Cognitive approach Flashcards
The multi-store model of memory
- Sensory Register
Temporary store for info from environment (visual, auditory, tactile, etc.).
Main stores: Iconic memory (visual) & Echoic memory (auditory).
Duration: ~0.5 seconds.
Encoding: Modality-specific (matches the sense).
Capacity: Potentially unlimited.
Info needs attention to transfer to STM.
2. Short-Term Memory (STM)
Capacity: 5–9 items, boosted by chunking.
Duration: 18–30 seconds.
Maintenance rehearsal keeps info in STM; prolonged rehearsal moves it to LTM.
Info not rehearsed is displaced.
Recall = retrieval from LTM to STM for use.
3. Long-Term Memory (LTM)
Unlimited capacity and duration.
Encoded semantically.
Stores info rehearsed in STM, making it potentially permanent.
Serial Position Effect
Primacy effect: Early items recalled better due to LTM storage via rehearsal.
Recency effect: Recent items recalled better as they’re still in STM.
Middle items: Recalled poorly (no primacy/recency benefit).
Primacy effect: Stronger with slower item presentation.
Recency effect: Reduced with interference tasks.
HM: Milner
Aim:
Understand how surgery on HM (removal of parts of the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus) impacted his memory.
Procedure:
Method triangulation: direct observation, interviews with HM and his family, cognitive tests (e.g., reverse mirror drawing), and MRI scans.
Findings:
HM couldn’t form new episodic or semantic memories, indicating the hippocampus is key for transferring short-term to long-term memory.
Retained spatial memory (could form cognitive map of his home).
Kept working memory (temporary storage with rehearsal).
Procedural memory (e.g., motor skills) intact; could learn new skills like mirror drawing without remembering learning them.
MRI scans showed hippocampal damage, linking it to long-term memory formation.
Conclusion:
The hippocampus is crucial for converting short-term memories to long-term. Different types of memory (procedural, spatial, working) are processed in distinct brain areas, suggesting a specialized memory system.
HM: Milner, link to the multi-store model of memory
HM’s case supports the multi-store model of memory by showing the separation between short-term and long-term memory. Despite having an intact STM (able to rehearse info briefly), he couldn’t transfer memories to LTM, highlighting the hippocampus’s role in this process. This aligns with the MSM’s idea that STM and LTM are distinct stores, with information requiring proper encoding and storage for long-term retention. His ability to retain procedural memory, however, suggests LTM is more complex than the MSM initially proposed, with different systems for explicit and implicit memory.
The working store model of memory
This model of memory is specific to the workings of the STM (short-term memory). It was developed by Baddeley and Hitch (1747)
Their proposal followed Atkinson and Shiffrins ‘Multi-store model of memory’, which was criticised for being too simple. They proposed that STM, or working memory was not just one store, but composed of many stores with different localised areas.
- This came from his findings on dual performance tasks where he found that two visual tasks led to poor performance, however, if one task was visual and one was verbal, then there was no interruption.
- the proposed three-stores STM stemmed from research using a ‘dual task technique’, whereby performance is measured as participants perform two tasks simultaneously. The following observations provided evidence to suggest different, limited capacity STM stores process different types of memory
- If one store is utilised for both tasks then task performance is poorer than when they are completed separately, due to the stores limited capacity
- If the tasks require different stores, performance would be unaffected when performing them simultaneously
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The central executive
- replaces the sensory register
- directs attention to tasks and determines how resources (slave systems) are allocated
- Allocates information based on modality (i.e. visual or auditory)
- Involves reasoning and decision-making tasks
- Limited capacity
- Coding is modality-free -
The phonological loop
- Deals with information and language- both written and spoken
- Limited capacity
- Baddeley further divided it into the phonological store and the articulatory loop (repetition)
- Coding is Acoustic -
The Visuospatial sketchpad
- visual and/or spatial information is stored here- Visual- what things look like
- Spatial- relationship between things
- Limited capacity (3-4 objects)
- It has two subsystems: - The visual cache- stores visual data
- The inner scribe- records the arrangement of objects in the visual field
- Coding is Visual
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The episodic buffer
- The buffer was added to the model later on
- It is used when the central executive has no storage capacity
- Buffers extra storage, however it has a limited capacity of 4 chunks
- Coding is modality-free
KF: Shallice and warrington
Aim:
Investigate the relationship between Long-Term Memory (LTM) and Short-Term Memory (STM) in a patient with impaired STM, focusing on memory trace formation and retrieval.
Procedure:
Case study of K.F., a 28-year-old man with impaired STM after a motorcycle accident.
K.F.’s STM was tested using tasks requiring recall of random strings of numbers, letters, and words.
Tasks assessed recall based on string length and modality (auditory vs. visual).
Findings:
K.F. could recall only one item at a time, with recall performance declining as string length increased.
Better recall for numbers than letters and for visual items over auditory ones.
This difference remained despite ruling out auditory processing issues.
Conclusion:
K.F.’s case shows that STM and LTM can function independently, challenging the MSM’s view of a linear flow from STM to LTM.
Supports the idea of modality-specific memory processing (auditory vs. visual) and distinct memory stores for STM and LTM.
KF: shallice and warrington link to the working store model of memory
This study supports the Working Memory Model by highlighting modality-specific memory stores within STM. K.F.’s differential performance on auditory versus visual memory tasks suggests that STM may have separate components for processing different types of information, as proposed by the Working Memory Model’s phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad. His case reinforces the model’s assertion that STM is not a single, undifferentiated store, but rather a complex system with specialized components for various tasks.
Schema theory
Schemas are mental representations that are derived from prior experience and knowledge. Schemas help us to predict what to expect based on what has happened before. They are used to:
- organise our knowledge
- to assist recall
- to guide our behaviour
- to help us make sense of current experiences
Schemas and Scripts
- schemas are used to organise our knowledge, to assist recall, to guide out behaviour, to predict likely happenings and to help us make sense of current experiences
- schemas are cognitive structures that are derived from prior experience and knowledge. They simplify reality, setting up expectations about what is probable in relation to particular social and textual concepts
- Schemas are culturally specific but may vary even within a single culture because of such factors as class
- Scripts are schema about events in time rather than schema for objects. We have scripts for how to go to dinner in a restaurant, what happens on Christmas day.
What is Schema Theory?
- Schema theory is a theory of how humans process incoming information, relate it to existing knowledge and use it
- The theory is based on the assumption that humans are active processors of information. People do not passively respond to information. They interpret and integrate it to make sense of their experiences. It is however, mostly subconscious
- If information is missing, the brain fills in the blanks based on existing schemas, which can result in mistakes
Reconstructive memory
Cognitive Psychologists argue that memory is reconstructive- that is we do not have full memories stored in our brain; instead, when we access a memory, we are actually accessing several different data points.
These are all related to the schema of the object, event or person which we are trying to recall
Schemas and Cognitive misers
Cognitive miser: Ability and tendency of the human brain to problem solve in the most simple and straightforward ways rather than utilising more sophisticated and effort-intensive ways
Schemas allow us to look at something and work out what it is without having to be told what it is or having to conduct research
The first concept of schema was first used by Jean Piaget in 1926. He suggested that children learn using existing schemas that are either accommodated or assimilated.
Schemas are defined by Piaget as, ‘cohesive, repeatable action sequences possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning.
He viewed them as present from birth, initially as reflexes.
Processes by which we learn schemas:
- Assimilation is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or event- once a child understands that a dog is hairy or furry with four legs, then all dogs are understood to belong to the schema. It is also when you add information to an existing schema
- Accommodation is changing an existing schema or developing an new schema when it cannot adequately explain a new object or event
- At about 18 months of age, internalisation of schemas take place, and children are able to gain knowledge, not through physical trial and error, but by imagining things and mentally combining schemas in a learning process. This is the same as the adult use of schemas: they become mental representations based on experience.
Bartlett discovered that when he asked people to repeat an unfamiliar story they had read, they changed it to fit their existing knowledge, and that it was this revised story they then remembered.
This was then seen as using schemas to reconstruct memories
Bartlett
Aim: Bartlett aimed to investigate how prior knowledge and cultural background influence memory, proposing that memory is reconstructive and shaped by schemas.
Procedure: British participants were told a Native American story, The War of the Ghosts, and recalled it through either repeated reproduction (multiple recalls over time) or serial reproduction (passing it from person to person). Bartlett analyzed changes in the story during recall.
Findings: Bartlett observed distortions in both groups’ recalls, following three patterns:
- Assimilation: Modifying details to align with cultural expectations.
- Leveling: Omitting details to shorten the story.
- Sharpening: Reordering and adding details for coherence.
Participants retained the main ideas but adapted unfamiliar aspects to fit their cultural background, demonstrating reconstructive memory.
Conclusion: Bartlett concluded that memory is reconstructive, shaped by cultural schemas that lead people to recall information in a way that aligns with their existing knowledge and beliefs.
Bartlett link to schema theory
Bartlett’s study illustrates schema theory by demonstrating how existing cultural schemas shape and distort memory. Participants unconsciously modified the story to fit their cultural norms, suggesting that schemas act as cognitive frameworks that help individuals interpret and recall information. The study supports the idea that memory is reconstructive; it’s actively shaped by prior knowledge, rather than being an exact record of experiences. This aligns with schema theory’s premise that people rely on mental structures to process, organize, and retrieve information.
Thinking and decision making
The Dual Process Model
Dual process ideas developed in the 1970s, with the first use of the term appearing in the title of the paper published by Watson and Evans.
Later psychologists propose that dual-process reflects the existence of two separate but interacting systems of thinking and decision making: System 1, which is automatic holistic and intuitive thinking based on heuristics and system 2 which is analytical logical and slower thinking.
The interactions between the two systems
- both systems are active when we are awake, with system one being automatically and system two being in background mode
- Khanemann argues that system two has the ability to change the way that system one works using programming attention and memory
Why do we tend to use system one thinking?
- we are cognitive misers- wanting to use as little energy as we can to think
- sometimes, even when we want to focus, it is difficult
- sometimes we have too many other things going on in our mind to allocate energy for solving a problem, this is because our cognitive load is too high
- all of this together is referred to as the law of least effort- if there are several ways of achieving the same goal, people will chose the least demanding course of action.
System 1 | System 2 |
| — | — |
| Old in evolutionary terms | Evolved more recently |
| Universal, shared between animals and humans | Higher level and uniquely human |
| Automatic, fast and intuitive | Slower and under conscious control; can be turned on and off |
| Based on heuristics and experience and usually involves inductive reasoning | Based on abstract reasoning from hypothetical situations which are usually deductive |
| Takes little concentration or energy | requires careful concentration and conscious thought |
| Holistic and networked learning | Sequential and uses working memory |
| Not related to cognitive ability and intelligence | Strongly linked to cognitive ability and intelligence |
| Less likely to decline in old age | Declines in old age |
Tversky and Khaneman
Aim
The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of anchoring bias on high school students’ estimation of the value of a mathematical problem.
Procedure
The researchers conducted an experiment using high school students as participants. Participants were divided into two conditions. In the “ascending condition,” participants were asked to quickly estimate the value of 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6 X 7 X 8 within five seconds. In the “descending condition,” participants were asked to quickly estimate the value of 8 X 7 X 6 X 5 X 4 X 3 X 2 X 1 within five seconds. The researchers hypothesized that the initial number seen (1 or 8) would serve as an anchor and influence the estimates provided by the participants.
Findings
The researchers found that the median estimate for the ascending group was 512, whereas the median estimate for the descending group was 2250. The actual value of the multiplication is 40320. This significant difference in estimates indicates that the initial number (anchor) seen by participants influenced their judgments.
Conclusion
The study concluded that anchoring bias significantly affects individuals’ estimates, demonstrating how initial information can disproportionately influence subsequent judgments. The findings suggest that the initial number seen serves as an anchor, biasing the participants’ estimates of the mathematical problem’s value.
Tversky and khanemann link to thinking and decision making
This study provides evidence for the dual processing model by illustrating how individuals rely on heuristic, automatic processing when faced with a time-constrained task. The dual processing model posits that there are two systems of thinking: System 1, which is fast, automatic, and reliant on heuristics, and System 2, which is slow, deliberate, and logical. In this study, the participants used System 1 processing due to the five-second time limit, leading them to rely on the initial number (anchor) as a heuristic shortcut for estimating the value. This reliance on the anchor demonstrates the influence of automatic, heuristic-based thinking in decision-making.
Reconstructive memory
What is meant by reconstructive memory?
- it is based on the idea that memories are not saved as complete, coherent wholes
- retrieval of memory is influenced by our perception, our beliefs, past experience, cultural factors and the context in which we are recalling the information
- schemas influence what we encode and what we retrieve from memory
Efforts after meaning
- Bartlett argued that we try to make sense of the past by adding our interpretations of events and deducing what most likely happened
- He argued that memory is an imaginative reconstruction of experience
“Memory is thought to be fallible, as memories are not saved as complete, coherent wholes, so every time it is recalled, it is pieced together, this can lead to inaccuracies in the memory recalled. The retrieval of memory is also influenced by our perception, our beliefs and past experiences, i.e. our schemas. These influence what we encode and what we retrieve from memory. Bartlett argued that we try to make sense of the past by adding our interpretations of events and deducing what most likely happened, he argued that memory is an imaginative reconstruction of experience. Loftus and Pickrell wanted to study whether memory was reliable and if we would reconstruct a ‘false memory.’”
Loftus and palmer
Aim
Test if question wording (leading verbs) distorts memory.
Focus: speed estimates + recalling details (e.g., broken glass).
Procedure
Experiment 1:
45 students, 5 groups, independent design.
Watched 7 traffic accident clips.
Estimated speed using verbs: “smashed,” “collided,” “bumped,” “hit,” “contacted.”
Experiment 2:
150 students, 3 groups, independent design.
Watched a 1-min car crash clip.
Speed question: “smashed,” “hit,” or none (control).
1 week later: asked about broken glass (none present).
Findings
Experiment 1:
“Smashed” → highest speed estimate (40.8 mph).
“Contacted” → lowest (31.8 mph).
Experiment 2:
“Smashed” → higher speed (10.46 mph) than “hit” (8.00 mph).
16 saw broken glass in “smashed,” 7 in “hit,” 6 in control.
Conclusion
Question phrasing distorts memory + speed estimates.
“Smashed” → exaggerated speed + false memory of glass.
Supports reconstructive memory (event altered by post-info).
Loftus and palmer link to reconstructive memory
Loftus & Palmer’s study is closely linked to the concept of reconstructive memory, which suggests that memory is not a perfect recording of events but is influenced by various factors, including post-event information. In this study, participants’ memories were altered based on the wording of the questions they were asked, particularly through the use of leading verbs such as “smashed” or “hit.” These verbs influenced their estimates of speed and even led some participants to falsely recall seeing broken glass. This supports the idea that memory is reconstructive, as participants’ recollections were shaped by external cues provided after the event, demonstrating how memory can be distorted by suggestion and integrated with existing cognitive schemas.
Loftus and pickrell
A (Aim):
The aim of the study was to determine if false memories of autobiographical events could be created through the power of suggestion, specifically by introducing a fabricated memory of being lost in a mall during childhood.
P (Procedure):
The study involved 24 participants (3 males and 21 females). Prior to the study, a parent or sibling was contacted and asked two questions: to recount three childhood memories of the participant and to confirm if the participant was ever lost in a mall. Participants then received a mailed questionnaire with four memories (three real and one false). They were asked to describe these memories in detail or state if they did not remember them. Participants were interviewed twice over a four-week period, recalling details about each memory and rating their confidence. After the second interview, they were debriefed and asked to identify the false memory.
F (Findings):
Approximately 25% of participants “recalled” the false memory of being lost in a mall. However, they provided fewer details and rated their confidence lower for this memory compared to the real ones.
C (Conclusion):
The study concluded that it is possible to create false autobiographical memories through suggestion, although only a quarter of participants formed such memories. This suggests that while false memories can be implanted, not everyone is equally susceptible to suggestion.
E (Evaluation):
Strengths of the study include its high ecological validity, as it focused on real-life memories, and the involvement of family members to verify events. However, the use of deception raises ethical concerns, and the fact that participants completed questionnaires at home introduces the possibility of contamination. Additionally, demand characteristics, like the social desirability effect, could have influenced participants’ responses.
Loftus and pickrell link to reconstructive memory
The study also illustrates the reconstructive nature of memory, as some participants “reconstructed” a false memory based on external suggestion. This supports the idea that memory is not a perfect recording of past events but is subject to alteration. When recalling the fabricated event, participants may have integrated elements of other real experiences (e.g., being lost in a different situation), leading to a distorted memory. The study reinforces the concept that memories are not static but can be reshaped by external influences, which has implications for fields like therapy and law, where memory reconstruction may play a critical role.
Biases in thinking and decision making
Heuristics
- a heuristic technique is any approach to problem solving or self discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect or even rational, but is sufficient for reaching an immediate estimation
These heuristics can lead to cognitive biases
- cognitive biases are systematic errors in judgement, while heuristics are mental shortcuts for decision making
- They’re linked because many biases stem from heuristics
- When the brain relies on heuristics to simplify complex information, it can lead to systematic errors or deviations from rationality, resulting in cognitive biases
Why do we study cognitive biases?
- There are several good resons for studying cognitive biases: they are of interest in their own right and have practical implications in mental diagnoses, and the study of these biases can explain the psychological processes on which thinking and decision making is based. These heuristics can lead to false diagnosis based on symptoms and prior experience
Anchoring Bias:
Our tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information that we are provided with.
- whenever we are exposed to an estimate we place our estimate close to that (it serves as an anchor)
Tversky and Khaneman link to anchoring bias
This study by Tversky and Kahneman (1974) exemplifies how cognitive biases, specifically anchoring, influence human thinking and decision-making processes. Anchoring occurs when individuals rely too heavily on the first piece of information (the anchor) they encounter when making decisions. In this experiment, the initial number significantly skewed the participants’ estimates of the mathematical product, demonstrating how initial information can bias judgment even in simple tasks. This finding extends to real-world scenarios where anchoring affects various decisions, from financial forecasting to everyday estimations, highlighting the profound impact of cognitive biases on human behavior.
The influence of emotion on cognition
What is Emotion?
Combo of subjective feelings, physical responses (e.g., heart rate), and behaviors (e.g., facial expressions).
Triggers: Internal/external stimuli; helps in decision-making and social interactions.
How Emotion Boosts Memory
High arousal emotions (fear, joy, anger) → adrenaline & cortisol → activate amygdala → strengthen memory consolidation in hippocampus.
Flashbulb Memories:
Vivid snapshots of surprising/emotional events.
Brown & Kulik’s Special Mechanism Hypothesis: Emotional intensity = permanent, detailed record.
Caveat: Flashbulb memories feel vivid but aren’t necessarily more accurate than regular memories.
How Emotion Impairs Memory
Too much stress → excess cortisol → damages hippocampus → hard to form/retrieve memories.
Weapon Focus Effect: Anxiety focuses attention on the weapon, causing other details (e.g., perpetrator’s face) to be forgotten.
Balancing Act
Yerkes-Dodson Law:
Moderate arousal = better memory.
Too little/too much = impaired memory.
Deffenbacher’s Extension: Moderate stress = better recall; high stress = distortions or gaps (e.g., eyewitness testimony).
Key Takeaway
Emotion has a dual role: it can enhance memory for emotionally significant events or impair it under extreme stress by narrowing focus or causing distortions.
Brown and Kulik
Aim
The aim of Brown & Kulik’s 1977 study was to investigate whether surprising and personally significant events can lead to the formation of flashbulb memories, characterized by vivid and detailed recollections of where one was and what one was doing at the time of the event.
Procedure
The study involved 80 male participants (40 African American and 40 White Americans) who completed a questionnaire about their memories related to the deaths of significant public figures, such as President John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., as well as someone they personally knew. Participants were asked to answer a series of questions regarding the circumstances surrounding their first awareness of these events, including their emotional reactions and the perceived importance of the events in their lives.
Findings
The researchers found that 90% of participants recalled detailed information about the day of the significant events. Notably, there was a marked difference in flashbulb memories based on personal relevance: 75% of Black participants reported having flashbulb memories of Martin Luther King’s assassination, while only 33% of White participants reported similar memories. This indicated that the emotional impact and personal significance of an event influence the vividness of the memory.
Conclusion
The study provides empirical support for the concept of flashbulb memories, demonstrating that emotionally charged and personally relevant events can lead to detailed recollections. However, the retrospective nature of the data collection limits the ability to establish causal relationships. Furthermore, the study’s cultural and gender biases suggest that findings may not be universally applicable.
Brown and Kulik link to emotion influence on memory
Emotion plays a critical role in memory formation, as evidenced by the concept of flashbulb memories. These vivid recollections often arise from events that evoke strong emotional responses, suggesting that heightened emotional states enhance memory encoding and retrieval. Research indicates that emotionally charged experiences activate specific brain regions, such as the amygdala, which is involved in processing emotions and can strengthen the consolidation of memories. This interplay between emotion and memory underscores the idea that significant life events not only create lasting memories but also shape individuals’ narratives and identities.
