3.1.2 Memory Flashcards
What is memory?
Process by which we retain information about events that happened in the past
Name the 3 jobs of memory
- Encoding
- Storage
- Retrieval
What is meant by encoding?
Transforming sensory inputs so it can registered in memory
What is meant by storage?
Retaining or holding info in memory until needed
What is meant by retrieval?
Locating info which has been stored and extracting it from memory
What does the multi-store model explain?
Explains how information flows from 1 storage system to another
Who made the multi-store model?
Atkinson & Shiffrin
Draw the multi-store model
What is the sensory memory register?
Store that contains information received through senses
What is the duration for the sensory memory register?
Limited but varies
Describe the research into the duration of the sensory memory register
- Presented identical auditory messages to both ears of participants with slight delay between messages
- Participants noticed messages were identical & there was delay of 2 seconds or less
- Suggests echoic store has max duration of 2 seconds
What is coding like for the sensory memory register?
5 different systems
- Echoic store - processes auditory info
- Iconic store - visual
- Haptic store - tactile
- Gustatory store - taste
- Olfactory store - smell
Describe the research into coding of the sensory memory register
- Crowder found evidence for these different forms of storage
- Iconic store = milliseconds
- Echoic store = up to 3 seconds
- Supports idea of info being coded into different sensory forms
What is the capacity for the sensory memory register?
Very large capacity (unprocessed info)
Describe the research into the capacity of the sensory memory register
- Flashed 3x4 gird of letters for 1/20 second
- Asked participants to recall letters of 1 row
- He would sound a tone (high, medium, low) to indicate which row to recall
- Recall of letters = high ∴ capacity of SR is large
What is short term memory (STM)?
Store for events in present or immediate past
What is the duration for the STM?
Short, 18-30s
Describe the research into the duration of the STM
Method
- Nonsense trigrams were read to participants (3 nonsensical constants e.g. ZNB)
- Then asked to count backwards in 3s from large-digit number (don’t to prevent rehearsal and transfer of information into LTM)
- Instructed to count backwards for anywhere from 3 up to 18 seconds
Describe the research into the duration of the STM
Findings
- Short period of time
- 18-30 seconds
- (3 seconds = 90% of them recall trigram correctly, 18 seconds = 5%)
Describe the research into the duration of the STM
Conclusion
Duration in STM = short, lasting less than 30 seconds
Describe the research into the duration of the STM
Evaluations
- Unlikely to represent how real-life memory work
- Recalling nonsense trigrams = lacks mundane realism
- Might be that real memory can only last up to 30 seconds
- Methodological issues
- Different trigrams were given to participants on each trial = interference could have occurred = more difficult to recall items
- Might be reason for poor recall rather than suggesting it’s due to short duration in memory
What is coding like for the STM?
Acoustically
Describe the research into coding of the STM
Method
Baddeley
- 75 participants presented with 4 word lists, repeated 4 times
- List A: Acoustically similar
- List B: Acoustically dissimilar
- List C: Semantically similar
- List D: Semantically dissimilar
Describe the research into coding of the STM
Findings
Acoustically similar list had lowest recall - 10%
Describe the research into coding of the STM
Conclusion
- Due to acoustic confusion = shows importance of sound in STM
- ∴ STM encodes acoustically
Describe the research into coding of the STM
Evaluations
- Pro: Cause and effect
- Cons
- Lacks ecological validity
- Acoustic is not only coding process
What is the capacity for the STM?
Limited capacity
5-9 items
Describe the research into the capacity of the STM
Method
- Presented with increasingly longer lists of digits or letters
- Had to recall them in right order
- 3.5% recall = reached their capacity
Describe the research into the capacity of the STM
Findings
Average 9 numbers and 7 letters
Describe the research into the capacity of the STM
Conclusion
- STM = limited storage capacity
- Memory for numbers better than memory for letters
- ∵ 10 potential digits VS 26 letters
Describe the research into the capacity of the STM
Evaluations
- Lack of ecological validity
- Experimental tasks e.g. recalling letters = little relevance to everyday life
- Individual differences in STM capacity
- Research found that capacity ranged from 5-20 items, depending on whether people’s reading ability was poor or advanced
- ∴ it’s limiting to say capacity is 5-9 items
What is long term memory (LTM)?
Store for events that happened in distant past
What is the duration for the LTM?
Unlimited
Describe the research into the duration of the LTM
Method
American adults were used & their memory were tested by…
- Free call of name of classmates
- Photo: had to identify former classmates
- A name recognition test
- A name and photo matching test
Describe the research into the duration of the LTM
Findings
- 90% accuracy for face and name recognition
- Left school 34 years ago
- After 48 years, declined 80% for names and 40% faces
- When doing free recall test = recall less accurate
Describe the research into the duration of the LTM
Conclusion
Memories can last for long period of time = but requires use of cues to enhance recall
Describe the research into the duration of the LTM
Evaluations
- High ecological validity
- ∵ realistic nature: participants recall real classmates = real test of memory
- American participants = can’t say long duration in memory is universal
- As it could vary between cultures
- Lack some important controls
- e.g. could have been contact with friends or looked at yearbook
- Which could explain recall was good
What is the coding like for the LTM?
Semantically
Describe the research into coding of the LTM
Method
Baddeley
- Followed similar procedure
- Presented with one of 4 word lists
- Before recall participants were given 20 min interval in which they conducted another tasks
Describe the research into coding of the LTM
Findings
Semantically similar list had lowest recall
Describe the research into coding of the LTM
Conclusion
List C = recalled least efficiently = semantic confusion in LTM suggests how LTM codes info
Describe the research into coding of the LTM
Evaluations
- Findings make cognitive sense
- If you had to recall book you read, remember plot rather than the words
- Coding in LTM does work on semantic basis
- Artificial nature
- Can’t be applied to real-life memory
- ∴ cannot definitely say LTM does code semantically
- Different ways of coding
- Too simplistic to assume all LTM codes on semantic basis
- i.e. what about taste and smell
What is the capacity for the LTM?
Large
Describe the research into the capacity of the LTM
Method
- Presented thoroughly 3000 of different scenes (3 seconds each)
- Given tests, to see if they recognised these images
- e.g. presented 2 images with participants & had chose that one that had been shown to them
Describe the research into the capacity of the LTM
Findings
Up to 96% accuracy for 3000 pictures
Describe the research into the capacity of the LTM
Conclusions
Due to good recall rates, appears that LTM has large capacity and can hold lots of info
Describe the research into the capacity of the LTM
Evaluations
- Only one type of stimuli (visual) was used
- Controlled variables allow for replication
Who made the working memory model?
Baddeley and Hitch
What is the working memory model essentially?
Same as MSM but replaced STM with 4 stores
Draw the working memory model
Describe the central executive
- Acts a filter
- Processes information in all sensory forms
- Then directs info to other ‘slave’ systems for processing
- & collects their response
- It’s selective when deciding what to do
What’s the capacity of the central executive?
Limited capacity - 1 piece of info at a time
Describe the phonological loop
- Processes auditory information and order of information
- Similar to rehearsal system in MSM
What’s the capacity of the phonological loop?
Has limited capacity - 2 sounds
Name the 2 parts that the phonological loop is divided into
- Articulatory process
- Phonological store
What does the articulatory process do?
‘inner voice’ - allows for maintenance rehearsal
What does the phonological store do?
‘inner ear’ - stores the words you hear
Describe the visuo-spatial sketchpad
- Temporary store for visual and spatial items
- Processes non-acoustic information
- Helps people navigate around their surroundings
- Info is rehearsed through mental pictures
Name the 2 parts that the visuo-spatial sketchpad is divided into
Inner scribe & visual cache
What does the visual cache do?
Stores visual material about colour or size
What does the inner scribe do?
- Handles spatial awareness
- Rehearses information from VC and sends it to CE
What does the episodic buffer do?
Facilitates communication between central executive and LTM
What is the episodic buffer’s capacity like?
Larger capacity than other stores
Who conducted the research into the WMM?
Baddeley and Hitch
Baddeley and Hitch: Research into WMM
Aim
To see if participants can use different parts of working memory at same time
Baddeley and Hitch: Research into WMM
Method
- Perform 2 tasks at same time (dual task technique)
- Digit span task
- Repeat a list of numbers
- Verbal reasoning task
- Answer true or false to various questions
- Digit span task
Baddeley and Hitch: Research into WMM
Results
- As no. of digits ↑ = participants took longer to answer reasoning questions
- But only fractions of second longer
- & didn’t make any more errors in verbal reasoning tasks as no. of digits ↑
Baddeley and Hitch: Research into WMM
Conclusion
- Verbal reasoning task used central executive
- Digit span task used phonological loop
- As participants able to do both tasks simultaneously = separate parts of working memory model
Name 1 postive evaluation point about the WMM
Support for visual cache and inner scribe
Name 1 negative evaluation point about the WMM
Little known about CE
WMM
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Support for visual cache and inner scribe
- Found more interference occurs between 2 visual tasks compared to visual and spatial task
- Suggests both separate components
- VC = colour and form
- IS = spatial relationships
- Suggests both separate components
- PET scans support these findings
- Brain activation in left hemisphere = visual tasks
- Right hemisphere = spatial tasks
- Supports idea VSS divided into VC and IS
WMM
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Little known about CE
- Don’t really know how it works
- & Evidence suggest CE may not be single element
- Eslinger et al had patient who had cerebral tumour removed
- Performed well on reasoning tasks = CE functional
- Struggled with poor decision making skills = elements of CE damaged
- Suggests other components in CE which WMM unable to explain ∵ over-simplified
- Can’t explain how musical memory works
- Participants able to listen to instrumental music without hindering their performance is other acoustic tasks
- Not fully understood how link between working memory and long-term memory = not fully explained either
Name the 3 different stores in long-term memory
- Episodic memory
- Semantic memory
- Procedural memory
Who came up with the 3 different stores in long-term memory?
Tulving (1985)
Describe episodic memory
- Involves specific personal events & their context
- Ability to recall events (episodes)
- Have to make conscious effort to search this memory
- Involves…
- When it happened, time
- Features that linked to that memory e.g. people, places, behaviours
- Believed it helps distinguish between imagination and real life events
What is the strength of episodic memories determined by?
- Emotions present at time memory is being coded
- Traumatic life events better recalled ∵ strong emotional attachment
Describe semantic memory
- Contains knowledge of the world
- e.g. facts, understanding the meaning of words, concepts
- Collection of memories that are constantly being added to
- Memories are not ‘time stamped’
- Gradual transition from episodic to semantic memory, knowledge loses its association to events
- Semantic memories last longer than episodic
What is the strength of semantic memories determined by?
Strength of processing that occurs when coding
Describe procedural memory
- Knowledge of actions and skills
- Can recall memories without lots of conscious effort
- e.g. driving a car
- Hard to explain this memory verbally
- Enables person to do 2 tasks simultaneously
- Usually learnt through repetition and practice
Name 2 postive evaluation points about types of LTM
- Clive Wearing
- Neuro-imaging Evidence
Name 2 negative evaluations point about types of LTM
- Might not be 3 types of memory
- Gender Difference
Types of Long-term Memory
Elaborate on the evalution point: Clive Wearing
- Had amnesia = episodic memory damaged
- ∵ difficulty recalling experiences and events from his past BUT semantic memory unaffected
- Understood meaning of words & could read music
- ∴ supports different types of long-term memory
- Weakness: study based on single individual
- ∴ can’t generalise finings to wider population as deflects in memory may be unique to this 1 person
Types of Long-term Memory
Elaborate on the evalution point: Neuro-imaging Evidence
- Tulving (1994) used brain scan studies to provide evidence for different types of LTM = stored in different parts of brain
- Participants performed various tasks while being PET scanned
- Episodic memories recalled from right pre-frontal cortex
- Semantic memories recalled from left pre-frontal cortex
- Shows physical reality to LTM = provides objective evidence
Types of Long-term Memory
Elaborate on the evalution point: Might not be 3 types of memory
- Cohen and Quire (1980) suggest episodic and semantic memories stored together in one LTM store = declarative memory (memories that can be consciously recalled)
- Procedural memories = non-declarative
Types of Long-term Memory
Elaborate on the evalution point: Gender Difference
- Memory performance differs between males and females
- Conducted study with 1000 participants in Sweden
- Found females performed better than males on tasks requiring episodic memory
- Could explain why females generally have higher verbal abilities
What is forgetting?
Failure to retrieve memories
Name 2 explanations for forgetting
- Interference
- Retrieval Faillure
- Due to absence of cues
Describe Interference
- Forgetting occurs due to 2 memories competing, affected by past memories or possible future learning
- More similar memories are = more interference = greater forgetting ∵ memories being confused in LTM
Name the 2 types of interference
- Proactive interference
- Retroactive interference
What is proactive interference?
When new memories are forgotten ∵ old memories override ability to process new info
Give an example of proactive interference
e.g. old mobile number recalled when trying to recall new mobile phone number
What is retroactive interference?
When old memories are forgotten due to new info interrupting access to old memories
Give an example of retroactive interference
e.g. learn your new mobile number but are unable to remember your old one
Name the researchers that found supporting evidence for interference as an explanations for forgetting
Baddeley and Hitch
Baddeley and Hitch: interference as an explanations for forgetting
Aim
To find out if interference was better explanation for forgetting than passage of time
Baddeley and Hitch: interference as an explanations for forgetting
Method
- Rugby players asked to remember names of team they had played so far
- ∵ most players had missed games, last team played = 2-3 weeks ago
Baddeley and Hitch: interference as an explanations for forgetting
Findings
- Accuracy of recall depended on number of games played
- i.e. player’s recall of a match from 3 weeks ago was better if they had played no matches since then
Name 2 postive evaluation points about interference as an explanations for forgetting
- McDonald et al
- Real World Applications
Name a negative evaluation point about interference as an explanations for forgetting
Individual Differences
Interference as an Explanation of Forgetting
Elaborate on the evalution point: McDonald et al
- Gave participants lists of adjectives to remember (List A)
- After learning List A, given List B to learn
- Recall poorest when List B was list of synonyms of List A (12% recall)
- Shows inference is strongest if info is similar
Interference as an Explanation of Forgetting
Elaborate on the evalution point: Real World Applications
- Found recall and recognition of advertiser’s message were reduced when exposed to adverts from competing brands within short time frame
- Big problem since a lots of money spend on advertising
- Can be improved by showing advert multiple times over 1 day than spacing advert out over a week
- Reduces chance of interference, reduces dilution of adverts
Interference as an Explanation of Forgetting
Elaborate on the evalution point: Individual Differences
- Explains why people are less affected by proactive interference than others
- Kane et al (2000) found participants with greater working memory span less susceptible to proactive interference
- When testing recall using 3 word lists
- Compared to participants with lower working memory spans
- Shows interference theories can’t be generalised to everyone
What is a cue?
Trigger that allows us to access and recall information
Describe Retrieval Faillure
- Suggests failing to access memory is due to insufficient cues to aid recall rather than it being unavailable
- When information is placed in memory, associated cues are stored
- If cues not available at time of recall = retrieval failure
- Suggests info not lost, just can’t be accessed
What principle did Tulving come up with?
Encoding-specificity principle
What is the encoding-specificity principle?
- Recollection is affected if context of recall is different to what it was when memory was coded
- Suggests memory recall more effective when information which was present at time of encoding is available during retrieval
Name 2 types of cue-dependent forgetting
- Context Dependent Failure
- State Dependent Failure
Describe Context Dependent Failure
- Occurs with external cues
- When external environment is different at recall to time of encoding
Give an example of context dependent failure
e.g. being in the same room where you learnt the answers to a test and then taking the test in another room
Describe State Dependent Failure
- Occurs with internal retrieval cues
- When internal environment is different at recall to time of encoding
Give an example of state dependent failure
e.g. trying to remember something when you were happy while you are feeling sad
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
Name 3 +ve evalution point
- Godden and Baddeley (divers)
- Carter et al (anti-histamine)
- Real World Applications
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
Name 1 -ve evalution point
Lab studies and lack ecological valdity
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
State Godden and Baddeley’s procedure
- Investigating role of context-dependent failure
- Divers given list of words to learn on land or underwater
- Asked to recall information either underwater or land
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
State Godden and Baddeley’s findings
- Recall 40% lower when context of recall didn’t match learning/encoding
- e.g. testing them when they learn underwater while on land = poorer retrieval than if tested while underwater
- Recall better when divers had same environmental context at both learning and recall
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
State Godden and Baddeley’s conclusion
- External cues important in aiding recall of info
- ONLY during free recall
- When given recognition test & asked to say whether word was on the list
- Context based failure effects not observed
- Shows how cue dependency can’t explain all forms of forgetting
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
Carter et al: procedure
- Gave participants anti-histamine drug = made them feel slightly drowsy
- Asked to learn a list of words when on drug or not on drug
- Then asked to recall list of words when on drug or not on drug
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
Carter et al: findings
Recall was lower when there was mismatch between internal states
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
Carter et al: conclusion
Absence of internal cues = memory worse = retrieval failure
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
Elaborate on the evaluation point: real world applications
Help police force in reconstructions of unsolved crimes
- Use to aid conviction of Danielle Jones killer as reconstruction in 2001 prompted witnesses to recall her arguing with a man
- Led to conviction of her uncle
- Helps in cognitive interviews = help people recall information for witness testimonies
- ∴ understanding how cues affect recall = develop ways to improve memory for benefit of society
Retrieval Faillure as an Explanation of Forgetting
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Lab studies and lack ecological valdity
- Not indicative of real world environments or situations of forgetting
- Retrieval failure can’t be explained with cue dependent forgetting for activities like riding a bike
- Suggests retrieval failure as theory for forgetting is oversimplified and incomplete
What is eye witness testimony used for?
Used to give evidence in court to identify someone suspected of committing a crime
Name the 3 stages eyewitness memory goes through
- Witness encodes into LTM details of event and persons involved
- Witness retains information for period of time
- Witness retrieves memory from storage
Explain how this process can lead to inaccuracies in memory:
- Witness encodes into LTM details of event and persons involved
Encoding can be partial and distorted
Explain how this process can lead to inaccuracies in memory:
- Witness retains information for period of time
- Memories can be lost or modified during retention
- & other actives between encoding and retrieval may interfere with memory
Explain how this process can lead to inaccuracies in memory:
- Witness retrieves memory from storage
What occurs during reconstruction of memory (e.g. absence of appropriate cues) may affect its accuracy
Name 2 factors that the accuracy of EWT depends on
- Misleading Information
- Anxiety
Describe Misleading Information
- Incorrect information that is given to witness, after event has taken place
- Can influence memory and make it distorted and inaccurate
Name the 2 forms of misleading information
- Leading questions
- Post-event discussion
What are leading questions?
Way which question is phrased, suggests specific, desired answer
Describe post-event discussion
- Occurs when more than 1 witness to event
- Witnesses discuss what they’ve seen with other witnesses/people
- Influences accuracy of each witness’s recall
State the name of researchers that looked into the effect of leading questions on recall
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Loftus and Palmer (1974): Leading questions
Aim
Investigate if leading questions distort accuracy of eyewitness’s immediate recall
Loftus and Palmer (1974): Leading questions
Procedure
- 45 students shown traffic accident
- Asked to estimate how fast car was going in questionnaire
- Leading question: “About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”
- Replaced hit with “smashed”, “collided”, “bumped”, “contacted”
Loftus and Palmer (1974): Leading questions
Findings
- Results showed verbs that implied stronger collision = greater average estimates of speeds
- “Smashed”
- Highest speed estimates (41 mph)
- “Contacted”
- Lowest speed estimates (30 mph)
- “Smashed”
Loftus and Palmer (1974): Leading questions
Conclusion
- Memory recall can be distorted by language used
- Leading questions do affect memory recall
- EWT are inaccurate and unreliable
Loftus and Palmer (1974) - Experiment 2 : Leading questions
Procedure
- Recreated experiment with another group with verbs “smashed”, “hit”
- Had control group = no leading questions
- Asked a week later if they saw any broken glass
- No broken glass in film
Loftus and Palmer (1974) - Experiment 2 : Leading questions
Findings
- Found those exposed to “smashed” condition = believed car was travelling faster
- More likely to report seeing broken glass
- Control group = least likely
Loftus and Palmer (1974) - Experiment 2 : Leading questions
Conclusion
Shows how misleading information post-event can change way information is stored or recalled
Loftus and Palmer (1974): Leading questions
Postive evalution
Lab Study
- Control for extraneous variables
- See link between leading questions and recall
Loftus and Palmer (1974): Leading questions
3x Negative evalution
- Lab studies = lack ecological validity
- Results may lack external validity and wider generalisation
- Use of students = confounding variable
- Not representative of range of ages in normal population
- Sample lacks population validity
- Age may be confounding variable
- Younger children = more susceptible to influence to misleading questions than older
- ∴ May lack internal validity
- Measure on how leading questions affects on age group rather than wider population
Name the researcher who looked into post-event discussion
Gabbert et al (2003)
Gabbert et al (2003): Post-event discussion
Procedure
- Studied participants in pairs
- Each participants watched video of same crime but filmed from different POVs
- So each participant could see elements of crime other person could not
- Both participants discussed what they’d seen before completing test of recall
Gabbert et al (2003): Post-event discussion
Findings
- 71% participants mistakenly recalled aspects of event that they didn’t see in their video but picked up from discussion with other participant
- Control group = no discussion = 0%
Gabbert et al (2003): Post-event discussion
Conclusion
- Witnesses often go along with each other to win social approval or to believe other witness to be right and they are wrong
- Memory conformity = post-event discussion affects accuracy of recall
Gabbert et al (2003): Post-event discussion
2x Negative Evaluations
- Artificial setting
- Lacks emotional effects of watching real life event
- Can’t assume this fully representative of real life EWT memory
- Don’t know whether discussion changed memory or not
- Could be that participant was aware of their recall of event was different
- But went along with other witness due to social pressure rather than it distorting their memory
Misleading Information
Name a +ve evaluation point
Real world implications
Misleading Information
Name 2 -ve evaluation point
- Demand characteristics
- Consequence of EWT
Misleading Information
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Real world implications
- Raises issues with real situation = innocent people being convicted/guilty people getting away with crime
- ∴ important that convictions aren’t made based on EWT alone
Misleading Information
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Demand characteristics
- If participants asked question that they don’t know answer to = will guess
- e.g. asked if they seen blue car, and if there was no blue car, may say yes ∵ this seems more helpful than saying arguing there wasn’t
- Research may lack validity
- Suggestion that misleading information affects EWT = inaccurate
Misleading Information
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Consequence of EWT
- Foster (1994) argues what you remember as eyewitness carries important consequences
- In research, consequences don’t exist
- ∴ can’t be determined that people respond in same way as they would in real crime
- Limits research ∵ can’t say for sure that research represents real-life eyewitness testimony
What is anxiety?
‘Unpleasant stay of emotional and physical arousal’
What is the Yerkes-Dodson hypothesis?
- Suggests moderate amounts of arousal can improve accuracy of recall
- There’s an optimal point & If anxiety passes this = decline in recall
Draw and label the anxiety and memory curve
State the name of research that looks into how anxiety affects the accuracy of EWT
Loftus’ Weapon Effect
Loftus’ Weapon Effect
Aim
To investigate the impact of anxiety upon accuracy of recall in EWT
Loftus’ Weapon Effect
Procedure
- Field experiment
- Participants sat outside lab where they heard “genuine” exchanges between people inside lab
- Condition 1
- Hostile discussion, breaking glass, overturned furniture
- Man emerged holding knife covered in blood
- Condition 2
- Less aggressive discussion
- Man emerged holding pen
Loftus’ Weapon Effect
Findings
- Condition 1
- 33%
- Condition 2
- More accurate in recognising man - 49%
Loftus’ Weapon Effect
Evaluation: pro & con
- Realistic nature
- High ecological validity = relates to everyday behaviour
- Findings representative of real life memory = anxiety affects recall negatively
- Difficult to control variables
- E.g. individual differences
- ∴ can’t assume findings due to anxiety and no other factors
Yuille & Cutshalls: Anxiety affecting EWT’s accuracy
Procedure
- Real-life shooting in gun shop
- 13 witness interviewed 4-5 months after incident took place
- Compared to police interviews conducted at time of shooting
- Accuracy determined by no. of details recorded in each account
- Witness asked to rate how stressed they felt using 7-point scale
Yuille & Cutshalls: Anxiety affecting EWT’s accuracy
Findings
- Witnesses very accurate in their accounts
- Little change in amount of details after 5 months
- Those who reported highest levels of stress = most accurate
Yuille & Cutshalls: Anxiety affecting EWT’s accuracy
Conclusion
High levels of anxiety = don’t cause drop in recall
Yuille & Cutshalls: Anxiety affecting EWT’s accuracy
Evaluation: 1 pro & 2 cons
- High ecological validity
- Findings of high anxiety are representative of everyday life
- Variables weren’t controlled
- Impossible to eliminate other factors that could have affected results
- E.g. distance between incident and witness affected results rather than anxiety
- Can’t replicate
- Can’t assess reliability of findings
- Can’t suggest anxiety positively affects recall leading accurate eyewitness testimony can’t be verified
Anxiety Affecting EWT’s Accuracy
Name a postive evaluation point
Peters (1988)
Anxiety Affecting EWT’s Accuracy
Name 2 negative evaluation point
- Yuille & Cutshalls
- Over simplistic explanation
Anxiety Affecting EWT’s Accuracy
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Peters (1988)
- Studied people attending clinic for injections
- Met nurse and researcher for equal periods of time
- 1 week later, asked to identify nurse and researcher from set of photos
- Identifications of researcher was easier than nurse = suggests heightened anxiety levels caused by injection = lower memory accuracy
Anxiety Affecting EWT’s Accuracy
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Over simplistic explanation
- Deffenbacher (2004) EWT Performance gradually increases up to extremely high levels of anxiety & then at certain point = high drop in performance
- (unlike in Yerkes-Dodson curve where there is a steady decline)
- Meta-analysis of over 60 studies supported this
What is the cognitive interview?
Method used by police to aid eyewitnesses in recalling information more accurately
Name the 4 stages of the cognitive interview
- Report everything
- Mental reinstatement of context
- Change of narrative order
- Change of perspective
Cognitive Interview
Describe the stage: 1. Report everything
- Recall every detail of event, even if they’re irrelevant
- Trivial details could be important or trigger other important memories
Cognitive Interview
Describe the stage: 2. Mental reinstatement of context
- Encouraged to return to crime scene in their mind & imagine environment and emotions at time
- These cues may trigger memories (linked to context-dependent forgetting)
Cognitive Interview
Describe the stage: 3. Change of narrative order
- Recalled in different chronological orders
- Prevent people reporting their expectations of how event must have appeared rather than actual events
Cognitive Interview
Describe the stage: 4. Change of perspective
- Recall incident from other people’s perspectives
- To disrupt effect of expectations and schemas on recall
Name 4 features of the enhanced cognitive interview
- Distractions should be minimised
- Witness should be encouraged to speak slowly
- Pauses between 1 question and next should be tailored to suit individual
- Witness anxiety should be reduced
Cognitive Interview
Name 2 pros
- Real world applications
- Individual differences
Cognitive Interview
Name 2 cons
- Time consuming
- Can’t be used on children under age of 8
Cognitive Interview
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Real world applications
- Stein and Memon tested effectiveness of cognitive interview in Brazil (developing country)
- Participants watched video of abduction
- Compared to standard police interviewing methods, CI increased amount of correct info obtained from witnesses
- Suggest CI may become new approach to interviewing witnesses in Brazil/developing countries = reduces injustice
Cognitive Interview
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Individual differences
- Useful when interviewing older witnesses
- Negative stereotypes about older adults’ memory = make witnesses overly cautious about reporting info
- ∵ CI reports all details = overcomes this
- Found CI produced better recall than standard interview, but improvement was greater in older adults than younger adults
- Useful in enhancing witness recall in older people
Cognitive Interview
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Time consuming
- Police officers suggest technique requires more time than often available
- Prefer to use deliberate strategies aimed to limit eyewitness’s report to minimum amount of info the officer needs
Cognitive Interview
Elaborate on the evaluation point: Can’t be used on children under age of 8
- Found younger children recalled facts with less accuracy in CI than other interview techniques
- However, variations of CI developed to enhance children’s recall
- Showed children a video & interviewed them about it with either standard interview or cognitive interview designed for children
- CI superior to SI = effective with different groups of witnesses
Describe how the capacity of STM can be increased
By chunking items together to reduce the no. of separate items overall
Describe how the duration of STM can be increased
By verbal rehearsal i.e. info can maintained in the rehearsal loop
