4.1.2 Memory 🧠 Flashcards
define memory
memory refers to the process by which we retain information about events that have happened in the past .
define duration of memory
Duration is the amount of time information can be held in memory.
what is duration like in STM (short term memory)
Limited duration memories last for a short amount of time and disappear unless they are rehearsed.
what is duration like in LTM (long term memory)
Duration of LTM lasts anywhere from 2 minutes to 100 years . A potentially unlimited duration and capacity
outline the procedure of Peterson and Peterson (1959) that supports DURATION OF STM
24 participants- lab experiment -artificial setting
experimenter said a consonant syllable followed by a three digit number (e.g WRT303)
participants had to immediately count backwards from the number in 35 or 45 until told to stop rehearsal of the syllable
Participants were then asked to recall the nonsense syllable
each participants we 2 proactive trials followed by eight trials - on each trial the retention interval was different e.g 3,6,8,12,15,18 seconds
outline the results and conclusion of Peterson and Peterson (1959) that supports DURATION OF STM
participants remembered 90% when there was a 3 second interval
remembered 2% when there was an 18 second interval
This suggests that when rehearsal is prevented , STM lasts about 20 seconds at most
outline the procedure of Bahrick et al (1975) that supports DURATION OF LTM
392 participants ages 17-74
recall was tested of year books:
- photo recognition - 50 photos some of which were from the participants year book - they had to identify them
- free recall test- participants had to recall all the names of their graduating class
outline the findings and conclusion of Bahrick et al (1975) that supports DURATION OF LTM
participants tested within 15 years of graduation - around 90% accurate - recognition
after 48 years - recall declined - 70% - photo recognition
free recall worse than recognition
after 15 years - free recall - 60% accurate
after 48 years - free recall - 40% accurate
LTM CAN LAST A LONG TIME POTENTIALLY A LIFE TIME
give a limitation of peterson’s and peterson’s study into Duration of STM
- stimulus material was artificial
- Doesn’t reflect real life memory tasks where what we are trying to remember is meaningful.
- This lacks ecological validity as there are no consequences if letters are forgotten.
- Task has no meaning- lacks mundane realism
What confounding variables may of effected Bahrick et als study into the duration of LTM
we don’t know how often somebody looks at their yearbook
define capacity of memory
capacity is how much information can be held in a memory store
what is capacity like in long term memory LTM
potentially unlimited capacity
what is capacity like in short term memory STM according to Jacobs digit span
Jacobs (1887) found mean span for digits was 9.3 items whereas for letters it is 7.3
what is capacity like in short term memory STM according to Miller
he concluded that the span of immediate span of memory the number 7 , plus 2 or minus 2
we can recall 5 words as well as recalling 5 letters - chunking - sets of digits or letters together into meaningful units to enhance capacity of STM.
evaluation of research into capacity of STM
jacobs digit span - old experiment with confounding variables - not controlled
Miller- might have overestimated the capacity of STM
define coding
coding the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.
how are memories coded in STM
accoustically information is represented as sounds
how are memories coded in LTM
semantically information is represented by its meaning
outline procedure into coding of memory
Baddeley
Baddeleys research
4 groups of words acoustically similar / accoustically dissimilar
semantically similar/semantically dissimilar
participants were shown worda and asked toi recall in correct order
results of research into coding of memory
when asked to recall immediately (STM) tend to do worse with accoustically similar words - showing STM is coded accoustically
when asked to recall word lists after an interval of 20 minutes (LTM recall) they did worse with semantically similar words - suggesting LTM is coded semantically
what is the multi store memory model
developed by atkinson and shiffrin and it describes the flow between three permanent storage systems of memory: the sensory register (SR), short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).
how does the multi store memory model work
1) stimulus from the environment reaches the sensory register , most info is lost immediately.
2) we select what we pay attention to , this moves to the STM
3) sensory information moves into the STM for temporary storage, which will be encoded visually (as an image), acoustically (as a sound) .the rehersal loop maintains the information in the STM for long enough to retain it and for a LTM to form.
4) rehearsing information via the rehearsal loop helps to retain information in the STM, and consolidate it to LTM, which is predominantly encoded semantically. Information can be stored and retrieved for up to any duration
one strength of the multi store model of memory - supporting laboratory evidence
there is controlled lab studies on capacity , duration and coding that support the existence of STM and LTM
baddely found words that sound similar get mixed up in STM and wors that have similar meaning get mixed up in LTM-supoorts the idea of seperate STM and LTM stores.
one strength of the multi store memory model - supported by clinical case studies
case of HM supports it - hippocampus removed - his LTm was tested over and over again but never improved , howeverr he performed well on tests of immediat memory span STM-shows he was unable to transfer info from STM to LTM but was able to retrieve info from before the study, supports different processes in MSM
one limitation of the multistore memory model - methodological issues
in real life we form memeories related to a range of useful things , e.g peoples faces. MSM used none of these and used digits. they have no meaning attached therefore harder to remember.
one limitation of the multistore memory model - overly simplistic
case of KF shows there is more than one type of STM , KF had poor recall when digits were read to him but had much better recall when he read them to himself there are also three types of LTM - episodic-semantic - procedural
this shows MSM providea a simplistic memory model and doesnt take into account the different types of STM and LTM
define epsiodic memory as a type of LTM
episodic memory is knowledge about events that happened in your life ,they are time stamped and require conscious awareness/recall
define procedural memory as a type of LTM
procedural memory is knowledge about skills actions or how we do things we can recall without conscious awareness/recall. They can be hard ro explain why
define semantic memory as a type of LTM
semantic memory is a LTM store of knowledge about the world . it includes words and concepts , memory needs to be recalled deliberately not time stamped
how is information coded in the sensory register
info is coded by the nervous system as action potentials stimulating different parts of the brain.
each sensory input has a seperate sensory store -
echoic- sound
iconic-vision
haptic-touch
what is the capacity like in the sensory register
each sensory memory store has a large capacity
what is the duration like in the sensory register
different sensory memory stores appear to hav edifferent durations however almost all decay quickly because the brain needs to respond to the live stimulation constantly.
wha is the working memory model
the working memory is developed by baddeley and hitch to explain the STM in more detail
how does the working memory model work
1) sense information is receieved at the central executive before being passed on to sub systems .
2) subsystems recieve info - the phonological loop processes auditory coded info. visuo-spatial sketchpad processes visual and spatial coded info. Episodic buffer is a temporary and general store for info - both accoustic and visual info.
what is the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad
it is used for the planning of spatial tasks and the temporary storage of visual and spatial info.
it is subdivided;
-visual cache- stores info about visual items
-inner scribe- deals with spatial relationships and the arrangements of objects in a visual field.
what is the phonological loop
the phonological loop deals with aiditor information and it preserves the order in which the info arrives
it is subdivided;
-phonological store-holds the words you hear
-articulatory process-allows for maintenance rehersal of accoustic info
what is the chief executive
the function of the chief exedcutive is to direct the brains resources to one of the three slave systems - there is very limited storage capacity.
what is the episodic buffer
the episodic buffer is a general store for both accoustic and visual information. its temporary. it maintains a sense of time sequencing and sends info to the LTM>
how is performance effected when using different areas in the working memory model
two tasks that require the use of different stores can be perfromed simultaneously but performing tasks that involve the same store will impair performance.
one strength of the working memory model - dual task studies support it
dual task studies support the WMM- baddeley showed participants have more difficulty doing 2 visual taska rather than a visual and spatial at the same time. shows difficulty increases when two tasks require the same slave system , there is competition.. Therefore must be seperate slave systems.
one strength of the working memory model- word length effect supports it
studies into word length by baddeley support the phonological loop , people had more trouble remembering alist of long words than short words. this shows limited space for rehersal . This effect dissappears if person is given a repetitive task to tie up their articulatory process which shows we use this store
one strength of the working memory model- case studies support it
case study of KF supports it , he suffered brain damage , poor short term memory for verbal info but he could process visual info normally. this suggests just his phonological loop was damaged . supports visual and accoustic stores being seperate
counter howeverr its a case study - generalisability? and brain damage causes trauma to brain may not be reliable to draw conclusions from
one limitation of the working memory model- lack of clarity over central executive
cognitive scientists say there is lack of clarity over the CE and it doesnt rwally explain anything, baddeley said himself “it is the most important and least understood component of working memory”. some psychologists believe it may be made up of several components.
this means working memory model hasnt been explained fully
what are the two explanations for forgetting
interference
retrieval failiure
define retrieval failiure
forgettinbg that occurs when we dont hav ethe necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided.
what is a cue
a cue is a trigger of information that allows us to access a memory , cues can be external (e,g environmental context ) or internal (mood or state)
what is tulvings encoding specificity principle
if a cue is to help us recall information it has to be present at encoding and at retrieval
if cues available at encoding are different or absent at retrieval there will be some forgetting
what is context dependent forgetting
forgetting when learning and recalling are in different places
what is state dependent forgetting
forgetting when learning and recalling are in different moods or physical states
outline the procedure of Godden and Baddeleys research into context dependent forgetting - retrieval failiure
Divers learned word lists either on land or under water and were then asked to recall them either on land or on water.
outline the results of Godden and Baddeleys research into context dependent forgetting - retrieval failiure
when the environmental context of learning and recall did not not match accurate recall was 40% lower than when they did match
outline the results of Godden and Baddeleys research into context dependent forgetting - retrieval failiure
this demonstrates context dependent forgetting because information was not accessible and recall was lower when they did not match.
what is one limitation of baddeleys research into context dependent forgetting-retrieval failiure
how applicable is it to real life situations
baddeleys research might not show how forgetting occurs in real life - contexts are rarely as different as on land and under sea.
what is one strength of baddeleys research into context dependent forgetting-retrieval failiure
real world application
it has real world application , research into context dependent forgetting could be used to help those with memory problems.
outline the procedure of carter and cassaday study into state dependent forgetting- retrieval failiure
participants are given anti- histamine drugs to make them drowsy creating an internal physiological state that is different to a normal state. Participants learned lists either drowsy or alert and were asked to recall them either drowsy or alert.
outline the results of carter and cassaday study into state dependent forgetting- retrieval failiure
in conditions where there was a mismatch between internal state of learning and recall , performance on the memory test was worse.
outline one limitation of research into retrieval failiure
hard to tell if cues are encoded
it is impossible to actually test whether a cue was encoded by a participant during learning.
define interference as an explanation for forgetting
interference is when forgetting occurs because one memory blocks another causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten.
what are the two types of interference
proactive interference and retrroactive interference
define proactive interference
forgetting that occurs when older memories that are already stored disrupt the recall of newer memories.
pro-working forwards
define retroactive interference
forgetting that occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories that are already stored
retro-working backwards
when is the degree of forgetting greater.
the degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar.
outline the procedure , results and conclusion of McDonald and McGeoch’s study into interference.
procedure-participants were asked to recall a word list until 100% accuracy.gave participants a second list of words (synonyms , autonyms , unrelated , nonsense, three digit numbers or rest.) participants were then asked to recall the original list.
results-synonyms produced the worst recall
digits produced the best recall
conclusion-interference is stronger when memories are similar, synonyms blocked access or the new material , synonyms blocked access or the new material became confused with the old material.
one limitation of mcdonald and mcgeoch’s study into interference- lab based -
the study is laboratory based, stimulus material used of word lists is different to every day life , artificial tasks ecological validity.
one limitation of reserach into interference- short times in lab
the way forgetting is tested in the lab may mean periods of time for forgetting were as short as 20 mins - a much shorter experience than in real life.
one strength of research into interference - supporting research from outside the lab
baddeley and hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of teams they had played week by week in the season. accurate recall depended on the number of games inbetween them rather than how long ago the match took place. more games - poorer recall. can be applied to every day situations
what are the three things that can have an effec on the accuracy of Eye witness Testimony EWT
post event discussion
leading questions
anxiety
define misleading information
misleading information is given to the eyewitness usually after the event (often called post event information) It can take many forms such as leading questions and post event discussion between co witnesses/or other people
define leading questions
a question that because of the way it is phrased it suggests a certain answer.
outline the procedure of loftus and palmers study into leading questions effect on eyewitness testimony
45 participants watched films of car accident and then answered questions including a critical question - “how fast were the cars going when they hit each other”- the verb was changed each time
e.g hit , smashed , contacted
outline the results of loftus and palmers study into leading questions effect on eyewitness testimony
participants who heard the word “smashed” reported the highest speed estimate (40.5mph) and participants who heard the word contacted estimated (31.8mph)
outline the conclusion of loftus and palmers study into leading questions effect on eyewitness testimony
the study demonstrates the response bias explanation leading questions influenced the participants answer
outline the procedure and results of loftus and palmers second study into leading questions effect on eyewitness testimony on later memory
a week after the original study participants were asked to return they were asked if they saw broken glass (there was none) participants who heard the verb smashed were more likely to report seeing broken glass- shows the substitution effect.
define post event discussion
post event discussion occurs when there is more than one witness to an event to an event . witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co witnesses or other people, this might affect the accuracy of each witnesses recall due to memory contamination or memory conformity.
outline procedure and results of fiona gabberts study into post event discussion as having an effect on EWT
gabbert paired participants to watch the video of a same crime but from different angles. after discussion 71% of participants mistakenly recalled aspects of the crime that were not in their video. the control group had 0%.
gabbert concluded people often go along with eachother to gain social approval or because they believe they are right or wrong - this is called memory conformity
one strength of research into EWT (post event discussion and leading questions) - real world application
there is useful real world application- research has been used to inform and warn criminal justice system about problems with ewt.
one limitation of research into EWT (post event discussion and leading questions) -lacks consequences
loftus and palmers research lacks the consequences that are involved in giving real life EWT. participants in these studies are not emotionally eroused in the same way they would be in real life- artificial .This therefore gives the study low ecological validity
one limitation of research into EWT (post event discussion and leading questions)- demand characteristics
demand characteristics may have affected the results of loftus and palmers study - participants are more likely to answer yes than no in research.
what would johnson and scott argue about the effect of anxiety on recall
they would argue it has a negative effect on recall. in their study they found that participants who saw the man in a low anxiety condition had a 44% recall rate when identifying him , people in a high anxiety had 33% recall rate at identifying the man
the weapon focus comes into play - tunnel theory of memory
what woud yuille and cutshall argue about the effect of anxiety on recall
yuille and cutshall would argue anxiety has a positive effect on recall. They questioned 13 witnesses 4/5 months after a real shooting in vancouver, participants new account were compared to their original police interview
particpants who had highest levelof sress had more accurate recall (88%) compared to (75%)
one strentgh of research into anxiety on EWT- real world application
real world application and understanding the effect of anxiety on EWT could help determine the credibility of a witness
one limitation of research into anxiety on EWT -field studies
field studies lack control - yuille and cutshilles study- they dont know how much the participants had viewed in the media which could of effected their responses
one limitation of research into anxiety on EWT - ethical issues
there is ethical issues in both creating anxiety situations - johnson and scott and interviewing participant sabout real life anxious situations- yuille ad cutshall- this could to distress for participants
one limitation of research into anxiety on EWT - surprise or anxiety
in johnson ans scotts study the weapon may have caused surprise rather than anxiety, pickel (1998) found low recall with a raw chicken in a hirdressing salon - this is not a high anxiety situation
how can the two contradicting findings of effect of anxiety on recall be explained - yerkes dodson law
yerkes dodson law states that lower levels of anxiety produce lowere levels of recall accuracy , memory becomes more accurate as anxiety increases. Howverr if a witness goes past the optimal level of anxiety and experiences more personal distress recall suffers a drastic decline.
what is the cognitive interview
the cognitive interview is a method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories. It uses four main technique , all based on well established psychological knowledge.
what are the four main stages/components of the cognitive interview to improve EWT
1- report everything
2-reinstate the context
3-reverse the order
4- change the perspective
what is report everything in the cognitive interview and how does it help improve EWT.
report everything is when witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event even if they deem it as irrelevant .
The seemingly trivial details may be important and they may trigger other important memories by providing a cue.
what is reinstate the context in the cognitive interview and how does it help improve EWT
reinstate the context is when the witness should return to the original crime scene in their mind and imagine the environment. this aims to overcome the effects of context dependent forgetting (retrieval failiure).
what reverse the order in the cognitive interview and how does it help improve EWT
reverse the order event should be recalled in a different chronological order to the original sequence . this is done to prevent people from reporting their expectations of how the event might of happened rather than how it actually happened. its also harder for people to lie when reversing the order
what does change perspective in the cognitive interview and how does it help improve EWT.
change perspective is when witnesses should recall the incident from another persons perspective, this is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and schema on recall.
what is the enhanced cognitive interview
fisher et al developed some additional elements of the cognitive interview that focus on social dynamics of the interaction. e.g interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact. it also includes open questions, reducing witness anxiety , minimising distractions and getting witness to speak slowly.
one strength of the cognitive interview as a way of improving EWT-some elements are valuable
some componenets are more valuable tha others - milne and bull found combination of context reinstatement and and recall everything produced bettere recall than any of the other conditions. - shows that it is effective to use even 2 techniques of the CI even if all is not used.
one strength of the cognitive interview as a way of improving EWT- supporting evidence and its useful in real life
supporting evidence for the ECI , konken et al combined over 50 studies and found that ECI consistently provided more correct info than a standard police interview- shows there are practical benefits. counter argument-however it also creates a 61% increase in false positives - innacurate info
one limitation of the cognitive interview as a way of improving EWT - time consuming
CI is time consuming meaning police may prefer to use standard police may prefer to use standard police interviews . CI also requires special training , not everyone will get it , some people may be using the improper CI techniques .
one limitation of the cognitive interview as a way of improving EWT - variations used
difficult to establish the effectiveness of the CI because different variations are used e.g police developing their own methods. it makes it difficult to compare the ways it used and evaluate how effective.
