Cognitive Flashcards
Describe the brain as a computer metaphor:
- Storage system receiving info from the environment
- Processes info+ gives an output
- Computer hardware is structure of brain
- Software is experiences we have
What is the most commonly used real search method in cognitive psychology?
Experimental research (lab experiments)
What is cognitive psychology?
Study of patients with brain damage to determine the impact of the damage capacity + functioning
Name the type of therapy that uses cognitive ideas:
Cognitive behavioural therapy
List four topics commonly studied in cognitive psychology:
- Memory
- Thinking
- Language
- Problem solving
How might the nature/nurture debate be relevant to cognitive psychology?
Thoughts and feelings due to inherited characteristics and others believe they are learned
Explain 4 assumptions of cognitive psychology:
- Humans are info processors
- Mind operates in similar way to computer
- Internal mental processes can + should be investigated
- Thoughts influence behaviour - act as as mediational processes between stimulus + behavioural response
What was the Aim of the case study of Henry Molaison?
Find out the effect of his brain surgery on his functioning, his memory in particular
What was the Procedure of the case study of Henry Molaison?
Methods used while studying: •Observations •Interviews •Experimental tasks •Standardised IQ tests •Standardised memory tests •MRI scans taken of his brain during his life + after death
What was the Results of the case study of Henry Molaison?
- Had memories up to 16 years old (11 years before surgery)
- Forgot daily events
- Underestimated his age
- Forgot names of people
- Couldn’t learn new words
- Unable to encode temporary STM into LTM
- Had normal intelligence
- Spatial memory still intact
- Could acquire new motor skills
What was the Conclusions of the case study of Henry Molaison?
- Memory is a distinct cerebral function
- Medial temporal lobe is important for memory
- Multiple memory systems in brain
- Distinction between STM and LTM
- Distinction between declarative and non-declarative memory
Who was the neurosurgeon that studied Henry Molaison:
William Scoville
What was the experimental procedure Henry Molaison had?
- Bilateral mesial temporal lobe restriction
* Removed hippocampus
What were the results of the removal of Henry Molaison hippocampus?
- Controlled his epilepsy mostly
* But had serious effects on his memory
What is epilepsy?
Neurological condition that affects the brain and causes repeated seizures
What is the background of Henry Molaison?
- At 7 - fell of bike
- At 10 - had minor epileptic seizures
- After 16 - had major seizures
What is Declarative memory?
Memory of facts and events
What is Non-Declarative memory ?
Unconscious memory of skills and how to do things
Describe the Generalisability of the case study of Henry Molaison:
- Low as it’s a unique case
* Only one person
Describe the Reliability of the case study of Henry Molaison:
- Low un reliability
- Can’t replicate as its a case study and unique
- Would be unethical to replicate
- Longitudinal study (studied for 50+ years)
- Standardised IQ tests and memory tests so high in reliability in that case
Describe the Applicability of the case study of Henry Molaison:
- Applied to future research - looking into hippocampus related to memory
- Help scientists understand how memory is formed and stored
- Useful explanation of cognitive neuropsychology - high in scientific credibility
Describe the Validity of the case study of Henry Molaison:
- Longitudinal study - get good picture of what person is like
- Lots of different data techniques
- A lot of info + tests which makes info more valid - many professionals visited, William Schoville especially w/ extensive notes
- Experimental tests aren’t reflected of real life, but also observed in natural environment
Describe the Ethics of the case study of Henry Molaison:
Unethical:
•Had 100 people test on him so stressful + physically painful
•William Schoville removed area of his brain - was essential to him as memory gone now
•Lacking informed consent - HM won’t remember he been studied day before, etc
•Invasion of privacy - some studies done in his home
•Some tasks upsetting for him + traumatic
What is a Strength of Qualitative Data in Cognitive Psychology?
- Get in-depth Info
- Produces rich detailed data
- Results can be used for future research
What is a Weakness of Qualitative Data in Cognitive Psychology?
- Difficult to interpret
- Lacks validity
- Takes a long time to gather useful info
- Could lose a lot of essential info
Describe the steps used in Qualitative Research:
- Create research question
- Collect data - interviews, questionnaires, speech analysis
- Transcribe data
- Looks for themes+ideas - thematic analysis
- Reach conclusions based on themes + answer research question
- Explain + justify conclusions using evidence from analysis
What is a Strength of using case studies of brain damaged patients to inform us on how memory works?
- Take a long time - increase validity
- Get to know what the person is like and can study in a lot of detail
- Gather useful info
What is a Weakness of using case studies of brain damaged patients to inform us on how memory works?
- Only based on 1 person - not generalisable
- Unique case
- Can’t replicate so low in reliability
- High attrition rates - researcher might give up as takes too long
How does the issue of individual differences relate to the use of case studies in cognitive psychology?
- Extent brain damage + response of individual patients to damage highlights important individual differences
- Be careful not to generalise the findings of these unique cases to our overall understanding of memory in total population
What is the Encoding for Sensory Memory?
- Sight
- Smell
- Sound
- Taste
- Touch
What is the Capacity for Sensory Memory?
3-4 items
What is the Duration for Sensory Memory?
Half a second
What is the Retrieval for Sensory Memory?
Scan through
What is the Forgetting for Sensory Memory?
Decay
What is the Encoding for Short Term Memory?
Acoustic
What is the Capacity for Short Term Memory?
5-9 Items
What is the Duration for Short Term Memory?
Up to 30 Seconds
What is the Retrieval for Short Term Memory?
Sequential search
What is the Forgetting for Short Term Memory?
Displacement
What is the Encoding for Long Term Memory?
- Semantic - add meaning
* Temporal - time
What is the Capacity for Long Term Memory?
Potentially Limitless
What is the Duration for Long Term Memory?
Potentially limitless
What is the Retrieval for Long Term Memory?
Doing a semantic or temporal search
What is the Forgetting for Long Term Memory?
- Interference
* Decay - haven’t had to access before
What is the arrow from Sensory Memory to Short Term Memory?
Attention
What is the arrow from Short Term Memory to Long Term Memory?
Rehearsal
Describe Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Multi Store Model:
- Linear model
- Info processing model - describes memory like a computer
- There are memory stores and control processes
- There are 3 memory stores - sensory, short term, long term
What are the memory stores in this model according to the info processing/computer analogy?
Computer hardware
What is Research on Long Term Memory?
Brady et all (2008):
•Show Ps 2500 objects over 5.5 hours
•Demonstrated that thousands of images can be maintained successfully in the long term store and the capacity is potentially limitless
What is Research on Short Term Memory for Rehearsal and Duration?
Peterson and Peterson (1959):
•Interference task done
•Ps had to remember a trigram
•Then has to read it for it
•Found performance dropped rapidly after 15-18 secs
•Concluded that decay occurs in ST store over period of 15 secs
What is Evidence for Multi-store Model of Memory?
- Case studies of brain damaged patients - Henry Molaison unable to transfer mee info from ST to LT - suggests there are 2 separate stores
- Primacy recency effect - we forget things in middle of a list - remember beg due to LTM and end due to STM - supports idea of 2 separate stores
What is Evidence Against for Multi-store Model of Memory?
- Research shows that rehearsal doesn’t transfer info to LTM - Bekerian + Baddeley (1980) found people didn’t know that BBC radio wavelengths were changing, despite hearing info 1000 times on radio - shows that model over emphasise rehearsal
- Model isn’t linear - ppl use LTM to help STM - Morris (1985) found ppl who liked football made more accurate predictions on the scores than ppl who didn’t like football - suggest they used LTM to impose meaning on info to help w/ recall
What is a Strength of the Methodology for the Multi-store Model of Memory?
Lab experiments:
•Use standardised procedures
•Can be replicated
•Researcher can manipúlate the IV and can infer a cause and effects
•Increases scientific credibility
•E.g. Baddeley investigates the effect of acoustic + semantic similarity on memory for word sequence
What is a Weakness of the Methodology for the Multi-store Model of Memory?
Lab experiments:
•E.g. Peterson + Peterson (1959) - used artificial tasks in artificial lab setting
•Artificial nature of task + setting - doesn’t reflect how memory works in everyday life
•Low in ecological validity
•Reductionist - gives limited understanding of memory
What are the Applications for the Multistore Model of Memory:
Idea that rehearsal helps memory has been widely accepted and used in educational practice such as revising for exams
Describe Baddeley and Hitch’s Working Memory Model:
- 3 Components - Central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad
- Episodic buffer
What is the Role of the Central Executive in WMM?
- Deals w/ the running of the memory system
- Decides what info to pay attention to
- Allocates info to slave systems
- Deals with cognitive tasks
What is the Articulatory Rehearsal System in WMM?
- Inner voice
* Linked to speech production
What is the Phonological store in WMM?
- Inner ear
* Linked to speech production
What does the Episodic Buffer do in the WMM?
Integrates visual + verbal info from other slave systems
What are the Applications for Working Memory Model?
Suggests strategies to improve memory - such as not attempting to do 2 tasks that use the same slave system simultaneously
What is a Strength of the Methodology in Working Memory Model?
Lab experiments:
•Use standardised procedures - can replicate in different circumstances
•Can manipulate the IV - allows us to infer cause + effect
•Increases scientific credibility
•E.g. Baddeleys research investigates effect of acoustic + semantic similarity on memory for word sequences
What are the Weaknesses of the Methodology in Working Memory Model?
- Low ecological validity - lab experiments so artificial tasks + setting used - won’t reflect how empeora is in everyday life - describes as reductionist as for a limited understanding
- Low in validity - criticised for being incomplete - little evidence for how central executive works + doesn’t explain sensory or LTM
What is the Supporting Evidence for the Working Memory Model?
- Dual task experiments - Baddeley + Hitch - suggests that both tasks were completing for resources of the VSSP as Ps struggled to do both tasks at the same time - also support for separate visual + verbal slave systems
- Neurophysiological evidence - PET scans shown different areas of brain are used while doing verbal + visual tasks
- Case studies - K.F suffered impaired STN - had digit span 1, but had intact visual store