Thinking: Memory, Cognition, and Language

1. Thinking: Memory, Cognition, and Language Chapter 6

2. The Foundations of Memory • Learning Outcomes • Identify sensory memory • Define short-term memory • Define long-term memory

3. The Foundations of Memory • Memory: the process by which we encode, store, and retrieve information

4. Sensory Memory • Sensory memory: initial, momentary storage of information; lasts only an instant; stores almost exact replicas of all sensory stimuli experienced by that person

5. Short-Term Memory • Short-term memory: second stage of memory; holds information for 15-25 seconds • Capacity of 7 +/- 2 chunks (meaningful grouping of stimuli that can be stored as a unit in short-term memory) • Rehearsal: the repetition of information in short-term memory; repetitive rehearsal keeps information in short-term, elaborative rehearsal moves information to long-term memory

6. Long-Term Memory • Long-term memory: third stage of memory; stores information on a relatively permanent basis, but can be difficult to retrieve • Declarative memory • Semantic memory • Episodic memory • Procedural memory

7. Recall and Forgetting • Learning Outcomes • Explain retrieval cues • Discuss levels of processing • Compare and contrast implicit and explicit memory • Define flashbulb memories

8. Recall and Forgetting • Learning Outcomes (cont’d) • Describe the constructive process of memory • Define forgetting • Explain why we forget information • Compare and contrast proactive and retroactive interference

9. Retrieval Cues • Retrieval cue: a stimulus that allows you to more easily recall a long-term memory because it is connected to that memory • Recall: specific information must be retrieved from memory • Recognition: when presented with a stimulus, you determine whether you’ve been exposed to it previously, or you identify the correct information from a list of alternatives

10. Levels of Processing • Levels-of-processing theory: emphasizes the degree to which new material is mentally analyzed; the greater the intensity of initial processing, the more likely we are to remember the information

11. Explicit and Implicit Memory • Explicit memory: intentional or conscious recollection of information • Implicit memory: memories of which people are not consciously aware, but which can affect subsequent performance and behavior

12. Flashbulb Memories • Flashbulb memories: specific, important, or surprising events that are so vivid in memory it is as if they represented a snapshot of the event

13. Constructive Processes in Memory • Constructive processes: memories are influenced by the meaning we give to events • Schemas: organized bodies of information stored in memory that bias the way new information is interpreted, stored, and recalled • Autobiographical memories: our recollections of circumstances and episodes from our own lives

14. Forgetting • Forgetting is important to memory; if we couldn’t forget inconsequential details, they would get in the way of remembering more important information

15. Why We Forget • Failure of encoding (paying attention to and placing information in memory) • Decay: the loss of information because of nonuse • Interference: information in memory disrupts the recall of other information • Cue-dependent forgetting: forgetting due to insufficient retrieval cues

16. Interference • Proactive interference: information learned earlier disrupts the recall of newer material • Retroactive interference: difficulty in recalling information learned earlier because of later exposure to different material

17. Thinking, Reasoning, and Problem Solving • Learning Outcomes • Explain the concept of mental images • Discuss the process of categorizing the world • Describe the processes the underlie reasoning and decision making • Explain how people approach and solve problems

18. Mental Images • Mental images: representations in the mind of an object or event (can take the form of any of the senses: visual, auditory, etc.) • Use of mental imagery can improve various skills; many athletes use visualization

19. Concepts: Categorizing the World • Concepts: categorizations of objects, events, or people that share common properties; enable us to organize complex things into cognitive categories we can use • Prototypes: typical, highly representative examples of a concept

20. Reasoning: Making Up Your Mind • Algorithm: cognitive shortcut in decision making; a rule that, if applied appropriately, guarantees a solution to a problem • Heuristic: cognitive shortcut that may lead to a solution

21. Problem Solving • Step 1 – Preparation: understanding and diagnosing problems • Step 2 – Production: generating solutions (may use heuristics for this) • Means-ends analysis: repeated tests for differences between the desired outcome and what currently exists • Step 3 – Judgment: evaluating solutions

22. Impediments to Success • Functional fixedness: the tendency to think of an object only in terms of its typical use • Mental set: the tendency for old patterns of problem solving to persist

23. Language • Learning Outcomes • Explain how language develops • Describe how people use language

24. Language Development • Babble: speech-like but meaningless sounds made by children from around 3 months to 1 year old • Critical period: time when a child is particularly sensitive to learning/acquisition of skills; critical period for language development early in life; difficult to acquire language skills if critical period is missed

25. Language Development • Telegraphic speech: sentences in which words not critical to the message are left out; used by children beginning around age 2 ½ (ex.: “I show book” instead of “I showed you the book”) • Overgeneralization: by about age 3, children employ language rules even when it results in an error (ex.: adding –ed to “run” to form the past tense)

26. Language Development • Learning theory approach: language acquisition follows the principles of reinforcement and conditioning

27. Language Development • Nativist approach: a genetically determined, innate mechanism drives language development (Noam Chomsky) • Universal grammar: common underlying structure shared by all the world’s languages • Language-acquisition device: a neural system of the brain that Chomsky thought permits understanding of language

28. Language Development • Interactionist approach to language development: combination of the learning theory and nativist approaches (brain’s language-acquisition device is the “hardware;” exposure to language in the environment allows us to develop the “software”)

29. Influence of Language on Thinking • Do Eskimos have more words for snow than Texans? • Linguistic- relativity hypothesis: language shapes and may determine the way people in a specific culture perceive and understand the world (language produces thought) • However, most recent research suggests that thinking produces language, although language may influence how we think