Cognitive Approach to behaviour

Question 1

3 types of stages of memory (3)

Answer 1

Sensory memory

Short term memory

Long term memory

Question 2

Define sensory memory (4)

Answer 2

memory started from sensory inputs

unknown/large capacity

small duration

information not attended to fades + is lost

Question 3

Define short-term memory (4)

Answer 3

limited capacity - 7-2 items at a time

short duration

acoustic encoding : information in STM primarily based on sound

information fades over time + pushed out by new information

Question 4

How does the study of H.M show that short-term memory and long-term memory are separate systems

Answer 4

could form short-term memory but couldn’t transfer them to long-term memory

Question 5

Aim of Glanzer and Cunitz study (2)

Answer 5

whether a delay in recall would affect recency effect

recency affect - things which remain in short-term memory + have not yet been displaced by other information

Question 6

Participants of study of Glanzer and Cunitz (2)

Answer 6

46 army-enlisted men

repeated measures design

Question 7

Procedure of Glazner and Cunitz study (6)

Answer 7

participants given 3 five-word practice lists

participants shown 15 fifteen-worded common 1-syllable words lists on a projector

words were shown for 1 second with 2 second intervals between them

list finished –> participants either saw # or number between 0 and 9

• immediate recall - would immediately write down as many words in order

number- delayed recall - would start counting the number until experimenter said to write (either after 10 or 30 seconds)

Question 8

Strengths of Glanzer and Cunitz study (2)

Answer 8

repeated measures design - participants experience all conditions, results not affected by individual memory ability

lab setting - high level of control variables

Question 9

Weaknesses of Glanzer and Cunitz study (3)

Answer 9

participants may become tired/improve with practice

lack of ecological validity - word lists do not represent real-life memory tasks

lack of diversity

Question 10

Define the serial position effect (2)

Answer 10

words at the beginning of a list are rehearsed into long-term memory

words at the end remain in short-term memory

Question 11

Define the primacy effect

Answer 11

tendency to remember words at the beginning of list as they are rehearsed more + transferred to LTM

Question 12

Strengths of the multi-store memory model (3)

Answer 12

MSM supported by brain scans - PET scans show activity in prefrontal cortex during STM + hippocampus during LTM

everyday examples align with MSM explanation of rehearsal

supported by research evidence - Glanzer & Cunitz

Question 13

Aim of Warrington and Shallice (3)

Answer 13

investigate effects of brain of brain damage on KF memory (damage primarily to his left parietal-occipital region of brain)

focused on KF’s short-term + long-term memory capabilities

determine whether SFM was unified system and how it interacts with LTM

Question 14

Procedure of Warrington and Shallice (3)

Answer 14

verbal memory tests : KF asked to recall sequences of numbers/letter/words (designed to test phonological memory system)

non-verbal memory tests : isolate different components of STM, KF tested on visual + spatial memory

LTM assessment : testing KF’s ability to recall info over longer periods

Question 15

Results of Warrington and Shallice (3)

Answer 15

reduced capacity for verbal short-term memory

visual short-term memory remained largely unrepaired

long-term memory unaffected

Question 16

Conclusion of Warrington and Shallice (2)

Answer 16

strong evidence against the idea that short-term memory is single store

distinction between verbal + visual short-term memory

Question 17

Define schema

Answer 17

mental framework that helps to organise + interpret information based on past experience

Question 18

Benefits of schema

Answer 18

make thinking faster