Cognitive Psychology - Annotated Bibliography Example

?Cognitive Psychology Week 4 Assignment # 2 The ability of the mind to store short term and long term memory as described by the examples used give us a good idea of how these two differ from each other and how one can easily think of several incidents when they had forgotten things. These incidents can then easily be categorized as either a part of the short term or the long term memory. For example what comes to my mind when I see how these two forms of memories are differentiated is how my mother asked that I buy milk on my trip to the store as I left the car and how forgetting it in a matter of moments is a reflection of the limited capacity storage of the short term memory. The element of repression and how it causes one to forget long term information is a perspective that highlights defense mechanisms and how they can deter memories to our advantage. An ability to firmly differentiate between the two forms of memory clearly shows a good understanding of the theory and its relation to practical examples from one’s own life. Furthermore rehearsal seems like a good indicator of how one can improve their short term memory for longer periods something I myself need to improve at. Assignment # 3 Select a Final Project research topic. In a three-page document, describe your research topic and how you will address the issue or area of study you have selected. Prepare an annotated bibliography of at least five references that you intend to use in your paper, not including course material. Cognitive psychology primarily is the exploration of internal mental processes. It encompasses how an individual perceive, remember, speak, think and solve problems. The focus of my final research project is going to be on false memories. According to Roediger and Marsh, false memory refers to cases that comprise of people remembering various events differently from the way that they actually happened. Individuals hold these memories in high confidence which complicates convincing them otherwise. My research will look at the numerous studies regarding false memories which analyze how false memories transpire by injecting a level of control over the unfolding events. Also factors that are responsible for the creation of false memories are looked upon. Loftus, F.E & Hoffman, H.G. (1989). Misinformation and Memory: The Creation of New Memories. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 118, 100 -104 Misleading information prior to an event can lead to erroneous reports of misinformation as it stated by the impairment view. This is a result of different process histories which is represented by the conditions of acquisition, retention, and retrieval of information. It is found through a series of experiments that misinformation acceptance plays a major role, memory impairment plays some role and pure guessing plays very little or perhaps no role in the constitution of misinformation. Loftus, F.E & Guyer, J.M. (2002). Who abused Jane Doe? Skeptical Inquirer. 26, 24 – 32 The case of Jane Doe shows her lapse of memory as she admitted to being sexually abused by her mother when she was six but apparently forgot when she was seventeen and then remembered it once again. Upon repeated interviews and videotaped date collection Jane’s case was labeled as that of proof of recovery of repressed or dissociated traumatic memories. However the discrepancy in her memories and an evaluation of the supporting evidence shows the skepticism associated with the accuracy of her accusation towards her mother. So while some might believe this case was proof of the reliability of recovered memories of repeated abuse other believe that the inconsistencies might be a key factor indicating false or perhaps distorted memories. Elizabeth F. Loftus. (2003) Make-Believe Memories. American Psychologist. 58, 863 - 873 This research aims to show the unreliability of eyewitness testimony conducted by showing a varied sample a videotape of certain car accidents and then ask them several questions regarding these tapes. ‘Was there a broken headlight?’ was an example of a question that lead to various false reports showing how questioning witnesses leads to a distortion of their memory. Prominent factors such as the planting of false memories in an individuals mind or perhaps of them recalling real memories through a certain amount of manipulation (rich false memories) are also addressed through experimental procedures. Elizabeth F. Loftus. (1997). Creating False Memories. Scientific American. 277, 70 -75 Basically Loftus in her research ‘Creating false memories’ shows how the manipulation of memories could lead to a very convincing development of false memories. Such was the case of Nadean Cool, who is a classical example of a patient to develop false memories as a result of questionable therapy. The study then branches out into a series of experiments all of that aim to measure the implications and the process by which false memories arise. The findings indicate that an external suggestion can lead to the construction of false childhood memories. Maryanne G, Charles G.M & Elizabeth F. L. (1996). Imagination Inflation: Imagining a Childhood Event Inflates Confidence that it Occurred. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. 3, 208 – 214 The researchers aim to look at the effect of counterfactual imaginings and whether or not they inflate confidence that a childhood event occurred. By taking a sample of 46 university students and by the use of a Life Events Inventory to monitor whether certain incidents had happened to them. The division of the subjects was into two groups where the procedure required that they imagine several events. It was found that in categories where there was imagination required it lead to a positive changes in the results with the subjects believing to have experienced incidents that had been falsely planted into their memories through the use of imagination compared to those subjects who did not have to imagine any scenarios. References Elizabeth F. Loftus. (2003) Make-Believe Memories. American Psychologist. 58, 863 - 873 Elizabeth F. Loftus. (1997). Creating False Memories. Scientific American. 277, 70 -75 Henry L. Roediger III and Elizabeth J. Marsh (2009), Scholarpedia, 4(8):3858. Retrieved from: http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/False_memory Loftus, F.E & Hoffman, H.G. (1989). Misinformation and Memory: The Creation of New Memories. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 118, 100 -104 Loftus, F.E & Guyer, J.M. (2002). Who abused Jane Doe? Skeptical Inquirer. 26, 24 – 32 Read More