The Memory Process. This paper will describe a memory test using numbers, letters, and words and analyze results of the test, as well as explain the concepts of working memory, short term memory, and long term memory.
The Memory Process Encoding data into the mind is the general process of memory. In other words, memory is the capability to program, accumulate and remember things. The three central methods of memory are to encode, store, and recall. Three kinds of encoding are used to process information for storage. The first is to hear the information, which is called acoustic. The second is imagery or what is seen and the third is information that is meaningful known as semantic. Memory is ultimately held in storage until such time the information is needed and then it is recalled. This paper will describe a memory test using numbers, letters, and words and analyze results of the test, as well as explain the concepts of working memory, short term memory, and long term memory. It will also offer an explanation of encoding and retrieval in the memory process and how they relate to this memory test and the results. Lastly, this paper will evaluate variables connected to encoding information and ease of retrieval as they relate to this test and the results. Concepts of Working Memory The concept of working memory was developed as a progression and expansion of the former theory of short-term memory. In particular, the working-memory model suggests four elements. The short-term storage of data happens in the visuospatial or the phonological memory, both a storage barrier in a diverse
In this essay I am going to contrast and compare three approaches in psychology which are behaviourist, cognitive, and humanist. I am going to show how these psychological approaches contribute to the understanding of the human mind and behaviour.
In this essay I am going to contrast and compare three approaches in psychology which are behaviourist, cognitive, and humanist. I am going to show how these psychological approaches contribute to the understanding of the human mind and behaviour. Human mind and behaviour are affected during moments of transition and change. These are moments in which there is an alteration in an individual's life. They can take a period of time to occur or can take place suddenly. Transitions happen during a period of time. The definition of the word transition confirms it. It is definite as 'the process or a period of changing from a state or condition to another' (Hornby, 2005: 1631). To illustrate, there is a period of changes when individuals leave adolescence and become adults. That period of changes is a transition. Changes are more sudden, and when they occur something is changed. The same dictionary gives the following definitions for change: 'to pass or make sb/sth pass from one state or form into another' (Hornby, 2005: 243) or 'to stop having one state, position or direction and start having another' (Hornby, 2005: 244). These definitions clearly show that a change is instantaneous, occurs in a very short period of time. For example, a sudden death of spouse or other person very close to a certain individual drastic changes the individual's behaviour and way of life; get married
Are memories permanent and unalterable?
Are memories permanent and unalterable? There has been a large debate over the recent years on whether information stored in long-term memory is permanent and unalterable. There are many people who agree with this assumption either because of personal experiences or scientific findings supporting it. An obvious example would be the sort of cued recall that occurs in contextual situations. Details of a place visited might not be remembered until a time of revisiting, or instances where experiences during school life might have been forgotten and a photograph of a classmate might trigger memories. Also there are several occasions where certain smells evoke certain memories. Several studies over the years indicated that memories become less available as the interval increases between the time of the information's initial acquisition and the time of its attempted retrieval. This phenomenon is named 'forgetting' (Loftus 1980). Despite the agreement on the existence of this phenomenon, the factors that underlie its functioning are shown to be indefinable. The main differentiation on beliefs lies on whether forgetting results in a complete lost of stored information, or consists of a loss to access of that information which was once stored and will always be available. Many theorists and psychologists have opposed on the complete loss of stored information referring to examples of
Describe the application of psychodynamic in health and social care
P3 - Describe the application of psychodynamic in health and social care The unconscious mind The unconscious mind is part of the brain that stores repressed memories that have been forgotten or stored away so that they are not brought to the surface to be remembered as they may be unpleasant. Freud believed that the unconscious mind is very important as it determines someone's behaviour. This is called the dynamic unconscious. Behaviour is changed through the unconscious mind because when a bad memory has been stored away and not resurfaced because of the pain it entails it makes someone unconsciously, for example more anxious, erratic and possibly scared of certain situations. According to www.skepdic.com '[the] unconscious mind has been restricted to potentially harmful memories that might be stored or stirring there, memories of bad experiences that influence our conscious behaviour even though we are unaware of their impact. Because of this, behaviour is different and changed in someone and the unconscious mind is unaware of it which in conclusion makes the person unable to change their behaviour. Early experiences Early experiences in a person's life are incredibly important for their behaviour and lifestyle in future life. According to www.psychology.about.com, 'According to Freud, much of a child's personality is completely established by the age of
Trace Decay Theory
Theory of Availability - Trace Decay Theory a) The trace decay theory argues that memories become less available over time as our brains create a path or 'trace' to each memory which, if we don't rehearse it, will fade away and we will no longer be able to remember it anymore. It argues that once the trace has faded, that particular memory is gone forever. To keep memories available we must constantly revisit and rehearse them. This theory explains the reasons why we remember interesting or meaningful information; however, this theory does not really apply to procedural memories, for example riding a bike, swimming, as once we have learned how to do these processes we rarely forget them. Ebbinghaus in 1985 carried out an experiment on himself by making himself learn a list of nonsense syllables and then tested his recall over time intervals. The intervals ranged from 10 minutes up to 30 days, and he found that the longer the duration, the less words he could recall. Ebbinghaus concluded that over time, the trace faded and the list of syllables was lost. However, there are some criticisms of this experiment, one being that he was the only participant so it is hard to make a generalisation from such a small sample. A further criticism of his experiment was using himself as a participant which could lead to experimenter bias. He knew what his aims and results were, so there
Outline and evaluate nature of short term memory using studies e.g. capacity, duration and encoding.
Outline and evaluate nature of short term memory using studies e.g. capacity, duration and encoding. Short term memory is a system for storing information for a short period of time before important bits of information are transferred to the long term memory. There are differing opinions on the exact nature of short term memory with some researchers (e.g. Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968) stating that STM is simply a temporary storage depot for incoming information with others (e.g. Baddeley 1986) preferring to use the term 'working memory' to indicate its flexible aspects. STM has a limited capacity in that we can only hold a small number of items at any one time. According to Miller's 'magic number seven', most people's capacity for remembering sequences of digits, letters, words or even larger chunks of information is seven in a sequence-plus or minus two. There are a number of factors that can affect capacity, including the influence of long term memory as it causes difficulties in using the immediate digit span as a measure of STM capacity due to the fact that, as illustrated by Bower and Winzenz (1969), digit strings that are repeated within a series of immediate memory span trials become progressively easier for participants to recall therefore proving that information stored in the LTM is helping to increase STM capacity temporarily, the influence of reading aloud as it
A study by Loftus and Palmer (1974) into the accuracy of Eye Witness Testimony aimed to find out if changing the wording of a question could distort ones ability to recall from memory an event.
The accuracy of Eye Witness Testimony has been tested by many different approaches in psychological research of memory. A study by Loftus and Palmer (1974) into the accuracy of Eye Witness Testimony aimed to find out if changing the wording of a question could distort one's ability to recall from memory an event. They showed their participants a series of car crash videos before asking them to fill out a questionnaire. One of the most important questions included asking the participants what speed the cars were travelling at. They used an independent measures design to divide the participants into 5 conditions: 'Smashed', 'Collided', 'Bumped', 'Hit', 'Contacted'. The results from this experiment provide good research into accuracy of eyewitness testimony because it found that by changing the wording of a question, it significantly influenced the speeds given by the participants. For example, those in the 'smashed' condition provided the highest average of speed of 40.8mph, whilst those in the 'contacted' condition's average were merely 31.8mph. Similarly, when called back a week later and asked if any broken glass was seen, they found that although there wasn't any present, 32% in the 'smashed' condition said they had seen broken glass. Loftus and Palmer therefore concluded that by using the word 'smash' it gives suggestions of strong impact and thus shows that leading
Piaget and Vygotsky theory. Compare and contrast two theories of cognitive development and discuss how they impact on the contemporary early years practice.
Compare and contrast two theories of cognitive development and discuss how they impact on the contemporary early years practice. Part 1 Piaget believed that children learn through their own activity and experience. He claimed that children construct their own knowledge by giving meaning to the people, places and things in their world. He was fond of the expression "construction is superior to instruction" (Merrill 1992). By this he meant that children learn best when they are actually doing the work themselves and creating their own understanding of what's going on. Piaget believed children need every possible opportunity to do things for themselves. For example children might be interested in how things grow; this will increase the child's knowledge base. However if the child has the opportunity to actually plant something, the process of digging, watering, observing and actually experiencing growing things will help the child to construct a knowledge of growing things that he/she cannot achieve just by looking at the pictures. According to Piaget, babies are born with the ability to adapt and learn from the environment. He believed that a child goes through four stages: sensory motor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Piaget developed his theory of development stages from observing his own three children and many other young children. Sensory
Two attributional biases with evidence
Discuss at least two attributional biases, refer to evidence in your answer (10) Attribution is judging the causes of behaviour, the decision is made that behaviour is caused by internal factors OR external factors. A dispositional attribution is made when we can decide that someone's behaviour is due to their personality or an internal cause. This means that the behaviour is seen as an outward manifestation of an inward quality. A situational attribution is made when we decide that someone's behaviour is the result of the situation or the circumstances which they find themselves in. This means that the cause is external or beyond the control of the person. In social psychology, the actor is the person producing the behaviour and the observer is the watcher of the behaviour. The Fundamental Attribution Error is the general tendency observers have to decide that an actor's behaviour has an internal cause. We have the general belief that a person's behaviour and actions are due to their own personality traits. It is likely that this is because of an expectation that our behaviour and personality match or fit each other. A real life example is "He dropped the jug because he is clumsy" Nisbett et al (1973) wanted to see if people tend to attribute the cause of a person's behaviour as due to an internal cause rather than external cause. Participants were asked to explain
Explanation of cognitive approach
There are many approaches to explaining how personalities are developed. One of these derives from the psychodynamic model put forward by Freud. Freud's (1920) personality theory seeked to explain how personality's develop from individual to individual. The personality according to Freud comprised of 3 areas. The id, ego and the superego. These 3 areas together shape the development of a personality and seeing as they have roots to childhood can affect adult behaviour. The id is the primitive instinctive part of the personality and children are born with it. Children do things to produce pleasure and gratification. The ego is similar to the rational mind we possess. Children learn about the reality principle and the child accommodates to the environment. Finally the Superego is the child's conscience and allows the child to know the difference between right and wrong. The id and superego are in constant conflict with each other. This is because the id's primitive drive for immediate satisfaction is combated by the superego's moral standards. Defence mechanisms are used to reduce the anxiety produced by this conflict and this can include repressing the memory as if it never happened or denying it. It is these repressed memories that can cause underlying/unconscious problems. The id, ego and superego all are prevalent and developed at different stages according to Freud. These
