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AQA A-Level Psychology > 02 Memory > Flashcards

02 Memory Flashcards

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1
Q

Define memory.

A

Memory is the process of retaining information and accessing this information when needed.

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2
Q

What is the sensory register?

A

A store which contains unprocessed impressions of information retrieved through the senses

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3
Q

What is the STM?

A

Temporary store for information received through the SR

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4
Q

What is the LTM?

A

Permanent store holding limitless amount of information for long periods of time (lifetime)

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5
Q

Describe the coding, capacity and duration of the SR.

A

CODING: SR is modality specific so each sensory store codes information differently e.g. iconic, auditory

CAPACITY: unlimited

DURATION: 250 ms

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6
Q

Describe the coding, capacity and duration of the STM.

A

CODING: it’s coded acoustically - info sorted according to its sound

CAPACITY: 7+/- 2 units of information

DURATION: 18-30 seconds

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7
Q

Describe the coding, capacity and duration of the LTM.

A

CODING: coded semantically - information sorted by their meanings

CAPACITY: unlimited

DURATION: potentially lifetime

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8
Q

Outline a study that supports the coding of the STM.

A

Baddeley (1966)

  • 4 lists of words (similar sounds, dissimilar sounds, similar meanings, dissimilar meanings)
  • Tested pps. to recall the words
  • Worse recall with A compared to B, no diff in C and D
  • STM is stored by sounds so similar sounding words got muddled and were more difficult to recall
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9
Q

Outline & evaluate a study to support the coding of the LTM.

A

Baddeley (1966)

  • repeated experiment after 20 minutes
  • Tested the pps recall
  • Recall of list C was worse than D
  • A and B recall was similar
  • LTM information is stored by meaning
  • Similar meaning words get muddled and thus recall is worse

ADV: lab experiment, easy to replicate and test for reliability, control over extraneous var.
DIS: low ecological validity, lists were artificial, doesn’t apply to real life

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10
Q

Outline and evaluate a study to support the capacity of the STM.

A

Jacobs (1887)

  • Digit span test
  • Gave pps several sequences of digits or letters and asked them to repeat the sequence immediately
  • Sequences got longer by one item each time
  • On average 9.3 digits and 7.3 letters (7 +/- 2)
  • new incoming info DISPLACES old info if capacity is exceeded
  • five words = five letters so CHUNKING helps remember more

ADV: first to ack that STM capacity improves with age
DIS: Very old study, may not meet today’s scientifically rigorous standard, validity in question

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11
Q

Outline a study to support the duration of STM.

A

Peterson & Peterson (1959)

  • Nonsense trigrams (three random consonants)
  • asks pps to count back from 100 in 3s (prevents maintenance rehearsal)
  • After 3 secs: 90 % accuracy
  • After 9 secs: 20%
  • After 18 secs: 2%
  • Exceeding duration, info is lost to decay

ADV: Standardised procedures, fixed timings to count back, eliminated noise and other factors that affect memory, high level of control
DIS: Findings caused by interference rather than differences in duration (confusion with initial trigrams)

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12
Q

Outline a study to support LTM duration.

A

Bahrick (1979)

  • 400 pps of varying age
  • Photo recognition test with 50 images (if they’re classmates, and their name)
  • free recall: 60% names within 15 yrs of leaving school; 30% after 48 yrs
  • Conclude that duration is a lifetime but requires retrieval cues to access this information

ADV: higher ecological validity than Peterson & Peterson - uses meaningful information that can apply to real everyday life
DIS: Difficult to control extraneous var. (pps who are in touch after school/ looking in yearbook since they left)

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13
Q

Define the Multi-store Model of Memory (Atkinson & Shiffrin)

A

A memory model which explains how information flows through the three structures: sensory register; short term memory; long term memory.

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14
Q

Describe steps in the MSM

A
  1. Environmental stimuli enters the SR
  2. If information in the SR is attended to, it’s acoustically coded into the STM
  3. Information is kept in STM through maintenance rehearsal
  4. Information can be elaboratively rehearsed (organised in meaningful way) to store in LTM
  5. Rehearsed info is semantically coded into LTM
  6. Information is retrieved first to the STM then recalled
  7. Sometimes we need retrieval cues to retrieve information from the LTM
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15
Q

Evaluate MSM

A

ADV 1: HM

  • Patient had his hippocampus removed in a surgery to treat his epilepsy
  • This means he was unable to code new LTMs but his STM was unaffected.
  • THUS LTM and STM are separate stores.

ADV 2: KF

  • Got into an accident and the capacity of his STM was reduced to 1 or 2 units.
  • Yet his LTM was normal - supports idea of separate STM and LTM
  • (*poor STM for verbal not visual suggests more than one type of STM, ALSO if STM damaged it should be difficult to retrieve from LTM)

DIS 1: Over simplified

  • One type of STM and LTM
  • Research suggests several types of each

DIS 2: Cannot explain multi-tasking

  • Only one type of STM = not possible to multitask
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16
Q

Outline the working memory model

A

A model of memory where STM was an active store holding several pieces of information while they are being worked on while LTM is a passive store that only holds previously learned material to be used by the STM when needed

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17
Q

What is the central executive

A
  • drives the working memory system
  • allocates data to other components aka slave systems
  • deals with cognitive tasks: reasoning, decision making, problem solving
  • allocates attentional capacity to tasks
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18
Q

Describe the phonological loop

A

A component in the working memory model tat deals with spoken and written material

  • phonological store (inner ear): linked to speech perception and holds information in speech-based form
  • articulatory loop (inner voice): linked to speech production; allows to rehearse and store verbal info from the phonological store for maintenance rehearsal
19
Q

Outline the purpose of the visuo-spatial sketchpad

A

Stores and processes information in visual or spatial form and for navigation (inner eye)

visual cache: store material about form and colour
inner scribe: handles spatial relationships

20
Q

What is the Episodic buffer?

A

Baddeley (2000) added a general storage component to hold information from the slave systems and the central executive

21
Q

Evaluate the WMM.

A

ADV 1: Practical applications

  • In improving understanding of how people learn to read
  • Helps psychologists assist people with dyslexia who struggle with reading

ADV 2: KF

  • STM capacity was reduced to 1 or 2 units
  • However he was able to recall visual information better than verbal information which supports idea of different types of STM

DIS: Vague + Untestable

  • Central executive is vague and untestable
  • EVR had a cerebral tumour removed
  • Good reasoning skills (intact central executive) but weak decision making.
  • CE is more complex than WWM claims
22
Q

Outline episodic long term memory.

A

An explicit (conscious) type of long term memory for events e.g. first day of school, family holiday etc.

  • specific details of event
  • context of event
  • emotions felt during event

STORE: hippocampus

23
Q

Describe semantic long term memory

A

This is explicit (conscious) memory of facts and general knowledge about the world e.g. capital of England, functions of objects, mathematics and language etc.

  • begin as episodic memories (we acquire knowledge based on experiences)

STORE: temporal lobe

23
Q

Describe what procedural memory is.

A

A type of implicit (unconscious) long term memory concerned with motor skills and actions e.g. tying shoelaces or learning to drive etc.

  • acquired through practice and repetition
  • more resistance to forgetting and amnesia
  • we are unaware of them as they have become automatic (more attention to other tasks) and are unavailable to conscious inspection

STORE: cerebellum

23
Q

Evaluate long term memory

A

ADV: Amnesia research

  • Patients with amnesia are unable to store new episodic or semantic memories
  • But procedural is largely unaffected

ADV 2: Brain scans

  • Recalling different types of info (events, knowledge or motor skills) causes different areas of the brain to be active on an fMRI

ADV 3: Clive Wearing

+ He has a damaged hippocampus due to a viral infection
+ So he has no episodic memory and cannot form new semantic memories
+ But procedural is unaffected as he can play the piano but can’t learn new pieces = supports three types of LTM

DIS: Low population validity

  • Research is typically based on individual isolated cases: Clive, HM
  • Inappropriate to assume everyone’s LTM forms in the same way and generalise the findings to the wider population
24
Q

Define forgetting

A

Loss of ability to recall something they have previously learnt

25
Q

Outline interference theory and types of interference.

A

Theory claims that forgetting occurs when two lots of information become confused in memory
- more likely when information is similar
- less likely if there is a gap in learning

RETROACTIVE = new learning affects recall of old
PROACTIVE = old learning affects recall of new

26
Q

Evaluate interference theory.

A

ADV 1: Research Support

  • Nonsense trigrams and counting back from 100 in 3s before recall at different intervals (3s, 9s, 18s)
  • Pps remembered those presented first
  • First trigrams interfered with the later trigrams
  • Thus PROACTIVE interference

ADV 2: Practical Applications

  • Students should be made aware of this so they do not revise similar content at the same time in order to reduce chance of interference

DIS 1: Not valid

  • Not a true explanation for forgetting
  • Information is not actually overwritten and is still in the LTM

DIS 2: Retrieval failure

  • Retrieval failure is a better explanation
  • Divers recalling word lists on land and under water
  • Words recalled and learnt in the same context were better remembered
  • Shows support for retrieval cues
27
Q

Outline retrieval failure explanation for forgetting

A
  • Forgetting occurs in the absence of appropriate retrieval cues
  • when info is stored, relevant data is stored with it
  • if retrieval cues are not available at the time of recall, it appears as if you have forgotten the information
28
Q

Outline context and state cues

A

Context cues: the environment in which the material is learnt can act as a type of retrieval cue - context cues

state cues: an individual’s mood can affect their recall; if in similar physical state at recall as the time the info was coded, recall is better facilitated

29
Q

Evaluate retrieval failure theory of forgetting.

A

ADV1: Godden and Baddeley

  • Divers asked to recall word lists on land and underwater
  • They found that when recall and coding (learning) of information occurred in the same environment
  • Recall of the words was better as they were provided with appropriate CONTEXT-dependent clues

ADV 2: Darley et al

  • PPS who hid money in a large warehouse under the influence of cannabis
  • Were more likely to recall the location of the money correctly when under that same drugged state

DIS 1: Not strong

  • Retrieval cues are not actually that strong
  • Very often we learn info in a different context to when it is recalled
  • e.g. we study for our GCSEs in classrooms but we are expected to recall information in a hall
30
Q

Define eye witness testimony

A

eye witness testimony is the evidence supplied to court by people who have seen a crime based on their memory of the incident (identification of perpetrator or details of crime)

31
Q

Outline leading questions as a factor affecting eyewitness testimony.

A

Leading questions: questions phrased in a way to encourage the witness to give a certain answer

  • Response-bias exp. suggests it doesn’t affect memory but the answer the person chooses to give
  • Substitution-bias exp. suggests it distorts our memories as they contain misleading information
32
Q

Outline the procedure and findings of a study relates to leading questions affecting eyewitness testimony.

A

Loftus & Palmer
PROCEDURE:

  • 45 American Students
  • view film of a car crash
  • asked to estimate speed of vehicle with different verbs “smashed”, “contacted”

FINDINGS:

  • “contacted” = 31 mph, “smashed” = 41 mph
  • a week later, asked about broken glass (that wasn’t present)
  • “smashed” = 32%
  • control = 12%
33
Q

Evaluate leading questions

A

ADV 1: Highly controlled

  • Loftus & Palmer study is a lab experiment
  • Highly controlled; reduced chance of extraneous variables
  • Increased validity
  • Easy to replicate and assess for reliability

DIS 1: Ecological validity

  • Lacks ecological validity
  • Pps. only watched a video of the car crash
  • People actually present would have a stronger emotional connections and may be less susceptible to leading questions

DIS 2: Pop validity

  • Lacks population validity
  • All participants were American and students;
  • Students are typically less experienced as drivers so are not good at estimating speed.
  • Unable to generalise this to other populations (older = more experienced. = less susc.to leading qs)
34
Q

Outline post-event discussion as a factor affecting eyewitness testimony.

A

memory contamination: the memory of an event can be contaminated through discussing events with others due to misinformation
memory conformity: desire for social approval can lead co-witnesses to reach a consensus view of what happened

35
Q

Describe in detail, a study supporting post-event discussion as a factor affecting eyewitness testimony.

A

Gabbert et al (2003)

  • PPS in pairs to watch different videos of the same event so they each got unique details of event
  • Exp. condition = encouraged to discuss event before individual recall
  • Control condition = did not discuss before recall
  • 71% who discussed went on to mistakenly recall details they could not see themselves but they learnt within their discussion
36
Q

Evaluate the study linked to post-event discussion

A

ADVANTAGE:

  • High population validity
  • Two different populations: students and adults were compared
  • No significant differences between groups = conclude PED affects younger and older adults in the same way

DISADVANTAGE

  • Lacks ecological validity
  • Pps knew they were part of an experiment so they are likely to pay more attentions to details in the video than they would in real life = findings do not reflect real life where witnesses are exposed to less info
37
Q

Describe anxiety as a factor affecting eyewitness testimony.

A
  • Anxiety = state of apprehension and fear resulting from threatening situation
  • High levels can impair physical and psychological functioning
  • weapon focus effect = the presence of a weapon in a crime can increase anxiety and therefore impair a witness’s memory if the crime
  • witness will often focus on what is the most threatening aspect in the crime - the weapon
38
Q

Outline a study that supports anxiety as a factor affecting eyewitness testimonies

A

Loftus (1979)

  • Exp condition: pps overhear a heated argument, hear sounds of furniture overturned and broken glass, man emerged with letter opener covered in blood
  • Control: pps overhear discussion about lab equipment failure, man emerges when pen and grease all over his hands
  • Then asked to identify the man out of 50 pictures
  • 33% in exp. recognised the photo;
  • 49% in control
  • former focused on letter opener rather than the face as it poses a threat to them
39
Q

Evaluate anxiety as a factor affecting eyewitness testimony

A

ADV 1: Research Evidence

  • Two conditions:
  • One watched a violent film with boy shot in the head
  • Other non-violent film of a crime
  • Less accurate recall with violent film compared to non-violent

DIS 1 : Ecological validity

  • Lacks ecological validity
  • Participants were aware that something may happen as they are in the reception area outside a lab
  • Affects judgement and validity of study

DIS 2: Ethics

  • Violates ethical guidelines
  • Lack of informed consent, psychological harm, passive deception, (past knife crime history?)

DIS 3: Individual differences

  • There are differences in how anxiety affects memory
  • For some anxiety improves memory.
  • 110 real life eyewitnesses; bank robberies
  • Victims were more accurate than onlookers in description of bank robberers
40
Q

Describe the stages of the cognitive interview.

A

1. Context reinstatement: mentally create image of situation e.g. weather, environment, emotional state etc. (acts as retrieval cues to improve recall)
2. Report everything: encouraged to recall all details about the event, even unimportant as they may highlight details that trigger other memories
3. Recall from changed perspective: Mentally recreate situation from different povs. Promotes holistic view and reduces influence of schemas
4. Recall in reverse order: verifies the accuracy of the witness’s account, reduces possibility of influence by schemas

41
Q

What are features of the enhanced cognitive interview?

A
  • Encourage witness to speak slowly and to relax (to reduce anxiety)
  • Avoid distractions
  • Use open-ended questions
  • Offer comments to clarify statements and improve detail
42
Q

Evaluate the cognitive interview.

A

ADV1: Research evidence

  • Study showed pps a video of a simulated crime
  • tested recall using cognitive interview, standard interview and hypnosis
  • CI led to most information being recalled by eyewitnesses

ADV2: Fisher et al

  • Fisher et al; trained real police officers in Miami to conduct cognitive interviews
  • avg of 46% increase in volume of information
  • 90% of info was verified and accurate

DIS 1: Changed perspective

  • Recall from changed perspective misleads witnesses into speculating about the event they witnessed rather than reporting what they actually saw

DIS 2: Expensive + time-consuming

  • Time consuming to implement; uses police time, training and resources

AQA A-Level Psychology (21 decks)

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