PLANNED questions

• Evaluate the multi store model as an explanation of memory:

  AO1:

  • info briefly stored in sensory memory- around 2 secs
  • if attended to will enter STM- has capacity of 7 items and duration of 30 secs
  • if rehearsed then will be encoded to LTM- unlimited capacity and information not will be forgotten
  • information can be retrieved from LTM back to STM
• Evaluate the multi store model as an explanation of memory:

  AO3:

  • +Milner 1956 found that STM has a capacity of 7 items of information, struggling to hold more than 9 but can if information is put into 'chucks'
  • -Case study of KF who had a poor STM when items were read aloud to him but better when he read them himself thus suggesting STM is more complex than model suggests
• Evaluate the working memory model as an explanation of memory:

  AO1:

  • The central executive has a supervisory role by allocating memories to slave systems
  • The phonological loop deals with auditory information being split into phonological store and the articulatory process
  • The VSS contemporarily store visual/spatial information being subdivided into- visual cache and inner scribe
  • episodic buffer integrates acoustic, visual and spatial information
• Evaluate the working memory model as an explanation of memory:

  AO3:

  • + Baddeley 1996 findings state that participants found it hard to generate lists of random numbers whilst simultaneously pressing number suggesting that two tasks were competing for CE resources
  • -the introduction of the episodic buffer in 2000 suggests that the model was inaccurate in its original form and addressed the shortcomings of the model, reduces credibility of model as we dont know if other components are involved and yet to be discovered
• Describe semantic and episodic memory

  • explanation states that LTM is made up of semantic, episodic (declarative) and procedural memory
  • episodic memory is personal events that happened to you 'autobiographical'
  • semantic memory is based on facts and knowledge about the world such as dates
  • procedural is knowing how something is done such as riding a bike and differs as is non declarative
• Evaluation of semantic and episodic memory- AO3

  • + Case study of KC who has brain damage which left him unable to form or recall memories of personal events- episodic in his life but he was able to recall semantic information
  • -the extent to which episodic and semantic memory systems are different is unclear as there is lots of overlap as semantic memory often clearly originating from episodic memory, a change in memory systems cannot be certain
• Evaluate reconstructive memory explanation

  AO1:

  • reconstruction is an process in which are memories are constructed to fill in gaps using our schemas, stereotyping and what we 'expect' from a given situation
  • this has the effect of distorting our original memory
  • Bartlett suggested that our previous knowledge of the world widely effects the way our memories are stored and recalled
• Evaluate reconstructive memory explanation.

  AO3:

  • Can be applied to EWT to do with crimes and accidents who often have to reproduce their testimony many times to journalists- memories may reconstruct themselves as we learn new information
  • BUT
  • Evidence to support war of ghosts conducted by Bartlett is not scientific- so it can be argued not testable or credible
• Evaluate the use of lab experiments in cognitive psychology

  AO1:

  • lab experiments are highly controlling of both variables and the environment- establishing cause and effect
  • they use a standardised procedure allowing others to replicate
  • participants are likely to be deceived for the integrity of the study especially involving memory as some may socially desirably act in a demanded way
• Evaluate the use of lab experiments in cognitive psychology

  AO3:

  • They can have high amounts of high internal validity as seen in Baddeley 1966 which measured the effect of the semantic and acoustic similar words on memory
  • with controlling variables Baddeley found a cause and effect of LTM encoding Semenatically
  • HOWEVER
  • lab experiments do lack external validity
  • Studies such as Baadeley lack ecological validity and thus mundane realism as the experiment was artificial not being carried out in a naturalistic environment which may effect participations response
• Evaluate the use of case studies in cognitive psychology

  AO1:

  • case studies are secondary sources of in depth qualitative data that psychologists use to gain insight into usually one particular individual who may suffer with abnormalities such as in the brain
  • In cognitive psychology this can allow us to distinguish between how learning differs from people who lack specific functions associated with memory and the effect of such behaviours
  • may use several methods within the case study such as brain scans to identify the brain deficits and observations and interviews
  • may be conducted over a long period of time- useful in developmental psychology such as dementia
• Evaluate the use of case studies in cognitive psychology

  AO3:

  • case studies provide rich meaningful data that provides insights into psychology such as study of HM who has damage to his brain with the removal of his hippocampus, which highlighted its importance
  • BUT
  • case studies are unreliable as they cannot be replicated due to the fact the individuals are a minority and there may never be a patient such as HM . Therefore it is hard to test a case study as each participant will vary
• Discuss the key question from cognitive

  AO1:

  • question was how can psychologists understanding of memory help patients with dementia ?
  • dementia is a chronic disorder that of the mental processes caused by a brain disease or injury
  • it effects 850,000 people in the UK and set to rise this year by 1 million
  • symptoms include- loss of memory, cognitive deficits and depression
  • currently there is no cure for dementia but if we could delay the onset of dementia by five years we have little of the number of deaths from dementia
• Discuss the key question from cognitive

  AO2:

  • can link to Tulvings theory of memory as more recent episodic memories are lost first but may keep memories from childhood. Semantic memory gets lost separately and procedural memory may be unaffected-
  • link to cognitive stimulation, which is a therapy used to stimulate the mind and involves patients getting together in groups to discuss and play games, can SLOW DOWN progress of the diesase
  • cognitive stimulation can also link to reconstructive memory as if memories are reconstructed using schemas, anything that resinates schemas will help with memory
• Evaluate the classic study for cognitive- Baddeley 1966

  AO1:

  • aimed to test if long term memory encodes acoustically or semantically on learning and recall
  • procedure involved; participants being split into 4 groups where each group were presented a world list every 3 seconds. Acoustcially similar condition- man and can and control group given words with no similar sound. Semantically similar condition- large and great and control group given unconnected words
  • It was found that acoustically similar words were confusing at first but did not effect LTM recall BUT they struggled in semantically similar condition
  • concludes that the learning of word sequences is impaired by semantic similarity so you need to understand information for it to enter your LTM
• Evaluate the classic study for cognitive- Baddeley 1966

  AO3:

  • participants were a small sample of Cambridge university students which raises cultural issues for the representativeness of his findings. Ethnocentric which cannot be generalised to other cultures
  • HOWEVER,
  • The study does have high levels of validity as it is a lab experiment, as seen when he asked participants to recall words in order reducing any risk of some being unfamiliar. This means the study has clear notions of a clear cause and effect
• Evaluate the contemporary study for cognitive- Steyvers and Hemmer 2012

  AO1:

  • Aimed to investigate episodic and semantic memory in a naturalistic way
  • Had two conditions- independent groups. Condition one assessed prior knowledge were participants were asked to list all the objects they expect to find in the five scenes- kitchen, office, dining room, hotel and urban scene. They then selected five images and participants were asked to name all the objects in the image
  • Second condition involved participants either seeing an image from a scene for 2 or 10 seconds, they then carried out a distractor task before listing all objects they say in any order
  • Found that, in condition one objects that were central and important named more frequently such as car 20/22 in urban scene
  • Found in condition two error rates were low for expected objects and low probability objects
• Evaluate the contemporary study for cognitive- Steyvers and Hemmer 2012

  AO3:

  • Although the study was a lab experiment it still has a high degree of of realism as work incorporated prior knowledge which is used in real life memeory. Therefore it is argued that they were studying real life memory which increases its usefulness for applying to events such as EWT
  • BUT
  • It does use university students in a western society which may not be generalisable to the way prior expectation affects schemas cross culturally, therefore there are issues regarding the representativeness