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General
Level of processing
Two-factor Theory
Multi-store model and schema theory
social factors
100
What is the fundamental princple of the cogntive level of analysis?
Human beings are information processors and that mental processes guide behavior.
100
Who suggested the level of processing
Craik and lockhart
100
Who proposed the two-factor theory?
Schachter and singer
100
What is a schema?
Schemas are mental templates that represent a person's knowledge about objects, people or situations. They are derived from prior experience and they simplify reality.
100
List some social factors that can affect memory
poverty, nutrition, education, stress
200
Where is the Hippocampus and what is its role?
The Hippocampus is located limbic system in the brain and it has the role for formation and retrieval of memories.
200
State the different depths of processing
1. Structural (shallow) processing 2. Phonemic processing (intermediate) 3. Semantic processing (deep)
200
Briefly explain what the two-factory
The two-factory theory suggest that emotion is created by physical arousal and cognitive labeling.
200
Provide another example of a research study (other than Bartlett's) that provides support for schema theory.
Office schema research Bower et al: Reading short passages about characters in a resturant.
200
With reference to one research study, briefly explain how poverty may effect one cognitive process.
Studies have indicated a clear link between poverty and poorer memory. It in not clear however, what the actual cause is. Students living below poverty have smaller capacities in their working memories.
300
State 4 principles of cognitive level of analysis
The most fundamental principal of the cognitive level of analysis is that human beings are information processors and that mental processes guide behavior. Behavior change is explained as a result of cognitive processing that goes on the mind. The steps of cognitive processing are: -Information is acquired from the world -The information is stored -Stored information is represented in the mind -Internal representations direct behavior The second principle is that the mind or mental processing can be studied scientifically. The experimental method is assumed to be the most scientific method. A third principle is that there is an important biological basis for all human cognitive processing and its resultant behavior. Cognitive psychologists therefore focus research on how the brain translates into mind and there is an increasing focus on the use of modern technology e.g. neuro imaging. A fourth principle that defines the cognitive level of analysis is that cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.
300
Briefly explain Craik and Tulving's experiment.
Craik and Tulving (1975) gave participants a list of common nouns such as shart and asked a question about the word. There were three kinds of Questions. Is the word printed in capital letters? (shallow) Does the word rhyme with "train"? (phonemic processing) Is the word a type of fruit? (deeper processing) Participants remember most words from condition 3 and least from condition 1. This suggests that deeper processing leads to enhanced memory.
300
How is James-Lange Theory different from Two-factor theory
The James-Lange theory of emotion states that different emotion-arousing external stimuli will produce specific physiological cause specific emotional feelings. (opposite to two factor theory).
300
According to this model: What is the capactity and duration of each level of memory?
It is suggested that sensory memory can be stored from a fraction of a second up to three seconds (with unlimited capacity), short term memory could be stored up to 18 to 20 seconds (with a capactity of plus or minus 5) and long term memory could be stored about forever with potentially unlimited capactiy.
300
Explain how stress associated with memory may specifically effect memory.
Increased stress, increased cortisol (Evan's and Schamberg experiment). They found a direct link between poverty, stress and poor memory.
400
State three ethical guidelines that have to be taken into account when performing experiments. Give one specific example of how an ethical guideline can be seen at the cognitive level of analysis.
3 out of: - Informed Consent - Deception - Debriefing - Withdrawal from the study - Confidentiality - Protection from physical/mental health Ex. When using a case study, for example, HM; memories that are recovered may be found to be particularly stressful to the case study. Instances such as sexual abuse/rape, witnessing murders may be found. In such cases, confidentiality is of utmost important and the case study should be directed to proper care.
400
Evaluate level of processing theory and research studies.
Strengths- good contribution to understanding the processes that take place at the time of learning. It makes good 'common sense'. It is supports and is supported by schema theory. Deeper processing usually involves linking it to what we already know. Weaknesses- There are many problems with defining "deep" processing and why it is effective and whether or not it is actually taking place in a person's head. Semantic processing does not always lead to better retrieval. Subjects usually spend a longer time processing the deeper tasks, therefore better recall may simply be the result of more time spent procesing. It describes rather than explains. It does not distinguish between different types of LTM even though there is much evidence to say that different types of LTM exist.
400
Explain the experiment done by Schachter and Singer for their two-factor theory
Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer (1962) gave 184 college students one of two types of injections: adrenaline (also called epinephrine) or saline injection (placebo). All experimental participants were told that they were given an injection of a new drug called Superoxin to test their eyesight. The adrenaline injection caused a number of effects including increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and increased blood flow to the muscles and brain. The saline injection had no such effects. Some participants were told about the expected effects of the adrenaline; two other groups were misled and told either that it would produce a dull headache and numbness, or told nothing at all. After the injections the subjects waited in a room with another participant who was actually a confederate of the experimenter. The confederate behaved one of two ways: playful (euphoric) or angry. Subjects' emotional states were inferred from both observations of the subjects and the S's responses on a self-rating of emotion scale. Those subjects who had received the adrenaline injection were more emotional by both measures, showing that the first factor in emotion, intensity, resulted from visceral arousal. Participants who were misled or naive about the injection's effects behaved similarly to the confederate, while those who were informed of the expected effects of the adrenaline showed no emotional pattern. This suggests that participants who were informed cognitively attributed their feelings to the physiological effects of the adrenaline, while the uninformed or misinformed groups could perform no such attribution and so interpreted the feelings as emotion. Schachter's cognitive labelling theory thus identifies "cognitive attribution," the mind's attempt to pair the feeling of arousal with its (inferred) causal pattern in the environment as the second factor in the Two-factor Theory of Emotion.
400
Provide three strengths and two weaknesses of schema theory.
Strengths: A great deal of supporting research in the area. It has contributed to an understadning of memory distrotions. Useful in helping explain steroetyping and prejudice. Weaknesses: Does not tell us how schema are formed or changed. Does not explain why we remember unique things. The theory may over-emphasize the inaccuracy of memory.
400
Explain how poor nutrition can effect memory (refering to a relevant research study)
Australian study (nutritional supplements)
500
Explain how one principle that define's the level of analysis may be demonstrated in one research. You also need to be able to state the name of the research.
The two-factor theory suggested by Schacter and singer suggests that emotion is effected by physical arousal and cognition. Experiment was held for three groups of people. The first group was injected with adrenaline but was not told about the effects, the second group was injected with adrenaline but was told about the effects and the last group was not injected with adrenaline. All groups where split and sat with two different confederates. The group that was injected with adrenaline and was untold about the effect was either very angry or very happy; the group that was injected with adrenaline but was told the effect was either angry or happy; the confederates did not affect the group that had no injection. The results suggest the information acquired from the outside world affects behavior and emotion, which are also being represented internally and stored, expresses the actions after internally represented. This explains the first principle and shows that cognition could be analyzed by research.
500
Name the design Craik and Tulving's experiment. Why was this design used?
(Craik and Tulving - Level of processing experiment) Repeated measures design; to compare the results afterhand. Fewer participants are required and the participant variables were easier to control.
500
Evaluate the experiment done by Schachter and Singer for their two-factor theory
There was no assessment of the subjects' emotional state before the experiment began or the emotional effect of receiving an injection. The emotional states produced by artificial injections under laboratory conditions are probably not typical of normal emotional reactions. Significant results were only found for the behavioral changes rated by the observers-no significant differences were found in the subjects' self report of their emotions The results were not highly significant and other researchers such as Marshall and Zimbardo have not replicated Schachter and Singer's findings. Lazarus argues that cognitive processes can initiate both psychological arousal and emotion feelings, and that a cognitive appraisal of environmental stimuli at some level is a basic requirement for the elicitation of any emotion. Recent research indicates that emotional centers in the brain can receive information directly from the sensory areas.
500
Evaluate the multi-store model.
The multi-store model is too simplistic, it under-emphasises interaction between the stores, e.g. the way information from LTM influences what is regarded as important and relevant to show attention to in sensory memory and helps the meaningful chunking of information in STM. STM and LTM are more complex and less unitary than the model assumes. Mere rehearsal is too simple. The model ignores factors such as the effort and strategy subjects may use when learning (elaborative rehearsal leads to better recall than just maintenance rehearsal) and model does not account for the type of information taken into memory e.g. some distinctive items seem to flow into LTM far more readily than others. Strengths: Emperical evidence to support different memory stores (serial position effect) and clinical evidence eg. HM It sparked research at the time and other models have been based on it.