COGNITIVE APPROACH
IMPORTANT BASIC INFORMATION:
Mental processed guide behaviour, thinking and decision making
Cognitive processes may be affected by cultural factors (as is seen with e.g. flashbulb)
Memory - the way we organize and retain information
- May be:
→ Declarative - memory of facts and events that are consciously described
and recalled;
- Episodic - memory linked to particular time and space
- Semantic - storage of general facts, not linked with time or
space; general knowledge
→ Procedural - unconscious memory of skills and how to do something
MEMORY MODELS
Multi-Store Model
Memory stores are separate;
Memory processes are sequential;
Requires:
- Attention - helps remember
- Coding - gives the memory a form (image/smell)
- Rehearsal - keeps information actively stored.
Only then this transition happens:
Sensory memory (obtained from senses, only stored for milliseconds) → STM → LTM
Studies:
- HM
Anterograde amnesia - could not formulate new memories. Researcher used method
triangulation to investigate his case - iq testing, direct observation, interview, etc. she
found out that HM could not acquire new episodic or semantic memory. It suggests
that brain structures for transfer of STM to LTM missing - suggests that the transfer is
sequential as is suggested by the MSM.
- Glanzer and Cunitz(recency effect)
Recency effect - individuals remember the last piece of information that entered the
brain the best
Participants were shown 15 common 1-syllable words for 1 second. After they were
done, they either immediately started recalling the words by writing them down, or
had to wait a 10/30 seconds before writing them down. Results showed that when
immediately recalled - recency effect was clearly visible. 10 seconds - less visible, 30
seconds - no trace. This means that when asked to recall immediately, the last few
words were still in STM, but were lost when asked to wait before recalling
Evaluation:
- Has biological basis
- Takes into account encoding, storage and retrieval
- Has research support
- Oversimplification
IMPORTANT BASIC INFORMATION:
Mental processed guide behaviour, thinking and decision making
Cognitive processes may be affected by cultural factors (as is seen with e.g. flashbulb)
Memory - the way we organize and retain information
- May be:
→ Declarative - memory of facts and events that are consciously described
and recalled;
- Episodic - memory linked to particular time and space
- Semantic - storage of general facts, not linked with time or
space; general knowledge
→ Procedural - unconscious memory of skills and how to do something
MEMORY MODELS
Multi-Store Model
Memory stores are separate;
Memory processes are sequential;
Requires:
- Attention - helps remember
- Coding - gives the memory a form (image/smell)
- Rehearsal - keeps information actively stored.
Only then this transition happens:
Sensory memory (obtained from senses, only stored for milliseconds) → STM → LTM
Studies:
- HM
Anterograde amnesia - could not formulate new memories. Researcher used method
triangulation to investigate his case - iq testing, direct observation, interview, etc. she
found out that HM could not acquire new episodic or semantic memory. It suggests
that brain structures for transfer of STM to LTM missing - suggests that the transfer is
sequential as is suggested by the MSM.
- Glanzer and Cunitz(recency effect)
Recency effect - individuals remember the last piece of information that entered the
brain the best
Participants were shown 15 common 1-syllable words for 1 second. After they were
done, they either immediately started recalling the words by writing them down, or
had to wait a 10/30 seconds before writing them down. Results showed that when
immediately recalled - recency effect was clearly visible. 10 seconds - less visible, 30
seconds - no trace. This means that when asked to recall immediately, the last few
words were still in STM, but were lost when asked to wait before recalling
Evaluation:
- Has biological basis
- Takes into account encoding, storage and retrieval
- Has research support
- Oversimplification