SAQ writeup Flashcards
Explain one study related to Schema Theory
This response will explain one study related to the Schema Theory. As cognitive psychologists believe that humans are information processors, they conducted various research and proposed the theories to investigate how human process the information based on mental representations. For example, the psychologists Bartlett proposed Schema Theory which suggests that our cognitive processes would influence the behaviours. Schemas are mental representations based on pre-existing knowledge and they form patterns in the long-term memory which help us to encode the information. According to Schema Theory, information is processed through either top-down or bottom-up processing. Top-down processing suggests that we first process the information through the sensory inputs and then they are processed through schemas where we encode the information based on the pre-existing knowledge.
In order to investigate Schema Theory, Bartlett conducted a study involves the British participants. This study is a quasi-experiment, which means that the variables are not rigorously controlled. He asked the participants to recall a native American legend story called "War of ghost". The study is filled with unfamiliar terms which is ideal to study the role of cultural schema in memory formation. The participanst were seperated into two different conditions, either repeated reproduction or serial reproduction. The repeated reproduction involves rehearsing the story during a certain period of time, whilst in the serial reproduction, the participants have to recall the story to anotehr person. Bartlett have found out that in both conditions, their memory was distorted.There are three patterns of memory distortion: leveling, sharpening and assimilation. Leveling suggest that the stry was shorter. The pattern of sharpening means that the participants change the order of the story in order to fit their cultural schemas and make sense. Assimilation suggests that the British participants all change the unfamiliar words into the familir words in order to fit their cultural expectation. E.g. some details were unconsciously changed to fit teh british social norms. This proves the Schema processing of information as the participants select the information based on their pre-existing knowledge in order to find the meaning. This study also demonstrates the reconstructive nature of memory as remembering is an active cognitive process based on schemas. In conclusion, the study Bartlett shows that schemas could influence our cognitive processes. Schems also play an important role in memory encoding and retrieval. Therefore, this study provides an holistic understanding of how mental representations could guide human behaviour.
Explain the effect of cortisol on memory formation
This response will explain(by giving detailed account with reasoning) the effect of cortisol on memory formation.Cortisol is one of the hormones released by the adrenal gland in the endocrine system.Hormones are then released into the blood stream, where they can influence behavior. Cortisol is a stress hormone and it’s function is to increase the glucose level in order to supply sufficient energy for the body to prepare for ‘fight or flight’ response.Research suggests that cortisol has both positive and negative effects on memory formation of the brain.There are different types of memories such as short-term memory and long-term memory.High levels of cortisol might influence on verbal declarative memory.
A research study on the role of cortisol in memory formation was carried out in 1999 called Newcomer et al.The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of high levels of the stress hormone cortisol on verbal declarative memory. The participants include the employees or students at the Washington University Medical Center(pregnant women and unhealthy participants are excluded).The participants were separated into three different conditions respectively.The research experiment lasted four days with participants taking a tablet containing different amount of cortisol each day.One group was given high level of cortisol a tablet containing 160 mg with high level of cortisol ,another group was given a tablet containing 40 mg with low level of cortisol .There was also a control group which the participants were given placebo tablets.Then Participants were assigned on a matched-pair design for gender and age. The experiment was done under a double-blind control.After four days,all participants were asked to listen to and recall parts of a prose paragraph. This tested their verbal declarative memory.
The results showed that in the placebo group, paragraph recall performance improved over the course of the four days, most likely due to a practice effect. In contrast, the cortisol treated participants did not show an overall improvement. However,the performance of participants in the high cortisol condition returned to normal after they stopped taking the hormone tablet. The results indicated that high cortisol levels impaired performance in the memory task since the participants who received the highest level of cortisol also showed the worst performance in verbal declarative memory. The researchers have also discovered that cortisol interfere with the transfer of short-term memory to long-term memory that takes place in the hippocampus because there are several cortisol receptor sites on the hippocampus.This research use the cause-and-effect method to suggest a clear link between levels of cortisol and memory by comparing the results with a placebo group.
In conclusion,the study Newcolmer et al shows that higher level of cortisol would impair human verbal declarative memory. Therefore, the results are evident to suggest that humn behaviour would be influenced by hormone.
Explain one study related to neuroplasticity in the brain
This response will explain(by giving a detailed account with reasoning)neuroplasticity in the brain with respect to one study.Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change over time due to environmental inputs or genetic causes.It could be influenced by various factors such as brain injury.It usually occurs at early stage of life when immature brain develops.However,research suggests that neuroplasticity could also take place through adulthood when something new it learnt or memorised.In order to support this hypothesis, the reasearch study that will be used to explain neuroplasticity in the brain is called “Maguire et al”(London Taxi Driver) in 2000.The structure being examined is the grey matter in the posterior and anterior hippocampus. The function of the hippocampus in the brain is the consolidation of memory.
The participants were 16 right-handed male licensed taxi drivers and 50 healthy right-handed male subjects who did not drive a taxi.Then the brain scans of control subjects were obtained by MRI .Comparison of MRI scans of the brains of London cabbies and non-cabbies were made.The result suggests that there is an increased brain matter volume in the posterior hippocampus of taxi drivers compared to the control group.However,the control group has greater volumes of grey matter in the anterior hippocampus.Although the increasing volume of the hippocampus is the same,the redistribution of grey matter from the anterior to posterior hippocampus are different.Therefore,the "shift" of brain matter is related to taxi drivers' experiences as a result of neuroplasticity.
In conclusion,as a result of the study,the hippocampus is directly linked to spatial memory and the grey matter increases through the process of gaining navigation experiences.The posterior hippocampus is responsible for learnt spatial information and the anterior hippocampus is responsible for learning new spatial information.Therefore,this study gives us new understanding of the neuroplasticity of the brain.
