Cognitive Flashcards
Baddeley 1966b: aim
To find out if LTM encodes acoustically (sound) or semantically (meaning). By giving pps word lists that are similar in the way they sound (acoustic) or mean (semantic), if pps struggle to recall the word order, it suggests that LTM is confused by the similarity which means that this is how LTM tends to encode.
Baddeley 1966 b: procedure
· Pps split into 4 groups: 1 + 2
· Each group views slideshow of 10 words for 3 secs each
· Acoustically similar: pps get list of words w similar sound, control group get words that are simple one syllable words that don’t sound the same
· Semantically similar: words share similar meaning, control group get words that are unconnected.
· After 4 learning trials, group are given 15 min inference task: copying 8 digit sequences
After inference task pps are given surprise retest on the wordlist sequence
Baddeley 1966 b: conclusion
· LTM encodes semantically
· which is why it gets confused because semantic similarities muddle up words
· LTM retrieves acoustically similar words easily bc it doesn’t pay attention to sound
· STM encodes acoustically
· Acoustically similar sounding words are more difficult to encode
· Acoustically similar: STM gets confused by similar sounds. Group lags behind controls until all words are encoded in LTM at which point the two groups finally get similar scores.
· Pps found it difficult to recall list one in initial phase of learning which shows that STM is acoustic
Schema
Knowledge packages of grouped memories
Assimilation
Changing our schemas to fit what we have learnt
Accommodate
Changing our memories to keep our schemas unchanged
Confabulation
Our schemas tell us what is supposed to happen so it fills in the gaps in our memories + removes change details to fit the schemas
Rationalisation
Coming up with explanations for confusing parts of the story
War of the ghosts
Bartlett based most of his research on story + object recall
Showed 20 students a nature American story with unusual features + asked them to recall it on several occasions (months)
This is called serial reproduction (repeated measures design)
Pps shortened story from 330 words to 180 - was shortest after two years
Confabulated details - changed unfamiliar vocab to match the schemas
Rationalised - coming up with explanations to baffling parts
Alport + postman (1947) RMM
Showed pps drawing of argument on subway + were asked to describe it to another participant through serial reproduction
Black character was better, dressed, and more respectable than white, but roles were reversed, and son described the black character as holding a knife
Loftus + Palmer (1947)
Showed students car crash and set questionnaire to answer
How fast where the car is going when they smashed into each other? 40mph
Tested one week later + asked was there broken glass 12% yes
Concludes that eyewitnesses are unreliable as they are controlled by leading questions
Hogeway dementia village
Residents chose to live and spend time in area of village themed around their schemas (validation therapy)
Helps dementia, sufferers feel safe + comfortable
STM: capacity, duration + encoding
C: 5-9 digit span (miller 1966)
D: 30s (postman)
E: acoustic (Baddeley 1966 A)
LTM: capacity, duration + encoding
C: unlimited (Bradley)
D: lifetime (Bahback)
E: semantic (Baddeley 1966 B)
Attkinson + Shiffrin (1968) MSM
Saw memories as a flow of information through an information processing system
It’s divided into a series of stages that passed from one store to another in a fixed sequence
Information from sensory memory is passed STM by attention
Iconic storage
Visual information
Echoic storage
Auditory or sound formation
Control process
Conscious decisions about what to attend to from the sensory information in our environment
Attend information
Information that is given attention
Rehearsal
Consciously, rehearsing + repeating items
Whole or partial report technique
Pps are asked to recall the whole array such as a line
Visual array
Arrangement of digits or letters
Multi store memory model
Incoming info - sensory memory - STM - LTM
Inference task
Task that prevents rehearsal such as counting backwards
Digit span
How many digits can be retained + recalled in a sequential order without mistakes
Phonological similarity effect
Similar sounding words and letters acoustically confused in STM, making them more difficult to recall
Encoding of STM MSM
A memory trace in the STM store is held in auditory or verbal form bc of the phonological similarity effect
The similarity of sounds leads to confusion in the STM suggesting that encoding is primarily acoustic
Retrieval of STM MSM
Rehearsal is important in maintaining information in the STM store increasing the strength of the memory trace + moving it to the LTM
Digit span experiments suggest that we are able to maintain 5 - 9 items using rehearsal as old info decays
Transfer of STM MSM
In order to transfer info received by sensory register to the STM store we use our LTM store to make sense of it + assign it a verbal label.
Transfer of info from STM to LTM can be due to rehearsal, but this would leaves a weak memory trace
Retrieval of LTM MSM
Believed that LTM existed for all sensory modalities - taste smell sound
Proposed that multiple copies of a memory were retained in the LTM.
Based off Brown + McNeil (1966) tip of the tongue phenomenon
Indicates that LTM is not stored as one trace, but has multiple copies in lots of forms
Encoding of LTM MSM

Dyslexia
Reading disorder defined as a problem in learning to recognise + decode printed words at a level that will be expected for the individuals age
Characterised by having difficulty w phonology and comes along w poor verbal STM
McDoughall et al (1994) dyslexia
Divided 90 children into 3 different reading abilities poor, moderate + good
found that poor readers had significantly lower memory spans and slow reading rates
Inefficiency in phonological processing explains dyslexia
Alloway et al (2009) dyslexia
Children w dyslexia have difficulty processing + remembering speech sounds bc of poor WM
They can’t hold all of the speech sounds long enough for the WM to bind them all into a word
Investigates 46 children aged 6-11
