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Running head: Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychology

Psychology/Child and Adolescent

Psychology

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Module: Cognitive Psychology

Author: David Smith

Cognitive Psychology

I Cognitive Psychology
A. fStudy fof fcognitive fpsychology fprovides fcore fmaterial ffor fan
funderstanding fof fother faspects fof fthe fdiscipline. F
B. Cognitive fprocesses, fincluding fthought fand fmental frepresentations,
funderpin four feveryday fbehavior fin fa fvariety fof fways. F
C. A fcontemporary fstudy fof fcognitive fpsychology fis fconcerned fwith
fthinking fand flanguage, fthe fprocesses fof fattention fand fperception,
fmemory fand frelated fcentral ffunctions. F
The ffield fhas frecently fspawned fa fsub-discipline fof fcognitive fneuroscience
fwhich finterfaces fthe ffield fwith fbiology fand fneuropsychology. f

Researchers fstudying fattention fhave flong fbeen finterested fin fhow fhumans fare
fable fto fattend fto fa fparticular fstimulus fat fthe fexpense fof fattending fto fothers.
fDebates fhave farisen fconcerning fhow fthis fprocess fis faccomplished. fSome
ftheories fhold fthat fdistracting finformation fis fsimply ffiltered fout fbefore
fextensive fprocessing fcan foccur, fothers fpostulate fthat fattentional fprocesses
fattenuate fthe fmental frepresentations fof fthe fstimuli fdeemed fmost fimportant.
fStill fother ftheories fargue fthat fin faddition fto fthe fattenuating feffects fof
fattentional fprocesses, frepresentations fof fpotentially fdistracting finformation fget
fadditional fprocessing fas fwell, fresulting fin frepresentations fthat fhave funique
fqualities f(May, fKane f& fHasher, f1995). fFor fexample, fthe fphenomenon fknown
fas fnegative fpriming f fslowed fresponding fto fa fstimulus fthat fhas fpreviously
fbeen fencountered fas firrelevant for fas fa fdistractor f fhas fbeen fexplained fby
fhypothesizing fthat frepresentations fof fdistracting fstimuli for fconcepts fcan fbe
finhibited fto fa fsub-baseline flevel fof factivation. f

Module: Cognitive Psychology

Author: David Smith

Cognitive Psychology

II Working Memory
A. Evidence fhas fbeen faccumulating fthat fsuggests fthat findividual
fdifferences fin fworking fmemory fspan fmay fplay fa frole fin fthe
fattentional fprocesses fthat fsome ftheories finvoke fto fexplain fnegative
fpriming. F
B. A fnumber fof fstudies fhave ffound fa frelationship fbetween fthe fsize fof
fworking fmemory fspan fand fdistractibility. fConway, fTuholski, fShisler,
fand fEngle f(1999), ffor fexample, fdid fnot fobserve fnegative fpriming fin fa
fletter fidentification ftask ffor fparticipants fwith fa flow fworking fmemory
fcapacity f(as findicated fby fa flow fscore fon fthe foperation fspan). F
C. Negative fpriming fwas fnot fobserved ffor fhigh fworking fmemory fcapacity
fparticipants fwhen fthey fwere fgiven fa fmemory fload fto fretain. fTipper
fand fBaylis f(1987) falso ffound fa fthat findividuals fwho fscored flow fon
fthe fCognitive fFailures fQuestionnaire f(indicating fmany fdaily fcognitive
ffailures) falso fdid fnot fshow fany fnegative fpriming feffects.
The fcurrent fstudy ffurther fexplored fthe frelationship fbetween fworking fmemory
fspan fand fnegative fpriming. fA flexical fdecision ftask fwas fused fto fmeasure
fnegative fpriming, fand fthe foperation fspan ftask fwas fused fas fa fmeasure fof
fworking fmemory fcapacity. fIt fwas fpredicted fthat findividuals fscoring fhigh fon
fthe foperation fspan ftask fwould fshow flarger fnegative fpriming feffects fthan
findividuals fscoring flow fon fthe foperation fspan ftask. fLonger-term feffects fof
fselective fprocessing fwere ftested fwith fa fpicture-naming ftask.

Module: Cognitive Psychology

Author: David Smith

Cognitive Psychology

References
Conway, A. R. A., Cowan, N., Bunting, M. F., Therriault, D. J., &
Minkoff, S. R. B. (2002). A latent variable analysis of working memory
capacity, short-term memory capacity, processing speed, and
general fluid intelligence. Intelligence, 30, 163-183.
Engle, R. W., Cantor, J., & Carullo, J. (1992). Individual differences
in working memory and comprehension: A test of four hypotheses.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory,
& Cognition, 18, 972-992.
Engle, R. W., Nations, J. K., & Cantor, J. (1990). Word knowledge
and working memory capacity. Journal of Educational Psychology,
82, 799-804.
Engle, R. W., Tuholski, S. W., Laughlin, J. E., & Conway, A. R. A.
(1999). Working memory, short-term memory and general fluid intelligence:
A latent-variable approach. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
General, 128, 309-331.
Finn, P. R. (2002). Motivation, working memory, and decision making:
A cognitive-motivational theory of personality vulnerability to alcoholism.
Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 1, 183-205.
Kane, M. J., Bleckley, M. K., Conway, A. R. A., & Engle, R. W.
(2001). A controlled-attention view of working-memory capacity.
Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 169-183.
Kane, M. J., & Engle, R. W. (2003). Working-memory capacity and
the control of attention: The contributions of goal neglect, response
competition, and task set to Stroop interference. Journal of Experimental
Psychology: General, 132, 47-70.

Module: Cognitive Psychology

Author: David Smith