Commack Schools



Acquiring Information

All day long, we talk, read, listen, discuss, hope, believe, wish and analyze. Many of these behaviors have been taken for granted. However, none of them would be possible without our ability to learn and store the information we use in each case. Therefore, no issue is more critical to understanding psychology than how we acquire and retain information.

Learning would not be possible without attention. Attention refers to a person’s alert focusing on material. When we attend to something we become physically aroused, and this activated chemicals in the brain that aid our ability to learn.

Learning processes can be plotted out visually using graphs. For example, graphs can be used to study the influence of attention on learning. A learning curve is a gradual upward slope representing increased retention of material as a result of learning.

1. What is attention?

2. Why is it important to pay attention when learning new concepts?

3. What is a learning curve?

Chemical Influence on Learning:

Many chemical can influence learning. These chemicals fall into two broad categories: stimulants and depressants.

Stimulants such as caffeine in coffee, soda, tea can actually increase learning. How is that possible?? They stir up the body’s activity level, which in turn increases memory. To have this effect, a soft drink much have sugar in it – not an artificial sweetener. Artificial sweeteners alter the normal firing pattern of brain cells, canceling the benefit of caffeine. In any case, stimulants increase the level of brain chemicals that allow for more rapid learning. Strong stimulants, or too much, such as amphetamines (speed), can overstimulate the brain and cause the reverse – loss of learning.

Overall, the best of all worlds is to be naturally excited about what you are learning, because then your body will produce its own chemicals to assist in the task. Anxiety about taking a test, at reasonable levels, acts just as caffeine does to stimulate the person. Some students “come apart” though and drive the anxiety level so high that it acts like the amphetamines, blocking learning.

Any depressant drug, such as a tranquilizer or alcohol – will block the firing of nerve cells and reduce learning. Interestingly enough – hot dogs and cold-cut meats will do the same. They happen to contain a preservative that in low concentrations tends to depress learning ability. But, you have to eat three hot dogs or cold-cut sandwiches to get the effect. It is always important to remember that what we eat or drink can sometimes influence or behavior.

The fact is that taking in any chemical will alter a person’s bodily condition or state. If someone learns something while in that altered state, the material learned will be easier to remember late on if the same state is reproduced. At the extreme, people who have drank to much will not remember what happened once they are sober, but the odds are that the memory may return if they get in that same condition again.

The same principles apply to someone who studies after drinking three cups of coffee. This is called state-dependent learning, meaning that learning and reproduction of the material are reliant (dependent) on the condition (state) of the body at the time of learning. You have heard this before. An example would be studying for an exam. If you study for an exam in a similar setting to how you will be taking the exam, chances are you will be able to recall more information when taking the exam. Therefore, many suggest going to a quiet area to study, such as a library.

1. What foods will affect rates of learning?

2. How can stimulants like caffeine actually help you learn?

3. In what cases can stimulants hinder (hurt) the learning process?

4. To what degree is anxiety a positive force in learning?

5. What is state-dependent learning?

Emotional Factors in Learning

We have seen how emotions are connected with motivation. When we feel passionate about something we tend to work harder at it. The same idea goes with emotions and learning. Emotional involvement increases learning. If a student feels passionate about a particular topic or subject, they will have an easier time learning it. Another good example is using humor in the classroom. In moderation, it increased the level of brain activity. Too much humor, though, will wind up making humor itself the subject matter and will detract (take away) from learning. In some cases, the fact that a teacher is unpleasant can increase learning for a while, because even though the emotion created is negative, it still is an emotion. After a while though, the teachers negative ways become the major focus of attention, and learning decreases.

1. How are emotions and learning connected?

2. Do you believe the child below will have an easy or difficult time learning the subject matter? Explain.

Aim:

How do individuals process the information

they acquire?

Do Now:

How do you organize your school books (binders)

for the day? Does your system work? Why or why not?

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Transfer of Training

One major learning process is called transfer of training. Its principle is relatively simple: Learning task A will carry over (transfer) to learning task B if there are similarities between them.

Police officers who shoot on a range at targets that dart, hide, and suddenly reappear will be better able to shoot real-life targets because of the similarity of the tasks. Hence, the learning in one situation transfers to that in a similar situation. This is called a positive transfer. The same technique is used by airlines when they have pilots fly in simulators that recreate precisely the feel and movement of a genuine aircraft.

Sometimes transfer is not a useful thing. On these occasions, negative transfer occurs. If you learned to drive a car with an automatic transmission and then changed to a car that uses manual shifting, requiring a clutch, odds are that you stalled frequently, ground the gears a lot, and felt quite uncomfortable. If you learned to drive with a manual transmission and then drove automatic, you probably kept pushing the imaginary clutch to the floor and felt very foolish. The previously learned task is interfering with the present one – not helping.

1. Describe transfer of training in your own words.

2. What is the difference between a positive transfer and a negative transfer?

3. Provide an example of a positive transfer from your own life.

4. Provide an example of a negative transfer from your own life.

Information Processing

Learning and reproducing what we have learned is referred to as information processing. In other words, information processing is another term for the methods by which we take in, analyze, store, and retrieve material.

1. What is information processing?

2. Why do you believe information processing is significant?

Suppose we were to ask Little Red Riding Hood how to get to Grandmas house. Little Red would not come out with the answer automatically but would go through a series of steps to figure it out. She would have to being various bits of stored mental information together in an ordered sequence before she could give an answer. Here are the steps she would go through:

1. Process words in the question asked.

2. Match the question to rough categories of information she knows in order to fine the correct area where the information might be.

3. Within the area chosen, search to find a representation of Grandma in her house.

4. Hold that representation in her own consciousness while she located the brain representation of where she herself is when the question is asked.

5. Fine all the connections (streets and directions) between where she is now and where Grandma is located.

6. Answer the question step by step, from where she is to Grandmas house, all the time blocking out incorrect connections that might appear (such as where Uncle Harry’s house is).

This organized and systematic approach to answering questions or solving problems is called a schema. The word schema comes from the Greek, meaning an “outline or pattern.” In other words, each of us has a plan for solving problems.

An organized search is required because of the complexity and amount of material stored in the brain. In fact, it truly leaves one in awe to think that any of us can ever come up with an answer to any question, much less do it in a matter of a few hundredths of a second.

1. What is a schema?

2. Why are schemas useful in organizing information?

What Are Some Ways to Improve You Ability To Remember?

Elaboration: The process of attaching a maximum number of associations to an item to be learned so that it can be retrieved more easily.

Ex: If you read something that you find to be dull, try to associate it to your life somehow – if you can make these associations it will be easier to remember.

Mnemonic Devices: Comes from the Greek goddess of memory. These are unusual associations made to aid memory. They are usual not logical but, they can help you remember information. (Acronyms, Stories, Location)

Ex #1: ROY G. BIV = colors of the spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.)

Can you think of another example of a Mnemonic Device?

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Principle Learning: When you focus on the basic idea behind what is to learned. (Overall View)

Ex: If you are studying the westward expansion of settlement in the United States, you can use a mental map as your principle. Then you will know that most of the pioneers wound up at the left of the map, most of the urban people were on the far right, the gold rush was to the left, and so forth.

• Searching for the principle behind a concept may require more time than cramming, nut the material to be learned is store efficiently and recall is usually high.

Chunking: Putting items into clusters or “chunks” so that the items are learned in groups rather than separately.

Ex: Phone Numbers (555-8424)

What are other common examples of Chunking?

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Name: ______________________ Date: ____________

Psychology and You Period: ___________

Homework Questions

Directions: Using your knowledge of psychology and your class notes answer the following questions.

1. How do elaboration, principle learning, and chunking help us remember something? (Explain each)

2. What are mnemonic devices, how can we best use them?

3. Write down TWO questions you would ask on an exam. One should be recall (short answer) the other should be multiple choice.

Aim:

How are memories stored?

Do Now:

Turn to the next page and complete the questions.

AIM: How are memories stored?

DO NOW: Complete the questions below.

1. Create a list of slogans or jingles from TV commercials, TV shows, advertisements etc. (If you can list the product name on the side.)

2. Why are you able to recall many of these jingles and place them with the product?

3. What products are you unable to list the product name for? Why do you think you cannot identify the product?

4. Why do companies try to use slogans or jingles for their products?

Directions: Please define the following terms.

1. Forgetting:

2. Overlearning:

3. Forgetting Curve:

4. Decay Theory:

5. Recall:

6. Recognition:

7. Interference Theory:

Big Idea

Directions: Using your knowledge of psychology and the cartoon answer the questions below.

1. Explain what the man in the cartoon is doing?

2. Based on what we learned today, why would the man do such a thing?

3. Can you think of any problems with what he is doing?

Name: ______________________ Date: ____________

Psychology I Learning & Memory

Homework # ____

Directions: Using your knowledge of psychology and your class notes answer the following questions.

1. Can overlearning help prevent forgetting?

2. Write down TWO questions you would ask on an exam. One should be recall (short answer) the other should require recognition (multiple choice).

3. Which questions do you think are easier to answer, recall or recognition. Why?

Aim:

What physical changes occur during the storing and retrieving of memories?

Do Now:

Why is it easy to remember slogans or jingles?

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Amnesia

A common plot on television involves a man or woman who is struck on the head while witnessing a murder and forgets “everything.” Fearful of exposure the murder follows this person around, waiting for a chance to do him or her in, not knowing that the memory of the murder is “gone.” Sound familiar?

Although this situation is exaggerated (as usual on TV), a good solid blow to the head, a major trauma, or an electric shock can produce amnesia. Amnesia is the blocking of older memories or the loss of more recent ones. The term “blocked” is used because most of the material will return after a period, unless the person has suffered a severe injury or the amnesia resulted from a disease.

Strangely enough, the material that disappears in amnesia is fairly selective. People rarely forget how to tie a shoe or brush their teeth.

What could account for the fact that these events

are not forgotten?

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Possible explanations for the phenomenon of Amnesia:

1. A result from a temporary reduction of blood supply from an injury. This will disrupt the proper nourishment of the cells and reduce their chemicals, which, in turn will alter the firing of nerve cells to produce a memory.

2. A blow to the head will cause major electrical changes that will disrupt the transmission across the synapses and temporarily dislodge older memory systems, meanwhile just about wiping our most newer memories that have not been thoroughly stored.

Short-Term vs. Long-Term Memory

1. Short-Term Memory (STM): Memory system that retains information for a few seconds to a few minutes.

a. All incoming material goes to short-term memory where it is “processed” – that is where we make the decision to keep it or not.

b. Material is then either eliminated or moved to the LTM storage area.

c. Usually STM will only hold 7 – 9 items before the material has to be moved onto LTM.

2. Long-Term Memory (LTM): Memory system that retains information for hours, days, weeks, months, or decades.

3. Episodic Memory: The portion of long-term memory that stores personal experienced events.

4. Semantic Memory: The portion of long-term memory that stores general facts and information.

5. Procedural Memory: The portion of long-term memory that stores information relating to skills, habits, and other perceptual-motor tasks.

6. Consolidation: Process by which a memory solidifies over time eventually becoming permanent.

7. Sensory Memory System: System that includes direct receivers of information from the environment – for example iconic, acoustic.

8. Iconic Memory: A very brief visual memory that can be sent to the short-term memory.

9. Acoustic Memory: A very brief sound memory that can be sent to short-term memory.

10. Eidetic Imagery: An iconic memory lasting a minute or so that keeps images “in front of” the viewer so objects can be counted or analyzed; also called a photographic memory.

11. Emotional Memory: Learned Emotional responses to various stimuli.

12. Flashbulb Memory: A vivid memory of a certain event and the incidents surrounding it even after a long time has passed,

Name: ______________________ Date: ____________

Psychology and You Period: ___________

Reading and Questions

Directions: Using your knowledge of psychology and the reading below answer the corresponding questions.

Eyewitness Testimony: Can We Trust It?

Memory is extremely important in eyewitness testimony; but unfortunately, it is often wrong. For example, descriptions frequently fit a stereotypical image of a “bad guy” rather than the actual criminal. Further, under extreme stress, perception can be faulty, and eyewitnesses often either speculate or use their LTM banks to fill in details that never existed.

Eyewitness testimony is so unreliable because our brains are never content to let incoming information stand on its own. We process it, reprocess it, and keep working on it so that it makes complete sense in terms of everything we know, even though the facts in real life – that is, what we saw – seldom fit together completely. Consequently, so-called eyewitness testimony often includes information obtained after the fact, rather than being limited to what the person actually saw and remembers.

Stages of Eyewitness Memory:

Stage 1: Witnessing The Incident

When witnessing an incident, information about the event is entered into memory, however, research has shown that the accuracy of this initial information acquisition can be influenced by a number of factors.

Take the duration of the event being witnessed for instance. In a very simple experiment conducted by Clifford and Richards (1977), an individual is instructed to approach a number of police officers.

They are told to engage in conversation for either 15 or 30 seconds. Thirty seconds after the conversation ends, the experimenter asks the police officer to recall details of the person they’ve just been speaking to using a 10-item checklist. The checklist contains items relating to the persons appearance such as hair color, facial hair etc. The results of the study showed that in the longer 30 second condition, police were significantly more accurate in their recall.

Stage 2: Waiting Period Before Giving Evidence

This stage is concerned with the period of retention between perception i.e., seeing an incident and the subsequent recollection of that incident.

Unsurprisingly, research has consistently found that the longer the gap between witnessing an incident and recalling the incident, the less accurate the recollection of that incident becomes. There have been numerous experiments, usually related to a staged event, that support this contention. Malpass and Devine (1981), for instance, compared the accuracy of witness identifications after 3 days (short retention period) and 5 months (long retention period). The study found no false identifications after 3 days but after 5 months, 35% of identifications were false.

Stage 3: Giving Evidence "The single most important factor contributing to wrongful conviction is eyewitness misidentification."

The final stage in the eyewitness memory process relates to the ability of the witness to access and retrieve information from memory. In a legal context, the retrieval of information is usually elicited through a process of questioning and it is for this reason that a great deal of research has investigated the impact of types of questioning on eyewitness memory.

The most substantial body of research has concerned leading questions, which has consistently shown that even very subtle changes in the wording of a question can influence subsequent testimony.

One of the most notable researchers in this field is Elizabeth Loftus who has been investigating eyewitness testimony for over thirty years. In one of her classic studies, participants witnessed a film of a car accident and were asked to estimate the speed of the cars involved. One group of witnesses were asked to estimate the speed of the cars when they "contacted" each other.

A second group of witnesses were asked to estimate the speed of the cars when they "smashed" each other. On average the first "contacted" group gave an estimate of 31.8 miles per hour. Whereas, the average speed in the second "smashed" group was 40.8 miles per hour.

1. How reliable are eyewitness accounts? Explain.

2. What factors do you think are important to consider in evaluating the accuracy of eyewitness testimony?

3. Under what circumstances do you think eyewitness testimony should continue to be relied upon in criminal investigations?

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