Topic 2 Cognitive - Classical & Contemporary studies Flashcards
What’s Development psychology in memory & what’s a contemporary study? ADVANCE INFO
- Investigates what happens to us as we age
Sebastian & Hernandez Gil (2012)
What’s the aim for Sebastian & Hernandez Gil (2012)? ADVANCE INFO
investigated the development of the phonological loop component of working memory using a digit span as a measure of loop capacity
What’s the procedure for Sebastian & Hernandez Gil (2012)? ADVANCE INFO
- exp in field setting (school)
Sample -> 570 students -> 5-17 yrs old
Checked pps for cognitive impairments -> asked doctors
Pps divided into 5 different age groups & average digit span was recorded for each age group
Pps tested individually -> read increasing sequences of digits to recall in the correct order -> read aloud to each pp
Digit span for pps was recorded as the maximum digits recalled in the correct order without error
What are the findings & conclusion for Sebastian & Hernandez Gil (2012)? ADVANCE INFO
- Increase of digit span with age
- 5 yr old = 3.76 mean
- 11 yrs = 5.28
- 17 yrs = 5.91
- Compared results with an Anglo-saxon study -> elderly pps digit span was higher than 5-6 yr old children, but no different from older children
- Compared results with ppl with dementia - suggest phonological loop is more affected by age rather than dementia
Conclusion: current & previous studies show digit span increase with age, spanish children increases to 17 yrs but english children up to 15 yrs
What are the strengths for Sebastian & Hernandez Gil (2012)? ADVANCE INFO
Standardised procedure:
- digits read aloud at a constant rate of 1 per second for every pp
- no different procedures for each pp means similar & reliable results
- control confounding variables -> high internal validity -> replicated showing similar results
Field exp: natural env
- natural behaviour occurs rather in a artificial env
- ecological validity & reduced demand characteristics
Application:
- applied to understanding cognitive abilities/skills
- gignac & weiss (2015): longer digit span -> better readers & higher general intelligence
- applied due to tracking digit span across ages
- High lvl of population validity - big sample of 570 children - representative
EXTRA: comparison studies (anglo saxon & dementia) -> all say age is a contributing factor -> all same results -> study can be replicated -> reliable
What are the weaknesses for Sebastian & Hernandez Gil (2012)? ADVANCE INFO
[counterpoint to procedure]
- Procedure lack control in some areas
- researchers said pps did not show cognitive impairments -> didn’t directly test -> relied on parents to know if they had any impairments
- impairments affect results -> lack validity
Artificial tasks: recalling digits not an everyday life
- Findings may not reflect memory in real life due to lack of mundane realism
- low validity
Application: Not generalisable to all cultures
- all pps born in Spain (Spanish words have more syllables compared to other languages, e.g. English -> spanish has more syllables, harder to remember)
EXTRA: Comparison studies - Dementia - small sample of 9 ppl - small sample impact the findings - findings of the dementia groups may have only occurred (showing age being a factor) due to the small sample, there may have not been real effects
What is a Classical study?
Baddeley (1966b)
What is the aim for Baddeley (1996b)?
Investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall in short-term and long-term memory.
What is the procedure for Baddeley (1966b)?
- Lab exp -> independent design -> test sequential recall of acoustically & semantically similar word lists.
- 72 PPs - mixture of men & women -> divided into groups
- List A = acoustically similar
- List B = acoustically dissimilar
- List C = semantically similar
- List D = semantically dissimilar
- Then did 6 distractor tasks, listen & recall 8 digit sequences
- Then recall he order that word list shown in
- Repeated 3 times
- After 4th trial, 15 min inference task -> copy 8 digit sequence
- Then given a surprise recall again
What are the results & conclusion for Baddeley (1966b)?
- found it difficult to remember acoustically similar words than acoustically dissimilar but at the end recall was exactly the same
- recall much worse for semantically similar than semantically dissimilar
conclusion:
- STM encodes acoustically whereas LTM encodes semantically -> supports MSM
What are the strengths for the classic study Baddeley (1966b)?
- Used exp conditions & control conditions -> lab exp -> show cause & effect as extraneous variables are well controlled
- Took results from his prev studies & other studies (idea that STM uses acoustic coding to test if LTM similarly used acoustic coding) -> adds to a body of knowledge, exploring issues more.
- When findings from one study link to other studies -> add strength to results -> high reliability
What are the weaknesses for the classic study Baddeley (1966b)?
Used list of words that sound alike & lists of adjectives with similar meaning, & these are not things we remember in everyday life > lack ecological validity
lab exp - highly controlled -> lack ecological validity
Low Generalisability:
- Only LTM for mean was tested - other types such as memory for past events (episodic) or how to ride a bike weren’t tested & may use diff encoding
- results can only be generalisable to learning & recall of semantic LTM & not all types of LTM
