define cognitive psychology
internal processes involved in making sense of the environment.
central to all human behaviour
frameworks in cog psych
- 1950-80s: computer metaphor; info processing
- 1980s-now: connectionist, neural networks
- 1990s-now: neuroimaging
brain image dependence?
- neuroscience increased quality of good and circular interpretations
- seductive allure of neuroscience
levels of description
- computational - what needs to be computed for the goals
- conceptual - representational algorithm; steps for output
- hardware - physical means of representation
experimental cog psych
- behavioural evidence to test science
BUT theories often abstract
cognitive neuropsychology
- patterns of impairment
BUT only single cases
computational modelling
- computational modelling
BUT often specify details not part of theory
cognitive neuroscience
- snapshots of brain activity with fMRI
BUT diff measures show diff brain functioning
defining memory
kinds of knowledge
- sensory memory- breif copy of event
- STM- buffer for temp maintenance of info
- LTM- facts/episodes/procedures
traditional view of memory
sensory stores -> STM -> LTM
STM traditional view
capacity: 7+2
decays within 30secs
phonological
LTM traditional view
capacity: unlimited
forgetting due to interference rather than decay
semantic
problems with traditional view
- not always bottom up process
semantic influences on STM tasks
- proactive interference - recall deteriorates across successive trials
- semantic in LTM influences tasks in STM
Interactive memory architecture describe features
LTM - declarative memory (semantic & episodic) & procedural memory (memory how to do things)
WM- working memory
Baddeley working memory what is central executive
responsible for memory processes
- limited capacity control system responsible for co-ordination, selection
what are the slave systems responsible for temp storage
phonological loop- verbal info
visuospatial sketchpad- maintains visual and spatial info
limitations of baddeley’s model
- central executive is poorly defined, poorer performance when asked to do 2 tasks at once
executive function approach
- control and regulation of thought associated with frontal lobes
how is executive functions identified?
- wisconsin card sort
1. updating: letter memory
2. shifting: colour shape task
3. inhibition: anti-saccade task
How does psychometric approach measure work done by WM
memory capacity in real world tasks to assess simultaneously BOTH storage and processing
complex span task
- requires both processing and storage, better predictors of comprehension
individual diff in WM
- higher WM less seductive details effect, not distracted
- higher WM less vulnerable to mind wandering
