The Information Processing Perspective

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The Information Processing Perspective

• Memory and Executive Functions

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Overview

• I Competence-performance distinction
• II Information-processing perspective
• III Information processing A not B
• - STM, LTM, executive control
• IV Executive control
• V Long-term memory

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I Competence-performance distinction

• Piaget competence assessed directly from
  behaviour.
• Might performance factors constrain the
  expression of an underlying competence?
• Baillergeon (1986) If motor component of A not B
  removed, would object permanence be observed in
  6-month-olds?

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Baillergeon, 1986

• Used habituation procedure to assess object
  permanence in 6-month-old infants.

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Habituation Display
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Test 1 Possible Event
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Test 2 Impossible Event
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Results and conclusions

• 6- month-olds looked longer to impossible than
  possible test events.
• Young infants understand that objects continue to
  exist after being hidden behind a screen.

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Need for a new perspective.

• If object permanence achieved at 6-months, why do
  12 month-olds commit the A not B error?
• Need to examine performance factors that
  constrain the expression of infants underlying
  competence.

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II The information processing perspective

• Provides a framework for examining these
  performance factors.
• Evolved out of the American tradition of
  experimental psychology.
• Computer as a metaphor (e.g., Atkinson
  Shiffins store model)

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Atkinson Shiffrins store model Page 312
Executive control
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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Atkinson Shiffrins store model Page 312
Executive control

• Stores both
• Procedural memory
• Declarative memory

Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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Procedural versus declarativememory

• Procedural
• Motor skills
• Gradual acquisition
• Non-truth
• Example? Riding a bicycle

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Procedural versus declarativememory

• Procedural
• Motor skills
• Gradual acquisition
• Non-truth
• Example? Riding a bicycle

• Declarative
• Conscious knowledge
• Immediate acquisition
• Truth
• Example? Ottawa is the capital of Canada

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Procedural versus declarativememory

• Procedural
• Motor skills
• Gradual acquisition
• Non-truth
• Example? Riding a bicycle

• Declarative
• Conscious knowledge
• Immediate acquisition
• Truth
• Example? Ottawa is the capital of Canada

How are memories formed? Why do we forget our own
infant experiences? Developmental changes?
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• Limited capacity
• Temporary storage
• E.g., A request ? Stop at the store

Atkinson Shiffrins store model Page 312
Executive control
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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Atkinson Shiffrins store model Page 312
Executive control

• Co-ordinates LTM STM
• E.g., Fulfilling the request not enough to keep
  in STM, also need to co-ordinate with LTM

Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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Information-processing approach

• Summary
• (1) Thinking is information-processing.
• (2) Focus on mechanisms of change.
• (3) Careful task analysis.

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Information-processing approach

• Summary
• (1) Thinking is information-processing.
• (2) Focus on mechanisms of change.
• (3) Careful task analysis.

A new approach to understanding the A not B error
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III An information processing approach to A not B

• If not object concept, then what?
• (1) Memory (LTM STM)?
• (2) Executive control?

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III An information processing approach to A not B

• If not object concept, then what?
• (1) Memory (of seeing and of reaching)
• (2) Executive control (the ability to regulate
  action)

Relevance of these factors explored through
experimentation. Factors manipulated and effects
observed.
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(a) Role of procedural learning

• Zelazo, Reznick, and Spinazzola, 1998
• Multistep search task with 24 month-olds
• What is the effect of reaching on A trials?

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A
B
C
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A
B
C
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A
B
C
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A
B
C
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See vs. see-and-execute

• Manipulation applied to the A trials.
• Group 1 See-and-execute? child watches candy hid
  at A, and then retrieves it.
• Group 2 See? child watches candy hid at A, but
  does not retrieve it.
• Finally, both groups watch the candy hidden at a
  new location (B) and then search.
• Outcome measure Search at A or B?

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Results
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Results
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Conclusions

• Prior search at A interferes with search at B.

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Executive control
A trials may support procedural learning
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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(b) Role of STM

• B trials New hiding location needs to be kept in
  mind ? STM
• Perhaps errors reflect STM constraints

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Importance of STM?

• Diamond (1985)
• Longitudinal study
• BTW 7 12 months, lab visit every 2 wks
• Each visit, A not B assessed.
• Delay between hiding at B and search varied.

• B trials New hiding location needs to be kept in
  mind ? STM
• Perhaps errors reflect STM constraints

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Results

• Across all ages
• A not B errors more likely at longer delays
• Older infants
• Sustain longer delays.

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Executive control

• STM improving.
• B location kept in mind longer

Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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Executive control

• STM improving.
• B location kept in mind longer

STM LTM Is that the whole story?
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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(c) Role of executive control

• If delay lt 3s, 9-month-olds do not commit the A
  not B error.
• If delay gt 10s, 9-month-olds do commit the A not
  B error.
• Perhaps after 10 seconds, only memory of reaching
  to A remains.

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(c) Role of executive control

• Ahmed Ruffman (1998)
• Do infants know where the toy is before searching
  on B trials?
• If not A not B errors reflect STM
• If so A not B errors reflect executive control.

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Method

• Looking time paradigm 9-month-olds.
• Compared looking time to possible versus
  impossible events.

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Possible event

• Object hidden at A.
• 15 seconds later, it is retrieved from A.

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Possible event
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Possible event
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Impossible event.

• Object hidden at B.
• 15 seconds later it is retrieved from A.

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Impossible event
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Impossible event
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Impossible event.

• Object hidden at B.
• 15 seconds later it is retrieved from A.
• At this delay, 9-month-olds commit the A not B
  error.

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Impossible event.

• Object hidden at B.
• 15 seconds later it is retrieved from A.
• At this delay, 9-month-olds commit the A not B
  error.

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Results

• Infants show longer looking time to impossible
  than to possible events.
• Implies that even after a 15 second delay,
  infants still know the toy was hidden at B,
  although at this delay, they would search at A.

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Conclusions

• A not B errors reflect limitations in executive
  control.
• Memory of hiding at B does not control reaching
  to A.
• Reflects a dissociation of short-term memory
  (i.e., knowledge) and procedural memory (i.e.,
  action)

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Executive control
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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Executive control

• A not B errors reflect limited executive control
• Memory of B does not control reaching to A
• STM (i.e., knowledge) and procedural memory
  (i.e., action) appear dissociated

Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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IV Development of LTM
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V Development of LTM
Executive control
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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V Development of LTM
Executive control
How are memories formed? Why do we forget our own
infant experiences? Developmental changes?
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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V Development of LTM

• (1) Memory in infancy
• (2) Infantile amnesia
• (3) Learning to use memory

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I Infant memory

• Recognition versus recall
• Recall ? The ability to actively bring a memory
  to mind (e.g., episodic and semantic memory)
• Recognition ? The ability to identify previously
  encountered stimuli.
• Infants Recall? Recognition?

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Recognition

• Rovee-Collier Hayne, 1987 Do 3-month-olds
  recognize familiar objects?
• Mobile A kicking ? then 2 week delay
• Test Mobile A, Mobile B ? How much kicking?
• Result More kicking to A than B suggesting
  infants recognized Mobile A
• How stable is this early memory?

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Recognition

• Mobile A kicking in one context (6 m-old)
• Test Mobile A in old and new context
• Result More kicking in familiar than in new
  context
• By end of 1st year, contextual variations have
  less of an effect
• How long do early memories last?

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Recognition

• Perris, Myers, Clifton, 1990 ? How permanent
  are memories stored _at_ 6-ms?
• 6-months ? auditory localization in dark
• Tested 18 months later
• Compared to controls, who hadnt participated
  before, experimental group reached more in the
  dark
• Memories that support recognition seem to endure
  for a considerable period of time

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2 Infantile Amnesia

• Infantile amnesia ? The failure to RECALL
  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL EVENTS from the first 2 or 3
  years of life
• Many things learned in infancy are remembered ?
  just not specific events
• Why?

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Infantile Amnesia

• Bauer Wewerka, 1995 ? language?
• Had 1-yr-olds watch an action sequence measured
  language abilities
• 1 year later, had children imitate this action
  sequence
• Infants with higher verbal abilities imitated
  better than those with low verbal abilities
• However, even low verbal infants imitated
• Autobiographical memory facilitated by, but not
  dependent on, language

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Infantile Amnesia

• Howe Courage ? Development of autobiographical
  memory related to self-understanding
• Self-understanding ? an important component is
  the understanding that the self is continuous
  over time
• Evidence self-recognition _at_ 19 months predicts
  later self-related discourse
• Social influences? See textbook (p.327)

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3 Learning to Use Memory

• Game
• List of words
• Watch and then write down all the words you can
  recall

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slide
towel
watch
tread
bunch
store
blade
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Test

• Write down the words

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Test

• Write down the words
• Slide, tread, towel, watch, bunch, store, blade

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Serial Position Effect in Recall
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
Recency Effect
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
Recency Effect
Reflects short-term memory
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
Primacy Effect
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
Primacy Effect
Reflects transfer to long-term memory
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
Recency Effect
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
Recency Effect
No age effect in short-term memory
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
No Primacy Effect
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
No Primacy Effect
Less transfer to long-term memory in children
Proportion Correct
Serial Position
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Serial Position Effect in Recall
No Primacy Effect
Less transfer to long-term memory in children
Proportion Correct
WHY?
Serial Position
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Rehearsal

• A memory strategy that involves repetition of
  items to be remembered.
• Children learn that rehearsal promotes memory.

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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Kindergarteners 2nd-graders 5th-graders
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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Kindergarteners 2nd-graders 5th-graders
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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Delay
Kindergarteners 2nd-graders 5th-graders
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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Recall?
Kindergarteners 2nd-graders 5th-graders
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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Recall?
Kindergarteners 2nd-graders 5th-graders
Improvement
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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Rehearsal?
Kindergarteners 2nd-graders 5th-graders
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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Rehearsal?
Kindergarteners 2nd-graders 5th-graders 85
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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Rehearsal?
Kindergarteners 10 2nd-graders 5th-graders 85
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Flavell, Beach, Chinsky, 1966
Rehearsal?
Kindergarteners 10 2nd-graders 5th-graders 85
Rehearsal ?? Better Recall
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Rehearsal

• A memory strategy that involves repetition of
  items to be remembered.
• Children learn that rehearsal promotes memory.

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Rehearsal

• A memory strategy that involves repetition of
  items to be remembered.
• Children learn that rehearsal promotes memory.
• Change in the nature of rehearsal?

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Ornstein, Naus, Liberty, 1975
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Ornstein, Naus, Liberty, 1975
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Ornstein, Naus, Liberty, 1975
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Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories

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Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories

Dog, chair, cat, cow, table, horse
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Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories

Dog, chair, cat, cow, table, horse 10 11
yr-olds? Dog, cat, cow, horse, table, chair
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Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories

Dog, chair, cat, cow, table, horse 10 11
yr-olds? Dog, cat, cow, horse, table, chair 5
6-yr-olds? Dog, chair, cat
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Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories Greater
  use in older children

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Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories Greater
  use in older children
• Elaboration ? A memory strategy in which items
  are linked through use of an image or sentence

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Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories Greater
  use in older children
• Elaboration ? A memory strategy in which items
  are linked through use of an image or sentence

Woman, pink, computer
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Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories Greater
  use in older children
• Elaboration ? A memory strategy in which items
  are linked through use of an image or sentence

Woman, pink, computer
101
Organization Elaboration

• Organization ? A memory strategy that involves
  organizing list items into categories Greater
  use in older children
• Elaboration ? A memory strategy in which items
  are linked through use of an image or sentence
  Greater use in older children

102
Rehearsal

• A memory strategy that involves repetition of
  items to be remembered.
• Children learn that rehearsal promotes memory.
• Change in the nature of rehearsal?

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Rehearsal

• A memory strategy that involves repetition of
  items to be remembered.
• Children learn that rehearsal promotes memory.
• Change in the nature of rehearsal

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Development of LTM
Executive control
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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Development of LTM

• LTM operative in infancy
• Developmental change in the way information
• transferred from STM to LTM

Executive control
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response
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Development of LTM

• LTM operative in infancy
• Developmental change in the way information
• transferred from STM to LTM

Executive control

• Information processing perspective
• Mechanisms
• Experimentation

Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Stimuli
Sensory register
Response