P1 - Cognitive - Cognitive Processing

Question 1

what is cognition?

Answer 1

term referring to mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension

Question 2

what is memory?

Answer 2

faculty of the brain where data or information is encoded, stored and retrieved when needed. The retention of information over time

Question 3

what is thinking?

Answer 3

process of considering or reasoning about something

Question 4

what is memory?

Answer 4

faculty of the brain where data or information is encoded, stored and retrieved when needed. The retention of information over time

Question 5

what is decision making?

Answer 5

process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on the values, preferences and beliefs of the decision maker

Question 6

who was the MSM created by?

Answer 6

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Question 7

what was the MSM based upon?

Answer 7

inspired by computer science

• seperate stores
• memory processes in a sequence
• each memory store operates in a single, uniform way

Question 8

what are the stages of MSM

Answer 8

environmental input - sensory memory - attention - short term memory (maintenance rehearsal) - elaborative rehearsal - long term memory

Question 9

describe sensory memory

Answer 9

• doesn’t process information
• echoic or iconic
  capacity: limited by our perception
  duration: very short, echoic 2-5s, iconic 1s

Question 10

describe STM

Answer 10

capacity: Miller found 7+/-2 items
duration: 30s
maintenance rehearsal is needed
elaborative rehearsal is needed to transfer to LTM

Question 11

describe LTM

Answer 11

capacity: unlimited
duration: unlimited

Question 12

evaluate MSM

Answer 12

+ significant research to support theory of seperate memory stores
+ historical importance: gave psychologists a way to talk about memory

• oversimplified
• doesnt explain reconstructive memory
• evidence that LTM is not just one store
• Craik and Toluing - information has different levels of processing

Question 13

what is delcarative memory?

Answer 13

memory of facts and events

Question 14

what is episodic memory

Answer 14

memory of specific evenst

Question 15

what is semantic memory

Answer 15

general knowledge

Question 16

what is procedural memory?

Answer 16

skills and how to do things

Question 17

describe HM and Milner

Answer 17

HM had a bicycle accident in the 1930s which led to seizures
1953: Dr Scoville led experiential surgery and was left with anterograde amnesia

1957: Milner did psychometric testing, observations and interviews.

Question 18

what was the aim of Milner (1957)

Answer 18

to investigate extent and nature of HMs memory deficits and how they relate to his brain damage

Question 19

what was the procedure of Milner (1957)

Answer 19

Milner asked H.M. to copy a five-pointed star by drawing in-between the lines of two template stars. However, H.M. could only see the reflection of the star and his hand in a mirror. Milner asked H.M. to re-attempt the task many times, to see if he grew more skilled at the procedure even though he didn’t remember doing it before.`

Question 20

what was the findings of Milner (1957)

Answer 20

H.M.did show improvement in the star-tracing task, making fewer mistakes on each attempt. He started with 30 errors, dropping to 20 on his second attempt and 10 by his seventh. Moreover, he kept these skills from one day to the next, getting better and better at it: on Day 2 he started making only 25 mistakes, immediately dropping to fewer than 10; by Day 3, he was making fewer than 5 mistakes each time.

Question 21

what was the conclusion of Milner (1957)

Answer 21

Milner’s qualitative data shows a clear difference between short term and long term memory. They suggest that the hippocampus plays a vital role in transforming short term memories into long term memories, because this was something H.M. (whose hippocampus had been removed in the operation) couldn’t do.

link back: supports that there are two different memory stores

Question 22

what is the evidence against MSM

Answer 22

Warrington and Shallice

case study of KF, who suffered a motorbike accident and damaged his parietal occipital reigon
showed poor memory for numbers, but good for LTM tasks
MSM predicts this should not be possible as STM is needed to transfer to LTM

shows that memory is not a linear process, undermining the MSM

Question 23

critical thinking for Milner (1957)

Answer 23

+ case study
+ triangulation

• lacks generalisability
• ethics
• could still transfer procedural memories to LTM

Question 24

what is the aim of Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)?

Answer 24

To examine whether the position of words influences recall (primacy & recency effects) and to investigate the existence of short-term memory and long-term memory as two separate memory stores.

Question 25

what is the procedure of Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)

Answer 25

* 240 US Army enlisted males were presented lists of words, one at a time. They were asked to recall the words and could do so in any order (free recall) * Independent variable: Presence or absence of the 30 second distraction task * Dependent variable: Number of words correctly recalled from different positions in the list * Condition 1 – Half of the participants were asked to recall words immediately after memorising them (Immediate recall) * Condition 2 – The other half of the participants counted backwards for 30 seconds before recalling the words (recall after distraction)

Question 26

what were the findings of Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)?

Answer 26

* Participants who were asked to count out loud for 30 seconds remembered fewer of the last words on the list compared to participants that were asked to count out loud for 10 seconds. * Delaying the recall by 30 seconds destroys the recency effect causing recall of later words to be similar to ones in the middle, however it does not influence primacy effect * Participants had a higher probability of recall on items that were near the start of the list – this is called the PRIMACY EFFECT * Participants had a higher probability of recall on items that were near the end of the list – this is called the RECENCY EFFECT

Question 27

what was the conclusion of Glanzer and Cunitz (1966?)

Answer 27

* This provides evidence for the existence of short-term and long-term memory as two separate memory stores thus, providing support for the MSM

Question 28

explain the findings of Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)

Answer 28

* Recency effect is because STM has a duration pf up to 30 seconds, so the information is still in it. This is also why the distractor task eradicates the recency effect, because the information has been lost from the STM. * The primacy effect is because the information is attended to in more detail and elaboratively rehearsed in the mind, leading to its transfer to the LTM. * The information in the middle is lost because there is too much to be elaboratively rehearsed as STM can only hold 7 +/-2, and the capacity has been reached at this point.

Question 29

Critical Thinking for Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)

Answer 29

+ offers support for MSM + highly controlled + easily replicated - low ecological validity - sample was only men

Question 30

describe the working memory model

Answer 30

by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) central executive visuospatial sketchpad, episodic buffer, phonological loop (articulatory control, phonological store) long term memory

Question 31

what is the central executive in the WMM

Answer 31

'boss' capacity to divide attention monitors and coordinates operations of the other components

Question 32

what does the visuospatial sketchpad do in WMM

Answer 32

'inner eye' temporary store for visual and spatial information visual processing

Question 33

what does the episodic buffer do in the WMM

Answer 33

temporary store created in 2001

Question 34

what is the phonological loop store in WMM

Answer 34

auditory component articulatory control: inner voice phonological store: inner ear, holds auditory memory trace

Question 35

what is the aim for Quinn & McConnell (1996)

Answer 35

To find evidence for the working memory model.

Question 36

what is the procedure for Quinn & McConnell (1996)

Answer 36

The researchers asked participants to learn a list of words, by either imagery of rehearsal. The task was performed on its own or with a concurrent visual noise (changing patterns of dots) or a concurrent verbal noise (speech in a foreign language).

Question 37

what is the findings of Quinn & McConnell (1996)

Answer 37

The participants who learned the list by imagery were unaffected by the verbal noise but were by the visual noise. The opposite is true of the rehearsal group. This shows that there is separate store for different types of short term memory.

Question 38

what is the conclusion of Quinn & McConnell (1996)

Answer 38

This indicates that imagery processing uses the Visuo-Spatial Sketch Pad whereas verbal processing uses the Phonological Loop. If the two tasks used the same component, performance deteriorated. The study this lends support to different systems of working memory.

Question 39

evaluate the WMM

Answer 39

+ supported by experimental evidence + helps us understand how we can multitask + less reductionist - only explains STM - isnt clear what the central executive does - doesnt explain how processing abilities can change with practise or time

Question 40

contrast the MSM and WMM

Answer 40

memory: MSM is holistic as it has all the parts of memory, whilst WMM has more detail, but no sensory or LTM dual processing: MSM is unitary, WMM is complex differences: MSM has no individual differences, whilst WMM is more effective as KF contradicts MSM but agrees with WMM processing: MSM emphasises rehearsal, but WMM doesnt explain how info moves STM: MSM is unitary and passive, whilst in WMM its complex and active

Question 41

what are schemas?

Answer 41

mental representations of an individuals preexisting knowledge about the world and their experiences used to organise knowledge and assist recall created by British Psychologist Bartlett who was teaching at Cambridge University

Question 42

what do schemas do?

Answer 42

fill in the blanks of information based on preexisitng schemas

Question 43

what is assimilation?

Answer 43

using an existing schema to deal with a new object or event example: child understands that a dog is furry and has four legs, so all dogs are understood to be in that schema

Question 44

what is accomomodation?

Answer 44

changing an existing schema or developing a new schema when it cannot explain a new object or event example: if a child sees a cat, it might think its a dog due to the dog schema, but once they learn they meow and look different, they develop a cat schema.

Question 45

why are schemas helpful?

Answer 45

- simplify the world - help save cognitive energy - creates stereotypes to make it easier for us to think about groups of people

Question 46

what is the aim of Bartlett (1932)?

Answer 46

To investigate how memory of an unfamiliar story is affected by previous knowledge.

Question 47

what is the procedure of Bartlett (1932)?

Answer 47

20 students at the Uni of Cambridge were told a Native American legend called The War of the Ghosts repeated reproduction serial reproduction

Question 48

findings of Bartlett (1932)

Answer 48

familarisation of the material: 'canoes' became 'boats, 'paddling' became ' rowing' = consistent with British culture omission of unfamiliar information: reference of 'ghosts' was dropped, because they are not consistent with British culture

Question 49

what is the conclusion of Bartlett (1932)

Answer 49

memory is reconstructive and use familiar schemas to reorganise unfamiliar material cultural schemas influence remembering

Question 50

critical thinking of Bartlett (1932)

Answer 50

+ ecological validity as it was a real task + important in supporting schema theory - no standarsised intervals at which they learnt info in the repeated reproduction condition - students at Cambridge - few controls

Question 51

what is the aim of Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Answer 51

To investigate whether leading questions asked of eyewitnesses after an event can change memory of that event.

Question 52

what is the procedure of Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Answer 52

45 American uni students were split into 5 groups and shown 7 films of car accidents smashed, collided, hit, bumped, contacted and asked about the speed second experiment of 150 students asked about if they saw any broken glass

Question 53

what were the findings of Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Answer 53

smashed had a higher speed estimate of 40.5 + more likely to see broken glass contacted had a speed estimate of 31.8

Question 54

what was the conclusion of Loftus and Palmer?

Answer 54

schema invoked by the word 'smashed' is a more serious accident that from the word 'contacted' schema is associated with the verb, resulting in distortion of their reconstructive memories.

Question 55

critical thinking of Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Answer 55

+ standardised + critical question was hidden to avoid demand characteristics - students - lab study

Question 56

evaluate schema theory

Answer 56

+no apparent bias and can be applied across cultures + applications with memory + can help us predict behaviour - reductionist - applications with memory

Question 57

describe the dual systems theory

Answer 57

system one - impulsive and automatic - legacy of evolution: survival advantaged - fast and unconscious - everyday decisions - error prone - based on heuristics - limbic system system two - deliberate and calculating - reasoning and beliefs - slow, effortful - complex - reliable = frontal lobe

Question 58

what are heuristics?

Answer 58

mental shortcuts that involve focusing on one aspect of a complex problem and ignoring others

Question 59

what is the anchoring bias?

Answer 59

human tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered once anchor is set, other judgements are based on this

Question 60

what was the aim of alter et al (2007)

Answer 60

To investigate the effect of cognitive disfluency, on the use of rational thinking over intuitive thinking.

Question 61

what was the procedure of Alter et al (2007)

Answer 61

40 undergrad students from Princeton completed a cognitive reflection test questionaire condition 1- fluent condition, easy to read font condition 2- disfluent, difficult to read font DV: how many correct answersw

Question 62

what were the findings of Alter et al (2007)

Answer 62

mean of disfluent font: 2.45 mean of fluent font: 1.9

Question 63

what were the conclusions of Alter et al (2007)

Answer 63

disfluent font: used rational thinking and system 2 to overcome intuitive judgements and so answered more correctly

Question 64

critical thinking for Alter et al (2007)

Answer 64

+ scientific - lacks internal validity

Question 65

what was the aim of Tversky and Khaneman (1974)

Answer 65

To investigate anchoring bias with a mathematical problem

Question 66

what was the procedure of Tversky and Khaneman?

Answer 66

high school students were used condition 1: ascending condition 1x2x3x4x5x6x7x8 condition 2: descending condition 8x7x6x5x4x3x2xx1

Question 67

what are the findings of Tversky and Khaneman (1974)

Answer 67

median for ascending group: 512 median for descending group: 2250 actual value: 40320

Question 68

what was the conclusions of Tversky and Khaneman (1974)

Answer 68

We can rely on the first piece of information to make a decision. This research supports Anchoring biases as the participants relied on the first piece of information (in this case the first number of the equation) to make a decision about the answer

Question 69

critical thinking of Tversky and Kahnemans (1974)

Answer 69

+ simple experiment that easily replicated + highly controlled and high internal validity - low ecological validity - artificial environment

Question 70

critical thinking for dual systems theory?

Answer 70

+biological evidence that different types of thinking may be processed in different parts of the brain + theory has been applied to explain gambling addictions + neurophysical evidence evidence for two systems is increasing - over reductionist - how is this mapped in the brain, and more research is needed