3.1 Cognitive Level of Analysis: Cognitive Processes

Principles that define the cognitive level of analysis

1st Principle

1. Mental processes guide behavior– Bottom –up processing

(from the sensory system)– Top-down processing (in

the mind, via pre-stored information in the memory)

– Output (in the form of behaviour)

– Dweck- mindset determines behavior

Memory is not infallible

Memory– Reconstructive nature – False memories

Perception– Process that interprets and

organizes information to produce some meaningful experience of the world.

– Necker Cube pg. 68

2nd Principle

The mind can be studied scientifically – experimental method

(artificial??)– daily context

Case studies– Technology

fMRI

3rd Principle

Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.– Schema

Mental representation of knowledge

– What did Bartlett say about schema, culture, and memory?

Memory Distortions

Be A Thinker Pg. 69

Will It Ever be possible to develop robots that can think like humans?

A theory of a cognitive process: Schema Theory

Schema theory: theory about information processing

Cognitive schema: networks of knowledge, beliefs, expectations about particular aspects of the world.

Assumption: Human processing is influenced by what we know (schema).

Can you give an example of this?

How is this related to distortions?

Schema Theory and Memory Processing

Memory Processes– Encoding: transforming sensory information

into meaningful memory– Storage: creating a biological trace of the

encoded information in memory– Retrieval: using stored information

Evaluation of Schema Theory

What are the positive aspects and limitations of schema theory?

Pros– Helps understanding how people

Categorize, interpret, make inferences

have memory distortions

Have “social schemas” (prejudice, stereotyping)

Cons– Not Clear

How are schemas acquired?

How do they actually influence cognitive processes?

– Too vague to be useful (opinion)

A model of memory: the working memory model

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)– Multi-store model:

Sensory Memory (modality specific)

Short-term Memory (needs attention, rehearsal)

Long-term Memory (needs encoding)

– Can you explain the Multi-store model?

The Working Memory Model(Baddeley and Hitch) 1974

Based on Multi-store model

The Central Executive (controlling system that coordinates the “slave systems”)– Limited capacity– Modality free (can process any sensory

information)

Attention control

Most important function of CE.– Automatic level

habit, controlled by environmental stimuli. Ex. Cycling to school

– Supervisory attention levelEmergencies

New situations that require different strategies

Ex. Approaching car while cycling

Episodic Buffer

Temporary and passive display store until the info is needed.

Processing takes place elsewhere

Ex. Recalling the details of a landscape

The Phonological Loop

Articulatory control system (inner voice)– Holds information in a verbal form

Ex. Repeating a phone # to yourself

– Holds words ready as you prepare to speak

Phonological store (inner ear)– Holds speech-based material in a

phonological form.

Visuospatial Sketchpad

Inner eye

Visual and spatial information from– Sensory memory– LTM

Evidence of working memory

Working memory widely accepted

Dual-task techniques where participants are asked to perform:– Cognitive task that uses most of capacity of

working memory. (telling a story)– Second cognitive task (memorizing list of #)– If both tasks interfere with each other

They use same component in STM

Evidence of working memory (cont.)

Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

Dual-task memory experiment– Findings:

Evidence that STM has more than one unitary store

Working memory doesn’t easily breakdown with another concurrent task.

Evaluation of the working memory model

More satisfactory explanation of storage and processing than STM of multi-store model.

Active storage and processing– Useful in understanding a wide range of tasks

Ex. Reading comprehension and mental arithmetic

– Multi-tasking

Pickering and Gathercole (2001) pg. 75

Working memory and early learning

Working Memory Test and Battery for Children– What did they find? How useful?

What other studies analyze working memory and its implications for learning?

Holmes et al. (2008) Math and visual patterns test

Eysenck (1988) Intelligence linked to working memory

Long Term Memory System

– Explicit/Declarative MemoriesSemantic Memories (general knowledge)

Episodic Memories (personal experience)

Hippocampus important

– Implicit/Non-declarative MemoriesProcedural memories (skills, habits, “knowing how”)

Emotional memories – Amygdala – Hard to forget, Post-traumatic stress disorder

Brain damage and Memory

Case of Clive Wearing

What insight did we gain from his case?

Episodic and semantic memory lost

Implicit memory OK

Emotional memory OK

Evidence of Distributed memory system

Case of HM– Inability to form new memories– MRI Scanner

Cultural Factors in Cognition

What new societal factors in the modern age are affecting our cognitive abilities?

How do children learn the basics of culture?

Cross-cultural research

What role does schooling play on remembering?

Cole and Scribner (1974)– US vs. Liberian children– How was schooling a factor?

Chunking

Narrative

Rogoff and Wadell (1982) Mayan Children

Memory linked to relevance to daily lives

Reliability of Cognitive Process: Memory

How reliable is memory?– Reconstructive nature of memory

Processing to “make sense” of world

What were Freud’s views on memory?– Repression

What is a criticism of “retrieving” memories by therapists?– False Memory Syndrome Foundation

Empirical Testing of Reliability of Memory

Bartlett- Remembering (1932)– Serial Reproduction

What were some characteristics of the changed story?– Shorter– Story remained coherent (yet distorted)– Story became more conventional

Describe Bartlett’s conclusions?– Schema and Imaginative Recostruction

Loftus and Car Crash Experiment– What did Loftus test?– Results and conclusions?– Criticisms?

Technology and Cognitive Research

Discuss why the PET scan is particularly useful for Alzheimers detection.

How do MRI’s work?