Cognitive Unit

Question 1

Describe one model of memory, with reference to one relevant study.

Answer 1

Atkinson-Shiffrin Model (3-Box)
- Study: Glanzer and Cunitz. When 30sec interference task was added, the recency effect disappeared from the usual serial positioning curve.
- Participants were Army-enlisted men.

Significance - showed the limits of short term memory. Primacy effect refers to the remembering of first items on list. Recency effect refers to remembering the most recent item (last) heard.

Reconstructive Memory Model - theory that our memory is subject to change / is malleable to schemas, suggestion, and expectations.

Frederic Bartlett “War of the Ghosts” - British participants recounting Native American folktales with typically-English phrasing.

Loftus and Palmer “Car Crash” study - Words used to describe crash (bumped, hit, collided, etc.) changed participant perception of the video.

Question 2

Describe one study related to one model of memory.

Answer 2

Flashbulb memory - (Brown et al. MLK study OR Sharot Downtown vs. Midtown 911 study). We tend to remember events that are emotionally charged or personal to us.

Levels of Processing - (Craik and Lockhart) Shallow processing vs. Deeper (semantic) processing.

Multi-store Model of Memory - Glanzer and Cunitz (provided evidence using PE vs RE. to the roles of short-term memory and encoding.)

Working Memory Model - Conrad and Hull study on phonological similarity. Short-term memory is not a single, unitary unit but rather a broad network that actively processes information. (ex. phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer)

Question 3

Evaluate / Give an evaluation of the Multi-store Model of Memory.

Answer 3

1. It does not take into consideration that some memories are more meaningful than others.
2. Fails to realize that STM has subcompartments.
3. Fails to see that memory is bidirectional. The impact of STM > LTM. Prior knowledge affects new encoding.
4. You don’t learn everything and hold it forever (LTM).

Question 4

Discuss schema theory in relation to cognitive processing.

Answer 4

Schema Theory has its roots in the British psychologist, Sir Frederic Bartlett. It proposes that we have mental frameworks, preconceived notions, and otherwise, that influence how we interpret information and the world.

• Brewer and Treyens “Office Schema” study. Participants were asked to memorize the layout of a room, that was furbished to look like an office.
  - Some random materials were included, like skulls, a frisbee, and a wine bottle.
  - Some materials that one would expect to be there, weren’t. EX. lamps, books, etc.
• Participants were more likely to have false memories about said items.
• Bransford and Johnson. Demonstrated the power of contextual knowledge / schemas on the comprehension of tape-recorded passage. Irrespective of the group (no context, no context twice, context before. context after, partial context) all participants relied on preconceived notions.