Cognitive Psychology Workbook
Name:
Group:
Exam Dates:
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Contents
Specification ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Cognitive Psychology .............................................................................................................................. 5
Content – Memory .................................................................................................................................. 7
Levels of Processing (LOP) Model of Memory ........................................................................................ 8
Other theory of memory:...................................................................................................................... 10
Forgetting .............................................................................................................................................. 13
Cue-Dependent Forgetting ................................................................................................................... 14
Other theory of forgetting .................................................................................................................... 16
Studies in detail: Godden and Baddeley (1975) ........................................................................... 19
Studies in detail: Other study (choice) .................................................................................................. 21
Key issue................................................................................................................................................ 24
Methodology......................................................................................................................................... 25
Methodology – Experiments................................................................................................................. 29
Evidence of practice .............................................................................................................................. 34
Past paper questions............................................................................................................................. 38
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Specification
1 – Definition of the approach
1a:
Define cognitive psychology showing understanding that the approach is about the
role of cognition/cognitive processes in human behaviour.
1b:
Define and use psychological terminology accurately and appropriately including the
terms: i information processing, ii memory, iii forgetting, iv storage, v retrieval.
2 – Methodology/How Science Works
2a:
Identify, describe and apply the following terms:i natural, laboratory and field
experiment, ii independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV), iii experimental
hypothesis, iv directional (one tailed) and non-directional (two tailed), v repeated
measures, matched pairs and independent groups design, vi operationalisation of
variables, vii counterbalancing, viii randomisation, ix order effects.
2b:
Describe and evaluate, including strengths and weaknesses, the experimental method
(laboratory, natural, field) in terms of:
i experimental control (including the effects of situational and participant variables), ii
objectivity, iii reliability, iv validity,
v experimenter effects, vi demand
characteristics.
3 - Content
3a:
Describe and evaluate the Levels of Processing framework for memory research (Craik
and Lockhart, 1972) and one other theory or model of memory (other than cue
dependent theory).
Suitable examples:
 reconstructive memory (Bartlett, 1932)
 multi-store model of memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968)
 working memory (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)
 Spreading-activation Model of Semantic Memory (Collins & Loftus, 1975).
b Describe and evaluate the Cue Dependent Theory of Forgetting (Tulving, 1974) and
one other theory of forgetting.
Suitable examples:
 displacement
 trace decay
 interference theory.
4 – Studies in detail
4a:Describe and evaluate in detail Godden and Baddeley’s (1975) study of cue
dependent forgetting/memory and one other study of memory or forgetting in the
Cognitive Approach. This must be selected from the following:
 Peterson & Peterson (1959) Suppression of rehearsal and the role of
interference
 Craik and Tulving (1975) Levels of processing
 Ramponi et al (2004) Levels of processing effects on involuntary or implicit
recall and age.
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5 – Key issues
5a:
Describe one key issue of relevance to today’s society and apply concepts, theories
and/or research (as appropriate) drawn from the Cognitive Approach to explain the
issue.
Suitable examples:
 flashbulb memory
 reliability of eyewitness testimony
 the use of the cognitive interview.
Note: in examination, students may be given stimulus material from a key issue to
explain using concepts, theories and/or research (as appropriate) from the Cognitive
Approach.
6 – Evidence of practice: short experiment
6a:
Devise and conduct one practical, which must be an experiment, to gather data relevant
to a topic covered in the Cognitive Approach for this course. This experiment must be
designed and conducted according to ethical principles.
Suitable examples:
 interference task on short-term memory
 levels of processing task
 state or context dependency forgetting task.
6b:
Comment on the research design decisions.
6c:
Collect, present and comment on data gathered including using measures of central
tendency (mean, median, mode), measures of dispersion (at least range), bar graph,
histogram, frequency graph as relevant.
Methods:
Note: students must be prepared to answer exam questions focused on practical work,
which will include questions about the practical exercises themselves and questions
about the general methodological issues that are specified for this particular unit. This
will include the following requirement:
Identify, describe and apply the following:
i natural, laboratory and field experiment, ii independent and dependent variables, iii
experimental (directional and non-directional) hypothesis, iv repeated measures,
matched pairs and independent groups designs, v control over participant and
situational variables, vi measures of central tendency, vii measures of dispersion (at
least range), viii bar graph, histogram and frequency graph as ways to present data
collected, ix experimenter effects and demand characteristics, x objectivity, validity,
reliability, xi operationalization, xii counterbalancing, randomisation, order effects.
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Cognitive Psychology
What is Cognitive Psychology
What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach?
History of the cognitive approach:
Applications of the cognitive approach:
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Glossary of terms
Information Processing
Memory
Forgetting
Storage
Retrieval
Structural processing
Phonetic processing
Semantic processing
Encoding specificity
principal
Complete the table with the definitions of the words listed and add any other words as you learn
more about the cognitive approach.
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Content – Memory
What is memory?
Why do we have memory?
What would life be like without memory?
What is the capacity of human memory?
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Levels of Processing (LOP) Model of Memory
Craik and Lockhart (1972)
Description of the theory:
What are the three levels of processing?
1
2
3
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Evaluation of Levels of Processing Model of memory
Evidence for levels of processing:
Evidence against levels of processing:
Applications:
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Other theory of memory:
Name of Theory:
Description of theory:
Diagrammatical representation of theory (if relevant):
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Evaluation of other theory of memory
Name of theory:
Evidence for theory:
Evidence against theory:
Applications:
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Comparison: theories of memory
Levels of Processing
Other theory:
Comparison issue
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Forgetting
What is forgetting?
Why can’t we just remember everything?
Why do we forget some things and not others?
?
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Cue-Dependent Forgetting
What is cue-dependent forgetting?
Different types of cue-dependent forgetting:
Context-dependent forgetting:
State-dependent forgetting:
Context-dependent forgetting
Give an example of each:
State-dependent forgetting
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Evaluation of Cue-dependent Forgetting
Context-dependent forgetting
State-dependent forgetting
Evidence for
Evidence against
Application
Overall evaluation of cue-dependent forgetting:
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Other theory of forgetting
Name of theory:
Description of theory:
Give an everyday example of this kind of forgetting:
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Evaluation of other theory of forgetting
Name of theory:
Evidence for theory:
Evidence against theory:
Applications:
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Comparison: theories of forgetting
Cue-dependent theory of
forgetting
Other theory of forgetting:
Comparison issue
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Studies in detail: Godden and Baddeley (1975)
Aim
Procedure
Findings
Conclusions
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Evaluation of Godden and Baddeley (1975)
GRAVE
Generalisability
Reliability
Application
Validity
Ethics
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Studies in detail: Other study (choice)
Name:
Aim
Procedure
Findings
Conclusions
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Evaluation of other study (choice). Name:
GRAVE
Generalisability
Reliability
Application
Validity
Ethics
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Cognitive Approach studies – EVALUATION TABLE
Using GRAVE state whether the evaluation point is a strength or a weakness for the study and
explain your point.
GODDEN & BADDELEY
- STUDY IN DETAIL
OTHER STUDY IN DETAIL
Generalisability
Refer to target population and sampling
method.
If not representative, sample cannot be
generalised to the target population.
Reliability
If the study is hard to replicate (do again)
then it cannot be shown to be reliable.
Reliability means that if a study is done
again the same results are found.
Application
If findings from a study can be used to help
society in a
real-life application, e.g. Milgram’s work on
the ‘Germans are not different’ issue, then
this makes the study more useful, which is
an evaluation point -
But say how it is useful (to get a mark)
Validity – Experimental, Ecological or
Population?
Do the participants believe the research
that is taking place? If a study can be seen
to be about real life then it is more useful
— or if it is not about real life it is not
useful. Are the participants are true
representation of the general population?
Ethics
A study can be evaluated by considering
how ethical or how unethical it was1. Competence
2. Right to Withdraw
3. Informed consent
4. Debriefing
5. Deception
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Key issue
Suitable examples from the spec: flashbulb memory, reliability of eyewitness testimony, the use of the
cognitive interview.
Describing the issue…
One key issue from the cognitive approach is ...
What exactly is this issue all about?
Who does this issue impact upon? Where this is issue most relevant?
Why should we care?! Why is this important to society?
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Methodology
Validity
Construct
validity
Example
Ecological
validity
Example
Participant
validity
Example
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Reliability
REPLAY
What is reliability?
Extraneous variables
What are extraneous variables?
Give some examples of extraneous variables:
What is a confounding variable?
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Experimental control
Reliability
Situational variables
Participant variables
Experimenter effects
Demand characteristics
Objectivity
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Descriptive statistics
Measures of central tendency
Mean
Example
Median
Example
Mode
Example
Measures of dispersion
Range
Example
Inter-quartile
range
Example
Standard
deviation
Example
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Methodology – Experiments
Features of an
Experiment
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What is an experiment?
Independent
variable (IV)
Dependent
variable (DV)
Operationalization
Suggest an example of an experiment. Include a fully operationalized IV and DV:
Laboratory experiment
Field experiment
Natural experiment
Example:
Example:
Example:
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Evaluation of experiments
Laboratory
experiments
Field experiments
Natural experiments
Advantages
Disadvantages
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Participant design
What is a participant design?
Repeated measures design
Example
Independent measures
design
Example
Matched pairs design
Example
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Evaluation of participant design
Advantages
Disadvantages
Repeated measures design
Independent measures
Design
Matched pairs design
Order effects
Counterbalancing
Randomisation
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Evidence of practice
You must complete an experiment.
Introduction: Title and background research:
Research aim:
Method used (type of experiment):
Independent and dependent variables (IV/DV):
IV:
DV:
Alternative hypothesis (one or two-tailed):
Null hypothesis:
Participant design used:
Sample (including target population & sampling method with justification)
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Results of pilot study and solutions:
Controls:
Ethical considerations:
Brief and debrief:
Procedure:
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Results:
Conclusion:
Link to aim and theory:
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Evaluation of Experiment. Title:
GRAVE
Generalisability
Reliability
Application
Validity
Ethics
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Past paper questions
1 In which one of the following examples would you be using an independent groups
design?
A You compare 20 boys with 20 girls on a reading test.
B You test 10 participants on two different IQ tests and compare the results.
C You investigate whether there is a link between a student’s days off from
college and their achievement in exams.
D You give 20 A level
For question 2 choose TWO answers from A, B, C, D and E.
2 Which two of the following five statements would be examples of non-directional
(two-tailed) hypotheses?
A Older people are more forgetful than younger people.
B People will treat members of their in-group differently from members of an
out-group.
C Boys are more aggressive than girls.
D There will be a difference in levels of obedience between men and women.
E Recall of a list of words will improve if the list of words is rehearsed.
3 According to levels of processing theory, which one of the following types of
processing should students use when revising?
A Phonetic
B Semantic
C Structural
4 You will have learned about one of the following studies in detail from the
Cognitive Approach:



Peterson and Peterson (1959) study of the role of interference
Craik and Tulving (1975) study of levels of processing
Ramponi et al (2004) study of age and levels of processing
(a) Describe one study from the list.(5)
(b) Outline one strength and one weakness of the study you described in (a).(4)
5 As part of the course requirements for the Social Approach you will have conducted a
survey (interview/questionnaire).
(a) Outline the alternative hypothesis of your survey and state whether it is
directional (one-tailed) or non-directional (two-tailed).(3)
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(b) Outline one problem you came across when planning and/or carrying out the
survey (interview/questionnaire).(2)
(c) Explain how you might have addressed (or did address) this problem when
planning and/or carrying out the survey (interview/questionnaire).(2)
6 Explain why in psychology it might be preferable to use a research method that
produces qualitative rather than quantitative data.(4)
*7 Describe and evaluate the cue dependent theory of forgetting. (12)
Your evaluation should include:
• comparison with one other theory of forgetting
• strengths and/or weaknesses of the cue dependent theory.
8 According to Levels of Processing the shallowest type of processing is
A semantic
B structural
C phonemic
D procedural
9 Cognitive psychology is concerned with information processing. Select the option
that would complete the diagram.
…………..Processing……………
A Hardware, Software
B Software, Hardware
C Input, Output
D Output, Input
10 You will have learned about a number of studies from the Cognitive Approach.
Answer the following questions using one study you have learned.
(a) Identify one study from the Cognitive Approach.(1)
(b) Describe the findings (results and/or conclusions) of the study you identified in (a).(4)
(c) Outline one strength of the study you identified in (a).(2)
11 As part of the course requirements for cognitive psychology you will have conducted
an experiment.
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(a) Outline the aim/purpose of your experiment.(2)
(b) You will have chosen a design for your experiment. Outline one strength and one
weakness of using that experimental design. You must identify the design you
used in your answer. (4)
12 There are three types of experiments (natural, field and laboratory).
Compare field experiments and laboratory experiments.(5)
Comparisons involve looking at similarities and differences. You may wish to include
strengths and weaknesses such as:
• validity
• reliability
• ethics
13 (a) Describe one theory of forgetting you have studied other than cue dependency
theory.(4)
(b) Evaluate one theory of forgetting. (5)
You may wish to include:
• comparison with other theories
• looking at the methods used to study the theory
• assessing evidence.
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