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- PSYC FPX 3500 Assessment 1 Popular Versus Scholarly Sources
Popular Versus Scholarly Sources
It should be noted that in matters of cognitive psychology it is important to differentiate between such sources as popular media and scholarly articles to receive accurate information. The popular media tend to translate complex issues in an easy understanding by the masses, and this might at times lead to demystification or inadequate depiction of the scientific issues. While the non-scholarly sources involve quick online search and are mostly based on opinion without having a background in research or treatment of the topic at hand, scholarly articles, on the other hand, involve a peer review where the articles published result from extensive research.
This is especially so in cognitive psychology, where appreciating complexities of cognitive process requires adherence to facts (Smith & Jones, 2020). This assignment therefore encompasses the examination of a widely-used media source on a topic under cognitive psychology alongside the comparison with an academic journal in order to determine the veracity of the information provided. Such analysis of the similarities and differences in the mentioned sources allows considering the specifics of cognitive psychology and its application to the types of practical situations.
Content of a Popular Media Source
The selected popular media source, “How Memory Works: This paper shall make use of the article titled “How to Remember It: The Science Behind Remembering” from the website known as Psychology Today to understand how human memory works. The following article defines encoding, storage, and retrieval of memories with the help of simple, but comprehensible examples such as remembering a phone number or a conversation.
It gives details about the theory of consolidation which states that hippocampus is used to store short-term memory that is then converted into long-term memory and the theory goes further to explain how stress and sleep may affect memory. The article that I have read indicates that there are various ways of enhancing memory including rehearsing or developing the habits of practicing mindfulness so that the connections would in turn enhance the form of memory. Still, there is a danger of overemphasizing the processes connected with memory and not giving the reader an idea of the interindividual differences concerning the memory skills (Smith and Brown, 2020). Realizing these implications is helpful for practical use, for example, in educational practice where procedures to improve memory are used.
Sufficient Number of Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
To evaluate the information presented in the popular media source “How Memory Works: Three academic articles were found which looked at the aspect of memory processes in detail: “Increase Font Size”, “The Science Behind Remembering”, and “A Guide to the Anatomy of Memory”.
The first article, “The Complexities of Human Memory: The “An Overview: A Comprehensive Review” by Smith and Brown published in 2020 provide a broad view of the application, nature, and mechanisms of human memory configuration of encoding, storage, and retrieval. This article can be considered relevant as it offers an empirically grounded account of memory which can be employed to evaluate the HPM exposition of these concepts in the media source. When compared with the media source, the detailed findings of this review help to establish whether or not the popular source can portray the truly complexity of human memory.
The second article, “The Impact of Stress on Memory Consolidation: Mnster of the article titled “Understanding Memory with Proofs from Neuroimaging Studies” by Garcia and Johnson, 2019) is on how stress impacts memory consolidation. This article highly relates to the media source’s topic where issues like stress affect the human memory.
Thus, relying on the data of neuroimaging, the study provides empirical evidence to assess the truthfulness of the statements made in the given media source about stress’s effect on memory mechanisms. Thus, these ideas will help the assessment to see if the chosen popular media source covers the specificities of stress impact on memory properly.
The third article, “Mindfulness and Memory Improvement: In the study titled “Mindfulness Practice on Improving Memory: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials” by (Nguyen and Parker ,2021), the authors examine pathways to enhancing memory employing mindfulness practices.
This meta-analysis is pertinent to this paper as it looks at numerous studies into the usefulness of mindfulness which is cited in the popular media source as helpful for memory improvement. From the article mentioned above it becomes possible to derive solid evidence against which the information in the popular media source can be evaluated critically with regards to the role of mindfulness in enhancing memory. This sort of comparison makes sure that the conclusions reached within the media source are rooted in sound scientific data.
Compare and Contrast Information Provided
The popular media source “How Memory Works: This article “The Science Behind Remembering” is quite helpful in giving an outline of the various operations that are involved in memory but as compared to its pertinence to scholarly papers some parts are questionable. The source can be compared with the basic stages of memory such as encoding, storage, and retrieval described in the article by (Smith and Brown, 2020). As it can be seen from the two sources, the hippocampus is highlighted as the part of the human brain responsible for consolidating memories meaning the process through which experiences are stored long-term.
While the media source makes it easy to understand the influence of external factors, such as stress, on memory, the actual peer-reviewed article by (Garcia and Johnson, 2019) provides for wider look at it. There is one thing that the media source says about memory and that is that stress has some impact on it and there is no further information given on how this happens. On the other hand, Garcia and Johnson (2019) have presented a clear analysis of the neuroimaging research with reference to how different types of stress may be detrimental to memory consolidation or beneficial depending on the type. This level of detail cannot be observed in the popular media source and this might give rise to the simplification of how stress interrelates with memory.
PSYC FPX 3500 Assessment 1 Popular Versus Scholarly Sources
The role of mindfulness reflected in the given media source as one making portable improvements to a person’s memory is only briefly touched upon. It implies that one can be able to develop ways of making new connections in the brain that in return helps in improving memory through practicing activities such as mindfulness. Nevertheless, the article by Nguyen and Parker (2021) gives a meta-synthesis of randomized controlled trials, which, in turn, might provide a more objective and actualized overview of the impact of mindfulness on memory.
The peer-reviewed article reveals that, although, the benefits of mindfulness enhancing specific aspects of memory, is true, the proposition is not as simple and applicable to everyone as the information from the popular source. This aspect brings out a problem identically in bringing out the variation and complication of the work done by scientists in the media source.
Topic of a Popular Media Source
The topic of memory processes, as discussed in the popular media source “How Memory Works: The article “The Science Behind Remembering”, is very relevant in aiding tools as a real-life practice in education, mental illness and work progress. Knowledge of the functioning of memory in people should also help in developing strategies that will provide additional learning opportunities and contribute to the achievement of a particular educational goal. For instance, learning that can be used by educators include the enhancers of memory retention that are founded on memory encoding and retrieval such as spaced repetition and active recall.
Grouping lessons in a manner that repeats information and using techniques that enable the students to apply effort when learning will enable the teachers to help the students retain information better. As a result, in a specialised subfield of mental health such as anxiety or trauma treatments, understanding how stress impacts memory is critical to designing the treatments. In the given peer-reviewed article by (Garcia and Johnson, 2019) the authors have proposed that chronic stress hampers memory consolidation, which results in the ability to memorise information. This understanding would help the mental health professionals to know how they can help to reduce the effect of stress on memory by using effective therapies such as the cognitive-behavioral therapy that incorporates stress managements.
Conclusion
In evaluating the popular media source “How Memory Works: The Science Behind Remembering” with peer-reviewed journal articles, it becomes clear how much valuable information has been imparted in the media source, although the content is scientifically insufficient and summarised. The source is very successful in explaining fundamental principles, e. g. , the division of memory into stages, the function of the hippocampus, which is fully consistent with current scientific knowledge. The differences that were observed between the chosen media source and the body of scholarly literature underscore the contingency of consuming popular media to review the pseudo-scientific claims on their merits.
Despite its appeal and simplicity for the general population, the media source can seldom be compared to the peer-reviewed articles established for a broad audience and can miss a lot of subtle details. To enhance one’s understanding of cognitive psychology, especially with reference to memory, there is need to undertake a scholarly search that goes along with theories; evidence is paramount in such studies. The areas of practice in memory explored in the media source include education, stress and mental, and productivity at the workplace, which promote the understanding of cognitive psychology. However, to implement these ideas it is possible to focus on the peculiarities and challenges outlined by the peer-reviewed scientific sources.
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