Cognitive Psychology

Question 1

what are the 4 main components of the working memory model

Answer 1

Central executive (CE), Phonological loop, Visuo-spatial sketchpad, Episodic buffer

Question 2

what does the central executive do

Answer 2

it has a ‘supervisory’ role
it focuses, divides and switches our limited attention
it monitors incoming data, makes decisions, allocates slaves subsystems to tasks
it doesn’t store information

Question 3

what does the phonological loop do

Answer 3

stores auditory information
phonological store – stores auditory information
articulatory process – allows maintenance rehearsal, a capacity of 2 seconds

Question 4

what does the visuo-spatial sketchpad do

Answer 4

temporarily stores visual and/or spatial information when required
limited capacity of 3/4 objects
visual cache – stores visual data
inner scribe – records arrangements of objects, allows you to rehearse visual/ spatial information

Question 5

what does the episodic buffer do

Answer 5

added to WMM in 2000
a termporary store
integrates acoustic, visual and spatial information from other slave subsystems
sense of time sequencing – recording events
limited capacity of 4 chunks
combines information from other subsystems with LTM

Question 6

strength of WMM

Answer 6

support from lab experiments:
Baddeley et al. (1975)
when participants performed visual and verbal task, it was no worse than carrying them out separately
when 2 visual tasks are performed, performance declined
2 tasks can’t compete for the same slave subsystem
shows there must be separate slave subsystems

Question 7

weakness of WMM

Answer 7

lack of clarity over CE
CE is an unsatisfactory component and it doesn’t explain anything
shows that WM isn’t fully explained

Question 8

application of WMM

Answer 8

understanding amnesia
‘KF’ case study
had amnesia after brain injury
poor STM for sound but could process visual information
KF phonological loop damaged, visuo-spatial sketchpad was fine
nature of amnesia can be explained by WMM

^competing argument
brain injured patients are all unique, might not be the same for others

Question 9

what are the 3 stages of MSM

Answer 9

sensory register, short term memory STM, long term memory LTM

Question 10

what is the sensory register

Answer 10

all stimuli goes through the sensory register first
it has a duration of less than 0.5 second
high capacity
very little of what goes into SR will go into memory system
only goes to memory if you pay attention

Question 11

what is the short term memory store STM

Answer 11

temporary store (30 seconds duration)
limited capacity of 7+/- 2
duration of STM is 30 seconds
duration can be extended by maintenance rehearsal (when it is repeated over and over again)
when rehearsed enough it goes into the LTM

Question 12

what is the long-term memory store LTM

Answer 12

potentially permanent memory store
unlimited capacity
semantic encoding
many participants still recognise names and faces of their classmates from 50 years ago
during recall, information from LTM transfers to STM for recall

Question 13

strength of MSM

Answer 13

supported by research studies
Baddeley et al
found that we mix up similar sounding words when using STM
we mix up words with similar meanings when using LTM
shows that STM and LTM are different in encoding, capacity, duration, etc.

^competing argument
not all psychologists accept that STM and LTM are separate
some think they are integrated

Question 14

weakness of MSM

Answer 14

more than one type of STM
KF’s case study, STM was poor when it was sound but it was fine when it was visual
suggests MSM isn’t a complete explanation of memory

Question 15

application of MSM to improving memory

Answer 15

limited capacity of STM can be improved through chunking

by putting things in better chunks, it increase the storage of 5 items

Question 16

two types of LTM

Answer 16

episodic memory and semantic memory

Question 17

what is episodic memory

Answer 17

our ability to recall events (episodes) from our lives

‘autobiographical’ since you personally experienced the events

Question 18

key features of episodic memory

Answer 18

time-stamped
also store information about how different memories relate to each other in time
memory of a single episode includes people, places, objects, behaviours, all interwoven to make one memory
allows us to ‘time travel’ – going back to past events and reliving them

Question 19

what is semantic memory

Answer 19

Stores our knowledge of the world, including facts but very broadly
Kind of like an encyclopaedia and dictionary

Question 20

key features of semantic memory

Answer 20

Stores organised knowledge of knowledge and contains impressive number and range of concepts
Allows us to mentally represent things that are not present
Semantic memory is less vulnerable to distortion and forgetting than episodic memory
Not time-stamped
Less personal and more about the facts we share

Question 21

strength of Tulving’s LTM

Answer 21

clinical evidence
distinction of episodic and semantic memories are supported by HM’s case study
HM’s episodic memory was severely impaired due to brain damage
Difficult to recall events from his past
But semantic memory wasn’t unaffected
Shows that there are different memory stores in LTM

^competing argument
Clinical studies lack control of variables
Those with brain damage are hard to generalise and control
Validity is lowered

Question 22

weakness of tulving’s LTM

Answer 22

overlapping types of LTM
Some psychologists don’t accept that episodic and semantic memories are different
Tulving (2002)
Viewed episodic memory as a ‘specialised subcategory’ of semantic memory
Possible to have a fully functioning semantic memory with a damaged episodic memory
Showed with amnesia case studies
Relationship between types of LTM may be more complicated

Question 23

Tulving’s LTM in application to understanding memory

Answer 23

Belleville et al. (2006)
Worked with old people with mild memory impairment
Participants with training programme showed that they performed better in an episodic memory test
It is possible to improve one type of LTM

Question 24

what is Bartlett’s theory of reconstructive memory?

Answer 24

memories are reconstructions, not reproductions
an active process where we store fragments of information
not a complete accurate record of what happened

Question 25

what was the War of Ghosts study

Answer 25

showed his british participants a native american folk tale
asked participants to reproduce it 15 minutes later
showed reproduced version to another person and asked them to recall
story transformed over time
unfamiliar details left out, words were adapted
reconstructions were not random – made the story more meaningful to the participant

Question 26

schema theory

Answer 26

our memory is governed by our schemas
it is a mental structure in memory with our knowledge, concepts of the world
when we come across new knowledge, our schema is activated
allows us to process information efficiently

Question 27

schemas in relation to memory

Answer 27

influences memory – what you encode and what you retrieve
new knowledge doesn’t just encode in memory
you recall it will only fit in with relevant schema
other elements are forgotten or recalled in distorted form
unfamiliar details left out – familiar details fill in gaps

Question 28

strength of reconstructive memory

Answer 28

realistic theory and research
Based on research
Psychologists investigated memory using artificial materials (e.g. nonsense syllables)
Means that basing Bartlett’s theory basing on previous research makes it more relevant to real-life

^ competing argument
Did not use rigorously controlled methods, lacked objectivity
Instructions not standardised

Question 29

weakness of reconstructive memory

Answer 29

some memories are accurate
Wrong to suggest that all memories are inaccurate, or affected by schemas
E.g. in War of the Ghosts, participants often recalled the phrase ‘something black came out of his mouth’ since it was unusual
Shows people may not always actively reconstruct memory

Question 30

application of reconstructive memory to EWT

Answer 30

Can explain inaccurate EWTs
People don’t always recall what they see
Shows EWT may not be trustworthy

Question 31

Ethics – case study of those with amnesia

Answer 31

Confidentiality
Researchers cannot report case studies where they identify the patient (e.g. avoiding names like ‘HM’)
They should keep data provided by the participant safe and to not reveal it without consent
Issues also concern whether someone with severe memory impairment could give consent or not

Question 32

Practical issues in the design and implementation of research – Artificial research

Answer 32

Research in cognitive psychology is artificial
Studies like Baddeley and Sebastián and Hernández-Gil have to conduct highly controlled lab experiments in order to carry out their experiment
However this is very artificial
It doesn’t represent how memory is encoded in real life
- E.g. in Baddeley’s study, people won’t encode memory in real life through reading similar or dissimilar words
This makes the design of the study flawed as it might not be representative of real life

Question 33

Practical issues in the design and implementation of research – Implementation of case studies

Answer 33

Using case studies to support psychological knowledge may be wrong
Case studies are very personal, each brain injury is unique
They can be used to partially explain why memory might be a certain way
However, it is very limited in its explanation

Question 34

Reductionism – Baddeley et al.

Answer 34

Asserts that behaviour such as memory recall can be studied in terms of the simplest cognitive processes divorced from the social context of the real world

• Limited approach because it views humans as little more than fairly complicated machines and fails to take into account the richness and complexity of influences on memory
• Weakness as reductionism ignores the interactions between cognitive processes and real-world social factors which are more valid explanations of how LTM works

Question 35

Reductionism – MSM

Answer 35

reduces memory process into 3 components (sensory, STM, LTM)

neglects all the other components of memory (e.g. reconstructive, semantic, acoustic, visual memory)

Question 36

Culture – Sebastián and Hernández-Gil

Answer 36

Study revealed a cultural difference in children’s digit span (shorter for Spanish than for English children)
Other research supports this – MeowLan Chan and John Elliot (2011) found that Chinese-speaking children had longer digit spans than Malay-speaking children as digits are shorter in Chinese
Doesn’t claim that working memory is culturally determined
Shows how structural differences between languages creates cultural differences and how differently they are processed in the brain
Supports cultural similarities

Question 37

Nature-nurture – schema theory

Answer 37

Focuses on the role of experience in forming schemas which influences memory and retrieval
Puts nurture at the influence of memory encoding and retrieval
A sharp contrast from nature explanations like underlying brain functions and dysfunctions
Provides a well balance to nature-linked theories

Question 38

development of psychological understanding over time – MSM and WMM

Answer 38

Created to account for research findings current at the time
However, this model was soon replaced by the working memory model as it couldn’t offer a full explanation
Shows how direction of knowledge changes over time, through combining older and newer research can gradually reach a deeper and more complete understanding of behaviour

Question 39

Issues of social control – schemas

Answer 39

You can purposely alter one’s schema by giving them particular experiences
This may mould them and be used as a form of social control.

Question 40

Issues of social control – understanding of memory in court situation

Answer 40

in court, one may argue that EWTs may not give an accurate account of the witnessed event
if used by the wrong hands, this may let criminals get away with their conviction

Question 41

use of psychological knowledge within society – dementia

Answer 41

Treatments for dementia patients
Training or therapies to help improve memories
E.g. cognitive stimulation is used to try and stimulate the patient’s past memory by restoring their schemas

Question 42

Social sensitive research – dementia, Alzheimer’s

Answer 42

Feeling distressed when you can’t remember information e.g. for those with dementia. Need to be careful about making them feel that they are not a burden on society and creating a negative perception of people with dementia as being deficient, helpless or mindless.
This can threaten their dignity. eg. sebastian hernandez gil digit span on those with Alzheimer’s

Question 43

Social sensitive research – culture, Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil

Answer 43

People assuming that some cultures are better than others. When publishing results, it is important to note that by age 18 everyone has caught up.

Question 44

Social sensitive research – brain damage patients

Answer 44

H.M. – need to be aware of the difficulties that people with brain damage face and be sensitive to their needs and how we present information