Introduction to memory

Question 1

What is COGNITIVE psychology all about?

Answer 1

Cognitive psychology (or the Cognitive Approach) is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn

Question 2

The key features of the Cognitive Approach are:

Answer 2

Internal mental processes can and should be studied scientifically.
Mental processes must be studied indirectly and inferences are made about what mental processes have occurred, based on the behaviour that has resulted.

Cognitive psychologists recognise the role of schema in memory.
Theoretical and computer models aim to explain and make inferences about mental processes; it supports a scientific approach to enquiry and testing.

Question 3

what is memory

Answer 3

The coding, storage and retrieval of information about events that have happened in the past.

This includes memories that last for a few seconds (STM) as well as memories that last for a few hours/days or lifetime (LTM).

Question 4

what is coding

Answer 4

Coding – the form in which information is represented/ stored in memory. It may be stored visually (a picture), acoustically (sounds) or semantically (in terms of its meaning).

Question 5

what is capacity

Answer 5

Capacity – this is a measure of how much information can be held in our memory, often measured in ‘bits’.

Question 6

what is duration

Answer 6

Duration – This is the length of time in which a memory can be retained.