BTEC Level 3 Psychology Unit 1: Cognitive Approach

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering core concepts, models, memory stores, reconstructive memory, priming, scripts, and cognitive biases from BTEC Level 3 Psychology Unit 1 (Cognitive Approach).

Cognitive Approach

An approach in psychology that focuses on how people process, store, and use information, suggesting that behaviour is influenced by internal mental processes such as memory, perception, thinking, and problem-solving.

Computer Analogy

A comparison used by cognitive psychologists to explain the mind, where sensory information acts as input, thinking and interpreting act as processing, memory acts as storage, and behaviour acts as output.

Multi-Store Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)

A model proposing that human memory consists of three distinct and separate stores: Sensory Memory (SM), Short-Term Memory (STM), and Long-Term Memory (LTM).

Sensory Memory (SM)

A memory store that receives information directly from the senses, characterised by a very large capacity, a very short duration of less than 1 second, and sense-specific encoding.

Short-Term Memory (STM)

A temporary memory store for information currently in use, featuring a capacity of about $7 \\\pm 2$ items, a duration of 18–30 seconds, and mainly acoustic (sound-based) encoding.

Long-Term Memory (LTM)

A permanent storage system for information, featuring a potentially unlimited capacity, a potentially lifelong duration, and mainly semantic (meaning-based) encoding.

Encoding

The way in which information enters and is formatted for storage in a memory store (e.g., sense-specific, acoustic, or semantic).

Capacity

The total amount of information that a specific memory store can hold.

Duration

The length of time that information remains and is preserved in a memory store.

Recall

A method of memory retrieval where an individual generates information from memory without being provided with prompts or answer options.

Recognition

A method of memory retrieval where an individual identifies the correct information when it is presented alongside cues or alternatives.

Retrieval Cue

A stimulus or trigger that aids in accessing and recovering stored information from memory.

Context Cue

An environmental retrieval prompt where being in the same physical setting (e.g., returning to a classroom) aids memory recall.

State Cue

An internal retrieval trigger where being in the same emotional or physiological state aids the recall of memories.

Word Cue

A keyword that serves as a retrieval trigger to bring related information to mind.

Reconstructive Memory

The concept that memories are not exact, photographic recordings of events, but are actively pieced together using existing knowledge, experiences, and expectations.

Schema

A mental framework of knowledge derived from past experience that helps organise and interpret new information.

Shortening

A schema-driven distortion where details from an event or story are omitted over time, resulting in a briefer recalled memory.

Rationalisation

A schema-driven distortion where unusual or unfamiliar details of an event are altered to make logical sense within a person's existing knowledge framework.

Confabulation

The unconscious fabrication or filling in of missing memory details, leading a person to genuinely believe facts that never occurred.

Bartlett's War of the Ghosts Study (1932)

A study where participants read a Native American folk story and recalled it later; findings showed participants shortened details, rationalised unfamiliar elements, and confabulated information, demonstrating that memory is reconstructive rather than reproductive.

Cognitive Priming

A process where exposure to one stimulus unconsciously activates related information in memory, influencing the response to a subsequent stimulus.

Repetition Priming

A type of priming where prior exposure to a specific stimulus makes processing and recognising the exact same stimulus faster or easier later on.

Semantic Priming

A form of priming where exposure to a word or concept facilitates the processing of another word with a similar meaning (e.g., 'doctor' priming 'nurse').

Associative Priming

A form of priming where concepts that are frequently experienced together in everyday life activate one another (e.g., 'bread' priming 'butter').

Cognitive Script

A mental sequence of expected behaviours and actions appropriate for a specific situation that guides behaviour and understanding.

Memory Script

A script that aids the retention and recall of routine events (e.g., following a fixed sequence of entering, ordering, and paying at a restaurant).

Person Perception Script

A cognitive schema that shapes expectations and judgements about individuals based on their professional or social roles (e.g., expecting a teacher to mark work and maintain order).

Cognitive Bias

A systematic, predictable error in thinking and cognitive processing that impairs judgement and decision-making.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

The tendency to overestimate internal personality factors and underestimate external situational factors when explaining other people's behaviour.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek out, interpret, and remember information that aligns with preexisting beliefs while disregarding contradictory evidence.

Hostile Attribution Bias

The tendency to interpret ambiguous or benign behaviours of others as intentionally aggressive or malicious.