Author Archives: mms5257

Wait What actually happened?

Constructing memories can be very difficult, however most people do not realize it. When reconstructing memory we tend to pull information from various sources. These sources include the actual event, knowledge, experience, and our expectations according to Goldstein. In a sense our memories tend to be fabricated and padded. This occurrence is known as constructive nature of memory. In 1932 British psychologist Fredrick Bartlett decided to test this theory. His experiment was known as “The War of Ghosts.” During this experiment, participants read a story from a Canadian Indian Folklore. He then asked the participants to recall the story as accurately as possible. He had the participants return several times after the initial read and attempt to recall the story during longer periods of times. This process is known as repeated reproduction. The experiment had surprising result. Not only were people unable to recall the story accurately, people tend to transform the story into their own culture. The story was initially a Canadian Indian folklore, but the participants somehow transformed the details of the story to reflect British culture. This experiment proved when recalling memory people tend to add personal experiences, culture, and knowledge to memories.

When recalling memories we often fall victim to fabricating memories unintentionally. I have this one experience in particular. A few friends and I went to a bar, to hang out. We were having a great time, taking pictures and recording our experience. We all became a bit intoxicated, but still coherent.  So I called one of my friends a few days later to clarify what happened. I began telling her my version; we went to a bar and was drinking and dancing. We were flirting with guys and just dancing the night away. However she stopped me, and says it didn’t quite happen that way. Everything was fine at first, we were dancing and having a great time, however you became sleepy so went put you in the car. We even have a video of you snoring in the back seat. So in the process of recreating the memory of the night a few days ago, I began to include past experiences and unknowing alter the actual memory. This is actually a typical everyday thing, our brains retrieve memories however in the process it becomes colored and we tend to unknowingly add other life experiences to the memory causing them to blend together. This happens all time, especially when my mother and I attempt to recall my 21St birthday. Both of our accounts are just about the same except one detail. I remember us going to Bahamas breeze and I had the salmon pasta and my mom had lobster. However she remembers things slightly different and being the other way around. When we looked at a picture it turns out she was right, she had the salmon and I had the lobster. Majority of the time I visit that particular restaurant I almost always get Salmon, so my memory was retrieving that event and pieces of other times I visited the restaurant. The reason being, our memory is not a recording, you cannot press pause and play. Visual memory is stored in the back of the brain, so when retrieving memories the Prefrontal cortex guides us to find the missing pieces, which often are taking from various other memories according to Dr. Arthur Shimamura

Shimamura, Aruthur. “In the brain of the beholder.” Sussex Publishing., 4 September 2013. Web 12 Dec. 2014.< http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-brain-the-beholder/201309/reconstructing-memories-the-stories-we-tell>

Goldstein, B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience, 3rd Edition. Wadsworth, Inc.

I just can’t figure it out: The story of insight

The Gestalt psychologists also introduced the idea that restructuring is associated with insight–the sudden realization of a problem’s solution, according to Goldstein. Insight can be a major factor in solving problems. At first it feels like you are stuck and can’t quite figure out a solution, then all of a sudden a light bulb goes off. That light bulb going off can possibly be due to insight. Janet Metcalfe and David Wiebe did an experiment to differentiate between insight problems and noninsight problems.  They believed if a person was completing an insight problem they should not know if they are close to a solution. “They predicted that participants working on an insight problem, in which the answer appears suddenly, should not be very good at predicting how near they are to a solution. Participants working on a noninsight problem, which involves a more methodical process, would be more likely to know when they are getting closer to the solution,” according to Goldstein. During the experiment they gave participants insight and noninsight problems and had them make judgments of warmth during 15 second intervals. One of the insight problems was a pyramid of dots, and you can only move three dots so the pyramid pointed downward.  And for noninsight problems people were given an algebra problem. The results showed that people with insight problems had a flat line and no increase in warmth during the 15 second intervals. Which mean they were unable to predict that their progression in finding a solution for the problem, then in the last 15 seconds they arrived at a solution.  Whereas the noninsight which was the algebra problem people had steady increase in warmth, meaning they were progressing to a solution.

Have you ever played a game of chess and gave up because for the life of you were unable to figure the next move you should take. Or even a game of dominos has this occurred to you? You take a break and start watching TV, an hour goes by and you realize what move you need to make next. This is the power of insight, without reason the solution pops into your head out of nowhere. Another example could be a crossword puzzle, you could be baffled for hours, then when you least expect it the answer magically pops into your head, again the power of insight. Insight occurs in every facet of life, it can occur during a science lab, board games, video games, or even exercise. Experiences when I have insight are typically while I try to answer riddles, for the life of me I am typically baffled. But once I stop trying and focus my attention on something else the answer out of nowhere comes to me. I do graphic design from time to time to assist friends. I was working on one specific project for a friend which was a CD Cover, initially everything was flowing, I had a vision and I just had to execute it. While creating the CD cover I ran into a problem with the quality of one of the images. I couldn’t figure out how to fix it, I did a googled search to find an image similar to it but failed to find an image similar. I even attempted to recreate the image, but it wasn’t working to well. I changed the file size to see if it would help. I tried playing with the levels, contrast, and curves, but nothing was helping. I didn’t want to disturb my friend so I continue to look for a solution. I sat at the computer for hours then finally gave up. The next day I awaken and a solution pops into my head as I am brushing my teeth getting ready for work. I did not dream about the project nor spoken to anyone in regards to the project.  I realized I had to set the file to a higher resolution, and utilize the clone tool to blend the pixels so the image appeared crisper.

Goldstein, B. (2011). Cognitive Psychology: Connecting Mind, Research and Everyday Experience, 3rd Edition. Wadsworth, Inc.

How crucial is Working memory to your daily life?

Working memory is defined as a limited-capacity for temporary storage and manipulation of information for complex tasks such as comprehension, learning, and reasoning. Working memory is crucial to everyday functioning, according to Bruce Goldstein. Working memory is the cognitive function to stay focused on tasks, hindering interferences, and keeps a person aware of what’s going on around them. Working memory assists with daily tasks such as driving, writing essays, studying for exam, and various others.  Working memory is composed of three components; the phonological loop, visuospatial sketch pad, and central executive.

The phonological loop is composed of two components, the phonological store and articulatory rehearsal process.  Articulatory rehearsal process is accountable for rehearsing information to keep stored in the phonological store to prevent from forgetting.  The phonological loop is responsible for auditory manipulation based on information.  An Example would be to continuously repeat out loud or in your head a group of numbers, letters, or words to train your mind to remember them.  This function is imperative for me when studying. I have to repeat the word and concept various times so I can remember it. If I do not utilize rehearsal, it’s as if I never read it. The easiest example would be a phone number, people often repeat it over and over so they can remember it and it becomes stored in long term memory.

The phonological loop is responsible for auditory, whereas the visual spatial is responsible for visual manipulation of information. The visuospatial sketch pad handles visual and spatial information and is therefore involved in the process of visual imagery–the creation of visual images in the mind in the absence of a physical visual stimulus, according to Goldstein. The visual –spatial sketch pad assists with remembering the placement of objects. An example would be remembering where a table so if you are walking around in the dark. Your memory recreates a visual image of your house so you are aware of placement of objects, so you do not bump into them. Another example would be if a person asks you what your house nearby. You then generate a picture of your house in your mind then can see the nearby business, parks, etc.

Along with the phonological loop and the visual sketch pad is the boss of the three, the central executive. The central executive is responsible for monitoring and coordinating the operation of the visual- spatial sketch pad and the phonological loop. The central executive system often assists with mental arithmetic and problem solving. The central executive decides which of the other parts of the working memory should handle which information as it is processed. The central executive directs attention and prioritizes what is important. An example would be if you are driving a car, and your phone rings and you engage in a conversation with someone. The central executive will make it clear you should focus on driving vs. the conversation.

When all of these components work together we are able to function properly. We are able to complete math problems, and we are able to read a book. We are able to comprehend conversations with others. The working memory assists in all fascist of our lives from preschool into geriatric years. It assist in learning the alphabet in earlier years, to learning arithmetic during grade school, to even getting to work

Journey from F to A student

Markia Seawright

Psych 256

Journey from F to A student

Growing up school seemed to come so natural. Whether it was English, science or math, I rarely studied and still obtained nothing lower than a B. As time proceeded I started college and things took a turn for the worst. I realized things were not just coming to me naturally anymore. I thought I didn’t need to study and everything would just fall in place. I took a statistics class and bombed my first test. I was failing homework assignments as well. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. Then I realized I was not as smart as I thought. So I started forcing myself to study and not doing assignments at the last minute. As time was moving forward I noticed my grades drastically changed and I actually comprehended statistics. What I did to confirm I was learning was every time I took a practice test and passed I would permit myself to watch a hour of television. And if I failed that was an additional hour of studying. Because I was growing tired of studying excessively I started passing the practice exams. In turn I was grasping the concepts and began passing the class. The final came and I received a 98, I used operant conditioning to pass statistics. At the time I did not realize I was using operant conditioning but as I was reading the chapter I realized I had to use that technique to pass statistics.

Skinner introduced operant conditioning, which focused on how behavior is strengthened by the presentation of positive reinforces, such as food or social approval (or withdrawal of negative reinforces, such as a shock or social rejection). (Goldstein pg 10) Operant conditioning causes someone or something to change their behavior through rewards or punishment. B. F. Skinner was finding the correlation between stimuli (negative or positive) and responses. The behavior I was changing was my poor study habits. I used a system of rewards and consequences to impact my responses. If I did not do well on a practice test as I previously stated that was an additional hour of studying. If I did well I could take a break and watch TV.

Goldstein, E. B. (2011). Introduction to Cognitive Psychology . Cognitive psychology: Connecting Mind, Research, and Everyday Experience 3rd edition. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.