Cognition Theories + Studies

Question 1

What are 2 theories of memory and their studies?

Answer 1

Multi-store model (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968) and working model of memory (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974)

Question 2

Evaluation of multi-store model of memory

Answer 2

• STM is limited
• Doesn’t discriminate between consciousness and attention
• Doesn’t explain how STM becomes LTM

Question 3

What is the theory for sensory memory development?

Answer 3

Glass et al, 2008

Question 4

What is the theory for sensory memory enhancement?

Answer 4

Applebaum et al, 2013

Question 5

What is the study for sound categorisation issues?

Answer 5

Bradley and Bryant, 1983 - found high correlation between sound categorisation and spelling and reading ability over 3 years, also found that sound categorisation training is more effective when it also involves explicit connection to the alphabet.

Question 6

How are primary school reading issues studied?

Answer 6

Longitudinal and intervention studies

Question 7

What is the study for phonological loop issues?

Answer 7

Gathercole and Baddeley (1993) - language impaired young children have shorter phonological loop, not due to age or iq differences.

Question 8

What is the study for inference issues?

Answer 8

Oakhill, 1984

Question 9

What is the study for structure of text?

Answer 9

Oakhill, 2004

Question 10

What is the study for reading strategies?

Answer 10

DeMarie, Dreblow and Miller, 1988

Question 11

What are the things younger vs older couples value in relationships? + study

Answer 11

Younger couples = communication (could be taken for granted in older couples)
Older couples = loyalty, emotional security + sexual intimacy
(Reedy, Birren and Schaie, 1981)
Study was cross sectional rather than longitudinal so differences may have been generational cultural differences

Question 12

What is the study for spouses becoming even more central in each other’s lives in older age?

Answer 12

Lang, 2001

Question 13

What is the upswing hypothesis?

Answer 13

Satisfaction is highest before having children, dips during child-rearing/establishing career years, increases after children leave home but not to the same level as before (Miller et al, 1997)
Cultural differences now or in collectivist cultures?

Question 14

What are the predictors of marital success?

Answer 14

Homogamy (similarity of values and interests) and equality (social exchange theory)

Question 15

What is the model that states marriage quality improves as couples’ ability to deal with stressful situations improves?

Answer 15

Vulnerability-stress model (Karney and Bradbury, 1995)

Question 16

What are differences between middle-aged and older-aged couples?

Answer 16

• Children highest source of conflict for middle aged couples but only 4th highest for older
• Grandchildren highest pleasurable convo topic for older but 3rd for middle-age
• Older show more potential for pleasure in all areas and less potential for conflict

Question 17

Issues with studying older couples

Answer 17

• Already positive sample if they haven’t gotten divorced after conflict
• Only longitudinal studies will reveal if pleasure increases and conflict decreases at old age

Question 18

Who is more dissatisfied in older marriages?

Answer 18

Women experience more dissatisfaction

Question 19

Physical and mental benefits of marriage

Answer 19

• Social support buffers physiological responses to acute and chronic stressors
• Positive predictors of life satisfaction and functional independence possibly bc marital status is an important contributor to an individual’s ability to sustain the lifestyle they wish
• May be more important in older age as protective effect is needed when other social ties are lost and physical health deteriorates
• Better mental health, lower depressive symptoms for married men than unmarried men (but not for married women)
• Men benefit from marriage more than women

Question 20

Cognitive benefits of marriage

Answer 20

• can share decades of experience
• older spouses who collaborate on cognitive tasks achieve better outcomes than in individual settings or when collaborating with a same-age stranger
• Husbands’ performance on reasoning tasks predicts wives’ performance 7 years later, but not vice versa (Gruber-Baldini et al., 1995)
• Unidirectional predictive effects of husbands for wives may be because women are more responsive to husbands than vice versa
• Older men often have more power in the relationship, thus can exert a stronger influence on their wives functioning than the other way round
• impaired cognitive functioning among husbands may act as risk factor for cognitive decline among wives

Question 21

Negative effects of marriage

Answer 21

• Marital conflict produces changes in cardiovascular, neuroendocrine and immune function (in a lab)
• Dissatisfaction with partners is highly associated with depressive symptoms
• Emotional distance in older marriages is particularly problematic in terms of depression for older women
• Perceived loss of spousal support from husbands is associated with decreased life satisfaction and well-being among wives, and fewer self care behaviours

Question 22

Limitations to marriage research

Answer 22

• The extent to which benefits are due to marriage per se or being in a long-term committed relationship (without marriage) is not clear.
• More is known about heterosexual, predominantly married, couples.
• Little is known about the health and cognitive abilities of married older people compared to non-married (but still committed) older people
• Little is known about how the ‘type’ of marriage (e.g., satisfied versus dissatisfied, or different attachment styles) relates to cognitive abilities with older age

Question 23

What are sound categorisation reading problems?

Answer 23

Insensitivity to rhyme and insensitivity to alliteration

Question 24

How can reading be measured?

Answer 24

Neale reading test and schonell spelling test