All studies from cognitive psychology and theories including 2 strengths 2 weaknesses and a conclusion for each study or theory. Studies include simplified aim, sample, procedure, result and conclusion. Theories include at least 4 main points from it. Also a key question with 4x A01 4xA02 4xA03. An...
Cognitive Psychology
Memory- The process by which information is encoded, stored and retrieved
Encoding- Information from the outside world can be sensed in the form of chemical and physical
stimuli
Multi-Store Memory Model- Atkinson and Shiffrin
A01:
Sensory Register: 10 items,2 seconds, Sensory format (modality specific)
Short term memory: 5-9 items, 15-30 seconds, Auditory
Long Term memory: No limit, Forever, largely semantic but can also be auditory or visual
Primary effect- Things at the beginning will be remembered better as they would have transferred
from the STM to LTM
Recency effect- Things at the end are remembered better as they are the newest so are still in STM
Information attended to passes onto the STM and information not will be held for 2 seconds before
being permanently lost. If information exceeds capacity some of it will be lost.
Information rehearsed transfers to LTM and information not rehearsed is lost from STM
Retrieval of information from STM by the LTM
A03:
HM was a young man who had a brain surgery to cure his severe epilepsy. When the hippocampus
was damaged he was left unable to make new memories. However he still had a lot of memories
from before his surgery which suggests he still possessed his LTM but could no longer add to it. This
highlights the separate stores for STM and LTM, making Multi store memory more valid in explaining
memory.
Bartlett states that memory is one single store that we can later retrieve information from. This
suggests that Multi store memory may be unnecessarily complex and therefore less valid in
explaining memory.
Multi store memory is reductionist as it reduces memory to the result of storing information in
different memory stores i.e STM and LTM. This is a strength because Multi store memory can be
tested to establish the true cause of memory and predictions can be made about future memory
storage and retrieval.
Multi store memory ignores individual differences that affect memory such as people with a larger
capacity in the short term memory as some people can remember more than 9 items. This means
that memory being down to different memory stores is too simplistic as other factors are being
ignored lowering the validity as it may not be an accurate explanation of everyone’s memory storage
and retrieval.
Conclusion
As it can lead to practical applications in revision strategies as teachers can ensure students have
enough time to rehearse content from the short-term memory to the long-term memory to ensure
the best memory
As it is outdated as evidenced by Shiffrin adding the elaborative rehearsal to multi store memory
model and there are now more advanced explanations of memory
Reconstructive memory- Bartlett
, A01:
Schema- mental representation of information about a specific event or object and it provides a
template for our understanding of any new events or experiences. We use them to interpret
incoming information with our expectations until unfamiliar objects or events make sense. Fill in the
gaps in our recall, adding and changing details so that recalled information may be very different
than what is originally encoded.
Confabulation- when the schema fills in the gaps in our memory and even alter the way we
remember information in a way that fits in with pre-existing schemas we hold.
Rationalisation- where we make sense of the information, we have received based on our schema by
explaining a situation in a way that appears more logical
Assimilate- Changing our schemas to fit what we have learned
Accommodate- Changing our memories to keep our schemas intact and unchanged
A03:
Bartlett found that over time memories of the story ‘war of the ghosts’ were confabulated and
rationalised to align with more conventional expectations. This is a strength as it proves memory can
be distorted overtime making reconstructive memory more accurate.
Wynn and Logie found when a memory is highly personal, like going to university, it is not changed
over time. This is a weakness as it suggests memory can be accurate when it has personal relevance
and therefore makes the theory less valid in explaining memory.
Reconstructive memory is reductionist as it provides a simple cognitive explanation of how memory
is distorted such as rationalisation were we explain a situation in a way that appears more logical.
This is a strength as it can be reduced to variables to establish the true cause of distorted memory
which increases the scientific credibility of reconstructive memory.
Bartlett supports his theory of reconstructive memory with unreliable evidence from his ‘War of the
Ghost’ study which had very few controls in place when the story was read or recalled meaning the
data could be flawed. This means the results on reconstructive memory could have been influenced
by extraneous variables such as the difference in time after reading the story, making them less valid
in supporting reconstructive memory.
Conclusion
As it can explain why people have different accounts of the same events, so suggest eyewitness
testimony is not always the truth so can be practically apply to the judicial system.
As it may lead to victims of crime not being believed as the memories considered an invalid account
Episodic and Semantic Memory- Tulving
A01:
Episodic: Remembered experiences and events of an individual such as the dates and times that
relate to them, (smells, visual and spatial material) perceptually, unlimited, context and emotional
state can be used to aid recall of memory, cue-dependant, mental dairy, input continuous
Semantic: Remembered facts and the meanings we attach to symbols including words and language,
needs to be encoded stored and retrieved, unlimited, independent of cues, mental encyclopaedia,
input fragmentary
A03:
Godden and Baddeley found that when scuba divers learned and recalled a list of words on land or
underwater, they performed twice as well as when learning and recalling in the same context. This
shows that learning is context dependant which makes episodic and semantic memory more valid in
explains memory.
HM had brain damage which resulted in his inability to recall long-term episodic memory but was
still able to remember how to perform different tasks, such as playing the piano and could still learn
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