Brunning – Chapter 3 Long Term Memory: Structures and Models

Review: Constant rehearsal and repetition in the STM is needed to send information to the LTM LTM Implicit-non-conscious Explicit-conscious A Framework for LTM Declarative Knowledge “What” Procedural Knowledge “How” Conditional Knowledge “When & Why” Semantic Memory Episodic Memory Most Learning involves an interplay among declarative, procedural and conditional knowledge Semantic memory (facts, concepts and their relationship with each other) Episodic memory (personally dated autobiographical experiences) FMRI  stored in different parts of brain

Implicit and Explicit Memory Explicit Memory: –Voluntary –Conscious search for information –Usually tested by recall and recognition Implicit Memory: –Is an unintentional, non-conscious form of retention –In which our actions are influenced by previous events but without conscious awareness Explicit and implicit memory tasks sometimes elicit functional dissociations…(they don’t jive) could these memories be stores in different parts of the brain?

Building Blocks of Cognition Memory Declarative Non-declarative Facts Events Medial Temporal Lobe Skills & Habits……………….Striatum Priming……………………….Neocortex Classical Conditioning…....Cerebellum Non-associative learning…Reflex Pathways Temporal lobe (Facts & events) Neocortex (priming) Classical conditioning Striatum (Skills & habits)

Reflex Pathways Non-associative Learning (i.e. habituation)

Building Blocks of Cognition 1.Concepts (mental structures by which we represent meaningful categories) –Rule-governed theories of conceptual structures (Bruner, 1956) Concept identification (colors or shapes)…figures where presented to the subjects till they were confident that they were able to identify the concept Strategies: –Conservative focusing strategies  focus on one attribute of a concept at a time –Focus gambling  focus on varied attributes of a concept at a time –Scanning strategies  test several hypothesis at a time…tough on individuals

When using strategies, S tend to look for the rules relating the concept attributes Conjunctive rules (2 or more attributes must be present) “furniture with legs” Disjunctive rules (when one or the other attribute are present ) “furniture” Depends On ? These rules are taught by presenting the positive & negative instances of the concept (a qualifying statement or hedge) They are also taught by presenting a highly typical instance of concept = prototype

–Prototype theories of conceptual structure This is taught by presenting an example known that is already in the memory This theory frequently uses hedging (qualifying statements of the prototype) –Probabilistic theories of conceptual structures The concept that is being learned involves weighting probabilities The learner searches for characteristics, but not defining attributes For example: –Furniture = articles that decorate a room and makes it more comfortable

2. Propositions –Are the smallest units of meaning that can stand as a separate assertion –“Dr. Gavilan is a wonderful teacher who loves to teach Educational Psychology in FIU Dr. Gavilan is a wonderful teacher Dr. Gavilan loves to teach Educational Psychology Dr. Gavilan teaches at FIU –Each proposition consist of a predicate and one or more arguments –Propositions sharing one or more elements = propositional networks

3. Schemata  mental framework used to organize declarative knowledge –It represents the knowledge stored in the memory –This knowledge is stored in different parts of the brain –Interpretation of what we learn is based on learner’s schemata –Teacher must review information to bring to present past knowledge (schemata) Productions  are condition-action rules Scripts  mental framework of our procedural knowledge  schema representation for events  what to expect in terms of behavior

Script of a Restaurant Enter  give reservation name  be seated  order drinks  look at menu  discuss menu  order meal  talk  eat first course  eat second course  order dessert  pay bill  leave tip  exit restaurant Schema of a House Big/small Brick/wood No. of rooms Color Vegetation Type of architecture Neighborhood

LTM – Verbal and Imaginal Representation Pavio, 1971 (Dual Encoding Theory) –Verbal encoding system Adapted for linguistically based information Emphasizes verbal associations i.e. words, sentences, content of conversations and stories –Imaginal encoding system Nonverbal information i.e. pictures, sensations and sounds

Implication for Instruction Starting point of learning is what the students already know  prior knowledge Help students activate their current knowledge Help students organize new information into meaningful chunks Aid students translate what to do with their knowledge (conditional knowledge) Provide opportunities for students to use verbal and imaginal coding