts

2. Lead to quick decisions that can result in bad decisions

Obstacles to Problem Solving

e. Mental Set – when a particular strategy becomes a habit

i. Starting tic-tac-toe in the middle box, always attempt to control a position of a chess board

ii. Rigidity – when a set interferes with problem solving

1. Reading “read” for “red”

2. Functional Fixedness – the inability to imagine new functions for familiar objects

3. Making a wrong assumption about a problem

4. Many people look for direct methods to solve problems and don’t see solutions that require several immediate steps

5. Can be overcome

Thinking and Problem Solving Pages (Activity)

B. Creativity – the ability to use information in such a way that the result is somehow new, original and meaningful

a. Flexibility – the ability to overcome rigidity

i. Imagining many different uses for a single object

b. Recombination – rearranging the elements of a problem to arrive at an original solution

i. Football and Basketball, there are no new moves, just a recombination of old ones

ii. Using the discoveries and formulas of other to develop new scientific and mathematical formulas and ideas

c. Insight – the apparent sudden realization of the solution to a problem

i. A continuation of a subconscious process

ii. The “aha” experience

Section 1 Review

Section 2 – Language

Dr. Zimbardo Video #6

The Structure of Language

a. Language – the expression of ideas through symbols and sounds that are arranged according to rules

i. Allows us to communicate

ii. The study of meaning (semantics) is the most complex aspect of language

b. Phonemes – an individual sound that is the basic structural element of language

i. Represented by a letter or combination of letters

ii. We can produce about 100 different, recognizable sounds

iii. English uses 43, some 15 and others up to 85

c. Morphemes – the smallest unit of meaning in a given language

i. A words, letter, prefix or suffix

d. Syntax – language rules that govern how words can be combined to form meaningful phrases and sentences

i. Ex. Placing adjectives in front of nouns

ii. Rules differ from language to language

e. Semantics – the study of the meaning in language

i. A word being both a noun and a verb

Language Development

f. BF Skinner – children learn language through operant conditioning

g. Other Psychologists – children learn language through observation, exploration and imitation

h. Noam Chomsky – children inherit a mental program that enables them to learn grammar

i. Reinforcement and imitation contribute to language development as well

How Language Develops

i. Birth – crying and sounds indicating distress

j. 2 months – cooing, “ooooh” and “eeeeh”

k. 4 months – babbling, “dadada” and “bababa”

l. 9 months – learn to control vocal chords, make/change/repeat/imitate sounds of parents

m. 12 months – uttering single words (objects/people), “dada” or “doggie”

i. Single words can describe longer thoughts

n. 24 months – 2 words together to express an idea, “milk gone”, “me play”

i. Learning rule of grammar, 50 - 100 words

o. 2-3 years – form sentences of several words

i. Telegraphic speech – leaving out article such as “the’, prepositions such as “with” and parts of verbs

p. 5 years – language development is largely complete

i. Vocabulary and sentence complexity continue to develop

Do Animals Learn Language

q. In a word, no!

Gender and Cultural Differences

r. Language affects our basic perceptions of the physical world

s. Linguistic Relativity – idea of language influencing thoughts

i. Inuit have many words for snow, where we have but 1

t. Words also create gender stereotypes

Section 2 Review

Chapter 11 Review – Recalling Facts and Critical Thinking

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