Cognative P+N Flashcards
1
Q
2 strengths of multi store model of memory (atkinson and shiffrin)
A
- The case study of Clive wearing. He suffered a long term memory impairment after brain inflammation, but his short term memory stayed unaffected. His hippocampus was damaged. Therefore this supports that there are different memory stores in the brain and that the long term memory is stored in the hippocampus and if there is no rehearsal then no long term memories can be formed
- Another strength is glanzer and cunitz have experimental evidence of primacy and recency effect. They found that when words were recalled from a list, the first words were recalled well because they had been passed onto the LTM and the last words were also recalled well because they were still in the STM, however the words in the middle were forgotten. Therefore this supports that the STM could only hold the first words and then rehearse them to go into the LTM but because of the small capacity the middle words were not able to enter the STM so were forgotten more easily.
2
Q
2 weaknesses of the multi store model of memory (Atkinson and shiffrin)
A
- The case study of KC, he had a motorcycle accident and could only remember semantic memory however not episodic memory and ant personal events before the accident. This therefore is a weakness because it suggests that long term memory is not one single store but that we have different long term memory stores for procedural memory and memory of events.
- It is hard to define what capacity means, craik and Lockhart have questioned if its limited storage capacity or limited processing capacity. If words rather then letters are recalled then 20 items can be recalled. This therefore is a weakness as it goes against the msmm belief that the stm can only hold up to 5-9 bits of information.
3
Q
2 strengths of reconstructive memory (Bartlett 32)
A
- War of the ghosts backs up his own theory. The words in the story were changed, for example canoe was changed to boat because that was what was more familiar to the ppt. Therefore this is a strength because it supports Bartlett’s belief that when we recall memories they are altered to fit our schemas.
2.the theory can be tested by experimental method because the IV can be operationalised ( for example the number of words can be counted). Therefore this is a strength because the IV, DV can be controlled, reliability can be achieved.
4
Q
2 weaknesses of reconstructive memory (Bartlett 32)
A
- The story in war of ghosts has little relevance to the participants as it is a Native American folk story which they would then change anyway to make sense. Therefore, it could be demand characteristics where the pp guessed what was intended which is a weakness because the results of the study might not be reliable.
- Bartlett argued that schema had an effect at point of recall where others have suggested that schemas effect at point of encoding instead. Therefore this is a weakness because our memory is changed at point of encoding to fit our schemas instead of recall so the memory would have been changed immediately to fit a schema.
5
Q
2 strengths of long term memory (tulving)
A
- There is evidence for the disassociation between semantic and episodic memory suggests one store can be affected without affecting the other one. Therefore this is a strength because it supports tulvings suggestion that episodic is stored in the neo-cortex and prefrontal lobes and that semantic memory is stored in the hippocampus.
- The case study of KC, he got in a motorcycle accident and could not recall incidents from his personal life however could still recall facts. Therefore this supports as it shows that there are two separate places/stores in the brain for semantic and episodic as only one store was affected.
6
Q
2 weaknesses of long term memory (tulving)
A
- The use of case study’s of brain damaged patients is very specific and unique to each individual. Therefore this is a weakness as it is not generalisable and can’t be applied to overall understanding of memory to the whole population.
- Squire and solar suggest that both semantic and episodic memory are stored in the medial temporal lobes of the brain, this goes against tulving so suggestion that episodic is stored in the neocortex and semantic in the hippocampus. Therefore this is a weakness because it questions tulvings proposal that the two LTM stores are different entity’s, squire and zolas provide strong physiological evidence which counters tulving theory.
7
Q
2 strengths if the working memory model (baddley 74)
A
- One strengths is that it expands on the msmm and goes in depth into the STM. Studies have shown that dual tasks were more difficult others. This is because we can carry out one visual and one auditory task because we use different components to carry out the tasks. This therefore is a strength because it supports that there are separate components for audio and spatial like the phonological loop for audio and the Visio spatial skatchpad for spacial info.
- The model has been backed up by neurophysiological evidence from brain scans such as HM where his spatial memory was impaired but his verbal recall was intact. Therefore, showing that there are different stores of STM in different stores of the brain supporting the theory’s ideas of 3 different components in the STM
8
Q
2 weaknesses of working memory (baddley 74)
A
- One weakness is that the model has been added to as new findings are made, which mens that the original model itself was inadequate and was not a complete explanation of memory. The episodic buffer was added later on which no we requires further explanation. This is therefore a weakness as it is not reliable nor valid as the initial ideas of the theory have been added on and so there were gaps in the theory to begin with.
- Another weakness for this theory is that the experiments used to back up this theory tend to be artificial tasks which doesn’t replicate all the senses in real life tasks. Therefore this is a weakness as it lacks ecological validity and the findings will lack validity as they do no replicate mundane realism.
