Cognitive

Processing

Cognitive Approach to
Understanding Behavior
 Essential Understandings
1. Mental representations guide our behaviour.

2. Models can be used to help us understand complex processes such as memory

and decision making.

3. Humans are information processors.

4. The mind, although it cannot be directly observed, can be studied scientifically.

 Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive psychologists are involved in finding out

Concerns itself with the structure and
how the human mind comes to know things about
functions of the mind.
the world and how it uses this knowledge. They
The cognitive approach to understanding argued that scientific psychology should include
behaviour developed around the 1950’s as research on mental processes and how humans
a result of an increasing dissatisfaction with process information and create meaning.
behaviourism, which was the dominant
According to cognitive psychologists, the mind can
school of scientific psychology.
be conceptualized as a set of mental processes that
Behaviourists argued that only behaviour
are carried out by the brain. These mental
that could be observed should be studied
processes include perception, thinking, decision
because the processes that take place
making, problem solving, memory, language and
within the mind cannot be examined.
attention. Cognition is also related to one's personal
experience.
Perception Thinking
 1. We are information
processors.
Assumptions 2. Cognitive processes can be
studied scientifically by
Cognitive Approach scientific research methods.
3. We are cognitive misers.
4. Our cognitive processes
influence behavior.
 ATL:
Thinking Critically
Will it ever be possible to develop
robots that can think like
humans?
Based on what you have seen in the video,
do you think it will ever be possible to In what ways are the human mind and
construct a robot that could process computers the same? Start off by making
information like we do?
Do you think that this would be a good thing - a list of what the human mind can do and
or a bad thing? Be able to justify your what the computer can do. What do you
response.
think are the most significant differences
between the human mind and computers?

Now please watch the video.

 Infantile
Amnesia
Video:
Why can’t you remember bei
ng a baby?

Let’s try to reflect and share

some of your earliest
memories.

Do we see any trends in

what all of you remember?
How confident do you feel about your
responses?
Why some of these things are easier
to remember than others?
Which questions were difficult to
answer and what cues did you use to
remember the information?
 Task
Write down responses to the following
questions:
1. What time did you wake up
yesterday?
2. What was the name of your first pet?
3. Where were you on Friday evening
at 8:00 pm?
4. What was the name of the last hotel
that you stayed in?
5. Where did you spend your holiday last year? (Only any holiday that was more than
9 months ago).
6. What was the name of your pre-school (or Kindergarten) teacher?
7. What did you have for lunch last Friday?
8. What grade did you receive on your last maths assessment?
 Memory
Memory has been described as a process with different
memory stores where information flows between the
The concept of memory refers to the process by different parts of the system. Research on brain-damaged
which information is encoded, stored, and patients supports the theory that different types of memory
retrieved. are stored in different parts of the brain.
The most basic division of memory is:
Cognitive psychologists have suggested ways to
conceptualize the architecture and processes of Short-term memory (also called Working Memory): If
the memory system by making models of memory. sensory information is recognized or considered important
it is coded and sent to short-term memory (working
In psychology, a model of memory is a memory), which has limited capacity and is supposed to
last only around 12 seconds.
hypothesized representation of memory. It is more
like an outline of the different stores and Long-term memory: If the information is rehearsed or
processes indicating how memory might work attended to in some way it is recorded and transferred into
according to available evidence. long-term memory, which has unlimited capacity and may
last forever.
Researchers suggest that there are multiple types of memory.

1. Semantic memory: Factual knowledge that you have. This is what many people think about when they
think about "memory."
2. Episodic memory: These are your autobiographical memories - that is, memories of events or experiences;
for example, graduation day, your first kiss, memories of happy childhood events or personal tragedy.
3. Procedural memory: Memories of how to do so something - also habits that we have are procedural
memory.
4. Facial recognition: The ability to recall and recognize faces. The disability which is the result of damage to
the fusiform gyrus is called prosopagnosia.

Principles of memory based on modern research

There are different types of memory that are processed and stored in different parts of the brain.
Memory can be divided into conscious (explicit) memories - including semantic memory for facts and episodic
memory for events - and unconscious implicit memory systems that include skills, habits, and learned emotional
responses.
Explicit memory is expressed through recollection; implicit memory is expressed through performance.
Prosopagno
sia
Watch the following video and take
note of how the inability to recall
faces affects the daily lives of those
that suffer from the condition.
https://youtu.be/dxqsBk7Wn-Y
 Multi-store Memory Model

The model suggests that sensory information from the world enters sensory memory, which is
modality specific - that is, related to different senses, such as hearing and vision. The most
important stores in the model are the visual store (iconic memory) and the auditory store (echoic
memory). Information in the sensory store stays here for a few seconds and only a very small amount of
the information will continue into the short-term memory (STM) store. Rehearsal is vital to keeping
material active in STM by repeating it until it can be stored in LTM.
 Multi-store Memory Model (MSM)
Models of memory that can be tested to determine their validity.

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) were among the first to suggest a basic structure of
memory with their Multi-store Model [MSM] of memory.

Although this model seems rather simplistic today, it sparked much research based on
the idea that humans are information processors. The model is inspired by computer
science.

The model is based on a number of assumptions:

the model argues that memory consists of a number of separate locations in which
information is stored
those memory processes are sequential
that each memory store operates in a single, uniform way
In this model, short-term memory (STM) serves as a gateway by which information can
gain access to long-term memory.
Multi-store Memory Model (MSM)

Video:
https://youtu.be/7G9IK_mUmRE
 Case study of HM (Milner,1966): Biological evidence that STM
and LTM are located in different stores in the brain. In Milner's
study, HM had anterograde amnesia - that is, he could not
transfer new information to long-term memory; however, he still
had access to many of his memories prior to his surgery.
However, the fact that he could create new procedural
memories shows that memory may be more complex than the
MSM predicts.

It is important to understand that the case study of HM is unique - but it is not the only
study of its type. Clive Wearing confirms many of the findings of the HM study. In
addition, both studies can be used to explain that different types of memories are
encoded and stored in different parts of the brain.
Patient HM

Clive Wearing
 Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) used free recall of a list of 15
items combined with an interference task to show that there are
two processes involved in retrieving information. The researchers
showed 15 lists of 15 words one at a time and had subjects recall
the words under one of three conditions: recall with no delay, with
a 10-second delay, and with a 30-second delay. With no delay,
the first 5 and last three words were recalled best but with a 10 or
30-second delay during which the subject counted backward there
was little effect on the words at the beginning of the list but poor
recall of later items.

This suggests that the later words were held in short-term storage and were lost due to
interference whereas the earlier words had been passed to long-term storage. The ability
to recall words at the beginning of the list because they had already been transferred to
long-term memory is called the primacy effect. The ability to recall words that have
just been spoken because they are still in short-term memory is called the recency
effect.
Evaluation
of MSM
 To counter the oversimplification...
Craik and Lockhart (1972) proposed the levels of processing (LOP) model
of memory

According to Craik and Lockhart, information undergoes a series of levels of processing,

shallow and deep, and the deeper information is processed, the stronger its trace in
long-term memory. Shallow processing only takes into account superficial features of the
stimulus, such as the physical properties (structural processing) or the acoustic
properties (phonetic processing). This is exactly what happens in rote rehearsal: we
either repeat something to ourselves (phonetic) or recreate the mental image of how
something looks (structural). Deep processing, on the other hand, occurs in the form of
semantic processing and involves building the stimulus into the structure of meaningful
connections and associations, that is, linking it to prior knowledge.
LTM is not a unitary store...
At least three types of memory might be stored
differently:

episodic (memory of events),

procedural (how-to memory, for example,
memory of how to tie your laces or how to ride
a bike) and
semantic (general knowledge).

One source of evidence for these claims is from

case studies of amnesia where some memories
were lost while others stayed intact.
Working Memory Model (WMM)
 Working Memory Model (WMM)
Baddeley and Hitch (1974) were among the first to challenge the view that STM is a
single store. Their working memory model suggests that STM is not a single store but
rather consists of a number of different stores. Baddeley and Hitch observed in lab
experiments that if participants perform two tasks simultaneously that both involve listening,
they perform them less well than if they did them separately. They had also noticed that if
participants performed two tasks simultaneously that involved listening and vision, there was
no problem. The procedure where participants carry out two tasks at once is known as a
dual-task technique.

This suggests that there are different stores for visual and auditory processing. Baddeley
and Hitch suggested that working memory should be seen as a kind of mental workspace,
which provides a temporary platform that holds relevant information for use in any cognitive
task. Once the task is completed, the information can quickly disappear and make space for
a new round of information processing.
 The Central Executive
An attention control system that monitors and coordinates the operations of the other subordinate components,
which are called slave systems.

It has the capacity to focus attention, to divide attention between two or more sources and to switch attention
from one task to another. The central executive has limited capacity, which basically means that you cannot
attend to a lot of things at the same time. It is also modality free, which means that it can process any sensory
information, whether it be auditory or visual.
Baddeley suggests that the most important job of the central executive is attention control. This happens in two
ways.

The automatic level is based on habits that rely on schemas in long-term memory and controlled
more or less automatically by stimuli from the environment. This includes routine actions such as cycling
to school and places only limited demand on attention.
The supervisory attention level deals with planning and decision making. It creates new strategies
when the old ones are no longer sufficient. It is also active in emergency situations. For example; trying to
avoid eating that lovely chocolate dessert when you are trying to eat a more healthy diet.
The Phonological Loop (Verbal STM)
The phonological loop is the auditory component of STM and it is divided
into two components. The first component is the articulatory control
system, or inner voice, which can hold information in a verbal form. This
happens when you try to remember a telephone number and repeat it to yourself.
The articulatory loop is also believed to hold words ready for cognitive tasks, for
example as you prepare to speak. The second component is the phonological
store, or inner ear. It holds auditory memory traces. Research shows that a
memory trace can only last from 1.5 to 2 seconds if it is not rehearsed by the
articulatory control system. The phonological store can receive information directly
from sensory memory in the form of auditory material, from LTM in the form of
verbal information, and from the articulatory control system.
 Conrad and Hull (1964)
Demonstrated the phonological similarity effect. In their study participants were
required to recall lists of letters. Some lists of letters were phonologically similar
(for example, B, D, C, G, P) while others were not (for example, F, H, P, R, X).

They found that rhyming lists were more difficult to remember. This is because the
traces of similarly sounding letters (if they are encoded acoustically) are easier to
confuse with each other.

This supported the idea that memory for speech material uses a sound-based
storage system, which we now know as the phonological store.
 The Visuospatial Sketchpad
The visuospatial sketchpad is the visual component of STM and could be called the
inner eye. It is a temporary store for visual and spatial information from either sensory
memory or LTM. Visual processing includes storage and manipulation of visual patterns
and spatial movements in two or three dimensions. The visuospatial sketchpad helps us
remember not only what visual information is important, but also where it is.

The Episodic Buffer

This buffer temporarily holds several sources of information active at the same time,
while you consider what is needed in the present situation. This means - auditory and
visual information together, as well as information from LTM.
Can you really multitask?
IA Support Material:
Myth of Multitasking
 Read any 2 of the following:
The Myth of Multitasking

Is multitasking a myth?
Psychology Today:
Technology - the myth of multitasking
(Jim Taylor)
Multitasking may adversely affect lear
ning
Multitasking adversely affects brain's l
earning
, UCLA psychologists report
Media multitasking is really multi-distr
acting
(Science Daily)
Is technology producing a decline in c
Activity ritical thinking and analysis?
Propose a design for an experiment for 16-year-old pre-IB
Design an Experiment students. Directions:
Based on the research that you have read, your team should
design a procedure that would test a participant’s ability to
multitask. First, clearly write out your hypothesis. In your
design be sure to identify the IV and the DV as well as the
Evaluation of WMM
References:
InThinking
IB Psychology Course Companion (Oxford)