Transcript Document

Cognitive Psychology PS200-02
Unit 6 Meta-Cognition and Strong Memory Strategies
with Professor Kimberly Maring
Halfway Through
Late work? Get it in by Unit 8!
No late work after that! 
Questions?
Memories Studied
Semantic Memory: facts
Episodic Memory: Autobiographical
How do we increase recall
while decreasing forgetting?
Optimal Memory Strategy!
For the next 10 seconds
you are to memorize the
following list:
Optimal Memory Strategy!
Relax and Take a Break!
What was one significant thing
that happened in the past week?
Now write down all the
words you can remember.
Rehearsal
 Rehearsal is the continuous repetition of a
name or an image of items to be remembered
 Requires the least effort and is natural
Organization
Sorting
Clustering
Association
 Finding something it relates to
Remember last week’s list?
Elaboration
 Defined as the association between two concepts, items,
or images, creating links between newly learned concepts
and stored concepts
Elaboration
 Defined as the association between two concepts, items,
or images, creating links between newly learned concepts
and stored concepts
 “When associated items are placed in an episode,
process, or relation involving both of them, . . . the
memories for these items will be strengthened as a
function of elaboration” (Rohwher & Litrownik, 1983).
Early Memories
To begin, at what age do you have
your first memories?
What types of memories are they?
Emotions Support
Memory Retrieval
• Has this been your experience?
• Do you have childhood memories
which seem “unemotional?”
Autobiographical
Memory
Memories of our own
experiences
Stories in our minds of our
lives
Cognitive Development
 Cognition develops from birth to
age 25
 Prefrontal Cortex
(place your hand on your forehead—the
Prefrontal Cortex resides within)
regulates reasoning
and decision making skills
 Full decision making skills solidify in the
early to 20’s!
Piaget’s Model of Cognitive
Development
Sensorimotor: Age 2 to 7
Preoperational: Age 2-7
 Though language is not fully
 Developing critical thinking
developed, we know that the
STM is working even before
birth.
 Learn of the environment
through senses—sound, sight,
touch, hunger, movement.
skills (talking, walking, potty
training)
 Literate and love stories and
being read to.
 Not able to predict
consequences nor understand
that A + B + C
Piaget’s Model of Cognitive
Development (continued)
Concrete Operational: 7-12 Formal Operational: 12-25
 Logic is the key to this age.
 Understanding life through
logic—love puzzles, mystery
books, etc.
 Abstract thought added to
logic
Childhood Amnesia Phase—Birth
to 3 years
Time of great learning
Great need for memory
function
Memory systems are
necessary for survival
The memory functions of the
brain are developed but not
fully connected
 As the memory system becomes more
adept at remembering things, long term
recall becomes stronger and we begin to
have memories.
Robyn Fivush
Premier researcher
•In of mother/child attachment and brain
development
•In autobiographical memory
•Referred to in our text
•See Resources at the end of this Power Point
Childhood Amnesia
Phase—Birth to 3 years
Parent/Child Interactions
What develops memories in children?
 Eye-to eye contact with pleasant memories
 Verbalizations
 Warm emotional connection
 Parental cues to memory
The above actions create attention
retention ability—Attention is directly
correlated to developing memory
This moves children to the
Memory Phase called
what?
Hint: Ages 10-25
Adolescence (Surprise!)
 From sexual development into adulthood
 The brain remembers many more details in this age
 In our culture it is a legal term
 In developmental psychology uses different classifications
of age and developmental stages
 Prefrontal cortex (understanding of consequences) is fully
connected by age 25
 Inferior temporal and occipital sulcus is fully functional at
14 (tells the brain to take risks and do what “feels good”)
Cognitive Development—
Adolescence
 This theory allows for 11 years of mistakes
that do not take into account consequences.
 How does this relate to storing memories?
 Teens remember EVERY detail
The memory system does not filter out
“unimportant” details
SELECTIVITY OF OLDER BRAINS
 Not forgetful—instead, selective
 More efficient—do not need to listen to everything
someone says
 Better at processing events and environmental stimuli
 Therefore, strong associations are less likely
 Good recent recall
 But weaker STM/LTM recall because of insignificance
The Mature Brain
 Mistakenly assuming that something is not important,
when it really is
 Memory strategies are more sophisticated
 Family, friends, and coworkers help you with stories
All the above account for a dip in accuracy
The 60’s shows an increase in recall. Why?
Less stress =
Better Memory
Any questions?????
Resources
Epstein, R. (2007). The case against adolescence: Rediscovering the adult in every teen. Sanger, CA:
Quill Driver Books.
Fivush, R. (2006). Coping, Attachment, and Mother-Child Narratives of Stressful Events. MerrillPalmer Quarterly, 52, 125-150.
Fivush, R., & Haden, C. A. (Ed.). (2003). Autobiographical memory and the construction of
developmental and cultural perspectives. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Robinson-Riegler, G., Robinson-Reigler, B. (2008). Cognitive psychology: Applying the science of the
mind. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Thompson-Cannino, J., Cotton, R., & Torneo, E. (2009). Picking Cotton: Our memoir to injustice and
redemption. New York: St. Martin’s Press.