Context and state dependent cues Flashcards
Forgetting
Refers to material lost because it can’t be retrieved at the time
Elaboration
elaboration enables effective encoding
the more association that are made between new information and that already in memory, the more likely the information will be retrieved
making it meaningful makes it easier to remember
Context-dependent cues
Refers to the learner’s external environment in which the memory was formed
retrieval can be enhanced if the conditioned under which the information was originally learned is recreated
Includes sounds, smells, temperature, sights etc
Godden and Baddeley experiment
They found divers who learnt a list of words on land recalled them twice as well as when they were tested on land than if they were tested underwater
Also found that divers who learnt words underwater and recalled them underwater did almost twice as well as they did on land
State dependent cues
refers to the physiological and/or psychological state that the person was in at the time of the learning
Internal cues that are related to an experience may also trigger retrieval of associated memories
Includes mood, level of anxiety, intoxicated, medicated or sober
Information is more likely to be remembered if the person is in the same state as when they learned it
Miles and Hardman
Read a list of words to participants who were either resting on an exercise bike or were pedalling very fast
When asked to recall the words later, the resting and exercise groups recalled the words better when the recall was attempted in the same condition in which learning occurred
Rehearsal
the process of doing something so that information can be retained in memory and then retrieved when required
Maintenance rehearsal
Involves simple, rote repetition of information being remembered can be retained
- going over it and not adding meaning
- needs to be attended to consciously
- does not add meaning to the information or link to other material already in LTM
- just holds the information in STM for a longer time
Elaborative rehearsal
Involves the process of linking new information in a meaningful way with information already stored in LTM
- more active and more effective
- ensures that information is encoded well
- process the information at a deeper level
- creates cues to help locate and retrieve this information from LTM at a later time
How does maintenance rehearsal and elaborative rehearsal work regarding STM and LTM
Maintenance rehearsal will go into short term memory and can be retrieved from short term memory whereas elaborative rehearsal will go from STM to LTM and then can be retrieved from LTM and put into STM
Serial position - free recall
free recall tends to be best for items at the end and the beginning of a list and worst for those in the middle
Primacy effect
Superior recall for items at the beginning of a list
Recency effect
Superior recall for items at the end of a list
What shape is the serial position effect best represented by
a u shape
Why does the serial position effect occur
Primacy effect: there is superior recall for words at the beginning of the list as items at the start of the list have been attended to and rehearsed and therefore have been transferred into LM
Recency effect: there is superior recall for words at the end of the list as these words are still in STM
Poor recall for middle: these words were presented too late in the list to be rehearsed enough to go into LTM but were too early in the list to still be in STM
