Describe the cognitive processes required when preparing for examinations

IntroductionThe aim of the present wall writing was to investigate and establish the cognitive paradees mixed in the prep ardness for exams. The paper covers the circumstance of cognitive psychology, discussing the key out faculties of cognitive affect. It therefore goes on to discuss the specific faculties of trouble and fund, as these were both fundamental appliances include in the literature when taking into news report the learning and memorisation of randomness. Discussion close to the cognitive processes complicated in of importtenance and w atomic number 18housing is incorporated in to the paper, and suggestions on how students can use cognitive techniques to set up the per markance of these cognitive processes whilst preparing for exams are subsumed. The paper concludes with the suggestion that the on the job(p) keeping prototype as designd by Baddeley & plosive consonant (1974) is the main cognitive process involved in exam cookery.The term cogniti on is derived from the Latin word cognoscere which when translated in to the English language, de nones the subject matter to know. Hence, cognitive psychology is touch on with the scientific study of homophile cognition. Processes such(prenominal) as perception, learning, judgement, conclusion devising and storehouse are some of the mechanisms that constitute as cognitive ability. The fundamental aim of questioners in the field of cognitive psychology is to bear witness how privates acquire and apply knowledge and reading to and from their environments (Lu & Dosher, 2007). Knowledge finished perception is deliver the goods by stylus of the five senses where varied positions of the entropy such as form and motion represent various divergent features of the stimuli (Livingstone & Hubel, 1988 Ungerleider & Mishkin, 1982 Julesz, 1971). The purpose of learning is to improve the reception of the private to their environment (Kandel, 1976 Estes, 1969). Thus, doneout th e psychological literature on cognitive processing, stress has been ground on the effect of prior experience and procedural knowledge on an persons performance (Roediger, 1990). The anxiety break of the cognitive process get bys training so that the principal operates efficiently without proper overloaded. This is done by dint of selective processing, whereby veritable pieces of culture are elected for processing. Additionally, the attendance faculty whitethorn also manage the in slay of simultaneous pieces of instruction by dividing and distributing the resources applied to them (Broadbent, 1957 Posner, 1980 Treisman, 1969). The judgement and decision fashioning faculty of cognitive processing is take for the individual to effectively perform a voluntary behaviour. The choice that the individual makes whitethorn be driven by tacit or explicit judgement and selection, implicating that the individual whitethorn have a advised or unconscious cause for their decisi on (von Neumann & Morgenstern 1944 Luce, 1959). Yet, the virtually developed aspect of cognitive psychology and the study of cognitive processes is the faculty of recollection board. Memory studies place grand emphasis on investigating the methods in which memories are acquired, stored and retrieved. look into provides indication that the mental ability of store is divided to perform separate duties such as retaining reading near the environment, procedures, skills and running the working retention mechanism (Cowan, 1995 Dosher, 1999). The essay at go on endeavours to discuss which cognitive processes are employed during preparation for an exam, with specific references to the caution and holding functions of the brain, as these are the ii functions that go hand in hand when retaining and recalling information (Cherry, 2014). The cleverness to process information selectively through attention, and retain information in a way in which is accessible through the working storehouse are two imperative aspects of cognitive capacity. While license indicates that attention plays little usage in the maintenance of information encoded in the retentivity (Fougnie, 2008), it has been suggested that there are strong link between the working repositing and attention faculties of the cognitive mind during the encoding and role process of knowledge acquisition (Cherry 2014 Fougnie, 2008). theory- base instances of the working memory commonly some(prenominal)ize a role for attention. However, between these antithetic postures, the exact role for attention has not been agreed on and remains mistily unclear, thus debates about which processing percentage point that attentional selection add ups (Fougnie, 2008). The most wide accepted model of memory is the working Memory molding proposed by Baddeley and Hitch in 1974. In this model, attention is the intermediator between sensory memory and the rally administrator, where sub functions such as t he phonological store and the visuospatial sketch pad, two presently term memory stores, capture perfectly term auditory and ocular information respectively. These are known as the striver systems and provide indicate as to how serviceman are able to multitask. According to the working memory model, the information from these slave systems are then transferred back to the central executive whereby they are encoded in the long-term memory (Fougnie, 2008). These findings provide an outline to which cognitive processes occur during exam preparation, where students attempt to retain information that they will later on retrieve. Yet, nurture research suggests that learning and retaining information for exams may be a to a greater extent obscure procedure than those outlined by memory models (Hill, 2009). Ebbinghaus (1885) investigated the method in which the retention and forgetting of information occur. The establishment of the forgetting curve provided perceptivity into how m emories propagate over a period of condemnation (Groome, Brace, Dewart, Edgar, Edgar, Esgate, Kemp, Pike & Stafford, 2006). Similarly, Bartletts figment Recall experiment (1932) lent insight to the notion that information is unavoidable to hold semantic value in regularise to be remembered (Groome, et al., 2006). Thus, according to Hill (2009), the most effective ways for students to memorise information for their exams is through repeating, polish and organisation. To further cypher on the suggestions of Ebbinghaus (1885), Bartlett (1932) and Hill (2009), researchers proposed several studies in sustenance. Ebbinghaus (1885) further stated that in enounce to avoid forgetting and enhance memory, repetition was significantly valuable. Making use of the minds voice, the phonological loop, the oscillation of learning and accurately recalling strengthens the memory, thus reservation exam preparation easier as slight time will be required to re-learn the material, hence why re vising for exams more than once improves recall (Hill, 2009). Moreover, in opt of Bartlett (1932), it has been found that information possessing semantic value is recalled more efficiently (Craik & Tulving, 1975 Ley, 1978). It may be hypothesised that the explanation of is deduced to the attention function of the working memory selecting meanful information in order to enhance the individuals performance based on prior learning and experience. Based on these findings, mnemonics may be suggested as an effective fiat tool, since associating information with vivid visual imagery and words has proven heighten recall (Bower, 1972). Furthermore, presenting information in a structured manner in which meaning is conveyed has been found to facilitate recall (Hill, 2009). By grouping or ordering materials in an organised manner, the individual will take advantage of the minds actual method of representing information semantically, thus making the information easier to encode and retrieve through memory. For ex good, Ley et al (1978) found that presenting medical information to patients in an organised and structured way improved their recall up to 25%. Thus, it is suggested that students adequately organise their learning materials in a semantic manner in order to prepare for their exams in the most resourceful way. Although the literature has provided rich evidence to have the notion that the memory and attention faculties play a major role in exam preparation, there are also relevant limitations in quest of addressing. The working memory model has been criticised as being invalid, as when new studies propose findings that do not fit with the stream working memory model, the working memory model is modified in order to accommodate the new findings. This makes it difficult to extrapolate the model or replace it with a new one, and indicates that any research findings based on the working memory model are void (Neath & Nairne , 1995). Moreover, the findings of Eb binghaus (1885) have been questioned, as the subject of his study was himself. Without any documental findings, researchers believe the results of the forgetting curve to be unreliable (Hill, 2009). Despite these criticisms, later research based on both the working memory model and the forgetting curve has successfully show new findings on the cognitive processes involved in memory (Groome, et al., 2006).In conclusion, the findings in the literature have lent ample support to the notion that exam preparation heavily relies on the cognitive processes of attention and memory. The literature has indicated that these two faculties work jointly in order to achieve long-term memory. Studies on the working(a) Memory Model have identified the specific roles of the two cognitive processes, and the literature has provided further support on how the working memory model is vital in exam revision through detailed descriptions of these functions. Studies on memory retention and forgetting h ave implicated that repetition, elaboration and organisation are the key skills that an individual needs to employ whist preparing for exams in order to maintain an optimal memory capacity for the revised information. Regardless of the limitations associated with the research done on memory, the working memory model still stands as a strong representative for the cognitive process involved in exam preparation.ReferencesBaddeley, A.D. & Hitch, G.J. (1974). Working memory, in G.H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of eruditeness and Motivation Advances in Research and Theory. Vol. VIII. 47-90, youthful York Academic Press. Bartlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering. Cambridge Cambridge University Press.Bower, G.H. (1972). Mental imagery and associatory learning. In L. Gregg (Ed.), Cognition in development and Memory, 51-88. Broadbent, D. E. (1957) A mechanical model for human attention and immediate memory. psychological Review, 64. 205-215.Cherry, K. 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