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A Level Psychology > 1 - Memory > Flashcards

1 - Memory Flashcards

1
Q

Define cognition.

A

a thought

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2
Q

Define cognitive.

A

to do w thinking

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3
Q

Define memory.

A

process by which we retain info abt events that hve happened in past

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4
Q

Define STM.

A

stores info that we process & recall strght away

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5
Q

Define rehearsal.

A

remembering info so it stays in ur mmry

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6
Q

Define LTM.

A

prmnt memory store

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7
Q

Define retrieval.

A

process of lctng & extrctng strd memories

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8
Q

Define cognitive psychology.

A

hmn bhvr = explnd by undrstndng mntl prcsss to do w bhvr

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9
Q

Define encoding.

A

format in which info = strd in mmry

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10
Q

What are the three stages of memory?

A

ENCODING, STORAGE, RETRIEVAL

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11
Q

Define storage.

A

how mems r kept

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12
Q

Define retrieval.

A

rcll of strd mems

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13
Q

Define capacity.

A

amnt of info u can hold in mmry str

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14
Q

Define duration.

A

lngth of time info can be hld in mmry

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15
Q

Define chunk.

A

bsc unit of info

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16
Q

What is your sensory memory?

A

str of info encdd by stimuli from outsd envrnmnt

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17
Q

What are the 5 stores of sensory memory?

A

iconic, echoic, haptic, gustatory, olfactory

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18
Q

What does the Multi store model of Memory diagram look like?

A

Sensory memory -> STM -> LTM
↓ ↓ ↓
forgetting

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19
Q

How does information move from the sensory memory into the short term memory?

A

by paying attention

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20
Q

How does information move from the short term memory into the long term memory?

A

prolonged/elaborative rehearsal

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21
Q

How does information stay in the STM?

A

maintenance rehearsal

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22
Q

How do you access information from the LTM and put it into your STM?

A

retrieval

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23
Q

What does the Multi store model of memory show?

A

there r 3 different memory stores & each store has a diff. cpcty, duration & way of being encdd

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24
Q

What are the strengths of the MSM?

A

research support - Baddeley showed that coding for STM & LTM is different & thus proving them as separate memory stores. KF also provides evidence for this
influential in the development of the WMM

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25
Q

What are the limitations of the MSM?

A
  • studies that support MSM have low ecological validity due to the nature of experiments
  • KF research suggests there is more than 1 STM store, but this isn’t represented in the MSM model
  • reductionist - there is not enough detail about each store within the MSM
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26
Q

How is information encoded into the short term memory?

A

acoustically

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27
Q

How did Baddeley find out about encoding in the STM?

A

lists of 10 acoustically similar words & 10 semantically similar
prtcpnts were shown orgnl lists & had to recall them from memory in order

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28
Q

What is a strength of Baddeley’s study into memory coding? why

A

identified that there is a clear difference between STM & LTM - leading to the multi store model

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29
Q

What is a limitation of Baddeley’s study into memory coding? why

A

lacks mudane realism - the tasks being carried out were not tasks that people do in their day to day lives, so it is difficult to apply findings

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30
Q

In Baddeley’s STM encoding experiment, what percentage of the accoustically similar words were recalled?

A

10%

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31
Q

What is the capacity of the STM?

A

5-9 (7± 2)

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32
Q

What is the capacity of the LTM?

A

unlimited

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33
Q

What is the duration of the STM?

A

18-30 seconds

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34
Q

What is the duration of the LTM?

A

potentially a lifetime

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35
Q

How did Jacobs find out the capacity of the STM?

A

prtcpnt given no. of digits to recall, if recalled = correct then the researcher will recall 1 more no. of digits until prtcpnt cannot remember order of no.s correctly

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36
Q

What is a strength of Jacob’s study into capacity of STM?

A

there is more research support - Bopp & Verhaeghen (2005) carried out a more controlled version of the study and had the same findings

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37
Q

Who came up with the idea of chunking?

A

Miller

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38
Q

What is a limitation of Jacob’s study into STM capacity?

A

lacks mundane realism - difficult to apply findings when tasks carried out are not normal day-to-day tasks

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39
Q

How did Petersen & Petersen find out the duration of the STM?

A

-stdnts read nonsense trigrams & asked to count bckwrds in 3’s, tstd rcll after retention intervals increasing by 3 secs
- correct recall fades after every 3secs

bckwrd’s in 3’s prvents rehearsal

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40
Q

What is limitation of Petersen & Petersen’s study into STM duration?

A

lacks mundane realism - difficult to apply findings when tasks carried out are not normal day-to-day tasks

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41
Q

What was Bahrick’s study into the duration of the LTM?

A

got ex high school students aged 17-74 to undergo recall tests & photo recognition tests, where ptcps had to name students from their graduate class

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42
Q

What were the results of Bahrick’s study into LTM duration?

A

ptcpnts who graduated:

15 yrs ago - 90% accurate photo recognition
48 yrs ago - 70% photo recognition

15 yrs ago - 60% accurate free recall
48 yrs ago - 30% accurate free recall

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43
Q

What was a strength of Bahrick’s study into LTM duration?

A

high ecological validity - the study was a naturalistic experiment, as the IV was not manipulated by Bahrick
results are more generalisable

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44
Q

What is the duration of the iconic store?

A

0.5 secs

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45
Q

Which sensory store has a longer duration that iconic?

A

echoic

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46
Q

What are the 3 types of long term memory?

A
  1. procedural
  2. episodic
  3. semantic
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47
Q

What is the semantic memory?

A

general world knowledge that we have accumulated throughout our lives
- factual information

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48
Q

What are features of the semantic memory?

A
  • conscious
  • declarative (easy to express in words)
  • often impersonal
  • not time stamped
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49
Q

What is the episodic memory?

A

ability-> recall events from our lives

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50
Q

What are features of episodic memory?

A
  • time stamped
  • several elements involved
  • declarative
  • requires conscious effort
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51
Q

What is the procedural memory?

A

mmry for actions or skills

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52
Q

What are features of procedural memory?

A

rqrs no cnscs effort, non declrtv

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53
Q

What research was done into Molaison & Wearing to evaluate different types of LTM?

A

rvwd evdnc rgrdng lctn of smntc & epsdc mmry

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54
Q

What did researcher found out find in their studies regarding Molaison & Wearing?

A

epsdc mmry = svrly imprd but smntc mmrs were mstly unaffctd

so smntc mmry lctd in LS of prefrontal cortex & epsdc mmry on RS

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55
Q

Who developed the WMM?

A

Baddeley & Hitch

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56
Q

What is different about the WMM compared to MSM?

A

focuses on STM

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57
Q

What happens in the WMM?

A

active processing

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58
Q

What is the central executive?

A

attentional system

59
Q

What does the central executive do?

A

allocates incoming info to attntn & rscs of slave system

60
Q

What is the capacity of the central executive?

A

limited

61
Q

What does the slave systems consist of?

A
  • phonological loop
  • visuo spatial sketchpad
62
Q

What is the role of the phonological loop?

A

hold auditory info (words we hear)

63
Q

What are the 2 subdivisions the phonological loop is split into?

A
  • phonological store
  • articulatory process
64
Q

What is the role of the phonolgical store?

A

stores words we hear

65
Q

What is the role of articulatory process?

A

where maintenance rehearsal happens for auditory info

66
Q

What is the capacity of the articulatory process?

A

2 second loop

67
Q

What is in the articulatory process? What is its function?

A

articulatory control - inner voice

68
Q

What is the role of the visuo spatial sketchpad?

A
  • remembring
  • processing visual patterns & spatial movement
69
Q

What is the capacity of the visuo spatial sketchpad?

A

limited

70
Q

What are the 2 subdivisions of the visuo spatial sketchpad? What are their roles?

A

visual cache - stores visual data eg. patterns & colours
inner scribe - spatial information eg. where objects are

71
Q

What is the episodic buffer?

A

strge cmpnnt of CE

72
Q

What are the 2 roles of the episodic buffer?

A
  • brings PL & VSS togthr by adding time stmp
  • link btwn WMM & LTM
73
Q

What are 2 strengths of the working memory model?

A
  1. provides an explanation for parallel processing
  2. extends work of MSM & explains complexity of STM
74
Q

What are 2 weaknesses of the WMM?

A
  • unclear about what CE is
  • research into WMM using brain-damaged patients, cannot make before & after comparisons, so unclear about whether changes are caused by damage
75
Q

Define primacy.

A

fact of being most important

76
Q

Define recency.

A

fact of being recent

77
Q

How does Baddeley give evidence for WMM? What did this prove?

A

dual task experiments - proved that PL & VSS are seperate

78
Q

How do Shallice & Warrington give evidence for the WMM?

A

KF had a motorbike incident which cause brain injury
KF could process visual info but not auditory
phonological loop damaged?
proves existence of PL

79
Q

How did D’Esposito give evidence for the WMM?

A

fMRI scans
Pps did certain things & parts of brain associated w those actvts lit up on fMRI scan
Prefrontal cortex was activated when verbal & spatial tasks prmd smltnsly, not sprtly = CE was wrkng

80
Q

What are 2 strengths of the MSM?

A
  • primary & recency effects show that STM & LTM are different
  • Bahrick and P&P give evidence of STM & LTm being seperate
81
Q

What are 3 weaknesses of the MSM?

A
  • rehearsal doesn’t always lead to storage
  • some info goes -> LTM without rehearsal
  • some ppl are brain damaged & can’t do STM
82
Q

Define proactive interference.

A

old memories interferes w new memories you r trying -> store

83
Q

Define retroactive interference.

A

new memory interferes w old memories

84
Q

Define availability of memories.

A

whether memories are present or not

85
Q

Define accessibility of memories.

A

whether you can reach ur memories or not

86
Q

How did Underwood & Postman test interference?

A

Indpndnt msrs
2 conditions
A - rmmbrd 2 lists of words
B - rmmbrd grp As’ lists of words & anthr list of words
eg. Cat - Tree & Cat - Bed

87
Q

Define cue.

A

context or state

88
Q

Define external memory cues.

A

objcts or evnts that trggr mmry they r assctd w

89
Q

Define recognition test.

A

test whether ppl rmmbr prtclr advtsmnt

90
Q

How did McGeoch and McDonald test interference?

A

lab
Prtcpnts learnt list of 10 words
Then all prtcpnts split into 2 grps & each grp was given new list of words to learn
found thta intrfrnc = worse, if info being recalled = similar

91
Q

What is a weakness of lab research, regarding forgetting?

A

not generlisable - dos not reflect real life forgetting

92
Q

What is a strength of lab research, generally?

A

controlled, as we can manipulate the IV

93
Q

Define ecological validity.

A

how far results of study can be applied to real life

94
Q

How did Baddeley & Hitch test interference?

A

natural
tested a grp of rugby players on how many team names of opposing teams they’d played they could recall
less matches played = greater accuracy of matches recalled
less info to interfere w mmrs of matches

95
Q

What are the 2 explanations for forgetting?

A
  • interference
  • cue dpndnt frgttng
96
Q

What are the 2 types of cue-dependent forgetting?

A

context & state

97
Q

What is cue-dependent forgetting?

A

where info is stored in LTM but cannot be accessed

98
Q

What theory supports cue-dependent forgetting? Who’s theory is it?

A

Encoding Specificity Principle - Tulving

99
Q

What is Encoding Specificity Principle theory?

A

suggests that context or state in which information is encoded will affect accuracy of information retrieval
eg. context of encoding is same as context of retrieval = higher accuracy of info rclld

100
Q

What did Godden & Baddeley do to explore Encoding Specificity Principle?

A
  • studied divers to see if training on land helped or hindered work under water
  • divers learnt lists of words either undrwtr or on land & rclld lists on either underwtr or on land = 4 conditions
  • 4 conditions: learn on land & recall undrwtr, learn on land & recall on land, learn undrwtr & recall on land, learn undrwtr & recall undrwtr
101
Q

What were the results of Godden & Baddeley’s Encoding Specificity Principle experiment? Why was this the case?

A

accurate recall = 40% lower in non - mtchng conditions
bc external cues available @ learning weren’t there @ recall

102
Q

What did Carter & Cassaday do to prove Encoding Specificity Principle?

A
  • gave prtcpnts antihistamine drugs w mild sedative, this created an internal physiological state which was diff. to ‘normal’ state of being alert
  • prtcpnts had to learn & recall lists of words in 2 diff. states = 4 conditions
  • 4 cndtns: learn & recall on drug, learn on drug & recall not on drug, learn not on drug & recall not on drug, learn not on drug & recall on drug
103
Q

What were the results of Carter & Cassaday’s experiment into Encoding Specificity Principle?

A

sig. dcrease in recall when internal states were non-matching

104
Q

What are the 2 limitations of Godden and Baddeley’s study?

A
  1. lab experiment - lacks ecological validity as cannot be appld -> real life
  2. study = carried out on divers so cannot be generalised to wider pop.
105
Q

What is an advantage of Godden & Baddeley’s study?

A

does show that diff. in context between learning & recall -> decrease in accuracy of recall

106
Q

Define eyewitness.

A

someone who has seen or witnessed a crime, usually present @ time of incident

107
Q

Define eyewitness testimony.

A

evidence provided in court by an eyewitness, with a view to identifying the perpetrator

108
Q

What are demand characteristics?

A

when prtcpnts try -> make sense of research & act accordingly -> spprt aim of research

109
Q

What did Loftus first do to investigate misleading information?

A

45 students shown 7 films of traffic incidents
afterwards, students were given questionaire & in each questionaire, there was 1 key question about how fast the cars were going - but each w a diff verb to describe crash

110
Q

What the 5 verbs used to ask the question ‘How fast were the cars going when they…into each other?’

A

hit, bumped, collided, contacted & smashed

111
Q

What was the results of Loftus’ first experiment into misleading information? What does this show?

A

verbs like ‘smashed’ or bumped’ led to high recorded speeds of cars - misleading or suggestive information can distort eyewitness memry.

112
Q

What was Loftus’ second experiment to investigate misleading information?

A

150 students shown short film of a car accidents & then split intp 3 grps to be asked questions abt it
Grp 1 - How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
Grp 2 -How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?
Grp 3 - asked nothing about the speed
- grps rtrnd a week later to then be asked about whether they saw any broken glass (none in film), verbs abt speed affected whether the grps saw any glass

113
Q

What were the results of Loftus’ second experiment?

A

prtpcnts who were asked the ‘smashed’ question were more than 2x likely to rprt seeing glass, than the othr grps

114
Q

What does Loftus’ 2 experiment suggest?

A

misleading information has ability to alter eyewitness testimony/memories

115
Q

Define post - event discussion.
What is a limitation of this?

A

when co witnesses to crime discss it w each other, their EWM may bcm contmnd as they may combine misinfo from othr EW w their own

116
Q

Define implications.

A

conclusion can be drawn from smthng although it is not explicitly stated

117
Q

Define exoneration.

A

found innocent after being accused of being guilty

118
Q

What did Gabbert do to explore how post event discussion affects EWT?

A

-prctcpnts split into pairs & each person in pair wtchd video of crime but frm diff. prspctvs
- this mnt that 1 prtcpnts saw elemnts of event that the other did not
- both prtcpnts discussed what they had seen, before indvdlly completing test of recall

119
Q

What were the results of Gabbert’s experiment into post event discussion?

A

71% of prtcpnts mistakenly recalled aspects of event that they did not see but picked up from dscssn
showing that PED affects EWT

120
Q

Why does PED affect EWT?

A

source confusion

121
Q

What is source confusion?

A

where accdng -> source monitoring theory, mmrys = distrtd
EWs cannot rmmbr where info frm event came frm & whether it is their own mmry or someone elses

122
Q

What is source monitoring theory?

A

how we keep track of where information came from

123
Q

Which theory argues against the distortion of EWs memories of an event?

A

conformity theory

124
Q

What is the conformity theory?

A

EWs recall appears to change bc they go along w accnts of EWs -> win social apprvl

125
Q

What conclusion could be made about misleading information?

A

each time an EW is interviewed, there is a possibility that comments from the interviewer could be incorporated into recollection of events

126
Q

What is one strength of research into misleading information?

A

has imprnt practical uses in justice system

127
Q

What is one weakness of research into misleading information?

A

practical appilcations can be affected by research which isn’t always ecologically valid, as it happens in a lab (not real life)

128
Q

What did Skagerberg & Wright do to challenge memory conformity?

A
  • showed prtcpnts films clips
  • some prtcpnts wtchd 1 version where mugger’s hair = dark brown & some prtcpnts wtchd another version where mugger’s hair =
  • prtcpnts dscssd clips in pair, each having seen diff. versions
  • often they did not report what the othr EW had seen or heard, but a blend of 2 views
129
Q

What does Skagerberg & Wright’s experiment suggest?

A

mmry itself = dstrd through contamination by misleading PED, rather than memory conformity

130
Q

What is one weakness of eyewitness testimonies research?

A

subject to demand chrctrstcs

131
Q

What did Christianson & Hubinette do to investigate the effect of anxiety on EWT? What did the results suggest?

A
  • qustnd 58 real victims of a bank robbery
  • found that victims who’d been thrtnd = more accurate in their recall of event
  • anxiety had pos. effect on EWT
132
Q

What did Loftus & Burns do to investigate the effects of anixety of EWT? What did the results suggest?

A

prtcpnts shown violent crime where boy = shot in face
- prtcpnts had sig.ly imprd recall of event
- anxiety had neg. effect on EWT

133
Q

What is the Yerkes - Dobson theory?

A

performance improves as arousal increases up to some optimum point, performance then decreases w further increases of arousal

134
Q

What is the weapon focus effect? Who’s theory is it?

A

Johnson & Scott - occurs when weapon distracts EWs, impairing their mmry of perpetrator & other details

135
Q

What other variable could have affected the participant’s memory in Johnson & Scott’s study?

A

unusualness - prtcpnts couldn’ve have impaired mmry not bc of anxeity but bc of the unusualness of the situation

136
Q

What is a cognitive interview?

A

police technique for interviewing witnesses -> a crime, encourages them to to recreate the orgincal context in order to increase accessibility of strd info

137
Q

What are 2 reasons why coginitve interviews are important?

A
  • improves effectiveness of questioning witnesses in police interviews
  • provides ability to apply psychology to this area
138
Q

What 4 components of a cognitive interview did Fisher & Geiselman devise?

A
  1. report everything
  2. tell events in a different order
  3. reinstate context
  4. change perspective
139
Q

In cognitive interviews, why do we change perspective and change order of events?

A

to remove expectations caused by schemas

140
Q

What did Wright and Holiday do to give evidence in support cognitive interviews? What does this show?

A

investigated how age affects recall - the older the participant, the less complete and the less accurate the recall.
when they used the cognitive interview technique, the older participants recalled significantly greater detail without giving false information.
shows that cognitive interview is particularly useful for older people, who’s memory is typically less coherent.

141
Q

What did Kohnken do to give evidence in support of cognitive interviews? What were their results?

A

meta analysis of 53 studies
- found on average a 34% increase in amount of correct info generated in CI

142
Q

What did Mine & Bull do to give evidence in support of cognitive interviews? What were the results?

A

combined CI techniques - report everythng & mental reinstatement
recall = sig.ly higher

143
Q

What are 3 reasons why it is difficult ot evaluate different aspects of CI technique?

A
  • diff. police forces use diff. aspects of CI technique so difficult to evaluate technique effcetiveness fully
  • takes more time than is available
  • quantity & quality of CI training is an issue

A Level Psychology (8 decks)

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