cogSL

Question 1

SCHEMA THEORY/RELIABILITY OF A COGNITIVE PROCESS/RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY

Answer 1

Theory:
SCHEMA
- mental representations derived from prior experience and knowledge
- they help us predict what will happen based on what we have seen happen before
- organise knowledge, assist in recall, guide behaviour, and make sense of current experiences

RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY
- When witnesses try to retrieve a past event, they may unknowingly fill in the gaps with information based on other past experiences, stereotypes, or post-event information.
- we do not have a “photograph” of memories, but rather that we are activating schema that are relevant to an event to create it. We piece together a memory from bits of information that we have in our schema

Study:
Brewer and Treyens - the office study
- 86 participants
- left in an office ot “wait”
- asked to recall (verbal or written or both)
- mostly recalled items that were congruent with the schema, that is expected to be in an office, but didn’t remember the weird ones like the skull or screwdriver, they also changed the nature of the objects for example a rectangular desk instead of a trapezoid

Question 2

MEMORY MODEL

Answer 2

Theory:
Working memory model - Baddely adn Hitch
- developed on the multi-store memory model - develops the STM
- central executive: attention control - either automatic or supervisory
- phonological loop: auditory component divided into articulatory control system (inner voice) and phonological store (inner ear) - info without rehearsal up to 2s
- visuo-spatial sketchpad: visual component
episodic buffer: where info from LTM is kept until needed

Study:
Robbins et al - chess
- 20 male chess players with different levels
- task - recreate a chessboard arrangement
- group A: verbal distraction (repeat the word “the”)
- group B: visuo-spatial distraction (type a sequence into a simple 4x4 keyboard under the table)
- visuo-spatial sketchpad interference - worse performance than phonological interference
- shows the existence of two separate “slave systems” in the STM

Question 3

THINKING AND DECISION-MAKING/BIAS IN DECISION MAKING/INTUITIVE AND RATIONAL THINKING

Answer 3

Theory:
Anchoring bias
- relying too heavily on the first piece of information we receive, using the first piece of information to guide our subsequent decisions

Study:
Strack and Mussweiler - Ghandi age
- 69 german student randomly taken from lunchroom
- cond1 low implausible anchor: did gandhi die before the age of 9
- cond2 high implausible anchor: did gandhi die after the age of 140
- then asked when he died (actual answer 78)
- mean response was significantly lower for cond1 and higher for cond2

Question 4

INFLUENCE OF EMOTION ON A COGNITIVE PROCESS

Answer 4

Theory:
Flashbulb memory
- A flashbulb memory is a highly vivid and detailed ‘snapshot’ of a moment in which a consequential, surprising, and emotionally arousing piece of news was learned.
- strong emotions -> vivid memory of the curcumstances

Study:
Brown and Kulik
- questionnaire, 80 people
- 9 important events like JFK assassination
- asked to recall the circumstances in which they found out about the event
- 90% recalled for the assassination of the president - 13 years after the event
- lower for white subjects than black subjects for assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr or Malcolm X