Evaluate cognitive psychology in terms of its use in society (8)
A strength of using knowledge linked to cognitive psychology, such as the
working memory model, in society is the supporting research evidence. Proposed by
Baddeley and Hitch (1974), WMM described the 4 components of short term
memory (STM), which are the episodic buffer, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, the
phonological loop and the central executive. Case studies of KF have found that he
had difficulty recalling more auditory information than verbal, meaning that his
damage was restricted to the phonological loop as this processes auditory
information. Psychological knowledge linked to WMM may be used in society such
as treating patients with working memory problems, such as those suffering from
dyslexia or Alzheimer’s disease, so as to improve their quality of life. This can be
done through organising information in terms of verbal and auditory types to avoid
overloading of the memory systems and give time to the central executive to allocate
1 type of information to the slave systems. A strength linked to this idea is the
supporting research evidence which has objective and reliable brain scans, picturing
images of brain regions which are active during tasks focusing on a certain type of
information. This means that the findings from such research are credible and can
be confidently applied to the real world. However, as case studies offer an insight
into brain function and memory, they are individual to certain people with rather
unique traits, hence the findings may not apply to everyone. For example, damage to
the brain may affect the same area, but in different individuals, different memory
stores may be altered. This is because the interaction between the different memory
stores may be slightly different as individuals may have different degrees of brain
functioning.
A weakness of using knowledge linked to cognitive psychology, such as the
reconstructive memory in society, is the unscientific research evidence. Proposed by
Barlett, RM describes how schemas dictate what we remember. The serial
reproduction of ghosts showed that current cultural norms affected how the
participants recalled some details of the story. For example, hunting seals became
fishing and the ghosts were missed, instead only a battle between American tribes
was described. Psychological knowledge linked to RM may be used in society such
as improving the effectiveness of eyewitness testimony (EWT) in ensuring that their
recall based on their schemas is reduced. This can be done by limiting the use of
leading questions in police interviews so that participants don’t rely on those for their
recall, which may increase their accuracy in recall. A weakness linked to this idea is
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