Psychology Chapter 8 Explain why adolescents demonstrate stronger

Chapter 8

8

MEMORY AND INFORMATION

PROCESSING

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading and studying the material in this chapter, the student should be able to

understand the following ideas/concepts.

8.1 CONCEPTUALIZING MEMORY

• Explain the workings of the memory system, from first exposure to information or an

8.2 THE INFANT

• Explain how researchers are able to assess the memory capabilities of infants.

8.3 THE CHILD

• Discuss and evaluate the four major reasons why memory improves over childhood.

8.4 THE ADOLESCENT

• Compare the typical adolescent’s memory capabilities to those of the typical child.

8.5 THE ADULT

• Distinguish characteristics of someone with expertise in a field relative to someone who

is a novice.

Chapter 8

CHAPTER OUTLINE

I Conceptualizing Memory

A. Memory from an Information-Processing Approach

1. Memory – our ability to store and later retrieve information about past events

2. Cognitive psychologists were influenced by rise of computer technology and

began to think of brain as a computer that processes input and converts it to

B. Memory Systems

1. Computer analogy includes hardware (brain and nervous system) and software

(rules and strategies)

2. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) model of memory

a. Sensory register – holds incoming information for fraction of second

3. Four steps to learning and memory

a. Encoding – getting information into system

b. Consolidation – information organized into a form suitable for long-term

storage

i. Event becomes long-lasting memory trace

d. Retrieval – getting information out of long-term memory

4. 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)

C. Implicit and Explicit Memory

1. Implicit (nondeclarative) memory – unintentional, automatic

Chapter 8

d. Two types of memory involve different parts of the brain

i. Procedural memory (type of implicit) mediated by the striatum

ii. Explicit largely localized in medial temporal lobe, area crucial in

D. Neural Bases of Memory

1. H.M. case

2. Anterograde amnesia

3. PET and fMRI

E. 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

a. Executive processes include selection, organization, manipulation, and

Checking Mastery

1. What steps are required in order to learn, remember, and recall material?

➢ Answer: Information must be encoded (gotten into the system by paying attention

2. What is the difference between implicit and explicit memory?

➢ Answer: Implicit memories occur unintentionally, automatically, and without

3. Why are recognition tasks generally easier than recall tasks?

➢ Answer: Recognition tasks present the answer and require identifying whether

II The Infant

A. Memory

1. Assessment of infant memory – often with imitation, habituation, or operant

conditioning techniques

Chapter 8

2. Imitation – measure memory by having infant repeat activity it has seen

a. Infants imitate tongue thrust

i. Some argued that this was a reflex action and not imitation, but has been

3. Habituation – learn not to respond to a repeatedly presented stimulus (get bored,

ignore dripping faucet)

a. Measure of recognition memory that newborns are capable of performing

4. Operant conditioning

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

i. Shown mobile

ii. Ribbon tied to infant’s leg; when leg kicks, mobile moves

5. Recall – “pure recall” involves retrieval without cue

a. Six-month-old infants can imitate novel behavior

B. Problem-Solving

1. By nine months, infants can solve the problem of reaching an object that is out of

reach

2. Older infants increasingly pay attention to cues provided by adults and let adults

know they need assistance by doing things like pointing or reaching

Checking Mastery

1. How can researchers assess memory abilities of pre-verbal infants?

➢ Answer: The habituation task allows researchers to measure how long it takes for

2. At what age do infants begin to show reliable recall for events?

➢ Answer: Six-month-olds can recall simple events over a 24-hour period and nine-

Chapter 8

III The Child

A. Memory Development

1. Four major hypotheses

a. Changes in basic capacities

i. More memory space

ii. Increasing speed of processing

b. Changes in memory strategies; increasing use of effective encoding and

ii. Familiar material easier to recall

2. Do basic capacities change?

a. Little change in long-term memory capacity

b. Sensory memory in place very early so sensory register itself an unlikely

source of developmental variation

experience

3. Do memory strategies change?

a. Children as young as two can deliberately remember things

i. Young children more likely to use memory aids

ii. Are not effective at switch strategies

Chapter 8

d. Elaboration – actively creating meaning

i. Add meaningful link between items

ii. Helpful in learning foreign languages

e. Four phases of memory strategy development

i. Mediation deficiency – don’t spontaneously use or benefit even when

f. Retrieval strategies – methods of accessing long-term memory

i. Young children 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

iii. Language skills and general knowledge impact memory

5. Does knowledge of the world change?

a. Knowledge base – what someone knows

i. Affects learning and memory

6. Revisiting the explanations

a. Older children are faster information processors and can juggle more items in

working memory

B. Autobiographical Memory

1. Autobiographical memory – episodic memories of personal events

ii. Young children are more suggestible and influenced by information

presented after the event

iii. Young children are fairly accurate but report less information than older

children

iv. General prompts can elicit recall of more information (e.g., “tell me more

about…”)

C. Problem-Solving

1. Memories (especially working memories) vital to problem-solving

2. Piagetian balance beam problem used to assess problem-solving skills

a. Concrete thinkers focus on either amount of distance of weights from fulcrum

3. Ziegler’s rule-assessment approach – focus on what children take in and the rules

they formulate on tasks like the balance beam problem

a. Siegler’s findings

i. Young children use no rules

b. Most children use multiple rules or problem-solving strategies, and their use

of a strategy’s efficiency tends to increase over multiple task trails

4. Overlapping waves theory – development not a series of stages but “process of

variability, choice, and change”

a. Development of problem-solving involves knowing and using a variety of

strategies

with time, also multiple strategies available any time

Checking Mastery

1. What are two reasons why older children have improved memories relative to

younger children?

➢ Answer: Older children know more—that is, they have larger knowledge bases

2. How do scripts or GERs relate to memory?

➢ Answer: Scripts or general event representations (GERs) are created as we

what we attend to and store about future events.

3. What is the “take–home” message of the overlapping waves theory of problem

solving?

➢ Answer: The main point of the overlapping waves theory is that people have a

Chapter 8

as needed.

IV The Adolescent

A. Strategies

1. New learning and memory strategies emerge in adolescence (e.g., elaboration)

B. Basic Capacities

1. Adolescents perform any number of cognitive operations faster than children do

2. Have greater functional use of working memory (due to brain maturation)

C. Metamemory and Knowledge Base

1. Knowledge base continues to expand during adolescence

2. Metamemory and metacognition improve

a. Better able to tailor strategies and to monitor strategy choice

3. Extent to which metacognition is employed varies by gender and socioeconomic

background

a. Adolescent girls consider using metacognitive strategies more than adolescent

Checking Mastery

1. What are the differences in basic memory capacities of children and adolescents?

➢ Answer: Compared to children, adolescents are capable of more sophisticated

2. What memory improvements are we likely to notice when a child becomes an

adolescent?

➢ Answer: Adolescents acquire new strategies, such as elaboration, and they

V The Adult

Chapter 8

A. Developing Expertise

1. Effect of knowledge base on memory and problem-solving

a. Experts have larger, more organized knowledge base, and use information

efficiently

i. Seems to take about 10 years of training and experience to develop

expertise

b. Effects of knowledge base

i. Experts recall information central to task

B. Autobiographical Memory

1. Bauer (2007) identified factors that influence autobiographical memories

a. Personal significance – has little impact on ability to later recall

b. Distinctiveness or uniqueness – the more unique, the more likely to be

recalled with relevant details

C. Memory and Aging

1. Common trouble recalling names and items that will later be needed

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

3. Areas of strength and weakness

a. Memory pattern in adulthood

Chapter 8

vi. (Exploration Box on forgetting: what is normal and what is not?)

b. Timed tasks—older slower, hurt by time limits

c. Unfamiliar or artificial (laboratory task) content

i. Older slower when unfamiliar tasks or meaningless (ones that cannot be

d. Unexercised skills—less practice leads to disadvantage

i. Age differences small when well-practiced skills are assessed

e. Recall vs. recognition—recognition superior to recall

i. Excellent example from study of identification of high school classmates

g. Cognitively demanding tasks more difficult in older age

4. Explaining declines in old age

a. Knowledge base

i. Semantic memory increases until about age 65

ii. Older adults know more than younger individuals about real-world

b. Metamemory

i. Older adults seem to know as much as younger adults about which

memory strategies are best and which memory tasks are hardest

ii. Older adults more likely to misjudge accuracy of some aspects of their

memory

c. Memory strategies

Chapter 8

d. Basic processing capacities

i. Working memory capacity peaks around age 45 and then begins to decline

ii. Greater difficulty ignoring irrelevant information may be the result of age-

related changes in areas of the brain associated with inhibition of task-

irrelevant information

e. Sensory changes

i. Loss of vision and hearing lead to memory deficits

ii. Vision and hearing predictive of cognitive performance (sensory loss at

any age may tax available processing resources)

f. Contextual contributors

i. Learning and memory are the product of an interaction between learner

characteristics (e.g., motivation, health), task characteristics, and

characteristics of broader environment

D. Problem-Solving and Aging

1. Familiar vs. unfamiliar tasks

a. In laboratory, older adults tend to do worse on unfamiliar problem-solving

tasks

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

than one item (e.g., “Is it an animal?” vs. “Is it a pig?”)

Chapter 8

2. Selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC)

a. SOC framework for understanding older individuals’ problem-solving

Checking Mastery

1. On what types of tasks are older adults most likely to experience memory problems?

➢ Answer: Some older adults may begin to experience problems on tasks that

2. How can adults minimize the effects of aging on memory and problem-solving tasks?

➢ Answer: Older adults may be able to minimize the effects of shrinking resources

SUGGESTIONS FOR CLASS DISCUSSIONS OR PROJECTS: To develop critical thinking skills

and enhance learning with exercises that support the course learning objectives.

1. First Memories: Ask students to report their earliest memories, including their age at the time

of the occurrence and the content of these memories. Do students really recall the experience, or

do they recall the feelings associated with the experience? Do they remember because the events

have been retold, captured in pictures, or otherwise been made memorable for them?

Use the following questions as guidelines. What sort of events does it seem we tend to

remember? Which senses predominate? What sorts of emotions are involved? If possible, have

2. Memory Game: For a hands-on memory experience, create an overhead containing pictures of

20 or more items. Be sure that some of the items are related (e.g., types of fruit, types of

3. 20 Questions: To demonstrate constraint-seeking strategies, have pairs or small groups of

students try the 20 Questions Game in which student thinks of a target item, and others ask yes-

Chapter 8

4. Rule Assessment Approach: To replicate Siegler’s rule-assessment approach, bring in a

balance beam and present students with different types of problems (e.g., ones in which distance

5. The Positive Impact of Experience on Memory: Demonstration in class on the effect of

knowledge on memory. This simple demonstration provides an excellent way to show the

powerful influence of knowledge on memory. You may want to use yourself (and the topic of

6. Developing Expertise: In chapter 8, students read about some advantages of expertise. The

goal of this assignment is to have them delve further into the factors related to the development