CHAPTER OUTLINE

I. The information-processing approach

“Cognitive revolution” generated information-processing theory

Based on inadequacies of behaviorist approach and computer technology

Computer model of information-processing

1. Hardware (brain and nervous system) and software (rules and strategies)

2. Emphasis on mental processes like attention, memory, decision making

A. The Memory System

1. Atkinson and Shiffrin model of memory

a. sensory register-- holds incoming information for fraction of second

b. short-term memory-- holds about seven items for several seconds

c. working memory-- active form of short-term memory

“mental scratch pad”

d. long-term memory-- relatively permanent store of information

2. Steps to learning and memory

a. encoding-- getting information into system (sensory to short-term)

b. storage-- holding information (in long-term)

c. retrieval-- getting information out of long-term memory

3. Types of retrieval

a. recognition memory-- recognize among options (multiple choice

test)

b. recall memory-- active retrieval without cue (essay question)

c. cued-recall-- active retrieval with cue (hint)

B. Implicit and Explicit Memory

1. Implicit memory-- unintentional, automatic

2. Explicit memory-- deliberate, effortful

a. amnesia more likely to impact explicit memory

b. implicit may develop earlier

c. two types follow different paths of development

i. explicit capacity increases from infancy to adulthood then

declines

ii. implicit memory capacity does not change much across the life

span

C. Problem Solving

1. Problem solving-- using information-processing system to arrive at decision

2. Executive control processes-- part of system that plans and monitors activity

3. Humans are parallel processors--can carry out several mental activities at same

time

4. Focus on how problem solving is done

5. Many processes improve between infancy and adulthood, then show some

decline

II. The infant

A. Memory

1. Assessment of infant memory-- often with imitation, habituation or operant conditioning techniques

2. Imitation-- measure memory by having infant repeat activity they have seen

infants imitate tongue thrust

i. may be reflex action

ii. deferred imitation-- ability to imitate a novel act after a delay

appears at 6-months of age

3. Habituation-- learn to not respond to a repeatedly presented stimulus (get

bored)

a. measure of recognition memory

b. newborns habituate and can retain for a few days or weeks

4. Operant conditioning

a. Rovee-Collier and colleagues demonstrated recall memory in infants

i. shown mobile

ii. ribbon tied to infants leg and when leg kick mobile moves

iii. ribbon removed

iv. days later infant kicks at site of mobile

v. 3-month-olds recall for 1 week, 6-month-olds remember for 2

weeks, 18-month-olds remember for 3 months

b. memory strongest when cued (cue dependent)

c. memory appears context specific (context-specific)

5. Recall-- retrieval without cue

a. toward end of first year of life will search for hidden toy

b. 13-month-olds imitate sequence of events (held in memory)

c. 2-year-olds used words to reconstruct earlier events

B. Problem Solving

By 9 months infants can solve the problem of reaching an object that is out of

reach, younger infants can solve problems if given hints

III. The child

Dramatic improvements in learning and memory in childhood

A. Explaining Memory Development

1. Four major hypotheses

a. changes in basic capacities

i. more memory space

ii. increasing speed of processing increases

b. changes in memory strategies

increasing use of effective encoding and retrieval strategies

c. increased knowledge about memory

i. know how long to study (i.e., which tasks take longer)

ii. better at selection of strategies

d. increased knowledge about world

i. expertise leads to improvements in memory

ii. familiar material easier to recall

2. Do basic capacities change?

a. little change in long-term memory capacity

b. speed of processing increases

c. Piagetian centration may be due to memory limitations

d. short-term memory capacity increases in childhood

processes may become automatized, freeing up memory space

e. short-term memory increases may be domain specific

f. improvement due to biological maturation of brain and experience

3. Do memory strategies change?

a. rehearsal-- repeating items in memory, one of the first strategies

dramatic increase between ages 5 and 7

b. organization-- clumping into meaningful groups emerges as effective

tools around age 9

c. elaboration-- actively creating meaning

i. add meaningful link between items

ii. emerges later

d. deficiencies in three phases

i. mediation deficiency-- don’t benefit even when taught to use

strategy

ii. production deficiency-- can use strategy, but do not produce

any on their own

iii. utilization deficiency-- can spontaneously produce strategy,

but doesn’t benefit from strategy use

e. child-task interaction key to emergence of utilization deficiencies

f. retrieval strategies-- methods of accessing long-term memory

young children often fail to benefit from being taught memory

strategies (tend to rely on external cues for encoding and

retrieval)

4. Does knowledge about memory change?

a. metamemory-- knowledge about process of remembering

b. metacognition-- knowledge about cognitive processes

i. 2- to 3-year-olds demonstrate some metacognitive skills

ii. 5-year-olds detect differences in salience of events

iii. timing may make a difference as highest overestimates of

memory occur just after the task

iv. increases in metamemory major contributor to improved

memory

v. need to know why a strategy is useful in order to be motivated

to use it

5. Does knowledge of the world change?

knowledge base-- what someone knows

i. Chi showed knowledge of chess could impact memory for

chess positions

ii. expertise can improve memory for related materials

6. Revisiting the explanations

a. older children greater information-processing capacity

b. older children use more effective memory strategies

c. older children know more about how memory works (metamemory

skills)

d. older children have larger knowledge base

e. most effective predictor of memory performance includes basic

capacities, strategies, and metamemory

B. Autobiographical Memory-- Memory for Our Own Experiences

When do autobiographical memories begin?

a. childhood (infantile) amnesia-- most have few autobiographical

memories for events occurring before age 2

i. limited early autobiographical memories may be due to lack of

working memory space

ii. lack of language skills may impact autobiographical memory

iii. memories may be no longer useful

iv. fuzzy-trace theory-- store verbatim and general accounts

separately

v. verbatim memories unstable

vi. memory for gist better

vii. with age make transition from verbatim to gist

viii. may lose explicit recall of early experience

b. scripts-- mental sequence for an event/behavior

i. children report general sequences versus specific experience

ii. experiences lead to better scripts

c. eyewitness memory

i. reconstructed nature of memory interferes with accuracy of

eyewitness testimony

ii. young children are fairly accurate but report less information

than older children

iii. leading or irrelevant, and ambiguous questions result in

inaccuracies

C. Problem Solving

Siegler's rule-assessment approach-- focus on what children take in and the rules

they formulate

a. research on balance beam problem

i. young children use no rules

ii. 4- and 5-year-olds rule based on weight

iii. by 8 also considered distance

iv. by 12 rule dependent on both weight and distance that is

successful on simple problems

v. by 20 rule dependent on both weight and distance that is

successful on complex problems

vi. accuracy takes time

b. most children use multiple rules

c. natural selection of effective rules is adaptive

d. with experience, problem solving strategies become more effective

over time

IV. The adolescent

A. Improvements During Adolescence

1. New learning and memory strategies emerge

2. Use of strategies is more deliberate, selective, and spontaneous

better able to push irrelevant information out of working memory

3. Basic capacities improve

a. increase in speed of processing

b. knowledge base increase

c. metamemory and metacognition improve

when pressed for time devote more time to easy items

d. are able to apply information-processing skills deliberately and

spontaneously across a variety of tasks

V. The adult

A. Developing Expertise

Effect of knowledge base on memory and problem solving

a. experts have larger, more organized knowledge base, and information used efficiently

b. knowledge and processing is domain-specific

i. experts in math are good at numeric memory, but performance

does not translate to other domains

ii. domain specific knowledge can hinder performance if solution

violates common principle

c. expertise can allow for compensation for losses in information-

processing capacities

B. Autobiographical Memory

1. Adult autobiographical memories in adulthood may be an integration of several

episodes

2. Autobiographical memories of former self tend to be more negative than current perception

3. Recall more information from late teens and early 20s than from any other time

a. could be due to the effect this time of life has on shaping who we are as

an adult

b. could be due to their distinctiveness

C. Memory and Aging

Common trouble recalling names and items that will later be needed

Become more upset at memory loss, seen as indicator of aging

1. Areas of Strength and Weakness

a. memory pattern in adulthood

i. research cross-sectional, declines may be the result of factors

other than age

ii. declines most noticeable in older adulthood (71+)

iii. not all older people experience memory difficulties

iv. not all memory tasks cause older adult difficulties

b. timed tasks-- older slower, hurt by time limits

c. unfamiliar content-- older slower when task unfamiliar (ones that

cannot be tied to existing knowledge)

d. artificial tasks (laboratory tasks)-- performance poorer but likely

related to meaningfulness of task

in naturalistic environments, older adults can outperform younger

adults

e. unexercised skills-- less practice leads to disadvantage

f. recall versus recognition-- recognition superior to recall

g. explicit memory tasks-- more trouble with explicit (those requiring

effort) than on implicit tasks

h. cognitively demanding tasks more difficulty in older age

2. Explaining declines in old age

a. knowledge-base

i. older have superior vocabulary

ii. older have more general knowledge that helps compensate for

loss of memory skills

iii. knowledge is power

b. metamemory

i. express more negative attitudes toward own memory ability

ii. negative stereotypes contribute to metamemory

iii. culture plays role, Chinese adults and Deaf American adults

perform better than Hearing American adults who tend to

hold more negative stereotypes about aging

c. memory strategies

less spontaneous generation of strategies

d. basic processing capacities

i. working-memory capacity may decrease

ii. slowing central nervous system may hinder working and long-

term memory

e. sensory changes

loss of vision and hearing contributes to problems

f. contextual contributors to learning and memory in adulthood

i. cohort differences in education and IQ

ii. cohort differences in health and life style

g. summing up

i. basic processing decline in speed and working memory

ii. context and individual difference impact responding

D. Problem Solving and Aging

1. Older adults use fewer constraint-seeking questions-- ones that rule out more

than one item

2. Performance on meaningless tasks decreases, but performance on meaningful, everyday tasks is stable or improves