(BRB) cognitive p1

Question 1

what is cognitive psychology

Answer 1

• deals with internal mental processes such as language, memory, problem-solving

Question 2

what is the brain described as in cognitive psychology

Answer 2

a computer

Question 3

what research method is used in cognitive psychology

Answer 3

lab experiments

Question 4

what is memory

Answer 4

the capacity to retain and retrieve information

Question 5

what are the 4 assumptions of cognitive psychology

Answer 5

• thoughts influence behaviour, they act as mediational processes between stimulus and behavioural response
• humans are information processors
• the mind operates in a similar way to a computer
• internal mental processes can and should be investigated

Question 6

background on Henry Molaison (HM)

Answer 6

• born 1926
• age 7 had a bike accident
• started having epileptic seizures at age 10 and age 16 they became major
• he was monitored by a neurosurgeon called William Scoville and gave him an experimental procedure called a bilateral mesial temperal lobe resection

Question 7

what was the procedure like in the case study of HM

Answer 7

• he was studies using various methods like observation and standardised IQ tests, MRI scans post mortem, interviews and experimental tasks
• the studies took place from 1957 to his death in 2008 at age 82

Question 8

what were the results of HM case study

Answer 8

• his memory up to age16 was intact but he couldnt remember new info
• episodic memory was severely damaged but semantic was relatively intact
• unable to encode tempory STM into stable LTM
• he could aquire new motor skills
• intelligence levels remained the same

Question 9

what are the conclusions drawn from HM case study

Answer 9

• memory is a distinct cerebral function and separate from other brain functions
  -medial temporal lobe is the most important for memory
• there are multiple memory stores - STM & LTM