Download Semantic memory models

Cognitive Psychology
Spring 2005
-Discussion Section-
Cognitive functions
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Perception
Emotion
Attention
Motivation
Memory
Categorization Action
Imagery
Decision-making
Reasoning, problem-solving
Language
Full plate
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Finishing up memory issues
Memory for General knowledge
Intro to Categories
7 sins
Rosch & Mervis
Nickerson & Adams
Exam Review
Repressed memories
•A hot issue since the mid 90s. Number of
Cases exloded.  Into the thousands.
•People have been sued and convicted
Of ghastly crimes (often involving relatives)
•Usually based on concept of repression
(Introduced by Freud).
Repressed memories
•While it is impossible to tell in an invididual case,
some things are very troubling...
•Scientific concept of Repression is extremely shaky. No
evidence that it can happen. In fact, the opposite seems to be
true (PTSD)
•It has been shown that very vivid memory can be implanted into
the minds of both adults and children. The subjects can´t
discriminate real vs. implanted memories.
•The process of recovery (recovery therapy) is very similar to the
process used for artificial implantation.
•Evidently wrong „recovered“ memories seem to be progressive,
 the reports of the abuse get more and more severe over time.
•People who solidly claim that they were abducted by space aliens
and similarly outrageous stories usually have bad source memory.
Memory for general knowledge
•Basic distinction: Episodic vs. Semantic.
•Many differences
Endel Tulving
•Intuitively clear:
State, Chicago ;) ?
Knowing Facts, „Knowledge“
Ate, Breakfast?
Recall of Personal experiences
Repetition
with invariant
core
Memory for general knowledge
•Semantic memory models:
•Hierarchical model
•Feature comparison model
Networks,
Feature lists, etc.
•ACT model
•Schemata
Very 70´s and
80´s style.
Inspired by
Computer science
•Scripts
•Connectionist models, neural networks
•Episodic memory models: ?
90s, Neuroscience
inspired
Memory for general knowledge
•Hierarchical model
-Spread of activation
-Nodes
-Semantic priming
-RT based studies
-Typicality
Semantic network
Hierarchical
•Feature comparison model
•Memory as a linked feature list
•Every concept consists of a set of elements (features)
•There are defining and characteristic features
•The more defining features, the easier. Explains category size effect
(abstractness)
Memory for general knowledge
•ACT theory
•A central psychological theory
•Combines working memory, declarative
and procedural memory.
•Nodes, Production rules
•Conditions, actions
•Activated production rules create nodes
John Anderson
Memory for general knowledge
•Schemata
•Organized information
•Contain fixed slots and variable content
•Questionnaire (template) model of memory
•Default values
•Scripts
•Schema for routine events
•Restaurant example
•Allows inferences, leaving things unsaid. Problem: Intrusions.
Memory for general knowledge
•Connectionist models
•Parallel processing
•Learning (unobserved)
•Layers (Input, Processing, Output)
•Nodes and Links
•Weights
•Increasingly popular, powerful
•Hard do damage, robust  plausible
James McClelland
Life without categories?
 Categories have tremendous
utility for organisms.
 Categories make cognition
efficient, language possible.
 Mistakes in Categorization
have serious consequences.
The concept of a category
More realistically...
The seven sins of memory by Dan
Schacter
What are the seven sins?
•Pride
•Transience
•Envy
•Absentmindedness
•Gluttony
•Blocking
•Lust
•Misattribution
•Anger
•Suggestibility
•Greed
•Bias
•Sloth
•Persistence
Take home from seven sins:
•Transience
•Absentmindedness
•Blocking
•Misattribution
•Suggestibility
•Bias
•Persistence
A central paper. You
should be able to:
•Name them
•Explain what they are
•Know empirical evidence
of their reality
•Explain the adaptive
system they derive from.
Nickerson & Adams
Nickerson & Adams
1c
Nickerson & Adams
1$?
Nickerson & Adams
•Basic points:
•Familiarity does not guarantee retention.
•Even if there were literally thousands of
presentations of the information.
•Crucial are importance, which generally
leads to the deployment of attention.
•In the absence of these, memory is poor.
•People are not necessarily aware of this.
Introspection is a bad measure of memory
for everyday objects.
Nickerson & Adams
 Study tip: Try to think that the
course material is important and pay
attention. Try to care. That way,
memory will naturally be much better
than if you just read/hear the stuff.
Rosch & Mervis
•Then:
Typicality
effects in
categorization
Rosch
Berkeley
Now:
Mervis
Louisville
-Psychology of Meditation
-Williams Syndrome
-Buddhist Psychology
-Genetic Neuropsychology
-Eastern Religions, Embodiment
Review for midterm:
•2nd midterm is on next Monday, as scheduled
•Topics are basically Memory and Categorization
•Try to study on the weekend. Email me for questions
•Material from Lecture, Book, Discussion section
and papers. Look online for my slides.
•Don´t panic, it could be worse.
Concepts to know
•Interference:
Proactive
1
vs.
2
Retroactive
1
•Explicitness:
Explicit
vs.
Bla
Implicit
2
Concepts to know
•Modal model of memory:
Sensory memory  Short term memory
Storage
Long term memory
Retrieval
Information
Response
•Encoding specificity
-Context effect
-State dependent
learning
-Cues!
Concepts to know
•Working memory = structured STM
Central
executive
Visuospatial
sketchpad
Phonological
loop
•Memory structure
LTM
Knowing how to...
Knowing that...
Declarative
Procedural
Implicit
Episodic
Vivid Recall
Semantic
Knowing
Explicit
Concepts to know
•Basic memory processes
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
•Sins of memory
7
Topics to know
Short term memory
Coding, Capacity, Retention duration, etc.
Serial position effects (primacy, recency, use).
Mnemonic strategies: Chunking, rehearsal.
Working memory
Inferference (Proactive, retroactive)
Memory search (serial, exhaustive)
Long term memory
Coding, Capacity, Retention duration, etc.
Levels of processing theory
Forgetting: Decay, Interference, Overwriting
Encoding specificity: State-dependent learning,
Context effects, spacing, cues, mood dependent
learning.
Autobiographical memory
-Flashbulb memory (Vivid, yet not more accurate)
-Eyewitness testimony (Constructive, Post hoc)
-Repressed memories (Controversial, doubtful)
-Amnesia (Symptoms)
Memory for general knowledge
•Dichotomies:
Implicit vs. Explicit memory
Declarative vs. Procedural memory
Semantic vs. Episodic memory
•Models:
Hierarchical model
ACT model
Network models
Connectionist model
Feature comparison model
Scripts
Schemata
Highly inspired by Computer
Science, Linguistics
Problematic concepts
Implicit memory vs. explicit memory
•Main difference:
Explicit memory is verbal, can be verbalized.
Implicit memory is nonverbal, cannot be verbalized
•To note:
Strictly speaking, „implicit“ or „explicit“ are ways
to probe memory, not necessarily properties of the
system itself!
Even if, the systems are not symmetric. Semantic
memory is NOT implicit.
Problematic concepts
Serial position effects
= Primacy and Recency effect in recalling lists
Usage: Evidence for difference between STM and LTM
Primacy: LTM
Recency: STM
Problematic concepts
Declarative memory
NOT a memory for specific events.
Conceptually, it´s everything in memory that can
be verbalized. A super-category including both
episodic and semantic memory. It is EXPLICIT.
Problematic concepts
Procedural memory
NOT memory for routine activities like
restaurant visits. Confusion with Scripts.
Procedural memory cannot be verbalized!
It contains information about actions and their
sequences. „Know how (to)“
Good luck!