Cognition and behavior

Factors Affecting Attention

Attention is the selective focusing of consciousness on a particular stimulus or object. The factors that determine what we attend to are broadly divided into two groups: external (objective) factors and internal (subjective) factors.

A. External Factors — these lie in the stimulus or environment itself:

1. Intensity (size and intensity): A strong, loud, bright or large stimulus draws attention more easily than a weak one. A loud siren or a bright light is noticed at once.
2. Contrast: A stimulus that stands out against its background attracts attention. A white figure on a black board or a red flower among green leaves is noticed immediately.
3. Change and movement: Moving or changing objects attract attention more than stationary ones. A moving vehicle or a flashing light catches the eye.
4. Novelty: A new or unusual stimulus draws attention, while a familiar one does not. A new dress or a strange face attracts notice.
5. Repetition: A stimulus repeated again and again becomes familiar and is attended to. Advertisements use repetition for this reason.
6. Duration: A stimulus that lasts longer holds attention better than one that appears briefly.
7. Location (position): Objects placed in a prominent position, such as the centre or top of a page, attract more attention.

B. Internal Factors — these lie within the individual:

1. Interest: We attend to things that interest us. A cricket lover notices cricket news at once.
2. Motivation and need: Needs and motives direct attention. A hungry person attends to the smell of food.
3. Set or mental readiness: A prepared mind attends quickly to the relevant stimulus. A doctor notices symptoms that others ignore.
4. Emotion: Emotional states influence attention; a frightened person attends to every sound.
5. Habit: Learned habits make certain stimuli more attention-drawing, as when a reader attends to printed words easily.
6. Fatigue and health: A tired or unwell person cannot concentrate, so attention weakens.
7. Attention span and age: Young children have a short attention span; it increases with age and training.

Conclusion: Attention is thus the result of both the nature of the stimulus and the condition of the individual. The stronger and more meaningful the stimulus, and the more interested and motivated the person, the better the attention.

Memory is the mental process of encoding, storing and retrieving information. According to the Atkinson-Shiffrin information processing (multi-store) model, memory is of three types, and long-term memory has further divisions.

1. Sensory memory It holds raw information received through the senses for a very short time, about 0.25 to 0.5 second for vision (iconic memory) and 2 to 4 seconds for sound (echoic memory). Its capacity is large. Only the information to which we pay attention passes to the next stage. Example: the trail of light seen after a sparkler is waved.

2. Short-term memory (STM) It holds a limited amount of information for about 15 to 30 seconds unless rehearsed. Its capacity is about 7 plus or minus 2 items (Miller). It can be extended by chunking and kept alive by rehearsal. Since it also holds information being worked on, it is called working memory. Example: remembering a phone number just long enough to dial it.

3. Long-term memory (LTM) It stores information for a long time, from hours to a whole lifetime, with practically unlimited capacity. Information reaches it through rehearsal and meaningful organisation. LTM is of two main kinds:

• Explicit (declarative) memory: conscious recall of facts and events. It includes episodic memory (personal events, such as the day of your SEE result) and semantic memory (general knowledge, such as Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal).
• Implicit (non-declarative) memory: unconscious memory shown through performance, such as procedural memory (riding a bicycle, typing) and conditioned responses.

Flow of information Stimulus, then sensory memory (attention), then STM (rehearsal), then LTM (storage), and from LTM back to STM by retrieval.

These types differ in duration, capacity and form of storage, and together they enable us to learn and use experience.

A concept is a mental category or idea that groups objects, events or ideas having common features, such as "bird", "fruit" or "triangle". Concept formation is the process of learning to form such categories. It usually proceeds through the following steps.

1. Experiencing / observing objects (sensory stage) The child comes into contact with many objects and events and notices them through the senses. A child sees sparrows, crows and eagles.

2. Abstraction The child picks out the common, essential features and ignores the differences. In birds, the child notes feathers, wings, beak and ability to lay eggs, and ignores size and colour.

3. Generalisation The common features are extended to all objects of the class. The child concludes that all creatures with feathers and wings are birds.

4. Discrimination The child separates objects that belong to the class from those that do not. A bat flies but has no feathers, so it is not a bird. This makes the concept sharper.

5. Naming / labelling A word or symbol is attached to the concept ("bird"), which allows it to be remembered and communicated.

6. Definition / verification and use The child states the concept in a definition and tests it on new examples (a parrot, a penguin). The concept is corrected and refined, and then used in thinking, reasoning and problem solving.

Concept formation thus develops gradually from concrete experience to abstract thought, and language helps greatly in it. It simplifies the environment, saves mental effort and helps learning.

Forgetting is the failure to recall or recognise previously learned information when it is needed. It may be temporary (the name is on the tip of the tongue) or permanent. It is the opposite of remembering, and some forgetting is natural and useful because it clears unimportant detail.

Example: A student studies the causes of the Rana revolution on Monday and can write them well on Tuesday, but cannot recall them after two months. Ebbinghaus showed through his forgetting curve that most forgetting happens soon after learning and then slows down.

Main causes of forgetting

1. Decay (disuse) theory: memory traces fade with time if not used. A language not spoken for years is forgotten.
2. Interference theory: other learning disturbs recall.
   • Retroactive interference: new learning disturbs old memory. After learning a new phone number, the old one is forgotten.
   • Proactive interference: old learning disturbs new memory. Earlier habit of a password makes learning a new one hard.
3. Motivated forgetting (repression): painful or embarrassing experiences are pushed out of consciousness (Freud). A person may forget an accident.
4. Retrieval failure: the information is stored but proper cues are missing. A name is recalled when we see the person's face.
5. Lack of attention or poor encoding: information that was never properly learned cannot be remembered.
6. Organic causes: brain injury, illness, ageing or alcohol (amnesia).

Reducing forgetting: meaningful learning, revision, spaced practice, use of mnemonics and enough sleep.

Hence forgetting is a normal process affected by time, interference, emotion and cues.

Creative thinking is the mental process of producing new, original and useful ideas, products or solutions. It goes beyond ordinary patterns and involves fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration. Writing a new poem, inventing a low-cost water filter or finding an unusual way to solve a maths problem are examples. It is closely linked to divergent thinking.

Stages of creative thinking (Graham Wallas, 1926)

1. Preparation The person identifies the problem, collects information, studies earlier work and tries different approaches. This stage is hard work and often ends without a solution. Example: a scientist reads about the problem and makes many trials.

2. Incubation The person leaves the problem aside and stops consciously working on it. The unconscious mind continues to work, and rest, walking, sleep or other activities may help. No visible progress is made.

3. Illumination (inspiration) The solution suddenly appears, often during a relaxed moment, as a flash of insight. Archimedes' discovery in the bath ("Eureka") is the classic example.

4. Verification (evaluation) The idea is tested, checked for correctness, usefulness and practicality, and revised and developed as required. If it fails, the process starts again.

The stages may overlap and repeat. Creativity can be encouraged by curiosity, a free environment, tolerance of mistakes, hobbies and openness to experience.

Perception is the process of selecting, organising and interpreting sensory information to give it meaning. The same stimulus may be perceived differently by different people, because perception depends on many factors, which are grouped as external (objective) and internal (subjective).

A. External (objective) factors: features of the stimulus

1. Size: large objects attract attention more easily than small ones.
2. Intensity: bright light, loud sound or strong smell is noticed first.
3. Contrast: an object that differs from its background stands out, such as a red flower among green leaves.
4. Repetition: repeated stimuli are noticed (advertisements).
5. Movement: moving objects draw attention more than still ones.
6. Novelty and unusualness: something new or unexpected is noticed.
7. Grouping and organisation: by proximity, similarity, closure and continuity (Gestalt principles), stimuli are seen as a whole.

B. Internal (subjective) factors: features of the perceiver

1. Needs and motives: a hungry person notices food shops quickly.
2. Interest: we perceive what interests us; a cricket fan notices a cricket score.
3. Past experience and learning: familiarity makes people see what they expect (perceptual set). A farmer and a tourist see the same field differently.
4. Attention: selective attention decides what is perceived.
5. Emotion and mood: a happy person sees the world brighter.
6. Attitude, values and culture: beliefs, social background and prejudice colour interpretation.
7. Physical condition and sense organs: fatigue, illness, defective vision or hearing distort perception.
8. Personality and expectation: anxious persons may perceive danger easily.

Example: In a crowded market, a mother hears her own child's cry among many sounds, because of her interest, emotional bond and attention.

Thus perception results from the combined action of stimulus features and personal characteristics.

The James-Lange theory is one of the earliest theories of emotion. It was proposed independently by the American psychologist William James (1884) and the Danish physiologist Carl Lange (1885). It reverses the common-sense view.

Main idea Common sense says: we see a danger, feel fear, and then tremble and run. According to this theory, the bodily (physiological) changes come first, and the emotion is the awareness of these changes. In James' words, "We feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble."

Sequence Stimulus (event) -> perception -> physiological/bodily responses (heartbeat, trembling, sweating, muscle tension, running) -> perception of these bodily changes by the brain -> emotion (fear).

Example A person walking alone in a forest sees a tiger. His heart begins to race, his legs tremble, and he breaks into sweat. When he becomes aware of these bodily changes, he experiences fear. Without the bodily change, there would be no emotion; only a cool, intellectual recognition of the situation.

Support for the theory

• Each emotion produces its own pattern of bodily activity.
• People with reduced awareness of bodily sensation report weaker emotion (some studies).
• Facial expression (smiling) can slightly change mood (facial feedback).

Criticism

1. Cannon and Bard showed that the same visceral changes (rapid heartbeat) occur in different emotions (fear, anger, joy) so they cannot tell emotions apart.
2. Visceral changes are slow, whereas emotion is felt almost instantly.
3. Artificially induced bodily changes (adrenaline injection) do not produce true emotion.
4. Animals and persons with spinal cord damage, who lose bodily feedback, still show emotion.

Conclusion: although it is not fully accepted, the theory drew attention to the role of body in emotion and led to later theories such as Cannon-Bard and Schachter-Singer.

Memory depends on how well information is encoded, stored and retrieved. Many factors influence it, as discussed below with examples.

A. Factors related to the learner

1. Attention and interest: a student who attends carefully to a lesson remembers more than a distracted one. Interesting content is remembered easily.
2. Motivation and intention to remember: a person who learns for a purpose, such as an exam, recalls better than one who learns incidentally.
3. Age, health and intelligence: young and healthy persons with good ability remember well; illness, fatigue, alcohol or ageing reduce memory.
4. Emotional state: moderate anxiety helps, but strong stress or fear blocks recall. Emotional events (a wedding) are remembered vividly (flashbulb memory).
5. Past knowledge: new information linked to old knowledge is easier to remember.

B. Factors related to the material

1. Meaningfulness: meaningful material is remembered more than nonsense material. "Mount Everest is the highest peak" is easier than random syllables.
2. Length and difficulty: short, easy material is retained better than long, difficult material.
3. Organisation: well-ordered, grouped (chunked) material is remembered better; a list of items grouped by category is easier to recall.
4. Serial position: the first and the last items in a list are recalled better (primacy and recency effects).

C. Factors related to the method of learning

1. Rehearsal and repetition: repeated revision strengthens memory.
2. Distributed (spaced) practice: studying in short sessions with breaks is better than cramming.
3. Whole and part method: for short meaningful matter, the whole method is better.
4. Recitation: testing oneself improves recall.
5. Use of mnemonics: devices such as acronyms ("VIBGYOR" for rainbow colours) and imagery help.
6. Overlearning: practice beyond first mastery reduces forgetting.

D. Other factors

1. Interference: similar material learned before or after disturbs recall.
2. Sleep and rest: sleep after learning consolidates memory.
3. Retrieval cues and context: recall is better when the learning situation is the same as the testing situation.

Hence, good memory requires attention, meaningful organisation, suitable methods, and a healthy, relaxed state.

Problem solving is the mental process of finding a way to reach a goal when the path is not immediately clear. It involves recognising the difficulty, thinking, and using knowledge to arrive at a solution. Problem solving is commonly described in the following stages (based on Dewey and Wallas).

1. Identifying and defining the problem The first step is to be aware that a problem exists and to state it clearly: what is given, what the goal is and what obstacle lies between. A badly defined problem leads to wrong answers. Example: a student realises "my marks in mathematics are falling" and defines it as "I do not understand algebra".

2. Collecting and analysing information Relevant facts, past experience and resources are gathered and the problem is analysed into parts. The student finds out which topics are weak, how much time is spent and how the teacher explains.

3. Generating possible solutions (hypotheses) Various possible solutions are thought of, using trial and error, past knowledge, analogy, brainstorming, or insight. The student lists: extra classes, group study, more practice, asking the teacher.

4. Evaluating the alternatives and selecting the best Each possible solution is judged for its merits, cost, time and risk, and the most suitable is chosen. The student decides that daily practice and teacher's help are the best.

5. Implementing the solution (testing) The chosen solution is put into action. The student follows the plan for a month.

6. Verifying and reviewing the result The outcome is checked to see whether the problem is solved. If it is, the process ends; if not, the person goes back to earlier stages and tries another solution. The student takes a test and compares marks.

Obstacles to problem solving: mental set, functional fixedness, lack of motivation, anxiety, and lack of knowledge.

Strategies: trial and error, algorithms (step-by-step rules that guarantee a solution), heuristics (rules of thumb), means-end analysis and insight.

Thus problem solving is a systematic process which can be improved by practice and by flexible thinking.

Sensation is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from the environment — the raw, immediate detection of a stimulus before it is interpreted.

How do we forget? The mechanism behind the decay theory of forgetting

Forgetting is the failure to retrieve or recall information that was previously stored in memory. Psychologists have proposed several explanations for why forgetting occurs. The main ones are:

1. Decay theory – forgetting due to the fading of the memory trace over time.
2. Interference theory – forgetting because other learning interferes (retroactive and proactive interference).
3. Retrieval failure – the information is stored but cannot be accessed due to lack of cues.
4. Motivated forgetting – deliberate or unconscious suppression of unpleasant memories (repression).

Decay theory of forgetting

The decay theory, first proposed by Thorndike and later supported by Ebbinghaus, holds that a memory trace (engram) is formed in the brain whenever something is learned. If this trace is not used or rehearsed, it gradually fades away with the passage of time, and the information is lost. Just as a path through a field becomes overgrown if no one walks on it, a memory fades if it is not revisited.

Mechanism behind decay theory

• Formation of memory trace: Learning produces a physical/neural change (engram) in the brain.
• Passage of time: As time passes without rehearsal or retrieval, the neural trace weakens.
• Disuse: Lack of use or practice accelerates the fading of the trace.
• Disintegration: Eventually the trace disintegrates completely, and the memory can no longer be recalled.
• Rehearsal prevents decay: Regular practice or rehearsal keeps the trace active and prevents forgetting.

Evidence and criticism

• Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve shows that retention drops sharply in the first hours and days, then levels off — consistent with decay.
• Criticism: Decay theory cannot easily explain why some old memories remain vivid while recent ones are forgotten. It is hard to separate decay from interference, since in real life both operate together. Most modern psychologists believe interference and retrieval failure explain forgetting better than decay alone.

Conclusion

According to the decay theory, we forget because the memory trace formed during learning weakens and disintegrates over time when it is not rehearsed or used. Although it explains the general pattern of forgetting, decay alone is insufficient; interference and retrieval failure also play important roles.

Tools of thought are the mental instruments we use to think. The main ones are images, concepts, and language (symbols). Thinking is the mental process of manipulating information to solve problems, make decisions and understand the world, and these tools make it possible.

1. Images. Mental pictures of objects or events (visual, auditory and others) let us think about things that are not present. A student can picture the route from home to college in Kathmandu and plan the journey without seeing it.

2. Concepts. A concept is a general idea that groups objects or events with common features, such as "bird", "vegetable" or "democracy". Concepts simplify the world, save mental effort, and let us classify new things quickly and draw conclusions. On seeing an unfamiliar animal with feathers and wings, we infer it is a bird and expect it to lay eggs.

3. Language and symbols. Words, numbers and signs let us represent ideas, store them, reason about them and communicate them. Without language, abstract thinking (justice, infinity), planning, reasoning and problem solving would be very limited. Maths symbols, for instance, help us solve problems that cannot be solved by images alone.

4. Working together. Images give concrete material, concepts organise it, and language expresses and develops it, so that we can reason, solve problems, make decisions and be creative.

Conclusion: Tools of thought make thinking faster, more abstract and more accurate, and they allow us to learn from the past and plan for the future.

"Emotion adds colour to one's life" — Justification

Emotion is a complex affective state involving physiological arousal, expressive behaviour, and subjective feeling. It is emotion that gives life its variety, depth and meaning — without it, life would be dull and mechanical. The statement can be justified as follows:

1. Gives variety to experience. Emotions range from joy, love, excitement and pride to sadness, fear and anger. This wide range of feelings makes life interesting and colourful rather than flat and monotonous. The same event — a result, a reunion, a farewell — becomes memorable because of the emotion attached to it.

2. Directs and motivates behaviour. Emotions energise us to act. Happiness makes us seek more of what pleases us; fear makes us avoid danger; anger pushes us to remove obstacles. In this way emotion supplies the drive and direction that make life active and purposeful.

3. Colours perception and thinking. We see the world through our emotional state. In a happy mood, people and situations appear pleasant and hopeful; in sadness, the same world looks gloomy. Thus emotion tints every experience, giving it a personal shade of meaning.

4. Enriches social relationships. Love, affection, sympathy, gratitude and empathy bind people together. They make family life, friendship and social life warm and satisfying. A person who cannot feel or express emotion finds relationships cold and colourless.

5. Adds meaning and value to life. Emotions are the source of aesthetic and moral experience — the pleasure of music, the beauty of nature, the satisfaction of helping others. They also help us evaluate what is good or bad for us and give life a sense of significance.

6. Aids adjustment and survival. Fear, anger and joy prepare the body for adaptive action (fight, flight or approach) and help in coping with stress. Emotionally balanced people adjust better to their environment.

Conclusion: Emotion pervades every aspect of human life — perception, thought, motivation, relationship and adjustment. It is this emotional tone that turns mere existence into a rich, varied and meaningful life. Hence it is rightly said that emotion adds colour to one's life.

"Forgetting is a boon not a curse" — Explain

Forgetting is usually seen as a failure of memory, but from a functional point of view it serves several useful purposes. This is why many psychologists argue that forgetting is a boon rather than a curse.

1. Prevents mental overload. If every experience, name, number and detail were retained permanently, the mind would be flooded with useless information. Forgetting clears away trivial and outdated material so that attention and memory can be used for what is important here and now.

2. Removes painful and unpleasant memories. Forgetting helps us move past traumatic, embarrassing or painful experiences. The fading of such memories protects mental health, reduces anxiety and allows a person to adjust and live normally. Forgetting thus acts as a natural defence mechanism.

3. Helps in updating knowledge. Old and incorrect information must be dropped for new and correct information to be learnt. For example, a student must forget an old, wrong formula or an outdated address to learn the new one. Forgetting thus keeps knowledge current and useful.

4. Aids in learning and efficiency. Learning itself involves forgetting irrelevant responses and retaining the correct ones. In skills such as typing or driving, unnecessary movements are forgotten and smooth habits are formed. Forgetting also reduces interference, so that similar material learnt earlier does not disturb new learning.

5. Promotes mental health and adjustment. A person who cannot forget even small failures, insults or worries becomes tense, depressed and inefficient. The ability to forget minor hurts helps in forgiving, in maintaining relationships and in keeping emotional balance.

6. Saves time and energy. Recalling every detail would slow down thinking and decision-making. Forgetting allows quick, selective recall of only relevant facts, which makes thinking faster and more efficient.

Conclusion. Forgetting becomes a curse only when it removes important, useful or life-saving information, as in amnesia or in a student forgetting during an examination. But in normal life, its advantages clearly outweigh its disadvantages. Hence, forgetting is largely a boon, not a curse.