Cognitive Psychology Lab Report

Abstract

This study will execte and explanation of knowledge in the long term memory (LTM), and how it’s retrieved from the memory and duration it takes. The semantic printing and the lexical decision task and an extension of Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971).Where the investigation is whether a memory trace is activator or prime by related stimulus. Priming is by activating the internal representation that spreads through the interconnected network of the memory traces. Ratcliff and Mckoon (1988) and Rusedale (1989) stated that by priming is by searching using a cue of information about the target and the context it occur. The lexical decision task coatuns cue form the target from previous trial. Murdock (1982) state the importance of familiarity of the compound cue is higher when words are related from unrelated words. Ratcliff (1978) also pointed that familiarity also has impact on the accuracy and response true during the retnual process.

Introduction

This is an extention to Meyer and Schvaneveldt (1971) study checking whether a memory trace is activated or prime by related stimulus that was being used. The results that participants were faster reading words that are semantically related than unrelated. As the experiment extended from Meyer And Schvaneveldt (1971) study it incorporated an inter-stimulus interval (1st) to investigate the response time of activation spread. Also the non words were formulated by the change of one letter on the related or unrelated word to investigate on the priming association and the effects of the identification and the impact on non words

. Research studies, on spreading activation and non spreading activation models of priming. The activation model of memory as proposed by Gullian, Collins & loftus (1975) that memory is form network of interlinks of memory traces or nodes. As such the retrival is consist of activating the relevant node in the network and spreads to all the connected node and this expires in distance and time. As only on concept is process at a time it activation will continue to speed after it cease to process an accoundate at neighbouring traces for rerival. In such using the lexical decision task, a word as lion would spend activation accumlating at tiger would faculitate it recognition when it appear. This was review by Ratcliff and Mckoon (1981) that the time required for the spread of activation from one node to the other cannot provide the reason on the effect of network distance on retrival time but attributed to asymptotic activation level.It also demonstrated that the lapse of activation being rapid and such modification is close to the ACT. Several concept can be source of activation simulanasly while priming will still be source of activation the tatget should present for the activation to take place but activation and pre-activated the target even when th e prime is not being process. The non spreading activation model of priming is quite different theories of memory as SAM or TODAY. SAM uses matrix associated with cues and memory traces and match cue with still items in the memory. With such priming occur due to familiarity and higher when target is related than unrelated. TODAY remembered the items represuted through familiarity ; tasks the inner product and the memory vector into and then into response time and accuracy. The associative distance is the number of steps involve between the prime and the target in memory. eg in a network model there could be direct connection between mane and lion or in separation by one step where as and lion will be the connection between mane and tiger and separated by two steps. In Kiss, Armstrong, Milroy and Piper (1973) where participant were to provide free association response to stimulus word. It was stated that the majority responded better with related word than unrelated words.

Method

Participants

The participants are second year