Imagery, Food Cravings

Wikibook : Imagery

·      People have been talking about imagery for a long time.

o   Aristotle, Wundt, Watson

·      Is imagery necessary to thought? Do you have to be able to imagine to think?

o   Aristotle said “God is impossible without and image”

o   Wundt said, “imagery, sensations, and feeling are the base of consciousness”

o   Watson said, “there is no visible evidence of imagery, so it doesn’t matter).

·      More recent imagery debate:

o   Pylysyiyn: says imagery is represented in the mind as linked with propositions.

§  Any given sentence can be broken down into a true or false proposition ( a network with links)

§  Imagery is an epiphenomena (it has no causal role, not part of the essential basics of thought.

·      Like the light on a dvd player, it shows up, but it is more of an indicator or side effect ot he main function.

·      Task: asked to generate associates to words. More likely to generate one that was within a proposition rather than between propositions.

·      Even if a word is spatially or temporally closer, it is still more likel if it is in the proposition.

·      Some sort of spatial representation in the mind and brain.

·      “The advantage of a coordinate representation is that tit is directly analogous to the structure of the real space”

o   ex. An image representation of a dog vs. the word dog (part of the image that correspond to a particular part of the dog, but “D” or “”O” doesn’t correspond. Point to point correspondence between image and representation. Words are relatively arbitrary for the things they represent ((except maybe words like “Buzz”)))

·      Topographic maps apply here – such as a spatial map on the occipital cortex in vision.

·      Keeping spatial information preserved seems pretty important/

o   So maybe when you imagine something, this same principle is activated.

·      Our perceptions can come into the brain a lot of ways. Our representations may come from a lot of different things.

o   Such as language, photographs, movies, etc.

o   Some information stands for other information (such as maps, photos, but some info is just literal.

·      The author here argues that part of the real world may also be symbolic, such as spirals in churches representing something else.

·      Mental representations interact with other parts of memory.

·      Big question: what these images are and how they may function?

o   Perky Experiment: used a back projected image – the participant described what was on the screen without realizing it.

·      What happens when people are asked to scan an image in their mind?

o   Things that are spaced more widely on a picture, it takes them longer to can it (an analogy)

·      In blind people, it seems to work the same (except its spatial, not visual).

·      Mental rotation tasks: 2-stimuli say are they the same shape of different?

o   It takes longer the father they have to rotate – its like they are doing mentally to the shape what you would do physically.

·      Do they use these mental spatial representations for only touch and vision?

o   No, when you read a book or hear words, they get translated into mental images too.

·      Size/distance relationship in representation of objects (up close vs. far away = larger vs. smaller = more detail vs. less detail.)

·      Do image representations work this same way?

o   Yes, it seems so.

·      Overall, mental representations are linked closely with the things the represent, and perceptions too. The brain processes overlap a lot.

o   They don’t overlap entirely though, within vs. external difference

·      Motor imagery – can imagine doing things which activates motor areas.

o   Perhaps this activates mirror neurons too?

Kemps Article : Food Cravings.

·      Food cravings: specific food, not just for nutritional value

o   Motivation based: desire or urge-intense for a food.

o   Not necessarily a psych disorder, but it could indicate one.

o   Mental imaging of the food seems to be a key component of craving.

·      Does imagining something make you crave it?

o   Yes, strength of craving and strength of image are linked.

·      Dual tasks methods – craving can be like a cognitive task, so pairing it with another cognitive task à limited capacity working memory – the tasks are harder when you do 2 at once, and craving counts as one of them.

·      Food cravings consume limited cognitive resources.

·      Evidence for this – induced cravings in people and surprise word recall or math problems and a reaction time.

• Strategy for reducing food cravings: occupy your mind with other things so your working memory is full.
• This article does show evidence that craving occupies working memory, so it reducing our abilities.
• A visual imagery or olfactory task will reduce cravings, but an auditory task won't really help. Maybe because visual and olfactory are the s=ways in which we experience food in the first place.
• These teactics may also help reduce cigarette cravings, but they don't work very well in everyday life, it needs to be more readily applied to everyday settings.
• maybe eventually the randomized dots screen could be an app on a phone, but dynamic visual noise seems to work... these flashing white and black dots.
• maybe this is perceptual load, not cognitive load? perhaps imagery and perception are very closely linked.

Eyewitness Memory Article

Eye-Witness memory article:

·      Major possible influences on the eye witness memory?

o   Whether or not they talked to others

§  People CONFORMING to other people: Can forget info, mis-remember, are influenced by others.

§  UNCERTAINTY : informational influences (questioning their own feelings or memories)

§  FALSE MEMORIES: incorporating the other’s view into your own memory.

·      Timothy Mcveigh’s case is a good example. He probably didn’t have an accomplice, but the two other eye-witnesses conformed to the other’s opinion.

·      Another example is Barry George: Only 1/16 witnesses identified him, but the person talked to others in the cab, and not they are 95% sure.

·      1. Normative influence: weighing the social cost of disagreeing, you want to conform to the norm.

·      2. Informational influence – being uncertain of your own memory up against someone else’s.

·      3. Memory distortion: you now think that this is what happened – it becomes part of your episodic memory.

·      What determines the magnitude of a normative influence?

o   Weighing the social cost of agreeing or disagreeing.

·      People talk or conform, and then they are interviewed separately. Do they still agree with the social norms?

o   Yes, maybe they want to appear consistent.

o   Maybe they trust in the other person’s opinion based on their confidence, their expertise, if they are in the majority, or how important the issue is.

§  An example is listening to school children vs. listening to police officers.

·      Source monitoring errors – you’ve forgotten the source of your memory – lost representation of the source from the representation of the memory itself (confuse what they actually saw with what someone else told them).

·      There are three different processes:

o   Conform

o   Unsure

o   Create a new memory

·      Big point: memory, then, does have a social component.

Eyewitness Memory Article

Eye-Witness memory article:

·      Major possible influences on the eye witness memory?

o   Whether or not they talked to others

§  People CONFORMING to other people: Can forget info, mis-remember, are influenced by others.

§  UNCERTAINTY : informational influences (questioning their own feelings or memories)

§  FALSE MEMORIES: incorporating the other’s view into your own memory.

·      Timothy Mcveigh’s case is a good example. He probably didn’t have an accomplice, but the two other eye-witnesses conformed to the other’s opinion.

·      Another example is Barry George: Only 1/16 witnesses identified him, but the person talked to others in the cab, and not they are 95% sure.

·      1. Normative influence: weighing the social cost of disagreeing, you want to conform to the norm.

·      2. Informational influence – being uncertain of your own memory up against someone else’s.

·      3. Memory distortion: you now think that this is what happened – it becomes part of your episodic memory.

·      What determines the magnitude of a normative influence?

o   Weighing the social cost of agreeing or disagreeing.

·      People talk or conform, and then they are interviewed separately. Do they still agree with the social norms?

o   Yes, maybe they want to appear consistent.

o   Maybe they trust in the other person’s opinion based on their confidence, their expertise, if they are in the majority, or how important the issue is.

§  An example is listening to school children vs. listening to police officers.

·      Source monitoring errors – you’ve forgotten the source of your memory – lost representation of the source from the representation of the memory itself (confuse what they actually saw with what someone else told them).

·      There are three different processes:

o   Conform

o   Unsure

o   Create a new memory

·      Big point: memory, then, does have a social component.

Stereotype Threat Article, Adaptive Memory Article

Stereotype Threat Article:

·      Academic settings – presume the incompetence of several groups “threat in the air”

·      Stereotype threat: your social environment is threatening to stereotype you, not treat you as an individual

·      So, stereotype threat decreases good performance. How?

o   It limits working memory capacity because you are thinking about your bad environment, and you’re self conscious about your performance. Which takes away from your performance of complex cognitive tasks. (It gives you a cognitive load).

o   They want to make sure they aren’t confirming the stereotype, and it eats up resources.

o   Ex. Women vs. men in math – women did much worse when told the task would measure gnder differences.

·      Who is most susceptible to stereotype threat?

o   Those we are most invested in doing well in that domain (ex. Academics) –those who were the most achievement oriented were effected more.

·      Error-related negativity – reaction to an error.

o   The stereotyped who cared the most had higher error readings – it all ironic. It makes them more sensitive to their own errors.

·      How does stereotype threat effect our response to our own anxiety?

o   Sensing our own anxiety is a signal to us, and it plays a part in making us more nervous.

·      Under what conditions does anxiety reduce our working memory?

o   When we’re not confident or are doubtful – anxiety and doubt become a distraction.

o   (For everyone, not just for a certain group)

·      Do people try to not think anxious thoughts?

o   They try, but it doesn’t help. In fact, it makes it worse. Though suppression means you’re constantly monitoring so that takes cognitive resources too!

o   A vicious cycle – impair performance more and more.

·      By reappraising your emotions, you can break the cycle, an see your anxiety as a helper.

·      Measured sympathetic nervous system activation – is that a bad thing?

o   Yes, for women who though of the anxiety in a negative light, they couldn’t reappraise their emotions. So, anxiety is not always bad for performance …. Unless you think it is!

Adaptive Memory Article:

·      Maybe coming from a functionalists perspective?

·      Proximate mechanisms: Psychological processes that we think explain how something works. A chain of events that leads to an outcome we measure, as opposed to evolutionary changes.

·      In their study, the 95% confidence interval didn’t overlap – strong results showing that survival words are recalled better.

·      The author is more interested I how these mechanisms worked a long time ago and how were they adaptive?

·      What makes memory strong? Some factors that make things memorable are:

o   Forming an image

o   Processing for meaning

o   (both of these are proximate mechanisms that make memories strong).

·      So why do they work? Largely an unaddressed question.

·      What three suggestions does the author have about why we have the memories that we have? i.e. that respond to images, etc.

o   Not just so we can remember things from the past, but instead to help us in the present – learning from things that have happened to us and for the future too.

o   Memories are domain-specific – they are designed to help us remember useful things that help us. (maybe also working memory is around to help us forget trivial things. So, we wonder, to what extent is our memory due to future ideas?)

o   Memory also helps  us survive and produce offspring.

·      Table one from this article shows that we should be able to remember where what is, etc, what food is good, what isn’t, what prey looks like…

o   If  you couldn’t remember these things (like navigation) you would be at a disadvantage to survive.

·      The author thinks a functional perspective on memory is important.

·      What evidence supports the survival-relatedness with memory?

Memory wiki:

·      2-major theories about why we forget:

o   Trace-decay theory – the memory itself deteriorates, so it doesn’t maintain is form and we can’t retrieve it.

o   A major explanation is Interference. There are two types:

§  Proactive interference: things you learn now are hard to learn because of old memories, they disrupt. Or it can work the opposite way:

§  Retroactive interference: new memories disrupt the old ones

·      What is the pattern of forgetting over time?

o   Its very rapid at first, and hen slowly after that (like  a power log)

Survival article continued:

·      Survival processing enhances retention – we are more likely to remember things we are likely to need again, and we are less likely to remember things we won’t need again.

o   Its like our mind is adapted to know things about our surroundings.

·      Other major claims:

o   Does thinking about how items of information may be related to survival effect how easy it will be to remember them?

§  They did three tasks, survival words, moving words, and pleasantness. (They were rating these words)

§  In the end, the experimenters gave them a surprise recall test, and survival related condition of words did indeed have more words remembered. Significantly!

o   It remains against other conditions too that don’t have anything to do with fitness , like taking a vacation.

o   Levels of processing phenomena: thinking about the meaning of a word makes it more likely to remember than words about something like color.

o   Thinking about– does this word apply to me? – self reference are very well remembered – relevance to the self may have a special stance.

§  Is this just deep processing of the words in this article?

·      No, a graph shows that surviving is still better remembered than self-reference, generating the words, intentional, pleasantness, imagery – survival is better than all on recall.

·      Why does thinking about survival make so much difference?

o   Its an important research for the future.

o   Survival is very elaborate encoding

o   That kind of thinking (survival brings out strong emotions)

o   There may be survival module?

Magical Mystery of Four and lab notes

Magical Mystery Four: How is working memory capacity limited, and why? (Cowan)

·      George Miller says 7ish chunks, but Cowan says 3-5

·      Chunking: grouping smaller items into larger ones. Perhaps chunking in different ways effects the number of items you can get.

·      So, whats the significance or working memory for cognition?

o   We are relying on it whenever. We are thinking about something/processing it (like the beginning of a sentence should be remembered by the end of it).

o   Working memory may vary and be predictive of cognitive ability

·      What are the ways in which people hold things in working memory?

o   Remembering their voice, mentally, see the situation, running span procedure (don’t know where the end is going to be)

o   Its hard to answer because there are a variety of ways to remember things.

·      Distinguishing  between processing-related and storage-specific measures of wm capacity??

o   Raw info holding capacity- how much is there? Without rehearsing etc. no tricks – this is storage-specific.

·      Cowan regards storage-specific as more important because it’s the core of how the memory processes work, not a contaminated measure by tricks. Etc.

·      How can one ensure storage-specific measurement of capacity? We have to stop other various kinds of processing.

o   Brief simultaneous spatial array

o   Attention taking place after the sound has ended (dichotic listening – report unattended channel.

o   Overt repetitive saying of one word – “the the the the” while trying to remember something

o   Series with unpredictable ending – running span.

·      Why may this be more relevant/important for working memory?

o   Practical implications, maybe sometimes we don’t have time to use those tricks – much of the times, we can’t use tricks so we need to see what the most basic memory is.

·      Cowan sees working memory as needing to be tested without tricks or contaminants.

·      Central memory (working memory) is important because it underlies problem solving and abstract thoughts

·      HE thinks there are developmental trends in memory – it changes across the lifespan, and may predict intelligence. So, it is fundamental to figure out how to measure it.

·      What is the significance of the working memory storage? Is it a strength or a weakness?

o   How can it be a strength?

§  It is a strength in that we don’t have to be overwhelmed with to much info because we can’t store that.

§  Short lists can be organized effectively.

§  An average of 3.5  items seemed to work best

§  Simple means we can manipulate info better

o   How is it a weakness?

§  No more brain tissue to assign to this task, etc.

Lab Notes:

·      Degrees of Freedom – 2-values (f(df1,df2)=____P

·      The difference between _____  and __________ was significant (paired + (df) = ______, p=_______)

·      The standard error of the mean =SD/sqrt(n)

·      Larger sample size = smaller standard error

·      Bonferroni tests: dividing the p-value by the number of tests. A general strategy to control experiment wise error. (how likely that they’re producing false alarms)

·      A 2-way interaction is different at different levels of the 3^rd variable

·      There are special tests you can use if you don’t have normal data

o   1-way repeated measures (Friedman)

o   between subjects (Kruskal)

·      The one difficulty of t-tests after ANOVAS is that you can’t control the error overall.

Memory from Wikibook and Lab notes

Wikibook: Memory

·      Types: sensory, short-term (working memory), long term memory.

o   All of these three are the interface between perception and memory systems.

·      Sensory memory:

o   Iconic memory (visual input): lasts for less than 1 sec

o   Echoic memory (auditory input): less than 5 seconds

§  When someone is talking to you while you’re talking to someone else, and you still know what they’re saying/

·      What allows the transfer of these types of things to become a more durable memory?

o   Attention determines this (ex. Shadow task – attending to one stimuli in the right ear, but not attending to the left: you loose everything from the left. *This is an example of high perceptual load).

·      If you have an easy task (low perception load), late selection may come into play – effected by high cognitive load, that is, if you have a lot of stuff in working memory.

·      Main characteristics of short-term memory:

o   A link between sensory memory and long term memory

o   It can handle 5-9 pieces of info (chunks) or maybe 3-5. (George Miller and the magical number 7 _+or- 2).

o   Chunking- process of bundling information.

o   Info is held for 15-30 seconds, measured by giving the person a distracter task at the same time

·      How are they maintained?  In working memory?

o   By voluntary attention (maybe working memory and attention are closely linked).

·      Where did working memory come from?

o   Baddley said that working memory’s purpose is not to hold info, but to work with or manipulate the information. To carry out a task.

o   Use of information to achieve a goal you have.

o   Wm can process different kinds of information simultaneously, so wm is not just one thing

§  Visually-based and auditory based and space based.

·      What lead to the concept of working memory?

o   The will to do something with information

o   Process different types of information simultaneously

·      Different components of working memory:

o   Phonological loop (sound based)

o   Central executive (manager)

o   Visual spatial sketch pad (visual-based)

·      Its not the working memory can store info over time, but it can support other cognitive processes, while we do other things.

·      The old model of memory is that memories come to senses, to working memory, and then to long term memory. But now, some people have impairments of working memory but not long term memory. So, maybe we don’t have to go through working memory to store a memory…

·      Long term memory, main forms:

o   Declarative memory (explicit)

§  We can consciously recall – awareness of having experienced these things.

§  2 types

·      semantic (can know things without having experienced it directly such as early childhood memories or other lands, etc)

·      episodic (specific episodes in your life – personal sense of self).

o   Implicit memory:

§  No conscious awareness (our behaviors may still be changed without our awareness, so the info is stored somewhere

§  2 kinds:

·      procedural (knowing how to do actions etc. maybe unconscious. Involves motor control areas or more mental procedures. More associated with doing).

·      Perceptual priming (ex. Fragment completion – may also be unconscious… we were recently exposed so we are more likely to).

Lab notes _

·      Our experiment was a within subjects design. IV with 3 levels (congruent, incongruent, and baseline).

·      We found the median and response times for each condition for each person.

o   We used medians because some people got distracted one time or were really fast one time, and that significantly effected the data.

·      We checked to make sure that our data was normal to run tests.

·      Main effect: the effects of one IV averaged across the levels of the other IV

·      Interaction effects: are the lines parallel or not?

·      Between subjects: are the lines close?

·      Within subjects: is it inclining/declining from L to R?

·      dual taks: we have 2 IV that re both within subjects. (box size and speed)