PSYC 2008 -

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY

STUDY
GUIDESPRING 2018
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page

Introduction to Cognitive Psychology ......................................................................................................................................................... 1

Basic Processes in Visual Perception ............................................................................................................................................................. 5

Object and Face Recognition ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9

Perception, Motion & Action ..........................................................................................................................................................................14

Attention and Performance ..............................................................................................................................................................................17

Reading and Speech Perception.....................................................................................................................................................................22

Memory
I ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................29

Final Exam Preparation.......................................................................................................................................................................................37

L1 - Learning Objectives Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Upon the successful completion of this

lecture students will be able to: What is Cognitive Psychology?

• Cognition is the study of the mental processes underlying our ability to

1. Define cognitive psychology perceive the world
2. Explain the history of cognitive
psychology as a discipline. History of Cognitive Psychology
3. Explain the underlying
• In Leipzig in 1879, Wundt established the world’s first experimental
philosophical principles and
psychology laboratory.
assumptions of cognitive
psychology. • His trained observers used analytic introspection (‘looking into’ their
minds) to report on their experiences of stimuli.
4. Apply the principles and tenets of
scientific methodology to justify • In 1912, Wertheimer extended this approach into Gestalt psychology,
why cognitive psychology is a arguing that mental activity is directed at whole forms rather than
science. component parts of forms.
5. Describe, explain and evaluate • Titchener’s use of introspection was geared towards drawing conclusions
the 4 approaches of cognitive about the basic components of thoughts.
psychology and their associated • This conflicted with Wundt’s emphasis on whole experiences.
methodologies.
• Titchener’s work - an approach known as structuralism.

Philosophical Basis of Cognitive Psychology

• Functionalists - views mental events as causal or functional because

mental events serve to transform incoming information into output (i.e.
into different information or behavior).
• Materialists - the mind is the brain and is studied by investigating brain
activity directly.

Assumptions about cognition

• The mind is a limited capacity system.

• Behaves in a law-like fashion re: information-processing (i.e top-down
and bottom-up processes.
• Cognitive functions operate independently of each other (i.e. modular).

Cognitive Psychology as a Scientific Discipline

Top-Down Processing
Perception is constructed by cognition
Cognitive Psychology involves:
Bottom-Up Processing
1. Developing theories about human thought processes
Perception directs cognition.
2. Deducing hypotheses
3. Testing predictions based on those hypotheses.
• Often a hypothesis is tested by several methods to give converging
evidence for or against a theory.

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Theory Approaches to human cognition
a plausible or scientifically acceptable • Choosing an approach is partly a matter of choosing an appropriate level
general principle or body of principles of explanation for the topic of interest.
offered to explain phenomena
1. Experimental cognitive psychology
Paradigm 2. Cognitive neuroscience
A set of fundamental beliefs (or 3. Cognitive neuropsychology
premises) to which scientists subscribe
and which they use as a framework for 4. Computational cognitive science
conducting research.
Experimental Cognitive Psychology
Model
• This approach involves trying to understand human cognition by using
a usually miniature representation of
behavioral evidence.
something; a pattern of something to
be made • The Stroop Effect
• The anti-saccade task
Framework
• The stop Signal test
a basic conceptional structure (as of
ideas) • They used a statistical procedure known as latent-variable analysis to
extract what was common to the three tasks, which was assumed to
Hypothesis represent a relatively pure measure of the inhibitory process.
a tentative assumption made in order STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
to draw out and test its logical or
empirical consequences The first systematic approach to Most cognitive tasks are complex
understanding human cognition and involve many different processes
Empiricism It has strongly influenced social, Behavioral evidence only provides
Gaining knowledge through reliance clinical, and developmental indirect evidence concerning
on empirical data to confirm or refute psychology internal processes
claims. The source of most of the theories Theories are sometimes vague and
and tasks used by the other hard to test empirically
The Stroop effect approaches
Occurs when people do the Stroop
task, and is related to selective Cognitive Neuroscience
attention, which is the ability to
respond to certain environmental • The use of brain imaging techniques to study brain function.
stimuli while ignoring others.
• Based on the assumption that separate cognitive functions are properties
The anti-saccade task of separate brain regions.
a gross estimation of injury or • Studies are informed by neuropsychology and cognitive theory.
dysfunction of the frontal lobe, by
assessing the brain’s ability to inhibit Practical Applications of Cognitive Neuroscience
the reflexive saccade. A patient is
asked to fixate on a motionless target Single-unit recording (or single-cell recording):
(such as a small dot). A stimulus is • Involves inserting a micro-electrode one 110,000th of a millimeter in
then presented to one side of the diameter into the brain to study activity in single neurons.
target. The patient is asked to make a • This is a very sensitive technique: electrical charges one-millionth of a volt
saccade in the direction away from the can be detected.
stimulus. Failure to inhibit a reflexive
saccade is considered an error. Event-related potentials (ERPs):
• Scalp-recorded voltage fluctuations that are time-locked to an event.
The event can be a stimulus presentation followed by sensory-related

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The stop Signal test operations (such as estimation of color, shape, or category of the visual
In a stop-signal task, you are asked to stimulus), by cognitive control operations (such as selection of appropriate
respond quickly, except when a stop response or suppression of prepared action), and by affective operations
signal arrives. (such as associated with positive or negative emotions) or memory-
related operations (such as recalling an item or remembering a new item).
The event can also be a motor or other type of subject response.
• ERPs as brain potentials are measured by the same amplifiers as EEG,
and in this sense the measured parameter in EEG and ERPs is the same:
electrical potential generated by the brain.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS):
• A noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells
in the brain to improve symptoms of depression. TMS is typically used
when other depression treatments haven’t been effective.
• It has been argued that they create a “temporary lesion” (a lesion is a
structural alteration produced by brain damage), so that the role of any
given brain area in performing a given task can be assessed.
Others include:
• Positron emission tomography (PET)
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
• Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (efMRI)
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
Great variety of techniques offering Sometimes of limited relevance to
excellent temporal or spatial cognitive theories
resolution
Techniques are flexible and permit Potential problems with ecological
causal inferences validity
Can contribute to the resolution of Poor understanding of the what
complex theoretical issues some of the techniques do to the
brain e.g. TMS

Cognitive Neuropsychology

• Concerned with the patterns of cognitive performance (intact and

impaired) shown by brain-damaged patients.
• These patients have suffered lesions – structural alterations within the
brain caused by injury or disease.

Theoretical Assumptions:

1. Modularity - cognitive systems consists of numerous modules or

processors operating relatively independently of each other
• It is argued that complex processing will be more efficient if we possess
numerous specific modules than fewer general processing functions

2. Anatomical modularity - each module is located in a specific and

potentially identifiable area of the brain.
• Cognitive neuropsychologists are likely to make most progress when

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 studying patients having brain damage
limited to a single module.
3. Uniformity of Functional Architecture Across
People
• If this assumption were false: “We would not
be able to use the findings from individual
patients to draw conclusions about other
people’s functional architecture.”

4. Subtractivity - Brain damage can impair or delete

existing boxes or arrows in the system, but cannot
introduce new ones.
• Subtractivity assumption is more likely to be correct
when brain damage occurs in adulthood (rather than
childhood) and when cognitive performance is assessed shortly after
the onset of brain damage.

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
Causal links can be shown between Brain damage often affects several
brain damage and cognitive modules and so complicates
performance interpretation of findings
It has revealed unexpected It is hard to interpret findings from
complexities in cognition (e.g., in patients differing in site of brain
language) damage, age, expertise, and so on
It transformed memory research Patients may develop compensatory
strategies not found in healthy
individuals

Computational Cognitive Science

• Computational cognitive scientists develop computational models

• Used to understand human cognition.
• Allows us to predict behavior in new situations.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
Theoretical assumptions are spelled Computational models generally de-
out in precise detail emphasize motivational factors
Comprehensive cognitive Computational models tend to
architectures have been developed ignore emotional factors

Conclusion

• Each Approach/sub-field of cognitive psychology in the past has lent itself

to specific kinds of investigative methods.
• However an increasing amount of research involves two or more of the
approaches.
• Each approach makes its own distinctive contribution, and so all are
needed.

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L2 - Learning Objectives Basic Processes In Visual Perception

Upon the successful completion of this

lecture students will be able to: The Structures Of The Visual Sensory System

• Photoreceptors/ visual receptor cells in the retina respond to information

1. State and explain the structures of
the visual system • Rods can respond to very low levels of light and are most plentiful in the
periphery of the retina
2. State and explain principles of
visual system processing • Cones respond to light of particular wavelengths to provide color vision;
they are most plentiful in the fovea, the region of greatest visual acuity in
3. Discuss the underlying tenets of normal daylight.
3 theories associated with human
visual processing • First, there is reception, which involves absorption of physical energy by
the receptors.
4. Discuss concepts associated with
perception without awareness • Second, there is transduction, in which the physical energy is converted
into an electrochemical pattern in the neurons.
5. Discuss key principles of depth and
Size Perception • Third, there is coding, meaning there is a direct one-to-one correspondence
between aspects of the physical stimulus and aspects of the resultant
nervous system activity.

Visual Sensory - Processing

• Functional Specialization Theory – proposes that different parts of the

cortex are specialized for different visual functions, specifically:
• Form Processing
• Including areas:
• V1 and V2 - These areas are involved at an
early stage of visual processing… contain
different groups of cells responsive to
color and form.
The human eye
• V3 and V3A - Cells in these areas are responsive to form
(especially the shapes of objects in motion) but not to color.
• And the Infero-temporal cortex.
• High Object selectivity: respond exclusively to specific visual
objects.
• High Tolerance: respond strongly to retinal images of the same
object differing due to changes in position, size, illumination, and
so on.
• Maximizing the amount of selectivity and tolerance across neurons
provides the basis for effective fine-grained identification.
• Color Processing
• V4 - The overwhelming majority of cells in this
area are responsive to color; many are also
responsive to line orientation.
• If damaged there is still normal perception for
form and motion
Visual Sensory Processing Areas

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 • Damage to the V4 regions can result in:
• Achromatopsia - no color perception and substantial
impairments of spatial vision
• Motion Processing
• V5 (also known as MT, middle temporal) - This area is specialized
for visual motion.
• Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) to disrupt activity in V5/
MT to discover the function of the region.
• Akinetopsia - a brain-damaged condition in which stationary
objects are perceived reasonably well but objects in motion
cannot be perceived accurately.

Critique

• Attempts to provide a relatively simple overview of a remarkably complex

reality as areas involved in visual processing are not nearly as specialized
and limited in their processing.
• Does not indicate how information about an object’s motion, color, and
form is combined and integrated to produce coherent perception (i.e.
binding problem).
• Visual processing in V1 and V2 is more extensive than suggested.

Color Vision Theories

• Three main qualities associated with color.

• Hue - what distinguishes red from yellow or blue.
• Brightness - the perceived intensity of light.
• Saturation - allows us to determine whether a color is vivid or pale.

• Trichromatic (three-colored) theory - belief that there are three different

kinds of cone receptors.
1. One type of cone receptor is most sensitive to short-wavelength
Motion Processing light, and generally responds most to stimuli perceived as blue (1
million).
2. A second type of cone receptor is most sensitive to medium-
wavelength light, and responds greatly to stimuli generally seen as
yellow-green (2 million)
3. The third type of cone receptor responds most to long-wavelength
light such as that coming from stimuli perceived as orange-red (4
million)
• Most stimuli activate two or all three cone types.
• Activation of all three cone types leading to the perception of
Dichromacy whiteness.
A deficiency in color vision in • This theory provides an account of what happens at the receptor level.
which one of the three basic color
mechanisms is not functioning. • Opponent-process theory - because Trichromacy theory cannot account
for negative afterimages, to explain this the opponent process theory
states that there are three opponent processes in the visual system.

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 • If you stare at a red light and then look at a neutral field, you see a
green afterimage. The logic is the red and green process are in
constant conflict.
• Extended viewing of red fatigues the red process, so when you look
at the neutral field, the green process is stronger. That means that you
can create a green percept either by (1) stimulating green or by (2)
weakening red.
• Opponent-process theory explains negative afterimages. Prolonged
viewing of a given color (e.g., red) produces one extreme of activity in
the relevant opponent process.
• When attention is then directed to a white surface, the opponent
process moves to its other extreme, thus producing the negative
afterimage.

Perception Without Awareness

• Visual perception is not just a conscious process.

• Some people are able to respond appropriately to visual stimuli in the
absence of conscious vision.
• Blindsight - severe damage to VI (primary visual cortex).

Unconscious perception • However, their loss of visual awareness in the blind field is probably not
due directly to the V1 damage.
Perceptual processes occurring below
the level of conscious awareness. • There are at least ten pathways from the eye to the brain, many of
which can be used by blindsight patients.
• Blindsight patients who had an entire cortical hemisphere removed
Subliminal perception nevertheless showed evidence of:
Processing that occurs in the absence • Blindsight for stimulus detection,
of conscious awareness.
• Stimulus localization
• Form discrimination
• Motion detection for stimuli

Depth and size perception

• As humans we can transform two-dimensional retinal images to

perceive a three dimensional world seen in depth.

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 • Cues to depth are often provided by our environment. These cues can
be divided into:
• Monocular - Those requiring only the use of one eye, (although
they can be used readily when someone has both eyes open)
• Linear perspective - Parallel lines pointing directly away from
us
• Texture - a gradient of texture density
• Interposition - a nearer object hides part of a more distant one
from view
• Shading - tes a three dimensional object
• Binocular - Those involving both eyes being used together.
• Oculomotor - Those that are kinaesthetic, depending on
sensations of muscular contraction of the muscles around the eye.
• Convergence - eyes turn inwards to focus on a very close
object than one farther away.
• Accommodation - thickening of the lens of the eye when
focusing on a close object.
• Calculating distances is based on angular disparity - the disparity of the
images in the two eyes… what is the angle of that difference?
• All points of the visual space have points in the retina. Points on the retina
can be mapped based on how far they are from the fovea.
• Absolute disparity - based on the differences in the images of a single
object presented to both eyes.
• Relative disparity - based on differences in the absolute disparities of two
objects. It allows us to assess the spatial relationship between the two
objects in three dimensional space.
• For objects less than about 10 m away, each eye receives a slightly different
image.
• These images are fused to give one, three-dimensional representation.
• Stereopsis - process of perceiving depth through comparison of the two
different retinal images.

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L3 - Learning Objectives Object And Face Recognition

Upon the successful completion of this

lecture students will be able to: Perceptual Organization

• We’ve switched from talking about how the visual system extracts
1. Identify and explain the principles important features of the environment-- edges, colors, motion, depth,
of Gestalt etc-- to how the visual system identifies objects (which are made up of
2. Explain the tenets of Marr’s these key features)
Computational Theory of Object • The goal of understanding “perceptual organization” is to understand how
Recognition Processes we put together the basic features to see a coherent, organized world of
3. Explain the tenets of Biederman’s things and surfaces.
Recognition-by Components
Theory Gestalt
4. Discuss why face recognition is
• The first real “school” of perceptual organization theory
considered a special type of object
recognition • The basic motto of the Gestaltists was that the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts.
5. Explain the tenets of Bruce and
Young’s Face Recognition Theory • Examples: a melody made a various notes; or see an example from the
pointillist painter Paul Signac.
6. Critique the theories discussed
in this lecture (i.e. strengths,
weaknesses and applicability). Gestalt laws of organization:

1. Continuity - points that are connected by straight or curving lines are seen
in a way that follows the smoothest path. Rather than seeing separate
lines and angles, lines are seen as belonging together.
2. Closure - individuals perceive objects such as shapes, letters, pictures,
etc., as being whole when they are not complete. Specifically, when parts
of a whole picture are missing, our perception fills in the visual gap.
3. Common Region - elements that are grouped together within the same
region of space tend to be grouped together.
Gestalt Law of Continuity 4. Proximity - objects that are close together appear to be grouped together.
5. Similarity - Similar elements tend to appear to be grouped together.
Grouping can occur in both visual and auditory stimuli.
6. Simplicity (Pragnanz) - objects in the environment are seen in a way that
makes them appear as simple as possible.

Figure & Ground

• The first step in organizing the perceptual

world is to divide figure and ground;
Gestalt Law of Closure ambiguous figures demonstrate this.
• Notice that you can perceive either the
white or dark portion of the picture as
figure or ground, but that it’s very difficult
to perceive both as figure or both as ground
simultaneously.
Figure & Ground
Gestalt Law of Common Region

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 Illusions

• Sometimes your visual system must group/segment an object, not

based on edges in the retinal image, but by inferring parts of the missing
boundaries.

Impossible Figures

• Certain figures can be drawn so that there is no

consistent interpretation, due to the fact that
Gestalt Law of Proximity there is no obvious real-world physical object that
could correspond to the image.
• However, “impossible objects” can be built so that
they look like an impossible figure from a certain
vantage point.

Failures of Grouping

• Some figures do not yield a consistent grouping, and so the visual system
Gestalt Law of Similarity
struggles to arrive at a solution, and ends up switching back and forth
between several possible groupings.

Marr’s Computational Theory of Object Recognition Processes

• Primal sketch - two-dimensional description of the main light-intensity

changes.
Gestalt Law of Simplicity
• 2.5-D sketch - this incorporates a description of the depth and orientation
of visible surfaces shading, texture, motion, binocular cues.
• 3-D Model - describes three-dimensionally the shapes of objects and their
relative positions independent of the observer’s viewpoint.

Biederman’s Recognition-by Components Theory

• The central assumption of Biederman’s recognition-by-components

theory is that objects consist of basic shapes or components known as
“geons” (geometric ions).
• Examples of geons are blocks, cylinders, spheres, arcs, etc.
• Object recognition depends crucially on the identification of geons, which
can be identified from a great variety of viewpoints
• Based on this assumption, an object can be recognized equally easily
from nearly all viewing angles.
• According to Biederman (1987), there are approximately 36 different
geons.
• According to geon theory, complex objects are made up of
arrangements of basic, component parts (‘geons’).
• Some evidence for the psychological reality of geons comes from
experiments that show that recognition is impaired when we hide the
intersections of geons.
Illusory contour. Note that there is no physical
contour for most of the perceived “edge” • However, occluding these intersections also changes the picture in many

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 other ways.
• There are only approximately 44 phonemes (basic sounds) in the English
language. This is because these phonemes can be arranged in almost
endless combinations. The same is true of geons.

Edge Extraction

• Luminance, texture, or color & providing a line drawing description of the

object.
• Detection of non-accidental properties - How a visual object should be
segmented to see parts and components. There are five such invariant
(non-accidental properties of edges)
7. Curvature - points on a curve
8. Parallel - sets of points in parallel
9. Cotermination - edges terminating at a common point
10. Symmetry - versus asymmetry
11. Collinearity - points sharing a common line
• The Non-Accidental Principle - visual images reflect actual objective
properties rather than inaccuracies from individual viewpoints.
Orientation & symmetry. Objects oriented with
horizontal and vertical axes, or ones that are Critique of Biederman’s Recognition-by-Components Theory
symmetric, are more often perceived as figures
• The theory focuses primarily on bottom-up processes triggered directly
by the stimulus input.
• Assumed that object recognition generally involves matching an object-
centered representation independent of information mentally stored by
the observer.
• Theory assumes that objects consist of invariant geons, but object
recognition is actually much more flexible than that.

Viewpoint-dependent vs. Viewpoint-invariant Approaches

• Viewpoint INVARIANT - The assumption that ease of object recognition

is unaffected by the observer’s viewpoint.
• Typically used when object recognition involves making easy
categorical discriminations (e.g., between cars and bicycles)
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 • Viewpoint DEPENDENT - The assumption that object recognition is faster
and easier when objects are seen from certain angles.
• Important when the task requires difficult within-category
discrimination (e.g., Between different makes of car).
• Used when the image is complex and difficult.
• Object representations are collections of view that depict the
appearance of objects from specific viewpoints.
• Object recognition is easier when an observer’s view of an object
corresponds to one of the stored views of that object.
• The extent to which object recognition is primarily viewpoint-dependent
or viewpoint-invariant depends on several factors, such as whether
between- or within-category discriminations are required, and more
generally on task complexity.

How do we recognize objects when conditions are suboptimal (e.g., an

intervening object obscures part of the target object)?

• Curvature and parallel lines of an object can still be detected even when
only parts of edges are visible.
• Concavities of a contour are visible, there are mechanisms allowing the
missing parts to be filled in.
• There is generally much redundant information available for recognizing
complex objects, and so they can still be recognized.

Face Recognition

• Faces all share the same basic features (eyes, nose, mouth etc.), arranged in
the same way, yet we are exceptionally well able to discriminate different
faces and to identify different emotions expressed in a single face.
• Face recognition is particularly sensitive to orientation.
• It is much easier to recognize an upright face than an inverted face,
and the difference in ease is greater than for other types of object.
Summary • Face recognition seems less dependent on edge detection, and more
dependent on light and shade patterns, than other object recognition.
• Information extracted from the
visual stimulus is used to construct • Thus it is very difficult to recognize familiar faces from photographic
a geon-based representation that negatives.
is then compared against object • Newborn infants have a preference for looking at faces rather than other
representations stored in long- stimuli, suggesting that attention to faces is an innate predisposition.
term memory.
• There is generally much redundant Models of Face Recognition
information available for
recognizing complex objects, and Bruce & Young Model
so they can still be recognized.
• In the real world, there exists a The model consists of eight components:
strong relationship between the
environment and the objects that 1. Structural encoding - this produces various representations or
can be found within it. descriptions of faces.

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 2. Expression analysis - other people’s emotional states are inferred from
their facial expression.
3. Facial speech analysis - speech perception is assisted by observing a
speaker’s lip movements (lip-reading.
4. Directed visual processing - specific facial information is processed
selectively.
5. Face recognition nodes - these contain structural information about
known faces.
6. Person identity nodes (PIN) - these provide information about individuals
(e.g., occupation, interests).
7. Name generation - a person’s name is stored separately.
8. Cognitive system - this contains additional information (e.g., most actors
and actresses have attractive faces); it influences which other components
receive attention.

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L4 - Learning Objectives Perception, Motion & Action

Upon the successful completion of this

lecture students will be able to: Uses of Motion

• Estimating 3D structure
1. Explain the importance of motion
perception. • Segmenting objects based on motion cues
2. Discuss the principles of Gibson’s • Recognizing events and activities
Direct theory of perception.
Theories of Perception
3. Discuss real world applications
of Gibson’s Direct theory of
perception. Gibson’s Theory of Perception
4. Critique the Tau Hypothesis. • Gibson argued that perception influences our actions without any need
5. Evaluate the planning-control for complex cognitive processes to occur. The reason is because the
model. information available from environmental stimuli is much greater than
had previously been assumed.
• The central function of perception is to facilitate interactions between the
individual and his/her environment.

Theoretical assumptions:

• Optic array - The pattern of light reaching the eye; this structured light
contains all the visual information from the environment striking the eye.
• Provides unambiguous or invariant information about the layout of
objects in spaces. This information comes in many forms, including:
• Texture gradients - the rate of change of texture density from the
front to the back of a slanting object.
• Optic flow patterns - the changes in the pattern of light reaching
an observer when there is movement of the observer and/or
aspects of the environment.
• Affordances - the potential uses of an object, which Gibson
claimed are perceived directly.
• Most objects give rise to more than one affordance, with the
particular affordance influencing behavior, depending on the
perceiver’s current psychological state.
• Invariants: properties of the optic array that remain constant even though
other aspects vary.
• Resonance - “picking up” the rich information provided by the optic array
directly via with little or no information processing.
• Focus of expansion - the point towards which someone who is in motion
is moving; it is the only part of the visual field that does not appear to
move.
• Global Radial outflow hypothesis – the overall or global outflow pattern
which specifies the direction an observer is heading.

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 Limitations
• Gibson’s argument that we do not need to assume the existence of
internal representations (e.g., object memories) to understand perception
is seriously flawed.
• Gibson’s views about optic flow make reasonable sense when applied
to an individual moving straight from point A to point B. However,
complications occur when we start considering what happens when we
cannot move directly to our goal (e.g., going around a bend in the road;
avoiding obstacles).
• Translational component of
radial flow - the pattern of
flow due to observer traveling
on a straight path with no eye,
head or body rotation (pure
translation).
• Rotational component of
lamellar flow - which is the
pattern of flow due to observer
eye, head, or body rotation
and/or observer traveling on a
curved path.
• Retinal flow field - produced by
translating toward the “x” while
fixating “o” on top of a post.
• Gibson assumed that optic-
flow patterns generated by
motion are of fundamental
importance when we head
towards a goal.
• However, Hahn, Andersen, and Saidpour (2003) found that motion is
not essential for accurate perception of heading.

Tau Hypothesis - Time to Contact

• Lee’s assumption that it is unnecessary to perceive the distance or speed
of an approaching object to work out the time to contact, provided that
we are approaching it (or it is approaching us) with constant velocity.
• Lee defined tau as the size of an object’s retinal image divided by its
rate of expansion. Tau specifies the time to contact with an approaching
object – the faster the rate of expansion of the image, the less time there
is to contact.

Limitations
• Tau ignores acceleration in object velocity.
• Tau can only provide information about the time to contact with the eyes.
A driver using tau when braking to avoid an obstacle might find the front
of his/her car smashed in!
• Tau is only accurate when applied to objects that are spherically
symmetrical. It would be less useful when trying to catch a football.
• Tau requires that the image size and expansion of the object are both
detectable.

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 Planning Control Model

• Glover’s explanation of how visual information is used in the production

of action (e.g., reaching for a pint of beer).
• He argued that we initially use a planning system followed by a control
system, but with the two systems overlapping somewhat in time.
Planning System Control System
• It is used mostly before the • It is used during the carrying out
initiation of movement. of a movement.
• It selects an appropriate target • It ensures that movements are
(e.g., pint of beer), decides how accurate, making adjustments
it should be grasped, and works if necessary based on visual
out the timing of the movement. feedback.
• It is influenced by factors such as • It is influenced only by the target
the individual’s goals, the nature object’s spatial characteristics
of the target object, the visual (e.g., size, shape, orientation)
context, and various cognitive and not by the surrounding
processes. context.
• It is relatively slow because it • It is fairly fast because it makes
makes use of much information use of little information and is
and is influenced by conscious not susceptible to conscious
processes. influence.
• Planning depends on a visual • Control depends on a visual
representation located in the representation located in the
inferior parietal lobe together superior parietal lobe combined
with motor processes in the with motor processes in the
frontal lobes and basal ganglia. cerebellum.
More specifically, the inferior
parietal lobe is involved in
integrating information about
object identification and context
with motor planning to permit
tool and object use.

Limitations
• The planning and control systems undoubtedly interact in complex ways
when an individual performs an action. Thus, the proposed sequence of
planning followed by control is too neat and tidy.
• Various processes occur within both the planning and control systems,
and we have as yet only a limited understanding of the number and
nature of those processes.
• The model is concerned primarily with body movements rather than eye
movements. However, coordination of eye and body movements is very
important for precise and accurate movements.

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L5 - Learning Objectives Attention and Performance

Upon the successful completion of this

lecture students will be able to:

1. Define and Explain the various

types/ forms of attention
2. Explain the importance of attention
to consciousness
3. Offer a Critique of the Limitations
of Attention
4. Critique the applicability of
the following theories a) Signal
Detection Theory (b) Instance
Theory (c) Feature integration
theory (d) Similarity Theory
5. Compare and contrast THREE filter
theories of attention What is Attention?
6. Describe the symptoms of
• Attention is the allocation of resources and processing to a region/object/
Disorders of attention and
dimension.
treatment considerations
associated each disorder. • William James (1890) distinguished between “active” and “passive” modes
of attention.
• Attention is active when controlled in a topdown way by the
individual’s goals or expectations but passive when controlled in a
bottom-up way by external stimuli (e.g., a loud noise).

Types of Attention

• Focused attention - a situation in which individuals try to attend to only

one source of information while ignoring other stimuli; also known as
selective attention.
• Divided attention - a situation in which two tasks are performed at the
same time; also known as multi-tasking.
• Sustained attention - ability to maintain a consistent behavioral response
during continuous and repetitive activity.

Three Attentional Abilities

• Disengagement of attention from a given visual stimulus.

• Shifting of attention from one target stimulus to another.
• Engaging or locking attention on a new visual stimulus.

Consciousness and Attention

• Consciousness includes both the feeling of awareness and the content of

awareness, some of which may be under the focus of attention; therefore,
attention and consciousness form two partially overlapping sets.

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 • Conscious attention serves three purposes in playing a causal role for
cognition.
• it helps in monitoring our interactions with the environment.
• it assists us in linking our past (memories) and our present (sensations)
to give us a sense of continuity of experience.
• it helps us in controlling and planning for our future actions.

Factors That Influence Our Ability to Pay Attention

• Anxiety - Being anxious, either by nature (trait-based anxiety) or by

situation (state-based anxiety), places constraints on attention.
• Arousal - your overall state of arousal affects attention as well. You may
be tired, drowsy, or drugged, which may limit attention. Being excited
sometimes enhances attention.
• Task difficulty - If you are working on a task that is very difficult or novel
for you, you’ll need more attentional resources than when you work
on an easy or highly familiar task. Task difficulty particularly influences
performance during divided attention.
• Skills - The more practiced and skilled you are in performing a task, the
more your attention is enhanced.
• Personality
• Intentions
• Biological Deficits

Theories of Attention and Performance

Signal Detection Theory

• Signal-detection theory can be discussed in the context of attention,

perception, or memory:
• Attention - paying enough attention to perceive objects that are there
• Perception - perceiving faint signals that may or may not be beyond
your perceptual range (such as a very high-pitched tone)
• Memory - indicating whether you have/have not been exposed to a
stimulus before, such as whether the word “champagne” appeared on
a list that was to be memorized.
• Usually, the presence of a target is difficult to detect. Thus, we make
detection judgments based on inconclusive information with some
criteria for target detections.
• The number of hits is influenced by where you place your criteria for
considering something a hit. In other words, how willing are you to make
false alarms?
• For example, in the case of a lifeguard, the consequences of a miss are
so grave that the lifeguard lowers the criteria for considering something
as a hit. In this way, he increases the number of false alarms to boost hits
(correct detections).

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 The Concept of Vigilance: Waiting to Detect a Signal

• Vigilance - refers to a person’s ability to attend to a field of stimulation

over a prolonged period, during which the person seeks to detect the
appearance of a particular target stimulus of interest.
• When you have to pay attention in order to detect a stimulus that can
occur at any time over a long period of time, you need to be vigilant.
• Search - made more difficult by distracters, nontarget stimuli that divert
our attention away from the target stimulus.
• As with vigilance, when we are searching for something, we may
respond by making false alarms. The police actively search an area
where a crime like a bank robbery has occurred, trying to find the
robbers before they can escape.

Instance theory

• Automaticity is associated with a gradual reduction in the use of

attentional resources.
• Obligatory encoding - “Whatever is attended is encoded into memory”
• Obligatory retrieval - “Retrieval from long-term memory is a necessary
consequence of attention. Whatever is attended acts as a retrieval cue
that pulls things associated with it from memory”
• Instance representation - “Each encounter with a stimulus is encoded,
stored, and retrieved separately, even if the stimulus has been
encountered before”
• When a stimulus is encountered many times produces automaticity
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 Feature integration theory

• Treisman and Gelade (1980) put forward feature integration theory, a

very influential approach to understanding visual search, with the main
assumptions:
• There is an important distinction between the features of objects (e.g.
color, size, lines in particular orientation) and the objects themselves.
• There is a rapid parallel process in which the visual features of objects
in the environment are processed together; this does not depend on
attention.
• There is then a serial process in which features are combined to form
objects.
• The serial process is slower than the initial parallel process, especially
when the set size is large.
• Features can be combined by focused attention to the location of the
object, in which case focused attention provides the “glue” forming
unitary objects from the available features.
• Feature combination can be influenced by stored knowledge (e.g.,
bananas are usually yellow).
• In the absence of focused attention or relevant stored knowledge,
features from different objects will be combined randomly, producing
“illusory conjunctions.”
• In a conjunction search, we look for a particular combination
(conjunction—joining together) of features. For example, the
only difference between a T and an L is the particular integration
(conjunction) of the line segments.
• During conjunction searches, an additional stage of processing is
needed.
• During this stage, we must use our attentional resources as a sort of
mental “glue.” This additional stage conjoins two or more features into
an object representation at a particular location.
• e.g. word searches and combining the first two letters to find the
word on the grid.
• Much research with this paradigm has shown that the amount of time required
to detect targets distinguished by simple features is relatively independent of
the number of distractors on the screen.
• This has been referred to as a “pop out” effect, because the targets appear to
pop out from the background.
• If people use their prior knowledge or experience to perceive an object, they
are less likely to make mistakes or illusory conjunctions.
• Prior-knowledge played an important role in proper perception. Normally,
bottom-up processing is used for identifying novel objects; but, once we
recall prior knowledge, top-down processing is used.
• This explains why people are good at identifying familiar objects rather than
unfamiliar.

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Endogenous system Similarity theory
This is controlled by the individual’s • Visual search times depend on the degree of similarity between:
intentions and expectations, and is
• Target and distractor stimuli
involved when peripheral cues are
presented. • The similarity between the distractors

Models of Attention
Exogenous system
Early Selection Model of Attention
This system automatically shifts
attention and is involved when
uninformative peripheral cues are
presented. Stimuli that are salient or
that differ from other stimuli (e.g., in
color; in motion) are most likely to be
attended to via this system

Late Selection Model of Attention

Attenuation Model of Attention

Errors and Disorders of Attention

• Visual attention is like a spotlight on the visual field. Brain circuits read out the
contents of the spotlight, disengage it, and move it to a new location.
• Neglect - a disorder of visual attention in which stimuli or parts of stimuli presented
to the side opposite the brain damage are undetected and not responded to; the
condition resembles extinction but is more severe.
• Spatial Neglect - A breakdown in visual attention whereby some areas of the
visual field are not perceived.
• Extinction - a disorder of visual attention in which a stimulus presented to the side
opposite the brain damage is not detected when another stimulus is presented
at the same time to the same side as the brain damage.

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L6 - Learning Objectives Reading & Speech Perception

Upon the successful completion of this Language

lecture students will be able to:
Language can be defined as a system of symbols and rules that enable us to
1. To discuss the principles communicate.
of language and language • Speech perception is dependent on the following:
development. • Speed – Language is spoken at a rate up to 12 phonemes (basic
2. To explain the regions of the brain speech sounds) per second
responsible for reading ability. • The segmentation problem - Speech typically consists of a continuous
3. Describe and explain basic patter of sound which has to be divided into words.
processes in reading and • Co-articulation – the pronunciation of any given phoneme is not
characteristics of written language. invariant.
4. Compare and contrast various • Individual differences – listeners have to contend with significant
models of word recognition as individual differences.
applied to the process of reading.
5. Evaluate the types of dyslexia and Word Recognition – spoken word
their theoretical underpinnings
• Spoken language consists of sounds AKA phonemes. These sounds may
as explained by the dual-route
vary based on:
cascaded model.
• Manner of production (oral vs nasal) in involving a partial blockage of
the airstream
• Place of articulation -
• Voicing – the Larynx vibrates for a voiced but not for a voiceless
Phonemes phoneme
Basic speech sounds conveying
Reading
meaning.
Co-articulation • Reading is a new skill in terms of evolutionary history, and it is therefore
unlikely that sufficient time has passed for any adaptive benefits to
The finding that the production
become coded in the human genotype.
of a phoneme is influenced by the
production of the previous sound and • Reading represents a novel skill to be learnt, presumably in the absence
preparations for the next sound; it of some inherited predisposition to acquire the necessary specific skills.
provides a useful cue to listeners. • Reading is about creating an interface between vision and the spoken
language system.
• When a child learns to read it already has a sophisticated visual system
and a spoken language system.

An Introduction to Reading

Humans without effective reading skills are at a great disadvantage. Several

methods are available for studying reading:
1. The lexical decision task - a task in which individuals decide as rapidly
as possible whether a letter string forms a word.
2. The naming task - a task in which visually presented words are
pronounced aloud as rapidly as possible.
3. Recording eye movements - provides an on-line record of attention-
related processes during reading.

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Semantics 4. Brain imaging – identifying the brain areas associated with various
The meaning conveyed by words or language processes.
sentences. • Reading involves several kinds of processing:
Homophones • Orthography - the spelling of words.
Words having one pronunciation but • Phonology - the sound of words.
two spellings. • Homophones - words having one pronunciation but two spellings.
Morpheme • Ex: Rose Vs Rows.
The minimal unit of speech used to • The Phonological neighborhood – Two words are phonological
code a specific meaning neighbors if they differ in only one phoneme:
• Ex: “gate” has “bait”
• Ex: “gate” has “get”
• Semantics - the meaning conveyed by words or sentences.
• Morpheme - the minimal unit of speech used to code a specific
meaning.
• Ex: pill and kill are morphemes; so are –s and –ed.
• Morphemes taken together comprise a mental lexicon, the
dictionary of long-term memory.
• Priming - influencing the processing of (and response to) a target by
presenting a stimulus related to it in some way beforehand.
• The prime word is related to the target word (e.g., in spelling,
meaning, or sound).
• For example, when reading the word “clip,” if the word is preceded
by a non-word having identical pronunciation (“klip”) presented
Meaning full units of language below the level of conscious awareness, it is processed faster.
• Syntax - Grammatical rules that specify how words and other
morphemes are arranged so as to yield acceptable sentences.
• Implicit knowledge provides linguistic intuitions of ungrammatical
strings and equivalency of meaning of different grammatical
constructions.
• Pragmatics - The manner in which speakers communicate their
intentions depends on the social context.
• The cooperative principle - guides conversations so that speakers
utter appropriate statements.
• Ex: We speak audibly, use language understood by the listener,
and follow the rules.
• Conversational implicatures - appropriate inferences drawn by
listeners.
• Ex: if I say “I am out of gas” you might say “There’s a gas station
around the corner.”

The Simple View of Reading

• There are two sets of abilities that contribute to reading:

• Word recognition abilities - the ability to read and understand the
words on the page.

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 • Language comprehension
ability - the ability to understand
language we hear and language we
read.
• Two dimensions of reading
with four possible outcomes.
• Provides a clearer framework
for teachers to focus their teaching
clearly towards learning objectives
for children.
• Clear differentiation WITHIN
THE MIND OF THE TEACHER between
the two dimensions provides a
conceptual framework that:
• Encourages teachers not
necessarily to expect that the
children they teach will show equal
performance or progress in each
dimension.
• Offers the possibility of
separately assessing performance
and progress in each dimension, to
The Simple View of Reading (Hoover and Gough 1990) identify learning needs and guide
further teaching.
• Makes explicit to teachers that different kinds of teaching are needed
to develop word recognition skills from those that are needed to foster
the comprehension of written and spoken language.
• Emphasizes the need for teachers to be taught about and to understand
the cognitive processes involved in the development of both accurate
word recognition skills and of language comprehension.

Word Recognition

Understanding word recognition

• Automatic processing
• Evidence that word identification may be unavoidable in some
circumstances comes from the Stroop effect, in which naming the
colors in which words are printed is slowed when the words themselves
are different color names (e.g., the word RED printed in green).
• The Stroop effect suggests that word meaning can be extracted even
when people try not to process it.
• Letter and word processing
• It could be argued that the recognition of a word on the printed page
involves two successive stages:
1. Identification of the individual letters in the word.
2. Word identification.

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Word superiority effect Theories Of Visual Word Recognition
a target letter is more readily detected
in a letter string when the string forms Interactive Activation Model
a word than when it does not.
• Proposed by McClelland and Rumelhart (1981) to account for the word
superiority effect.
• It was based on the assumption that bottom-up and top-down processes
interact.
• There are recognition units at three levels: The feature level at the bottom;
the letter level in the middle; and the word level at the top.
• Words are recognized at the word level. Activated word units increase
the level of activation in the letter-level units for the letters forming
that word.
• Letters are identified at the letter level. When a letter within a word is
identified, activation is sent to the word level for all four-letter word
units containing that letter in that position within the word, and
inhibition is sent to all other word units.
• When a feature in a letter is detected (e.g., vertical line at the right-
hand side of a letter), activation goes to all letter units containing that
feature (e.g., H, M, N), and inhibition goes to all other letter units.
• Ex: Suppose the word SEAT is presented, and participants decide
whether the third letter is an A or an N. If the word unit for SEAT is
activated at the word level, this will increase activation of the letter
A at the letter level and inhibit activation of the letter N, leading to
stronger activation of SEAT.
• According to the model, top-down processing is involved in the activation
and inhibition processes going from the word level to the letter level. The
word superiority effect occurs because of top-down influences of the
word level on the letter level.

Theories Of Spoken Word Recognition

The TRACE Model

• Proposed by McClelland and Elman (1986), as an “interactive model,”

meaning that higher, more abstract levels of knowledge can interact with
lower levels of processing.
• According to The TRACE model, the mind uses physical acoustic features,
phonemic information (the speech sounds the word is made up of ) and
semantic (or meaning) information to match what you’ve heard to a word
in your memory (your mental lexicon).
• Your mind then considers physical features (such as voicing and sonority),
context, and meaning.
• Ex: you may hear /B/.../R/ and think the word could be “brown,” but if
heard in a sentence lice “swept the floor with the ____,” Brown won’t
make sense, and your mind will try something else.
• The TRACE model assumes that bottom-up and top-down processes

PSYC 2008 - Cognitive Psychology Study Guide 25

Self-teaching hypothesis interact flexibly in spoken word recognition. Thus, all sources of
If children can apply their phonic information are used at the same time in spoken word recognition. The
knowledge to read unfamiliar words, TRACE model is based on the following theoretical assumptions:
they will build a store of spelling • There are individual processing units or nodes at three different levels:
patterns of familiar words linked to their auditory features (e.g., voicing; manner of production), phonemes,
meanings more quickly, because left- and words.
to-right decoding of each grapheme • Feature nodes are connected to phoneme nodes, and phoneme
forces attention sequentially on to nodes are connected to word nodes.
each letter of the unfamiliar word,
increasing likelihood that child will • Connections between levels operate in both directions, and are only
remember it accurately. facilitatory.
• There are connections among units or nodes at the same level; these
connections are inhibitory.
• Nodes influence each other in proportion to their activation levels
and the strengths of their interconnections.
• As excitation and inhibition spread among nodes, a pattern of
activation or trace develops.
• The word recognized or identified by the listener is determined by the
activation level of the possible candidate words.

The COHORT Model

• Proposed by Marslen-Wilson and Tyler (1980), as a “modular” model,

meaning that higher levels don’t interact with lower levels of processing...
rather, they interact with them. The COHORT Model assumes that:
1. Early in the auditory presentation of a word, words conforming to the
sound sequence heard so far become active; this set of words is the
“word-initial cohort.”
2. Words belonging to this cohort are then eliminated if they cease to
match further information from the presented word, or because they
are inconsistent with the semantic or other context.
• Ex: the words “crocodile” and “crockery” might both belong to a
word-initial cohort, with the latter word being excluded when the
sound /d/ is heard.
3. Processing of the presented word continues until contextual
information and information from the word itself are sufficient to
eliminate all but one of the words in the word-initial cohort. The
uniqueness point is the point at which the initial part of a word
is consistent with only one word. However, words can often be
recognized earlier than that because of contextual information.
• Various sources of information (e.g., lexical, syntactic, semantic) are
processed in parallel. These information sources interact and combine
with each other to produce an efficient analysis of spoken language.
• Sensory information from the target word and contextual information
from the rest of the sentence are both used at the same time.

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 Theories Of Reading Aloud

Dual-Route Cascaded Model

• According to Coltheart et al., (2001), dual-route approach, the processes

involved in reading words and non-words differ from each other. These
processes are relatively neat and tidy, and some of them are rule-based.
This contrasts with the connectionist approach pioneered by Seidenberg
and McClelland (1989) and developed most notably by Plaut et al. (1996).
• This model accounts for reading aloud and for silent reading and assumes:
1. There are two main information processing routes between the
printed word and speech, both starting with orthographic analysis
(used for identifying and grouping letters in printed words). The crucial
distinction is between a lexical or dictionary lookup route and a non-
lexical route (Route 1), which involves converting letters into sounds.
• Non-lexical route (Route 1) - differs from the other routes in using
grapheme phoneme conversion, which involves converting
spelling (graphemes) into sound (phonemes).
• Working out pronunciations for unfamiliar words and non-
words by translating letters or groups of letters (GRAPHEMES)
into sounds (PHONEMES) by the application of rules.
• A non word such as “raste”is pronounced to rhyme with “taste”
but is more likely to be pronounced to rhyme with “maste” is
proceeded with “caste”.

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Grapheme • So if the brain damaged person can only use route 1, the use of
A basic unit of written language grapheme phoneme rules to conversion would allow for the
and a phoneme is a basic unit of pronunciation of regular spelling/sound correspondences but not
spoken language. Ex: a letter or letter of irregularly spelt words.
sequence that corresponds to a single • Patients would be able to accurately pronounce regular non-
phoneme, such as the i in pig, the ng words.
in ping, and the igh in high. • Phonological Dyslexia - a condition in which familiar words
can be read but there is impaired ability to read unfamiliar
Phonological Dyslexia words and non-words.

A condition in which familiar words • Lexical route is divided into two sub-routes (Routes 2 and 3).
can be read but there is impaired • Route 2 - Generally used by adults.
ability to read unfamiliar words and • There are representations of thousands of familiar words
non-words. are stored in an orthographic input lexicon.
• This is followed by obtaining meaning from the semantic
Surface dyslexia system, then to the development of the sound pattern
A condition in which regular words (from the phonological output lexicon).
can be read but there is impaired • Non-words and regular words would still be read with
ability to read irregular words. normal accuracy because the non-lexical route can do
this job; but irregular words will suffer, because for correct
reading they require the lexical route.
• The response will just come from the non-lexical route
1, and so will be wrong: “island” will be read as “iz-land,”
Problems on Route 2 and Route 3 yacht to rhyme with “matched,” and have to rhyme
with “cave.”
Familiar regular words and irregular
words should be pronounced • Surface dyslexia - a condition in which regular words
correctly, while unfamiliar, exception can be read but there is impaired ability to read irregular
words and non-words should not. words.
• Route 3 (Lexicon only) - resembles route 2 in that the
orthographic input lexicon and the phonological output
lexicon are involved in reading; however, the semantic system
is bypassed in, therefore, printed words that are pronounced
are not understood.
• It is assumed that healthy individuals use both routes when
reading aloud, and that these two routes are not independent
in their functioning. However, naming visually presented words
typically depends mostly on the lexical route rather than the non-
lexical route, because the former route generally operates faster.
2. Information processing is cascaded because activation at one level
is passed on to the next level before processing at the first level is
complete.
• Dual-route Cascaded Model offers theoretical support for:
• Phonological recoding processes - translating graphemes to
phonemes; developing links between orthographic and phonological
units.
• Orthographic/semantic processes - familiar words stored as
orthographic units which are linked to their meanings and then to
their pronunciations.

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L7 - Learning Objectives Memory

Upon the successful completion of this

lecture students will be able to:
What is memory
1. Define memory and give an
account of types of memory • Memory - the mental process by which information is encoded and stored
processing. in the brain and later retrieved.
2. Discuss concepts and processes • The storage of learned information for retrieval and future use.
associated with Short Term
Memory. • Until the late 1950s, most psychologists viewed memory as a single
system.
3. Explain the types of encoding
and strategies which facilitate • Due to technological advances outside the discipline and scientific
encoding processes. discoveries within, psychologists dramatically changed their views of
memory.
4. Explain the subtypes/classification
structure of Long Term Memory.
Short-Term Memory
5. Discuss the underlying principles
of the Semantic Network Model. • Information is stored in short-term memory for only about 18 seconds.
6. Discuss the Information-Processing • Time can be extended through maintenance rehearsal, which is
Model of Memory. repetitively verbalizing or thinking about information.
7. Discuss the memory stages • Encoding in short-term memory is much more complex than what occurs
and processes outlined by the in sensory memory encoding.
Atkinson-Shiffrin Model.
8. Discuss the Baddeley and Hitch Concepts and Processes Associated with Short Term Memory
Working Memory Model.
• Digit Span Ability - A typical individual’s digit span is 7 + 2.
9. Discuss the underlying principles
of Interference Theory. • Misinformation Effect (False Memory) - when we witness an event and
then get some incorrect information about that event, we incorporate
10. Discuss concepts and research that incorrect information (misinformation) into our memory of the event.
associated with retrieval and The result is an altered memory of the event.
forgetting.
• Serial Position Effect - the tendency to recall information that is presented
first and last (like in a list) better than information presented in the middle.
• Primacy Effect - the tendency for the first items presented in a series
to be remembered better or more easily, or for them to be more
influential than those presented later in the series.
• Regency Effect - the tendency for the last items presented in a series
to be remembered better or more easily, or for them to be more
influential than those presented first in the series.
• Parallel Distribution Processing - the ability of the brain to do many things
(aka, processes) at once. For example, when a person sees an object, they
don’t see just one thing, but rather many different aspects that together
help the person identify the object as a whole.
• Ex: you may see the colors red, black, and silver. These colors alone
may not mean too much, but if you also see shapes such as rectangles,
circles, and curved shapes, your brain may perceive all the elements
simultaneously, put them together and identify it as a car.

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 Encoding

Types of Encoding
• Automatic - memory processing that occurs subconsciously and does not
require attention.
• Effortful - memory processing that occurs consciously and requires
attention.

Encoding Strategies
• Encoding Strategy 1 - Organizing items of information into a meaningful
unit, which is called “chunking,” can greatly increase the amount of
information held in short-term memory.
• Encoding Strategy 2- Making meaning
• Elaborative rehearsal - rehearsal that involves thinking about how
new information relates to information already stored in long-term
memory; involves semantic encoding
• Semantic encoding - Ignoring details and instead encoding the
general underlying meaning of information.

Long-Term Memory
• Explicit memory - the conscious recollection of previous experiences.
Also referred to as declarative memory.
• Episodic - factual information acquired at a specific time and place.
• Events in own life—autobiographical memories
• Semantic - more general in nature
• General knowledge about the world
• Implicit memory - information that influences our thoughts and actions
without conscious recollection. Also called non-declarative.
• Procedural memory - retains information of how to perform skilled
motor activities.
• Habits, activities so well-learned that we carry them out
automatically.
• Results of conditioning

What Constitutes Long-Term Memory Storage?

• In the late 1970s and early 1980s, some cognitive psychologists proposed
that long-term memory consists of multiple systems that encode and
store different types of information.
• Memory researchers are not in agreement on how many long-term
memory systems exist.

Long-Term Memory Organization: Semantic Networks

• Semantic Network Model - a theory that describes concepts in long-term
memory organized in a complex network of associations.
• Cross-cultural studies indicate that the way people use these networks
is influenced by experience and education.

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 Long-Term Memory Organization: Schemas
• Semantic networks are less helpful in explaining how information is
clustered into coherent wholes, called schemas.
• People are more likely to remember things that can be incorporated into
existing schemas than things that cannot.
• Participants given a schema in which to understand a story recalled twice
as many ideas.
• Further studies—schemas help us remember and organize details and
speed up processing time.
• Cross-cultural research indicates that cultural utility plays an important
role in what kind of schemas develop and, thus, what is remembered.

Models of Memory

Information-Processing Model of Memory

The Information Processing Model is a framework used by cognitive
psychologists to explain and describe mental processes.
In the human mind, the input device is called the Sensory Register, composed
of sensory organs like the eyes and the ears through which we receive
information about our surroundings.
As information is received by the Sensory Register, it is processed in the
Working Memory or Short-Term Memory, where information is temporarily
held so that it may be used, discarded, or transferred into long-term memory.
Information that is not currently being used is stored in the Long-Term
Memory for an indefinite period of time. In humans, the result of information
processing is exhibited through behavior or actions - a facial expression, a
reply to a question, or body movement.

• Sensory Memory - Memory system that very briefly stores the sensory
characteristics of a stimulus.
• Environmental information is processed,
• Large capacity for information.
• Duration: 0.25-3.0 SEC
• Serves as a holding area, storing information just long enough for us
to select items for attention.

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 • Information not transferred to short-term memory is quickly replaced
by incoming stimuli and lost.
• Consists of separate memory subsystems:
• Iconic memory - Visual sensory memory is the fleeting memory of
an image, or icon.
• Echoic memory - Auditory sensory memory is often experienced
like an echo.
• Short-Term Memory - A limited-capacity memory system where we
actively “work” with information.
• New information is received from sensory memory.
• Limited capacity for information.
• Duration: About 18 SEC.
• Long-Term Memory - A durable memory system that has an immense
capacity for information storage.
• Information encoded in short-term memory is stored.
• Unlimited capacity for information.
• Duration: Potentially permanent.

Atkinson & Shiffrin Information-Processing Model of Memory

According to this model information must pass through two temporary
storage buffers (stores) before it can be placed into more permanent storage,
and then retrieved for later use.

Model Evaluation
• The conceptual distinction between three kinds of memory store (sensory
store, short-term store, and long-term store) makes sense.
• The articulation of these memory stores as it pertains to:
• Temporal duration
• Storage capacity
• Forgetting mechanism(s)
• Effects of brain damage

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 Baddeley and Hitch : Working Memory Model

The WMM usefully explains real-life problems, such as why we can’t process
written and verbal information at the same time. This has practical applications
in education.
PET brain scans provide evidence for separate components of STM, as different
areas are activated during different tasks.
The WMM is supported by case study of KF, who sustained brain injury from
a motorcycle accident. He was impaired verbally, but was still able to process
visual information. This is evidence for separate stores.
Dual-task studies provide research support for the WMM.

The Working Memory Model Consists of:

• The Central Executive (CE) - the “boss” which coordinates the memory
system and allocates resources to the other two ‘slave-systems.’ It has a
very limited capacity, but can deal with cognitive and problem-solving
tasks.
• Most important and versatile component of the working memory
system.
• Every time we engage in any complex cognitive activity (e.g., reading
a text; solving a problem; carrying out two tasks at the same time)
• It is generally assumed that the prefrontal cortex is the part of the
brain most involved in the functions of the central executive.
• Inhibition function - refers to “one’s ability to deliberately inhibit
dominant, automatic, or prepotent responses when necessary”
• Shifting function - refers to “shifting back and forth between multiple
tasks, operations, or mental sets”
• Updating function - refers to “updating and monitoring of working
memory representations”... It is used when you update the information
you need to remember.
• The Phonological Loop (PL) - comprised of two parts:
• Articulatory control process (inner voice) - uses subvocal rehearsal.

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 • Phonological store (inner ear) - holds the memory of sounds for us to
2 seconds.
• Baddeley’s word length effect supports the PL. Participants recalled
more short words than long words, suggesting that the capacity of
the PL is determined by how long it takes to say the words.
• Visuospatial Sketchpad (VSS) - stores and manipulates visual images and
spatial information (inner eye).
• Gathercole & Baddeley’s experiment supports the VSS. Participants
struggled to follow a moving point of light whilst describing the
angles of the letter F. Both tasks used the VSS. They could easily follow
the light whilst performing a verbal task (separate slave-system).

Weaknesses

• There is very little evidence for the central executive, and little is known
about how it works.
• The WMM is not a comprehensive model, as it does not include any
reference to sensory memory or long-term memory.
• The majority of supporting studies are lab experiments, and so lack
ecological validity. It is then difficult to generalize these findings to real-
world situations.

Interference Theory

• Forgetting occurs when information to be stored is similar to information

already in LTM.
• Retroactive - new info overwrites’ previously stored info.
• Proactive - previously stored info prevents new info from being stored
properly.
• Predicts that forgetting will increase with similarity of information.

Studies

• McGeoch & MacDonald (1931) - PPs had to learn lists of adjectives, recall
after a delay. Three conditions:
1. Did nothing between learning & recall
2. Learned additional unrelated material
3. Learned additional adjectives
• Most forgetting in group 3
• Supports prediction that forgetting is a function of similarity
• Tulving (1966) - PPs asked to free recall word lists they had previously
learned; recall tested on several different occasions.
• Generally, PPs recalled about 50% of the words, but not always the
same 50%.
• Suggests that words had not disappeared but had actually been
inaccessible.
• This is contrary to what interference theory suggests.

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 Retrieving And Forgetting

Types of Retrieval

• Recall - Coming up with an item from scratch.

State Dependency • Recognition - Identifying an item from a list of items.
The surrounding environment can be • Cue Dependent Recall - Coming up with an item after a hint is given.
used as a cue for memory
Forgetting in LTM

• Availability vs. accessibility.

• Interference Theory.
• Suggests that information forgotten from LTM has disappeared
completely.
• Research on Cue dependent forgetting.
• Suggests that forgotten information is still stored, but is (temporarily)
inaccessible.

Research on Cue Dependent Forgetting

• Forgetting occurs when information becomes inaccessible

• We lack the appropriate retrieval cues that will allow us to locate it in
LTM.
• Retrieval cues can be external (context) or internal (state).
• Predicts that remembering will be better when state & context are the
same as at the time of learning.
• Smith (1970) tested recall of a word list in the original learning context or
a different room.
• Same room – 18/80 words.
• Different room – 12/80 words.
• PPs who imagined themselves back in original room recalled avg.
17/80.
• Strong evidence for role of context cues in retrieval.
• Fair amount of support for role of state cues in forgetting/remembering.
• Goodwin et al (1969) – heavy drinkers often forgot where they had put
things when sober, but remembered once they had drunk sufficient
alcohol.
• Eich (1980) - similar findings with heavy marijuana users.
• Much research support for basic propositions.
• Retrieval seems to be most likely when conditions match those of
initial learning.
• Does not apply equally to all types of info.
• E.g. procedural memories (skills) seem stable, resistant to forgetting
and not reliant on retrieval cues.

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36 PSYC 2008 - Cognitive Psychology Study Guide
Final Exam Preparation
Apply FOUR characteristics of scientific methodology developed, while limitations are that 1) computational
to justify why cognitive psychology is a science. In models generally ignore emotional factors; 2) models
your answer, be sure to give examples of the concepts de-emphasize motivational factors.
discussed.
Explain THREE ways that human beings can attend to
The basic premise of cognitive psychology is information.
to examine how mental processes contribute
to human emotions, behavior, and thinking. In Attention is the allocation of resources and processing
doing so, cognitive psychologists develop precise to a region, object, or dimension, and can be divided
theoretical hypotheses, conduct well-controlled into:
experiments in order to confirm or reject them, 1. Focused attention - the ability to attend to only one
develop theories about human thought processes, source of information while ignoring other stimuli;
and predict behavior based on those theories. By also known as selective attention.
applying scientific methods, researchers in cognitive 2. Divided attention - the ability to attend to two
psychology are able to investigate complex systems different tasks at the same time; also known as multi-
such as information processing, language, attention, tasking.
memory, and the effects of brain injury on cognition. 3. Sustained attention - the ability to attend to a stimulus
State and explain TWO research approaches used in or activity over a long period of time.
cognitive psychology. Critically evaluate the utility Each of these types of attention is susceptible to
of the approaches chosen by using examples to attentional abilities like disengagement of attention
demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of each. from a given visual stimulus; shifting of attention
from one target stimulus to another; and, engaging
Cognitive neuroscience is an approach that aims
or locking attention on a new visual stimulus.
to understand human cognition by combining
information from behavior and the brain, based on Our ability to pay attention can also be influenced
the assumption that separate cognitive functions are by several factors including anxiety, arousal state,
properties of separate brain regions. Some strengths biological defects, intentions, personality, task
of cognitive neuroscience are that 1) it uses a great difficulty, and skills.
variety of brain-imaging techniques like PET scans,
Compare and contrast Broadbent’s Early Attention
MRI, and fMRI, that offer excellent temporal or spatial
Theory and the theory proposed by Deutsch and
resolution; 2) those techniques are also flexible and
Deutsch.
permit causal inferences; and, 3) it contributes to the
resolution of complex theoretical issues. Conversely, Both early and late selection models can be thought of
1) it can also be of limited relevance to cognitive as having a selective filter or bottleneck, which extracts
theories; 2) includes potential problems with the attended information for further processing while
ecological validity; and, 3) there is poor understanding filtering out irrelevant, or unattended, information.
of the effects of some of the techniques on the brain, Both models assume that initial processing of all
for example, with TMS. stimuli takes place in parallel, prior to the bottleneck
Computational Cognitive Science is an approach filter, after which the selected information is thought
that involves constructing computational models to undergo deeper, serial processing. The main
to understand human cognition, and allows us to difference between the two models is the position of
predict behavior. Strengths are that 1) theoretical the bottleneck.
assumptions are spelled out in precise detail; 2) Broadbent’s model assumes that the bottleneck
comprehensive cognitive architecture have been occurs very early in processing, and that only simple,

PSYC 2008 - Cognitive Psychology Study Guide 37

physical properties of a stimulus are extracted prior Identify ONE disorder of attention. For this disorder,
to filtering. In contrast, Deutsch and Deutsch placed explain THREE symptoms, ONE underlying cause, and
the bottleneck much closer to the response end of ONE form of treatment.
processing, with the assumption that all incoming Spatial neglect is a disorder of attention that can
stimuli are automatically processed and analyzed for occur after a stroke, most frequently of the right side
meaning, regardless of whether they are consciously of the brain, where such patients fail to be aware of
attended to or not, with selective filtering occurring objects or people to their left. Symptoms include: 1)
only after meaning has been extracted. repeatedly bumping into walls and objects on the
Treisman’s model can be seen as a modified version neglected side; 2) omitting words on one side of a
of Broadbent’s, but replaces the fixed bottleneck with page when reading; and, 3) inability to fixate on a
a more flexible “attenuator,” allowing for unattended person in front of them.
stimuli to not be completely filtered out, but turned One approach in the treatment of neglect, involves
down, or attenuated, making them too weak for directly attempting to reorient attention towards the
processing. neglected side, using visual scanning therapy, and
involves encouraging patients to explore the left side
of space, often with the help of visual cues.

38 PSYC 2008 - Cognitive Psychology Study Guide

©2017 Trevor A. Charles