Cognitive Psychology Flashcards
Who was the multi-store model created by?
Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)
Describe the multi-store model
Sensory info- Sensory memory- Selective Info- Short Term Memory
- Maintenance Rehearsal*
- Elaborative Rehearsal*-Long term memory
- Retrieval*
What is encoding?
The form in which new info is stored
What is capacity?
How much info can be held
What is duration?
How long info lasts before it can no longer be recalled
Miller’s digit span task is evidence for which Multi-store model feature?
This provides evidence that short term memory has a capacity of 5-9 items
Baddeley provides evidence for which multi-store model feature
It provides evidence that info in long term memory is encoded semantically
The Sperling Test provides evidence for which multi-store model feature ?
It provides evidence that the duration of sensory memory is less than a second
Bahrick et al provides evidence for which multi-store model feature?
It provides evidence that the duration of long term memory is a lifetime
The Sperling Test provides evidence for which multi-store model feature?
It provides evidence that the sensory store has a large capacity as most info seems to be captured before it fades
Baddeley provides evidence for which multi-store model feature?
It provides evidence that information in short term memory is encoded acoustically
What is the first finding from HM and does it support or refute the multi-store model?
His long term memory was unable to function properly by encoding new long term memories but his short term memory was intact.
Supports because multi-store model 3 separate stores.
What is the second finding from HM and does it support or refute the multi-store model?
Although his long term memory for events was affected his long term memory for encoding new motor skills was operating normally
Refutes because model is too simplistic.
Shows that long term memory is more complex than the model suggests.
What is the first finding from KF and does it support or refute the multi-store model?
His short term memory was affected by the brain damage but not his long term memory
Supports because the model agrees that there are separate stores
What is the first finding from KF and does it support or refute the multi-store model?
His short term memory for verbal tasks was affected but not his short term memory for visual tasks
Refutes because it shows that short term memory is more complex than the model suggests
Application for multi-store model?
Use of flashcards to repeatedly reinforce key facts in order to get them into long term memory
Who was the working memory model created by?
Baddeley and Hitch(1974)
Describe the working memory model
The central executive-visuospatial sketchpad-visual cache & inner scribe-long term memory
The central executive-episodic buffer-long term memory
The central executive-phonological loop- articalatory control process- phonological store
Describe the central executive
Monitors info coming in from different sources
Decides what to pay attention to
Allocates tasks to the slave systems
Name the two slave systems
Phonological loop
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
Describe the phonological loop
Has two sections
Articulatory Control Process- allows subvocal repetition
-converts written material into sound so it can be transferred to the phonological store
Phonological Store-stores words for 1-2 secs
Describe the Visuo-spatial sketchpad
Has two sections
Visual Cache-stores visual data
Inner Scribe-stores the arrangement of objects in the visual field
Does Baddeley support/refute the working memory model
The word length effect supports the idea of the phonological store because more short words can be held for in the store for 2 seconds before the memory trace decays
Does Liebermann support/refute the working memory model
Refuting evidence because blind people have excellent spatial awareness even though they have never had any visual information
Does KF support/refute the working memory model
Refutes because Baddeley and Hitch state that people can perform two tasks simultaneously as long as they use different components
Does Darling support/refute the working memory model
Supports because it suggests that there are separate stores within visuo-spatial sketchpad
Does Logie et al support/refute the working memory model
Supports because it provides evidence for articulatory control process since it involves sub-vocal repetition
Does Baddeley et al support/refute the working memory model
Supports because it provides evidence of episodic buffer.
Remembering sentences uses info in long term memory so we package the info in chunks
Application for working memory model?
Dementia sufferers have particular trouble with dual tasks. Baddeley suggests this is a fault with the Central Executive. The dual load can be reduced by creating a quiet environment for dementia sufferers without background noise
Another Application for working memory model?
Children with dyslexia may have poor functioning of the phonological loop, yet their visuo spatial memory is good. Helping children with dyslexia to picture what they are read or listening to can help them maximise the use of their stronger visual working memory
Who was reconstructive memory created by?
Sir Fredrick Bartlett
Describe reconstructive memory
- Your past experiences/ expectations which are organised into schema
- The actual event
- Any post-event information
What is a stereotype?
A generalisation of a group of people which makes it easier for to think about that specific group of people
What are schemas?
Mental frameworks of knowledge about frequently encountered people,objects or situations
What did Bartlett argue?
Sometimes an experience gives us new information that doesn’t fir into our existing schema, but rather than adapting the schema we change the memory of that experience.
This is done by levelling or sharpening.
What is levelling?
Removing or downplaying details from the memory that don’t fit with our existing schema
What is sharpening?
Adding or exaggerating details to make the situation fit better with our existing schema
Does Loftus and Palmer support/ refute reconstructive memory
Supports because it suggests that the participants were reconstructing a memory of the event using post-event information
Does Wynn and Logie support/ refute reconstructive memory
Refutes reconstructive memory because it suggests that there is very little use of reconstruction in real life situations
Does Bartlett support/ refute reconstructive memory
Supports because it suggests the participants were reconstructing a memory of the story using their memory
Does Sacchi et Al support/ refute reconstructive memory
Supports because it suggests the participants were reconstructing a memory of the event using post-event information
Application for reconstructive memory?
This theory helps the police and the legal system to understand how unreliable memory is and therefore alerts them to the problems with using eyewitness testimony as the only evidence to convict someone
Three studies in detail are?
Schmolck et Al (2002)
Darling et Al(2007)
Bartlett(1932)
Evaluate Schmolck et al (G)
The patients were recruited through opportunity sampling (they happened to be the patients available at the time). This is a weakness because it means the results may not be representative of the way memory works in the wider population. For example, there was only one female.
Evaluate Schmolck et Al (R)
Independent raters used to check reliability of scoring tests 8 and 9. This is a strength because it means any subjective bias by the researchers could be identified and controlled.
Evaluate Schmolck et Al (A)
Understanding deficits in semantic memory function may be helpful in understanding problems that people with Alzheimer’s experience. This, in turn, may help in developing therapies to help support these people.
Evaluate Schmolck et Al (V)
The use of a matched control group meant that the researchers controlled for factors such as age and education. This is a strength because it means they could be sure that any differences in semantic memory processing between the control group and the experimental group were due to brain damage, increasing the internal validity of the results
Evaluate Schmolck et Al (E)
The use of initials for patients is ethically good as it ensure their anonymity which is a recommendation from the BPS ethical code of conduct.
Evaluate Darling et Al (G)
Volunteer sampling was used, as participants were from a volunteer participation panel. This means that only the type of people who are highly motivated and interested in psychological research took part, making the sample unrepresentative of the target population
Evaluate Darling et Al (R)
Controls were used such as standardising the exact timing of the interference tasks (0.5, 5.5 and 15.5 seconds). This means that the study could be precisely replicated to test the reliability of the results
Evaluate Darling et Al (A)
Understanding the mechanisms of short-term working memory has been used to help people with working memory deficits such as those with dyslexia and those with dementia
Evaluate Darling et Al (V)
The use of a control group and also the 0.5 delay condition is a strength because it allowed the researchers to see the exact effect of the interference tasks by comparing them to these baseline measurements. This accuracy of measurement increases the validity of the results
Evaluate Darling et Al (E)
No issues
Evaluate Bartlett (G)
This was a study about the effect of cultural expectations on recall and all participants were British. The results may not generalise to other cultures
Evaluate Bartlett (R)
There were few standardised instructions. This makes it difficult to replicate the study to test the reliability of the results
Evaluate Bartlett (A)
Helps police understand problems with eyewitness testimony and how it should not be relied upon as the only evidence to convict someone
Evaluate Bartlett (V)
Bartlett used stories because he wanted his research to have more task validity than the memory experiments that use word lists. This means his results are more likely to reflect real-life memory and recall
Evaluate Bartlett (IV)
There was no control group of Native Americans retelling the story to act as a baseline measure to accurately judge effect of being from a different culture
Evaluate Bartlett (E)
No issues
Describe episodic buffer
Links working memory to long term memory
Has a capacity of 4 chunks of information
What is one aim of Schmolck et Al?
To access the relationship between semantic knowledge and damage to the medial temporal lobe
What is the second aim of Schmolck et Al?
To see whether HM performance was unique in any way compared with the other patients
What is semantic knowledge?
This is knowledge about things that are not drawn from personal experience but are general facts
Describe the participants in Schmolck et al
- 3 patients with large lesions in the medial temporal lobe(also had damage to lateral temporal lobe)
- 2 patients(one female) with damage limited to the hippocampus formation
- HM who had both sides of his medial temporal lobe(including hippocampus) removed for relief of epilepsy
- 8 healthy controls to draw comparisons, all of whom have normal brain structure and function
Describe the sampling methods of Schmolck et Al
8 healthy men recruited through volunteer sampling
They were matched to the patients with respect to age and education
The patients were recruited through sampling
What is one strength of Schmolck et Al’s sampling methods?
It was a matched pairs design. This increases internal validity by eliminating extreneous variables
What materials were used in Schmolck et Al?
- All participants were given 9 tests based on line drawings of 24 animals/objects
- Tests 1-4 involved pointing to the correct picture when given the name or description or naming the animal/object when shown a picture or given a description
- Tests 8/9 involved defining the least common animal/object
Describe scoring in Schmolck et Al
Tests 1-4 was measured as percentage correct
Tests 8/9 the patients’ definitions were tape recorded and given a quality score of 0-4
14 independent raters assigned their own 1-4 quality score to check reliability
Describe one result of Schmolck et Al
HF patients performed normally in every respect of the tests
The 3 MTL patients exhibited mild to moderate impairment
Describe the second result of Schmolck et Al
MTL patients and HM had more difficulty with living items than with non-living items
Describe the last result of Schmolck et Al
HM made many grammatical errors and his voice was monotone
State one conclusion of Schmolck et Al
There is a relationship between semantic knowledge performance and the extent of damage to medial temporal cortex
State the second conclusion of Schmolck et Al
The difficulty displayed with living items could be due to their visual complexity
State last conclusion of Schmolck et Al
HM language problems are unlikely to be related to his MTL damage. HM had seizures beginning at age 10 and his schooling was interrupted
State one aim of Bartlett
To test his reconstructive hypothesis and illustrate that memory is an active process and subject to individual interpretation of construction
State another aim of Bartlett
To see if cultural background and unfamiliarity with a text would lead to distortion of memory when a story was recalled
State Bartlett’s two techniques in his procedure
Serial reproduction
Repeated reproduction
What is serial reproduction?
Where a story is passed from one participant to the next without access to the original script
What is repeated reproduction?
Where a single person recalls the same story repeatedly over a period of time
One weakness of Bartlett’s procedure
Lacks reliability because there was little standardisation to this process.
-Although participants in the repeated reproduction condition were asked to recall the story after 15 minutes, subsequent recall was at varying intervals
Describe another weakness of Bartlett
Low generalisability because the participants in the study were British so the story was filled with unknown names and concepts, and the way the story developed was unusual to them.
Describe one strength of Bartlett
Controlled extreneous variables because the participants in the study were British so the story was filled with unknown names and concepts, and the way the story developed was unusual to them.
Give 2 results of Bartlett
- When asked to recall the detail of the story, each person seemed to recall it in their own individual way(distortion)
- Serial reproduction produced considerably more distortion than repeated reproduction
Describe one pattern of distortion in Bartlett
Assimilation- the story became more consistent with the cultural expectations of the participants
Describe second pattern of distortion in Bartlett
Levelling- the story became shorter with each retelling as participants omitted information which was seen as not important-puzzling ideas were often left out altogether
Describe last pattern of distortion in Bartlett
Sharpening-participants added detail and or emotions to match their own cultural expectations(rationalisation)
State one conclusion of Bartlett
Memory is not exact and is distorted or reconstructed by existing schema
State another conclusion of Bartlett
We make an effort to remember into what we personally know and understand about the world
State one aim of Darling et al
To investigate whether a dynamic visual noise(DVN) task would interfere with memory recall of an appearance task and a location task
State another aim of Darling et al
To investigate whether a tapping task would interfere with memory recall of an appearance task and a location task
Describe the sample of Darling et al
72 participants (44 female, 28 male, mean age 66 years) were recruited from members of the non-student volunteer participation panel at the University of Aberdeen
Describe the first part of the procedure for Darling et al
- Each participant was shown a black screen with 30 white squares
- Through random selection, one of these squares was filled with a lowercase letter p in different font styles
- The letter was visible for 0.5 seconds, then the display was cleared
What were the interval delays for each interference task?
Participants then had an interval delay of either 0.5, 5.5 or 15.5 seconds during which they carried out one of the interference tasks
What are the 3 interference conditions?
Tapping
DVN
Control
Describe the tapping interference task
Participants had to tap a keypad with 9 keys in a figure 8 pattern at a rate of 1 key per second
Describe the tapping interference task
Participants had to tap a keypad with nine keys in a figure of eight pattern at a rate of one key per second
Describe the DVN interference task
Participants were asked to watch the screen whilst a square matrix of 80 by 80 black or white dots appeared. These dots were changed from black to white at an average rate of 300 dots per second
Describe the control interference task
No interference task
Describe the second part of the procedure for Darling et al
- At the end of each interference task, the white squares reappeared
- 25% of the times in the same location and font
- 25% of the times in the same location but a different font
- 25% of the times in a different location but the same font
- 25% of the times in both a different location and different font
Describe the last part of the procedure for Darling et al
- This process (presentation of the grid, interference task, second presentation of the grid) was repeated 24 times for each participant
- Participants were randomly allocated to one of the six possible combinations of memory task: appearance condition/ location condition
State one conclusion of Darling et al
The findings suggest that appearance information and location information are separate systems in short-term memory
State another conclusion of Darling et al
A spatial interference task, such as tapping keys in sequence, slows down location memory but not appearance memory
State last conclusion of Darling et al
A visual interference task, such as DVN , slows down appearance memory but location memory
