Key Question

Question 1

What is the key question?

Answer 1

How can psychologists’ understanding of memory help patients with dementia?

Question 2

What is dementia?

Answer 2

A disease that causes progressive mental deterioration characterised by memory loss.

Question 3

Why is this issue important?

Answer 3

• It causes memory loss and so can lead to things like relatives forgetting your name
• There are around 50,000 people in the UK with Alzheimer’s
• Predicted to increase to over 2 million by 2051
• £26 billion per year - burdens NHS
• And so need to find ways to stop it

Question 4

Briefly describe how the Multi Store Model can explain Alzheimer’s.

Answer 4

• Impairment in the STM which may lead to information decaying before there is a chance to encode
• New LTM wouldn’t be formed as a result
• LTM may experience decay if there is retrieval failure

Question 5

Briefly describe how the Multi Store Model can help people with Alzheimer’s.

Answer 5

• Labeling things when in an unfamiliar environment (e.g. cupboards and what they contain)
• Saves them the worry of having to rehearse the objects

Question 6

Evaluate a strength of the MSM as a way of understanding Alzheimer’s.

Answer 6

P - Research from Clive Wearing’s case study supports
E - He suffers from retrograde amnesia and can’t form new long term memories
E - This supports the existence of separate stores and how it might affect someone with Alzheimer’s

Question 7

Evaluate a weakness of the MSM as a way of understanding Alzheimer’s.

Answer 7

P - MSM is too simplistic
E - It reduces memory down to 3 components with little detail on the complex functions and processes of each and doesn’t account for when rehearsal is not needed to form a new LTM
E - Therefore the explanation of memory as a whole is not sufficient enough and so reduces credibility at helping us understand Alzheimer’s

Question 8

Briefly describe how the Working Memory Model can explain Alzheimer’s.

Answer 8

Baddeley’s research suggests that…

• Alzheimer’s impairs the central executive
• When trying to perform dual tasks there were deficits
• When performing tasks that required separate stores there was normal functioning

Question 9

Briefly describe how the Working Memory Model can help people with Alzheimer’s.

Answer 9

• Do things one at a time
• Don’t overload their senses
• Limit distractions when talking to them (e.g. turning off the TV)

Question 10

Evaluate a strength of the WMM as a way of understanding Alzheimer’s.

Answer 10

P - Baddeley conducted dual task experiments on Alzheimer’s patients (verbal/visual - together and apart)
E - The performance of Alzheimer’s didn’t differ from other groups when separate but did when combined
E - The central executive is responsible for the coordination of slave systems so impairment highlights problems

Question 11

Evaluate a weakness of the WMM as a way of understanding Alzheimer’s.

Answer 11

P - Low task validity
E - Experiments involve artificial tasks such as recalling a sequence of digits in the right order
E - Therefore this lacks mundane realism of how memory may be impaired from Alzheimer’s patients and so reduces credibility of explaining memory in everyday life

Question 12

Briefly describe how Tulving’s theory can explain Alzheimer’s.

Answer 12

• Alzheimer’s affects episodic memories more than semantic as they are more durable and so are less likely to change
• More recent episodic memories are also more susceptible to cue retrieval failure than ones from years ago as they have been reinforced many more times

Question 13

Briefly describe how Tulving’s theory can help people with Alzheimer’s.

Answer 13

• Use cues to help them remember (e.g. getting them to listen to music they like, or smells they may recognise)
• Telling them names of their grandchildren when showing a photo album

Question 14

Evaluate a strength of Tulving’s theory as a way of understanding Alzheimer’s.

Answer 14

P - Kenealy’s (1997) research supports
E - Found that ppts recalled more words when in the same mood as when they learned when in a different mood - supporting Tulving’s theory of cues
E - States that cues are important for memory and can help Alzheimer’s patients by keeping them in same environment with same cues

Question 15

Evaluate a weakness of Tulving’s theory as a way of understanding Alzheimer’s.

Answer 15

P - A test was carried out to test cognitive impairments
E - Patients are presented with items (e.g. glove, cup, key) They are asked about each other the items and they are then hidden. A few minutes later patients are asked to recall them and are given cues however it doesn’t lead to recall if the memory isn’t encoded in the first place
E - This suggests Tulving’s theory may help an Alzheimer’s patient to recall a LTM but not ones that haven’t been encoded, so may not be as useful as hoped

Question 16

Briefly describe how Reconstructive memory can explain Alzheimer’s.

Answer 16

If memories are reconstructed from past events using their current schemas (which have been altered by their dementia) then someone with Alzheimer’s may not make sense.

Question 17

Evaluate a strength of Reconstructive memory as a way of understanding Alzheimer’s.

Answer 17

P - Reconstructive memory can be scientifically tested
E - Operationalising memory in the form of a story having features that can be counted each time they are recalled will measure accuracy
E - Therefore reductionism of testing memory is scientific as it allows for things to be measurable leading to easy replication

Question 18

Evaluate a weakness of Reconstructive memory as a way of understanding Alzheimer’s.

Answer 18

P - Low validity
E - The theory doesn’t explain why memory is reconstructive due to only describing that this occurs when we revisit a memory that becomes influenced by our schemas
E - And so cannot explain how reconstruction may be affected by the development of Alzheimer’s

Question 19

Are there any other theories that could be more useful to understanding Alzheimer’s?

Answer 19

P - There are drugs that can temporarily alleviate symptoms or slow progression
E - There is a loss of nerve cells that use acetylcholine. Falling levels of this neurotransmitter are linked to worsening symptoms
E - Drugs have been created to slow the breakdown of acetylcholine in the brain - contradicts cognitive as it suggests it’s more biological