Short Response

Question 1

What is working memory and how does it differ from STM

Answer 1

Working memory 
- temporary storage system where info is necessary to solve problems, respond to environment demands or achieve goals 
- may be manipulated 
    3 components
- visual memory store 
- verbal memory store 
- central executive 
- these subdivisions do not compete with each other for limited resources in STM 

STM

• single function - transfer info to LTM
• limited resources

Question 2

What is vicarious conditioning

Answer 2

• Observer watches a model perform a negative act
• model will either be rewarded or punished
• the outcome of the model determines whether the observer will perform the act if they had the opportunity
• model punished - observer less likely to copy act
• model rewarded - observer more likely to copy act

Question 3

Compare and contrast explicit and implicit memory process

Answer 3

Explicit memory
- Deliberate conscious retrieval of information from LTM
Implicit memory
- memory that is expressed in behaviour without conscious recollection

Question 4

What is learned helplessness and why is it important?

Answer 4

Behavioural results of being subjected to inescapable unpleasant events
After such experiences , subjects tend to be passive and slow to learn avoidance behaviour
Important because - good model of human depression

Question 5

What is a schema and what effect might it have on perception

Answer 5

A pattern or way of thinking about some aspect of life that renders it predictable
Schema’s effect our expectations and our expectations dictate what we want to experience and thus can affect what we perceive

Question 6

What is categorisation and what factors influence the process

Answer 6

• The act of deciding when a particular object is, or is not, a member of a particular category
• the more familiar an instance is, the easier it is to identify and categorise
• cultural factors may also influence accuracy and speed of categorisation.

Question 7

What are the two main cognitive styles in finding ones way around the world?

Answer 7

COGNITIVE MAP VIEW (Tolman)

• people develop spatial representations of the map in their head and this forms a cognitive map
• example > your house is a maze. ‘Cognitive map’ of the layout of your house

RESPONSE LEARNING VIEW (Watson)

• Sequence of response is learned
• to remember a sequence you remember the exact order
• Example > instructions

Question 8

How is an image perceived from the standpoint of cortical processing?

Answer 8

• When light reaches the primary visual cortex, cells called feature detectors respond to the specific pattern of the stimulus
• The response then sense contours and movement and follow one of two pathways
• The ‘what’ pathways - information is used to determine what the object is
• The ‘Where’ pathways - aids in the location of the object in space

Question 9

Strengths and weaknesses of the standard memory model

Answer 9

Strengths
- easily understood, simple, provides a basic foundation for memory
Weaknesses
- serial process model - implies that all information in LTM must get there from sensory memory through STM
-memory is a parallel processor
- further, what does into LTM from STM is often influences by LTM, implying that LTM is activated before STM and not after