essay plans Flashcards
coding, capacity and duration AO1
STM -
limited capacity memory store
mainly acoustic
capacity 7+- 2
duration is 18 seconds
LTM -
the permanent memory store
coding is mainly semantic
unlimited capacity
unlimited duration
Coding - format in which information is stored in the various memory stores
Capacity - the amount of information that can be held in a memory store
Duration - the length of time information can be held in memory
Research on coding
Baddeley - list of words to four groups
- acoustically similar and dissimilar
- semantically similar and dissimilar
when task immediately - recalling STM - worst with acoustically - recalled after 20 mins - recalling LTM - semantically
Research on capacity
digit span
- Jacobs
- reads 4 digits and participant recalls out loud
- increase by 1 each time
- mean span was 9.3 digits and 7.3 letters
memory and chunking
- Miller
- observations of everyday practice
- 7+- 2
- people recall 5 words easily as they can recall 5 letters
- do this by chunking - grouping sets of digits or letters into chunks
Research on duration
STM
- Peterson and Peterson
- consonant syllable to remember and 3-digit number
- counted backwards from number - prevents any mental rehearsal of consonant syllable
- told to stop at varying periods of time - 3,6,9,12
- after 3 seconds - 80% recall
- after 18 - 3% recall
LTM
- Bahrick et al
- High school yearbooks
- photo-recognition test of 50 photos
- 15 years - 90%
- 48 years 70%
- free recall
- 15 - 60%
- 48 - 30%
last up to a lifetime
coding, capacity and duration AO3
Coding - separate memory stores
Coding - artificial stimuli
Capacity - valid study
Capacity - not so many chunks
Duration - meaningless stimuli
Duration - high external validity
MSM AO1
representation of how memory works - three stores
Atkinson and Shiffrin
sensory register -
all stimuli - pass into sensory register - coding is modality-specific
visual - iconic memory
acoustic - echoic
duration - very brief - less than half a second
very high capacity
short-term memory
mainly acoustically
lasts about 18 seconds unless rehearsed
limited-capacity 7+-2
maintenance rehearsal occurs we repeat material to ourselves over and over
keep information in stm as long as we rehearse it
if we rehearse it long enough - ltm
long-term memory
potentially permanent memory store - information that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time
coded mostly semantically
duration may be up to a lifetime - bahrick et al
transferred back to stm by retrieval
stimulus from the environment to sensory register
attention causes information to move to short term memory
prolonged rehearsal causes movement to long term memory
maintenance rehearsal causes to move to stm back to ltm - repeating the material
retrieval causes moving from ltm to stm
response or remembering from stm
MSM AO3
Research support
+ counterpoint
More than one STM store
Elaborative rehearsal
LTM AO1
Episodic memory -
a long-term memory store - personal events
memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously with effort
time-stamped
Semantic memory -
long-term memory store for our knowledge of the world
memories usually need to be recalled deliberately
not time-stamped
less vulnerable to distortion and forgetting than episodic
Procedural memory -
long-term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things
we recall these memories without making a conscious or deliberate effort
Tulving
LTM AO3
Clinical evidence
+ counterpoint
Conflicting neuroimaging evidence
Real-world application
WMM AO1
a representation of short-term memory
suggests STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using subunits co-ordinated by a central decision-making system
Central executive -
component of working memory model that co-ordinates the activities of the three subsystems in memory
allocates processing resources to those activities
focuses and divides out limited attention and allocates subsystems to tasks
Phonological loop -
component of the working memory mode that processes information in terms of sound
this includes both written and spoken material - divided into phonological store and articulatory process
phonological store - stores words you hear
articulatory processes - allows maintenance rehearsal
Visuo-spatial sketchpad -
the component of the working memory model that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space - inner eye
limited capacity of 3/4 - baddeley
visual cache - stores visual data
inner scribe - records arrangement of objects
episodic buffer -
component of the working memory model - bring together material from the other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands
provides a bridge between working memory and long-term memory
added to model by Baddeley in 2000
temporary store - integrating visual, spatial and verbal
limited capacity of four chunks - Baddeley
WMM AO3
Clinical evidence
+ counterpoint
Dual-task performance
Nature of the central executive
interference AO1
Interference -forgetting because one memory blocks another - causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten
Proactive -
forgetting when old memories disrupt the recall of new memories
greater when memories are similar
Retroactive -
new memories disrupt older memories
forgetting greater when memories similar
Research
McGeoch and McDonald
- participants learn list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy
1 - synonyms
2 - antonyms
3 - unrelated words
4 - consonant syllables
5 - three-digit numbers
6 - no new list - control condition (rested)
participants were asked to recall original list of words
synonyms - worst recall
shows the interference is strongest when memories are similar
reason similarity affects recall
due to proactive - previously stores information makes new similar information more difficult to store
or retroactive - new information overwrites previous similar memories because of similarity
interference AO3
Real world interference
+ counterpoint
Interference and cues
Support from drug studies
retrieval failure AO1
Retrieval failure -
form of forgetting
occurs when we don’t have necessary cues to access memory
memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided
Cue -
trigger of information that allows us to access a memory
cues may be meaningful or may be indirectly linked to being encoded at the time of learning
indirect cues may be external or internal
Encoding specificity principle
Tulving - reviewed research into retrieval failure and found consistent pattern
states that a cue has to be present at encoding and present at retrieval
if cues available at encoding and retrieval are different there will be some forgetting
Mnemonic techniques
- some cues encoded at the time of learning in a meaningful way eg mnemonic techniques - lead to recalling information
Context dependent forgetting - external cues
State dependent forgetting - internal cues
Godden and Baddeley
deep-sea divers
4 conditions
learn on land - recall on land
learn on land - recall underwater
learn underwater - recall on land
learn underwater - recall underwater
learned a list of words
two conditions where environment of learning and recall didnt match - accurate recall was 40% lower than matching
external cues available at learning were different from ones at recall led to retrieval failure
Carter and Cassaday - antihistamine to participants
- drowsy
- internal physiological state different from the normal state of being awake and alert
4 conditions
learn on drug - recall on drug
learn on drug - recall when not on drug
learn not on drug - recall on drug
learn not on drug - recall not on drug
conditions where mismatched - significantly worse recall
when cues absent then more forgetting
retrieval failure AO3
Real world application
Research support
+ counterpoint
Recall versus recognition
misleading information AO1
Eyewitness testimony - the ability of people to remember the details of events - accidents and crimes
accuracy can be affected by misleading information and anxiety
Misleading information -
incorrect information given to an eyewitness usually after the event
- can take many forms eg leading questions and post-event discussion between co-witnesses
Leading questions - a question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer
post-event discussion -
occurs when there is more than one witness to an event
witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or with other people
may influence accuracy
Loftus and Palmer - 45 participants watch film clips of car accidents - ask them questions
asked how fast the cars were travelling when they hit each other
verb - contacted, bumped, collided, smashed
mean estimate speed for each group
verb contacted - 31.8
smashed 40.5
response-bias explanation suggests the wording of the question has no real effect on the participants’ memories - influences how they answer
smashed - encourages to choose higher speed
substitution explanation - wording of leading question changes memory of clip
Loftus and Palmer
- second experiment - supported substitution explanation
asked if saw broken glass
participants who heard smashed were more likely to report seeing broken glass
Gabbert et al - studied participants in pairs
each participant watched video of the same crime but filmed from different points of view
- see elements the other could not eg one only sees title of book
71% of participants mistakenly recalled aspects of the event they did not see in the video but picked up during discussion
control where no discussion was 0%
memory contamination - co-witnesses to a crime discuss it with eachother - eyewitness testimonies may become altered or distorted - combine misinformation from other witnesses with their own memories
conformity - Gabbert et al - concluded that witnesses often go along with eachother - win social approval or because other is correct - actual memory is unchanged
misleading information AO3
Real world application
+ counterpoint
Evidence against substitution
Evidence challenging memory conformity
anxiety AO1
Anxiety -
state of emotional and physical arousal
emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension
physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweatiness
anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations, can affect the accuracy and detail of eyewitness testimony
anxiety creates physiological arousal in body - prevents us paying attention to important cues
eg presence of weapon creates anxiety - focus on weapon reducing recall
Weapon focus -
Johnson and Scott - participants believed lab study
in waiting room - low-anxiety - heard casual conversation then man walked out with pen and grease on hand
other - high anxiety - heated argument, breaking glass and holding knife covered in blood
participants had to pick man from set of 50 photos
49% - man carrying the pen
33% - man with blood covered-knife
tunnel theory of memory - people have enhanced memory for central events - weapon focus due to anxiety can have this effect
witnessing stressful events - anxiety through physiological arousal - fight or flight response triggered - increasing alertness improving memory
Yuille and Cutshall - study on actual shooting of gun in shop in Canada - shop owner shot thief dead
21 witnesses - 13 took part in study
interviewed 4 to 5 months after and compared to original policies interviews
accuracy determined by number of details reported in each account
asked to rate how stressed they were and emotional problems since event
witnesses very accurate in accounts and little change in amount recalled or accuracy after 5 months - some details less accurate eg weight and height estimates
highest stress most accurate 88% vs 75%
anxiety does not have detrimental effect on accuracy and may enhance it
Yerkes and Dodson - relationship between emotional arousal and performance is an inverted U
Deffenbacher - reviewed 21 studies of EWT and noted contradictory findings on effects of anxiety - Yerkes-Dodson law explains
when we experience anxiety - lower levels produce lower levels of recall accuracy, more accurate as level of anxiety increases
optimum level of anxiety - maximum accuracy
