Yellow Pack 1

Question 1

What is cognitive psychology?

Answer 1

Cognitive psychology deals with internal mental processes, such as language, memory and problem-solving.

Question 2

Describe the brain as a computer metaphor

Answer 2

• The brain is a storage system receiving information from the environment. It then processes the information and gives an output.
• Computer hardware is the structure of the brain
• Software is the experiences we have that we write into the program/system.

Question 3

What is the most commonly used research method in cognitive psychology?

Answer 3

Laboratory experiments

Question 4

Name a type of therapy that uses cognitive ideas.

Answer 4

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Question 5

Describe four assumptions of the cognitive approach

Answer 5

1. Thoughts influence behaviour. Thoughts act as mediational processes between stimulus and behavioural response.
2. Humans are information processors.
3. The mind operates in a similar way to a computer.
4. Internal mental processes can and should be investigated scientifically.

Question 6

Define memory

Answer 6

Memory refers to the capacity to retain and retrieve information.

Question 7

Give a brief backround into the case study of Henry Molasion

Answer 7

• Born in 1926.
• When 7, he was knocked down by a bicycle.
• He began to have minor epileptic seizures at age 10.
• When 16, these became major seizures.

Question 8

What is epilepsy?

Answer 8

A neurological condition that affects the brain and causes repeated seizures in 1/100 people.

Question 9

What was the aim of the case study on HM?

Answer 9

To find out the effects of H.M’s brain surgery on his functioning, in particular, on his memory.

Question 10

Describe the procedure of the case study on HM

Answer 10

He was studied using various methods including:

1. Observation
2. Interviews
3. Experimental tasks
4. Standardised IQ tests
5. Standardised memory tests
6. MRI scans were taken of his brain during his lifetime as well as after his death.

These studies took place over many years, from about 1957 until his death in 2008 at the age of 82.

Question 11

What were the results found from the case study on Henry Molasion?

Answer 11

H.M.’s memories up to the age of 16 (11 years before his surgery) were intact. But he could not remember new information, for example where he lived.
Essentially, he lost recent memories and was unable to form new ones. He was unable to encode temporary short-term memory into stable long-term memory.
However, his digit span and sensory memory were intact.
He was able to learn new motor skills

Question 12

🥴What were the conclusions from HM’s study?

Answer 12

1. Memory functions separately from other brain functions such as perception and cognition.
2. The medial temporal lobe is important for memory.
3. Memory is not a single faculty of the mind; there are multiple memory systems in the brain.
4. There is a distinction between short term memory and long-term memory.
5. There is a distinction between declarative and non-declarative memory.

Question 13

Give two conlcusions from H.M’s study in P.E format

Answer 13

P: There is a DISTINCTION between SHORT TERM memory and LONG-TERM memory.
E: We know this because HM could hold information in short term memory (eg his digit span was normal, while rehearsing the digits) but could not transfer that information to his long-term memory.

P: There is a distinction between DECLARATIVE and NON-DECLARATIVE memory.
E: We know this because H.M. could acquire new motor skills, e.g trace a mirror image of a star shape, but not new facts (he couldn’t remember learning the task)

Question 14

Evaluate the reliability of the case study of H.M

Answer 14

• Low reliability
• This case study cannot be replicated as HM was studied over a long period of time (51 years).
• Much of the data gathered was qualitative, from observations and interviews.

Question 15

Evaluate the validity of the case study of H.M

Answer 15

• High validity as HM was studied through a variety of methods, over a long period of time therefore giving a rich detailed understanding of his memory issues, but….
• Low validity as, because it is a case study, there is no control over extraneous variables

Question 16

Evaluate the ethics of the case study of H.M

Answer 16

• As HM had no memory he could not give informed consent for any of the tests performed on him
• He never gave permission for his brain being preserved, nor were any of his closest relatives approached.

Question 17

What are the appliactions of the case study of H.M?

Answer 17

• Allows us to understand how memory is localised in the brain
• Gives insight into the experiences of people suffering memory loss
• Helps Psychologists to develop strategies to help people with brain injury/ memory los

Question 18

Evaluate the generalisability of the case study of H.M

Answer 18

• Low generalisability
• Done on one participant (HM)
• Who may be different from other people (eg HM had epilepsy)
• Therefore findings about memory may not generalise to others.

Question 19

Evaluate the use of qualitative data in

cognitive psychology. Provide one strength and one weakness.

Answer 19

One strength of using qualitative data is that it allows for rich descriptions of a person’s experiences.
This is a strength in cognitive psychology because it allows us to get indepth information about people’s thought processes.

One weakness of using qualitative data is that it may be difficult to interpret.
This is a weakness in cognitive psychology because it might mean that the information about people’s thought processes is not accurately interpreted, and therefore lacks validity.

Question 20

Describe one strength and one weakness of using case studies of brain damaged patients to inform us on how memory works

Answer 20

✅One strength of using case studies is that they gather rich, detailed
data about memory.
This is a strength because it allows us to form a deep understanding of how memory works in individuals, which can explain what areas of the brain are important for memory.
❌ One weakness is that case studies are often based on one person or a small group of people.
This is a weakness because it means that memory damage may not have the same effects on everyone, so we can’t generalise the findings.

Question 21

Evaluate the use of Case Studies in Cognitive Psychology (8)

Answer 21

Intro: Case studies of brain damaged patients study individuals who have
suffered a head injury, either through accident, illness or operation. In
cognitive psychology they have been studied to show psychologists which
areas of the brain are linked to which cognitive function.

P: One strength of using case studies in psychology is that it provides an
opportunity to study a unique or rare phenomenon in depth.
E: This allows for a number of different research techniques to be used to gather data, providing rich and detailed data, which increases the validity of the findings.
E: For example, H.M. suffered brain damage after an operation, to remove part of his hippocampus, which resulted in H.M. losing the ability to create any new long term memories.
C: This showed the role that the hippocampus played in forming long term memories and was pivotal in demonstrating that memory had
different components. It allowed new hypotheses to be generated for future testing.

P: A weakness of using case studies of brain damaged patients is that it is only one individual that is being studied.
E: This is a weakness because the results cannot necessarily be generalised to other people.
E: For example, H.M. showed poor language production, making a large number of grammatical errors after his operation, suggesting the hippocampus had a role in this type of cognitive function.
C: However this may well have been due to other reasons like impoverished childhood and missing school before his operation, (due to his epilepsy), rather than as a result of the operation and the damage to the temporal lobe.

Conclusion: Using cases studies in cognitive psychology does have both advantages & disadvantages. However in the case of H.M. it has been very useful in showing psychologists which part of the brain may be linked to which cognitive functions. This has been a pivotal piece of research which has lead to new hypotheses been generated in memory research.

Question 22

What was the surgery Henry Molasion had?

Answer 22

The procedure was a bilateral mesial temporal lobe resection.
This removed around 5cm of the bilateral mesial temporal cortex and 2/3 of his hippocampus.
This successfully controlled his epilepsy as the number and severity of his seizures reduced, but it had serious effects on his memory.