Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology

1. Key assumptions

   • Concerned with internal mental processes
     • Language
     • Memory
     • Problem solving
     • Thinking
   • Computer analogy
     • Brain like a computer
     • Storage system that receives information from environment, process and gives an output
   • Experimental cognitive psychology
     • Study of human mental functioning in a controlled laboratory setting
     • Experimental tests determine functioning
   • Cognitive science
     • Field concerned with mimicking human cognition in a computer program
     • Modelling computer simulations and offering computational models for various aspects of cognition
   • Cognitive neuropsychology
     • Study of patients with brain damage to determine the impact of damage on capacity and functioning
     • Important in understanding memory

2. Memory theories consider

   • Structure
     • Way memory system is organised
   • Processes
     • Activities occurring in the memory system
   • Different stages in memory
     • Encoding
       • How memories are encoded
       • How they are registered as memories
     • Storage
       • How memories are stored
       • How they remain as memories after being registered
     • Retrieval
       • How we receive memories when output was needed

3. Clive Wearing

   • Suffered long-term memory impairment following encephalitis
   • Short-term store remained unaffected
   • Unable to transfer information from short term to long term memory
   • Demonstrate separation between short and long term memory
   • Support distinction proposed by Multi-store model of memory

4. KurtCochrane

   • Memory loss following a motorcycle accident
   • Recall facts but showed severe memory impairment in recalling personal events
   • Suggests Long term memory was not one single unitary store
   • One for procedural memory and one for factual information