Summary notes for Alevel Edexcel cognitive psychology. Notes consist of A01, A02, A03 and Ao3CA points. Description of point, evidence for point, evaluation and evaluation of the counterargument. Summary points include required studies and led to me achieving an A in Alevel Psychology.
Content in...
Cognitive psychology- Theories and applied studies
MULTISTORE MODEL- Atkinson and Shiffrin
A01
o Sensory memory – brief, modality specific, limited duration, lost by lack of attention
o STM- capacity 7±2 , duration 15-30 seconds without rehearsal, increase by chunking,
encodes acoustically, lost by displacement of info, trace decay, interference, or lack of
rehearsal
o LTM- infinite capacity and duration, encodes semantically, lost by trace decay or
interference
o Linear, unitary stores
A03
- Sperling1960- grid of letters, asked to recall, couldn’t recall all but aware there were more
letters proving sensory memory
- Millers digit span test- could recall 7±2 in STM
- Brown Peterson- counted backwards in 3s to prevent rehearsal proves STM duration 15-30
seconds and loss of information via displacement
- Bahrick- could recall names from school from yearbooks 48 years later, proves LTM infinite
capacity
- Mirror drawing tasks- HM lost STM yet improved at mirror drawing task suggesting different
types of LTM stores (procedural memory) MSM is overly simplified
- Case studies- KF motorbike accident- 2 numbers in digit span test, proves separate stores as
STM impaired yet LTM fine
- Brain scanning- sperate parts of the brain active during different memory tests
A03CA
- Brandimonte et al- visualising improves STM recall suggests STM doesn’t just encode
acoustically also visually, MSM overly simplified
- Dual task activities- suggests multiple parts to STM and that memory doesn’t flow in a linear
way
- Flashbulb memories- powerful memories don’t require rehearsal to get into LTM
- Cant fully test if LTM has in infinite capacity, might have a limit
- Case studies- lack of reliability so hard to replicate and cannot compare to how they were
before the accident, brain can adapt due to plasticity
WORKING MEMORY MODEL- Baddeley and hitch
A01
o Central executive- decides which store to assign info to, processes small amounts of
information
o Episodic buffer- temporary memory store, holds 1 piece of information from STM/LTM
o Phonological loop- limited capacity, holds verbal information, ‘inner voice’- subvocalizes
information
o Visuo-spatial scratchpad- limited capacity, holds visual/ spatial info, inner scribe-
arrangement of items, visual cache- info of visual items like colour
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller ameliapearce. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $7.56. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.