Cognitive Unit Pysch, ACTUALLY this time

Multi-store memory model

Working Memory Model

Bransford and Johnson (1972) Investigation, procedure, findings

Investigated the effect of context on comprehension and memory of text passages,

tape recorded passage about a narrative with a balloon had 14 details, P’s were told to recall it and write it down with as much detail as possible, but they were split into groups of 5
1st group: no context

2nd group, no context, heard it twice

3rd group: context before

4th group: context after

5th group: partial context before

1st group gave 3.6

2nd group gave 3.8

3rd group got 8

4th got 3.6

5th got 4.0

Using the schema theory, these findings can be interpreted by referring to a "mental representation" that the full context picture creates prior to hearing the text passage.

The serial position effect

the cognitive bias where people recall the first and last items in a series better than those in the middle

Glancer and Cunitz (1966)

to investigate the recency effect in free recall,

46 army enlisted men were shown individually 15 15-word lists, with one word appearing at a time for 1 second, in 2-second intervals. Some of the participants were told to write the words they remembered immediately, while others were given a random 10-30 second interval before writing

The mean number of correctly recalled words for each position a 10-second delay reduced the recency effect and a 30-second delay totally eliminated the recency effect.

study supports STM and LTM because they distracted your long term memory

Conrad and Hill 1966

to investigate how information is coded in short term memory

PPs were visually presented six letters and then had to write down the sequence in order they were presented in

letters with similar sounds were more difficult to recall compared to letters that sounds different

that information is coded acoustically in the STM

(Loftus and Palmer) 1974

To investigate how information supplied after an event (in the form of a leading question) influences an eyewitness' memory for that event.

critical question:
"About how fast were the cars going when they smashed/collided/bumped/hit/contacted each other?"

Mean speed given for each of the different verbs:
smashed: 40.8 mph
collided: 39.3 mph
bumped: 38.1 mph
hit: 34.0 mph
contacted: 31.8 mph

50 Ps were asked:
"How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?"

50 Ps were asked:
"How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?"

50 of the Ps were not questioned about the speed of the vehicles, they were a control group.

-In the 'smashed' condition, 16 of the Ps said yes and 34 of the PS said no.

-In the 'hit' condition, 7 of the Ps said yes and 43 of the Ps said no.

-In the control group, 6 of the Ps said yes and 44 of the Ps said no.

Loftus and Palmer argue that two kinds of information go into a person's memory of an event; the information obtained from perceiving an event and the information supplied to us after an event.

(sharot et al 2007) What category, aim, method, procedure, findings, interpretation

Flashbulb memory

To investigate whether biological factors—specifically amygdala activation—play a role in the formation of flashbulb memories related to 9/11.

Correlational study using fMRI scanning + self-report questionnaires. Compared brain activity during recall of 9/11 vs. summer memories.

Procedure:

• Conducted 3 years after 9/11.

• Participants placed in an fMRI scanner.

• Shown word cues paired with “September” (to cue 9/11) or “summer” (baseline personal memories).

• Brain activity recorded while recalling memories.

• After scanning, participants rated memories on vividness, detail, confidence, and arousal; also wrote descriptions.

Findings (Brief):

• Higher amygdala activation when recalling 9/11 only in participants who had been downtown Manhattan at the time.

• Participants farther away showed no difference in amygdala response between 9/11 and summer memories.

• Stronger amygdala activation correlated with higher flashbulb-memory characteristics.

Interpretation:
Personal proximity and emotional intensity activate the amygdala more strongly, supporting its role in creating vivid, long-lasting flashbulb memories.

recency effect

the tendency to better remember the last items in a sequence or series compared to those in the middle

Schema def

a mental framework that helps us make sense of information. It’s the way our mind groups and organizes knowledge around a specific concept.

3 key aspects of schema

Our mind automatically organizes information into schemas

Schemas develop over time through our experiences

Schemas guide current and future actions

3 helpful parts of schema

• They can help to facilitate memory formation

• They help to make stronger predictions

• They encourage stability in our thinking

2 cons of schema in thinking

• Can lead to narrow thinking, thinking based on stereotypes

• Schemas can help encoding, but they can also be a cause of errors in construction and reconstruction in memory

Schema Distortion: Leveling

Loss of detail that falls outside of schemas

Schema Distortion: Assimilating

Recalling distorted details that align with schemas

Schema Distortion: Sharpening

Inaccurate manipulation of information for alignment

2 Schema Distortions: Thinking

Stereotyping and novel situations being hard

2 Strengths of Schema

The theory has evidence, and applies to a variety of cognitive phenomena, memory, thinking and perception

2 Limitations of Schema

Concept is vague

Research cannot directly observe or measure schema

Serial Position Effect 

Tendency to remember info from the beginning and end at a set of info

Primacy Effect

Tendency to recall info from the beginning: that info is most likely rehearsed and is thus in LTM

Recency Effect

this is info that is most likely to be still in STM -> not yet displaced

Proactive Interference

Old info gets in the way of new info

Retroactive Interference

New info gets in the way of old info

Function of MSM

An explanation of how declarative memories work, from encoding to retrieval. 

Semantic info

Factual information

Episodic info

Events of your life

The 2 Limitations of MSM

Aspects of this model are too simple

Some info is encoded more efficiently than other

3 Levels of Processing (Most efficient to Least)

Semantic

Auditory

Visual

3 functions of WMM

Criticism + complement to the MSM

Focused on STM with more complexity

Has a master process that directs attention from one process to another.

Phonological Loop and its 2 parts def

Auditory process of your active mind

• Inner Ear: a passive store of auditory info

• Inner Voice: a passive store of verbal information, usually language

Visuospatial Sketchpad and its 1 part

The visual process of information

• Inner eye: passive store of visual information 

2 Strengths and 2 Weaknesses of the WMM

WMM processes are distinct
Complicated MSM

There is better research in some aspects than others. May not reflect normal life behaviors

Memories are ____ + re_________

constructed

What do we build memories out of?

Attention and Rehearsal

System 1 and its 4 characteristics, 1 limitation

Intuitive Thought

• Works automatically

• Processes info quickly

• Generates impression/prediction

• Heuristics

• Biased

System 2 and its 5 characteristics, 1 limitation

Effortful Thought

• Consciously direct our effortful thinking

• Works slower than intuitive 

• Responsible for complex reasoning

• Associated with concentration and action

• Can be practiced to become part of our intuitive thinking 

• Lazy/Biased

2 Defs of thinking INTUITIVELY

ability to work automatically with little effort, don’t have to think

Heuristics def

info or a rule used to support problem-solving or decision-making.

def of thinking effortfully

consciously slow down to consider an issue

Cognitive Bias (2 sentences)

tendencies toward errors in thinking that are not rational. Often leads to ignore relevant evidence in favor of others

System ____ can rely on System _____ to gather info in incomplete ways.

2, 1

Representativeness Heuristic

Deadass just stereotyping

Availability Heuristic

the first thing that comes to mind

Anchoring Bias

decision is influenced by the initial piece of information provided.

Confirmation bias

tendency to stick to our ways of thinking about things.

Fundamental Attribution Error

tendency to interpret the behaviors of others as due to DISPOSITIONAL factors (as opposed to SITUATIONAL factors)

Dispositional factors

internal characteristics - personality, temperament, etc.

FBM ability, def, compared to regular memories

ability to build special memories

Memories that are highly emotional and about surprising events (episodic)

more vivid and accurate

Correlational study

observational research method that investigates the relationship between two or more variables without manipulating them

Bartlett (1932)

Schema theory; reconstructive memory; reliability of one cognitive process (memory).

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Aim:
To investigate how memory is influenced by prior knowledge and cultural schemas, and whether unfamiliar material is distorted during recall.

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Method (Brief):
Quasi-experiment (no manipulated IV) using repeated and serial reproduction of an unfamiliar story.

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Procedure:

• British participants heard the Native American story “War of the Ghosts,” which contained culturally unfamiliar elements.

• Repeated reproduction: participants recalled the story several times over days, weeks, or longer.

• Serial reproduction: participants recalled the story and passed it to the next person like a “telephone game.”

• Changes in the story across retellings were recorded and compared.

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Findings (Brief):

• Participants consistently distorted the story to fit cultural expectations.

• Assimilation: details changed to match British culture.

• Levelling: story became shorter as unfamiliar details were omitted.

• Sharpening: story structure changed; some details/emotions were added.

• People retained the main idea but altered unfamiliar elements to create a coherent narrative.

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Interpretation:
Memory is reconstructive, shaped by existing schemas rather than being a perfect reproduction. Cultural expectations influence what is remembered and how it is retold.

Quasi-experiment

aims to establish a cause-and-effect relationship but lacks random assignment to treatment and control groups.

Lab experiment

study conducted in a highly controlled environment, can manipulate independent variable to measure effect on a dependent variable.

Craik and Tulving (1975)

IB Psychology Concept:
Levels of Processing (LOP) theory; effects of depth of processing on memory recall.

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Aim:
To investigate how deep (semantic) versus shallow (phonetic/structural) processing influences later memory recall.

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Method (Brief):
Laboratory experiment using depth-of-processing tasks followed by a recognition test.

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Procedure:

• Participants were shown 60 words, each followed by a question prompting either deep semantic processing or shallow structural/phonetic processing.

• Later, they received a list of 180 words (a mix of old and new) and had to identify which were from the original list.

• Recall performance for each processing level was measured and compared.

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Findings (Brief):

• Words processed semantically were remembered significantly better than words processed phonemically or visually.

• Deep processing led to stronger, more accurate recall.

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Interpretation:
Deep, semantic processing creates more elaborate encoding, supporting the LOP theory that deeper levels of analysis produce better long-term memory.

Baddeley (1996) 

IB Psychology Concept:
Working Memory Model; differences in STM vs. LTM encoding; acoustic vs. semantic encoding.

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Aim:
To investigate whether short-term memory encodes information acoustically and whether long-term memory encodes information semantically.

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Method (Brief):
Laboratory experiment using independent measures with word-list learning under four encoding conditions.

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Procedure:

• Participants (male and female staff from the Applied Psychology Research Unit) learned four types of word lists:

  1. Acoustically similar

  2. Acoustically dissimilar

  3. Semantically similar

  4. Semantically dissimilar

• Words were projected one every 3 seconds in the correct sequence.

• Participants completed 6 digit-memory tasks, then recalled each list in order within one minute.

• Word lists were visible on a wall in random order to ensure the task measured sequence recall, not vocabulary knowledge.

• After all four conditions, participants completed a 15-minute interference task, followed by a surprise retest.

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Findings (Brief):

• In early trials, acoustically similar words were recalled worse than dissimilar ones, suggesting STM encodes acoustically.

• By the later semantic conditions, differences diminished, showing LTM relies more on semantic encoding.

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Interpretation:
STM is primarily acoustic in its encoding, whereas LTM relies on semantic encoding—supporting distinctions proposed by the Working Memory Model and multi-store memory theory.

Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

IB Psychology Concept:
Reliability of memory; eyewitness testimony; effect of misleading questions in real-life settings.

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Aim:
To investigate the accuracy and reliability of eyewitness memory for a real crime, and to test whether leading questions distort recall over time.

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Method (Brief):
Field study using real witnesses of a shooting, with interviews conducted immediately after the event and again 4–5 months later.

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Procedure:

• 21 eyewitnesses were initially interviewed by police; 13 agreed to a follow-up research interview.

• In both interviews, participants first gave a free recall account, followed by specific questions.

• Researchers introduced two leading questions (e.g., “the broken headlight” vs. “a broken headlight”), though no such details existed.

• Similarly, they asked about a “yellow panel” that was actually blue.

• Participants also rated their stress level (1–7) and reported any emotional difficulties since the event.

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Findings (Brief):

• Researchers recorded over 1,000 details, compared to 650 from police interviews.

• Misleading questions had minimal effect: most participants correctly rejected false details.

• Witnesses showed strong and accurate recall even after several months, especially those more directly involved.

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Interpretation:
Eyewitness memory in real-life, high-stress events can be highly accurate and resistant to leading questions, challenging findings from laboratory studies like Loftus & Palmer.

Field study

research method that collects data in real-world, natural settings rather than a controlled laboratory

Tversky and Kahneman (1981)

IB Psychology Concept:
Framing effect; heuristics and biases; decision-making under uncertainty.

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Aim:
To investigate how positive versus negative framing of identical information influences decision making.

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Method (Brief):
Laboratory experiment with two framing conditions using a hypothetical disease-outbreak scenario.

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Procedure:

• 307 undergraduate volunteers read a scenario about a disease expected to kill 600 people.

• Condition 1: Positive frame (“people saved”) with choices between a certain option (200 saved) and a probabilistic option.

• Condition 2: Negative frame (“people will die”) with choices between a certain loss (400 die) and a probabilistic option.

• Participants in each condition chose between the two programs presented to them.

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Findings (Brief):

• Positive frame: 72% chose the certain option (Program A).

• Negative frame: 78% chose the risky option (Program D).

• Identical outcomes were judged differently depending on framing.

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Interpretation:
People are risk-averse when information is framed positively and risk-seeking when framed negatively, demonstrating the framing effect and limitations in rational decision-making.

Alter and Oppenheimer (2007)

IB Psychology Concept:
Dual processing theory; System 1 vs. System 2 thinking; cognitive fluency.

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Aim:
To investigate whether font legibility affects cognitive processing and accuracy on reasoning tasks.

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Method (Brief):
Laboratory experiment using the Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT) with easy-to-read vs. difficult-to-read font conditions.

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Procedure:

• 40 Princeton students completed a three-question CRT.

• Half received the test in a clear, easy-to-read font; the other half received the same test in a hard-to-read, disfluent font.

• Scores across the two conditions were compared to measure the effect of cognitive fluency on reasoning.

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Findings (Brief):

• Only 10% of participants in the easy-to-read condition answered all questions correctly.

• 65% in the difficult-to-read condition answered all questions correctly.

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Interpretation:
Disfluent (hard-to-read) text triggers System 2 thinking, causing people to slow down and reason more carefully, increasing accuracy. Easy-to-read text relies on fast, intuitive System 1, which often leads to incorrect answers.

Neisser and Harsch (1992)

IB Psychology Concept:
Flashbulb memory theory; accuracy and confidence in emotional autobiographical memory.

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Aim:
To investigate the accuracy of flashbulb memories of the 1986 Challenger explosion and to examine whether confidence correlates with actual accuracy over time.

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Method (Brief):
Questionnaire-based longitudinal study with a follow-up 2.5 years later; memory compared across two time points.

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Procedure:

• 106 psychology students completed a questionnaire within 24 hours of the Challenger explosion, describing how they first heard the news (reception context).

• 44 of these students completed the same questionnaire 2.5 years later and rated confidence (1–5).

• They were also asked whether they remembered completing the original survey.

• Later, researchers conducted a semi-structured interview and showed participants their original responses for comparison.

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Findings (Brief):

• Only 11/44 remembered filling out the first questionnaire.

• Large discrepancies emerged: the mean accuracy score was 2.95/7; several scored 0.

• Reports shifted over time: e.g., 21% initially said they heard it on TV; 45% later claimed TV.

• About 40% had major distortions; only 10% were fully consistent.

• Confidence remained high despite poor accuracy.

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Interpretation:
Flashbulb memories are not necessarily accurate or stable—people may feel highly confident, but emotional memories can still be reconstructed and distorted. This challenges the original FBM theory proposed by Brown & Kulik (1977).

longitudinal study

a research method that observes the same subjects over an extended period to monitor changes over time