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Thinking: Memory,
Cognition, and Language
Chapter 6
© 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Foundations of Memory
• Learning Outcomes
– Identify sensory memory
– Define short-term memory
– Define long-term memory
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The Foundations of Memory
• Memory: the process by which we encode,
store, and retrieve information
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Sensory Memory
• Sensory memory: initial, momentary storage
of information; lasts only an instant; stores
almost exact replicas of all sensory stimuli
experienced by that person
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Short-Term Memory
• Short-term memory: second stage of
memory; holds information for 15-25 seconds
– Capacity of 7 +/- 2 chunks (meaningful grouping
of stimuli that can be stored as a unit in shortterm memory)
– Rehearsal: the repetition of information in shortterm memory; repetitive rehearsal keeps
information in short-term, elaborative rehearsal
moves information to long-term memory
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Long-Term Memory
• Long-term memory: third stage of memory;
stores information on a relatively permanent
basis, but can be difficult to retrieve
– Declarative memory
• Semantic memory
• Episodic memory
– Procedural memory
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Recall and Forgetting
• Learning Outcomes
– Explain retrieval cues
– Discuss levels of processing
– Compare and contrast implicit and explicit
memory
– Define flashbulb memories
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Recall and Forgetting
• Learning Outcomes (cont’d)
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–
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Describe the constructive process of memory
Define forgetting
Explain why we forget information
Compare and contrast proactive and retroactive
interference
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Retrieval Cues
• Retrieval cue: a stimulus that allows you to
more easily recall a long-term memory
because it is connected to that memory
• Recall: specific information must be retrieved
from memory
• Recognition: when presented with a stimulus,
you determine whether you’ve been exposed
to it previously, or you identify the correct
information from a list of alternatives
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Levels of Processing
• Levels-of-processing theory: emphasizes the
degree to which new material is mentally
analyzed; the greater the intensity of initial
processing, the more likely we are to
remember the information
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Explicit and Implicit Memory
• Explicit memory: intentional or conscious
recollection of information
• Implicit memory: memories of which people
are not consciously aware, but which can
affect subsequent performance and behavior
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Flashbulb Memories
• Flashbulb memories:
specific, important,
or surprising events
that are so vivid in
memory it is as if
they represented a
snapshot of the
event
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Constructive Processes in Memory
• Constructive processes: memories are
influenced by the meaning we give to events
• Schemas: organized bodies of information
stored in memory that bias the way new
information is interpreted, stored, and
recalled
• Autobiographical memories: our recollections
of circumstances and episodes from our own
lives
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Forgetting
• Forgetting is important to memory; if we
couldn’t forget inconsequential details, they
would get in the way of remembering more
important information
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Why We Forget
• Failure of encoding (paying attention to and
placing information in memory)
• Decay: the loss of information because of
nonuse
• Interference: information in memory disrupts
the recall of other information
• Cue-dependent forgetting: forgetting due to
insufficient retrieval cues
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Interference
• Proactive interference: information learned
earlier disrupts the recall of newer material
• Retroactive interference: difficulty in recalling
information learned earlier because of later
exposure to different material
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Thinking, Reasoning, and Problem Solving
• Learning Outcomes
– Explain the concept of mental images
– Discuss the process of categorizing the world
– Describe the processes the underlie reasoning and
decision making
– Explain how people approach and solve problems
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Mental Images
• Mental images: representations in the mind
of an object or event (can take the form of
any of the senses: visual, auditory, etc.)
– Use of mental imagery can improve various skills;
many athletes use visualization
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Concepts: Categorizing the World
• Concepts: categorizations of objects, events,
or people that share common properties;
enable us to organize complex things into
cognitive categories we can use
– Prototypes: typical, highly representative
examples of a concept
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Reasoning: Making Up Your Mind
• Algorithm: cognitive shortcut in decision
making; a rule that, if applied appropriately,
guarantees a solution to a problem
• Heuristic: cognitive shortcut that may lead to
a solution
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Problem Solving
• Step 1 – Preparation: understanding
and diagnosing problems
• Step 2 – Production: generating
solutions (may use heuristics for this)
– Means-ends analysis: repeated tests
for differences between the desired
outcome and what currently exists
• Step 3 – Judgment: evaluating
solutions
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Impediments to Success
• Functional fixedness: the tendency to think of
an object only in terms of its typical use
• Mental set: the tendency for old patterns of
problem solving to persist
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Language
• Learning Outcomes
– Explain how language develops
– Describe how people use language
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Language Development
• Babble: speech-like but meaningless sounds
made by children from around 3 months to 1
year old
– Critical period: time when a child is particularly
sensitive to learning/acquisition of skills; critical
period for language development early in life;
difficult to acquire language skills if critical period
is missed
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Language Development
• Telegraphic speech: sentences in which words
not critical to the message are left out; used
by children beginning around age 2 ½ (ex.: “I
show book” instead of “I showed you the
book”)
• Overgeneralization: by about age 3, children
employ language rules even when it results in
an error (ex.: adding –ed to “run” to form the
past tense)
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Language Development
• Learning theory approach: language
acquisition follows the principles of
reinforcement and conditioning
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Language Development
• Nativist approach: a genetically determined,
innate mechanism drives language
development (Noam Chomsky)
– Universal grammar: common underlying
structure shared by all the world’s languages
– Language-acquisition device: a neural system of
the brain that Chomsky thought permits
understanding of language
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Language Development
• Interactionist approach to language
development: combination of the learning
theory and nativist approaches (brain’s
language-acquisition device is the
“hardware;” exposure to language in the
environment allows us to develop the
“software”)
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Influence of Language on Thinking
• Do Eskimos have more words for snow than
Texans?
• Linguistic- relativity hypothesis: language
shapes and may determine the way people in
a specific culture perceive and understand the
world (language produces thought)
– However, most recent research suggests that
thinking produces language, although language
may influence how we think
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