Exam Flashcards
Evidence from Squire et al brain scans
MSM Theory - S
hippocampus is more active in LTM tasks, the prefrontal cortex is more active during STM tasks
Evidence from Clive Wearing case study (S)
MSM - S
STM was intact but LTM was impaired. He could not remember doing things he lived in moments
Evidence from Clive Wearing case study (W)
MSM W
LTM too minimalistic - could remember how to play the piano without remembering learning
DeGroot
MSM W
Studied professional chess players and found when they visualise and practice playing they use LTM information about the rules and their experiences to aid recall from STM - high levels of interaction not accounted for
Evidence from KF case study
WMM - S
impairment was mainly for verbal information whilst his memory for visual information was largely intact
Evidence from Williams syndrome
WMM - S
children have impairments in ST visuospatial ability but not language
Incomplete/inaccurate model/research
WMM - W
the episodic buffer was added later suggesting the model was incomplete and inaccurate and still may not be a full explanation and lack accuracy
Lack of evidence for central executive
WMM - W
precise functions are hard to study and investigate you cannot prove or falsify the role of the CE - questions credibility as the CE is the most important but at least understood component. It is not a reliable explanation if it cannot be tested and fully understood
Godden & Baddeley
Tulving - S
18 deep sea divers found it easier to recall a list of words in the same context that they learnt the information - episodic memories are triggered by environmental cues - applicable and internally valid
Case studies like KC and CW (KC)
Tulving - S
KC could not make or recall episodic memories - like the death of his brother but could recall semantic facts - gives the study credible evidence
Squire and Zola
Tulving - W
amnesia patients - studied children who never had the chance to acquire a semantic store in the first place compared with adults who had semantic and episodic memories before suffering brain damage. Found that pps what equally impaired suggesting the two functions are linked or even the same thing - challenges validity and credibility
Steyvers & Hemmer
Tulving - W
episodic memory relies on prior knowledge which is semantic so it is not possible to study both forms of memory separately - they cannot be defined in a measurable way so they cannot be objectively tested - lacks validity and credibility
Allport and Postman
Reconstructive memory & Schema - S
drawing of a black and white character arguing on a train - when asked to recall the story pps used a racist stereotype to change the details due to racism being commonplace in the US at the time
Loftus & Palmer
Reconstructive memory & Schema - S
asked pps a critical question about the speed of a car before smashing/hitting/bumping into another car - changing the intensity of the verb - Pps answers changed significantly and some inaccurately remembered broken glass or blood if the verb was more intense
Unreliable research
Reconstructive memory & Schema - W
Bartletts war of the ghost study was unreliable evidence as it lacked controls regarding the time in between recall
Wynn & Logie
Reconstructive memory & Schema - W
in natural situations memories are not added to overtime therefore rationalisation may only occur in artificial situations. Bartlett and Loftus and Palmer’s research are laboratory based and lack ecological validity
Sebastian and Hernandez-Gill - Results
- Digit span gradually increases with age, but there is a dramatic increase between the ages of 5-8
- Digit span reduces in old age and resembles the capacity of an older child
- Digit span varies with culture
Sebastian and Hernandez-Gill - Conclusion
- The capacity of digit span increases when children are able to sub vocalise around the age of seven
- Digit span in the Spanish population is significantly shorter than Anglo-Saxon culture most likely due to the word length effect of digits
- Poor digit span in old age is a development process due to aging not neurological diseases such as dementia
Sebastian and Hernandez-Gill - Validity
S - controlled variables well (screened for impairments increases in internal validity)
W - the validity of the study relies on whether or not the parents knew or told the truth about any impairment their child might’ve had
W - study/task lacks mundane realism and has poor ecological validity therefore we cannot necessarily apply the results to every day instances of memory recall
Baddeley’s Classic study - Aim
- To investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall in short term and long-term memory
Baddeley’s Classic study - Results
- Recall of acoustically similar words was worse than recall of acoustically dissimilar words during the initial learning trials
- Recall of acoustically similar and dissimilar words were not significantly different in the surprise recall task
- Recall of semantically similar words was worse than the recall of semantically dissimilar words in the surprise test
Baddeley’s Classic study - Conclusion
- As recall of acoustically similar words was impaired in the learning trials Baddeley concluded that encoding in the STM is largely acoustic
- As recall of semantically similar words was impaired in the surprise retest Baddeley concluded that encoding in the LTM is largely semantic
Baddeley’s Classic study - Validity
W - The artificial memory task lacks mundane realism and therefore ecological validity
S - The study has high internal validity as extraneous variables were controlled (confident that the IV caused changes in the DV)
S - Reduced the impact of demand characteristics by not telling pps there was a surprise retest after the interference task
MSM - S & W
S - Squire et al (brain scans), Clive Wearing
W - DeGroot, Clive Wearing
WMM - S & W
S - KF, Williams syndrome
W - Inaccurate/incomplete, lack of evidence for the central executive
Tulving - S & W
S - Godden & Baddeley, KC
W - Squire & Zola, Steyvers & Hemmer
Reconstructive memory and Schema theory - S & W
S - Allport and Postman, Loftus & Palmer
W - Wynn & Logie, Bartletts unreliable research
