What is Cognition?
The processes of thinking, perceiving and reasoning How does our brain use sensory information to create meaning? Representation of the world? Cracking the code for representation?
A
B
B
Mental Rotation Studies (Meltzer & Shepard
Target
1974)
A
People respond faster to A Than to B. B
Processing Takes time
Processing takes effort
“The black box”
SENSORY IMPUT Touch Taste Attention Memory Reasoning Communication LEARNING
See
Smell Hear Step 1 Step 2
Step 3
Schema theory: Dating example
The Information Processing System
Executive Control Processes
learn (save)
Sensory Perception Memory Working Memory Long-term memory retrieve (activate memory)
Work SpaceTemporary Storage
Permanent Storage
Sensory Memory
The
five senses Large capacity Short duration Role of attention
Working Memory
=5 Articulatory loop Duration =5 to 20 seconds Rehearsal can increase duration
Maintainence rehearsal Elaborative rehearsal
Capacity
Forgetting
Interference Decay
Schema theory: Dog example
A Schema Fit for a cold Dog.. nose Mammal
is... warm blooded Is a has... Ears mouth produces.. Bark has...
. is.
Legs
has ..
is...
Small Cute
Big teeth
are
Annoying
Dangerous
Activated Dog Schema
Mammal
is... warm blooded Is a has... cold nose Ears mouth produces.. Bark has...
. is.
Legs
has ..
is...
Small Cute
Big teeth
are
Annoying
Dangerous
Schema Theory
are organized networks of knowledge that you use to make sense of the world. ► Smallest unit of meaning in thinking: Analogous to a concept. ► Give coherence to information by influencing your:
Ability to pick useful strategies. Ability to remember relevant facts that go with the current problem.
► Schemata
dog
Are Schemas different?
Experts Experts
Have larger schemas have better organized schema
Physics problems
Long Term Memory
Storage
takes more time & effort Unlimited capacity Retrieval may be troublesome
Contents of Memory
Visual,
codes
verbal, or a combination of
Images Schema Story grammar Event schema / script
Episodic
memory Procedural memory
Are Schemas different?
Experts Experts
Have larger schemas have better organized schema
Physics problems
Types of Memory
Conditional
When should I use the Area Formula?
Declarative
Airplanes have wings
Procedural
How to give a presentation
L. Rogien: BSU
LTM Storage Strategies
Elaboration Organization Context Levels
of Processing
Rug pistol Ship Meal Trash Auto Fun Mole Floor Hold Drum Red
Carpet Gun Boat Food Junk Car Sun Hole Door Old Some Bed
Meaning Related
Sound Related
Importance of Schema
Chunking: grouping pieces of information to improve memory. Ex. You can remember more letters if you think of them as words. Allow both top down and bottom up processing of information Top down: Deductive reasoning: applying a rule to information Ex. House Bottom up: Inductive reasoning: using information to generate a rule
How do we create schema?
► Concept ► Children
formation often over generalize
Example classifying objects
Point to elephant and say “dogee!” Children have to develop schema to aid their working memory in doing tasks (Case, 1985).
Encoding and Retrieval
Schemata in memory can be effected at two main points: • • Encoding: as the concept is being learned.
Ex. Our research experiment in class.. Retrieval: as the concept is being recalled. Ex. Dating question…
What were your hypotheses?
► What
do you think happened?
Immediate recall of words using “story” or “repeat” strategies
12 10 8 6 Words remembered 4 2 0
Story
Repeat
Errors of “repeat” and “story” participants on delayed recognition task
1
Errors
0.5
0
Repeat
Story
Items recalled from verbal presentation
12
# of Times recalled
10 8 6 4 2 0
Words
Items recalled from verbal presentation
12 10
# of Times recalled
8 6 4 2 0
Words
Said another way….
Descriptive Statistics
Words
BEGINING MIDDLE END Valid N (listwise)
Words N
5 10 11 5 5
Minimum 3.00 .00 4.00
Maximum 11.00 8.00 8.00
Mean 7.6000 4.0000 5.6000
Std. Deviatio 2.96 3.00 2.19
So what does this task show us?
Working memory is being overloaded…. You are able to rehearse the first part of the list more than the middle part of the list Some of the first items may reach long term memory The last part of the list is still hanging around in working memory People forget things in recognizable patterns…
So how do we use schema to help us learn?
Meta Cognition: The ability to think about your own thinking. -Evaluate your reasoning: does the activity make sense to you? -What do you do when stuck? -Plan different study times so you can develop multiple encodings of the concept.
What else can we use?
LTM Storage Strategies Elaboration Organization Levels of Processing Context
Use context effectively:
-Be sensitive to your surroundings
-Emotional state: be positive, relaxed Reduce test anxiety: encoding negative assumptions about your ability.
How would you plan to study for a test based on this chapter?
massed practice: use distributed practice ► Use elaborative memory techniques: emphasize meaning. ► Study calmly and take the test in a relaxed manner too.
► Avoid