Cognitive Flashcards
1
Q
What are case studies?
A
Allows data gathered to be in-depth and detailed. Gathers data from many different sources and different research methods
2
Q
What type of data do case studies gather?
A
Qualitative, but can also give quantitative (e.g. IQ tests)
3
Q
Who was HM?
A
Henry Molaison
4
Q
Which part of HM’s brain was removed?
A
William Scoville removed HM’s hippocampus, which was associated with consolidating memories.
5
Q
What happened to HM’s memory
A
He was assessed of having anterograde (loss of ability to make NEW memories) and retrograde (loss of ability to recall events PRIOR to the injury) amnesia.
6
Q
How did HM contribute to understanding memory?
A
Shows that there is short term and long term memory storage. Informs us that short term memories need to be transferred to long term storage to be able to be retrieved again.
7
Q
What is test-retest reliability?
A
If findings are consistent, and considered reliable, it can be trusted that findings will happen again.
8
Q
Objectivity
A
Need to be impartial and judgement free
9
Q
Internal validity
A
How well the procedure establishes a causal relationship between manipulated IV and measured DV.
10
Q
Predictive validity
A
The extent to which the performance on the measure can predict future performance on a similar criterion.
11
Q
Ecological validity
A
The extent to which the research can be generalised to other situations (real life or everyday situations).
12
Q
Operationalised hypothesis
A
Defining precisely how you intend to measure the DV and alter the conditions of the IV
13
Q
What are the 3 experimental designs?
A
Independent measures, repeated measures and matched pairs
14
Q
Independent measures design
A
Using DIFFERENT participants in each condition of the experiment
15
Q
Repeated measures design
A
Using the SAME participants in each condition of the experiment
16
Q
Matched pairs
A
Using different but similar participants in each condition. An effort is made to match the participants in any important characteristics that might be important to the study.
17
Q
Order effects
A
Occurs when repeated measures design is used.
Practice effect - become practised at the test and improve their performance
Fatigue effect - become tired or bored so performance deteriorates
18
Q
Counterbalancing
A
Each condition is tested first or second in equal amounts. Divided equally between the conditions and experiment them in different order.
e.g. one group tested in A then B, other group do B then A.
19
Q
Randomising
A
Each participant is assigned either Condition A or B first randomly
20
Q
Extraneous variable
A
Variable that may have affected the DV but that was not the IV
21
Q
Confounding variable
A
Variable that affects the findings of a study directly, so much that you are no longer measuring what was intended
22
Q
Situational variables
A
An extraneous variable found in the environment, such as noise, time of day, temperature, disturbances etc.
23
Q
Participant variables
A
Participants themselves may affect results as they have different characteristics, such as intelligence, level of motivation, age, personality, skills.
24
Q
Experimenter/ researcher effect
A
The way the experimenter may influence the outcome of an experiment by their actions or presence.
25
Hawthorne effect
Presence of the experimenter can affect performance
26
Demand characteristics
Participants have certain expectations concerning the experiment. Actual communication, what the participant may have heard about the experiment, effect of the experimenter causes the participant to alter their behaviour to meet the expectations.
27
Standardisation
Making an experiment the same experience for all participants. Standardised instructions and standardised procedures.
28
Nominal data
Form of categories
29
Ordinal data
Ordered in some way, e.g. ranking
30
Interval data
Real measurements are involved, e.g temperature
31
Ratio data
Same as interval, but there is a true zero point, e.g. cm or seconds
32
Who proposed the Multi-store model of memory?
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
33
What are the 3 basic memory stores?
Sensory buffer, short-term memory and long-term memory
34
Multi store model of memory
Attended information from sensory register is transferred to STM, from STM information can be transferred to LTM
35
Sensory Buffer
- One register for each sensory modality e.g. visual, auditory
- Limited, approx. 50 milliseconds duration
- Capacity 3-4 items
- Forgetting by decay
- Retrieval by scanning
36
STM duration research
Peterson and Peterson - using an interference task to prevent rehearsal. Required to remember a single trigram for intervals of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 secs. Correct recall of trigram was likely after a short interval but performance dropped after 15-18 secs.
37
STM capacity research
Miller - STM limited to around 7 items. 'Magic number seven, plus or minus two'
38
Primacy-recency effect
Glanzer and Cunitz - first and last words in the list were recalled well, but middle words were not remembered well. First (primacy effect) had gone into LTM through rehearsal and end (recency effect) is still in rehearsal loop. Middle is not well recalled as it was displaced by new material.
39
STM encoding
Memory trace was held in an auditory or verbal form because of phonological similarity effect. Suggests STM encoding is primarily acoustic.
40
STM retrieval
Based on rapid scanning of stored information. Rehearsal is important for maintaining information in the STM, increasing strength of memory trace.
41
Transfer of information between STM and LTM
Transfer can be a result of rehearsal - leave a weak memory trace. Stronger memory trace by using a medical operation such as a mnemonic.
42
STM summary
- Acoustic and verbal encoding
- Duration 15 - 30 seconds
- Storage capacity 5 - 9 items
- Forgetting by decay through displacement
- Retrieval by sequential search
43
Retrieval from LTM
LTM exists for all sensory modalities, multiple copies of a memory were retained.
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon (Brown and McNeill 1968) showed that people were able to accurately predict that they could recognise a correct answer even if they could not recall the answer at that moment in time.
44
Encoding in LTM
Depend on rehearsal process or association between new and pre-existing knowledge. Encoding is semantic.
45
Duration of LTM
Potentially a lifetime. Bahrick (1975) found that identification of names and faces in High School Yearbook was between 70-80% accurate 48 years after leaving school.
46
Capacity of LTM
Potentially infinite. Brady (2008) showed 2500 objects over 5.5 hours. Participants were shown the original object paired with a different object, identification was 92% and if different object was similar 88%
47
LTM summary
- Semantic encoding
- Potentially a lifetime of duration
- Limitless capacity
- Forgetting through decay and interference
- Semantic retrieval
48
Strengths of MSM
- Supporting evidence
- HM case study gives physiological support
- Shows they have separate stores - Baddeley conducted an experiment and found that semantic words were more difficult to recall, suggests encoding in STM and LTM were different
49
Weaknesses of MSM
- Experiments use artificial tasks, so might not be valid
- Alternative explanations
- Too simplistic an explanation.
- Emphasis given to rehearsal in transfer of information from STM to LTM
50
Clive Wearing
Could not recall past events, but could only remember how to play the piano. Suggests the LTM is not a single store but could be because of something more complex
51
Who proposed the Working Memory Model?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
52
Why did Baddeley and Hitch propose the WMM?
They noted problems with the MSM because it was overly simplistic and it emphasised the role of rehearsal as being critical to learning.
53
What are the 3 components of the WMM?
Central executive, phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad
54
What is the role of the working memory?
To temporarily store and manipulate information being used. It is fragile and susceptible to distraction, overload and overwork
55
Central executive
Deal with the running of the memory system and two slave systems. Has limited capacity but can deal with different types of sensory information. The attentional controller with capacity to focus, divide and switch attention.
56
Modality free
Able to process different forms of information e.g. acoustic, visual
57
Phonological loop
Holds speech based information for about 2 seconds before decay. Deals with temporary storage of VERBAL information.
58
What are the two components in the phonological loop?
Articulatory loop (inner voice) and Primary Acoustic Store (inner ear)
59
Primary Acoustic Store
Holds auditory traces which decay rapidly after a few seconds.
60
Phonological similarity effect
It is more difficult to remember similar sounding words and letters compared to different sounding words. Not the case for semantic similarity, shows that it relies on acoustic encoding for storage.
61
Articulatory loop
Revives memory traces by rehearsing them, subvocal speech.
62
Word length effect
Short monosyllabic words were recalled more successfully than longer polysyllabic words. Longer words filled up the limited capacity resulting in decay. The LONGER the word, the more capacity was used up and forgetting more likely.
63
Visuospatial sketchpad
Can temporarily hold and manipulate visual and spatial information, such as shapes, colours. Limited in capacity to around 3 - 4 objects.
64
WMM Individual differences
Some people have better STM than others. Poor WM has been associated with dyslexia and Specific language impairment.
65
Strengths of WMM
- Expands on MSM, more information
- Neurophysiological evidence - case study of KF
- Valid, credible as it fits with everyday situations
66
KF case study
Suffered STM impairment following a motorbike accident. Problem with immediate recall of words being presented verbally, but not with visual information. KF has impaired articulatory loop but intact VSSP
67
Weaknesses of WMM
- Artificial task, lack ecological and task validity
- Only explains STM, not transfer to LTM
- Central Executive is simplistic and vague, doesn't explain what it does, difficult to design tasks to test it
68
Who proposed reconstructive memory?
Bartlett (1932)
69
What did Bartlett believe about memory?
It should not be divided into its parts and treated as independent from other functioning, but should be studied to capture the relationship between memory
70
Perception
Conducted experiments to test memory for shapes and objects and found that participants often assign verbal labels. Perception of the shape or object influenced how it was remembered.
71
Imaging
Showed ink blots and asked what they saw. Participants searched their own stored images to find the best match
72
Effort after meaning
Participants connect a stimulus with knowledge or experience they already possessed. Once the stimulus gains meaning, it can be more readily stored.
73
Remembering
Perception is an active construction of what we think we see using our prior knowledge.
74
War of the Ghosts
- 20 participants read the story twice
- Tested recall after several minutes, weeks, months and years
- Story became SHORTENED, phrases reflected modern concepts and the story became more COHERENT
- Transformations were reported to make the story more familiar
75
What did Bartlett conclude about memory?
- It is a reconstruction each time it is recalled
- Rarely accurate and prone to rationalisation (shortening)
- Confabulation (making up bits and filling in gaps)
- Remembering is constructive and influenced by inferences made by an individual
76
Schema theory
Schemas are parcels of stored knowledge or mental representations of information about a specific object or event. Used in recognition and interpretation of unfamiliar objects and events.
77
Stereotyping
Attitudes and responses to events change our memory for those events. Recall involves retrieving knowledge that has been altered to fit with stereotypes the person already has.
78
Reconstructive memory individual differences
How we perceive an object or event is based on individual interpretation, influences by past experiences, knowledge learned and beliefs we possess.
79
Strengths of reconstructive memory
- Evidence - War of Ghosts and Loftus+Palmer
- Can be tested experimentally, makes it scientific
- Good application to real life, police and courts with eyewitnesses
80
Weaknesses of reconstructive memory
- Does not deal with the process, it is a description rather than an explanation
- War of the Ghosts is an unusual story that does not make sense, so it could be argued that there could be demand characteristics where the participants guess what is intended
- WMM and MSM
81
Who proposed the episodic/semantic memory?
Tulving 1972
82
Episodic memory
Remembered experiences
83
Semantic memory
Remembered facts
84
What are the differences between episodic and semantic memory?
1. Nature of stored memories
2. Time referencing
3. Spatial referencing
4. Nature of retrieving memories
5. Independence of each store
85
What is the nature of episodic memory?
Mental diary - about experiences or events that occur. A record of events.
86
What is the nature of semantic memory?
Mental encyclopaedia - storing words, facts, rules, meanings and concepts. Associated with other facts that link the concepts together.
87
Time referencing of episodic memory
Dependent on time-referencing, memories about events that happen to you are linked to the time in which they occurred.
88
Time referencing of semantic memory
Detached from the time when it occurred, factual information can be recalled without reference to when it was learned.
89
Spatial referencing of episodic memory
Input is continuous as we experience a whole episode in relation to when and where it happened.
90
Spatial referencing of semantic memory
Input can be fragmentary, we can piece factual information together that has been learned at different points in time.
91
Retrieval of episodic memory
Only possible if it has been encoded and stored. Retrieval changes the memory that is stored, as a new episode that links to it is now encoded and stored.
92
Retrieval of semantic memory
Can help to work out things we don't actually know before doing the working out. Retrieval does not change the actual memory.
93
Do the stores operate independently or are they interrelated?
Semantic memory can operate independently of episodic memory. Episodic memory is unlikely to operate without semantic memory as we need to be able to draw on previous knowledge of objects, people and events to understand them.
94
Forgetting episodic memory
Forgetting due to retrieval cue failure (forgetting when and where something happened). Memory trace can be transformed/ changed
95
Forgetting semantic memory
Memory trace more robust and less susceptible to change.
96
Strengths of episodic/ semantic memory
- Case study of KC - suffered LTM impairment to his episodic memory, resulting in inability to form or recall personal events in life, but could recall factual information
- Detailed explanation of types of LTM
- Neurophysiological evidence - episodic memory seems to be affected by pre-frontal brain damage rather than semantic memories
97
Weaknesses of episodic/ semantic memory
- Clive Wearing suffered memory impairments that affected LTM recall from episodic storage but he was still able to perform procedural tasks. Suggests a further long-term store for remembering practised skills
- Difficult to test as they both work together, so research into separate stores is problematic because they cannot be isolated
98
What was the background information for Baddeley's study?
Wanted to test whether STM and LTM were different. At the time, research used different research techniques. Baddeley wanted to explore the effects of both acoustic and semantic in LTM.
99
What was Baddeley's aim?
To investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall on LTM.
100
Sequential recall
In the order they were presented in
101
Who were the participants in Baddeley's experiment?
Men and women from the Applied Psychology Research Unit subject panel, Cambridge. Each group contained approximately 20 participants.
102
What was the IV and DV in Baddeley's experiment?
IV- Acoustic similarity/ semantic similarity
DV - Recall of the list sequence from LTM
103
What were the 4 conditions in Baddeley's experiment?
List A - 10 acoustically similar words
List B - 10 acoustically dissimilar words
List C - 10 semantically similar words
List D - 10 semantically dissimilar words
104
Which were the baseline control groups in Baddeley's experiment?
List A and C
105
How were the words presented in Baddeley's experiment?
- Each list of 10 words was presented by slide projector
- Correct order one at a time for 3 seconds and two second slide changeover
106
What happened after presentation of words in Baddeley's experiment?
- Complete six tasks involving memory for digits
- Given eight seconds to write down numbers
107
How many times were the learning trials repeated in Baddeley's experiment?
Four learning trials (presented with same list four times)
108
What happened after the fourth learning trial in Baddeley's experiment?
Participants given a 15 minute interference task involving copying eight digit sequences. A surprise retest on the word list sequence was given after.
109
What were the results in Baddeley's experiment?
Recall of acoustically similar sounding words and acoustically dissimilar sounding words was not statistically significant. Acoustic does not affect LTM.
Semantically similar words were more difficult to learn than dissimilar words.
110
What did Baddeley conclude?
STM is largely acoustic and LTM uses semantic coding
111
What statistical test did Baddeley use?
Mann-Whitney U test:
- looking for a difference
- interval data (number of recall)
- independent groups design
112
What were Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil's aims?
1. How digit span changed from 5 - 17 years old. To investigate the capacity of the phonological loop and its differences in ages.
2. Whether digit span was affected by age and dementia
3. If development patterns found in the Spanish study matched English study
113
Who were the participants in Part 1 of Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil's study?
570 volunteer Spanish participants from schools in Madrid.
114
What was the IV and DV in Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil's study?
IV- age
DV- digit span
115
How was digit span measured in Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil's study?
Experimenter read aloud sequences of digits, one per second. Read increasing sequences of digits to recall in correct order.
116
What were the results in Part 1 of Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil's study?
5 years - 3.76
6-8 years - 4.34
9-11 years - 5.13
12-14 years - 5.46
15-17 years - 5.83
117
What did Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil conclude in Part 1?
Digit span increased with age from 5 - 17 years
118
What did Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil find about Spanish and English digit span?
Spanish figures were about one digit span below English speakers. Due to differences in word length as Spanish words take longer to say, so takes more space in the phonological loop.
119
What did Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil conclude about Spanish and English digit spans?
Digit span in Spanish population is significantly shorter than English speaking cultures, due to word length effect associated with digits.
120
What is the key question?
Can we use Working Memory to understand and treat Dyslexia?
