Psych 136S Review Questions, Summer 2015

Transcription

1 Psych 136S Review Questions, Summer 2015 For each paper you should be able to briefly summarize the methods and results and explain why the results are important. The guided summary for the Roediger et al. response paper should give you a sense of the level of detail that you need to know in terms of a summary. What is the pattern of impairment seen in patients with damage to the medial temporal lobe (MTL)? What cognitive functions and / or forms of memory are preserved in these patients? Throughout the quarter we discussed the role of sensory areas of the brain, control and attention networks, and subcortical structures in learning and memory. What types of functions or forms of memory was each of these areas important for? In other words, where did we see them in the course? What is a double dissociation? Why is it stronger evidence separate systems than a single dissociation? What is the difference between recording methods and disruption methods? What is the difference between a correlational study and an experimental study? What types of conclusions can experimental studies support that correlational studies cannot support? How is does working memory differ from long-term memory? Describe the serial position curve, how it relates to working memory and long-term memory, and manipulations that change pieces of the serial position curve. Describe the Sperling experiment on the partial report procedure, what he found, and what conclusion it supports about sensory memory? Compare and contrast the modal model of working memory to the tripartite model of working memory. What is the key difference between systems models or buffer models of working memory and the emergent hypothesis of working memory? Describe a piece of experimental evidence that supports the emergent hypothesis of working memory. Undergraduate SF was able to greatly increase his digit span. Why was this (and why wasn t this) the case? How do we know? What is the method of loci and why does it work? If you wanted to improve your cognitive performance generally, what would you do and what wouldn t you do? Describe classical and operant conditioning. What is the key difference between these forms of conditioning? For each, briefly describe a study that demonstrate a double dissociation between that form of conditioning and episodic memory.

2 Describe spontaneous recovery (or renewal), and what this tells us about extinction. How does this relate to theories of forgetting that involve interference? What factors increase the degree of classical and operant conditioning that is observed in the lab? These studies often measure speed of acquisition of the conditioned response. Using what we learned about desirable difficulties, what is one potential issue here, or what else might you want to measure? Describe decompensation in terms of classical conditioning. Describe treatments for addiction and how they relate to the principles of operant conditioning. What is skill learning? How do we measure it in the lab, and what are some real world examples? Describe Fitt s three-stage model of skill learning. What are some factors that increase skill learning? Are these unique to skill learning or have we seen them with reference to other forms of memory too? Suppose you wanted to become an expert at a skill what would you do? What is priming? How do we measure it in the lab, and what are some real world examples? How does declarative memory differ from non-declarative memory? How does episodic memory differ from semantic memory? What are the stages of episodic memory? What is the difference between top-down attention and bottom-up attention? Which is usually associated with better encoding? Are there any exceptions? Compare and contrast the idea of depth-of-processing with transfer-appropriateprocessing. What other factors in how and when we process information lead to better episodic encoding. Describe the subsequent memory paradigm and what we typically see in terms of results. Describe the difference between item and associative memory. Which relies more on the hippocampus? Can you relate this to data about how memory and the brain change with aging? What are some ways that technology can help our memories? Describe findings from the dichotic listening task that tell us about how we process unattended information and how these findings relate to encoding of information encountered on the internet.

3 How does using a GPS system or a camera affect your memory for information that you ve encountered while using that device? What do we know about how they affect your general cognitive abilities? Describe the pattern of findings observed when comparing heavy media multitaskers and light media multitaskers on memory tasks in the lab that are not occurring while they are media multitasking. Describe the findings from the Google study and how they relate to transactive memory and directed forgetting. Does directed forgetting remind you of anything that we saw in the lecture on memory errors? Retrieval is cue-dependent. What does this mean? Provide experimental data that supports that retrieval is cue-dependent (and context-dependent and state-dependent and mood-congruent). What is cortical reinstatement (aka recapitulation)? What is the role of the hippocampus in this reinstatement? How does this role change over time and why? How might sleep play a role in this process? Can you relate these mechanisms to semantic memory acquisition in the brain? Describe two experiments that demonstrate cortical reinstatement. What is retrograde amnesia? Describe the pattern of temporally graded retrograde amnesia that we see after damage to the MTL. Why does this pattern suggest that consolidation is occurring? Compare and contrast standard consolidation theory and multiple trace theory. Describe the classical view of categorization and two problems with this view. Compare and contrast exemplar and prototype models of categorization. Describe the Posner random dot pattern task, results, and what it tells us about prototype and exemplar models. Why is it important to learn about regularities in the world? What is a schema? A script? Why are they important? What do agnosias tell us about how semantic memories are stored in the brain? What does semantic dementia tell us about how semantic memories are stored in the brain? Describe the pattern of impairment seen in semantic dementia. How does this pattern change over time? What cognitive functions or forms of memory are preserved in semantic dementia? Provide patient data suggesting double dissociations between episodic memory and semantic memory in (a) memory for previously acquired information and (b) acquisition of new information.

4 Describe the typical pattern of forgetting of educational material. How does it compare to the typical forgetting curve for information in general? Explain the concept of desirable difficulties, including the concepts of storage strength and retrieval strength, and how we can be misled as to whether we are learning effectively. What are some desirable difficulties and experiments supporting the conclusion that these are desirable difficulties? Once you successfully retrieve information during a test should you stop testing yourself on that information? Provide experimental evidence to support your answer. Describe the roles of test format, feedback, and incorrect guessing with respect to the testing effect. Describe the two dimensions of emotion. Describe the Schachter-Singer two-factor theory of emotion. What are some ways that we can measure these two factors in the lab? Describe experimental evidence suggesting that emotional stimuli capture our attention. What consequences does this have for later memory? How does physiological arousal impact later memory? Describe experimental evidence to support your conclusions. How does the brain respond to emotional stimuli and how does this relate to the success of encoding and retrieval? What about to rewarding stimuli? What is PTSD? How do patients with PTSD differ from healthy controls? Describe an experiment suggesting that we can use reconsolidation to change a conditioned response in healthy individuals and an experiment suggesting that we can use reconsolidation to change a conditioned response in PTSD patients. What is major depressive disorder (MDD)? What types of symptoms do we see in patients with MDD? Describe the cognitive biases seen in patients with MDD. Describe two memory phenomena that are typically observed in patients with MDD and give a real-world example of what each of them might look like. What cognitive abilities decline with age? What cognitive abilities stay the same or improve with age? Describe the difference between cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. What is one problem with cross-sectional studies? Describe the symptoms of Alzheimer s disease. How do the brains of Alzheimer s disease patients differ from those of healthy controls?

5 What are some measures you can (realistically) take to counteract adverse effects of aging on cognition? What is one much more extreme measure being tested now in rodents? What is decay theory of forgetting and why is it hard to measure? How does cue availability for retrieval change with time? Describe proactive and retroactive interference and give a real-world example of each. How do we measure them in the lab? Compare and contrast an interference / blocking account of forgetting and a suppression account of forgetting. Describe the typical retrieval induced forgetting experiment methods and results. How could these be explained by interference and by suppression. What modifications to the experiment and results support the idea that suppression is occurring? Describe two studies that show how prior knowledge can lead to false memories. Describe misattribution and provide a real-world example. Describe the misinformation effect and the suggestion effect and provide experimental evidence for each. What characteristics have been found to make people more susceptible to misinformation? Is it possible to implant false memories in individuals? If so, what types of tactics work well? Provide experimental evidence to support your answer. What are some factors that increase errors in eyewitness identification? Describe the experiment featured in the Brains on Trial video in which researchers tried to use fmri to detect whether a person had previously encountered something. How well did it work when the participants were cooperating? What about when they were trying to conceal their memories? Based on these data, what would your recommendation be about allowing this type of evidence in the courtroom? What are some reasons why brain scans might be used as evidence court? What are two potential concerns about the use of such brain scans as evidence?