Transcript Document
PS200 Introduction to Cognitive Psychology Unit 6 Nichola Cohen Ph.D. What is a memory strategy? What is a memory strategy? A cognitive procedure used by the memory system to access stored (recent and old) memories Some are intentionally employed, others are used from habit (Coyle and Bjorklund, 1996) What sorts of strategies can we use to help with memory? What sorts of strategies can we use to help with memory? Rehearsal Organization Association Elaboration Rehearsal Rehearsal The continuous repetition of a name or an image of items to be remembered (Ornstein et al, 1975) This strategy is the least effortful to use and is often used with little consciousness Rehearsal can be active or passive Ornstein et al (77) Active rehearsal = looking away from a list while repeating the words out loud Passive rehearsal = bobbing heads or mouthing the words to be recalled while looking at them Younger children demonstrated qualities of passive rehearsal Older children used active rehearsal Serial position effect Serial position effect An items place in a list is crucial to recall Primacy effect – items at the beginning of the list is easiest to recall Recency effect – memory is also good for items at the end of a list Organization Organization Sorting Clustering Organization Sorting Grouping items together by similar characteristics Clustering Assessing items for similar qualities With sorting the mind unconsciously groups items together With clustering items are formally grouped using category names, requiring more effort than sorting (DeMarie and Ferron, 2003) Associative strategies Associative strategies Multi-step process, involving remembering the items, identifying their qualities and constructing a unified meaning Mnemonic strategies rely on associative skills Method of loci Associative strategies Multi-step process, involving remembering the items, identifying their qualities and constructing a unified meaning Mnemonic strategies rely on associative skills Method of loci - link to-be-remembered material to known locations Retrieve with “mental walk” Effectiveness of visual processing Elaboration Elaboration The association between 2 concepts, items or images, creating links between newly learned concepts and stored concepts (Kee and Davies, 1991) The most effortful of the memory strategies Older children can use this ability to create deeper association to learn a learn idea of concept (McLean, 2008) When should you use each of the strategies? When should you use each of the strategies? Rehearsal: to memorize facts and images that do not require deep understanding Organization: when memorizing facts, images or concepts that can be easily grouped together Association: when memorizing vast amounts of information to allow you to better create meaning Elaboration: to memorize complicated concepts that require understanding of previously learned information How do meta-awareness and meta-cognition relate to this? How do meta-awareness and meta-cognition relate to this? They are vital to choose an appropriate memory strategy of a certain situation If you plan your method of memorization before beginning to memorize and you select the best strategy, you will recall the information more effectively Meta-awareness can aid the evaluation of the effectiveness of a memory strategy What steps should you take to apply a memory strategy? What steps should you take to apply a memory strategy? Assess the learning task Choose a strategy that will best fit Apply the strategy to the task During the task evaluate the effectiveness If it isn’t working, try something else When finished evaluate the overall effectiveness If displeased with the results, reassess the use of the strategy Can you use multiple memory strategies at one time? Can you use multiple memory strategies at one time? Yes! Recent research has shown that multiple strategies can be employed in combination (Siegler, 1996) For example, you might create groups and then engage in rehearsal