Exam

Question 1

Evidence from Squire et al brain scans

Answer 1

MSM Theory - S

hippocampus is more active in LTM tasks, the prefrontal cortex is more active during STM tasks

Question 2

Evidence from Clive Wearing case study (S)

Answer 2

MSM - S

STM was intact but LTM was impaired. He could not remember doing things he lived in moments

Question 3

Evidence from Clive Wearing case study (W)

Answer 3

MSM W

LTM too minimalistic - could remember how to play the piano without remembering learning

Question 4

DeGroot

Answer 4

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

Question 5

Evidence from KF case study

Answer 5

WMM - S

impairment was mainly for verbal information whilst his memory for visual information was largely intact

Question 6

Evidence from Williams syndrome

Answer 6

WMM - S

children have impairments in ST visuospatial ability but not language

Question 7

Incomplete/inaccurate model/research

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Lack of evidence for central executive

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Godden & Baddeley

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Case studies like KC and CW (KC)

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Squire and Zola

Answer 11

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

Question 12

Steyvers & Hemmer

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Allport and Postman

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Loftus & Palmer

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Unreliable research

Answer 15

Reconstructive memory & Schema - W

Bartletts war of the ghost study was unreliable evidence as it lacked controls regarding the time in between recall

Question 16

Wynn & Logie

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Sebastian and Hernandez-Gill - Aim

Answer 17

• To investigate the development of the phonological loop using digit span as a measure of phonological capacity
• To compare these findings to other research on adults, elderly and dementia patients

Question 18

Sebastian and Hernandez-Gill - Results

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

Sebastian and Hernandez-Gill - Conclusion

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

Sebastian and Hernandez-Gill - Validity

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Baddeley’s Classic study - Aim

Answer 21

• To investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall in short term and long-term memory

Question 22

Baddeley’s Classic study - Results

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

Baddeley’s Classic study - Conclusion

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

Baddeley’s Classic study - Validity

Answer 24

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

Question 25

MSM - S & W

Answer 25

S - Squire et al (brain scans), Clive Wearing

W - DeGroot, Clive Wearing

Question 26

WMM - S & W

Answer 26

S - KF, Williams syndrome

W - Inaccurate/incomplete, lack of evidence for the central executive

Question 27

Tulving - S & W

Answer 27

S - Godden & Baddeley, KC

W - Squire & Zola, Steyvers & Hemmer

Question 28

Reconstructive memory and Schema theory - S & W

Answer 28

S - Allport and Postman, Loftus & Palmer

W - Wynn & Logie, Bartletts unreliable research