cognitive content

Question 1

what are the components of working memory model

Answer 1

• central executive
• visuospatial sketchpad
• phonological loop

Question 2

what is vssp in wmm

Answer 2

• navigating
• processes spatial imagery, visual and spatial information
• 2 more subsystems - visual info and spatial info
• limited capacity

Question 3

what is phonological loop in wmm

Answer 3

• processes acoustic information
• 2 sub-systems - articulatory loop, primary acoustic store
• AL - inner voice rehearse information you are trying to remember
• PL - holds memory of sounds
• limited capacity

Question 4

what is the central executive in wmm

Answer 4

• allocates info into the correct store
• doesn’t store anything itself
• modality free doesn’t process any info itself

Question 5

strengths of wmm

Answer 5

• supporting evidence by patient kf who hd a motorbike accident damage to the vssp but not the pl -> supports that they are separate store OTOH is a case study so not generalisable
• better than msm because it is more in-depth about the different stores in stm -> more valid as more in-depth
• helpful for revision/education as you know you can’t do 2 tasks that use the same store at the same time

Question 6

weaknesses of wmm

Answer 6

• conflicting evidence from parkin who couldn’t find evidence of the central executive on a brain scan -> conflicts as it suggests that this area of the brain doesn’t actually exist
• doesn’t consider ltm like msm does -> less detailed so less valid OTOH episodic buffer added in 2009 which explains how moves from stm to ltm -> more holistic as it now includes both types of memory

Question 7

what is capacity in msm

Answer 7

how much info a memory store can retain

Question 8

what is encoding in msm

Answer 8

the form in which the memory is retained into a memory store

Question 9

what is duration

Answer 9

how long a memory store can retain info for

Question 10

what are the stores in msm

Answer 10

• environmental input
• sensory memory
• short term memory
• long term memory

Question 11

what is sensory memory store

Answer 11

E - 5 sense
C - up to 10 items
D - less than 10 seconds

Question 12

what is short term memory

Answer 12

E - acoustically (how it sounds)
C - 5-9 items
E - up to 30 seconds

Question 13

what is long term memory

Answer 13

A - semantically
C - unlimited
E - unlimited

Question 14

strengths of msm

Answer 14

• supporting from hm brain surgery to remove hippocampus couldn’t form ltm as a result stm still intact -> supports that stm and ltm are two seperate stores
• brain scans can be used to see areas that are active during stm and ltm task -> empirical so more valid
  OTOH no cause and effect between brain areas and memory
• useful to learn how to remember how you haven’t rehearsed -> can’t be only way to get from stm to ltm

Question 15

weaknesses of msm

Answer 15

• conflicting from craik and Lockhard capacity is too vague storage capacity and processing capacity are a different level of processing -> msm is too simplistic
• other factors may affect memory
• no cause and effect between brain areas and memory

Question 16

according to reconstructive memory what is memory

Answer 16

a reconstruction of what has occured like a jigsaw

Question 17

what is a schema

Answer 17

a mental representation of an object person or event that influences how we perceive and remember experiences

Question 18

what are the 5 things associated with schema

Answer 18

omission - leave out unfamiliar details
confabulation - can’t remember so schema fills in blanks
accomodation - change to fit schema
familiarisation - unfamiliar details are changed to fit schema
rationalisation - add in info to memory to give a reason for something that may not fit schema

Question 19

strengths of reconstructive memory

Answer 19

• loftus and palmer car crash memory of car crash changed depending on wording
• better than wmm or msm as considers everybodies individual differences
• bartlett war of ghosts changed details to make more familiar

Question 20

weaknesses of reconstructive memory

Answer 20

• not empirical cant clearly see memory less valid
• doesn’t include info on how memory is stored
• brewer and treyens ps waited in office and had to recall items - recalled unfamiliar items because they stood out remembered even though it didn’t fit schema

Question 21

what is episodic memory

Answer 21

mental diary memory of events experiences

Question 22

what is semantic memory

Answer 22

mental encyclopedia memory of facts and figures

Question 23

what is a state cue

Answer 23

how you felt at the time something happened

Question 24

what is a context cue

Answer 24

environment you were in when it happened

Question 25

strengths of tulving

Answer 25

- ostegaard boy with oxygen deprivation episodic damaged but not semantic - gilbert and fisher - cues were effective in helping recall info on mock crime - useful for those with memory loss know how to help them

Question 26

weakness of tulving

Answer 26

- only focuses on ltm ignoring stm - hm learned a new skill after brain damage but semantic and episodic memory both remained damaged , may be another memory store - squire and zola conducted brain scans and found both memory types were in mtl so may not be seperate