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Memory:Recognition of lost memories, Representation of knowledge

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Cognitive Psychology ­ PSY 504
VU
Lesson 33
Memory
Long Term Memory
Forgotten Memories Exist
Nelson (1971) conducted an experiment and indicated that forgotten memories still exist. He had
subjects learn 20 number- non paired associates; they studied the list until they reached a
criterion of one errorless trial. Subjects returned for a retest two weeks later, recalling 75 percent
of the items on this retention test. However, interest focused on the 25 percent items for which
the subjects were given new learning trials on the 20 paired associates. The paired associates
they had missed were either kept the same or changed. In a changed case, a new response was
associated to an old stimulus. If subjects had learned 43 ­dog but failed to recall the response to
43, they might now be trained on either 43-dog (unchanged) or 43- house (changed).
Results
Subjects were tested after studying the new list once. If subjects had lost all memory for forgotten
pairs, there should be no difference between changed and unchanged pairs. However, subjects
correctly recalled 78% of the unchanged items and only 43 percent of the changed items.
This large advantage for unchanged items indicates that subjects had retained something about
the paired associates even though they had been unable to recall them initially. This retained
information was reflected in the savings displayed in relearning.
Recognition of lost memories
Nelson (1978) also looked at the situation in which the retention test involved recognition. Four
weeks after learning, subjects failed to recognize 31 percent of paired associates they had
learned. As, in the previous experiment, Nelson had subjects relearn the missing items. For half
the stimuli the responses were changed and for the other half they were left unchanged.
Results
After one relearning trial, Subjects recognized 34% of the unchanged items but only 19 percent of
the unchanged items. The recognition-retention test should have been very sensitive to whether
subjects have anything in memory. Even when the subjects fail this sensitive test, there appears
to be some evidence that a record f the items is still in memory- the evidence that relearning was
better for the unchanged than the changed pairs. Here is one example where recognition is worse
than recall yet memory is still there.
Representation of knowledge
It is an issue of long term memory. That deals in what form the knowledge store in long term
memory. The man issues of representation of knowledge are;
Digital versus analog
Propositional networks versus images
Dual Code Theory
Categories and concepts
Defining features
Necessary and sufficient features
1. Digital versus analog
2. Propositional networks versus images
In the propositional analysis only the meaning of an event is represented like fan effect. The
unimportant details- details that humans tend not to remember- are not represented. In this
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Cognitive Psychology ­ PSY 504
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network the information, relations, and the arguments are connected to each other and they make
a network.
Dual Code Theory
Propositional Network Code
For example, my house is in Lahore. This line is stored in our memory. If one asks about the
distance between our house and a hotel. Then to explain the distance we make different
sentences and make links between different roads and stops then we are able to tell the distance.
So, these sentences are stored in our memory. The information of abstract things are also stored
n our mind like intelligence, love, honesty etc.
Images are stored
For example, The image of my house is stored.
There is a visual representation in our mind. Like different scenes. The presentation, smell, or
taste of food is also stored in our memory. We can recall them even they are not there.
Categories
Cognitive psychology is a merger/union/meeting point of different types of knowledge e.g.
philosophy, computer science, artificial intelligence, psychology, social work etc. etc.
The category fruits groups a lot of different kinds of objects that have essential features in
common. It also excludes many objects belonging to other categories such as vegetables.
Traditionally we have defined categories as having necessary and sufficient features
Definition of a Category:
"A category refers to a group of objects sharing the same essential features." e.g. bird, furniture,
fruit, robin, etc.
There are many essential features that present in all fruits, like fruits are sweet, sour, ripe,
different colors.
Categories
Dictionary Definition of Fruit (A category):
"The edible product of a plant or a tree consisting of a seed and its envelop. The envelop is juicy
and pulpy." e.g. apple, orange and plum etc.
Necessary and sufficient features
Edible, Contains seed and juicy/pulpy envelope
Examples: Orange, Apple, Mango
Dictionary Definition of a Vegetable (A category):
"Edible plant product eaten raw or cooked." e.g. carrots, spinach, tomatoes etc.
According to biological classification system, "Fruit is that part of the plant which develops out of a
flower and nurture seeds."
Necessary and sufficient features
Edible, Plants products
Examples: Carrots, Spinach, Tomato
Problem
In the biological classification system, fruit is that part of the plant which develops out of a flower
and nurtures seeds. Tomato is a fruit in biology
For a chef, Tomato is a vegetable. The category vegetable does not exist in Biology.
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Cognitive Psychology ­ PSY 504
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Is chicken a bird or an animal?
Categories are not as neat and clean as philosophers would have liked them to be. In Biology
Chicken is an animal and a bird. For a layperson, Birds have to be able to fly: it is a necessary
feature of category bird. So people consider the chicken as animal because they eat it. But
biologist consider chicken as bird and animal.
Categories are very important. Like letters are categories. If we know the categories of things we
can recognize them even we don't know the exact thing. For example there are many types of
dogs. We used to see some specific dog in our area; we have not seen German shepherd dog.
But whenever the German shepherd comes in front of us we can recognize this is dog. That is
because of category of dog and the essential and sufficient features of dog's category.
Pattern recognition is a part of category recognition.
Categories of Language
Categories are critical to our understanding of information processes. It helps us to know how we
think about things that are around us. Language is also very important in category recognition.
Because the words have different meanings in different languages. Sindhi, Blochi, Punjabi,
Pashto there are many languages are spoken in one country.
Dialect versus Language
Some languages are dialect and some are proper languages.
Like some people say Punjabi is a dialect but some say it is a complete language.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION:Historical Background
  2. THE INFORMATION PROCESSING APPROACH
  3. COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY:Brains of Dead People, The Neuron
  4. COGNITIVE NEUROPSYCHOLOGY (CONTINUED):The Eye, The visual pathway
  5. COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY (CONTINUED):Hubel & Wiesel, Sensory Memory
  6. VISUAL SENSORY MEMORY EXPERIMENTS (CONTINUED):Psychological Time
  7. ATTENTION:Single-mindedness, In Shadowing Paradigm, Attention and meaning
  8. ATTENTION (continued):Implications, Treisman’s Model, Norman’s Model
  9. ATTENTION (continued):Capacity Models, Arousal, Multimode Theory
  10. ATTENTION:Subsidiary Task, Capacity Theory, Reaction Time & Accuracy, Implications
  11. RECAP OF LAST LESSONS:AUTOMATICITY, Automatic Processing
  12. AUTOMATICITY (continued):Experiment, Implications, Task interference
  13. AUTOMATICITY (continued):Predicting flight performance, Thought suppression
  14. PATTERN RECOGNITION:Template Matching Models, Human flexibility
  15. PATTERN RECOGNITION:Implications, Phonemes, Voicing, Place of articulation
  16. PATTERN RECOGNITION (continued):Adaptation paradigm
  17. PATTERN RECOGNITION (continued):Gestalt Theory of Perception
  18. PATTERN RECOGNITION (continued):Queen Elizabeth’s vase, Palmer (1977)
  19. OBJECT PERCEPTION (continued):Segmentation, Recognition of object
  20. ATTENTION & PATTERN RECOGNITION:Word Superiority Effect
  21. PATTERN RECOGNITION (CONTINUED):Neural Networks, Patterns of connections
  22. PATTERN RECOGNITION (CONTINUED):Effects of Sentence Context
  23. MEMORY:Short Term Working Memory, Atkinson & Shiffrin Model
  24. MEMORY:Rate of forgetting, Size of memory set
  25. Memory:Activation in a network, Magic number 7, Chunking
  26. Memory:Chunking, Individual differences in chunking
  27. MEMORY:THE NATURE OF FORGETTING, Release from PI, Central Executive
  28. Memory:Atkinson & Shiffrin Model, Long Term Memory, Different kinds of LTM
  29. Memory:Spread of Activation, Associative Priming, Implications, More Priming
  30. Memory:Interference, The Critical Assumption, Limited capacity
  31. Memory:Interference, Historical Memories, Recall versus Recognition
  32. Memory:Are forgotten memories lost forever?
  33. Memory:Recognition of lost memories, Representation of knowledge
  34. Memory:Benefits of Categorization, Levels of Categories
  35. Memory:Prototype, Rosch and Colleagues, Experiments of Stephen Read
  36. Memory:Schema Theory, A European Solution, Generalization hierarchies
  37. Memory:Superset Schemas, Part hierarchy, Slots Have More Schemas
  38. MEMORY:Representation of knowledge (continued), Memory for stories
  39. Memory:Representation of knowledge, PQ4R Method, Elaboration
  40. Memory:Study Methods, Analyze Story Structure, Use Multiple Modalities
  41. Memory:Mental Imagery, More evidence, Kosslyn yet again, Image Comparison
  42. Mental Imagery:Eidetic Imagery, Eidetic Psychotherapy, Hot and cold imagery
  43. Language and thought:Productivity & Regularity, Linguistic Intuition
  44. Cognitive development:Assimilation, Accommodation, Stage Theory
  45. Cognitive Development:Gender Identity, Learning Mathematics, Sensory Memory