The Study of Cognitive Psychology

1
The Study of Cognitive Psychology

• Introduction to Memory Research
• Dr. Ayanna K. Thomas

2
What is Cognitive Psychology

• Cognitive Psychology attempts to understand the
  nature of human intelligence and how people think
• Thousands of years of speculation about human
  cognition but only in the last 100 years has
  cognition been studied empirically

3
What We Think We Know About Memory

• Everyone has experience with memory
• If we experience memory, why do we need to study
  it?

4
How Memory Can Be Studied Levels of Analysis
5
Understanding Different Aspects of Memory The
MODAL MODEL
6
SPERLING (1960) SENSORY MEMORY On the next
slide, you will first see a letter X which will
disappear and be replaced by 12 letters and
numbers flashed briefly on the screen. To prepare
to see the letters and numbers, focus on the X.
As soon as you see the letters and numbers, write
down all of the letters and numbers you remember.
7
Heres where the letters and numbers will appear
when I flash them. The next slide will provide
you a place to focus your attention. Keep your
eyes on the X on the next slide and I will
flash the letters and numbers.
X X X X X X X X X X X X
8
X
9
B 5 Q T 2 H S 9 O 4 M Y
10
(No Transcript)
11
B 5 Q T 2 H S 9 O 4 M Y
12
Sperlings Method

Fixation Point
Presented very briefly(50 ms)
Varied number of letters
Report What letters did you see?
13
Findings

• 4 or fewer letters subjects reports were perfect
• As the number of letters presented increased the
  number subjects could report averaged about 4.3
  items regardless of the array size.

14

• For the next demonstration, I will ask you to
  report only the Top, Middle, or Bottom row. The
  row to report will be set off by arrows ONLY
  AFTER you have seen the letters.

15
gt X X X X lt X X X X X X X X
gt gt X X X X lt lt X X X X X X X X
gt gt X X X X lt lt X X X X X X X X
X X X X X X X X gt X X X X lt
X X X X X X X X X X X X
X X X X gt X X X X lt X X X X
gt REPORT THIS ROW lt
16
X
17
G 1 W K Z A 3 8 7 U X P
18
G 1 W K gt Z A 3 8 lt 7 U X P
19
G 1 W K Z A 3 8 7 U X P
20
Partial Report

Fixation Point
Presented very briefly (50 ms)

• Sperling modified his method to compare a partial
  report condition to his original, whole report
  condition.

High Medium Low
Tone
Report based on tone
21
Whole report
Partial report
High
Report from entire array 4.3/12 or 36
Report from one row 3.04/4 or 76.
22
Understanding Different Aspects of Memory The
MODAL MODEL
23
Miller and His Magic Number
24
What is the CAPACITY of short-term memory?

• The magic 7 plus or minus 2 (George Miller)
• Increasing the capacity by chunking
• Telephone numbers
• trade-off the number of chunks may be reduced
  as the size of chunks become larger
• for example, you may be able to maintain 7 words
  but only 3 or 4 full sentences
• attention and interaction with long-term memory
  required, as well as greater effort to maintain
  the chunks

25
What is the Duration of STM?