Cognitive Psychology - Memory

Question 1

Main research topics of cognitive psychology

Answer 1

Memory is selective
It has specific abilities
It's critical for living
It's massive
It sometimes lets us down

Question 2

Basic Memory Processes

Answer 2

Encoding > Storage > Retrieval

Question 3

Encoding

Answer 3

Information put into form it can be stored.
> Acoustic encoding
> Visual encoding
> Semantic encoding

Question 4

Storage (Baddeley 1998 - Best 1999)

Answer 4

Maintenance of memory over (long period) time.
> Episodic memory (I remember when…)
> Semantic memory (I know that…)
> Procedural memory (I know how to…)
Many activities require all three types. E.g. tennis - rules (semantic), who served last (episodic), how to volley (procedural)

Question 5

Retrieval

Answer 5

Locating information stored in memory and bringing it to consciousness. Usually we’re not aware of searching process.
> Recall - retrieving information without aid or cue
> Recognition - retrieval aided by clues

Question 6

Explicit and implicit memory

Answer 6

Explicit: Process by which people intentionally try to remember something
Implicit: Unintentional influence of prior experiences. E.g. solving puzzles faster if solved them before.
Impact of priming leads to facilitation of performance. ‘Retention without remembering’ (Roediger 1990)

Episodic, semantic and procedural memory can be either, although the latter is usually implicit

Question 7

Influence of prior information to LTM

Answer 7

Memory is active process. What’s already in long term memory influences how new information is encoded. (E.g. if you read a passage without content you’ll have less chance of remembering it).
Memory is dependent on prior experience.

Question 8

Three stages of memory

Answer 8

> Sensory memory
Short-term and working memory
Long-term memory

Question 9

Sensory memory

Answer 9

Recognises incoming stimuli (the brain analyses and compares them to what’s already in LTM).
Major function: to hold information long enough to be processed further.

Question 10

Sensory registers

Answer 10

Part of sensory memory. They retain representations of sensory stimuli, separate one for each of the five sense.
Memory held in sensory registers are fleeting but last just long enough for stimulus identification.

Question 11

Selective Attention

Answer 11

Focuses mental resources on only part of the stimuli around her.
Controls what information is processed further. This is not a thorough analysis and the sensory memories fade quickly.

Question 12

Short-term memory

Answer 12

Part of the memory system that stores limited amounts of information for a limited time.
Holds information up to 18 seconds unless rehearsed > this is adaptive and can be improved

Question 13

Working memory (Baddeley 1986)

Answer 13

Part of memory system that allows us to mentally work with the information held in STM. STM is component of WM. They work together to allow a variety of mental work.

Question 14

Working memory components

Answer 14

WM has two at least two components.

1. Maintenance - holding information in STM
2. Manipulation - working on that information and manipulating it

Question 15

Miller’s Magic Number (1956)

Answer 15

7+or- 2 (single) chunks of information.
Can reduce information by organising it into chunks that are meaningful to you
Capacity of STM is constant but size of chunks can vary enormously

Question 16

Brown-Peterson method of preventing rehearsal

Answer 16

After 18 seconds almost nothing is recalled unless it was rehearsed

Question 17

Long-term memory

Answer 17

If information is rehearsed or elaborated it will be encoded into LTM
> Long-lasting stage of memory - can remember information for very long periods of time.
> Capacity to store new information is extremely large - believed unlimited
> Some info encoded without conscious intent but mostly this is not the case

Question 18

Distortion of memories

Answer 18

LTM is subject to distortion.
> We have overconfidence in accuracy of memories
> More likely to recall general meaning than specifics
> More likely to remember things that fit current beliefs
> Usually involves some semantic encoding - can lead to error if assumptions also stored

Question 19

LTM subject to distortion Schmolck et al (2000)

Answer 19

Students asked to recall where they were when they heard results for O.J Simpson’s trial. Then asked again after 3 days, 15 months and 32 months.
At 32 months most students felt they could recall their answers accurately, but 70% were distorted, inaccurate or both

Question 20

Constructive memory

Answer 20

Constructing new memories that are later indistinguishable from original memories

(E.g. eye witness)

Question 21

Eye witness testimony

Answer 21

Considered most compelling evidence in many trials but can be mistaken due to constructive memory and inaccurate retrieval.

Question 22

Eye witness testimony Loftus (1974)

Answer 22

Witnesses of filmed traffic accident asked how fast car went when it ‘smashed’ into truck recalled higher speed than those asked when it ‘hit’ truck, which was also more than ‘contacted’.

Leading questions very important.