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Memory

This document provides an overview of computational theory of mind and memory from a cognitive psychology perspective. It discusses 5 key features of the computational theory, including that it posits a level of analysis separate from biology, emphasizes the role of computers in understanding the mind, and de-emphasizes certain complex factors. The document then reviews the human information processing system including initial reception of information, selective perception, working memory, long-term storage and retrieval, response generation, and control processes. It contrasts key differences between human and computer information processing and briefly discusses connectionist models of cognition based on neural networks.

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Afsheen Anwer
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34 views

Memory

This document provides an overview of computational theory of mind and memory from a cognitive psychology perspective. It discusses 5 key features of the computational theory, including that it posits a level of analysis separate from biology, emphasizes the role of computers in understanding the mind, and de-emphasizes certain complex factors. The document then reviews the human information processing system including initial reception of information, selective perception, working memory, long-term storage and retrieval, response generation, and control processes. It contrasts key differences between human and computer information processing and briefly discusses connectionist models of cognition based on neural networks.

Uploaded by

Afsheen Anwer
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Activity (2 pts)

1. One main claim from Pinker reading


that you found provocative / insightful /
useful.

2. One main claim from Pinker reading


that you found confusing / problematic.

X
What is Cognitive Psychology?
Computational Theory of Mind
Five Key Features:
1. Posits a level of analysis wholly separate from the
biological or neurological
2. Faith that central to any understanding of the human
mind is the computer
3. Deliberate decision to de-emphasize certain factors
that may be important but complicate things
(emotion, history/culture, role of context)
4. Faith in interdisciplinary studies (philosophy,
psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics,
anthropology, neuroscience)
5. Claim that a key ingredient in contemporary cognitive
psych. is the agenda of issues which have long
exercised epistemologists in the Western
philosophical tradition
Computational Theory
of Mind & Memory
 Despite huge variation in human
capacities, we all come equipped with
same info-processing system
 Outline of Today’s Lecture
 Review fundamental aspects of
human computational system
 Contrast humans & computers
(what makes humans unique?)
 Connectionist models (briefly)
Initial Reception of Info.
 Information, in form of physical energy (light, sound,
pressure etc) is received by receptors to particular
energy forms (e.g. rods & cones)
 Receptors send signals in form of electrochemical
impulses to brain
 Thus, the first transformation of information:

multiple forms one


of energy common
(light, sound, form
pressure, etc)

 Nerve impulse goes to central nervous system,


where it is registered in immediate memory
 different immediate memories for different
senses: iconic, echoic
 Immediate memory holds a fairly complete
representation of incoming sensory information
for extremely brief period of time
Selective Perception
 Selective Attention: Focusing on what is most
important in a stimulus array
 Biological tendency (thanks to evolution) = sudden
loud noises, motion, light/dark contrast
 Expertise in a domain = ability to attend to the most
important parts of a stimulus (e.g. chess)

 The pattern knowledge we acquire over a lifetime


increases the accuracy of selective perception of
items in familiar contexts

 Perception is influenced by:


1. Prior knowledge
2. Context of the stimulus itself

Perception is as much a “top-down”


process as it is a “bottom-up” process
Working Memory
 Working Memory: Awareness (what you are aware
of at any given moment is said to be in your WM)
 Information stored here decays within ~ 10
seconds unless rehearsed (e.g. telephone #)
 WM holds 7 2 units of information (Miller, 1956),
hence it is the ‘bottleneck’ of info.processing
 WM functions as a mental workspace (like a
scratchpad of sorts)
 Because of limited capacity, it’s difficult to perform
several (cognitively demanding) tasks as once
 One way around the limitations of WM is
“automating” tasks (e.g., decoding text)

 Automatic processes: processes performed without


much awareness
 Controlled processes: processes that require a lot
attention
Storage &
Long-Term Memory
 Information in working memory can be stored in long-
term memory (LTM)
 Storage: a set of processes by which new information is
integrated in various ways with known information
 Function of LTM: store information for later use
 LTM: long duration (perhaps even a lifetime)
 inability to remember is more a failure of finding a good
retrieval cue than loss of information

Exercise:
 Name people in your high-school graduating class x

 Common results:

 recall difficult until good retrieval cues found, such as…


 thinking systematically about subgroups of students
o “kids in my neighborhood”
o “kids in my chemistry class”
o “kids who beat me up”
We stopped here
& will continue with
the rest tomorrow.
Retrieval
 Retrieval: a set of processes that put information stored in
LTM into a state in which it can be used for current
processing
 Different for controlled & automatic processing…

 Controlled processing
 LTM  WM
 Retrieval means becoming aware of the stored info.
 activation: Process of re-establishing awareness of it
 e.g. when students recall facts for a test
 Automatic processing
 LTM  effectors
 Retrieval by pattern-matching processes
 e.g. 26
x 32 x

 guide for the sequence of steps you take is automatically


retrieved when you recognize the familiar pattern of
numbers & multiplication sign (contra, ex. Mult.tables)
Response Generation
& Effectors
 When we wish to respond to a stimulus, the response has
to be sequenced in some way
 e.g., physical responses, language

 Response Generation: activities that organize the


sequence of responses and send messages for the
appropriate effectors to execute the sequence

 Effectors:
 Muscles
 Glands
 Arms
 hands
 voice apparatus, etc.
Control Processes
 Flow of information in the human system is generally
organized around achieving some purpose
 In other words, mental computations are not random

 Control Processes: the processes that guide and monitor


information-processing events.
 Goal setting
 Planning how to achieve goals
 Monitoring goal attainment
 Revising plans

 When we consciously use such processes, we are said to be


using metacognitive processes (‘meta’ = ‘above’)

 In contrast to metacognitive processes…


 some control processes, either innately or through learning, are
deployed automatically.
 Not metacognitive because not ‘above’ the processing event but
rather part of it
 In learned, automated skills, the flow of control is embedded in
the skill (e.g., sequence as a control structure)
Computational Theory
of Mind & Memory
 Despite huge variation in human
capacities, we all come equipped with
same info-processing system
 Outline of Today’s Lecture
 Review fundamental aspects of
human computational system
 Contrast humans & computers
(what makes humans unique?)
 Connectionist models (briefly)
Humans vs. Computers
Similarities Human Computer
Input device senses keyboard

central processing unit working memory CPU

long-term storage medium LTM disk

output device effectors paper/screen

Differences Human Computer


size of WM/CPU 5 bits 800,000,000 bits

size of LTM 1,000,000,000 bits* unlimited

speed of access w/in WM .025 sec .000000015 sec

speed of access to LTM .200 sec .020 sec


Humans vs. Computers
Human Computer
analog; digital;
preferred storage mode
time-oriented list oriented
retention of information graded all-or-none

efficiency (bits/sec) low high

dependent independent
capacity
on experience of experience
retrieval:
* relative to context very dependent independent
* relative to previous retrievals dependent independent
special or
interconnectedness
general purpose; general
of information inopen set of
purpose purpose;
human memory functions closed set of
functions
Human vs. Computers
 Human dependency on context allows for learning &
adaptation to take place
 Our tendency for partial memory allows us to think
of novel solutions to problems

Thus, the human information processing system has


evolved to be adaptive
Computational Theory
of Mind & Memory
 Despite huge variation in human
capacities, we all come equipped with
same info-processing system
 Outline of Today’s Lecture
 Review fundamental aspects of
human computational system
 Contrast humans & computers
(what makes humans unique?)
 Connectionist models (briefly)
Connectionism
 How is the mind instantiated in the brain?
 We have detailed neural models of low level cognition
(e.g. how we perceive a line)
 We have NO specified neural models of more advanced
cognitive processes (e.g., how we remember facts
about people or judge their character)
 Traditionally, the more advanced aspects of human
cognition have only been discussed in terms of
abstract information processing models

EXCEPT…
 Recent efforts to develop models of higher-level
processes that are better grounded in our
understanding of neural processing
 Start with general knowledge of how neurons work
 Ask the Q: how could higher-level function be achieved
by connecting together basic elements like neurons
 Connectionism
Connectionism
 Connectionism: Theory and research concerned
with ways of connecting neural elements together
to account for higher-level cognition
 Example: McClelland & Rummelhart’s PDP model
 PDP = parallel distributed processing
 models how neural elements are interconnected &
simultaneously interact with each other 

X

How many can you


remember?
39583129553468401548
Activity (3 pts)

Read 'Thanks for the Memories'


What import might this have for a
teacher in a classroom? (One paragraph)

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