Cognition

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  • Created by: megs543
  • Created on: 21-01-19 12:36
What type of memory is episodic?
Long-term, declarative memory, it includes memory for events. For example, your 18th birthday.
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What sort of information does episodic memory include?
It is memory for personally-experienced events and includes contextual information such as when and where the event occured,who was there, how you was feeling at the event, what was said etc.
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What is autonoetic awareness?
Episodic memory involves this and it is self knowing- a feeling that we are reliving the past, like mental time travel.
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What are the processes of episodic memory?
Encoding - the acquisition of information e.g. studying for an exam, listening to a conversation, observing an event. Retrieval - the ability to recall, recognise or show evidence of prior learning/encoding
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What is the level of processing? (LoP)
This is an influence of encoding. This idea is from Craik & Lockhart (1972) Level of processing looks at the depth of processing. THis can either be deep (semantic features, meaning based) or shallow processing (perceptual features, e.g. font
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What is recall?
not a carbon copy of an event but a record of how you processed an event.
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What is the hypothesis of level of processing?
The deeper the processing the better the recall.
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What was the experiment by Craik and Tulving (1975)?
The participants read a list of unrelated words and were incidental learning as they were not told about a later memory test. There was then a surprise recognition test where they would see a list of seen words and new words. Were they on the list?
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What were the manipulations in this experiment?
Were given either shallow, intermediate or deep tasks. Shallow included upper or lower case judgement of the word, intermediate included rhyme judgement and deep included does the work make sense at the end of this sentence.
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What were the results of this experiment?
Deep/semantic processing at encoding = better recognition than intermediate and shallow (non-semantic) processing.
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What are the problems with the level of processing theory?
No independent way of measuring ‘depth’ - circularity Assumes processing levels are sequential – go from one stage (e.g. perceptual) to the next (e.g. phonological). But recent work suggests different types of processing occur in parallel
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Problems continued...
Can we suppress semantic processing? Benefit of semantic processing depends on the nature of the test used to examine memory, e.g. Morris, Bransford & Franks (1977)
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Morris, Bransford & Franks (1977) counter-experiment?
They use two different types of encoding, either semantic or phonological (rhyming). Used 2 different types of recognition test: Standard (study & new words) – select old words Rhyme (words that rhyme with study words + new words) – select rhymes
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Results of this experiment
For the standard recognition test – typical LoP finding of better performance after semantic processing than after phonological (rhyme-based) BUT opposite pattern for rhyme recognition – performance was better after phonological (rhyme-based).
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What is transfer-appropriate processing?
Morris et al  performance is best if type of processing used at encoding matches the processing required at test.
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What is the elaboration hypothesis?
more likely to remember something if we can relate it to other things that we already know. Therefore, semantic processing always produces more elaboration than non-semantic.
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What is the congruity effect?
Memory for words that appeared in sentences judged to be sensible (congruent) was better than memory for words in sentences judged nonsensical (incongruent). e.g. The man caught the BALL (C) The house was sold to a SPACESUIT (I)
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Explain the congruent effect.
Congruent information elaborates (enriches) the encoding of the word in a way that nonsense or incongruent information can’t.
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Is semantic processing needed for both congruent and incongruent?
Yes- semantic processing is needed for both congruent and incongruent sentences (i.e. you need to know what a ball and a spacesuit are in order to answer both questions)
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Why does congruent information provide more elaboration?
Congruent information provides more elaboration because it ties the item more closely to stored knowledge – you get more elaboration if you process correct semantic information about the item during encoding.
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What is distinctiveness and who proposed this idea?
Memory depends on the distinctiveness of the encoded information – how well it stands out from other items in memory. (Hunt & Elliot 1980)
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What is evidence for this idea?
Bransford et al (1979): 'A mosquito is like a doctor because both draw blood' 'A mosquito is like a racoon because they both have a head, legs and jaws'. Recall of the first sentence is better – because it is more distinctive / unusual.
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Hunt & Elliot (1980) ideas about distinctiveness
Semantic processing leads to better memory because it increases the distinctiveness of the items. items are likely to be more distinct in terms of their meaning than in terms of their physical (non-semantic) features.
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Link between semanticness and distinctiveness
Non-semantic – ‘Elephant has three vowels in it – Y/N= non-distinct. Semantic – ‘An elephant is a large grey animal – Y/N’ = distinct
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Limits to this distinctiveness idea
Distinctiveness theory, however, does not predict that semantic encoding per se will always be better than non-semantic.
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How does Eysenck (1979) prove this idea.
used a (non-semantic) phonological task with unusual word pronunciations (e.g. ‘glove’ to rhyme with ‘cove’) Memory following this (non-semantic) task was as good as that following semantic processing.
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What does this show?
Thus distinctiveness applies to both semantic and non-semantic processing - but semantic processing is usually more likely to lead to distinctive processing.
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Winograd's (1981) comparison of elaboration and distinctiveness?
They looked at memory for pictures of faces. Scan each face (encoding lots of features) and rate the most distinctive feature = elaboration + distinctiveness OR Focus on most distinctive feature (told what it is) – distinctiveness alone.
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What were the findings of this?
Found no difference in memory performance  suggests the benefit of elaboration (encoding a lots of features) is that it increases likelihood of detecting a distinctive feature.
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Bousfield (1953) idea?
They believe that organised material is better remembered than unorganised information. This refers to the relationship between items in a list or actions in an event etc.
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What was their study?
set of 20 words made up of 4 examples from each of 5 categories (e.g. animals, plants, etc) Ps were presented lists with either: Randomly sorted items (unorganised) OR Items from same category grouped together (organised)
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Results of this.
Recall was higher for the organised list.
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What is the generation effect and who developed this?
Glisky & Rabinowitz (1985)- Information that you generate yourself is better remembered than information you see or hear.
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Findings for the genration effect.
Words generated at study are better recognised than words read at study (standard Generation Effect) Words that are generated at study and test are better recognised than words generated at study and read at test.
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Findings continued...
Recognition is best if the same (rather than different) fragments are presented at both study and test (transfer appropriate processing), i.e. -lep----t at study and -lep----t at test better than… -lep----t at study and e--p-a-t at test
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What is the Self-Reference Effect: Rogers, Kuiper & Kirker (1977)
The personal relevance of information has a powerful effect on memory.
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What was the study for this?
Presented a list of adjectives (e.g. kind, tall) and asked Ps to use one of three different types of encoding: Non-semantic (Does it rhyme with … ?) Semantic (Does it mean the same as …?) Rating how descriptive each word was of themselves.
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Findings of the self-reference effect?
Participants recalled more self-rated than semantically encoded words. Self-relevance leads to greater processing through allocation of more attention.
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Why does retrieval fail?
Storage failure- Decay (e.g. Thorndike, 1914) – the older the memory trace the more likely to be forgotten or Interference – new information overwrites/replaces older information.
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Interference: Jenkins & Dallenbach (1924) study?
Participants learnt a list of nonsense syllables and then either went to sleep or stayed awake.
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Results of this experiment.
Memory for syllables was much better (after the same period of time) for the ‘sleep’ group than the ‘awake’ group Being awake exposes the memory to more interference - sleep protects the memories from interference and helps consolidation.
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What is consolidation?
process by which new memories become established in the hippocampus.
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Other retrieval failures?
Information is present in memory but can’t be recalled: Information stored in LTM remains there permanently, and so is available  but successful performance also depends on accessibility – the degree to which the information can be retrieved.
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Who examined the effect of retrieval cues?
Tulving & Pearlstone (1966) – examined effect of retrieval cues. Compared free recall and cued recall.
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What does the consist of?
Words were presented in categories. Test was retrieval. Either free recall (recall items from list) or cued recall (given category names to help you recall, e.g. flowers, animals)
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Results of this experiment.
Recall is higher with cued recall than with free (uncued) recall.Suggests that information that is available in memory may sometimes be accessible and sometimes not Failure to recall doesn’t necessarily mean failure to learn – it depends on the cues
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What are practical applications of this?
Making medical instructions more memorable – retention of medical information is vital but often poor
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Ley (1988) study?
Patients forget 50% of information given to them by their doctor. High positive correlation between amount of information recalled and: understanding of information ,satisfaction with consultant ,taking prescriptions (compliance) ,recovery
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Second experiment on this.
Asked some doctors to change presentation in line with findings from lab studies, e.g. to organise the way in which information was presented.
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What was found?
Found that explicitly categorising the way information is presented nearly doubled patients’ recall of information given.
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Does testing improve learning?
Taking a test not only assesses what you know but also enhances later retention Students who are tested on material show greater retention of the material than those simply given further study (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006).
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What is prospective memory?
Remembering to carry out intentions like picking up dry cleaning. It is vital for day to day life and independent living. It does not sit in the taxonomy of long term memory which is a criticism of the taxonomy.
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Contrast- What is retrospective memory?
Memory for experiences of events that took place in the past, for example what you did at the weekend.
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What is stage 1 of a PM task? (Ellis, 1996)
Formation and encoding of the intention. This consists of what the action is (returning book to library), when it should be carried out (passing library) and an intention or commitment to performing the action.
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What is stage 2 of a PM task?
Stage 2 is retention interval- retaining the intention over a period of time while you are engaged in other activities.
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What is stage 3 of a PM task?
Retrieval of the intention- when the retrieval context arrives (e.g. passing the library) you realise that you have something to do.
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Stage 4 and 5 of a PM task?
Stage 4 is initiating and carrying out the action (returning the book) and stage 5 is evaluating the outcome, so was the action completed successfully?
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What is a key aspect of PM tasks?
Self-initiate retrieval of the intended action when the cue appears.
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What are the two types of PM tasks? (Einstein & McDaniel 1990)
Event based- perform intention when a particular event occurs e.g. passing the library (external cue) and time based- perform intention at a particular time (e.g. 3pm or after 30 minutes- no external cue.
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What do people typically perform better on?
Einstein et al. 1995- Event- based tasks
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What is Einstein and McDaniel's study (1990)?
Lab based method which is most widely used approach. There is an ongoing task (e.g. word rating) and the PM task instructions is to press key when a certain word appears (cue). It is then measures whether participants remember this or not.
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What does this method aim to do?
Aims to capture key aspects of real-life intentions in a controlled setting.
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How do McDaniel and Einstein (2000) say that we remember intentions?
Either when we encounter a retrieval cue the intended action automatically "springs to mind" or intention retrieval requires attention (strategic) processes. This is called the 'multiprocess account of PM retrieval.- dominant theory in literature.
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What are the assumptions of the multiprocess account- this relates primarily to event-based tasks?
1. Prospective memory retrieval can sometimes be automatic (spontaneous), other times it requires attention (strategic). 2. The type of retrieval we use in an event-based task depends on., relation between cue and action, no. of retrieval cues.
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Continued...
Relation between cue and ongoing task (cue focality) and lots of other things. 3. There's a preference for using automatic retrieval.
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What are the effects of divided attention on PM?
If PM requires attention then dividing attention (by introducing a secondary task) should disrupt PM performance.
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'Costs' to ongoing task?
If PM requires attention then this leaves less attention available for the ongoing task so ongoing task performance should be disrupted e.g. slower.
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What is the relation between cue and action?
The assumption is that automatic retrieval is more likely when the relation between the cue and the action is strong (see florist= by flowers) rather than when it is weak (see tesco= buy flowers).
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McDaniel et al. 2004?
Used divided attention (introduction of a secondary task) to assess attentional demands.
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What if the cue and action are strongly related?
Intention retrieval should be automatic so a secondary task should have little effect.
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What if the cue and action are not strongly related?
Intention retrieval unlikely to be automatic so a secondary task should have a detrimental effect.
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What was McDaniels study for this idea?
Ongoing task- Rating series of words, how pleasant are they. The PM task was 4 cue words which would appear in the ongoing task. The related condition was see SPAGHETTI write SAUCE, the unrelated condition was see SPAGHETTI write CHURCH.
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What about the divided attention and full attention in the experiment?
Divided attention involved during half of the ongoing task, listening to a stream of digits and press button if hear two consecutive odd numbers. Full attention during half of ongoing task was no digit task presented.
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What were the results of this?
1. PM best when cue-action are related. 2. No effect of divided attention when cue-action are related- automatic retrieval. 3.PM worse under divided attention when due-action unrelated- retrieval needs attention.
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What does this support?
Supports the argument that demand for attention varies according to the characteristics of the PM task.
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McDaniel & Einstein (2000)- number of cues
They suggest that number of cues influences demand for attention. Assume detection of a single cue may occur automatically and detecting multiple cues requires attentional resources (strategic processing).
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Multiple PM cues?
If we have to detect multiple PM cues then this requires attention and this should leave less attention for the ongoing task so ongoing task performance should be disrupted.
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Single PM cues?
If we have to detect a single cue then this occurs automatically and the ongoing ask should not be affected…
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Smith (2003) multiple cues study?
Ongoing task = lexical decision task (LDT)  deciding if words are real or not (FLOOD, PASED). Measured speed of responses. PM task = learn 6 cue words. Press a key whenever you see one of the cue words during the experiment.
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What were the two groups?
1. Expect to see cues After the LDT. 2. Expect to see cues during the LDT. Note the cues never actually appeared. Ps expecting cues in the ongoing (LDT) task performed SLOWER on the ongoing task those not expecting the cues.
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What does this suggest?
Suggests they were looking out for (monitoring) the cue words and this requires attention – hence less attention available for the ongoing task
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Marsh et al 2003- Single PM cue study?
They compared speed of ongoing LDT responses for participants who were 1. asked to respond to the cue word DOG in the LDT or 2. not asked to respond to a cue word in the LDT.
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What were the differences?
Not significantly different, no cost to the ongoing task. 93% of PM cues were detected and attention wasn't required for successful PM.
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What does this suggest?
suggests people weren’t just doing the ongoing task at the expense of the PM task and automatic retrieval, i.e. when we encounter the cue the associated intention spontaneously springs to mind.
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Relationship between cue and ongoing task- focal and non-focal?
PM retrieval is more likely to be automatic when the PM cue is directly relevant to the ongoing task (focal) than when it is not relevant (non-focal
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Einstein et al. (2005) study?What was the ongoing task?
The ongoing task shows a category in uppercase (ANIMAL) followed by a word in lower case (lion). They were asked is the word in lower case part of the category?
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What was the PM task?
Focal- press key when see 'tortoise', Non-focal- press key when see syllable 'tor' in word. This is a non- focal cue because the task requires the processing of whole words, not syllables.
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What were the results?
93% PM success rate for focal vs. 63% for non-focal.
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What did Einstein also measure here?
Cost to ongoing task (category judgement) as a measure of demand for attention. Compared ongoing task performance to focal cue, non-focal cue, and no PM task control condition
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What was found?
No difference in ongoing task between control and focal PM – suggests focal PM was automatic Ongoing task was slower for non-focal than control – suggests strategic monitoring for PM cues (takes attention away from ongoing task).
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Continued...
Different retrieval processes are used under task different conditions
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What factors can influence PM performance?
Retrieval cue factors can influence PM performance, e.g. PM performance is better when the cue is focal and when the cue and action are related.
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Encoding factors- What are implementation intentions?
Definitions vary but typically involve a precise specification of when an intention will be carried out combined with; a verbal statement of intent (When X happens I will do Y) and also often an imagery of performing the action.
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What task is this like?
Like a normal event-based task but with additional instructions that focus encoding processes on the link between the cue and the action.
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What was McDaniel's (2008) experiment for Implementation intentions?
Participants told to press 'Q' key whenever they see SPAGHETTI or DOLL in a word-rating task. This was performed under either full or divided attention at retrieval.
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What were the different conditions?
Read-Only- Repeat the instructions back to the experimenter, Imagery- repeat the instructions back and imagine performing the intention for 30 seconds, implementation intention- same as last condition plus read aloud 'when I see the word spaghetti...
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What were the results?
Implementation intentions can benefit PM (vs. imagery and read-only), esp. under conditions of divided attention, No evidence that divided attention impairs PM for implementation intentions
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Summary of this?
Implementation intentions may strengthen the link between the cue and the action- may allow automatic retrieval of the intention when the cue arrives.
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Enactment at encoding (Peniera, Ellis & Freeman 2012)?
Participants asked to learn cue-action pairs, like lemon-squeeze. The two conditions were verbal encoding (reading aloud) and enactment at encoding- performing a mime of the action. The ongoing task was word categorisation. (natural vs. man-made).
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Results of this?
Enacting the action at encoding enhances PM performance, may also improve PM in real life.
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Example of PM in everyday life?
PM failures can have serious consequences, e.g. aviation safety (Dismukes et al 2007)- of 27 major US air accidents, 5 were due to failure to carry out an important procedure.
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Observational study- Loukopoulos, Dismukes & Barshi (2003)??
Observed real-world performance of Boeing- 73 pilots, during flight simulation training and numerous real flights from cockpit jumpseat.
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What did they notice?
Pilots were frequently interrupted while carrying out vital tasks, this creates a need to form an intention to resume the task when the interruption has passed. Found pilots often go straight onto the next task after dealing with the interruption
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What was the hypotheses about these findings?
1. Demanding interruptions divert attention= failure to form an adequate intention to resume the interrupted task. 2. No explicit cue to prompt retrieval of intention once interruption is dealt with.
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How and who tested this Hypotheses?
Dodhia and Dismukes (2005) in a lab study. Students answered general knowledge (SAT) questions in blocks.
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What were the students told?
They would be interrupted at various points- current screen replaced by a different colour screen and a different category of questions. After the interruption has passed, they should go back and complete the interrupted block of questions
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What happens after the interruption?
The computer presents a new block of questions, Ps have to remember to resume the old block first, without explicit prompt to do so.
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What were the results in terms of hypothesis 1?
Manipulated abruptness of interruption- Interrupting activity started immediately (48% of blocks resumed), interruption began with a 4- sec blank screen before the questions appeared (65% of blocks resumed).
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What does this show?
Introducing a pause before the interrupting activity begins gives Ps an opportunity to form an intention to resume.
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Results in terms of hypothesis 2?
Introduced message saying 'End of Interruption' increased performance from 48% to 90%. Acts as an external cue to retrieve intention to resume interrupted activity.
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What are the implications of this?
Supports theoretical explanations of why interruption disrupts the performance of everyday tasks. Also has important practical implications.
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What are these practical implications and what needs to be done?
Performance could be improved by introducing a brief delay before the interrupting activity and providing an explicit prompt to facilitate retrieval of the interrupted activity. This needs to be tested back out in the real world.
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SEMANTIC MEMORY
SEMANTIC MEMORY
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What is a concept?
Mental representation of a category or class of objects, for example cats or pets.
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What is the representation of concepts?
A vast amount of information is represented in semantic memory, e.g. word meanings, adults typically know 20-40 thousand words.
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How do adults represent these concepts?
Three main theories; classical defining feature (Collins & Quillian 1967), Feature comparison model (Smith, Shoben & Rips 1974), Prototype model (Rosch, 1975).
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Define classical defining feature theory with examples?
A concept is represented in memory and defined by a set of features, e.g. Chair is inaminate, has 4 legs, used for sitting on, has a seat and back etc. A chair must have these defining features, and can also have additional features e.g. made of wood
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What do these features show?
If it has these necessary features then together the features are sufficient for it to be classed as a chair. Defining features capture the meaning of a concept.
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What are the rules for the features?
Features are "Primitives", i.e. cannot be broken down into smaller units, all features are of equal importance, all examples of a concept are equally representative of that concept.
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How are concepts organised?
In a heirachy of superordinate and subordinate categories- defining features of superordinate are inherited by subordinate.
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Heirachial organisation example
ANIMAL (superordinate)- defining features like has skin, breathes, eats, moves around. Next is PET, is an animal has skin, breathes AND lives with humans, then CAT (subordinate) has all previous features AND is independent, chases mice, etc.
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What is the defining feature theory?
Knowledge organised heirarchically in a semantic network, network has nodes (concepts) and connections (relationships) between nodes. Isa is a member of, F is a feature of.
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What is spreading activation?
When a concept (node) is activated, this activation spreads to other related nodes in the semantic network. For example canary spreads to sings, yellow and bird, which then spreads to Animal, Robin, Can fly, has feathers etc. This spreads to breathes
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What is cognitive economy?
Since most birds 'can fly' this feature is just attached to the general category of 'Birds' rather than to every individual bird node like 'Robin'.
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How do we make semantic judgements? E.g. do canaries breathe?
Activation spreads out from both 'can breathe' and 'canary' travelling from one node to another via connections. These two sources of activation intersect suggesting a possible relation between the two concepts.
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What does this intersection trigger and what is prediction?
Decision stage to verify the relation. Prediction is the time it takes to access information depends on the distance that it is "travelled".
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How was this theory/ predicitions tested?
Sentence verification tasks, e.g. instance-category. Which leads to the quickest answer? Is a canary a bird or an animal? Bird is 1 level, animal is 2 levels, therefore say 'yes' faster to bird than animal.
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What does the test depend on?
The levels of processing. The more levels of processing the slower the answer to the question.
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What is semantic priming? (Spreading activation explains this)
Faster to respond to an intem when you've previously seen an item that's semantically related to it.
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Experiment to explain semantic priming? (Meyer & Schvaneveldt 1971)
Participants are shown pairs of worth and asked are both words real YES/NO? Some contain related words, some contain unrelated words and some contain nonsense words (Trand, Lutter).
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What were the results?
Faster to respond when words are related (Nurse, doctor) than unrelated (house, paper). Activation spreads from nurse to doctor.
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What are the problems with defining feature theory?
1. Not all features are equal (Conrad, 1972)- some features are more closely associated with a concept than others, e.g. robin has red breast vs. robin lays blue eggs.
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Continued...
2. Not all instances are equal (Rosch, 1973)- some are 'better' (more typical) than others, e.g. a robin is a more typical bird than an ostrich.
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What is the typicality effect?
Smith et al, 1974- In sentence verification task participants are quicker to verify robin/bird than ostrich/bird.
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More problems with theory...
3. Hard to establish defining features- hard to find a set of features that defines membership and excludes non-members.
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Example of point 3.
Wittgenstein (1953)- what are the defining features of 'GAMES'? What links all games together (e.g. football, chess, hide and seek), while excluding instances that aren't games?
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More problems...
4. Differences between cateories should be clear-cut but are not- fuzzy categorical boundaries rather than clearly defined ones (McClsoky & Glucksber, 1978)
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Example...
People agree with others, and are consistent across sessions, about: Category – Typical instances, e.g. FRUIT – apple Category – Unrelated instances, e.g. FRUIT – dog But, do not agree about: Category – Atypical instances, e.g. FRUIT- TOMATO
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Last problem...
Predictions from hierarchy model sometimes fail (Smith et al 1974). People are faster to verify ostrich- animal than orstrich-bird.
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What are the two types of features for the feature comparison model (Smith et al, 1974)?
1. Defining (Core ) Features- features that define (are essential to) a concept (e..g bird- has bean and feathers). 2. Characteristic features- features that some instances have, but not all, not essential (e.g. bird- can fly).
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What is the 1- or 2- stage processing mechanism?
Used for judging similarity between an instance and a category (e.g. Robin- Bird).
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What is stage 1?
Rapid, general comparison of the features (defining + characteristic) of both concepts. e.g. Robin and Bird has high similarity, Chair and bird has low similarity, and bat and bird are intermidiate.
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What is stage 2?
If after stage 1 it is intermediate stage 2 takes place. This is the slow, careful comparison of defining features only (ignore characteristic features), e.g. bat has teeth and fur, bird has beak and feathers. therefore this is a no match.
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Strengths of the feature comparison model?
1. Accounts for the typicality effect (unlike classic defining feature theory)- i.e. faster category judgement for typical instances than a typical.
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Examples of this typicality effect
Typical, e.g. Robin-Bird has high similarity and is 1st stage processing, unrelated like cabbage and bird is low similarity and 1st stage processing, atypical like ostrich and bird is intermidiate and therefore requires two stage processing.
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Strengths continued...
2. Copes with some issues of hierarchial organisation, issue- people are faster to verify ostrich as animal than ostrich as bird. This model would find ostrich is more similar to animal than bird in stages of processing.
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Problems with feature comparison?
1. Can't deal with fact that noun order changes response times in verification tasks (Loftus, 1973)- Does the instance belong to the category. Robin-Bird faster than Bird- Robin and word order should not change performance if comparisons.
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Problems continued...
2. Treats features in isolation- doesn't explain how features relate to each other (e.g. having wings & flying go together). 3. still faces the question of what constitutes a defining feature.
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What is the Prototype Model? (Rosch, 1975)
Prototype theory of semantic memory-aimed to address the various problems of feature theories. Category judgements are not based on the similarity between an item and a set of category features. Rather we form a prototype.
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What is a prototype?
A composite example of a category derived (averaged) from all prior experiences of category members. New instances are compared to the prototype and judged to be a member of the category if features match those of the prototype.
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What are the strentghs of the prototype view?
1. Proposes that instances of a category vary in closeness to the central prototype- i.e. their typicality. Therefore accounts for typicality effects, e.g. typical instances are classified faster than atypical (robin/bird vs ostrich/bird).
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Strenghts continued...
2. Allows for fuzzy category boundaries- not always a clear distinction between categories, e.g. Labov (1973). For example, size of cups to bowls.
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Prototypes of this example
Little agreement about the point at which an intermediate items resembles one prototype (cup) more than the other (bowl), individuals differ in their prototypes for particular categories.
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Strengths continued...
3. Allows for family resemblance; category membership depends on similarity rather than definition, there is no (defining) feature that is shared by all instances of a concept, but all instances have some features in common with the prototype.
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Who has an example of this?
Armstrong et al., 1983 p269- The Smith Brothers
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Problems of prototype theory?
1. Ad hoc categories- we can create new categories 'on the fly', e.g. things sell at a garage sale or ways to escape from the Mafia (Barsalou, 1983), unlikely to have pre-exisiting prototypes for these categories- how do we determine membership?
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Problems continued...
People know about relations between attributes, e.g. wings and flying- not captured by the representation of a single prototype.
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Problems continued...
3Category membership judgements are not just based on similarity. Rips (1989) have participants two everyday categories; 25 cent coins (fixed diameter), pizzas (variable diameter) they were asked to imagine an object with a diameter somewhere between
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What did the participants do?
Group 1 would say that object (3 inch) is more similar to a coin whereas group 2 will say object belongs to category of pizza. Therefore, dissociation between similarity and category membership is not readily explained by prototype or feature theory.
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How are concepts represented in prototype theory and exemplar theory?
Prototype theory- represented by an abstracted prototype- specific instances not stored. Exemplar theory- represented by a collection of specific instances that we have encountered.
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How is category memberships determined?
By comparing a new instance to the stored exemplars.
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When is the prototype approach better?
May be best for some categories, e.g. those with many members (e.g. animals).
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When is the exemplar approach better?
May be more appropriate for other categories, e.g. smaller categories or categories we have little exerience of.
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Describe forgetting in semantic memory?
Failures of semantic memory are commonplace among healthy people, e.g. Tip of the Tongue phenomenon. People are in a ToT state when they are momentarily unable to recall information-usually a name- that they know is stored in long-term (semantic) mem
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Tip of the Tongue phenomenon described?
ToT experience often marked by a strong 'feeling of knowing'- can recall some aspects (e.g. 1st letter, number of syllables) but not the complete name.
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Explanations for this?
Semantic information is activated but activation hasn’t spread to the phonological information needed to produce the word.
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COGNITIVE AGEING
COGNITIVE AGEING
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Different ages in research?
Young adults- 18-.30 years old, older= over 60 years (usually up to 80). Researchers sometimes also distinguish between young-old (60-75 years) an old-old (over 75 years).
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What is short term memory and a classic test of this?
STM is passive holding area for verbal or visuospatial information. Classic test is forward digit span (repeating digits). Some evidence that passive ST storage is not impared (Craik 1977) or is less impaired than other types of memory- B&V 2005
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When are bigger age differences typically found?
Working memory- tasks that require active processing of information in STM vs passive storage. E.g. backward digit span.
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Study for this- Alpha span task?
Participants hear list of words to remember, asked to recall them in the correct alphabetical order. Older adults perform worse on these tasks than young (Hayslip & Kennelly 1982, Crail 1986).
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What does this task require?
Working memory- concurrent storage & reorganisation of material.
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Define working memory? Older adults and working memory?
WM is mental workspace for simultaneously holding and manipulating information. Older adults have reduced WM capacity, i.e. a reduction in the amount of information they can store and process- can lead to problems day to day e.g. reading.
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What is procedural memory and what is this like in healthy ageing?
Memory for well-learned skills and procedures is generally preserved in healthy ageing, e.g. swimming, tying a knot. Older adults are often impaired in acquiring new motor skills- but may depend on the complexity of the task.
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How is this studied?
Participants perform a novel and challenging task on repeated trials over one or more sessions. Learning is indicated by an improvement in speed and/or accuracy.
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What did Breitenstein et all (1996) study?
Compared skill learning in young and older adults using two different tasks; simple tracking- older adults were less accurate than young but showed same rate of improvement, mirror-reversed tracking- older adults were less accurate slower improvement
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What is implicit and explicit memory?
Explicit- conscious retrieval of prior event/information. Implicit- previous experience of an event influences subsequent performance without conscious or deliberate recollection of an event.
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Explicit memory tests based on participants readif a long list of words including e.g. stapler?
Recall or recognise previously presented words from the study list.
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Implicit memory tests based on participants readif a long list of words including e.g. stapler?
Given word stems (sta) or word fragments (_t_p_e_) and asked to complete them with the first word that comes to mind- no mention of the studied list.
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What do participants do in these tests?
Conscious recollection is not required to complete the task, but there is typically an increased tendency to complete stems or fragments with words seen in the studied list.
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What type of ageing is less affected?
Implicit memory is less affecred by ageing than explicit memory, e.g. Light and Singh (1987) did a direct comparison of implicit vs explicit memory in older adults
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What did this test consist of and what were the results?
Tested with stem completion, either implicit "complete with first word that comes to mind", explicit- "complete with a word from the list". difference is instruction. They found no age different in IT but old were impaired to recall words in ET.
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What is episodic memory? (explicit)
Memory for events and past experiences. Impaired with age, older people are less able than youg adults to recall the specific details of a story, recall list of words or sentences (Light and Singh 1987).
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What is source mentoring?
remember where and when a particular event took place or where they have encountered something before .
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What do older adults struggle with?
Older adults may be less able to distinguish between different sources of self-generated events, e.g. whether they have said something or just thought it.
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What is anecdotal evidence?
Older people tend to repeat themselves, e.g. telling the same story over and over again.
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What is laboratory analogue? (Koriat, Ben-Zur & Scheffer 1988)
Young an dolder adults learn list of words for later recall test. They found older adults recall fewer items, more likely to repeat same items and when shown list of items were less able to identify which ones they had recalled.
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What does this show?
Older adults are impaired at remembering whether they have said something before or not Also have difficulties remembering whether or not they have performed a particular action, watched it or just imagined it (Cohen & Faulkner, 1989) .
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What is this called?
Part of a general problem remembering the source of events/information – they have‘source amnesia’.
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Remembering who did what?
Older adults have problems remembering what other people have done, i.e. who did what. Kersten et al (2008) studied this where young and older adults watched clips of different actors each performing a different action.
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Continued...
Actor A opens a jar, actor b staples some papers together, actor c puts on some headphones. They were then given a recognition test for the actions, they either saw an old pairing or new pairing and were asked did the person perform this action?
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What were the results?
Older adults have problems distinguishing old (a opens jar again) and novel (actor b does something different) pairings. More likely than young people to attribiute an action to the wrong person.
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What are the implications of this?
Implications for eyewitness testimony- suggests older adults may be less reliable witnesses. They may also be prone to the effect of misleading information (Mitchell et al 2003).
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Example of this?
Phase 1: witness an event on video, e.g. a buglary, pase 2- questions about event contain a fact that didn't actually happen. Phase 3: Given list of statements, where did you encounter this information. Decide if video, questions, neither, or both
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What were the results?
Older adults more likely to remember 'seeing' events that were only suggested to them (misattributions), less able to attribute the information to the correct source, less confident in their correct attributions but more confident in misattributions.
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Continued...
Witness confidence is related to juror's perceptions (Whitley & Greenberg 1986), need source information to perform this task, e.g. temporal order, modality of info (e.g. video, written)- impaired with age.
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Recall vs recognition?
Age deficits aren’t equivalent for all episodic memory tasks – some tend to be more affected by ageing than others, e.g. Age differences are often greater for free recall tests than for recognition (e.g. White & Cunningham, 1982),
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Example of free recall and recognition?
Free recall- tell me all the words you can remember, recognition- have you seen this word before or not.
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Cued recall?
Age differences are also smaller on cued recall than on free recall tasks, (e.g. Craik et al, 1987) Cued recall = e.g. Encode: shoe – tree; Test: shoe – ?
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Why are some tasks more affected by ageing than others?
Craik (1986)- memory tasks differ in the extent to which they produce external support-
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What is external support?
= broad concept that refers to any external information or cues that can guide memory processes at encoding (learning) or retrieval e.g. recognition tests provide external support at retrieval because the word is re-presented to participant.
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What are Craik's key points (1986) in his theory of cognitive ageing?
1. when a task (e.g. free recall) provides a low level of external support there is a greater need for self-initiated /strategic processing
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Continued...
Self-initiated/strategic processing demands attentional resources Older adults have reduced attentional resources  less able to carry out self-initiated/strategic processing.
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What is memory performance?
Interaction between external and internal factors.
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What is low external support?
Increased need for self-initiated/strategic processes which are attentionally demanding. Older adults have diminished attentional resources so should be disproportionately worse on tasks that require self initiated/strategic processing.
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What is Craik's (1986) hierarchy? What are the tasks?
Tasks- Prospective memory, free recall, cued recall, recognition and implicit memory= external support from low to high in this order, demand for self-initiated processing from high to low and age- related impairement from high to low.
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Does this fit with the evidence?
Implicit memory is generally intact in older adults, age differences are typically smaller on recognition tests than on recall (White & Cunningham 1982), age differences are also smaller on cued recall than on free recall tasks (Craik et al, 1987).
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Why is prospective memory low for external support and hifh for demand for self-initiated processing and age-related impairment?
Stage 3 of the PM task- Retrieval of the intention – when the retrieval context arrives (i.e. when passing the library) realise for yourself that you have something to do.
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PM- What is an event-based task? (Einstein &McDaniel 1990)
Perform intention when a particular event occurs e.g. passing a library. Provides an external cue which can remind you that you have something to do.
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PM- What is a time-based task?
Perform intention at a particular time, e.g. 3pm or after a period of time has elapsed, e.g. in 30 minutes. No external cue- have to remember to check the time periodically in the retention retrieval.
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Older adults and event-based PM?
Older adults are more impaired on some tests of event-based PM than others.
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Rendell et al (2007) study on this?
Ongoing task= see slides of famous people and write their names in an answer booklet. PM task (between subjects): focal cue- remember to circle the slide number in the booklet if the first name is John, non-focal cue- circle if wearing glassesl
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Results of this experiment?
Age difference larger for non-focal cues than focal. Relates to McDaniel & Einstein's multiprocess account of PM- some PM tasks e.g. non focal, require greater attentional resources/ self- inititated processes, others e.g. focal are more automatic.
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Time- vs. event-based PM- Einstein et al. (1995) lab task?
Participants engaged in general knowledge task. PM task- 2 retrieval cue conditions... event-based press enter when word 'PRESIDENT' (single, focal cue). Time-based- press ENTER every 10 mins.
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What were the results of this?
Very little age difference on event-based task. Both groups find time-based task harder than event-based, but this is especially so for older adults. The event-based cue=less need for self initiated processing/ attentional resources, adults less aff.
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Implications for Craik (1986)?
Evidence from lab studies of PM is broadly consistent with Craik's general theory- age differences tend to be greatest on PM tasks that make high demands for self-initiated processing (attention).
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Why does Craik's hierarchy need refining?
Not all PM tasks demand self-initiated processing and not all PM tasks show an age-related decline.
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Older adults and semantic memory?
Generally preserved or enhanced in healthy ageing (Park et al 1996), but older adults experience more tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states than young, find names particularly difficult.
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Maylor (1990) name study?
Participants (aged 50-70) shown famous faces. Given 50 seconds to name the person. Impaired activation of phonological information (Burke et al., 1991)? Results show older adults struggle with names more and have more TOT.
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Summary of cognitive ageing?
Older adults are not impaired on all types of memory tests Impaired = working memory, learning complex skills, source monitoring (implications for eyewitness testimony), remembering names.
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Continued...
Relatively intact = passive short-term storage, implicit memory, general knowledge Craik’s (1986) key theory of ageing – old people have problems with strategic, attentionally-demanding processing due to reduced attentional resources.
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Continued...
Prospective memory  age differences are greatest PM tasks that require strategic processing. Age differences are reduced when retrieval can occur automatically.
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EXECUTIVE PROCESSES
EXECUTIVE PROCESSES
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What are executive processes?
Higher order cognitive processes, including; planning, organising, thinking ahead, mentally simulating a future event (PM), deciding on decisions/conclusions, multi-tasking and filtering information and concentrating.
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What are dysexecutive disorders?
Behavioural deficits, following neuropsychological ilness or impairment, are described as difficulties with planning, reasoning, problem-solving. (all examples of executive processes)
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Where are these impairments associated with in the brain?
Intact (unimpaired) and impaired executive processes are associated with the successful or damaged operation of prosessing in the prefrontal lobe (s).
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Case study example?
Phineas Gage- injured in 1848, iron blown through frontal area of the brain, became very different after the accident, became impulsive, inhibited, unconcerned about the actions of others, couldn’t hold down a job (previously efficient, smart).
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Example test of planning in unimpaired adults?
Tower of London (Hanoi) Had to create an image of the tower of london in as few as moves as possible.
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Block task?
Participants had to make an image of a block with different mini blocks.
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What were the resuults differences in these two tasks?
Patients had problems with the tower of london task which was a simple planning task but had no problem in the block task. Perhaps because this is not planning, just copying.
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Therefore where do the problems lie?
Problems lie in planning- putting components together to complete task. fMRI studies support role of frontal lobes.
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Verbal fluency- strategy generation task?
Given 60 seconds to generate as many words as they can beginning with a letter or category. People who have/are thought to have damage to frontal lobes give fewer responses and or repeat the same word.
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Wisconsin Card sort task?
Ability to follow rules, use feedback and amend actions- have to match cards to set rules and these rules get changed after 6 trials.
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What happens?
We all take a few stepts to find out the rule and to find out the new rule after a change, but many patients with frontal damage perseverate (continue doing the same task over and over again) even if told rule has changed.
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Where does this take place in the brain?
PET study of healthy adults revealed activation in left/bilateral DLPFC (Nagahma et al 1996). Another example of this sort of task is the stroop task.
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Luria (1966) proposal?
Proposed that frontal lobes contain a "system for programming, regulation, and verification of activity". This was developed by Norman & Shallice (1980, 1986)
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How did they develop this proposal?
In a model of how we typically control and coordinate our actions. It explains our everyday errors and why damage to this 'system' would lead to behaviours seen in people with frontal lobe damage.
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What are the two modes of action control?
1. Routine, well-practised action sequences; brushing your teeth, using your smartphone, driving to work. 2. Novel or infrequently performed actions; planning a world trip, using a new smart phone, taking a new route to work.
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Cues or triggers- action schema- action example?
Making a cup of tea action schema- fill kettle, turn kettle on, get teapot, add tea bag, wait for kettle to boil, add water to pot/cup. Routine actions like this are under the control of contention scheduling.
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Explain this further?
Internal or external cues cause trigger units to activate schema, when the level of schema activation exceeds the threshold then the schema is selected and two things occur; action is initiated and competing schemas are inhibited.
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What are schemas activated by?
Schemas are independently activated by triggers and schemas are in mutual inhibitory competition for selection. The independent activation and inhibition of schemas is the basis of the contention scheduling system.
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When is contention scheduling not sufficient for carrying out an intended action?
When the action is novel or infrequently performed, driving familiar route to work (CS system), deviating from that route to collect a friend (supervisory system **).
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Describe Supervisory System (**) ?
The ** biases the way that CS works- by applying extra activation or inhibition, as required, to select the required action schemas.
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Order for contention/** scheduling?
Environment- Sensory perceptual systems- trigger data base- contention scheduling- supervisory attentional system- contention scheduling- action- output from recently activvated schemata- trigger data base.
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Where is ** located?
The Supervisory System is located in the frontal lobes and is damaged after frontal lobe impairment (injury or disease).
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Where is CS located?
Contention Scheduling system is located in a posterior region of the brain, therefore intact Therefore, classic ‘frontal’ (dysexecutive) behaviours occur because CS is operating on its own i.e., it is not moderated by the **).
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What behaviours would we expect to occur if the ** was damaged and the CS is operating on its own?
Perseveration- when there is a strong cue-schema response, i.e. use most well-learned or most recently executed response in a given context (cue)?
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What else could occur?
Inertia or Inapproptiate action?- when cue-schema links are weak, i.e. unable to select a schema or alternate between one action and another or easily captured by irrelevant aspects of context.
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However?
A lot of recent studyes look at the other side to these ideas, see Wilkins et al. (1987).
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What about examining executive functions in isolation. Is there a single supervisory system?
Miyake et al. (2000) examined the separability of three often postulated executive functions, 137 participants took part.
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What did the study cosist of?
Task switching- ability to shift from one task to another (and back) or to shift from one mental set to another. Inhibition- ability to deliberately supress a dominant or automatic response, updating- ability to actively monitor and update info in WM
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Why task switching, inhibition & updating?
Planning= core complex executive task focused on the future- future actions or behaviour that you want to accomplish, e.g. PM, e.g. give a message to a friend when they return to the house.
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What needs to be done for this task?
Need to inhibit current activity and switch to PM task and then update memory to encode whether you have or haven't been successful.
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How did Miyake (2000) measure task-switching?
Plus-minus task- used 3 different tasks to measure 'switching' skills that included the plus-minus task. One was addition, one subtraction, one addition and subtraction. The time to complete each list was measured. Switch 'cost'= RT3- (RT1+RT2) / 2.
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How did they measure inhibition of dominant response?
Used 3 different measures of inhibition skills, including the Stroop task.
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How did they measure updating and monitoring information?
3 tests of updating including letter-memory task. Letter presented, one at a time, for 2 seconds. Task is to remember the last 4 letter presented.
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Results from these studies?(Miyake et al 2000)
Factors analysis indicated that the three target executive functions are moderately correlated with one another, but are clearly seperable. Evidence against a single supervisory system unit governing executive functioning.
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What does this suggest?
Results suggest that it is important to recognise both the unity and diversity of executive functions.
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What did Sylvester et al (2003) look at?
2 executive skills- task-switching and inhibition. The idea is if two 'executive tasks' tap into a unitary system then there should be a strong overlap in the areas of activation for each task- in frontal region.
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The basic task?
See series of arrows in a block (8-11 arrows per block). Each arrow points to the left or to the tight. Press key for next arrow. Have to keep count o fnumber of left and right arrows seen.
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Factor 1?
Task switch (in counting number of arrows)- sometimes no-switch in count, sometimes switch (e.g. R then L arrow).
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Factor 2?
Response inhibition. 1. No inhibition- compatible key press, e.g. use left hand key after left facing arrow and right hand key after right facing arrow. 2. Inhibition; key press incompatible, e.g. LH key for right facing arrow and RH key for left.
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What areas are activated in this? (Sylvester et al 2003)
Some common areas of activation for both switch and inhibition trials; BA40 (parietal), BA9 (left DLPFC), BA6/32 (medial frontal).
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Distinguishing areas of activation?
Switch: BA18/19 & BA7 (posterior). Inhibition: BA6 (premotor), BA10 (frontopolar).
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What did Miyake et al (2000) find about inter-relations between performance on: complex 'executive teste' and simpler tasks?
For classic tests they found: WCST largely related to 'switching' and ToH largely related to 'inhibition' but neither test was 'pure' in this respect, i.e. WCST does not only assess task switching skills.
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What problems does Miyake highlight?
Classic tests (WCST)- they are very complex and probably require more than one component skill to successfully complete the task- if fail then why? For simpler tasks found that there were 3 separate factors, as assumed, of swicthin, inhibition, updat
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AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMORY
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What is autobiographical memory?
Autobiographical memory contains information about yourself, and about personal experiences. Emotions, the "facts" that describe you and make you unique, the facts of your life, and the experiences you have had, are all contained in separate domains.
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METHODS- Diary studies? Wagenaar (1986)
Recorded 2 events everyday for 5 years, for each event he wrote down what happened, when, where, who (cues). He rated the frequency, salience, emotional intensity and pleasantess of each event (recorded 2400).
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How did he test this?
Over a period of 12 months he tested his memory- using one of the above cues to try and recall as much as he could about that event.
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Results- Saliencey? (distinctiveness, uusualness)
Recalled more content from events that were more salient at the time. This effect was observed in more recent and more distant (remote) events.
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Results- emotional involvement?
Recalled more about events that were emotionally involving at the time they occured. Again, the effect is present for both more recent and more distant (remote) events.
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METHODS- Galton Cueing technique, Robinson (1976).
Compared mean response time people take to recall a memory of a personal event in response to different type of cue words; actions (throw, cut), objects (table, knife), emotions (fear, greed, joy).
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Results?
Faster to recall specific personal events after action and object word cues than after emotion cue words. This suggests that specific AM memories are not typically accessed via the emotion they are associated with and it may be organised in category.
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How did another study explore this further?
Found actions and objects are more concrete words than emotions. Emotions uses abstract words, so harder to access than the concrete words.
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METHODS- personalised experimental methods, Conway & Bekerian (1987).
Designed a personal memory questionnaire to identify cues for the retrieval of specific AMs. Asked people to identify; 10 general life periods, then list under each 4-5 general events than lasted more than a few hours but less than 1-2 months.
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How did they use this information?
To create materials for an experiment on the effectiveness of different cues for the retrieval of autobiographical memories.
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What is priming?
Exposure to one stimulus leads to a faster response to a second stimulus.- Experiment using this trial 1 no prime trial 2 prime or neutral word.
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What were the results from this?
Lifetime period pimed retrieval of an AM in response to a general event. No priming effect when semantic category 'events' and 'primes' are ysed, e.g. flower (prime) and Daisy (cue). RT was quicker for primed condition than no prime condiiton.
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What did these findings lead to?
Possible model of autobiographical memory, that explains how we recall a specific memory of a particular event, e.g. when did you first meet your best friend Julie?
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What is ESK?
Event-specific-knowledge. An initial prime speeds up access to other elements.
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Relationships between Self/Identity and Autobiographical Memory? (AM)
Model highlights relevance of personal information, i.e. memory of oneself engaging in an event. One way of exploring this relationship between self & AM is to look at the development of AM and the development of the self.
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AM accross the lifespan?
As adults, thinking back across our lives it is clear that we do not remember events equally well accross our lifespan.
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What is a typical lifespan AM retrieval task?
Participants aged >40 years. Asked to generate AMs in response to Galton task word cues (e.g. boat, flower). Then date the memories that are retrieves to these cues (e.g. how old you were). Experimenter plots the number of memories recalled each age
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What did they find?
Most memories are around the adolescence stage. (reminiscence bump). There is then a recency effect for recent memories, more memories recent. CHildhood amnesia is the idea that when you are first born, you don't remember things from this period.
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What is the reminiscence bump?
Most of the events we recall occured when we were 15-30 years old (Rubin et al, 1986, 1998 etc). This phenomenon is observed accross cultures (Conway et al 2005). It's also a robust finding that is seen for different cues e.g. favourite books, films
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What is this linked to?
Perhaps linked into our feelings of nostalgia for our 'generation'- that we identify with our teens/early twenties (Sehulster, 1996). This is a retrospective element ( looking back at past memories).
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When is your first memory likely to be?
When you are 3-5 years old.
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Why is this? Why does childhood amnesia occur?
As adults, we remember few, if any events that occured when we were younger than 3-5 years old. Data from studies with young children indicate the importance of the development of the self-concept in the emergence of autobiographical memory.
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Children's Autobiographical Memory?
A 4-year old recalled his fish dying and him throwing up, events that occured when they were 2.5 years old (Fivush & Hammond 1990). Children under 2-3 years can recall some specific events, but tend to retrieve few details unless the event is salient
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Continued...
2 year olds could recall 'play' events with toys in a lab study they took part in 6 months earlier. (Sheffield & Hudson 1994).
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Continued...
Children who took part in an experiment at age 11mths could recall (through miming) some of the simple, specific actions they had performed 13mths later when they were aged 2 yrs (McDonagh & Mandler (1994). Therefore, there is some encoding.
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Continued...
Even children younger than 2 years can recall events that occured when they were 11 months old.
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How can we explain childhood amnesia?
Therefore, it’s difficult to explain the Childhood Amnesia that we experience as adults primarily as a consequence of our poor encoding abilities as a young child (although cognitive skills do develop over childhood so have some contribution to this)
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Wheeler, Stuss & Tulving (1997) study?
Noted that children aged 25-32 months can recall some specific events that occurred 12 months ago, but their memory is merely the recall of factual information, there is no conscious recollection of these events and therefore these are not AM memory
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When can we start to reflect upon ourselves and our past experiences and why?
Around 2-3, because that is when our self-concept starts to develop and when we develop self awareness. Our self-concept starts to emerge around 18-24 months and is sufficiently developed for AM at 3 years.
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How do we see our physical self? From 3 months?
From around 3mths we begin to learn to discriminate our facial features from those of other infants.
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By 18 months?
By around 18mths we respond to a ‘smudge’ on our nose (seen in a mirror) by touching it and we’re often embarrassed by our image (shy smile).
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By 22-24 months?
we say our name when we see our mirror image.
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Psychological self?
4-5 year olds but not 3 year olds show delayed recognition of their past self )Povinelli & Simon 1998, Howe 2003). They studies 3, 4 and 5 years olds in different visits.
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What was visit 1?
children were videoed playing a game while a ‘sticker’ was covertly placed on their head – and then removed after the game.
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What was visit 2? (1 week later)
these children are videoed playing a different game and a ‘sticker’ is again placed on their head Half of children in each group then watched the video from Visit 1 while other half watched the video from the recent session (Visit 2)
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What were the results?
Fewer than 50% of 3 year olds in both the immediate (session 2) and delayed (session 1) conditions reached for the sticker.
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Continued...
Majority of 4 and 5 year olds reached for the sticker when watching video of current session (2) but very few reached for it when watching the previous week’s video (session 1).
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What does this show?
4 & 5 year olds have developed a sense of self that extends over time – mental time travel  psychological self.
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What does self-concept consist of?
PHYSICAL SELF- self-recognition and the PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF- a temporally-extended self- the self that exists over time.
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What does Tulving (1999) believe?
Without a self-concept, specific memories are episodic (tied to space & time) but not autobiographical (linked to self). Ability to think about yourself at different periods off time, we rarely think about the present, just what we done and needto do
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What does Wheeler et al believe?
Importance of 'autonoetic' consciousness- experience of 'oneself' engaging in an event. And, understanding the 'self' exists over time. Can't go back in time because in a sense the events were never personally experienced.
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How does the 'self' link into the cognitive system?
Retrieval cycle; elaborate a cue- search autobiographical knowledge base- evaluate output- termination or re-cycle.
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What processes underpin elaborating an initial cue (query) and how do we evaluate the output?
Conway (2004;2005) argues that retrieval is controlled by the **/CE- which contains a model of the current or 'Working' Self.
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What can the working self create?
The Working Self can create a temporary model of task demands and constraints i.e., retrieving a specific memory relevant to a particular cue that provides ESK.
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What is the working self?
A subset of working memory control processes (CE/**), dynamic on-line concept of 'self' that reflects our current goals and priorities- current goal is most active goal.
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What are encoding and retrieving personal events influenced by?
Goal structure of the current working self. Under this view specific AMs are records of success or failure in goal attainment.
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Autobiographical memory in older age (60 +)?
They produce fewer specific details but more generic (schematic) information during AM retrieval than younger adults (e.g. Ford et al, 2014).
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Why is this age-related decline in specificity important?
it has been associated with increased likelihood of depression (Ramirez et al., 2014) and reduced well-being and satisfaction (e.g., Latorre et al, 2013).
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What did a recent study show?
A recent study, however, showed only small age-related changes in specificity – both young and older adults recalled a large number of specific details (Aizpurua & Koutstaal, 2015).
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What are autobiographical memories associated with?
A a ‘sense of re-living / re-experiencing the original remembered past event (autonoetic consciousness – consciousness of a previous conscious experience) i.e., not just knowing X occurred but remembering that it occurred.
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In contrast?
although people with retrograde amnesia can re-learn their past – they have been told that it happened - they don’t remember these re-learned events. AM relies on specific, sensory-perceptual data –visual imagery is 1 of the most important of data.
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AM's associated with a strong sense of 're-living' are usually associated with what?
Vivid visual images- more likely to believe that we are remembering an event that actually happened if our memory is accompanied by a vivid visual image.
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Continued...
And, AM retrieval is associated with increased activation in (posterior) brain areas that play a role in visual imagery (e.g., Cabeza et al., 2007).
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Greenberg & Knowlton (2014) study?
Visual imagery was associated with the feeling of re-living autobiographical memories However, auditory imagery played a greater role than visual imagery in ‘verbalisers’ compared to ‘visualisers’
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Continued...
Also, when they tested 2 participants who self-reported a total congenital absence of visual imagery, the researchers found that they also lacked auditory imagery and were less likely than controls to feel as if they were re-living their memories.
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AM, Self and Visual Imagery Perspective- What is the observer perspective and field perspective?
Observer Perspective: Imagining / ‘Seeing’ a past event and seeing yourself in that event – as if you were observing yourself. Field Perspective: Imagining / ‘seeing’ an event, as if looking through your own eyes
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Nigro & Neisser (1983), first condition?
When asked to recall a specific AM in response to cues (e.g., running, studying) 51% were recalled from Field and 37% from Observer perspective (12% neither).
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Second condition?
When cues varied in (a) emotional intensity and (b) self-awareness Field (48%); Observer (43%), Neither (9%) Memories recalled using Field were of events that occurred more recently (15 mths ago) than those recalled from Observer (35 mths).
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Continued...
Field more vivid than Observer Emotionally intense and high self-aware events tended to be Observer
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Third condition and fourth condition?
When focus on feelings then Field (69%) [not high emotion] When focus on concrete, objective details then fewer Field (54%).
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Study of people with PTSD- McIsaac & Eich (2004)
Most people recalled the traumatic event from a Field Perspective (64%) Field memories more emotional and anxiety-provoking than Observer memories.
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Continued...
No difference in other measures ability to maintain image, frequency with which event was recalled richness of detail (high in both).
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However?
detail recalled in Field memories focused on feelings and internal states whereas Observer focused on external features of situation. Observer provides relief from emotional distress – but possibly impedes long-term recovery?
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So what can observer perspective do?
Observer perspective can help to ‘distance yourself’ from an aversive event - However, it can also help to maintain a sense of continuity and coherence of the self.
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Experiment to test this?
People asked to recall a past experience of social awkwardness from an Observer perspective believed they had changed more since that event than those who recalled this experience from a Field perspective.
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If asked to remember a past negative event?
then an Observer visual imagery perspective tends to lead to a judgement of greater self-change than a Field visual imagery perspective.
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If asked to adopt an Observer imagery perspective?
The people who were asked to adopt an Observer imagery perspective also believed that they are more socially skilled at the present compared to the previous time.
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Example?
., an Observer perspective appears to facilitate the perception of change from oneself in the past to the present.
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Self and Perspective (Libby & Einbach 2011)- Experimental design
a 2 (consistent, inconsistent past self) x 2 (negative, positive past self)
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Consistent?
: identify ‘an aspect of yourself that has been an enduring quality since high school’: either negative or positive.
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Inconsistent?
: identify ‘an aspect of yourself that you feel has changed since high school’: either negative or positive.
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What they have to do?
Write about this for 5 minutes + then recall specific personal memory related to this + identify imagery perspective used.
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Results?
People were more likely to experience the past event from an Observer imagery perspective when their past self was inconsistent with the present self than when it was consistent, irrespective of the valence (positive, negative) oftheirpastexperience
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What does this show?
Again, an Observer perspective is associated with change in self.
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The brain areas involved?
PET and fMRI studies implicate PFC regions in AM Search & Retrieval: Left lateral PFC (e.g., Conway et al, 1999) Monitoring: Ventromedial PFC (e.g., Graham et al, 2003) Self: medial PFC (e.g., Cabeza et al, 2004; Maguire et al, 2001)
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Cabeza et al (2007)??
Contrasted looking at photos you took vs photos taken by another. Both activated a common episodic memory network that included medial temporal and PFC.
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What is Autobiographical (self-photo) associated with?
with greater activity in regions associated with self-referential processing (medial PFC), visual/spatial memory (visual and parahippocampal regions), and recollection (hippocampus).
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EMBODIED COGNITION
EMBODIED COGNITION
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What is the traditional theory of cognition?
Representations in modal systems are transduced into amodal symbols that represent knowledge about experience in semantic memory. Once this knowledge exists, it supports the spectrum of cognitive processes from perception to thought.
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What is amodal?
Amodal perception is the perception of the whole of a physical structure when only parts of it affect the sensory receptor- a concept in your head. Embodied cognition rejects the standard view that amodal symbols represent knowledge in semantic mem.
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What is grounded (or embodied) theory of cognition? (abstract)
Cognition is grounded in bodily interactions with the environment. The way people represent and understand the world around them is directly linked to perception and action. Sensorimotor patterns are activated when concepts are accessed.
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Definition of grounded/embodied cognition?
theory that our behaviour comes from more than just the brain. The way we move, the types of bodies we have, and how we perceive the world all work with the brain to create our behaviour in real time.”
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Why is cognition grounded?
Cognition is GROUNDED in interactions with the body, environment, and simulation, rather than symbolic representations in an amodal system for all modalities.
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Official definition of Amodal?
coding of multiple inputs, such as words and pictures, to integrate & create a larger conceptual idea; independent of a particular modality Mental activity is grounded in sensory experience.
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Does it reject the traditional view?
Rejects traditional view that cognition = computations in the brain (amodal representations) Instead, cognition goes ‘beyond the brain’ (simulations) Motor system, Perceptual system,Environment.
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Cognitive psychology?
Typically portrays semantic memory as modular, amodal, abstractive and static. Traditional view that memory systems are stored in our hard drive. Can access these (like amodal) and use these.
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What is the grounding problem?
Problems of how symbols are mapped back into the real world. Semantic networks activated during this grounding problem.
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How are the symbols mapped back onto the real world? How do symbols get their meanings? What is 'meaning?
Without any reference to the outside world, symbols (i.e. semantic network models) are meaningless. We are not simply input and output devices.
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How is this illustrated?
Chinese room argument- chinese characters come in, use the rulebook to construct more characters and, put those new characters out.
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What is the facial feedback hypothesis? (Strack, Martin & Stepper 1988)
Images were all 'moderately funny', 'teeth condition' higher funny-rating than 'lip condition'. Mimics a smile without actively evoking emotional response. Botox injections lead to a reduction in emotion perception.. (Neal & Chartrand 2011)
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What does this mean?
Smile and people will feel better. Cognition goes 'beyond the brain' bodily states affect how we think. Cognition can be influenced by what's going on in your environment as well.
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Grounded cognition overview?
Philosophical notion but psychological interest reawakened 10-20 years ago. Cognition is grounded in modal simulations, bodily states and situated action.
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Where is there evidence from?
Studies of; perception and action, memory, knowledge, language, thought, social cognition, development and more...
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PERCEPTUAL SYSTEMS- what is bottom-up processing?
.Data-driven processing, perception begins with the stimulus itself, processing is carried out in one direction, e.g. from retina to area V1.
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PERCEPTUAL SYSTEMS- what is top-down processing?
Refers to the use of contextual information in pattern recognition, previous experience guides action.
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Simulation in cognition?
Simulation is the re-enactment of perceptual, motor, and introspective states acquired during experience with the world, body, and mind.
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Example?
As an experience occurs (e.g., easing into a chair), the brain captures states across modalities & integrates them with a multimodal representation stored in memory (e.g., how a chair looks & feels, the action of sitting, introspections of comfort.
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What happens during perceptual experience? (Barsalou, 1999)
During perceptual experience, association areas in the brain capture bottom-up patterns of activation in sensory-motor areas. Later, in a top-down manner, association areas partially reactivate sensory-motor areas to implement perceptual symbols. 
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Steps of situated action? (Pezzullo et al. 2011)
Situated inter-action and formation of (multimodal) grounded symbols (in a circle linking to each other. As well as re-enactment of grounded symbols, situated simulation of action.
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What is the evidence of activation?
From multiple areas; language, emotion, memory, perception and action.
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LANGUAGE- define perceptual symbol systems and amodal symbol systems?
Perceptual symbol systems  analogue relationship between symbol & referent Amodal symbol systems  arbitrary relationship between a symbol & referent.
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What is the test?
"John pounded the nail into the wall"/ "John pounded the nail into the floor", followed by picture recognition. Conditions were match/mismatch (nail/other object) & orientation (horizontal/vertical)
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What were the results?
When orientation matched action in sentence there was a quicker RT. People activate perceptual symbols during language comprehension.
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Significance of metaphors? Lakoff & Johnson 1980 examples?
Control (I am on top of it), happy (I am down), affection (warming up to someone), love (eating being consumed).
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Significance of metaphors?
Metaphors capture abstracts concepts into concrete terms, thinking about the future caused participants to lean slightly forward while thinking about the past caused participants to lean slightly backwards. Future is ahead (in our culture).
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MEMORY- how is this studied?
Words were studied visually or auditory, retrieval was tested in the scanner, visual areas active following visual study, auditory areas active following auditory study. Retrieval of word simulates the modal operations performed during encoding.
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EMOTION- how is this studied?
Bodily states of emotion (Nummerenmaa 2014), elicited emotional responses, "describe the area of your body where you find any sort of response in", e.g. compare happiness with depression with sadness. Effecr fund accross cultures.
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PERCEPTION AND ACTION (Proffitt, 2006, Schnall, Zadra & Proffitt 2010)?
Perceiving spatial layout combines the geometry of the world with behavioral goals and the costs associated with achieving these goals.
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What did participants do?
Participants looked at gradient of hill, in some conditions light backpack on, in other conditions heavy backpack on. Also may have been given energy drinks. These both impacted the perceived gradient of the hill.
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Summary of this?
Representation of the world can be affected by your bodily state.
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What is the mental number line?
We tend to represent numbers on a horizontal 'mental number line', left is small, right is large, logarithmic, leaning to the left makes the Eiffel tower seem smaller (Eerland, Guadalupe & Zwaan 2011).
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What is the outfielder problem?
Use our movements, for example, to solve problems, that we could never solve with just the brain.
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Study on this? McBeath, Shaffer & Kaiser 1995?
This study supports the idea that outfielders convert the temporal problem to a spatial one by selecting a running path that mantaines a linear optical trajectory (LOT) for the ball.
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What is the LOT model?
strategy of maintaining "control" over the relative direction of optical ball movement in a manner that is similar to simple predator tracking behavior. It’s been found that baseball outfielders adapt their path as the ball moves along.
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What is this evidence for?
Prospective control strategy- Evidence that cognition is grounded in and interaction of perception (where is the ball?), environment (grass field, borders, etc), and motor skills (running and reaching).
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What are mirror neurons?
Observation of an action triggers simulation of that action, neurons in premotor cortex fire during goal-directed actions as well as observation thereof. When a monkey sees someone else do this action the neurons are activated.
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However?
Do mirror neurons even ‘exist’? (i.e. may not be a distinct class of cells; activity may be an artifact; Hickok, 2009) Unclear what they are for (action understanding? goal-directed action understanding only?
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Continued...
Or simply a by-product of associative learning; Heyes, 2009) If we’re not sure that mirror neurons are ‘motor’, can we claim that they play a role in simulated action and embodiment? (Caramazza, Anzellotti, Strnad, & Lignau, 2014).
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What are the flavours of embodiment?
Radical emodiment- no representations, mild/weak embodiment- knowledge is not acquired in a vacuum, like grounded cognition, "disembodied" cognition- perspetive taking, putting yourself into the body of another person.
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What are the 6 views of embodied cognition? (Wilson, 2002)
Cognition is situated, cognition is time-pressured, we off-load cognitive work onto the environment, the environment is part of the cognitive system, cognition is action, off-line cognition is body based.
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Evaluation of this- limitations?
Lack of well-specified, unified theories, evidence is often "demonstrative" (Barsalou), over-interpretation, what is embodied about cognition (Mahon 2015).
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Continued...
The theory may have no logical connections to the phenomena (Goldinger, Papesh, Barnhart, Hansen, & Hout, 2016) “Avocado is common in California cuisine”.
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Strengths?
Lots of empirical and sensible support Natural fit with the brain Successfully integrates perception, action, and cognition Solves the grounding problem Potential to integrate other research areas.
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Describe AI/robots?
Honda's Asiom: programmed with algorithms, representational, "big" brain, but slow and unstable. MIT's Big fog; dynamic properties, "little" mind, but many sensors. Asimo mentally represents his abilities, big dog embodies them.
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What is cognitive neuropsychology?
An aproach to investigating and understanding cognitive deficits, applied science concerned with the behavioural expression of brain dysfunction, linking brain function to behaviour. 1st part 20th century- war-damaged brains gave the impetus to explr
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What does cognitive neuropsychology link?
Linkages between brain structures/areas to behaviours – can learn a lot when the brain goes wrong. Inferences can be made. Brain mapping – brain and behaviour.
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Technical advancements in this area?
Allows the examination of virtually all aspects of behaviour in both patient populations and healthy subjects. EEG (high frequency associated with attention), MRI/fMRI Brain mapping, TMS (emulate damage to a certain brain region.
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The logic of acquired deficts?
Extensive study of the brain's chief product- behaviour. Identifying specific brain-behaviour correlates.
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What happens when a certain area damaged?
Deficit in particular behaviour, inference being that that area modulates that behaviour, i.e. role of the left hemisphere in language functions (we know not limited to this area now), dissociation/double dissociation- inference technique.
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What is a simple dissociation?
Patient has a deficit on Task X, is within normal limits on Y, and that there is a significant difference between performance on Task X and Y.
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What is a double dissociation?
Patient A has a deficit on Task X, is within normal limits on Y. Patient B has a deficit on Task Y, is within normal limits on X  mental processes are shown to function independently of each other.
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Explain a simple dissociation.
Use a visual/auditory example to explain a dissociation. Brain damage in a particular area = patients can see but not hear  underlying assumption is this part is not involved in the modulation of vision. Visa versa. Independently functioning.(a & V
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Explain a double dissociation.
Seeing/hearing can also be used to explain a double dissociation – simple example to explain other functional mapping. When both visual and auditory are damaged.
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Dissociatio and cognitive function?
"Dissociation is the key word in neuropsychology" (Rosesetti&Revensuo 2000). Nice quote from a leading neuropsychologist Way of understanding how the brain functions and which parts are independently functions and which parts are grouped together.
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What is a case study compared to a group study?
Case-study- in-depth investigation of an individual. Group study- pooled data from multiple patients are analysed together.
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Points about both?
Advocates of the single-case approach stress that because brain damage may disrupt cognitive systems in a variety of different ways, individual differences cannot be ignored. Some argue that groups of patients are too heterogeneous to gain valid data
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Continued...
Definitive statements about the effects of particular lesions or unequivocal test of particular models of brain function can thus not be obtained by means of group studies (Hannay, 1986).
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Continued...
An adequate theory of cognition should be as applicable to the individual case as to groups of individuals. one must be careful at drawing theoretical conclusions about mental structure based on single-case studies  combination of both required.
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Importance of case-studies?
underlying assumption that brain functioning is fairly homogeneous. Abilities are heterogeneous, but basic mechanisms are likely to be similar across the human population.
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CAUSES OF DAMAGE (TBI (front cue impact and counter cue impact from back) and vascular disorders and ilness/infection)
Traumatic brain injury- penetrating head injuries (knives, missiles) , closed head injuries- car injury, impact). Vascular disorders- ischemic strokes, haemorrhagic strokes. Ilness/infection- e.g. encephalitis, lyme disease, menigitis.
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CAUSES OF DAMAGE (degenerative disorders, toxic conditions, brain tumours, oxygen deprivation, metabolic &endocrine disorders, nutritional deficiencies).
Degenerative disorders- cortical dementias, subcortical demetias, toxic conditions- alcohol-related disorders, metabolic & endocrine disorders- liver disease and kidney failure.
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List classes of cognitive impairment?
receptive functions (impairments in the senses), memory, expressive functions (speaking, drawing, movements ect.), mental activity variables (consciousness, attention), executive functions, personality/emotionality- Generally classified this way.
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IMPAIRMENTS OF MEMORY
due to a variety of causes
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Define amnesia and Retrograde amnesia and Anterograde amnesia?
When registration or storage processes are impaired by disease or accident. RA- loss of memory preceding the event, associated with diencephalic lesions (mamillary bodies/thalamus), AA- unable to form new memories, associated with hippocampul damage.
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What is amnesia caused by?
Disease, TBI (traumatic brain injury, ABI (acquired brain injury), stroke and alcohol.
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What is Korsakoff's syndrome? (aka Wernicke- Korsakoff syndrome)
Typically affects alcoholics with a long history of drinking, gross memory impairment, massive confusion (confabulation) and disorders eye and limb movements, deficit in retrograde and anterograde memory, immediate memory preserved.
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What are patients not able to do?
Learning deficit can render patients incapable of all but the most habitual tasks. Reported prevalence rates at post-mortem are between 1 and 2% in the general population and 12 and 14% in the alcohol misusing population (Harper et al., 1986, 1989).
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Task example?
Remembering a list of cities from previous slide, some patients wouldn't even remember the test taking place, only 4 minutes after.
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Chemicals and brain affected in Korsakoff's syndrome?
Thiamine (vitamin B) deficiency- absorption of thiamine is impaired by both malnutrition and alcohol. Regions of the brain that are most thiamine dependednt suffer impaired neuronal function.
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Continued...
Haemorrhagic lesions in mammillary bodies and other structures of the limbic system. Jernigan et al. (1991) – MRI scans showed damage in the thalamus and other diencephalic structures Enlarged ventricles.
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What is affected in the limbic system in Korsakoff's syndrome?
Neuronal loss in the diencephalon, primarily the mammillary bodies, mammillothalamic tract, and anterior thalamus – primary source of recent memory impairment.
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Vetricles of the brain in Korsakoff's syndrome?
Ventricles provide buoyancy and structure of the head.
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What is hemispatial neglect?
Attentional deficit in which patients fail to respond or orient to stimuli presented in the contralesional side of space, patients unable to disengage from items in the ipsilesional side- orientational bias.
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Continued...
More common in left hemispace, due to right hemisphere being principal in the modulating attention, contralteral organisation of the brain.
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What is a test for impairments of attention?
Example is drawing a flower- does only half the flower, attention disorder not visual Fail to attend to things in the left side of space, due to damage in the right.
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What are symptons of neglect?
Deficits in body representation, shave right side of their face, comb one side of their hair, fail to incorporate part of the world they do not perceive, bump into doorways, only eat items on right of plate, ignore people on left side.
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What is anosognisia?
Unaware of disorder, representational neglect (Piazzo Del Duomo)- Study in Italy to remember a particular sight, explained everything on the right hand side. Were told to turn 180 degrees, were explained the task again and then listed all on right.
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What is extinction?
Two competing stiumli, one becomes extinguished (separate from neglect).
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Who is hemispatial neglect common in?
Those who have suffered a stroke, dog eating bowl example.
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Areas of damage in this?
Right hemisphere areas that have been liked; tempo-parietal junction (TPJ), intraparietal sulcus (IPS), supramarginal gyrus (STG)
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Study by Behrmann et al. 1997?
Analysed eye movement in neglect patients, patients with negelct make fewer fixations and have a shorter inspection time on the contralesional left side.
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Continued...
Start search right of the midline and make more & longer fixations to the ipsilesional right side More omissions in targets from the neglect group Steep gradient from right to left. No observable bias in controls.
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Tests for this?
Circle all the a's in a square of letters, clock drawing test.
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Treatment of hemispatial neglect?
Cognitive training, scanning training, repeated neck muscle vibrations, mental imagery training, video feedback training; all reliable improvement but transient. Prism adaption is fairly new and shows promise.
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What is prism adaption?
Required to reach for visual targets whilst wearin goggles, brief period- re-alingment of visual & proprioceptive frame, goggles removed- prism after-effect, participants now direct actions to opposite side of the prismatic shift.
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Evidence for prism adaption? Rosetti (1998)
Prism goggles shifted field by 10 degrees. Post-adaption- patients show a subjective mid-line shft to the left- more accurate representation.
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What is the observation observed on?
Line bisection, line cancellation, copying simple drawings, drawing a daisy from memory, reading simple text.
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What did Jacquin- Courtois et al. 2008 find?
Found prism adaption would improve wheelchair navigation.
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Evidence from Pisella et al. 2002?
Investigated lasting effects, effects maintained for 4 days post-adaption, have been found to last up to 5 weeks post adaption (Frassinetti et al. 2002).
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Mclntosh et al. 2002?
Does have its limits- after 10 weeks effect was lost- returned to their old ways. Artificial neglect can be induced with normals with PA (Michel 2006).
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Summary of neglect?
Attentional deficit – not visual Generally associated with right hemisphere damage - parietal Therefore, effect observed in left hemifield Anosognosia Many simple tests of neglect Numerous treatment methods Evidence for Prism Adaptation.
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SPLIT BRAIN PATIENTS- the Corpus Callosum?
Much of the bulk of cerebral hemisphere is white matter, consisting of densely packed conduction fibres, the corpus callosum is a great band of commissural fibres connecting the right and left hemispheres.
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What does it enforce?
Enforces integration of cerebral activity between hemispheres.
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What are split-brain patients?
Commissurotomy, due to severe epilepsy, surgical section cuts off direct interhemispheric communication, tells us about the function of the corpus callosum.
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How common is this?
Due to severe epilepsy patients’ have their corpus callosum (fibres that join the hemispheres) of the brain severed. Fewer than a dozen patients have had this procedure – only a few left to study, some have died.
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Case study example
Would want something in the shopping and would reach with right hand but left would come in and they'd fight, was like repelling magnets. When dressing could end up wearing three outfits at once.
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Split-brain patients in the lab?
Split-brain patient who may not be able to read a word such as 'pan' when its presented to the right hemisphere, but can point to or draw the appropriate image.
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Card 2

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What sort of information does episodic memory include?

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It is memory for personally-experienced events and includes contextual information such as when and where the event occured,who was there, how you was feeling at the event, what was said etc.

Card 3

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What is autonoetic awareness?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What are the processes of episodic memory?

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Card 5

Front

What is the level of processing? (LoP)

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