Cognitive Level of Analysis Web Version (1)

8/6/2019 Cognitive Level of Analysis Web Version (1)

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What is cognitivepsychology ?

Study of mental processes

Study of the way in which the brainprocesses information

It concerns the way we take ininformation from the outside world,how we make sense of that

information and what use we makeof it.


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Stimulus - response


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What is this ?


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What are mental processes?( the thing in the black box)


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ec s on-ma ng perception- language-

memory-attention ?? Billy is walking across the school

campus. He spots a friend and they havea quick chat about last nights footballtraining. He then apologises as he rushesoff to his own football training, unsure ofwhether to cycle or catch the bus.

Such an every-day sequence of seeminglytrivial events actually involves a sequence ofcomplex cognitive processes. Which process isbeing used ?

Billy is able to find his way across campus and

recognize his friend. He focuses on only a portion of the campus as

he makes his way across it

He remembers his friend, details of the matchthe night before and his training session

They chat about the football match

He then has to working out the best form of


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Outline principles

that define thecognitive level of

analysis:


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Outline principles that define thecognitive level of analysis:

1. Humans are informationprocessors

2. Mental processes can bescientifically investigated

3. Cognitive processes are influencedby social and cultural factors


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1. Humans are

information

processors


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Human behaviour is determined by a set of mentaltasks/processes

Mental tasks/processes include; perception, thinking,

problem solving, memory, language and attention They are also known as cognitions


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Cognitive psychologist see thesecognitions/mental tasks as activesystems;

In between taking in and responding toinformation a number of processes areat work.

Information can be transformed, reduced,

elaborated, filtered, manipulated,selected, organized, stored and retrieved

Therefore the human mind is seen as anactive system processing information,and cognitive psychologists aims to


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Central to this information processing

approach is the computermetaphor.

One of the difficulties facing

cognitive psychologists is that theywere trying to study processes thatare not directly observable.

Consequently the computerrevolution of the 1950 provided the


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People, like

computers, acquireinformation fromthe environment

( input ). Both people andcomputers storeinformation andretrieve it whenapplicable tocurrent tasks;


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both are limited in theamount of informationthey can process at a

given time; both transform

information to produce

new information; bothreturn information tothe environment

( output).


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This information processing approachcan be seen in;

Models of memory

Schema theory

(more about each of these later).


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r nc p e : en aprocesses can be

scientifically investigated Cognitive processes are difficult tostudy.

They often occur rapidly, and insidethe mind so they cannot beobserved directly.

It is only the responses that

participants make when givensome cognitive task to perform thatcan tell us about cognitive

processes.


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The stroop effect

One of the earliest and most famous experimentsinto cognitive processes is the Stroop Effect.

The stroop effect is a phenomena involved inattentional processes.

Although we will actually focus on the process ofmemory this is a good study to look at.

People are often introduced to the Stroop Effect inbeginning psychology classes as they learn

about how their brains process information.


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The stroop effect

It demonstrates the effects ofinterference, processing speed(reaction time) and automaticity individed attention.

The effect is named afterJohn RidleyStroop who first published theeffect in English in 1935.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley_Stroophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley_Stroophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley_Stroophttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ridley_Stroop


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Stroop effect

This is a classic laboratory experiment thatinvolves the manipulation of anindependent variable ( colouror name of

word ) to see what effect it has on thedependent variable ( reaction time).

It attempts to control the influence of allother extraneous variables such as

other cognitive processes or skills. It also allows us to establish a cause and

effect relationship between task andmental process.


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Mental processes can bescientifically studied

A further example of the laboratoryexperiment was conducted byEbbinghaus (1885).

His experiment intended to isolatethe process of pure memory andshow that it could be studied

scientifically under carefullycontrolled conditions.


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The aim of the study was to study

forgetting, i.e. how quickly a personforgets what has been learned 100%.

He used himself in most of the studies ,i.e. the design was N=1 and hetested his memory using nonsensesyllables. Learned lists of nonsense syllables

(e.g., DAX, QEH) Why nonsense syllables?

Did not want actual words toinfluence his ability tomemorize or recall certainwords

He manipulated theindependent variable oftime delay before recall to


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Cognitive processes areinfluenced by social and

cultural factors Cognitive processes can be influenced by

our culture

Bartlett found that schemas ( pastknowledge) can affect our memories

Cole and Scribner found that non-schooledchildren in parts of Africa struggled withaspects of memorisation.

MORE ABOUT THIS LATER.


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Evaluate schema

theory withreference to

research studiesWhat is schema


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S ch e m a T h e o ryW h a t is a S che m a ?

A mental model or representation built up through experience, , , . ( ,about a person an object a situation or an event Head

)1920

Organised structures of knowledge and expectations of some. ( , )aspect of the world Bartlett 1932


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Schema of an egg


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1.What is a schema ?

Schemas (or schemata) are cognitivestructures (mental templates orframes) that represent a persons

knowledge about objects, people orsituations.

The concept of schema was first used

by Jean Piaget in 1926 and laterdeveloped by Bartlett (1932).


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2.What is a schema ?

Schemas are used to organize ourknowledge, to assist recall, to guideour behavior, to predict likely

happenings and to help us to makesense of current experiences.

They come from prior experience and

knowledge. They simplify reality,setting up expectations about whatis probable in relation to particular

social contexts


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3. What is a schema ?

Schemas are assumed to operate ina top down way to help usinterpret the bottom-up flood of

information reaching our sensesfrom the outside world.

They allow us to take shortcuts in

interpreting vast amounts of


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What is schema theory ?

As active processors of information,humans integrate new informationwith existing, stored information.

Schema theory therefore predictsthat what we already know willinfluence the outcome of

information processing. In other words new information is

processed in the light of exisiting

schema schema can affect our


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For example if you already have anexpectation about a person or an event,your memory of that person or event willbe shaped based on your preexistingschema.

For example, if you have already the storedschema that urban teenage males areaggressive and you meet a pleasanturban male teen, your memory of him

may be affected. If you were surprised with his politeness,

you may remember him as even morepolite than he is.

Or, you may not even notice how polite hewas because ou were ex ectin him to


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Evaluation of Schematheory

Support for the influence of schemason cognitive processes iswidespread. Bartlett (1932)

described how schemata influencememoryin his classic study basedon a Native American folktale.


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War of the Ghosts (1932)

This was an unusual story for people froma Western culture to understand becauseit contained unfamiliar supernatural

concepts and an odd, causal structure. After an interval participants were asked torecall as much of the story as possible.


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methodology

Serial reproduction participantreads and recalls the story, secondperson reads and recalls the

second reproduction.and so on Repeated reproduction partipants

reads the story and repeats it over

various recall intervals


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Bartlett found that their accountswere distorted in several ways that,generally, made them more

consistent with a Western world view.

Specifically he found the following;


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Did you make these errors ?

Rationalisation errorsmaking thestory read more like a typicalEnglish story. Most of the errors

were of this nature. Omissions certain elements were

left out

Changes of order events weresometimes re-ordered to make thestory more coherent

Substitutions

Th W f h Gh


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The War of the Ghostshttp://cla.calpoly.edu/~dlvalenc/PSY307/LINKS/GHOSTWAR.HTM

One night two young men from Egulac went down to theriver to hunt seals, and while they were it becamefoggy and calm. Then they heard war cries and theythought; 'Maybe this is a war-party.' They escaped tothe shore, and hid behind a log.

Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise ofpaddles and saw one canoe coming up to them. Therewere five men in the canoe and they said; 'What doyou think? We wish to take you along. We are going

up the river to make war on the people.'One of the young men said; 'I have no arrows.''Arrows are in the canoe,' they said.'I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not

know where I have gone. But you,' he said, turning tothe other, 'May go with them.'

So one of the young men went, but the other returnedhome. And the warriors went on up the river to a town

on the other side of Kalama. The people came downto the water and began to fight, and many were killed.But presently, one of the young men heard one of thewarriors say; 'Quick let us go home. That Indian hasbeen hit.'

Now he thought; 'Oh, they are ghosts.' He did not feelsick, but he had been shot. So the canoes went backto Egulac, and the young man went back to his houseand made a fire. And he told everybody and said;

'Behold, I accompanied the ghosts, and we went tofight. Many of our fellows were killed and many of

E l i f B l


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Evaluation of Bartlettsstudy

The ecological validity of the War ofthe Ghosts lab study has beenquestioned.

Whilst Bartlett rejected theartificiality of traditional stimulussuch as nonsense syllables

( Ebbinghaus) and word lists to testmemory, his use of a nativeAmerican folk tale was " about assimilar to normal prose as

E l ti f B tl tt


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Wynn & Logie (1998) did a similarstudy with students using " real -life" events experienced during

their first week at university atvarious intervals of time rangingfrom 2 weeks to six months.

They found that the initial accuracyof recall was sustained throughoutthe time period, suggesting thatschema-induced memory

E l ti f B tl tt


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Furthermore Bartletts study wasn't a very wellcontrolled study. Bartlett did not give veryspecific instructions to his participants ( Barlett,1932 " I thought it best, for the purposes of

these experiments, to try to influence thesubject's procedure as little as possible".)

As a result, some distortions observed by Bartlettmay have been due to conscious guessing

rather than schema-influenced memory Gauld and Stephen ( 1967) found that theinstructions stressing the need for accuraterecall eliminated almost half the errors usuallyobtained.


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Further support for the influence ofschemas on memory at encodingpoint was reported by Anderson

and Pichert ( 1978).


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Subjects asked to adopt a particularperspective: Home-buyer

Burglar

Then read a passage about two boysplaying truant from school...

2nd supporting study

schema theory( Anderson & Pichert, 1978)


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Schemata and

Memory

(Anderson & Pichert, 1978)

[Coding: Burglar items (18);Homebuyer items (18)]

There are three color TV sets in the house. One is in the large masterbedroom (which has a three piece bathroom en suite), one is in the

main floor family room, and one is in Tom's bedroom. The housecontains four bedroomsin all, plus an office, family room,and threewashrooms. In addition to the TV, the family room contains a newstereo outfit , a microcomputer, a VCR,and a rare coin collection.

The boys enter the master bedroom. Beside thejewelry case

in the closet they find Tom's father's collection of pornographic videotapes. They select their favorite (an encounter between a guy and 12women in a park in downtown Kitchener) and go to the family roomto watch it.

E l ti f h th


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Evaluation of schema theoryAnderson & Pichert ( 1978)

In a classic experiment, Pichert andAnderson1 asked participants toread a story in which a house was

described. The participants were told to read

the story from one of two

perspectives, either a potentialhome buyer or a burglar.

After a delay, participants were

asked to recall as much as they
http://mixingmemory.blogspot.com/2004/10/first-sort-of-request-memory-and.htmlhttp://mixingmemory.blogspot.com/2004/10/first-sort-of-request-memory-and.html


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Items

ProportionReca

lled

During this first recall session, participants recalledsignificantly more information about the house that wasrelevant to their perspective

(e.g., the potential home buyermight remember defectsin the house,burglars might remember information about theentrances and exits)than information that was relevant to the otherperspective,

Identity

After the first recall session, participants were told to


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p pthink about the story again, but this time, from theother perspective (potential home buyers were nowtold to be burglars, and vice versa).

Then, without reading the story again, they were told torecall as much as they could about the story again.

During this second recall, participants were able to recallinformation about the house that was relevant to theirnew perspective, but which they had not recalledbefore.

Items

First identity/second identity

Change

inproportionrec

alled

Thi lt h t thi


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This result shows two things:

1.) The information that was

irrelevant to their originalperspective (schema) was actuallylearnt ( encoded ) and

2.) This information was notaccessible unless a relevantperspective (schema) wasactivated.

E aluation of Anderson &


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Evaluation of Anderson &Pichert (1978)

This experiment was also conductedin a lab, so ecological validity mayalso be an issue here.

However the strength of theexperiment was its variable control,which allowed researchers to

establish a cause-and-effectrelationship how schemas affectmemory processes.

enera commen on


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enera commen onschema theory

Finally, one of the main problems of theschema theory is that it is often verydifficult to define what a schema is.

Cohen (1993) points out that "the wholeidea of a schema is too vague to beuseful' and argues that schema theoryprovides no explanation of how schemas

work. Schemas are untestable

General comment


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General commentonschema theory

Nevertheless, there is enoughresearch to suggest schemas doaffect memory processes knowledge,

both in a positive and negativesense.

They do simplify reality, and help us to

make sense of current experiences.Schemas are useful concepts inhelping us understand how weorganize our knowledge.


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Evaluate two

theories ofmemory

o e s o memory


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o e s o memory1. Multistore model

There are three types of store; sensory, short term and long termstores

The sensory stores are modality specific and hold information onlyvery briefly ( Sperling )

The STM has limited capacity, limited to +/- seven items ( Miller) anda duration of about 6-12 seconds

Information from this store can be lost due to interference ( BrownPeterson) or decay

The LTM has unlimited capacity and is divided into two systems.Retrieval from LTM can be distorted, affected by such things asschemas


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Fig 7.9 Sperlings (1960) study of sensory memory.After the subjects had fixated on thecross, the letters were flashed on the screen just long enough to create a visual afterimage.High, medium, and low tones signaled which row of letters to report. Because subjects hadto rely on the afterimage to report the letters, Sperling was able to measure howrapidly the afterimage disappeared by varying the delay between the display

and the signal to report.


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Capacity of STM

Capacity refers to the amount ofinformation that can be stored inthe short-term memory.

Miller (1956) suggested that mostpeople store about sevenindependent or discrete items in

short term memory. These items may be numbers, letters

or words etc. Miller referred to each

of these items as chunks.


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Duration of STM

http://www.s-cool.co.uk/alevel/psychology/human-memory.html

Long Term Memory


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Long Term Memory

According to this model of memory.

Long term memory has a potentiallylimitless capacity and duration

but it is very difficult if notimpossible to prove this.

It's encoding is semantic, that is the

meaning and understanding ofsomething


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Evaluation of MSM

Lot of evidence to support this modelsuch as the primacy recencyeffect ( Glanzer & Cunitz, 1966)


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Case studies of brain damaged patients ( eg.

HM and Clive Wearing )

1 the case of clive wearing


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1. the case of clive wearing

Clive Wearing was ahighly respectedmusician who, in his40s, contracted a viral

infection encephalitusin 1985.

Tragically this disease lefthim with extensivebrain damage (parts ofhis hippocampus important in forming

new memories are


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He is still able to talk, read andwrite and retained remarkablyintact musical skills.

His memory for past events ishazy, but he still has long-termmemories formed before theonset of the disease.

In all other respects, however hismemory is dramaticallyimpaired.

He lives totally within the most

recent one or two minutes of hislife.

He remembers what just happenedbut forgets everything else. Cliveis unable to form new long-termmemories.

Clive is convinced he has just


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Clive is convinced he has justwoken up and he keeps adiary in which he recordshs obsessive thoughts Ihave just woken up I amconscious for the firsttime

It is now 20 years since the

onset of the illness whichhas left Clive trapped in aneternal present.

He cant enjoy books or TV as

he is unable to follow thethread, he cant readnewspapers as he has nocontext in which to embedthe new stories.

He cant o out alone

Damage to the hippocampus usually


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g pp p yresults in profound difficulties informing new memories (

anterograde amnesia), andnormally also affects access tomemories prior to the damage (

retrograde amnesia).

Retrograde versus anterograde amnesia.In retrograde amnesia, memory for eventsthat occurred prior to the onset of amnesia is lost.In anterograde amnesia, memory for events that occur subsequent to the onset of amnesia

suffers. ie CLIVE WEARING & HM

Although the retrograde effect
http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Anterograde_amnesiahttp://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Retrograde_amnesiahttp://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Retrograde_amnesiahttp://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Anterograde_amnesia


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Although the retrograde effectnormally extends some years priorto the brain damage, in some casesolder memories remain - thissparing of older memories leads tothe idea that consolidation over

time involves the transfer ofmemories out of the hippocampusto other parts of the brain.


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Fig 7.27 Theories of independent memory systems.There is some evidence that different types ofinformation are stored in separate memory systems, which may have distinct physiological bases.

Th C f H M


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The Case of H.M.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584970

H.M was an active teenager fromConneticut, USA.

However he suffered from epilepsy and

had frequent fits to the point when in1953 he was having up to 11 fits a week.

The drugs available at the time couldn'tcontrol them. For a young person, this

was devastating. Without any intervention, there was no

chance that he would be able to applyfor a job, let alone leave the house.

It was then that the idea of sur er was

In 1953 aged 27-year-old he entered a hospital for


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In 1953, aged 27-year-old he entered a hospital forsurgery that would cure him of the devastating fitsthat resulted from his epilepsy.

For H.M. he had the most common form ofintractable psychomotor epilepsy, that which islocalised in the temporal lobes.

So, to stop the fits from continuing, the only optionwas remove parts of these lobes.

An apple-sized chunk of his temporal lobes on bothsides of his brain were removed and the fits neverreturned.

However, something else, something quiteextraordinary, yet equally saddening, happened.Positioned just underlying the temporal lobes isthe hippocampus.

It was never really known what it was for, until this

point. When his surgeon removed parts of H.M's

From 1953 onwards he couldn't remember
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A641260http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A641260


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From 1953 onwards, he couldn t rememberanything you told him for any reasonablelength of time. Every time a doctor who was

assigned to his case came to chat to him, theyhad to reintroduce themselves every time theymet because he couldn't remember who theywere.

If you talked to him, and a loud noise, say a

slamming door, distracted him for a moment,he would have no recollection of what you saidto him, moments before.

He could no longer form long term memories.

He was able to talk normally and to recallaccurately events and people from his lifebefore surgery, and his immediate digit spanwas within normal limits.

He was, however, unable to retain any new

It was a breakthrough


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It was a breakthroughin understanding thedamage to H.M.s

brain whenresearchers coulduse the MRI scannerin 1997

He had been subject tostudy for 44 yearsbefore his brain was

ever scanned Scans showed theextent of damage( which was less than

originally thought) to


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HM / CliveWearingDamage to LTM

Damage to STM should also affect access to LTM KF

should be impossible.

1. State which memory store is working


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S a e c e o y s o e s o g2. Give an example of what they can and

cant do

Case STM LTM

Clive Intact or impaired ? Intact or impaired ?

HM Intact or impaired ? Intact or impaired ?

3. What conclusions can we draw from this phenomena ?


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Evaluation of case studies

The cases of HM and Clive Wearing are case studies.A case study is: [A] detailed examination of one personor group

It includes a number of methods such as self-report data(diries etc) observations, interviews, as well asimpression and intuition


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l i f S


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Evaluation of MSM

HOWEVER the model oversimplifiesthe process of memory

Baddeley & Hitch demonstrate the

STM is not just a store but aworking process

Baddeleys (1998) Criticism


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Baddeley s (1998) Criticism

Memory is complex and dynamic.

Short-term memory is not like a

passive storehouse with shelves tostore information until it moves tolong-term memory.

It is more complex than that.


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YR. 13s ignore thenext theory youDIDNT do Levels ofprocessing

Refer to Cranes book for yoursecond model of memory WorkingMemory Model (Baddeley &

Hitch,1974)

2. Model of memory 2


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2. Model of memory 2Levels of Processing

This influential theory of memory is oftenseen as the main alternative to themulti-store model.

They suggested that memory is not threeor any specific number of stores

Memory is based on depth of encoding.

The strength of a memory trace does not

depend on the type of store within whichit is located, but on how much attentionis paid to the information at the time ofencoding.

L l f i.

n

or


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Levels of processing

Structur

al

Weak memorytrace

Strong memorytrace

Phonolog

icalSemantic

Shallowprocessing

Deepprocessing

.

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Concerned with Process rather thanStructure

Strength of memory depends on howdeeply information (eg. Words )areprocessed

Shallow Deep

Eg.Physical RhymingSemantic /Meaning


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Deep, meaningful kinds of informationprocessing lead to more permanentretention, than shallow, sensory kinds ofprocessing.

Depth is defined in terms of the amount ofmeaning extracted from the stimulusrather than on the number of rehearsals

This suggests that straightforwardrehearsal through repetition may not bethe best way of remembering, moreelaborate strategies are more effective

Craik & Tulving (1975) experiment


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Craik & Tulving (1975) experiment..

Levels of Processing


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Levels of ProcessingCraik & Tulving, 1975

LOP and rehearsal


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LOP and rehearsal

The multi-store model claimed thatrehearsal of any type could benefitLTM.

However, Craik & Lockhart suggestthat there are two types ofrehearsal:

n y e a ora ve ea s ob tt b i


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ybetter remembering.

Two Types of Rehearsal

maintenance rehearsal: holds

information active at a given level. elaborative rehearsal: increases

"depth" of analysis. leads to longerlasting memory traces.

a ora on andi ti ti


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distinctiveness

It is not just depth of processing thataffects storage but also elaboration(how much processing of any kind)

and distinctiveness (how unusualthe processing).

e aluation


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evaluation

Emphasises the interdependence ofperception, attention and memoryrather than seeing memory as

series of separate processingstages (as in MSM).

Supported by studies such as;

Craik & Tulving (1975) Hyde & Jenkins

Elias & Perfetti

NOTE: all these studies are good to

Levels of processing.

on

or


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Levels of processing

Elias & Perfetti (1973) PPs had greater recognition of words

they had thought of similes for(semantic) than word they hadthought of rhymes for (phono)

Craik & Tulving (1975) Highest recognition of semantically

processes stimuli, followed byphono, followed by structural

.

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Mainly descriptive rather thanexplanatory.

It doesnt really explain why deeper

processing leads to better recall. In other words, why should

something that is deeply processed

be stored more permanently inLTM?


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It is difficult to obtain an independentmeasure of depth of processing.

It is hard to decide whether a task

involves deep or shallowprocessing.

Craik & Lochart assumed that

semantic processing was deeperthan visual processing but theironly real evidence for this was thatmore words were remembered in

Retention test performance (eg.20)


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Depth of processing

It is difficult to measure depth independently of a personsactual retention (memory) score.

SO if depth is defined as the number of words rememberedand the number of words remembered is taken as a measureof depth this definition of depth is circular

(Whats being defined is part of the definition!)

depth = no. of words

no. of words = depth


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Some studies contradict the model.For example, Morris et al (1977)showed that information processed

for sound (rhyming) was betterremembered than informationprocessed for meaning (semantic) ifrhyming was more relevant to thetask. (In their study participantswere asked to perform a rhymingrecognition task.)

LOP and revision.

on

or


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LOP and revision

You will recall more if you use Depth make sure you understand

& make connections between the

topics & ideas Spread use several differenttechniques on the material

Elaboration mental effort is

required to store materialeffectively

Distinctiveness make the materialyour own

.

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Hyde & Jenkins (1973)


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Presented a list of words

4 Different Instructions: 1. Memorise the word list

2. Estimate frequency of usage 3. Count how many times the letter e appearsin the list

4. Rate the Pleasantness of the words

y J

What is the effect ofprocessing words on later


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Hyde & Jenkins (1973)

Which groups were given semantic (more meaningfultasks) ?

Group 1. Rate the Pleasantness of the word Group 2. Estimate frequency of usage Group 3. Count how many times the letter e appears in the

list

Group 4; Memorise the word list

Group 1 and 2 Scores in Groups 1 and 2 were similar to those in Group 4

(those who were intentionally asked to memorise the list )

processing words on latermemory performance?


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Its seems intuitively correct thatpeople rely on automaticprocessing in their daily lives

For eg. Recall a situation when youend up outside your front door, butdont remember the act of getting

there because you were talking tosomeone on the mobile phone

However, it also makes sense that ifyoud bumped into someone whilst

Explain how


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Explain how

biological factorsmay affect onecognitive process

(memory) how brain damage can affect memory


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How does damage to thehippocampus ( biologicalfactors ) affect memory (cognitive

process)? To answer this we need to look at the

link between the hippocampus and

memory How do we know about the effects of

the hippocampus on memory ?

Case studies of brain damaged


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Case-studies of brain damagedpatients show that hippocampaldamage can affect`our memory

Specifically explicit/declarativememories

Look at the case studies of H.M and

Clive Wearing again Look at the animal studies


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Fig 7.27 Theories of independent memory systems.There is some evidence that different types ofinformation are stored in separate memory systems, which may have distinct physiological bases.


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Mirror drawing task


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Mirror-drawing task

. On this task, the patient sitsdown in front of a mirror andis given a pencil and a linedrawing of a star. Then he's

asked to trace the star whilelooking at the reflection of hishand and the paper in themirror.

When people try to do this, they

move the pencil left when theymean to go right, up when theymean to go down, and so on.

Over 3 days trials H.M became

quite skilled at this task

Delayed nonmatch to sample
http://everything2.com/title/mirrorhttp://everything2.com/title/starhttp://everything2.com/title/starhttp://everything2.com/title/mirror


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tests

Animal studies

V. Delayed nonmatch tol (DNMS)


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sample tests (DNMS)

C. Effects of lesions 1. bilateral medial

temporal lobe lesion

(23.12) a. normal test with

short delay

b. increasing errorswith increasing delay(19.10)


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Discuss how

social or culturalfactors affect

memory


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If one assumes that cognitiveprocesses follow universal lawsthen all humans all over the world,

regardless of culture, wouldperform the same cognitive taskswith the same results.

Human cognition is culturallyd d i C i i bili i


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dependent ie. Cognitive abilitiesare influenced by the social andcultural context in which peoplelive

Although the processes

memory,perception, language etcmay be universal how they functionmay differ

We shall look at one study thatsupport this notion

Cole & Scribner ( 1974 ) Memory

Strategies in different cultures


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Scribner ( 1977)


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Scribner ( 1977)

Researchers gave an unschooled farmerthis reasoning problem, a standardwestern syllogism

all kpellemen are rice farmers. Mr.Smith is not a rice farmer. Is he aKpelle farm?

The farmer insisted that the informationprovided did not allow a conclusion

If I know him in person the famersaid I can answer that question, but

since I do not know him in person I


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The interviewer concluded that becausethe farmer was accustomed todrawing on personal knowledge aloneto reach conclusions, he could not

reason deductively. Yet the kpelle farmer was reasondeductively,

Premise: if I do not know a person, I

cannot draw any conclusions aboutthat person Premise: I do not know Mr. Smith Conclusion: Therefore I cannot draw

any conclusion about Mr Smith


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The answer that the kpelle farmer gave wasnot what his interviewer expected but itwas perfectly smart in his cultures term.

Basic cognitive capacities are universal, but

because cultures differ in which of theseabilities they foster and which they regardas unecessary, the very meaning ofintelligence is culturally determined.

Thus people like the kpelleare able to learnto reason deductively but the areas inwhich they apply such reasoning willdepend on their experiences and needs.

Cole & Scribner ( 1974)


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Cole & Scribner ( 1974) Argued that cognitiveprocesses are universal

but not cognitive skills.

Cognitive skills are dependent on theenvironment education, social interaction,culture and technologies make up theenvironment

Cole & Scribner investigated memory strategiesin different cultures USA and Liberia.

They observed the effects formal schooling /education ( culture) had on memory

Cognitive process: Memory


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Cognitive process: Memory

Cognitive psychologists havetraditionally conducted research inwestern countries

If one assumes that cognitiveprocesses follow universal lawsthan all humans all over the world,

regardless of culture would performthe same cognitive task with thesame results

Following this logic the same

Cultural bias


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Cultural bias When researchers from the West

performed memory tests withparticipants in non-westerncountries they found they did

poorly on many memory tests This could be misinterpreted as

memory processes/strategies

being better in Western society However it is the test that is not valid

when applied to other cultures, not

the inability of the participants


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They compared recall of aseries of words in the USand amongs the Kpellepeople

They were aware they couldntuse the same list of wordsin the two differentcountries so they started byobserving everydaycognitive activities in Liberia

They devised word lists that

were culturally specific

Th h


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The researchersasked liberian

children to recallas many items aspossible from 4categories utensils, clothes,tools andvegetables

They found strikingdifferences inmemory betweenschooled and

non-schooled

Results


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Results

In general educated Kpelle childrenperformed better in the recall of listthan non-educated Kpelle children

Overall American children performedbetter than Kpelle children

Analysis


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Analysis

Analysis showed that non-educateddid not use strategies such aschunking grouping bits of

information into larger chunks tohelp them remember

Kpelle children also appeared not to

apply rehearsal as the position ofthe word in the list did not have aneffect on the rate of recall


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HOWEVER in later trials theresearchers varied the so that theobjects were now presented in a

meaningful way as part of a story. This is called a narrative

The non-educated children recalled

the objects easily when presentedas a story

Discussion


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Discussion There is a danger that one could conclude that memory

skills amongst certain non-western children areinferior to those of Western children.

But this overlooks the influence of culture.

Western schooling emphasises certain cognitive

strategies such as clustering / categorising. It is unlikely such parallels exist in traditional societies

like the Kpelle

People learn to remember in ways that are relevant for

their everyday lives, and these do not always mirrorthe activities that cognitive psychologists use toinvestigate mental processes


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To what

extent ismemory

reliable ? You could refer to Bartlett study

Elisabeth Loftus ( 1983)


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Elisabeth Loftus ( 1983)

Elizabeth Loftus is a leading figurein the field of eyewitnesstestimony research.

She expressed concern at theover-reliance on eyewitness

testimonies in court, knowingthat research shows; Our memories can be affected

( interefered) with by post event information such asmisleading questions

Our memories can reconstructinformation

Eyewitnesses are the Most Persuasive


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Eyewitnesses are the Most Persuasive

Form of Evidence Loftus (1983)

Type of Evidence % guilty votes

Eyewitness testimony 78

Fingerprints 70

Polygraph 53

Handwriting 34

Loftus & Palmer ( 1974 )


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Loftus & Palmer ( 1974 )

The aimof this study was to investigate howinformation supplied after an event, influencesa witness's memory for that event

AND MORE SPECIFICALLY

Loftus was interested to see the extent to whichinterference from misleading questions ( often

asked by lawyers and police ) could alter awitnesss subsequent recall of a crime

Misleading questions


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g q

Did you beat your wife ? How often did you beat your wife ?

Have you ever taken drugs ? When was the last time you took drugs ?

Methodology


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gy

The study actually consists of two laboratoryexperiments.

They are both examples of an independentmeasures design.

The independent variable in both of theexperiments is the verb used. The dependent variable in the first

experiment is the participants speed

estimate and the dependent variable in thesecond experiment is whether theparticipant believed they saw glass.

Method / Procedure / Sample


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p

The participants were 45 students of theUniversity of Washington.

They were each shown seven film-clips oftraffic accidents.

The clips were short excerpts from safetyfilms made for driver education. The clipsranged from 5 to 30 seconds long.


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Following each video participants weregiven a questionnaire asking them togive an account of what they had just

seen. They were asked to answer a number of

questions, but most of these questionswere filler questions.


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There were five conditions in theexperiment (each with nineparticipants)

Condition 1: 'About how fast were the cars going when theysmashed into each other?


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Condition 2: 'About how fast were the cars going when they collidedinto each other?

Condition 3: 'About how fast were the cars going when they bumpedinto each other?

Condition 4: 'About how fast were the cars going when they hit eachother?

Condition 5: 'About how fast were the cars going when theycontacted each other?'


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The independent variable wasmanipulated by means of thewording of the questions.

The dependent variable was thespeed estimates given by theparticipants.

Results of the first experiment

T bl 1 S d ti t f th b d i


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VERB MEAN ESTIMATE OF SPEED (mph)

Smashed 40.8

Collided 39.3

Bumped 38.1

Hit 34.0

Contacted 31.8

Table 1. Speed estimates for the verbs used inthe estimation of speed question


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Explanation of findingsLoftus and Palmer give two interpretations/explanations of the findings of their

1st experiment


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1st experiment.

1.Firstly, they argue that the results couldbe due to a distortion in the memory ofthe participant.

The memory of how fast the cars weretravelling could have been distorted by

the verbal label which had been used tocharacterise the intensity of the crash.


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2. Secondly, they argue that the resultscould be due to response-bias factors,

in which case the participant is not sure ofthe exact speed and therefore adjustshis or her estimate to fit in with theexpectations of the questioner.

(This is also an example of a demandcharacteristic)


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They wanted to prove the former

was the case..to increase thevalidity / reliability of the results

So they conducted a secondexperiment


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experiment..

The researchers aimed to show that

information provided after an eventis capable of distorting memories.

The second experiment


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Once again, participants were shown a filmof a car crash. They were split into 3different groups

1. the first group were asked how fast were thecars going when they smashed into eachother ?

2. The second group were asked how fast were

the cars going when they hit each other ? 3. The third group formed a control and were not

asked a question about the speed of the cars

Participants were recalled one weeklater;

A i th k d ti b t


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Again they were asked questions about

the film. Again, 9 of the questions werefiller questions

The critical question this time was;

did you see the broken glass ?(there was no glass in the actual film footage they saw)

Results


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1 week later: Did you see anybroken glass? smash group: 32% said yes hitgroup: 14% said yes


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The results of this experiment show that thelabels attached to the car-crash by theresearcher affected the memories of theparticipants altering their perception ofevents a week later.

The idea that the cars had smashedinto eachother had led participants to incorporate the

notion of broken glass into their memories (assmashed implies that glass was broken)

So,.


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Memories are unreliable because

they are reconstructive ( wedraw on schemas to aid ourmemory)

Discuss the use


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of technology in

investigatingmemory

What is alzeimers disease?


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Alzheimer's disease is a degenerativebrain disorder that results in memoryloss, impaired thinking, difficultyfinding the right word when speaking,and personality changes.

Its course is marked by a continual lossof neurons (nerve cells) in areas ofthe brain that are crucial to memoryand other mental functions.

Levels of brain chemicals known asneurotransmitters, which carry

complex messages back and forthamong billions of nerve cells, are alsodiminished.

After the symptoms first appear, peoplelive anywhere from 220 years in an

increasingly dependent state that


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No blood test, brain scan, or physicalexam can definitively diagnoseAlzheimer's disease.

And because so many conditions canproduce symptoms resemblingthose of early Alzheimer's, reachingthe correct diagnosis iscomplicated.

Nevertheless the following tools areavailable to doctors;

A complete medical historyincludes information about the


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includes information about the

person's general health, pastmedical problems, and anydifficulties the person has carryingout daily activities.

Medical tests - such as tests ofblood, urine, or spinal fluid - helpthe doctor find other possible

diseases causing the symptoms. Neuropsychological tests measure

memory, problem solving,

attention counting and language


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Unfortunately,the definitivesigns ofAlzheimer's,

namely thepresence ofamyloidplaques and

neurofibrillarytangles, canonly be seenafter death,

However brain scanning isincreasingly being used;


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increasingly being used;

Brain scans allow the doctor to lookat a picture of the brain to see ifanything does not look normal.

Brain scans such a MagneticResonance Imaging (MRI) andPositron Emission Tomography(PET) can be used to confirmdiagnosis, but in the very earlystages they often fail to show verymuch change.

Later on, there will be a significant

and clear loss of brain tissue and anenlargement of the fluid-filledspaces (ventricles) in the brain, butby then the diagnosis is probablyfairly certain.

Scans are most likely to be performed

os ron m ss onTomography (PET)


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Positron Emission

Tomography (PET)scans detect specialradioactively labeledtracers which are

injected into apatient's body beforethe imaging procedurestarts.

PET scans can be usedto accurately monitorbrain activity while apatient's memory and

PET scans


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The scans are made by injecting thepatient with a form of sugar thathas been altered to carry a weak,

short-lived radioactive element. The sugar hits the bloodstream andflows to the brain, which needshuge amounts of energy to keep allits nerve cells running.

The most active areas of the brain need the mostsugar -- while damaged and less active areas


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sugar -- while damaged and less active areasneed much less.

By detecting the weak radiation signal from thesugar molecules as they travel throughout thebrain, PET scanners can make a picture of braincell activity.

The resulting scans show the level of activityusing a scale of colors; red and orange for highactivity, and blue and purple for low.

Technology now used forearly detection


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early detection

Researchers from the New York University School ofMedicine have developed a brain-scan-based computerprogrammethat quickly and accurately measuresmetabolic activity in the hippocampus an importantbrain structure in memory processes.

Using PET scans and the computer programme theresearchers showed that in the early stages ofAlzheimers disease there is a reduction in brainmetabolism in the hippocampus.

In a longitudinal study they followed a sample of 53 normaland healthy participants some for 9 years and others

for as long as 24 years. They found that individuals who showed early signs of

reduced metabolism in the hippocampus were associatedwith later development of Alzheimers disease.

agne c esonanceImaging (MRI)


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MRI scans use magnetic andradio waves, instead of X-rays, to provide very clearand detailed images of

brain or other internalorgans.

MRI scans provide staticthree dimensional images

of brain structure.

Currently MRI is used tomainly rule out other

possible causes for
http://alzheimers.about.com/od/glossary/g/cognitive.htm


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However use of MRI scans is turning to images of shrinkagein the hippocampus.

Cells in the brains hippocampus, a region involved inmemory and learning, progressively deteriorate and diein Alzheimers disease

MRI imaging can detect atrophy (shrinkage) of thehippocampus that occurs when substantial numbers ofcells die.

Research has found that shrinkage can be detected evenbefore symptoms interfere with daily function.


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In a 2000 Researchers* looked at MRI results for119 patients with varying degrees of cognitiveimpairment.

Some patients were normal, some had cognitiveimpairment at the time of the MRI, and otherswere already diagnosed with Alzheimer'sdisease.

The researchers (who did not have access to thepatients' files) were 100% accurate when

determining which patients had been diagnosedwith Alzheimer's disease and which had nosymptoms.

The study reported a 93% accuracy rate when

researchers were asked to distinguish between


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To what extent docognitive andbiological factors

interact in emotion


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What is emotion? A feeling?

Then what is a feeling?

These terms are difficult to defineand even more difficult tounderstand completely.


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25 yrs ago, experimentalpsychology silent on emotions

Psych wants to be a science,

emotions too flakey How do you even study emotion?

Emotional revolution (1990 and

ongoing) R. Zajonc: Humans have emotions!

Emotionsaffect thinking and

behavior


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The mainstream definition of emotionrefers to a feeling state involvingthoughts, physiological changes,

and an outward expression orbehavior.

But what comes first? The thought?The physiological arousal? Thebehavior?

There are three basic components ofemotions


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emotions:

Physical: The physical component of emotion isthe arousal of the autonomic nervous systemand endocrine system. We are not consciouslyaware of this arousal.

Cognitive: The cognitive component is ourinterpretation of a stimulus or feeling. Forexample; if you are alone, sitting in the dark,watching a scary movie, and you hear a loudnoise, you may become scared.

Behavioral: This component is the associatedbehavior. We cry because we are sad or runbecause we are scared.

Biological theories ofEmotions1 James Lange theory
http://everything2.com/title/We+were+both+scared+of+the+darkhttp://everything2.com/title/We+were+both+scared+of+the+dark


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1.James Lange theory

James Lange Somatic Theory


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James-Lange Somatic Theory

of Emotions The body informs the mind (we know we

are sad because we cry)

Distinctive body changes/symptoms areaccompanied by different emotions

Perception of these changes/symptomsdetermines the experience of emotion

Differences between emotions are adirect result of the different patternsof physiological response associatedwith them

uppor or ames- angetheoryfacial feedback hypothesis


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facial feedback hypothesis Such a theory can be supported by research suchas Lairds ( 1974) Facial feedback hypothesis.

According to facial feedback theory, emotion isthe experience of changes in our facialmuscles.

In other words, when we smile, we thenexperience pleasure, or happiness.

When we frown, we then experience sadness.

It is the changes in our facial muscles that cueour brains and provide the basis of ouremotions.

Just as there are an unlimited number of muscleconfigurations in our face, so to are there a


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In his study he inducedparticipants to make facialexpressions corresponding tospecific emotions (withelectrodes attached to face).

He found that participantsreported emotions consistentwith the facial expression e.g.,those told to pull brows

together reported feelingangry . Subjects also hadstronger emotional reactionsto stimuli consistent with theemotion of a particular facial

Criticism of james-langetheory


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y

However a study by Maranon ( 1924) contradictsthe James-Lange theory. Participants wereinjected with adrenaline (which is associatedwith fear).

71% of participants reported only physicalsensations, with no emotional reaction.

The remaining participants merely reported as ifthey were feeling an emotion.

This suggests that physiological arousal is not

sufficient to produce emotional experiences. This suggests that cognitive factors need to be

brought into a theory of emotions.

c ac er wo factory theory

Schacter ( 1964) was the first


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Schacter ( 1964) was the first

theorist to bring together the twoelements of physiological arousaland cognition.

It is sometimes known as the two-factor theory of emotion.

For an emotion to be experienced, aphysiological state of arousal isnecessary AND situational factorswill then determine how we

interpret this arousal. In other words, an event causes

physiological arousal first.

You must then identify a reason for

this arousal and then ou are


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For example you are walking downa dark alley late at night. You hearfootsteps behind you and you beginto tremble, your heart beats faster,and your breathing deepens. Uponnoticing this arousal you realize thatis comes from the fact that you are

walking down a dark alley byyourself.

This behavior is dangerous and


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The strength of physiological arousal willdetermine the strength of emotionexperienced, while the situation will determinethe type of emotion.

These two factors are independent of each otherBUT both are necessary for the emotion to beexperienced.

A classic study by Schacter & Singer ( 1962)supports these ideas, in which participants,

unable to label certain emotions looked to thebehavior of confederates in order to providecues for their emotions.

This suggests that feelings/emotions are

meaningless in isolation and it is our labeling

IN the history of emotion theory, fourmajor explanations for the complex


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mental and physical experiencesthat we call "feelings" have beenput forward.

They are; theJames-Lange theory in the 1920's,(event ==> arousal ==> interpretation ==>

emotion)

the Cannon-Bard theory in the 1930's,(event ==> Simultaneous arousal and emotion)

the Schacter-Singer theory in the 1960's,(event ==> arousal ==> reasoning ==> emotion

Lazarus theory developed in the 1980's and

Schacter & Singer


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Aim To investigate 2 factor theory which

states that arousal, plus cognition tomake sense of emotional experience

Method

Lab experiment

184 Male college students

IV = information given about adrenaline

IV = euphoria ( happy ) or angry situation


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Procedure 4 x physiological conditions

Ignorant- adrenaline + no info

Informed- adrenaline + correct info

Misinformed- adrenaline + wrong info

Placebo

2 x emotional conditions

'euphoria'

'anger'


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Results Subjects who were misled or naive ( conditions 1

& 3 )about the injection's effects needed toexplain the arousal they were experiencing.

The behaviour of the confederates acted as acue to identify this arousal as anger oreuphoria.

Conclusions

This suggests that subjects who were informed

were able to cognitively attribute thephysiological effects of the adrenaline, whilethe uninformed or misinformed groups couldperform no such attribution.

Schachter's co nitive labellin theor derives


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Ethics in Schacter & Singer


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No informed consent or proper rightof withdrawal (participants werebribed to take part).

Participants were deceived and somewere harmed by being made angry.


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Other theories have built on the workof Schacter & Singer and currentresearch now focuses on cognitionas a central factor of emotion

Lazarus ( 1982 )appraisal theory


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Whilst there are some problems withSchacterstheory it has nonethelessbeen an important influence ontheoretical accounts of emotion.

Lazarus has built on the work ofSchachter and also proposed atheory that demonstrates the

interaction of cognitions andbiology in understanding emotions.


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He has however, emphasised the role ofcognitions or cognitive appraisals.

He argued that an emotion-provokingstimulus triggers a cognitive appraisal,

which is followed by the emotion and thephysiological arousal.

He suggested we initially make a briefanalysis of a situation in terms ofwhether or not it represents a threat( we appraise a situation).

Cognitive appraisal of the situation

determines the level of physiological


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Put simply you must first think aboutyour situation before you canexperience an emotion.

For example you are walking down adark alley late at night.

You hear footsteps behind you andyou think it may be a mugger

so you begin to tremble, your heartbeats faster, and your breathingdeepens and at the same time

Lazarus


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His theory focuses on theappraisal of the situation andhe identified three stages ofappraisal

Primary appraisal (relevance) inwhich we consider how the

situation affects our personalwell-being or how threateningthe situation is.

Secondary appraisal (options) - weconsider how we might cope

with the situation Reappraisal ( ability to handle

emotion) - Reappraisal refers towhether the emotion / situationis changeable or manageable

Speisman et al ( 1964 )


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A study that supports Lazarus theory is that conducted by Speisman.

He showed college students a film called Sub-incision, a graphicfilm about an initiation ceremony involving unpleasant genitalsurgery.

The aim was see if the peoples emotional reactions could bemanipulated. The experiment deliberately manipulated theparticipants appraisal of the situation and evaluated the effect of thetype of appraisal on their emotional response.

Group 1: One group saw the film with no sound. ( control )

Group 2: Another group heard a soundtrack with a "trauma" narrativeemphasizing the pain, danger, and primitiveness of the operation.

Group 3: A third group heard a "denial" narration that denied the pain

and potential harm to the boys, describing them as willingparticipants in a joyful occasion who "look forward to the happyconclusion of the ceremony."

Group 4: The fourth group heard an anthropological ( cultural, scientfic )interpretation of the ceremony.

Speiseman et al


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Physiological ( heart rate ) and self-reportmeasures of stress were taken.

Those who heard the trauma narrationreacted with more stress than the

control group (no sound); those who heard the denial and scientific

narrations reacted with less stress thanthe control group.

Such results seem to support Lazarusstheory that it is not the eventsthemselves that elicit emotional stress

but rather the indi iduals interpretation


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Discuss the use of technology ininvestigating memory


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evaluate onetheory of howemotion can

affect onecognitive process

Emotion and memory


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Emotion and memory

Where you were ?

What you were doing ? How you were

informed ?

How you reacted ?

When;

Princess Diana died

World trade centre( NY) was attacked

Micheal Jackson died

Flashbulb memory


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Originally described by Brown & Kulik (1977): A theory that refers to vivid and detailed

memories of highly emotional events thatappear to be recorded in the brain as though

with the help of a cameras flash Brown + Kulik suggested that a special

mechanism in the brain is activated by eventswhich produce high levels of emotion and

surprise, and which are seen as particularlysignificant. As a result, the entire scene is'printed' in memory as a 'flash'.

Survey by Brown & Kulik1977


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Participants were asked a series ofquestions testing their memories of tenmajor events, such as the assasinationof President John F. Kennedy in 1963 (14

years earlier). Results showed Memories for such events

were particularly vivid, detailed and longlasting.

People usually remembered where theywere when they heard the news, howthey heard it, what they and others weredoing at the time, and the emotional

Evaluation


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Other events such as graduatingfrom college or a first romance canbe recalled in the same way asflashbulb memories. Suggestingthat FLASHBULB MEMORIES ARENO DIFFERENT from ordinarymemories.

Flashbulb memories are sometimesquite INACCURATE. McCloskey etal, 1988, found that people who

Neisser ( 1982)


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Questioned the idea offlashbulb memories onthe basis that people donot always know an eventis important until later

He suggested that thememories are so vivid

because the eventisrehearsed andreconsidered after the


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According to Neisser what is called aflashbulb memory may simply be anarrative convention.

The flashbulb memories aregoverned by a storytelling schemafollowed by a specific narrative,such as place ( where were we?),

activity ( what were we doing?),informant ( who told us?), andaffect ( how do we feel about it/)

Neisser & Harsch ( 1992


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28 January 1986 7astronauts aboardthe spaceshipChallenger werekilled on launch

It was a shockingexperience for

those who watchedthe shuttle launchin person or on TV

Evaluation study


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Neisser & Harsch investigated peoples memory accuracy ofthe incident 24 hours after the accident and the again 2years later

The pps were very confident there memories were correct, butthe researchers found that 40% of the participants haddistorted memories in the final reports they made.

Possibly post-event information had influenced theirmemories.

The researchers concluded that inaccuracy of emotionalmemories is common

Talarico & Robin ( 2003) found that emotional intensity wasoften associated with greater memory confidence but notwith accuracy

Evaluating the CognitivePerspective


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p

Contributions of this Perspectiveo Innovative methods for exploring the Black box

of the mindo An understanding of how cognition affects

behavior and emotiono Findings of tremendous social and legalrelevanceo Understanding and improving mental abilities

from infancy to old age Misuses and Misinterpretations of the

Perspectiveo Cognitive reductionismo Errors of cause and effecto Cognitive relativism

Strength of cognitiveapproach


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A main strength of cognitive psychology is thatthis approach has tended to use a scientificapproach through the use of laboratoryexperiments

. A strength of using laboratory experiments is

that they are high in control thereforeresearchers are able to establish cause andeffect.

For example Loftus and Palmer were able to

control the age of the participants, the use ofvideo and the location of the experiment. Allparticipants were asked the same questions(apart from changes in the critical words), andthe position of the key question in the second

Strength of cognitiveapproach


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Furthermore, such standardisedexperiments are easy to test forreliability. However, as manycognitive studies are carried out inlaboratory settings they can lackecological validity. When cognitiveprocesses such as memory and

theory of mind are studied inartificial situations it may bedifficult to generalise the findings

t d lif


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It has been argued that a weaknessof the cognitive approachesreliance on the computer analogyleads to a reductionist andmechanistic description ofexperiences and behaviour.

Reductionism is the idea that

complex phenomena can beexplained by simpler things. Thecognitive approach often takes this


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Misc stuff afterthis pleaseignore


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Ebbinghaus invented several tests ofretention, as listed and describedbelow:

Recall -- simply try to remembereach item. Ebbinghaus used twotypes of recall task: Free recall -- attempt to recall the list

items; order is not important. Serial recall -- attempt to recall the

list items in the order studied.


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Kandel ( 1990)


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Our knowledge about biologicalfactors involved in memory is in itsinfancy but research is providingmajor new insights

Research is showing that memory isnot in fact etched in brain cells butare stored in the intricate circuitry

of neurons in the brain ( known asneural networks).

In other words; Memory is a not a trace but

t ti


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syntactic process.

It is a sequence of cellular eventsthat leads from temporary topermanent memory

New information is absorbed and

retained through a processcharacterized by changes insynaptic interconnections amongneurons in the hippocampus and

cerebral cortex, regions of thebrain associated with memory.

Very simply, we make and storememories by forging new neuralpathways to the brain from

Kandel ( 1990)

Kandel studies the sea snail


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Kandel studies the sea snail

aplysia and discovered that; Short-term storage for implicit

memory involves functionalchanges in the strengthofpre-existing synapticconnections.

Long-term storage for implicit

memory involves thesynthesis of new protein andthegrowth of new connections


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Cultural differences inperception


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Proceeding within this framework, wepredicted that people in differentcultures would be differentiallysusceptible to geometric illusionsbecause they have learneddifferent, but always ecologicallyvalid, visual inference habits.

Cultural differences inperception


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Recall Perception is the ability to make sense ofinformation coming in through the senses

Again, although perceptual processes areuniversal certain perceptual skills may differ

between cultures Depth perception is the ability to see the world in

three dimensions and to perceive distance.

Research has found differences in depth

perception, illustrated by certain visualillusions


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Mller-Lyer illusionAre lines in top image of same or different lengths?Most people say that right-hand line is longer.


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Illusion may occur because of familiarity withvertices in buildings and other environments.

one explanation of why the right hand figureappears to be so much larger involvesinterpreting the images in depth.

The right hand figure can be easily interpretedas representing the inside corner of a roomwhilst the arrowlike left hand figure can beseen as the outside corner of a building.

As an inside corner the right hand figure mayappear to be nearer (and therefore larger)

than the outside corner.


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The Carpentered worldhypothesis


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The argument is that these peoplelived in a 'circular culture' whereasthose who are more subject to theillusion live in a 'carpentered world'of rectangles and parallel lines(Segall, Campbell & Herskovits1966).

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