1 - Memory

Question 1

Define cognitive

Answer 1

Refers to our thoughts and mental processes. This includes intelligence, problem solving and memory

Question 2

Define memory

Answer 2

The process by which we retain information about events that have happened in the past

Question 3

Define short term memory

Answer 3

Memory for immediate events

Question 4

Define long term memory

Answer 4

Memories for events that happened in the past anywhere from 2 minutes to 100 years

Question 5

Define duration

Answer 5

The length time memory is held for

Question 6

Define capacity

Answer 6

The amount of information that can be held

Question 7

Define encoding

Answer 7

How information is stored

Question 8

What did Peterson & Peterson investigate and what were their results?

Answer 8

STM duration

STM results may be due to displacement rather than decay

Question 9

What did Baddeley in regards to capacity, duration and coding investigate and what were his results?

Answer 9

LTM and STM coding
STM is largely encoded acoustically
LTM is largely encoded semantically

Question 10

What did Jacobs investigate and what were his results?

Answer 10

STM capacity
Capacity of STM can be assessed using digit span
Average was 9.3 items and 7.3 letters
It’s easier to recall number than letters as there are less numbers than letters

Question 11

What did Miller investigate and what were his results?

Answer 11

STM capacity
Span of immediate items is approximately 7 +/- 2
We chunk things together to remember more

Question 12

What did Bahrick investigate and what were his results?

Answer 12

LTM duration - yearbook study
The longer the time since high school the less faces remembered
People could recognise faces better than free recall

Question 13

Explain LTM regarding capacity

Answer 13

It has an unlimited capacity and can store large quantities of information

Question 14

Who proposed the multi-store model or memory?

Answer 14

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Question 15

Describe the multi-store model of memory

Answer 15

Stimulus from environment to sensory register then iconic, echoic and other sensory stores. Then to STM store, which can cause response (remembering) prolonged rehearsal, which splits to maintenance rehearsal, which is a loop, and the LTM store. This can only move back to STM by retrieval

Question 16

Explain the function of the sensory register

Answer 16

The first storage system for memory
All information from the environment enters here
It encodes visual and auditory information in the store but the info is only held for half a second

Question 17

Explain the function of the STM store

Answer 17

Capacity: 7+/- 2 digits, largely encoded acoustically
Duration: semantic - 1-2 mins
Decay: limited duration (18 seconds)
Displacement: limited capacity (verbal rehearsal takes over)

Question 18

Explain the function of the LTM store

Answer 18

Unlimited capacity and duration
To retrieve information back into STM, the person may require a cue
Stores information semantically

Question 19

Give 2 strengths and 2 weaknesses of the multi-store model of memory

Answer 19

+ supported by research studies - Baddeley, mixing up words similar meaning words in LTM and similar sounds in STM
+ case studies - brain damage, patient HM, couldn’t make new LTM after surgery
- more than 1 type of LTM/too simple
- artificial materials, digits and letters used in studies not names and places like real life

Question 20

What did Endel Tulving do?

Answer 20

He was one of the first psychologists to suggest that the multi-store model of memory was too simplistic and inflexible in trying to explain LTM
He proposed the 3 LTM stores

Question 21

What are the 3 LTM stores for different types of information?

Answer 21

Episodic memory
Semantic memory
Procedural memory

Question 22

Define episodic memory

Answer 22

It refers to the ability to remember events (episodes) from our lives. It also refers to any memory of something we have experienced as an event. Events, context and emotions will be included

Question 23

Define semantic memory

Answer 23

It refers to our knowledge of the world, including factual information. It is compared to an encyclopaedia and is not time-stamped

Question 24

Define time-stamped

Answer 24

You can remember when you learnt something

Question 25

Define procedural memory

Answer 25

Memory for how we do things - skills or actions. They often require little repetition awareness to recall them

Question 26

Give 3 evaluation points for the stores of LTM

Answer 26

+ real life application - makes people’s lives better. Transferring information to other stores for people who lose their memory
+ neuroimaging evidence - different parts of the brain used when using different stores
+ clinical evidence - both HM and Clive Wearing lost episodic memory but still but still have procedural and/or semantic. Proved Tulving’s theory

Question 27

Who is Clive Wearing?

Answer 27

World-class musician and can still play the piano, but can’t remember his kid’s names.
He contracted a herpes virus which damaged his hippocampus.
He is studied for his for his STM loss.
His episodic memories were badly damaged

Question 28

Who designed the working memory model and what does it show?

Answer 28

Baddeley

Shows how STM is organised and also how it functions. It focuses on when your mind is active.

Question 29

Describe the working memory model

Answer 29

Central executive at the top
Beneath is the episodic buffer and LTM is at the bottom
Left side connected to CE and LTM is the visual-spatial sketch pad
Same on the other side is the phonological loop which contains the phonological store and the articulatory control system

Question 30

What is the function of the central executive?

Answer 30

It monitors incoming data and get the “slave systems” to work by allocating them roles

Question 31

What is the function of the episodic buffer?

Answer 31

It was added in 2000, it is a temporary store which integrates all types of information. It links to LTM and processes such as perception

Question 32

What is the function of the visual-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 32

A slave system which stores visual-spatial information when required.
Eg: the number of windows in your house
It has a limited capacity

Question 33

What is an articulatory process?

Answer 33

It allows maintenance rehearsal and can hold up to 2 seconds worth of things you can say

Question 34

What is the function of the phonological store?

Answer 34

It stores the words you hear

Question 35

Evaluate the working memory model

Answer 35

+ dual task performance - proves the existence of the VSS
+ evidence from brain damages patients - patient HM
- evidence from brain damaged patients - could be traumatic and therefore change their behaviour
- lack of clarity about the central executive

Question 36

Define interference

Answer 36

When one memory blocks another memory, causing one or both memories to be distorted or completely forgotten

Question 37

List and define the 2 types of interference

Answer 37

Proactive interference - when an old memory interferes with a new memory
Retroactive - when a new memory being learned then interferes with an old memory stored

Question 38

Explain the aim, method, results and conclusion of Mcgeoch and McDonald’s study

Answer 38

To investigate the role of similarity in interface.
They used retroactive interface.
Participants learned a list of words to 100% accuracy.
Different groups then had to learn a second list, either:
Similar meaning words, antonyms, numbers, unrelated adjectives, nonsense syllables and no second list.
Order from highest to lowest in the mean average of ability to recall words from original list:
No second list, numbers, nonsense syllables, unrelated adjectives, antonyms, synonyms.
The conclusion was that the more similar words are the easier it is to forget old memories by retroactive interference

Question 39

Evaluate forgetting (through interference)

Answer 39

+ evidence irl - Baddeley and Hitch tested rugby players. It was easier to remember if they hadn’t played since the game recalled
+ over-coming interference - Tulving and Psotka learned that cues improve accuracy of recall
+ role in adverts - the more similar adverts are, the more evidence for interference
- artificial materials - research into memory uses lists of words and numbers so interference is more likely to occur in a lab

Question 40

Define retrieval failure

Answer 40

A form of forgetting which occurs when we do not have the right cues needed to access a memory. The memory is available within your provided LTM but is not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided.

Question 41

What are cues?

Answer 41

A trigger of information that allows us to access memory. These may be meaningful, or indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning. Some cues are meaningful (mnemonics) and some are just present at encoding and retrieval.

Question 42

Explain the study on context-dependant forgetting

Answer 42

This was carried out by Godden and Baddeley in 1975.
There were 4 conditions for learning a list:
Learning on land, recalling under-water
Learning on land, recalling on land
Learning under-water, recalling under-water
Learning under-water, recalling on land
Results: the scores were 40% lower in non-matching environments. External cues are different in each environment causing retrieval failure.

Question 43

Explain the study on state-dependant forgetting

Answer 43

This was carried out by Carter and Cassady in 1998.
There were for conditions for learning a list:
Learning whilst on anti-histamine, recalling whilst off anti-histamine
Learning whilst on anti-histamine, recalling whilst on anti-histamine
Learning whilst off anti-histamine, recalling whilst off anti-histamine
Learning whilst off anti-histamine, recalling whilst on anti-histamine
Results: there is better recall in similar states

Question 44

Give 4 evaluation points for forgetting through retrieval failure

Answer 44

+ 2 experiments support as evidence. Increases reliability. Eysenck says it’s the main reason for forgetting
+ application - remember the place you learnt it. The basic principle of the cognitive interview is a method of getting eyewitnesses to crime scenes to recall more info.
- Baddeley argues context effects aren’t as strong. Real life application due to contextual cues don’t explain much about forgetting. Reduces external validity.
- context effect may be related to the kind of memory being tested - they tested recognition not recall. It means the presence or absence of cues only affects memory when you test it in a certain way.

Question 45

Explain Cherry’s cocktail party theory

Answer 45

Colin Cherry - 1953
The brains ability to focus on one’s auditory attention.
Participants listened to 2 different messages coming from the same person at the same time. Participant had to separate the different messages.
1. Dichroic listening test - used to test selective attention
2. Speech shadowing - participant repeats message from a specific channel (left or right) - this is called shadowing. When they did this they were able to detect their make from their left or right/right or wrong channel.

Question 46

Describe Broadbent’s selective filter model

Answer 46

Attended/unattended message into sensory store. These then go into the selective filter. These are based on physical properties. Unattended messages dare completely blocked at this stage.
This then bottlenecks into higher level processing and the working memory.

Question 47

What did Broadbent do?

Answer 47

Proposed physical characteristics of messages are used to select one message for further processing and that all others are lost.
He simultaneously sent one message to a person’s right ear and a different one to their left. This is called a split span experiment/dichroic listening task. People made fewer mistakes repeating back ear by ear.

Question 48

What is an eye witness testimony?

Answer 48

The ability of people to remember the details or events such as crimes which they have observed

Question 49

What is a leading question?

Answer 49

A question that because of the way it is phrased suggests a certain answer (eg: was the knife in his left hand?)

Question 50

Explain Loftus and Palmer’s experiment

Answer 50

1974
Aims: to investigate the effects of different types of question on responses to speeds of crashing cars
Method: participants watched film clips of car accidents and have questions about the accident. They were asked a ‘critical question’ about how fast the cars were going when they ‘hit’ each other (leading question) 5 groups, 5 words - hit, contacted, bumped, collided, smashed
Results showed bias: ‘contacted’ - avr 31.8mph, ‘smashed’ - avr 40.5mph.
Conclusion: the more aggressive the word, the higher the speed given

Question 51

Define the 2 reasons why leading questions work

Answer 51

Response bias - wording has no real effect, but just influences how they decide to answer - encourages a change in answer.
Substitution - wording changes memory (more likely to report broken glass if in the smashed condition)

Question 52

What is post event discussion (PED)?

Answer 52

Where there is more than 1 witness and witnesses may discuss the event with each other or other people. This may influence the witnesses’ recalling of the event.

Question 53

Explain the study on post-event discussion

Answer 53

Gabbert et al (2003)
Studied participants in pairs - same crime, different angles, saw different things. They then discussed the event prior to recall.
71% of participant mistakenly recalled aspects they did not see but picked up in discussion, compared to 0% in controls. This concludes witnesses go alone with one another.

Question 54

Give a strength and 3 weaknesses of misleading information and its research

Answer 54

+ application - they can improve the way the legal system works and by appearing in court as expert witnesses. Police officers need to be careful how they phrase questions in interviews.

• artificial tasks - Lofters and Palmer’s study - car crash videos - lack stress - this is evidence that emotion affects memory - this lacks validity and wouldn’t be the same IRL.
• individual differences - older people are less accurate with EWT. Anastasi and Rhodes (‘06) - people aged 18-25 and 35-45 were more accurate than 55-78. But they were all more accurate when identifying their own age group (own age bias) - generalisability.
• demand characteristics - answer “yes” because they think they’re being helpful.

Question 55

Define anxiety in relation to eye witness testimonies

Answer 55

A state of emotional and physical arousal. It is characterised by emotions including worried thoughts and feelings of tension. Physical changes include increase of heart rate and sweating. It occurs naturally in times of stress and can affect accuracy of an EWT.

Question 56

Describe Yuille and Cutshall’s study

Answer 56

In 1986 a shooting in a gun shop took place in Vancouver. The owner shot a thief, 21 witnesses, 13 of which agreed to the study. They were interviewed 4-5 months after, compared with ones from the time of the shooting. They counted details and the witnesses rated their stress level on a 7-Point scale and were asked about possible emotional problems. Showed that higher stress had higher recall. There was little change in accuracy (some wrong details - colours height/age estimates)
The higher the stress the higher the accuracy.

Question 57

Describe Johnson and Scott’s study

Answer 57

1976 - They made participants think they were taking part in a lab. study. There were 2 conditions:
Group 1 heard an argument and a man came out carrying a pen with greasy hands - this was the low anxiety condition.
Group 2 heard an argument and glass smashing and a man came out carrying a (paper) knife covered in blood - the high anxiety condition.
49% of group 1 matched the man from 50 photos, but only 33% from group 2. This suggests the tunnel theory.

Question 58

What is the tunnel theory?

Answer 58

Where someone only focuses on the weapon, because it is a source of anxiety.

Question 59

Give 2 evaluation points about Johnson and Scott’s study

Answer 59

It may have tested surprise, not anxiety.
Pickel (1998) found that unusualness reduces accuracy. He did a study with a salon, the barber was suing scissors, wallet, gun or a raw chicken. Witnesses were then less accurate when describing the scenario.

Question 60

Describe Yerkes-Dodsons Law

Answer 60

It is a line graph in the shape of a curvilinear correlation with even distribution. Performance will increase with stress, but only to a certain point, where it decreases again. Too little stress shows a lack of care towards the performance, whereas too much can interfere and negatively impact your performance.

Question 61

Give 7 negative evaluation points of anxiety as a theory (1-G, 1-R, 4-V, 1-E)

Answer 61

Ethics - creating anxiety could lead to psychological harm.
Validity - field studies sometimes lack control.
Reliability - studies are not consistent with each other, but are with the Yerkes-Dodson Law (curve).
Validity - Yerkes-Dodson Law is too simplistic. Anxiety has many elements: Cognitive, behavioural, emotional and physical but Y-D L assumes only physical arousal is linked to poor performance.
Validity - demand characteristics - most of these studies are lab and usually have filmed/stages crime - so participants know they’re gonna be asked on what they’ve seen.
Validity - it may be more relevant to surprise than weapon anxiety.
Generalisability - emotional sensitivity from individual differences

Question 62

What did Fisher and Geiselman suggest?

Answer 62

They argues that eye witness testimonies can be improved by improving police techniques. They suggested it should be more psychological based, using insights to how memory works to aid people in reporting more accurate memories.

Question 63

What are the 4 stages of the cognitive interview?

Answer 63

Report everything - report every single detail, even if irrelevant or the witness is slightly unsure. Trivial details may be more important or trigger other important memories.
Reinstate the context - visit the crime scene “in their mind” and imagine the environment; weather, visuals, emotions etc. Relates to context-dependant forgetting.
Reverse the order - events should be recalled in a different chronological order. This prevents people reporting their expectations of how it happened rather than actual events. Also prevents dishonesty (harder to be untruthful if they have to reverse it.)
Change perspective - recall the incident from other people’s perspectives (other witnesses or perpetrator). This is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and schema on recall. The schema for an environment is recalled rather than what actually happened.

Question 64

What is meant by the Enhanced Cognitive Interview?

Answer 64

Created by Fisher et al - developed some additional elements to focus on social dynamics of interaction.
Eg: when to establish and relinquish eye contact.
It also included reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimising distractions etc.

Question 65

Give 4 evaluation points (1+, 3-) of the cognitive interview

Answer 65

+ reliability- meta-analysis (Kohnken ‘99) combined data from 59 studies. ECI was more correct than standard police interview. This shows there are real practical benefits to police.
- application - time consuming - takes longer than a normal interview to conduct, build rapport with witness. Special training needed. This means it is unlikely to be used.
- validity - Milne and Bull (‘02) found that combo of “R.E.” and “C.R.” produced better recall. So some aspects of the CI are better than others.
Don’t need them all.
- validity - Kohnken found an increase of correct info by 81% with the CI compared to standard interview, but also increase of incorrect info by 61%.