Cognitive Psychology

Question 1

Who created the working memory model?

Answer 1

Alan Baddeley and Graham Hitch in 1974

Question 2

What are the 4 main components of the WMM (Working Memory Model)?

Answer 2

The central executive, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, the phonological loop and the episodic buffer (EB was added in 2000.)

Question 3

What is the function of the central executive?

Answer 3

It controls attention and coordinates the actions of the other components.

Question 4

What is the function of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 4

Stores and manipulates visual and spatial information.

Question 5

What is the function of the phonological loop?

Answer 5

It temporarily holds verbal information and specializes in processing auditory information.

Question 6

What is the function of the episodic buffer?

Answer 6

It binds together all the information from the other components of working memory with information about time and order.`

Question 7

What is a strength of the WMM?

Answer 7

Dual task performance studies have supported the predictions of the WMM.

Baddeley et al found that when participants performed a visual and verbal task together (a dual task performance) it was no worse than when they were performed separately. But when they performed two visual tasks, performance declined. This supports the WMM; it shows that there must be separate slave systems.

Question 8

What is a weakness of the WMM?

Answer 8

The central executive is an unsatisfactory component and doesn’t explain anything.

Baddeley said that the central executive is the most important but least understood component. Some researchers believe it should be more specified than just ‘attention.’

Question 9

Who created the multi-store model of memory?

Answer 9

Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin in 1968.

Question 10

What are the 3 main parts of the MSM?

Answer 10

The sensory register, the short term memory store and the long term memory store.

Question 11

Features of short term memory (STM)

Answer 11

Temporary memory store
Duration: between 18-30 secs
Capacity: limited
Encoding: mainly acoustic (sounds)

Question 12

Features of long term memory (LTM)

Answer 12

Permanent memory store
Duration: very long
Capacity: unlimited
Encoding: semantic (what things mean)

Question 13

Features of sensory register (SR)

Answer 13

Duration: less than half a second
Capacity: high
Encoding: depending on the sense; iconic store (vision) and echoic store (acoustic)

Question 14

Strengths of the MSM

Answer 14

The first cognitive explanation of memory
Research evidence for existence of memory stress
There is support from amnesia cases where patients have lost their LTM or STM abilities.

Question 15

Weaknesses of the MSM

Answer 15

Too linear/oversimplified
Studies of brain damage show memory is complex
Cannot give explanation as to why some things are easier to recall or how info is processed

Question 16

What two types of long term memory systems did Tulving discover in 1972?

Answer 16

Episodic and semantic memory.

Question 17

What is episodic memory?

Answer 17

It refers to our ability to recall events from our lives and is an autobiographical record of personal experiences (birthdays, holidays etc).

Question 18

What is semantic memory?

Answer 18

It stores our knowledge of the world, including facts, but in the broadest possible sense e.g. where Paris is.

Question 19

What is the third type of memory that Tulving identified in 1978?

Answer 19

Procedural memory.

Question 20

What is procedural memory?

Answer 20

It is muscle memory; it is implicit (doesn’t require conscious thought) e.g dressing, walking, speaking.

Question 21

What is reconstructive memory?

Answer 21

Fragments of stored info are reassembled during recall. The gaps are filled by our own expectations and beliefs so we can produce a ‘story’ that makes sense.

Question 22

What is a schema?

Answer 22

A mental framework of beliefs that influence cognitive processing.

A schema describes patterns of thinking and behavior that people use to interpret the world.

Question 23

Outline the War of the Ghosts study by Bartlett.

Answer 23

He showed his British participants an unfamiliar story, “The War Of the Ghosts” a Native American folk tale. He then told them to reproduce it 15 minutes later. Then he showed the new version to another participant and asked them to recall it a little later. He repeated this with all the other participants - a technique called serial reproduction.

Question 24

What did Bartlett find when people recalled the story more?

Answer 24

He found that the story was transformed over time and became shorter through omissions. Phrases were also altered to match the participant’s own culture (Bartlett called these rationalizations). These reconstructions were not random - they were changed to make it more conventional and meaningful to the participants.

Question 25

What theory did Bartlett use to explain this?

Answer 25

The schema theory - he believed that what we remember is governed by our schemas and that schemas can be changed by new knowledge and experiences.

Question 26

How do schemas influence memory?

Answer 26

Schema influences memory by providing an framework which we can encode and store relevant information, and incorporate new information.

It also can influence what you pay attention to, how you interpret situations, or how you make sense of ambiguous situations.

Question 27

What is a strength of reconstructive memory?

Answer 27

It is based off research that is a lot more realistic than a lot of memory research.

Question 28

What is a weakness of reconstructive memory?

Answer 28

It is wrong to suggest that all memories are inaccurate or affected by schemas.

Question 29

What was the case study of HM?

Answer 29

HM (Henry Molaison) had his hippocampus removed bilaterally in 1953 to treat his severe epilepsy. The surgery cured his epilepsy but left him with severe anterograde amnesia. He could recall post-op episodic events and his procedural memory remained intact.

Question 30

What is anterograde amnesia?

Answer 30

A type of memory loss that occurs when you can’t form new memories.