cognitive Flashcards
What are the four assumptions of cognitive psychology?
- thoughts influence behaviour
- humans are information processors
- the mind operates in a similar way to a computer
- internal mental processes can and should be investigated scientifically
What was the aim and procedure of the case study of H.M?
Aim:
- to find out the effects of his brain surgery (bilateral medial temporal lobe resection) on his functioning, in particular, his memory
Procedure:
- used various method such as
- observation
- interviews
- experimental tasks
- standardised IQ tests
- standardised memory tests
- MRI scans
What were the results of H.M case study?
H.M memory up to age 16 were intact but he could not remember new information
- he forgot daily events straight away
- he underestimated his own age
- he forgot names of people introduced to him
- could not recognise hospital staff or peoples faces
- could not learn new words
However:
- he had normal intelligence levels
- personality stayed the same
- had capacity for sustained attention so could carry on a conversation at ease
- had an intact digit span
- sensory memory intact
- could acquire new motor skills
What were the conclusions from H.M case study?
- memory is a distinct cerebral function, separate from other brain functions
- medial temporal lobe is important for memory
- memory is not a single faculty of the mind, there are multiple memory systems in the brain
- there is a distinction between short term and long term memory (could recall STM but could not transfer to LTM)
- there is a distinction between declarative and non declarative memory (could acquire motor skills but not facts)
Evaluate the case study of H.M
Generalisability:
- low
- only one participant
- his epilepsy and other special characteristics may have had an affect on results
Reliability:
- not very reliable
- specific person
- suffered from an unique accident
- long period of time
Applicability:
- showed distinct memory functions
- gives insight into the experiences of people suffering memory lost
Validity:
- high internal validity
- studied through a variety of methods
- low as not many controls over extraneous variables
Ecological Validity:
- not deceived
- he had limited memory so not always able to consent
- couldn’t remember he was being studied so could not withdraw
- never gave consent to give his brain to science
Describe the Multi-store model of memory
- developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin
- information processing model that describes memory like a computer
- sensory information
- short term memory
- long term memory
sensory:
- encoded in memory through one of the 5 senses
- 3-4 items an be held in the store
- hold onto info for half a second
Short term memory:
- encodes acoustically and auditory
- capacity is 5-9 items
- duration of 30 seconds
- info retrieved through sequential search
Long term memory:
- encodes semantically and temporally
- unlimited capacity
- unlimited duration
attention needed for sensory info to turn into short term
rehearsal needed for short term to transfer to long term
Evaluate the multi store model of memory
Evidence :
- case study such as HM
- primary recency effect (we can remember things at the beginning and end of list but fight things in the middle)
- Bekerian and Badly found people did not know the BBC wavelengths were changing despite hearing git around 1000 times on the radio
- model may not be linear (Morris found people interested in football made scores up more accurately)
Methodology:
- lab experiments and standardise procedure
- increases reliability
- infer cause and effect increasing credibility
- artificial setting may not reflect memory in everyday life
- reductionist
Applications:
- rehearsal helping memory is commonly used in educational settings
Alternative:
- working memory model
Describe the working memory model
- developed by Baddely and Hitch
- Central executive
- phonological loop
- visuospatial sketchpad
central executive:
- deals with running of whole memory system
- decided what info to pay attention to and what to ignore
- allocates info to the slave systems
Phonological loop:
- processes spoken and written info
Phonological store - speech perception, translating written words into speech form
Articulatory rehearsal system - speech production to rehearse and store verbal info (remembering phone number)
Visuospatial sketchpad:
- visual and spatial information
- picturing your route home etc
- helps us with navigation
Evaluate the working memory model
Evidence:
- dual task experiments
- Baddely and hitch asked p’s to track the location of a moving light and imagine the letter F at the same time, people struggled to do both as both used the VSSP
- Robbins asked p’s to remember and replicate chess positions and when completing a task simultaneously that used the same store, performance was worse
- neurophysiological evidence in pet scans show different areas of the brain are active when undertaking verbal and visual tasks
- KF case study had a digit span of one but an intact visual store
Methodology:
- lab experiments with standardises procedures
- high reliability
- cause and effect inferred so high credibility
- badly and hitch uses artificial taks that may not reflect memory in everyday life
- reductionist
- model criticised for being incomplete as it does not explain sensory or long term memory
- episodic buffer was added in 2000
- potentially low validity
Applications:
- suggests strategies to improve memory
- not attempting to do two tasks that use the same store at the same time
Alternative theory:
- multi store model of memory
What is the aim and sample of Baddelys classic study?
To investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall in short term and long term memory
72 men and women recruited from the applied psychology unit subject panel at Cambridge university
What was the procedure of Baddelys study?
Testing Short Term Memory:
4 word list used
a) acoustically similar words
b) acoustically dissimilar words
c) semantically similar words
d) semantically dissimilar words
condition a - 15 participants
condition b - 20 participants
condition c - 16 participants
condition d - 21 participants
- for each condition, 10 words were presented to participants on a projector for 3 seconds each with a two second slide change over
- task involving STM for six sequences of eight digits. Sequences read out at a one second rate and participants were given 8 seconds to write out each sequence.
- then participants had one minute to write out the ten word list in order
- did this 4 times
- participants completed a task involving 15 minutes of copying eight digit sequences at their own pace (interference task)
Testing LTM:
- participants then attempted to recall the word list in order as a surprise retest
What are the results and conclusions from Baddelys study?
Results:
Acoustically similar - harder during early learning, neither group shoed any evidence of forgetting between test 4 and retest
somatic similarity - slower learning as trial 4 scored were higher in condition D than C. On the retest, performance on the semantically similar list was poorer than the control list
- all groups, what was learned was retained for 15 min
Conclusions:
- short term memory is largely acoustic
- long term memory is largely semantic
Evaluate Baddelys study
Generalisability:
- used both men and women
- all from applied psychology unit at Cambridge
Reliability:
- standardised procedures used
- same word lists used
- same equipment
- same timings
Applicability:
-help developed working memory model
- suggests good learning strategies
- use of interference tasks has been useful is further research
Validity:
- using sequences eliminates participant variables
- controlled extraneous variables so cause and effect can be established
Ecological validity:
- low as its an artificial task
- lacks mundane realism
- cannot necessary generalise findings to everyday life
Describe Tulvings Long term memory
Long term memory could be divided into episodic memory and semantic memory
episodic - personal experiences
semantic - facts, info about the world
SEMANTIC:
- mental encyclopaedia
- memories detached from time reference
- retrieval does not depend on context
- can operate independently of episodic memory
- less susceptible to being changed
EPISODIC:
- mental diary
- memories dependent on time referencing
- retrieval depends on the context
- unlikely cooperate without semantic memory
- memory trace can be transformed and changed when we retrieve it
Evaluate Tulvings Long Term Memory
Evidence:
- case study of K.C who’s episodic memory was damaged but his semantic memory was intact
- case study of HM semantic memory was in tact
- brain scanning shows semantic retrieval uses the left hemisphere whereas episodic uses the right
- research sows long term memory may include more than semantic and episodic memory
- H.M both had brain damage that affected the ability to retain and recall episodic memories but could remember how to perform tasks such as playing the piano (may be a third type of LTM)
Methodology:
- Brain scans increase scientific credibility
- Methods may lack validity as the two stores cannot be studied in complete isolation
- case studies lack the frontal of variables
Applications:
- useful for aiding memory recall
- helps exam revision for students
- Belleville worked with older patients who had mild memory loss and did a training programme to improve their episodic memory
Alternative:
- bartletts reconstructive memory
