(2) memory Flashcards
what are the two memory stores and how are they distinguished?
• STM and LTM
• coding, capacity and duration
what is the meaning of coding in memory stores?
the format in which info is stored, info can be encoded visually, semantically or acoustically
who studied coding in STM and LTM and in what year?
Baddeley, 1966
how did baddeley conduct his experiment?
provided different lists of words to 4 groups of Ps and asked them to recall the words in the correct order immediately or after a 20 minute interval.
group 1 recieved acoustically similar words
group 2 - acoustically dissimilar words, group 3 - semantically similar words, group 4 - semantically dissimilar words.
how did Ps perform in STM tests (immediate recall)?
did worse with acoustically similar words during immediate recall
how did Ps perform in LTM tests (after 20 minute interval)?
did worse with semantically similar words after a 20 minute interval.
what do these findings indicate about memory encoding?
STM encodes acoustically, while LTM encodes semantically.
what is the meaning of capacity in terms of memory?
maximum amount of info that can be held in a memory store.
what is believed about the capacity of STM, as supported by ____ and ____ , and LTM capacity?
include years
• capacity of STM is limited, while capacity of LTM is theorised to be unlimited.
• Jacob’s (1887) and Miller (1956)
how did Jacob’s (**) investigate the capacity of STM?
• 1887
measured Ps digit span by having them recall a list of digits in the correct order, increasing the sequence length by one digit until they answered incorrectly.
what were the findings of Jacobs’ study?
the mean span among all Ps was 9.3 for digits and 7.3 for letters, indicating a limited capacity of STM (around 7-9 items).
how did Miller (**) investigate the capacity of STM?
*1956
observed everyday practices and noted that things often come in groups of sevens, (7 deadly sins, 7 days in a week, 7 notes in music)
what conclusion did miller draw from his observations?
capacity of STM is around 7 plus/minus 2 items, depending on how individuals ‘chunk’ information together
what is duration in terms of memory?
how long information can be held in memory.
who investigated the duration of STM and LTM and in what years?
STM - Peterson and Peterson (1959)
LTM - Bahrick et al (1975)
how did peterson and peterson (**) investigate the duration of STM and what did they find?
• 1959
Ps presented with trigrams and then retention intervals (ranged from 3-18 seconds where Ps counted backwards from 3) to test recall, finding that without rehearsal, STM duration is about 18-30 seconds.
how did Bahrick et al (**) investigate the duration of long-term memory
• 1975
tested recall of school yearbook info from 15, 30 and 48 years after graduation, using photo recognition and free recall tests.
what were the results of Bahrick et al’s (——) study?
• 1975
photo recognition remained high even after 48 years, but free recall accuracy declined over time, suggesting some LTM info may last a lifetime.
a03 coding
✅ - demonstrated difference between STM and LTM
evidence: (1996) word recall study showed STM codes information acoustically, LTM codes information semantically
explain: strengthened understanding of distinct memory story’s; contributed to development of Atkinson & Shiffrin’s MSM principles (1968)
a03 coding
⭕️❌- methodological limitations to Baddeleys (——) study
🦄 - study was highly controlled, therefore reliable results
❌
point:(1996)
evidence: used artificial stimuli in controlled lab setting as word lists lacked personal meaning for Ps
explain: low ecological validity due to tasks lacking mundane realism, impacting real-world applicability
a03 capacity
⭕️✅ - Jacob’s research (——) is well-replicated in more recent studies
🦄 - Jacob’s original study had methodological limitations
point: 1887
evidence: better controlled 2005 meta-analysis taken place, built upon understanding
explain: supports validity of Jacob’s digit span test for STM capacity (so likely to be 5-9 items)
a03 capacity
⭕️❌ - Miller’s findings may have been overestimated
🦄 - Miller’s findings still hold value
❌
point:
evidence: Cowan’s (2001) study suggests capacity closer to 3-5 chunks
explanation: Miller’s observations might have led to an inaccurate estimate
a03 duration
⭕️❌ - methodological limitations to Peterson and Peterson (——) study
point: (1959)
evidence: used artificial stimuli in controlled lab setting as trigrams lacked personal meaning for Ps
explain: low ecological validity due to tasks lacking mundane realism, impacting real-world applicability
who created the MSM and in what year?
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1971)
what is the MSM?
a theoretical analogy likening memory processing to computer info processing
• flow of info through three passive memory stores in a fixed, linear sequence
• potential loss via displacement or decay
what are the three passive stores of the MSM?
sensory register, STM, and LTM
what is the role of the sensory register in MSM?
initial store, where sensory info is detected and either quickly discarded or transferred to STM through attention
how is the sensory register in the MSM coding?
modality specific manner (eg. visual as iconic memory)
what is the capacity of the sensory register in the MSM?
large, all sensory experience from day to day life is absorbed
what is the duration of the sensory register in the MSM?
brief, less than 0.5 seconds
how is STM coded in the MSM?
(include studies)
acoustically, evidenced by poorer recall for acoustically similar words in Baddley’s study (1966)
what is the capacity of STM in the MSM?
(include studies)
7 plus or minus 2 items, as evidenced by Jacob’s digit span study (1887) and Miller’s observations on everyday practices (1956).
what is the duration of STM in the MSM?
(include studies)
limited to 18-30 seconds, as evidenced by Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) study of tasking Ps to memorise trigrams and including retention intervals that ranged from 3-18 seconds
what role does STM play in the MSM?
second store; through attention, info is passed here and passes into LTM through maintenance rehearsal
what role does LTM play in the MSM?
final store that acts as brains hard drive, info is stored through maintenance reahearsal and can be passed to STM through retrieval
how is LTM coded in the MSM?
(include studies)
semantically, as evidenced by lower recall for semantically similar words after 20 minute interval in Baddeley’s study (1966)
what is the capacity of LTM in the MSM?
theorised to be unlimited
what is the duration of LTM in the MSM?
(include studies)
theorised to be unlimited, as evidenced in Bahrick et al’s (1975) study of tasking Ps to recall information from their school yearbooks after 15, 30 and 48 years post graduation through photo recognition and free recall tests.
a03 MSM
⭕️✅ - supporting clinical evidence
🦄 - evidence lacks population validation
point: supporting clinical evidence
explanation: patient HM hippocampus removed during labotomy, STM intact (good test performance) but inability to form new LTM, suggest the process transferring STM info to LTM was damaged
explanation aligns with MSM’s principles of seperate stores
a03 coding
❌ - methodological limitations to Baddeleys (——) study
⭕️🦄 - study was highly controlled, therefore reliable results
evidence: highly controlled lab setting provided valuable insights to memory encoding principles
explain: strength as enhances
replicability, therefore scientific rigour
a03 capacity
✅ - Jacob’s research (——) is well-replicated in more recent studies
ed
⭕️🦄 - Jacob’s original study had methodological limitations
evidence: used artificial stimuli in controlled lab setting as strings of random letters and digits lacked personal meaning for Ps
explain: low ecological validity due to tasks lacking mundane realism, impacting real-world applicability
a03 capacity
❌ - Miller’s findings may have been overestimated
⭕️🦄 - Miller’s findings still hold value (MS)
evidence: studies like Baddeley and Hitch (1974) have suggested rehearsal strategies and other factors influence STM capacity
explanation: Miller’s findings serve as a foundation that other researchers may contribute to
a03 duration
⭕️✅ - Bahrick et al.’s study (——) has methodological strengths
🦄 - study is subject to extraneous variables
point - 1975
evidence - use of meaningful stimuli as Ps recalled info such as people’s names and faces from their graduation year.
explain: - this recall task has high mundane realism as it mirrors real-life scenarios, enhancing ecological validity and providing a more accurate estimate of LTM duration.
a03 duration
✅ - Bahrick et al.’s study has methodological strengths
⭕️🦄 - study is subject to extraneous variables
evidence - study took place for around 50 years so Ps may have revisited their high school books over the years
explain: - this allows for memory rehearsal, influencing recall accuracy and consequently skewing results
a03 MSM
✅ - supporting clinical evidence
⭕️🦄 - evidence lacks population validation
evidence: sample of an individual with brain damage is not representative of the wider population.
explain: therefore undermines validity of the supporting evidence as its findings may not be generalisable to wider population.
a03 MSM
⭕️❌ - lab-based research indicates separate STM stores.
🦄 - lab-based
evidence: Baddeley et al. (1975) found difficulty in simultaneously performing two tasks from the same cognitive domain but not when tasks were from different domains, same cognitive rescources leads to competition which cause poor performance
explain: challenges MSM as it indicates separate systems for processing different cognitive processes within STM.
a03 MSM
⭕️❌ - clinical evidence challenges concept of LTM as one store
evidence: Clive Wearing, who suffered brain damage after a virus, retained semantic and procedural memories (could play the piano) but lost the ability to form new episodic memories.
explain: indicates LTM is not a single store but consists of separate, distinctive components (semantic, procedural, episodic); by not accounting this, MSM is presented as oversimplified.
who argued the MSM was oversimplified and so proposed different LTM stores, and in what year?
Tulving (1985)
what are the 3 LTM stores?
semantic, episodic and procedural
what are semantic memories?
knowledge of the world like facts, meanings and concepts
(e.g. it’s a known fact that a bike has two wheels)
what type of memory is semantic memory
declarative as it requires conscious recall, however, is not time stamped
semantic memory is..
1: less vuneral to distortion / forgetting than episodic memory
2: more vuneral to distortion / forgetting than episodic memory
1
what influences the strength of semantic memories?
how deeply processed
are semantic memories autobiographical or not autobiographical, why?
not autobiographical, as they’re not tied to specific personal experience
what are episodic memories?
ability to recall events (episodes) from personal experiences, therefore type of autobiographical memory
(e.g. your breakfast this morning)
what type of memory is episodic memory?
declarative as it requires conscious recall, is therefore time-stamped
episodic memory is..
1: harder to forget
2: easiest to forget
why?
2: they’re complex memories with several elements integrated together (people, places, objects, actions)
what influences the strength of episodic memories?
level of emotion felt at the time
what are procedural memories?
knowledge of how to perform skills or actions, aka muscle memory
e.g. how to do ride a bike
what type of memory are procedural memories?
implicit as it requires no conscious recall, therefore not time-stamped
procedural memories are:
1: easier to forget
2: resistant to forgetting
2
what influences the strength of procedural memories?
practice and repetition
are procedural memories autobiographical or not autobiographical, why?
not autobiographical, as they’re not tied to specific personal experiences
a03 types of LTM
⭕️✅ - supporting clinical evidence
🦄 - evidence lacks population validity
evidence: Clive Wearing, who suffered brain damage after a virus, retained semantic and procedural memories (could play the piano) but lost the ability to form new episodic memories.
explain: supports Tulving’s (1985) idea of different, distinct LTM stores that processes different types of info (semantic, procedural, and episodic memories)
a03 types of LTM
✅ - supporting clinical evidence
⭕️🦄 - evidence lacks population validity
evidence: sample of an individual with brain damage is not representative of the wider population.
explain: therefore undermines validity of the supporting evidence as its findings may not be generalisable to wider population.
a03 types of LTM
⭕️✅ - understanding types of LTM has real-world applications.
evidence: age-related memory loss has prompted interventions for improving memory recall, shown effective by belleville et al. (2006) research who studied the impact of training interventions on episodic memory recall in older adults with age-related memory loss.
explain: recognising LTM types enables targeted interventions, improving quality of life for elderly and those with neurological conditions.
a03 types of LTM
⭕️❌ - debates on wether semantic and episodic memory stores are separate, as Tulving (——) states
🦄 - Tulving’s research remains valid
point: 1985
evidence: conditions like dementia, which involve damage to temporal lobe, seem to affect both semantic and episodic memory, this overlap suggests the two stores are interconnected, not distinct systems.
explain: limitation as Tulving’s proposals do not fully account for memory’s neurobiological complexity
❌ - debates on wether semantic and episodic memory stores are separate, as Tulving (——) states
⭕️🦄 - Tulving’s research remains valid
point: 1985
evidence: both memory types are complex and involve different cognitive processes such as encoding, storage, etc. due to these complexities, it’s unlikely they can be localised to the same brain area, proving they’re interconnected.
explain: therefore, Tulving’s proposal remains valid and serves as foundational framework other researchers can contribute to.
who created the WMM, and in what year?
Baddeley and Hitch, 1975
why did ____ (——) create the WMM?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
argued STM store in MSM is more than a simple unitary store for passing information to LTM. instead, functions as an active processor, holding diverse info types while simultaneously engaged in processing tasks.
what are the 4 elements of the WMM?
central executive
phonological loop
visuo-spatial sketchpad
episodic buffer
2 out of 4 elements in the WMM have subsystems, which two are they?
phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad
what are the subsystems of the phonological loop?
phonological store (stores words heard) and the articulatory control process (allows maintenance rehearsal)
what are the subsystems of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
visual cache (stores visual data, form, colour, etc.) and the inner scribe (records arrangements of objects)
what is the role of the central executive in the WMM?
supervises incoming data, directs attention, and assigns tasks
what is the coding of the central executive in the WMM?
modality free
what is the capacity of the central executive in the WMM?
limited capacity and does not store info
what is the role of the phonological loop in the WMM?
processes auditory info while preserving the order in which it was received.
how does the phonological loop code info in the WMM?
acoustically
what is the capacity of the phonological loop in the WMM?
limited capacity of how much can be said within a two seconds period
what is the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad in the WMM?
stores visual / spatial info when needed
how does the visuo-spatial sketchpad code info in the WMM?
visually
what is the capacity of the visuo-spatial sketchpad in the WMM?
limited capacity of around to 3-4 objects, derived from Baddeley’s findings (2003)
when was the episodic buffer added to the WMM?
2000
what is the role of the episodic buffer in the WMM?
acts as a temporary store for info before it’s used or forgotten, integrating verbal, visual, and spatial info into a single memory while retaining the original event sequence.
what is the coding of the episodic buffer in the WMM?
modality free
what is the capacity of the episodic buffer in the WMM?
4 chunks
a03 WMM
⭕️✅ - supporting clinical evidence
🦄 - evidence lacks population validation
evidence: Shallice and Warrington (1974) studied amnesia patient KF, who after a motorbike accident, could recall verbal but not visual information immediately after
explain: suggests STM is divided into different components which process different types of inform, as recognised by the WMM
a03 WMM
✅ - supporting clinical evidence
⭕️🦄 - evidence lacks population validation
evidence: sample of an individual with amnesia is not representative of the wider population.
explain: therefore undermines validity of the supporting evidence as its findings may not be generalisable to wider population.
