FORMS OF ENCODING The RECONSOLIDATION PROCESS helps to stabilize

previously encoded memories.

1. SHORT-TERM STORAGE:
ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION
Conrad (1964) experiment shows the importance in short-
term memory of an acoustic code rather than a visual  FREE RECALL allows participants to recall items in
code. any order.
 SERIAL RECALL requires them to recall items in the
Baddeley (1966) argued that short-term memory relies exact order they were presented.
primarily on an acoustic rather than a semantic code.
MNEMONIC DEVICES
2. LONG-TERM STORAGE:
 CATEGORICAL CLUSTERING, organizes a list of
Most information stored in long-term memory is primarily
items into a set of categories.
semantically encoded. In other words, it is encoded by the
meanings of words.
 INTERACTIVE IMAGES, imagine as if the objects
Encoding of information in long-term memory is not are interacting with each other.
exclusively semantic. There also is evidence for visual
encoding.  PEGWORD SYSTEM, link the new word to a
memorized list and create an interactive image
TYPES OF MEMORY: between the two words.

1. NONDECLARATIVE MEMORY: Skills and  METHOD OF LOCI, visualize walking around an area
procedures that are often unconscious. and use various landmarks to remember specific
location.
2. DECLARATIVE MEMORY: Facts and events that
can be consciously recalled.
 ACRONYMS, are formed by taking the first letter of
CONSOLIDATION: The process of integrating new each word in a phrase or concept to create a new,
information into stored information. shorter word.

METAMEMORY strategies involve reflecting on our own  ACROSTICS, create a sentence in which each word
memory processes with a view to improving memory. starts with the first letter of the items you want to
remember.
METACOGNITION: The ability to think about and control
one's thought processes.
 KEYWORD SYSTEM, link the sound and meaning of
REHEARSAL -The repeated recitation of an item to keep a foreign word with a familiar word.
information active.
PROSPECTIVE VS. RETROSPECTIVE MEMORY
 OVERT REHEARSAL: Aloud and obvious to
 RETROSPECTIVE MEMORY: Memory for the past.
observers.
 COVERT REHEARSAL: Silent and hidden from  PROSPECTIVE MEMORY: Memory for future tasks.
view. Tends to retain better than retrospective memory with
age.
In ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL, the individual somehow
elaborates the items to be remembered. Such rehearsal PARALLEL OR SERIAL PROCESSING
makes the items either more meaningfully integrated into
 PARALLEL PROCESSING: Refers to the
what the person already knows
simultaneous handling of multiple operations.
In MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL, the individual simply  SERIAL PROCESSING: Refers to operations being
repetitiously rehearses the items to be repeated. Such done one after another.
rehearsal temporarily maintains information in short-term
memory without transferring the information to long-term EXHAUSTIVE OR SELF TERMINATING PROCESSING
memory.
 EXHAUSTIVE SERIAL PROCESSING: Implies that
SPACING EFFECT – the greater the distribution of the participant always checks the test digit against all
learning trials over time, the more the participants digits in the positive set, even if a match were found
remembered over long periods. partway through the list.

HERMANN EBBINGHAUS discovered that distributed  SELF-TERMINATING SERIAL PROCESSING:

practice enhances memory consolidation Implies that the participant would check the test digit
against only those digits needed to make a response.
DISTRIBUTED VS. MASSED PRACTICE
THE WINNER — A SERIAL EXHAUSTIVE MODEL —
 DISTRIBUTED PRACTICE: Learning sessions
WITH SOME QUALIFICATIONS
spaced over time lead to better long-term retention.
Some cognitive psychologists have suggested that we
 MASSED PRACTICE: Cramming information in a
should seek not only to understand the how of memory
short period result in poorer memory retention.
processes but also the why of memory processes.
RAPID EYE MOVEMENT (REM)
AVAILABILITY VS. ACCESSIBILITY
REM SLEEP is a particular stage of sleep characterized
 AVAILABILITY is the presence of information stored
by dreaming and increased brainwave activity a person
receives (Karni et al., 1994). in long-term memory
 ACCESSIBILITY is the degree to which we can gain
INSOMNIA is a disorder that deprives a person of much- access to the available information.
needed sleep.
INTELLIGENCE AND RETRIEVAL
LEARNING SYSTEMS
INITIAL RECALL PERFORMANCE: Mediated by
The HIPPOCAMPUS serves as a rapid learning system, processing speed. Older, slower participants showed
temporarily maintaining new experiences. deficits.

Upon recall, memories can return to an unstable state.

LONGER-TERM RETENTION OF INFORMATION: ENCODING SPECIFICITY: The results of various
Speed of information processing may influence initial experiments on retrieval suggest that how items are
performance on recall and inspection time tasks, but encoded has a strong effect both on how, and on how well,
speed is not related to long term learning. items are retrieved.

PROCESSES OF FORGETTING AND MEMORY TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE

DISTORTION
1. DECLARATIVE it refers to facts that can be stated,
 INTERFERENCE: Occurs when competing such as the date of your birth, the name of your best
information causes us to forget something. friend, or the way a rabbit looks.
 DECAY: Occurs when simply the passage of time
causes us to forget. 2. PROCEDURAL it refers to knowledge of procedures
that can be implemented. Examples are the steps
INFERENCE THEORY involved in tying your shoelaces, adding a column of
numbers, or driving a car.
 RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE (or retroactive
inhibition) - occurs when newly acquired knowledge COMMUNICATING KNOWLEDGE: PICTURES VS.
impedes the recall of older material. WORDS

Knowledge can be represented in different ways in your

 PROACTIVE INTERFERENCE (or proactive
mind. It can be stored as a mental picture, or in words, or
inhibition) - occurs when material that was learned
abstract propositions.
in the past impedes the learning of new material.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF MENTAL REPRESENTATION
SERIAL-POSITION CURVE represents the probability of
recall of a given word, (order of presentation) MENTAL IMAGERY
 RECENCY EFFECT - refers to superior recall of  Imagery is the mental representation of things that
words at and near the end of a list are not currently seen or sensed by the sense organs.
 PRIMACY EFFECT - refers to superior recall of  In our minds we often have images for objects,
words at and near the beginning of a list. events, and settings. For example, recall one of your
first experiences on a college campus.
DECAY THEORY asserts that information is forgotten
because of the gradual disappearance, rather than DUAL CODE THEORY: IMAGES AND SYMBOLS
displacement, of the memory trace.
We use both pictorial and verbal codes for representing
Even if both decay and interference contribute to information (Paivio, 1969, 1971) in our minds. These two
forgetting, it can be argued that interference has the codes organize information into knowledge that can be
strongest effect (Berman et al., 2009). acted on, stored somehow, and later retrieved for
subsequent use.
FLASHBULB MEMORY - a memory of an event so
powerful that the person remembers the event as vividly PROPOSITIONAL THEORY: Storing knowledge as
as if it were indelibly preserved on film. abstract concepts

MEMORY DISTORTIONS MENTAL MANIPULATIONS OF IMAGES

“Seven sins of memory.” (Schacter) According to the FUNCTIONAL-EQUIVALENCE

HYPOTHESIS, although visual imagery is not identical to
1. TRANSIENCE - Memory fades quickly. visual perception, it is functionally equivalent to it.
Functionally, equivalent things are strong analogous to
2. ABSENT-MINDEDNESS - People sometimes brush
each other - they can accomplish the same goals.
their teeth after already having brushed them.
MENTAL ROTATION involves rationally transforming an
3. BLOCKING - People sometimes have something that
object’s visual mental image.
they know they should remember, but they can’t.
ZOOMING IN ON MENTAL IMAGES: IMAGE SCALING
4. MISATTRIBUTION - People often cannot remember
where they heard what they heard or read what they read. The key idea underlying research on image size and
scaling is that we represent and use mental images in
5. SUGGESTIBILITY - People are susceptible to
ways that are functionally equivalent to our
suggestion, so if it is suggested to them that they saw
representations and uses of percepts.
something, they may think they remember seeing it.
EXAMINING OBJECTS: IMAGE SCANNING
6. BIAS - People often are biased in their recall.
The key idea underlying image scanning research is that
7. PERSISTENCE - People sometimes remember things
images can be scanned in much the same way as physical
as consequential that, in a broad context, are
percepts can be scanned.
inconsequential
DUAL CODE THEORY
EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY AND MEMORY
1. VERBAL SYSTEM deals with abstract, language-
Two slides were shown to participants in the experiment
based information. It encodes knowledge in words,
of Loftus and colleagues (1978). Although the slides
phrases, and sentences.
depicting the initial incident had featured a stop sign,
participants who had been questioned about a yield sign
2. NON-VERBAL SYSTEM processes concrete,
often remembered having seen that yield sign in the
image-based information. It encodes knowledge
original scene.
through mental pictures or visual representations.
POST-IDENTIFICATION FEEDBACK EFFECT
PROPOSITIONAL THEORY
Where a person's judgment or decision is influenced by
It is a cognitive theory that suggests knowledge and
the feedback they receive after identifying or making an
mental representations are stored in the brain in an
initial judgment about something.
abstract, symbolic, and language-like form, rather than as
REPRESSED MEMORIES are memories that are alleged mental images.
to have been pushed down into unconsciousness
because of the distress they cause.
JOHNSON-LAIRD’S MENTAL MODELS  LANDMARK KNOWLEDGE information about
particular features at a location
An alternative synthesis of the literature suggests that
mental representations may take any of three forms:  ROUTE-ROAD KNOWLEDGE involves specific
PROPOSITIONS, IMAGES, or MENTAL MODELS pathways for moving from one location to another
(Johnson-Laird, 1983, 1999; Johnson-Laird & Goldvarg,
1997). Here, propositions are fully abstracted  SURVEY KNOWLEDGE involves estimated
representations of meaning that are verbally expressible. distances between landmarks
The criterion of the possibility of verbal expression
distinguishes Johnson-Laird’s view from that of other HEURISTICS: OUR BRAIN’S SPATIAL SHORTCUTS
cognitive psychologists.
SPATIAL HEURISTICS: Cognitive Maps as Mental
TWO KINDS OF IMAGES Shortcuts

1. Visual Imagery When we use landmark, route-road, and survey

2. Spatial Imagery knowledge, we use a mental shortcut that enables quick
judgment and problem solving.
SPATIAL COGNITION encompasses the acquisition,
organization, and utilization of knowledge about objects LANDMARK DENSITY AND DESTINATION AFFECTS
and actions within two- or three-dimensional space. ON PERCEPTION

 We construct imaginal maps solely from our direct As the density of intervening landmarks increases,
physical interactions and navigational experiences estimated of distances increase correspondingly
within our physical environment.
THE POWER OF FAMILIAR PATHS: ROUTE-ROAD VS.
 This mapping process occurs even without an “aerial SURVEY KNOWLEDGE
view” or complete perspective.
In the distances between particular physical locations,
COGNITIVE MAPS internal representations of our route-road knowledge appears often to be weighted more
physical environment, primarily focused on spatial heavily than survey knowledge.
relationships. DISTORTIONS IN MENTAL MAPS
 They offer internal representations that stimulate The distortions seem to reflect a tendency to regularize
specific spatial features of our external environment. features of mental maps

 It is essential for effective movement, finding TYPES OF DISTORTIONS

locations, and organizing spatial memories.
1. RIGHT-ANGLE BIAS: People tend to think of
TOLMAN’S RAT MAZE intersections as forming 90-degree angles more often
than the intersections really do.
Tolman’s experiment provided some of the first empirical
evidence for the existence of mental representations. 2. SYMMETRY HEURISTIC: People tend to think of
shapes as being more symmetrical than they really
During his time, cognitive processes were considered
are.
largely inaccessible and unmeasurable by psychologists.

The study aims to understand how rats acquire and utilize 3. ROTATION HEURISTIC: When representing figures
spatial knowledge. According to his conclusion, the rats and boundaries that are slightly slanted, people tend
were learning a cognitive map, an internal representation to distort the images as being either more vertical or
of the maze. more horizontal than they really are.

He argued the importance of the mental representations 4. ALIGNMENT HEURISTIC: People tend to represent
that give rise to behavior. This was a major shift away from landmarks and boundaries that are slightly out of
strict behaviorism and paved away for the cognitive alignment by distorting their mental images to be
psychology. better aligned than they really are.

3 GROUPS OF RATS ORGANIZATION OF DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE

FIRST GROUP  CONCEPT is an idea about something that provides

 rewarded with food for getting from start to end a means of understanding the world.
box.
 Purpose of reward: create an incentive to learn the  CATEGORY is a group of items into which different
maze. objects or concepts can be placed that belong
 Interpretation: This group demonstrated the together because they share some common features,
effectiveness of reinforcement in spatial learning. or because they are all similar to a certain prototype.

SECOND GROUP CONCEPTS AND CATEGORIES

 received no reinforcement.
 Purpose of no reward: Measure how much learning  AD HOC CATEGORIES are created just for the
happens without explicit incentive. moment or for a specific purpose.
 Interpretation: Showing that some spatial learning FEATURE-BASED CATEGORIES
occurs even without reward, but it's less effective.
DEFINING FEATURES (or necessary attributes) are
THIRD GROUP
features uniquely define the category.
 no reward for 10 days, the food was placed in the
end box For a thing to be an X, it must have that feature. Otherwise,
 Purpose of delayed reward: Test if learning occurs it is not an “X.”
even without immediate reinforcement, and how
quickly it can be utilized.  NATURAL CATEGORIES groupings that occur
 Interpretation: Revealing "latent learning," where naturally in the world.
knowledge is acquired but only demonstrated when  ARTIFACT CATEGORIES signed or invented by
needed. humans to serve particular purposes or functions.
Some categories do not readily lend themselves to SCRIPTS are mental templates that guide understanding,
featural analysis. Game is one such category. Finding prediction, and sequencing of events. They involve
anything that is a common feature of all games is difficult temporal and spatial information and require significant
to do. working memory.

Another problem with the feature-based view is that Roles – Props - Opening Conditions – Scenes
violating those defining features does not seem to change
the category we use to define them. JARGON — specialized vocabulary commonly used
within a group, such as a profession or a trade.
PROTOTYPE THEORY a prototype is an abstract
average of all the objects in the category we have PROCEDURAL KNOWLEDGE is about performing
encountered before. It is the prototype that objects are specific actions or tasks. It is the knowledge that helps you
compared with in order to put them into a category. understand how to accomplish something rather than
what it is.
CLASSICAL AND FUZZY CONCEPTS
 DECLARATIVE refers to factual, explicit knowledge
 CLASSICAL CONCEPTS are categories that can be that can be consciously stated or described.
readily defined through defining features.
 NON-DECLARATIVE refers to knowledge that is
 FUZZY CONCEPTS are categories that cannot be implicit, not consciously accessible, and cannot
so easily defined and do not have a clear-cut easily be verbalized or expressed.
boundary.
DECLARATIVE
EXEMPLAR THEORY SUGGESTS that we categorize
 Know - what
new items by comparing them to specific, stored examples
 Conscious and Explicit
(exemplars)of things we've encountered in the past.
 Learned through study, reading, or instruction
COMBINING FEATURE-BASED AND PROTOTYPE  "Paris is the capital of France"
THEORIES
PROCEDURAL
Integrates elements from both theories to create a more  Know - how
comprehensive understanding of how humans categorize  Implicit and often automatic
objects or concepts.  Learned through practice and repetition
 "Riding a bike"
INTELLIGENCE AND CONCEPTS IN DIFFICULT
CULTURES DECLARATIVE KNOWLEDGE WITHIN ACT-R

Culture influences many cognitive processes, Anderson’s declarative network model, like many other
including intelligence. As a result, individuals in network models, contains a mechanism by which
different cultures may construct concepts in quite information can be retrieved and also a structure for
different ways, rendering results of concept-formation or storing information.
identification studies in a single culture suspect.
Within a semantic network, concepts are stored at
Groups may think about the same phenomenon—like various nodes. These nodes can be either inactive or
a concept or a test—very differently. What seem to be active at a given time. An active node is one that is
differences in intelligence may actually be cultural “turned on”.
differences
HOW NODES ARE ACTIVATED
Measured differences in intellectual performance may  Directly by external stimuli, such as sensations
result from differences in cultural complexity, but what  By internal stimuli, such as memories or thoughts
is "complex" in one culture may be "simple" in
 Indirectly, by the activity of neighboring nodes
another.

SEMANTIC-NETWORK MODELS suggest that There is SPREADING ACTIVATION within the network
knowledge is represented in our minds in the form of from one node to another. But there are limits to how many
concepts connected in a web-like form. nodes can be activated at once.

SCHEMA a mental framework for organizing knowledge, STRENGTH OF ACTIVATION

creating meaningful structures of related concepts.  As activation spreads further from the original
node, the activation becomes weaker.
Characteristics that ensure wide flexibility in their  Closely related nodes receive stronger activation.
use:  Distantly related nodes receive weaker activation.
 Schemas can include other schemas.
 Schemas encompass typical, general facts that allow
for variations.
 Schemas can vary in their degree of abstraction,
from concrete to abstract.

FUNCTIONS OF SCHEMAS
 Help interpret new situations efficiently by drawing
from past experiences.
 Allow inference-making in novel situations through
causal relationships.

APPLICATIONS OF SCHEMAS
Used in artificial intelligence for data modeling, database
searches, and integrating information.

CHALLENGES OF SCHEMAS
Can lead to stereotypes by associating unrelated traits or
groups with preconceived notions.