Cognitive Flashcards
Who made the Multistore Model of Memory?
Atkinson + Schiffrin
When was the MSM Created?
1968
What was each part of the Multistore Model of Memory?
Sensory Register
Short Term Memory
Long Term Memory
What does Each Part of the MSM Encode?
Sensory Register: All 5 Senses
STM: Mainly Acoustic
LTM: Semantic
What is the Storage Capacity for Each Part of the MSM?
Sensory Register: All Sensory Experience
STM: 7 Items (+/-2)
LTM: Unlimited
How does Retrieval Occur during Each Part of the MSM?
Sensory Register: Scanning
STM: Sequential Scan
LTM: Semantic/ Temporal Search
How does Forgetting Occur during Each Part of the MSM?
Sensory Register: Lack of Attention (Decay)
STM: FIFO
LTM: Lack of Rehearsal
What Evidence supports the MSM?
Henry Molaison:
Brain Surgery damaged his LTM, but his STM is still intact - Proves they’re Separate
Clive Wearing:
Encaphalitis - Unable to transfer STM to LTM - Proves they’re Separate
Glanzer + Cunitz (Primary + Recency Effect):
First words are Remembered due to LTM, Last Words are Remembered due to STM. - Proves they’re Separate
What Evidence challenges the MSM?
HM:
Couldn’t make long term memories, but could learn new skills -> challenges that STM is just 1 store
CW:
Couldn’t remember LT memories, but could play the piano + conduct an orchestra -> challenges that STM is just 1 store
Dual Tasks:
Better at remembering 2 of the same type than 2 different ->Challenges that STM has a fixed capacity.
What are some Issues + Debates for the Multistore Model of Memory?
Brain damaged patients aren’t generalisable to all society
Brain Damaged Patients are meant to be Anonymysed
Reductionist: The MSM underplays the connection between the Sensory Register, STM + LTM - too Simplistic
What is Episodic Memory?
Stored info about life Experiences + Events
Sometimes called Autobiographical Memory; Similar to a Mental Diary
e.g. Receiving your GCSEs
What is Semantic Memory?
Words, Facts, Rules, Meaning + Concepts are stored as Knowledge
Similar to a Mental Encyclopaedia
e.g. Counting in French, Knowing Paris is the Capital of France
How is Episodic Memory Encoded and Stored?
Experiences and Events are encoded and stored with Temporal/Spatial Referencing (when + where they were learnt)
e.g. You know you got your GCSEs on a morning of Aug 2015, in the canteen
How is Semantic Memory Encoded and Stored?
Facts are NOT encoded with temporal/spatial referencing
e.g. You don’t remember where or when you learnt that Paris is the Capital of France
How is Episodic Memory Retrieved?
When being retrieved, memories may be tempered with
e.g. Because you were happy with your results, you forgot how nervous you were
How is Semantic Memory Retrieved?
The facts retrieved are the exact same as when they were encoded
e.g. You’ll always say that Paris is the Capital of France
What Evidence supports Episodic and Semantic Memory as a theory of memory?
Ostergaard:
After suffering an anoxic episode, a 10 year old boy with brain damage suffered impairment to his episodic + semantic memory.
However, he still made educational progress and was able to store info in his semantic memory.
This proves the systems are independent
KC:
Motorbike accident - he couldn’t form or recall personal life events. However, he could recall facts.
Proves the systems are independent, and they could be held in different parts of the brain
Brain Damaged Patients:
Research from brain damaged patients shows that damage to the medial temporal or prefrontal lobe caused damage to semantic memory but not episodic
Proves the systems are independent, and they could be held in different parts of the brain
What Evidence challenges Episodic and Semantic Memory as a theory of memory?
HM + CW:
Their episodic memories were damaged, but they were both still able to perform tasks like play the piano and recall new skills
This suggests that there may be a further store for already developed skills.
Squire and Zola:
They suggested that the medial temporal lobe is used for both semantic + episodic memories
This challenges the idea that the semantic + episodic memory work separately
What are the Issues and Debates surrounding Episodic and Semantic Memory as a theory of memory?
Reductionist:
Dividing the LTM into different stores suggests that they never overlap, when in fact they are easily able to work together.
Issues +; Debates:
Each case study of a brain damaged patient is unique, and you can’t really generalise their result to a wider population.
Who made the Working Memory Model, and when?
Made By: Baddeley + Hitch
When: 1974
What does the Working Memory Model consist of?
Central Executive
Phonological Loop
Visuospatial Sketchpad
What does Central Executive do?
Described as a Homonculus (little man)
Supervises the system and oversees the 2 slave systems
Controls and/or Divides the amount of attention shared between the 2 systems
Modality free - can deal with any type of sensory info
Has a limited capacity
What does the Phonological Loop do?
Deals with the temporary store of verbal information.
It also involves rehearsing verbal information, allowing it to be held for a few seconds longer. It has evolved in to allow us to learn language.
What does the Phonological Loop consist of?
Articulatory Rehearsal System
Phonological Store
What is the Articuatory Rehearsal System?
Known as the Inner Voice
Explains the Word Length Effect- shorter words w/ less syllables are recalled more successfully than longer words. The longer the word, the more capacity is used up, and forgetting is more likely.
What is the Phonological Store?
Known as the Inner Ear
Holds a limited amount of verbal info for a few seconds, but can be extended if info is refreshed using the articulatory rehearsal system.
Explains the Phonological Similarity Effect- it’s more difficult to remember similar sounding words than different sounding words. However, this effect wasn’t true regarding words with semantic similarity. This shows the phonological store depends on acoustic encoding.
What is the Visuospatial Sketchpad?
Deals with visual and spatial information
It deals with the info either directly through observing images or by retrieving visuospatial info from the LTM.
Uses a visual code to maintain + integrate the info
Spatial scan has been tested using the Corsi block tapping task, where participants have to recall a sequence of lit up block on a screen, with the number of lit up block increasing every time
What was an issue with the Original Working Memory Model, and how was this Addressed?
A problem with the original WMM was that it didn’t explain why the phonological loop had such a limited storage, but far longer sentences could be bound together by meaning/grammar.
It also failed to explain the interconnections between subcomponents, as well as the LTM
Baddeley addressed this in 2000 and made a 4th component: Episodic Buffer
What is Episodic Buffer?
Episodic Buffer is a limited capacity system, that could integrate information between subcomponents, as well as feeding/retrieving info to and from the LTM.
What Evidence supports the Working Memory Model as a theory of memory?
William’s Syndrome:
•Normal language ability, Impaired visuospatial ability
•Significant problems comprehending sentences with spatial prepositions
•Shows Association with visuospatial memory and language acquisitions
KF:
•Damaged parietal lobe
•Impaired language memory, normal spatial ability
•Proves they’re separate
Neuroimaging:
•Broca’s Area was activated during a rehearsal task
•Supramarginal Gyrus was activated when the Phonological Store was used
•Difficult to locate the area of the central executive
Baddeley + Hitch
•Ppts found it hard to do 2 visual tasks simultaneously
•Tracking a moving light, and tracking the edges of a capital ‘F’
What Evidence challenges the Working Memory Model as a theory of memory?
Research Findings:
•Far longer sentences could be remembered / stored, when connected by meaning
•The WMM fails to explain that
What are Other Problems with the Working Memory Model as a theory of memory?
Ecological Validity:
•Tasks like what B + H used do not reflect normal behaviour
•Therefore it lacks ecological validity
Alternative Theory:
•The Working Memory Model only explains the STM
•Episodic + Semantic Memory explains the LTM
•Both can be used together to give a better overall understanding of memory
Brain Damaged Patients:
•Findings can’t be generalised
•Individual Differences affect findings
Who come up with Reconstructive Memory?
Bartlett, 1932
What does the theory of Reconstructive Memory argue?
Memory is an imaginative reconstruction of past events influenced by how we encode, store and retrieve information
Memory is not like a blank tape but is changed when we recall it
Our attitudes and responses to events change our memory for those events
Retrieval of stored memories thus involves an active process of reconstruction using a range of information
What are Schemas?
Schemas are parcels of store knowledge or a mental representation of information about a specific event or object.
Every schema has fixed information, and variable information.
What do we use Schemas for?
We use schemas that we already have to interpret information and incorporate these into our memory
This means recall is an active reconstruction of an event strongly influenced by previously stored knowledge, expectations + beliefs
What is Confabulation?
Confabulation is when information is added to fill in the gaps to make a story/ make sense
What are False Memories?
Memories that not true, but made to seem true in order to deceive people
What is the War of the Ghosts folk tale Experiment?
The ‘war of the ghosts’ folk tale surrounds a story of young men from Euglac, resulting in a paranormal death.
Each ppt read the story twice, and repeated reproduction was used to test the effect of time lapse on recall. Bartlett was interested in the form the reproduced story would take.
20 ppts recalled the story after several minutes, weeks, months and years- the longest time lapse being 6.5 years.
Bartlett found that the story became considerably shortened, objects discussed in the story became more familiarised (e.g. ‘hunting seals’ to ;fishing’), and many ppts didn’t grasp the role of the ghosts in the story, rationalising their presence in some way
Bartlett concluded that memory is reconstructed each time it is recalled
Why did Barlett use the War of the Ghosts folk tale for his research?
He chose it for 4 reasons:
- It was culturally unfamiliar to ppts, so he could examine the transformations that the story may make when reproduced by ppts
- It lacked any rational story order
- The dramatic nature of the story would encourage visual imaging
- The conclusion was somewhat supernatural, and Bartlett wanted to see how ppts would perceive and image this.
What are the Strengths + Weaknesses of Bartlett’s research?
S: Bartlett’s research is considered as strong evidence in support of reconstruction theory of memory because he has repeated his reproduction experiments using 8 different stories on different participants and found the same familiarisation and transformations in line with schemas.
W: Bartlett’s experiments had a lack of control and standardisation in procedures so it is more difficult to re-conduct the war of the ghosts research to re-establish if memory is reconstructed.
How does Reconstructive Theory have Practical Application?
Barlett’s theory has practical application as it could be useful in the real world because it emphasises to courts that eyewitnesses might reconstruct memories using schemas. So EWT alone should not be used to convict a criminal.
What is an Alternative Theory to Reconstructive Memory?
Reconstructive memory fails to explain dual task experiment findings on how we can process/remember a visual and an auditory stimuli at the same time:
Working memory does explain this due to the phonological loop and VSSP, hence working memory has broader explanation of memory.
What were the Aims of Baddeley’s study?
To Investigate the influence of acoustic + semantic word similarity, on learning and recall in the STM and LTM
How many lab experiments did Baddeley conduct in his 1966 study?
Three different lab experiments were conducted
we focus on Experiment Three
How many participants were there in Baddeley’s study, and what levels of the IV were there?
72 participants
The 4 Lists of 10 Words: List A: Acoustically Similar List B: Acoustically Dissimilar List C: Semantically Similar List D: Semantically Dissimilar (Lists B + D were baseline control groups for Lists A + C respectively)
What was the Procedure of Baddeley’s study?
The words were presented via projector
They were projected One Word Every Three Seconds
They were asked to recall the words within a minute, in the correct order
They repeated this over 4 learning trials, as this was a test of memory, and not learning the words
15 minute interference task
They copied down 6 lots of 8 digit sequences at their own pace
This was to block out Rehearsal
After this, they were given a surprise retest
What were the Findings of Baddeley’s study?
Recall of Acoustically Similar was Worse than Acoustically Dissimilar
These results, however, were not significant
This demonstrates that Acoustic Encoding is Initially Difficult, but didn’t affect LTM recall
Recall of Semantically Similar Words was Worse than Semantically Dissimilar
These results were significant
What did Baddeley conclude in his study?
The STM is Largely Acoustic
The LTM is Largely, but Not Exclusively, Semantic
What were the strengths of Baddeley’s 1966 study?
Internal Validity: Lab Experiment
Internal Validity: Control Group
Reliability: Standardised Procedure
Practical Application
What were the weaknesses of Baddeley et al’s 1966 study?
Ecological Validity: Lab Experiment
Ecological Validity/ Mundane Realism: Unnatural Behaviour
^^ Therefore, Generalisability is Questioned
Ethics: Participants weren’t informed about the surprise retest
What were the Aims of Schmolck et al’s study?
To investigate the effect of a damaged temporal lobe/cortex on semantic knowledge/ memory.
To see if HM’s case was a unique case, or generalisable.
Who were the participants of Schmolck et al’s study, and how many tests did they do?
8 male healthy controls (13 tests)
3 with encephalitis (13 tests)
2 with a damaged hippocampus (13 tests)
Henry Molaison (10 tests)
What is an example of the tests the participants did in Schmolck et al’s study?
E.g. Pointing to a picture which has been described to them
How were the tests in Schmolck et al’s study recorded?
Transcripts, and sound recordings
How were the results in Schmolk et al’s study Analysed?
Given an accuracy score /4
Ranked from best to worst
Compared this to how badly their temporal cortex was damaged (medial, lateral + anterolateral)
What was the conclusion to Schmolck et al’s study?
There is a direct relationship between damage to the anterolateral temporal cortex, and semantic memory.
H.M did well in some tests, but had grammatical errors – his poor education is a contribution to this.
What are the Strengths of Schmolck et al’s study?
Internal Validity: Control Group
Reliability: Standardised Procedure
Practical Application: The findings are consistent with patients with dementia; who have damage to the anterolateral temporal cortex rather than medial temporal cortex.
What are the Weaknesses of Schmolck et al’s study?
Generalisability: Small sample group
Ecological Validity: The tasks involved do not Represent Natural Behaviour
What is an Independent Variable?
The variable that the experimenter changes
What is a dependent variable?
The variable that the experimenter measures/manipulates
What is meant by Operationalisation?
Making the IV and DV measurable
What is a null hypothesis?
The experimenter predicts the IV will have no effect on the DV/ no significant effect will be found
What is an alternative / experimental hypothesis?
The experimenter predicts the IV will have an effect on the DV/ a significant effect will be found
What is a one-tailed hypothesis?
The experimenter knows what type of effect will occur
e.g. the results will be lower in category A
What is a two-tailed hypothesis?
There will be an effect, but the experimenter doesn’t know what way it will go
(e.g. there will be an effect, but we don’t know if it will go higher or lower)
What are extraneous variables?
Factors related to the participants/environment the researcher must try to control so only the IV affects the DV
What are situational variables?
Factors related to the situation that affects participants/ the DV
What are confounding variables?
Factors other than the IV that affect the DV.
What are demand characteristics?
When participants are acting a certain way as they believe it will fit the experimenters’ aim/ what they think they want
What are experimenter effects?
How the experimenters may influence participants’ behaviour
What are order effects?
When the performance of participants gets better or worse over time. This is a problem as only the IV should affect the DV
What are practice effects?
As participants become more practiced at the task, they do better over time
What are fatigue effects?
Over time, participants become more bored + tired, and so do worse at the task
What is counterbalancing?
A systematic allocation of different people to different condition orders
Ppts will experience order effects for different conditions, cancelling them out.
What is meant by randomisation?
Allocating participants to different condition orders randomly.
(e.g. Some participants starting with semantically similar, then getting acoustically similar)
How is the IV and DV operationalised in both lab + field experiments?
IV: Operationalised through the manipulation of the experimenter
DV: Operationalised through the scores collected from an experiment
Who decides the allocation of participants to the IV for both lab and field experiments?
Experimenter decides this: Participants may experience all of some levels of the IV
What are lab experiments?
A laboratory experiment is an experiment conducted under highly controlled conditions. The variable which is being manipulated by the researcher is called the independent variable and the dependent variable is the change in behaviour measured by the researcher.
Can a control group be present in both lab and field experiments?
Yes. The control group may be present to give comparisons; They won’t experience the IV
What is the environment like in a lab and field experiment?
Lab experiment: artificial. The experimenter controls all parts of the environment.
Field experiment: Natural. The experimenter doesn’t control all parts. Things like temperature, noise, light, etc. are very hard to control
What is the cause and effect relationship like in a lab and field experiment?
Lab: Strong
Field: Fairy Strong, but not as strong as a lab experiment
Does a hypothesis differ for lab and field experiments?
No.
The experimenter makes predictions about what they expect to find.
Do lab / field experiments have ecological validity?
Lab: No
Field: Yes
Do lab / field experiments have internal validity?
Lab: Yes
Field: No
What is meant by Predictive Validity?
Whether the findings predict future performance
Do lab / field experiments have predictive validity?
Lab: Yes (?)
Field: Yes
Are lab / field experiments objective?
Lab: Yes (?)
Field: Yes (?)
Can demand characteristics influence the results of a lab / field experiment?
Lab: Yes
Field: No
Can experimenter effects influence the results of a lab / field experiment?
Lab: Yes
Field: No
What are the 3 types of Experimental Design?
Independent Measures
Repeated Measures
Matched Pair
What happens during the Independent Measures Design?
Each participant experiments one level of the IV.
What happens during the Repeated Measures Design?
All participants take part in each condition/ the same conditions of the experiment
What happens during the Matched Pairs Design?
Participants experiment one level of the IV. Another participant with the same characteristics (e.g. age, sex, intelligence, etc.) experience the other level.
What are the Advantages of an Independent Measures Design?
Ppts Needed: Each participant experiments one level of the IV. More participants are required for two separate groups.
(Generalisable)
Time Taken: Participants only carry out 1 level of the IV
(Quick)
Demand Characteristics: Participants only experience one level of the IV, meaning a less likely chance of developing demand characteristics
(Not a Problem)
Order Effects: Participants only experience one level of the IV, meaning they can’t develop order effects
(Not a Problem)
What are the Disadvantages of an Independent Measures Design?
Participant Variables/Characteristics:
Participants with certain characteristics (e.g. high IQ) may be placed in the same group, which will have an effect on results
(Problem)
What are the Advantages of a Repeated Measures Design?
Participant Variables/Characteristics:
Participants do all parts of the experiment, meaning they will have an effect on all findings
(Not a Problem)
What are the Disadvantages of a Repeated Measures Design?
Ppts Needed:
Less recruitment for participants is necessary
(Not Generalisable)
Time Taken:
Participants have to do all levels of the DV
(Slow)
Demand Characteristics:
Participants redo the experiment, but with a different level of the IV. This makes it likely for them to develop demand characteristics
(Problem)
Order Effects:
Participants redo the experiment, so they may become better or worse at the task
(Problem)
What are the Advantages of a Matched Pair Design?
Ppts Needed:
More participants required for the matched characteristics for both groups
(Generalisable)
Participant Variables/Characteristics:
Participant variables will be the same for all levels of the IV
(Not a Problem)
Demand Characteristics:
Participants only experience one level of the IV, meaning a less likely chance of developing demand characteristics
(Not a Problem)
Order Effects:
Participants only experience one level of the IV, meaning they can’t develop order effects
(Not a Problem)
What are the Disadvantages of a Matched Pair Design?
Time Taken:
The experimenter must spend time finding participants with the same characteristics
(Very Slow)
What is Qualitative Data?
Qualitative data refers to any information from the participants in the form of prose, rather than numerical data.
Give an example to when qualitative data may be used?
Cognitive psychologists may gather qualitative data through case studies of patients with brain damage that led to memory loss.
How is qualitative data tested?
Qualitative data doesn’t propose a hypothesis, but instead explores a research question.
The answer to the question is slowly formed as information is decoded.
How is qualitative data collected?
Information can be collected in a variety of ways (e.g. interviews, open-ended questions), and common themes are noted down.
Why is qualitative data gathered?
To gain a deeper insight into an individual’s experience, feelings and beliefs.
What are the advantages of qualitative data, in terms of detail?
Qualitative data gives rich, detailed data – which may be missed by quantitative data – making results more valid
Qualitative data goes beyond describing discourse; it’s a process of comprehending information, synthesising the material and theorising about why the themes exist
Why is qualitative data used when exploring big issues?
Qualitative data is extremely important when investigating important issues – these big questions could not be addressed using a questionnaire – as this couldn’t properly address people’s deeply held feelings + beliefs
Why is qualitative data unreliable?
Qualitative data doesn’t follow any particular standardised procedure – results may not be the same when replicated – it lacks reliability
Qualitative data can be interpreted differently, increasing subjectivity – people may not view the results the same – it lack reliability
What is a disadvantage of qualitative data (other than reliability)?
Qualitative data is laborious and difficult to conduct, because data analysis + transcription takes a lot of time
Why are the case studies of brain damaged patients important in cognitive psychology?
They have been critical to cognitive psychology in order to investigate how brain injury affects cognitive functioning.
Sometimes we can understand cognitive functions, such as memory, more in their absence, as is the case in brain-damaged patients
What happened with Henry Molasion?
HM was 27 years old and had suffered from epileptic seizures for many years.
He was operated on by William Scoville, who removed the hippocampus (a brain structure within the temporal lobe)
The procedure did reduce his seizures, but left him with severe memory loss.
What happened after the procedure on Henry Molasion?
HM was quickly referred two 2 neuropsychologists to assess the extent of his amnesia
The hippocampus is associated with consolidating memories, so the removal of it was devastating + irreversible
What was HM diagnosed with?
HM was assessed as having anterograde + retrograde amnesia.
His anterograde amnesia resulted in inability to form new memories after the operation. Despite this, he could learn new skills (although he didn’t remember learning them)
His retrograde amnesia meant he lost the ability to retrieve memories from 19mo- 11yrs prior to the operation. It may not have been due to surgery, but may have been due to his epilepsy medication, and the frequency of seizures prior to the operation.
How did the qualitative data from HM’s case help himself, and?
During his life, HM was interviewed many times- this qualitative information has informed an understanding of which cognitive function were still intact, and which were impaired.
Extra Info: HM’s brain was gifted to psychological research; it was spliced into 2000+ segments to map the human brain at the brain Observatory in San Diego
What was the Title of the Cognitive Practical?
Rehearsal experiment to investigate the impact of rehearsal on memory recall.
What was our Background Information surrounding the Cognitive Practical?
The MSM suggests that our STM has a storage capacity of roughly 7 items, and has a storage duration of around 15 to 30 seconds.
When info is rehearsed, it will go from the STM to the LTM; which has an unlimited storage capacity, and a storage duration of up to a lifetime
Peterson and Peterson (1959) – previously conducted research to look at the whether rehearsal in the STM affects recall. They revealed rehearsal leads to better memory.
What was the Aim of the Cognitive Practical?
To look at rehearsal in the STM, and to see if the number of repetitions affects recall
What was the IV in the Cognitive Practical?
Rehearsal
Operationalised by participants repeating the nonsense syllables allowed.
Two Conditions:
- Repeat the syllables once
- Repeat the syllables 3 times
What was the DV in the Cognitive Practical?
Recall
Operationalised through the number of three letter nonsense syllables (eg POK) correctly repeated at the end of the learning trials.
What was the Directional Hypothesis of the Cognitive Practical?
Rehearsal will have an affect on recall; where the more times the nonsense syllables are read aloud, the more three letter nonsense syllables will be correctly repeated.
What is the Null Hypothesis of the Cognitive Practical?
Rehearsal through the number of repetitions of the nonsense syllables will have no effect on recall; and any difference will be due to chance
What Experimental Design was used in the Cognitive Practical?
Repeated Measures
Participants did the procedure for both conditions
This helped reduce participant characteristics
Which Sampling technique was used in the Cognitive Practical?
Opportunity Sampling
It’s the easiest + least time consuming technique
How were Ethical Guidelines met in the Cognitive Practical?
Competence:
We’re psychology students who knew how to conduct the research
Informed Consent:
The experiment asks the ppts if they’re okay with doing the experiment
Debriefing:
Full info about the experiment is given at the end
Right to Withdraw:
The ppt is informed that they can withdraw any time
Deception Avoided:
Experimenter asks if it’s okay they explain the experiment after they’ve done it
Psychological Harm:
There is nothing that can harm them
How were Demand Characteristics avoided in the Cognitive Practical?
The full procedure will not be explained to participants, such as not explaining about rehearsal and its effects on memory.
As there will be some deception, a full debrief is necessary
How will Experimenter Bias be kept to a minimum in the Cognitive Practical?
The same tone and pace was used when giving instructions and the nonsense syllables in both conditions
How was Counterbalancing used in the Cognitive Practical, and why?
One participant does the once aloud condition first, and the next participant does the three times aloud condition first
This reduces order effects
How did the Cognitive Practical represent Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) study?
The participants were asked to repeat the nonsense syllables aloud 1/3 times, to represent P and P
The time that ppts count backwards before recalling is 18 seconds, as in P and P.
What Controls were used in the Cognitive Practical?
Using all the same nonsense syllables in the same order for all participants.
The same standardised instructions and procedure used with all participants.
The nonsense syllables have no meaning
A ‘do not disturb’ sign was put on the board of the lab, to prevent people entering.
What was the Procedure of the Cognitive Practical?
Read out the standardised instructions.
Inform the ppt whether they are to repeat the syllables 1 or 3 times. Use counterbalancing.
Inform the ppt that when the numbers read out the ppt is the count backwards in one’s for 18 seconds.
Read one of the syllables to the ppt. Wait for the ppt to repeat 1/3 times.
Read one of the numbers to the ppt. Wait 18 seconds while the ppt counts backwards from that number.
Note down the letters record, the actual nonsense syllables, and whether the nonsense syllables is completed or not.
Repeat for the alternative condition.
Thank the participants and debrief them
What were the Result for the repeat once condition of the Cognitive Practical?
Mode: 4
Median: 3.5
Mean: 3.3
Range: 3
SD: 0.89
What were the Result for the repeat 3 times condition of the Cognitive Practical?
Mode: 4
Median: 3.5
Mean: 3.3
Range: 2
SD: 0.78
What were the Findings of the Cognitive Practical?
On average, people recalled the same amount of words for both conditions
The range was large and the standard deviation was medium; suggesting…
The Wilcoxon signed rank test so is the result of significant at (P< 0.05) and the experimental hypothesis is accepted
What was the Conclusion of the Cognitive Practical?
The study does not support the MSM, because the MSM states that rehearsal brings info from the STM to LTM; and so 3 rehearsals should have given a higher result
The study does not support Peterson and Peterson, because they concluded that STM has a limited duration when rehearsal is prevented. However in our experiment, there seems to be no difference.
What were the Strengths of the Cognitive Practical?
Reliability - Ppts rehearsed nonsense syllables either 1 or 3 times - standardised
Internally Valid - controlled extraneous variables (e.g. counting backwards for 18 seconds, putting ‘do not disturb’ sign) - strong IV/DV relationship
Quantitative Data- counting the number of nonsense syllables correctly recalled - accurate measurement
What were the Weaknesses of the Cognitive Practical?
Practical Application - no effect; can’t help lead to changes in society where revision time is factored into hw and lesson time
Generalisability: 12 participants, all students
Ecological Validity: lab experiment, unnatural task
What is the Cognitive Key Question?
Are Eyewitness Testimonies Accurate?
What is Eyewitness Testimony?
Involves a witness recalling the events of the crime, or the characteristics of an offender.
This may take pace at the scene of the crime, at the police station, or in a courtroom.
What would happen if Eyewitness Testimonies are inaccurate? (CKQ)
If EWT isn’t accurate, it may lead to wrongful convictions (miscarriages of injustice)
e.g. Jesse Tafero, Dr. Donald Thompson
What types of Problems will inaccurate EWTs cause for Society?
Loss of faith in the criminal justice system - increase in revenge attacks
Reoffending by the real criminal, as they haven’t been caught
A waste of tax-payers money, as appeals, and re-trails has to be managed
If EWT is accurate, how will this help society?
It may be a vital part of a criminal case that helps to…
Maintain faith in the criminal justice system - less revenge attacks
Less reoffending as criminals are caught/convicted/rehabilitated
Efficient use of tax payers money, as there is no need for appeals/re-trials due to wrongful convictions
How can the MSM explain that EWT is Accurate?
A witness of a crime may repeatedly think/ talk about The events they have seen. This is the type of rehearsal
Rehearsal will allow the memories of what happened to be transferred from the STM to LTM, and to stay in the LTM form on limited amount of time.
If a witness has rehearsed events of the crime, they will be able to give an accurate testimony
How can the WMM explain that EWT is Accurate?
A witness may be able to store and they to record more memory, if they are different types of memory
(e.g. E.g. visual – what the offender looks like, and auditory aspects what the offender said)
This is because the visual or auditory information would not be competing for limited space, as they will be stored in different areas of the STM; VSSP or phonological loop
If a witness is asked to recall a visual memory or an auditory memory, they are likely to give an accurate EWT; as long as it’s been rehearsed and transferred to the LTM
How can Episodic and Semantic Memory explain that EWT is Accurate?
Witnessing a crime involves storing memories of events + experiences – episodic memory
these memories are stored, according to temporal/time referencing and spatial referencing
If a witness does have access to these references, they are more likely to give an accurate testimony of what they experienced
How can Cognitive Interviews explain that EWT is Accurate?
A specific way of asking to suspect/witness questions about an incident
Uses 4 Techniques:
- Reinstate the context at the time of the Event
- Report Everything
- Change the Order in which the event is called
- Change Perspective
Designed to maximise the accuracy of the information obtained
How can the MSM model explain that EWT is Inaccurate?
A witness of a crime may not want to think about about the events they have seen.
By blocking rehearsal, the memories of what happened may not be transferred to the LTM, or may slowly decay from the LTM.
If a witness does not rehearse the event of a crime, they may be unable to give an accurate testimony
How can the WMM model explain that EWT is Inaccurate?
A witness may not be able to store + later recall two visual/auditory memories- e.g. what 2 intruders looked like or what both may be saying at the same time
This is because the visual/auditory info would be competing for limited space, and the central executive would have to choose what to watch/listen to
If a witness is asked to recall to visual/auditory memories, they are likely to give an inaccurate EWT
How can Episodic +Semantic memory explain that EWT is Inaccurate?
Witnessing a crime involves storing memories of experiences and events – episodic memory
These memories are stored according to temporal / time referencing, and spacial referencing
If a witness doesn’t have access to this spacial / time references when asked to recall, they may give an inaccurate testimony.
This may happen if they are asked to recall events at a police station/court room
How can Reconstructive memory explain that EWT is Inaccurate?
Witnesses may use schemas to encode/recall details about the crime.
Schemas are pockets of information held in the mind, related to past experiences/events. A witness may reply on the schemas to fill in the gaps and organise their memory. They may confabulate and rationalise (all to bits) during recall
If a witness have to rely on their schemas to make sense of the crime, they are likely to give an inaccurate EWT
How can Loftus + Palmer’s study explain that EWT is Inaccurate?
They concluded that leading questions have an influence on people’s memory.
What are the main Individual Differences for Cognitive Psychology?
Processing Speed
Experiences +Memories
Gender
What are the Individual Differences regarding Processing Speed?
Processing Speed: The speed at which people process information
Age - Younger children have a shorter digit span than older children
What are the Individual Differences regarding Experiences and Memories?
Our experiences affect our schemas, which can affect our interpretation of objects. Episodic memories are a collection of memories from someone’s own life; meaning it’s specific to the individual
Individuals who scored high/low on episodic memory also scored high/low on semantic memory, which is why we had good/bad memory overall
What are Individual Differences regarding Gender?
Men scored higher on spatial memory in comparison to females
What are Individual Differences regarding Autobiographical Memory?
Pambolo et al found that:
Individuals who scored high/low on episodic memory also scored high/low on semantic memory, which is why we had good/bad memory overall
People who self-reported having depression scored low on episodic + semantic memory
The survey gives a useful insight into individual differences of naturalistic memory + autobiographical memory; but it’s possible the ppts made inaccurate self-reports
What was Pambolo et al’s study?
Palombo et al conducted a Survey of Autobiographical Memory (SAM).
They subdivided autobiographical memory into 4 domains: episodic memory, semantic memory, spatial memory and prospective memory (imagination for future events).
The questionnaire contained 102 items, which ppts scored on a 5 point Likert scale.
What is Developmental Psychology?
An aspect of psychology looking at normal and abnormal behaviour as we grow up.
What dieases/disabilities are looked at regarding Developmental Psychology in the Cognitive Approach?
Dyslexia
Alzheimer’s Disease
What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
A progressive, degenerative disease associated with getting old
How is Alzheimer’s Disease associated with Cognitive Psychology?
Cognitive Systems: It makes cognitive processing difficult
Working Memory: It stops the central executive from coordinating the slave systems
Episodic Memory: Patients struggle to recall autobographical information - they can’t recall aspects of their own life
What happens to an Alzheimer patient’s Brain Matter?
The hippocampus and temporal cortex reduces in brain matter (reduces in size)
What is Cognitive Psychology?
Cognitive psychology is the study of the role of cognitive processes in human behaviour.
What is Cognition?
Cognition is our awareness + understanding of the world. It therefore affects the way we respond to an event.
Cognitivists are interested in studying topics such as memory, attention, language + intelligence
What methods of investigation do Cognitive Psychologists typically use?
They typically use experiments to investigate human mental processing. They also use case studies of brain-damaged patients to understand how injury can be linked to cognitive deficits
