Investigating the short-term memory

The aim of this investigation is to investigate the short-term memory, and how it long it can store an information CONTENT PAGE CONTENT PAGE Abstract page 3 Introduction page 4 - 5 Method page 6 - 11 Results page 12 - 13 Discussion page 14 - 16 References page 17 Appendices page 18- 24 Appendix 1 - Average calculations for group 1 page 18 Appendix 2 - Average calculations for group 2 page 19 Appendix 3 - Briefing/Consent form page 20 - 21 Appendix 4 - Word list page 22 Appendix 5 - Scoring sheets page 23 Appendix 6 - Debriefing sheet page 24 ABSTRACT Short-term memory was investigated and how information was encoded or placed into our memories. The Atkinson & Shiffrin 1968 multi-store model proposed the idea which compared mental processes of humans to that of computer operations. It was described that there were many stages, one of which was the short-term memory. The processes of attention and rehearsal controlled the flow of information between these stages. Atkinson & Shiffrin said that a distraction here would cause forgetting or prevent rehearsal. The Independent Variable (IV) in the experiment was the distraction added in the form of music for 1 minute. The Dependant Variable (DV) in the experiment was the number of words

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Psychology Coursework

Investigating the effects of Context-dependent Forgetting Project brief for psychology coursework PB1: Identify the aim of the research and state the experimental/alternative Aim: to investigate recall of words within the same environment, in which they are learnt, and in a different environment. Consequently, we will see if context affects recall. Alternative hypothesis: Participants who carry out recall within the same room as they are learnt, will be more successful than the contrary group. Null hypothesis: There will be no difference in word recall between the two groups. Any difference will do due to chance alone. PB2: Explain why a directional or a non-directional experimental/alternative hypothesis has been selected. (1 mark) A directional hypothesis was chosen, as there is previous research to support the idea that context influences recall of information, for example: the work of Abernathy (1940) and Godden and Baddeley (1975). PB3: Identify the chosen research method (experimental, quasi-experimental, natural experiment, survey, observation, content analysis or correlation research) and, if appropriate, the design used. (1 mark) The chosen research method is a laboratory experiment, enabling control over confounding variables. Additionally, my chosen research design is an independent groups, which prevents any

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Evaluate 3 Approaches to treating Mental Disorders: Psychodynamic, Biological and Behavioural Approach.

Evaluate 3 Approaches to treating Mental Disorders: Psychodynamic, Biological and Behavioural Approach. When looking at the treatment of people with mental health issues there have been various methods tried, some having limited success and some having long term success, in this essay I shall discuss the three listed in the title along with the benefits and weaknesses of each. Psychodynamic Approach: The concept of the psychodynamic approach is to explain behaviour in terms of the forces that drive it. The best known example of this approach is Freud’s theory of personality, although there are many other psychodynamic theories based on Freud’s ideas. Sigmund Freud was the first to challenge the view that mental disorders were caused by physical illness and proposed that psychological factors were responsible for the illness. The psychodynamic approach highlights the importance of the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences. Psychodynamic psychologist’s attempt to deal with the mental health issues of their patients by incorporating these ideas and creating therapies using these ideas. The basic concept behind psychoanalysis is that a patient that suffers from mental health problems such as depression can address any regressed feelings thus, the patient gains insight of and can learn to work through their emotional baggage. It is a generalised concept that

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Biological Rhythms

Biological Rhythms, Sleep and Dreaming a) Biological Rhythms A biological rhythm is a biologically driven behaviour that is periodically repeated. These rhythms are governed by both internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous factors). There are three types of biological rhythm. These are: Circadian, Infradian and Ultradian rhythms. Circadian Rhythm Circadian rhythms take place once every 24 hours. The Sleep-wake Cycle The best example of a circadian rhythm is the 24 hour sleep-wake cycle, associated with which are many cyclical changes with active and dormant periods, for example body temperature. Research has studied whether circadian rhythms are natural and triggered internally (endogenous) or whether they rely upon external cues in the environment (exogenous). Research has involved participants being deprived of possible zeitgebers (an external event that partially controls biological rhythms - literally means 'time-giver'), such as sunrise and sunset and temperature changes during a 24 period. Siffre (1972) was removed from the normal light-dark cycle, by being kept in a dark cave for 2 months. There were no zeitgebers such as natural light or sounds and he had no idea what time it was. He had food and drink and so on. His behaviour such as when he slept/woke and when he ate his meals was monitored. At first the findings showed there was no clear

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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How Minority views afects Majority - Conformity

Page 1 - Abstract Introduction - Page 3 Aim - Page 4 Method + Hypothesis - Page 5 Material + Task - Page 7 Procedure - Page 8 Results - Page 9 Discussion - Page 12 Conclusion And Implications - Page 13 Limitations + Suggestions for improvement - Page 14 Abstract The aim of the experiment was to investigate "how minority conformity is affected when they are shown answers of the majority, compared to minority participants who are not shown majority answers. Ther main researcher for the study of conformity was Jenness. Jeness was the first person to study conformity and his experiment involved a glass bottle filledwith beans. He then asked participants to estimate the amount of beans in the bottle. Thereafter, he put the group in a room with the bottle and asked them to give a group estimate. He then interviewed the subjects one by one asking them whether they would like to change their original estimate. He found out that the majority of individual estimates changed to be closer to the group estimates. The experimental hypothesis for this investigation is "There will be a significant difference in the amount of conformity shown by the minority when they are shown answers of majority regarding the estimates of sweets in a jar compared to when the minority are not shown answers from the majority". The experiment method used for this investigation was a field

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Investigating the effects of organisation on learning

Investigating the effects of organisation on learning Clive Newstead Abstract Background: Previous research suggests that the organisation of information is integral to its storage in and recall from memory. Aim: Differences with regard to the use of categorisation of information have been observed between cultures and age groups, so the aim is to find out the degree to which categorisation affects the learning of information in 16-18 year olds. Method: 20 participants aged 16-18 had 60 seconds to learn as many words as they could from a grid containing 24 words. The grid contained 6 words in 4 different semantic categories and was either categorised (control) or randomised (experimental). Participants then recalled as many of the words as they could. The amount of words that they recalled was observed. Results: The difference in the number of words remembered between the two conditions was found to be insignificant when put to the independent t-test and tested at the 0.05 level. In fact, participants in Condition B (randomised) recalled more words on average than those in Condition A (organised). However, participants in Condition B showed 68.83% categorisation upon recall, compared with 0.5% that would have been shown if participants recalled the words in the order that they appeared on the radomised grid. Conclusion: The results suggest that the degree of organisation of

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Report on Psychological Research into Eyewitness Testimony

Report on Psychological Research into Eyewitness Testimony Eyewitness testimony is the study of how accurately a person may recall significant events that they have witnessed taking place. In the scenario of an individual witnessing a crime it is highly important that the statement they give of information that they remember is accurate, as in a court their evidence will highly influence jurors. By studying eyewitness testimony psychologists have been able to see the causes of inaccurate reports made by witnesses; this research can show the court that so much weight shouldn't be placed on an eyewitness' account, and can help to prevent errors occurring so frequently in the justice system. The main areas that psychologists believe may affect the memory are reconstructive memory, leading questions in interviews, and effects from fear or anxiety.1 Research into these areas allows psychologists to understand how the mind and memories of an eyewitness functions, and so to adjust current methods used within eyewitness testimony accordingly. This can help to improve the reliability of accounts given by eyewitnesses, using results of relevant investigations as a solid basis. Reconstructive memory is the theory that memories may be distorted by an individual's prior knowledge or expectations surrounding an event.2 Bartlett (1932) proposed this idea as memory involving active

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Psychology Retrospective Interference coursework

Introduction This coursework was based on Cognitive Psychology. Cognitive Psychologists examine internal mental processes and topics include perception, learning, memory, and forgetting. This coursework focused specifically on memory and forgetting. It is believed that there are two memory stores; short-term and long-term memory. This current research was on long-term memory (LTM) and the information that is stored in LTM is each person's knowledge of the world, their past life, and their plans for the future. Forgetting in LTM has been explained in many ways such as trace decay theory. Trace decay theory states that memories can automatically decay over time. There is little evidence to support this explanation; therefore, this theory could be questioned. Another explanation for forgetting in LTM is retrieval failure which states that forgetting occurs when information is available in LTM, but is not accessible or is not able to be "retrieved" from memory. However, there is an alternative explanation known as the interference theory which states that forgetting occurs because similar memories interfere with and disrupt one another by retroactive and proactive interference. Retroactive interference refers to new memories disrupting the recall of old memories and alternatively, proactive interference refers to old memories disrupting the recall of new memories. Jacoby

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Memory Revision

Psychology Revision - Memory Definitions within Memory Memory * The mental process used to encode, store and retrieve information. Encoding * Encoding involves changing the information presented into a different form. Since words or other items in the short term store are rehearsed or repeated, we might assume that they are encoded in terms of their sound (acoustic coding). In contrast, the information we have stored in the long term memory nearly always seems to be stored in terms of its meaning (semantic coding). * Encoding takes many different forms; visual, auditory, semantic, taste and smell. Capacity * The short term store has very limited capacity, about 7 items. In contrast the capacity of the long term memory is assumed to be so large that it cannot be filled, it is said to have unlimited capacity and lasts potentially forever. Duration * Information lasts longer in the long term store than in the short term store,. There is evidence that in the short term store, if not rehearsed, information will disappear within about 18 - 20 seconds and in contrast there is evidence that elderly people can recognise the names of fellow students from 48 years previously. Storage * As a result of encoding, the information is stored in the memory system; it can remain stored for a very long time maybe a entire lifetime. Retrieval * Recovering information from

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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Correlation between age and sleep

Correlation between age and sleep Psychology A level coursework by Bozena Ewertowska Table of contents Abstract...........................2 Introduction.....................3 Methods...........................9 Results...........................13 Discussion......................16 References......................21 Appendices......................22 Abstract The area of study was duration of sleep. The aim of this activity was to measure the correlation between sleep and age. Past research has shown a negative correlation, which means as we grow older we have less sleep. The research method was survey, and a sleep diary was used to collect the data. Sleep diary were recorded over seven consecutive days. There were 26 participants, males and females, aged 17 - 53. The participants were chosen using opportunity sampling. Weak correlation has been found on scattegraph but the correlation was not significant (p=0.05, critical value = 0.331, observed value = - 0.250). Therefore the null hypothesis was retain. There is no correlation between age and sleep. Further analysis of sleep duration in age group showed that the higher needs for sleep are required by young people, age group 17 - 20, 20 - 30. Duration of sleep' people over 30 are the lowest, just around 6 hours. This could be related with family and work responsibility associated with this age. People in

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Psychology
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