Cognitive psuchology - Assignment Example

The phonological loop holds and stores the necessary phonological or articulatory information (Andrade, 2002, p.42). The functions of the visuospatial sketchpad include detection of impairments that result from dynamic visual noise that requires maintenance of the visuospatial information (Craighead and Nemeroff, 2004, p.1039). The experimental evidence for phonological loop in working memory explains three major features of it. The first is the phonological similarity effect where experiments obtained that phonological short term memory is influenced by similarity in sounds, enabling individuals to remember rhythms more than non-rhythms.

Next is the word length effect where experiments obtained that recalling words of shorter length was easier for individuals than recalling long length words, thus affecting their performances and reflecting on the fact that word lengths affects the memory of the individuals. Another feature obtained is the articulatory suppression where depending upon the account of the phonological loop, the articulatory rehearsal mechanism blocks the working memory (Henry, 2011, pp.9-13). Answer 3: Episodic and Semantic Memory: Facts or information that are impersonal in nature yet find a long lasting place in the memory of individuals thus creating a form of dictionary in the brain, are referred to as semantic memory.

On the other hand, episodic memory includes facts that are personal in nature and stored in an autobiographical manner (Coon and Mitterer, 2012, p.284). By these definitions and understanding, psychologists distinguish between these two types of memories based upon the information that is being stored or remembered. Also, the two has been distinguished by psychologists depending on the experiences associated. In episodic memory, time is travelled backwards connecting events occurred in the past.

In contrast, in semantic memory, the experiences are related more with knowledge of day to day needs rather than personal experiences. Thus while episodic memory remembers past events, semantic memory remembers facts and knowledge for use in general (Goldstein, 2008, p.187). The connection between semantic memory and episodic memory occurs in the way both these memories speak of facts retained in the memories. Although episodic memory retains information related to past events but they are eventually facts and information, that when retained and recognized can result in remembering other related information leading to learning concepts and information because it is often that important information is retained in the memory when individuals can relate them with their own emotions.

Thus with concepts and retention of memories associated with each other, the semantic memory and episodic memory are also connected to each other. Answer 4: Levels of Processing Theory and Transfer-Appropriate Processing: According to levels of processing theory (LOP), the processing of stimulus in the brain for memory retention in an individual passes through a series of stages where initially the stages of analyses are shallow and perceptual followed by deeper understanding and analyses. The retention of the memory depends with increasing depth of the stimulus.

The transfer-appropriate processing theory