Bowlby's theory of attachment

Today we looked at Bowlby's evolutionary theory of attachment. He said that attachment is adaptive (necessary for survival) and that it is necessary to form a template for how future relationships work.

Today's powerpoint is here.

The powerpoint showing the model answers for the AS mock is here.

Here is the summary activity on Bowlby that I asked you to fill in at the end.

Attachment introduction

Today we looked at what an attachment is (a reciprocal, emotional bond that endures over time), and how and why children form their first attachments to their parents. We discussed the learning theory of attachment; a behavioural model that states that attachments form because of associations between food, the caregiver and pleasure. This is a rather simplistic view of attachment in human beings, and we looked at two studies that don't support the learning theory.

Schaffer & Emerson found that the babies weren't always attached to the people who fed them - responsiveness and interaction were more important. Harlow's monkeys showed us that even non-human primates prefer comfort to just purely being fed.

Today's powerpoints are here and here.

Don't forget the MOCK EXAM: Friday 16th January, P3 and P4. Questions on Memory, Stress and Research Methods. 

The cognitive interview & strategies for memory improvement

Today we finished the memory topic with a look at the cognitive interview (ppt here) and strategies to improve memory (students completed mind maps on these- the material is on P.38 of your textbook.

Important announcements:

ESSAY - Due Wednesday 7th January. 'Outline and evaluate research into the effects of age of witness on accuracy of eyewitness testimony (6+6)'

MOCK EXAM - Friday 16th January. You will have a paper on memory and research methods, plus a paper on stress. 

M

Eyewitness testimony

Today we looked at a practical application of memory - whether or not our memories can be relied on or not - and the implications of this in court. Leading questions are one factor that can seriously alter people's memory for events, and we looked at Loftus & Palmer (1974) in detail. You need to know their aims, procedures, findings and conclusions and also some evaluation. The ppt is here.

We also looked at other factors that influence eyewitness testimony, namely schemas, age, anxiety and the reality or not of the situation. The ppt for this section is here. The sheet that you filled in on age & EWT is here.

We will have a progress test in two weeks time on EWT so your homework is to revise. Your other homework is to fill in page 11 of the RM booklets.

The working memory model continued....

Today we carried on with the working memory model -it's such an important topic I wanted to spend a bit more time on it.



Today's ppt is here. The three activities from today were all paper based, so if you were missing see me next lesson for copies.

We also reflected on feedback from the capacity, duration & encoding essays and thought about how to improve our next one. This is: 'Outline and evaluate the working memory model' (12 marks) - due Wednesday 26th November. Remember it should comprise 50% knowledge (AO1) and 50% evaluation (AO2).

Next lesson we'll cover eyewitness testimony plus the cognitive interview.

The Working Memory Model

Apologies for the late post.

On Wednesday we studied the Working Memory Model. This is a model of short-term memory only. We discussed the Central Executive, the Phonological Loop and the Visuo-Spatial sketchpad, and looked at research evidence that supports the different components.



Wednesday's powerpoint is here.

Your homework over half-term is to complete the mini-projects that we started in class today. The title is 'Does articulatory suppression eliminate the word-length effect?'. Write-ups are to be done individually, and must follow a standard layout - the sheet that explains how to do this is here.

We will also have a short progress test in our next lesson (Wed 12th Nov) on the MSM and WMM.

The multi-store model of memory

Today we put all our previous knowledge about capacity, duration and encoding together in the multi-store model of memory. We discussed sensory memory, and then the advantages (easy to study/intuitive/commonsense/accounts for some research findings) and disadvantages (reductionist/doesn't account for different types of info) of the model. Supporting evidence for the MSM comes from Glanzer & Cunitz (the serial position curve), brain imaging research and evidence from brain-injured patients, eg HM and Clive Wearing.

Today's powerpoint is here.

I also set an essay, this is due in on WEDNESDAY 22ND OCTOBER.

The title is 'Give a brief account of the differences between STM and LTM, and consider the extent to which research supports the distinction between them' (12 marks). A suggested essay plan is here.