Input stage
senses stimulus
goes to sensory memory- held long enough for unconscious interpretation (whether to pay attention to it or not)
processing stage
occurs at CDM(central decision maker)- only single channel processing
incoming info in working memory compared to past experiences in long term memory
can also decide to store new information in long term memory
3 stages of information processing
input
processing
response
response stage
physical or verbal form
could be thoughts, eye movements, doing nothing etc
automatic processing
before its perceived, a decision is made by procedural memory (part of long term)
response follows
selective attention
ability select from the many factors or stimuli and focus to any one you prefer or your brain selects
able to avoid internal & external distractions
cocktail party effect
divided attention
ability to concentrate on 2 or more environmental factors, stimuli or activities simultaneously (multi tasking)
however CDM can only say attention to 1 piece of info at time consciously
can perform 1 conscious task and 1 unconscious task at the same time eg playing an instrument
attention span
ability to maintain concentration on a piece of information
vigilance
monitoring
sustaining attention on something so as to notice when a non-ordinary/ dangerous event happens
vigilance will change through the day(linked with circadian rhythm )
hypo vigilance
low vigilance
occurs due to:
low lighting, heat, monotony, reduction of workload, fatigue
re-stimulate brain by: doing a task read through you manual (in flight training) sleep caffeine(short term boost) communicate with co worker
perception
allows us to make sense of things 3 steps: selection of stimuli organisation of information interpreting
selection of stimuli
stuff we pay attention to influenced by motifs
perceptual expectancy- perceiving tings a certain way based on what you expect and assume based on the world
salient objects- stimuli that stand out, eg loud noise
cocktail party effect
organisation of information
turn information into meaningful patterns to make sense of it
gestalts laws: brain wants to group things together where possible
grouping info can lead to misguided perceptions
mental schemas: mental representation of categories
allow us to think quickly however inaccurate. impressions on people based on appearance etc
stereotypes also help make sense of things, simplify and arrange info, dangerous when they no longer reflect reality
Gestalt’s law of proximity
people see clusters of dots rather than large number of individual dots
Gestalt’s law of similarity
see similar objects as clusters
Gestalt’s figure ground law
objects in fore ground are more prominent and obvious
Gestalt’s law of closure
our perception will complete incomplete objects such as the lines in the IBM logo
interpreting
starting to categorise to better understand & react to it
interpretation is highly subjective, different people will interpret stimuli different ways
affected by: values, culture, needs, beliefs, experiences, expectations
perceptual constancy: tendancy to interpret familiar objects as having standard shape, size, colour or location regardless of changes in image on retina. eg snow being white no matter whether day or night
types:
size constancy
shape constancy
distance constancy
colour constancy
auditory constancy
size constancy
perception of an objects size will not change regardless of changes in distance or size on the retina
shape constancy
despite change in orientation we perceive the object as still being the same shape
eg. door opening. changes orientation but we know the door is still the same shape
distance constancy
relationship between apparent distance and physical distance
eg- moon looks closer when lower near the horizon
colour constancy
different shades and shadows show things as different but we see them as the same
colour of an object stays the same under varying conditions
auditory constancy
can perceive sounds despite them sounding different
different guitars sound different but we still know they’re guitars
2 people sound different but they can both say the same word and we understand the word
bottom up/ data driven processing
perceptual experience is based entirely on the data available from our senses
requires no previous knowledge or learning
top down/ conceptually driven processing
perceptions influenced by expectation(perceptual set), beliefs and understanding
helps quickly make sense of environment around us
problem- hinders our ability to perceive things in a new and different way
sensory store
stimuli above sensory threshold go into sensory store
stays long enough for perception
iconic memory: visual info lasts 0.5-1sec
echoic memory: audio info and playback facility - lasts 2-8sec
if info deemed important we can continue information processing model
short term/ working memory
info held for 10-30 secs
max it can hold is 7 +or - 2 bits of info
only tend to remember last info- new replaces old
sensitive to interactions and distractions
spacial info held in visual code(visual spatial sketchpad)
verbal info in acoustic form in the phonological loop
methods to improve short term memory
repetition and rehearsal
to improve amount we can store- chunking, chunk lots of bits into fewer chunks
long term memory
unlimited- no limits, stored according to type
2 types: explicit and implicit
long term implicit memory
implicit memory- unconscious recall, no declarative, procedural memory (skills)
long term explicit memory
trying to intentionally remember something, consciously recall,
declarative - can consciously recall and explain information
2 types:
semantic- facts concepts
episodic- events, experiences
amnesia- affects episodic memory, can’t remember events that were previously permanently stored
expectations & desires - also affect episodic memory
learning
changing our behaviour as a result of experience
natural part of life
can be positive or negative
learning: classical conditioning
behavouralistic
learning through association
pavlov approach, new stimulus for an original response
learning: operant conditioning
behavouralistic
consequences of actions
pos and neg reinforcement
learning: observation/ imitation/ modeling
behavouralistic
learn through seeing what someone else does
learning: insight
cognitive
use our brains & past experience to solve how to do something
improving learning
repetition
mnemonics
memory training
rhymes, songs
things affecting ability to learn
environment
motivation
hunger
tiredness
mental schemas
representations of categories of objects, event and people
allow to think quick
can change how we interpret information
person schema- help understand certain people
social schemas- help us know how to act in social situations
self schema- how we view ourselfs
event schemas- what we expect at events- shake hands at an interview
influence what we want to pay attention to when learning
also impact how quick we relate/ learn new things
Skills
coordinated pattern of actions allowing us to perform tasks well
3phases- Andersons model
cognitive- consciously thinking about each individual part
associative phase- separate actions of the skill become as one
autonomous phase- fully developed- can execute smoothly & completely automatically- stored in procedural
when stressed or overloaded skills become harder
mental/ motor programmes
motor program- automatic - correct order of actions applied for a skill
can use it to allow brain to be used for something else
can make errors as not paying attention to it