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A Level Psychology AQA > Chapter 2- Memory > Flashcards

Chapter 2- Memory Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the capacity of Sensory Memory.

A

“Huge”

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2
Q

What is the duration of Sensory Memory

A

Fraction of a second

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3
Q

Whqt is the encoding of Sensory Memory

A

Iconic and Echoic

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4
Q

What is the capacity of Short Term Memory (STM)

A

7 +/- 2 items or chunks

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5
Q

What is the duration of STM?

A

18-30 seconds without rehearsal

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6
Q

What is the encoding of STM?

A

Acoustic (sub-vocal)

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7
Q

What is the capacity of Long Term Memory (LTM)

A

Unlimited

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8
Q

What is the duration of LTM?

A

Almost a lifetime

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9
Q

What is the encoding of LTM?

A

Semantically

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10
Q

Who and when made the Multi-Store Model (MSM)?

A

Atkinson + Shiffrin (‘68-‘71)

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11
Q

Briefly, what is the MSM?

A

Multi Store Model suggests that memory is made of 3 stores linked by processing. The 3 stores are called:

  1. Sensory Register
  2. Short Term Memory
  3. Long Term Memory
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12
Q

Describe the Sensory Register in the MSM:

A
  • All stimuli from environment pass into sensory register (SR).
  • there are 5 senses, but mainly iconic (visual stimuli) and echoic (auditory stimuli)
  • type of encoding is modality-specific (level of sensory experience)
  • duration of SR is fraction of a second
  • SR has very high capacity, info passes only when attention is given.
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13
Q

Describe how STM works in the MSM:

A
  • STM encoded acoustically
  • duration is 18-30 secs long (without rehearsal)
  • capacity is 7 +/- 2 items/chunks
  • with maintenance rehearsal, info moves from STM to LTM
  • retrieval is when LTM accesses info from STM
  • info enters STM from Sensory Register only when attention is given.
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14
Q

Describe how LTM works in the MSM:

A
  • LTM encodes semantically (has some meaning to person)
  • duration of LTM could be up to a lifetime
  • LTM capacity is unlimited.
  • according to MSM, info we want to recall from LTM has to be transferred back to STM = retrieval.
  • prolonged rehearsal in STM leads to info being stored in LTM.
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15
Q

Describe research done on encoding in LTM and STM:
Include APFC.

A

Baddeley ‘66:
different lists of words to 4 PP groups to remember..
Gr1: acoustically similar
Gr2: acoustically dissimilar
Gr3: semantically similar
Gr4: semantically dissimilar

Recall:
immediately after: PP did worse with acoustically similar
after 20 mins: PP did worse with semantically similar

Conc:
info is encoded acoustically in STM and semantically in LTM.

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16
Q

Describe research done on capacity in STM:
You could use Miller or Jacobs

A

Jacobs (1887): STM
4 digits read out + PP recalls digits out loud in correct order.
If correct, 5 digits read out + so on until PP cannot recall in correct order. = individual digit span

Findings:
mean span for digits: 9.3 items
mean span for letters: 7.3 letters

Miller (1956): STM
observations made in everyday practise.
-everything came in 7s (days of week, musical scale)
-miller thought span STM = 7 +/- 2 items
-people can recall 5 words as easily as 5 letters
= chunking.

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17
Q

Describe research on duration in STM:

A

P+P, (1959): STM

  • 24 students tested
  • 8 trials
  • each trial- student given consonant syllable (triads)
  • also given 3 digit number
  • told to count back from number until told stop (diff. durations)
  • prevents mental rehearsal- increase STM duration.
  • after 3 secs: avg recall 80%
  • after 18 secs- avg recall 3%
  • suggests STM duration = approx 18 secs unless verbal rehearsal.
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18
Q

Describe research on duration in LTM:

A

Bahrick et al. (1975): LTM

  • 392 American PPs (aged 17-74)
  • highschool yearbooks obtained from PPs

Types of recall:

  • photo-recognition - 50 photos
  • free recall test - recalled names

Findings in photo reco:
PPs tested within 15yrs: 90% accurate in photo reco
PPs tested after 48 yrs: recall fell to 70% photo reco

Findings in free recall:

  • after 15 yrs: 60% accurate recall of names
  • after 48 years: 30% accurate recall of names

Suggests LTM may last up to lifetime for some material.

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19
Q

Evaluate Baddeley’s study of LTM+STM:

A

Good:
identified clear diff. between 2 memory stores and…
STM = acoustic encoding
LTM: semantic encoding
these findings stood the test of time!
helped make MSM

Bad:
Artificial Stimuli- not meaning material = lacks mundane realism
word list no meaning to PP- not representative of real life
Baddeley findings may not tell much about coding in STM or LTM
could be semantic for STM too.
Suggests findings have limited application.

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20
Q

Evaluate Jacobs study of STM:

A

Good:
has been replicated
old studies often lack controls- confounding variable presence.
Despite this, Jacobs findings confirmed by Bopp+Verhaeghen 2005 (more controlled)

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21
Q

Evaluate Miller’s Study of STM:

A

Bad:
overestimated STM capacity
Cowan 2001 reviewed other research
concluded capacity STM is only about 4 +/- 1 chunks
Suggests lower end of Miller Research is accurate, findings more appropriate than 7 items.

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22
Q

Evaluate Peterson and Peterson Study of STM:

A

Bad:
artificial stimuli material
study isn’t completely irrelevant because sometimes we DO remember fairly meaningless materials
BUT recalling consonant syllables does NOT reflect everyday memory (semantically)
Study lacks external validity

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23
Q

Evaluate Bahrick et al. study of LTM:

A

Good:
High External Validity
-researchers investigated meaningful memories
-when studies conducted expt w/ meaningless pic, recall fell (Shepard 1967)
-Suggests Bahrick findings reflect realer estimate of duration LTM.

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24
Q

Use the Case Study of HM to evaluate MSM:

A

-HM underwent brain surgery to relieve epilepsy.
-Procedure was not well understood.
-Hippocampus (central to memory function) removed from both sides of brain.
-HM’s memory assessed 1955, HM thought it was 1953 and thought he was 27 y/o (in reality was 31 y/o)
-little recall of operation
-could not form LTMs
-would read same magazine repeatedly w/o remembering it.
HOWEVER
-he performed well on tests of immediate memory span- measure of STM

= good support of MSM, separate memory stores that work independently and interconnect. Evidence for MSM.

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25
Q

Outline the MSM of memory (6m)

A

-Atkinson + Shiffrin
-explains how info passes from STM into LTM
-Info enters through Sensory Store (visual info- iconic store, acoustic info- echoic store)
-if attention given, info passes into STM
-if not attention given, info lost through decay
-STM- info enters through acoustic encoding (Baddeley Study) and is held there for 18 secs (Peterson and Peterson)
-STM limited capacity (Miller), 7 +/- 2 item or chunks
-if info rehearsed- into LTM
-if not rehearsed, info lost through decay or displacement.
-if memory enter LTM, stays for lifetime but will be more accessible is meaningful (Bahrick study of duration)
-LTM encodes semantically semantically (Baddeley)
-Currently, capacity LTM unknown- if limit, no one reached yet.
Although info held in LTM for lifetime, still lost through decay/displacement or retrieval failure.

26
Q

Provide supportive evaluation for the MSM of memory:

A
  • *1. Clive Wearing Case Study:**
  • contracted virus that caused amnesia
  • only remember info 20-30secs
  • could recall info from past
  • unable to transfer info from STM to LTM but could retrieve info correctly.
  • THEREFORE: supports idea of info passing from one memory store to another
  • damage to any MSM part = memory impairment.

2. Support from study:
-Miller (1959): STM 7 +/- 2 limited capacity
-P&P (1959): STM 18-30secs limited duration
-Bahrick (1975): lifetime duration LTM
THEREFORE: model accurate representation of human memory.

  • *3. Evidence from brain scans:**
  • diff. areas of brain active when performing STM tasks (hippocampus + subiculum) and LTM tasks (motor cortex).
  • Suggests diff, brain regions responsible for diff. components of MSM supporting idea of diff. memory stores.
27
Q

Provide evaluations against the MSM of memory:

A

Baddeley and Hitch (‘74):

  • developed WMM as explanation of complexity of STM and a way of explaining research findings that could not be accounted for by MSM, e.g. parallel processing (multi-task).

Nomothetic approach:

  • universal model to explain process of human memory. Opposite to idiographic which is an individual approach to examples of real-life individuals- arguably more complex and more accurate representation of reality in memory.

Experimental Reduction:

  • attempts to explain complex behaviour by relying on isolated variables operationalised in Lab Expts.
  • Memory is a complex phenomenon- many argue that reducing memory to isolated variables undermines the complexity of human memory.
28
Q

Describe how the Working Memory Model works: (diagram)

A
29
Q

Describe the function of the central executive:

A

Central Exec:

  • supervisory role (co-ordinates activity of 3 systems)
  • monitors incoming data + divides limited attention
  • allocates subunits/slavesystem to tasks
  • limited processing capacity
  • does NOT store info.
30
Q

Describe the function of the phonological loop:

A

Phonological Loop:

  • deals with audiotry info (encoding=acoustic)
  • preserves order that info arrives
  • Phonological Store: stores words you hear
  • Articulatory Process: allows maintenance rehearsal, = ‘loop’. Capacity of loop = 2 seconds
31
Q

Describe the function of the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad:

A

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad:

  • Stores visual and spatial info
  • limited capacity= 3/4 objects
  • Visual Cache: stores visual data
  • Inner Scribe: records arrangement of objects in visual field.
32
Q

Describe the function of the Episodic Buffer:

A

Episodic Buffer:

  • temp. store of info
  • integrates visual + spatial + verbal info
  • maintains sense of time sequence
  • limited capacity of 4 chunks
  • links working memory to LTM
  • it is your ‘perception’
33
Q

Provide supportive evaluations for W.M.M.:

A
  • Patient KF:
    • ​injured in accident; he was able to recall info from LTM, but had issues with STM.
    • Able to remember visual images but couldn’t remember sounds.
    • Suggests that there are at least 2 components within STM.
    • 1 for visual info, 1 for acoustic info
    • Research into KF supports WMM + idea of 2 slave-systems e.g. phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad
    • supports idea of multi-component STM system.
  • Baddeley and Hitch (1976):
    • ​dual task studes; PPs do 2 tasks at 1 time.
    • 1st condition: PP use their phonological loop complete two acoustic based task
    • 2nd condition: PPs use visuo-spatial sketchpad and complete visual task
    • Ability to perform both tasks impaired when both conditons in the same slavesystem.
    • Ability not impaired when both tasks in separate slavesystems
    • evidence for existence of multiple components within STM and separate components for visual and acoustic info.
34
Q

Provide evidence against the W.M.M:

A

ONLY focuses on STM:

  • link between WMM and LTM not fully explained.
  • WMM detailed explaination of STM, no info on how info processed and transferred from STM to LTM and back.
  • WMM incomplete model of memory and other theories/models required to gain complete picture of complex cognitive phenomenon.

Not all espects of WMM well understood:

  • Baddeley said that Central Exec. is most important and least understood component.
  • E.g. it has been argued that C.E. has limited capacity but this hasn’t been researched properly.
  • Might be other components to C.E. that haven’t been researched yet.
35
Q

What are the 3 types of LTM stores and who proposed the theory?

A

Tulving (1985)- realised the MSM view of LTM was too simplistic and inflexible. 3 types:

  1. Episodic Memory
  2. Semantic Memory
  3. Procedural Memory
36
Q

Describe the function of Episodic Memory in LTM:

A

Episodic Memory- ability to recall events (personal experiences)

  • They are ‘time-stamped’: you remember when and what happened.
  • E.M. also stores info about how events relate to each other in time.
  • A memory of a single ‘episode’ will have s_everal elements_ (people, places, objects) and these memories are interwoven to produce a single memory.
  • In order to access episodic memories, you have to make a conscious effort (happens quickly but you are still aware that you are looking for that memory)
37
Q

Describe the function of Semantic Memory:

A

Semantic Memory: contains shared knowledge of the world (facts)

  • S.M. contains your knowledge of a number of concepts such as ‘animals’ ‘love’ etc.
  • these memories are not ‘time-stamped’, don’t remember when new memory was first made.
  • Contains an immense collection of material which is constantly being added to.
  • According to Tulving, S.M. is less vulnerable to distortion + forgetting than E.M.
38
Q

Describe the function of Procedural Memory in LTM:

A

Procedural Memory- actions or skills:

  • recall P.M. without conscious awareness or much effort.
  • hard to explain to someone else.
  • e.g. driving a car
  • ability becomes automatic!
39
Q

Evaluate Tulving’s LTM model (Episodic, Semantic, Procedural):

A

SUPPORT:

  • Clinical Evidence- Molaison + Wearing:
  • Episodic memory impaired in both due to brain damage.
  • Semantic memories unaffected (knew meaning of words)
  • Procedural memories intact- could walk and speak
  • supports Tulvings theory of diff. memory stores in LTM- 1 store damaged, others unaffected.

HOWEVER:

  • Clinical Studies lack control of variables
  • Brain Injuries experienced by Molaison + Wearing unexpected + researcher couldn’t control what happened to PP before and after injury
  • Researcher has no knowledge of PP memory before injury so difficult to judge how much worse after.
  • therefore, lack of control limits what clinical studies tell us about diff. types LTM (low internal validity)

NEGATIVE:

  • Conflicting Neuro-imaging research- Buckner + Peterson (‘96)
  • looked at evidence on location of semantic + episodic memory
  • concluded semantic is located in left-side of prefrontal cortex
  • episodic on the right
  • HOWEVER,
  • other research links left prefrontal cortex with episodic and right with semantic.
  • therefore challenges neurophysiological evidence to support types LTM as poor agreement on where each type located.
40
Q

What is Proactive Interference?

A

Proactive Interference is when old info interferes with the retreival of new info.

41
Q

What is Retroactive Interference?

A

Retroactive Interference is when new info interferes with the retrieval of old info.

42
Q

Describe research done on retroactive interference by McGeoch and Mcdonald:

A

McGeoch + McDonald (1931)- in both P.I. abd R.I. interference is worse when memories are similar:

  • Procedure: studied R.I. by changing amount of similarity between words. PP had to learn list of words until they could remember with 100% accuracy + then PP learned new list.
  • 6 groups of PPs who learned diff. types of new lists:
  • Group 1: synonyms
  • Group 2: antonyms
  • Group 3: words unrelated to original ones
  • Group 4: consonant syllables
  • Group 5: three-digit numbers
  • Group 6: no new list (control condition)
  • Findings: when PPs asked to recall original list of words, most similar materials (synonyms) produced worst recall.
  • Conclusion: findings show that interference is strongest when memories are similar.
43
Q

Describe the research done by Baddeley and Hitch on Retroactive Interference:

A

Baddeley and Hitch (1977):

  • sample comprised of rugby players who had played every match in the season and players that missed some games due to injury.
  • Legnth of tine from start to end of season same for all players
  • Players were asked to recall the names of the teams they had played agaisnt earlier in the season
  • RESULTS: players who played most games forgot proportionately more games then those who had played less due to injury.
  • CONC: B+H concluded that this was result of retroactive interference (learning of new info, team name, interfered with memory of old info, earlier team name)

Good study becuase real life example

However, confounding variables- could rugby players have other factors that led to memory loss, alcohol etc.

44
Q

Describe research done on proactive interference:

A

Keppel and Underwood (1962):

  • PPs presented with meaningless trigrams and different intervals. To prevent rehearsal they had to count back in 3s before recalling.
  • PP typically remembered trigrams that were presented first, irrespective of interval legnth.
  • Results suggest procative interference occurred (memory for earlier trigram (trasnferred to LTM) interfered with memory of new trigram
  • …due to similarity of info presented.
  • Good: lab expt- high control, high internal validity*
  • Bad: lacks mundance realism.*
45
Q

What is the encoding specificity principle?

A

ESP- Tulving ‘83

ESP says that: a meaningful cue has to be both:

  1. Present at encoding (when we learn material)
  2. present at retrieval (when we are recalling material)

If the cues that are available at encoding are different or absent at retrieval…

There will be forgetting!

Some cues are encoded in meaningful way (semantically) = mnemonic techniques

HOWEVER, cues can also be encoded at time of learning that isn’t semantic- 2 types:

  1. Context-dependent forgetting
    1. State-dependent forgetting
46
Q

What is context-dependent forgetting?

A

C-D Forgetting: Godden + Baddeley (‘75)

recall depends on external cue (weather/place)

47
Q

What is state-dependent forgetting?

A

S-D Forgetting: Carter and Cassaday (‘98)

recall depends on internal cue (feeling upset, being drunk)

48
Q

Provide a study for Context-Dependent Forgetting:

A
49
Q

Provide a study for State Dependent Forgetting:

A
50
Q

Evaluate Tulving’s Encoding Specificity Principle:

A

ESP relies heavily on assumptions of when some info has been encoded.

If cue does not produce recall, it is assumed that it was never encoded.

If cue did produce recall- assumed it must have been encoded.

Questions validity of Retrieval Failure theory - vague explanation for retrieval failure/memory loss.

51
Q

Evaluate Retrieval failure studies on Context-Dependent + State-Dependent Forgetting:

A

Bad:

  • Godden and Baddely- lacks mundane realism… can research be applied in real life scenarios.
  • impossible to find environment as different as land and underwater
  • realistically learn something in one room and then recall that info in another room
  • this is unlikely to cause forgetting as environment/external cues do not contrast a lot.
  • THEREFORE forgetting may not be explained by contextual cues and there could be another cause of memory loss.

Good:

  • BUT
  • both Godden and Baddeley + Carter and Cassaday demonstrate how retrieval failure works in everyday situations
  • = external validity
  • their experiments are conducted in controlled manner
  • unlikely extraneous variables affected their results
  • both research studies good support for ESP
52
Q

In eye witness testimony, describe a study that shows anxiety has negative effects on recall:

A

Johnson and Scott 1976: WEAPON FOCUS- Tunnel Theory (recall of central, emotion-arousing details in a traumatic event)

Procedures: PPs believed they were in a lab study and were sitting in waiting room. Deceived.

2 conditions:

  1. low anxiety- casual conversation in next room + saw man walking past with pen in hand.
  2. high anxiety- heated argument, breaking glass and man walking past with a bloody knife.

Findings: PPs asked to identify man in 50 photos. Pen- 49% able to identify. Bloody Knife- 33% able to identify.

Conclusion: supports anxiety negatively impacting memory.

53
Q

In eye witness testimony, describe a study that shows anxiety has a positive effect on recall:

A

John Yuille + Judith Cutshall ‘86- fight or flight response, increases alertness.

  • Natural expt.- actual shooting in gun shop, Canada.
  • Shop owner shot thief dead.
  • 21 witnesses (13 took part in study)
  • interviewed 4-5 months after incident + interviews compared with original police interviews at time of shooting.
  • accuracy determined by number of correct details reported
  • witness asked to rate how stressed at time + emotional problems since.

Findings:

  • Witness very accurate- little changes in amount recalled or accuracy after 5 months.
  • Though some details like age, height, weight etc less accurate.
  • PPs that reported highest level of stress have 88% accuracy (highest), compared with less stressed, 75%.
  • THEREFORE- supports anxiety does have positive effect on recall of eyewitness memory in real-world context.

Christianson + Hubinette (‘95):

  • interviewed 58 witness to actual bank robberies (directly and indirectly involved). Recall was on avg 75% accurate across all w.
  • directly involved: most anxious, most accurate.
  • actual crime findings- anxiety does not reduce accuracy of recall- enhances recall.

PPs were interviewed 5 months after- no control over confounding variables.

54
Q

What is Yerkes + Dodson law (1908)?

A
55
Q

Provide evaluations for how anxiety affects eye witness testimony:

A
56
Q

Describe a study done on ‘Leading Qs’:

A
57
Q

Why do Leadings Qs affect EWT?

A
58
Q

Describe a study that shows how Post-Event Discussion affects EWT:

A
59
Q

Provide evaluations for Leading Qs as a factor that affects EWT:

A

Good: Real World Application

  • uses in criminal justice system- police know to be careful about how they phrase Qs as leading Qs have distorting effect on EW.
  • psychologists have helped improve the way legal system works, protecting innocent people form faulty convictions based on unreliable EWT.

Bad: Lab Expt- lacks mundane realism so good real life application?

  • Loftus and Palmer PPs watched film clips in lab- not the same experience as witnessing real event.
  • PPs less motivated to be accurate- no real consequences.
  • suggests researchers are too pessimistic about effects of misleading info- EWT maybe more dependable than many studies suggest?
60
Q

Provide evaluations for Post Event Discussion as a factor that affects EWT:

A

Bad: Evidence against Substitution

  • Sutherland + Hayne (2001)
  • showed PP video- PPs later asked misleading Qs and their recall wads more accurate for central details than peripheral details.
  • Presumably, PP focussed on central features of event and these memories resistant to misleading info.
  • Suggests that original memories for central details survived + not distorted- this cannot be explained by substitution explanation.

Bad: Evidence against memory conformity

  • Post event discussion actually alters EWT
  • Skagerberg + Wright (2008)
  • showed PP film clips
  • pick-pocket had dark-brown hair in one vid, and light-brown hair in other vid.
  • PP did not report what they had seen in clip or heard from co-witnesses but a ‘blend’ of two (e.g. reported ‘medium-brown hair’)
  • suggests memory itself is distorted through contamination by misleading info post event discussion rather than memory conformity.
61
Q

Who came up with Cognitive Interview and what is it?

A
62
Q

Evaluate Cognitive Interview:

A

A Level Psychology AQA (11 decks)

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