Key terms

Question 1

What is anxiety?

Answer 1

Unpleasant state of emotional arousal

Physical- increased heart rate & sweatiness

Normal reaction to a stressful situation

Question 2

What does capacity mean?

Answer 2

The amount of information that can be held in a memory store - can be represented in terms or digits

Question 3

What is the central executive?

Answer 3

It monitors and coordinates all mental functions in working memory

Question 4

What is coding?

Answer 4

The way information is changed so it can be held in memory. Information enters via senses and is stored in forms such as visual, acoustic and semantic codes

Question 5

What is the cognitive interview?

Answer 5

Interviewing eyewitnesses by asking them to recreate the original crime to help them retrieve more accurate memories.

Question 6

What is a cue?

Answer 6

They help us remember certain things. They may be meaningful or they may not be meaningfully linked to the material. There is environmental cues and mental state cues

Question 7

What is duration?

Answer 7

How long a memory lasts before it is no longer available

Question 8

What is the episodic buffer?

Answer 8

Receives information from different sources, temporarily stores the information and then integrates it in order to construct a mental episode of what is being experienced. It is mainly consisted of the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad

Question 9

What is episodic memory?

Answer 9

Information about events we have personally experienced

Question 10

What is an eyewitness testimony?

Answer 10

Evidence in court from a person who witnessed the crime

Question 11

What are the features of memory?

Answer 11

Coding (visual, acoustic, semantic), capacity (how much is stored) and duration (how long it is stored for)

Question 12

What is interference?

Answer 12

One memory disturbs the ability to recall another, mostly occurs when two memories have similarity

Question 13

What is a leading question?

Answer 13

A question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer.

Question 14

What is LTM?

Answer 14

Memory of events which have happened in the past, can last from 2 minutes to forever, it has potentially a unlimited duration and capacity although it tends to be coded semantically

Question 15

What is memory?

Answer 15

Ability to retain information from the past it is based on the process of learning and retention, there is also retrieval and reactivation of old memories

Question 16

What is the models of memory?

Answer 16

Shows how memory works in the brain, e.g. the MSM has three stores which shows how memory flows to each store in a linear fashion

Question 17

What does misleading information mean?

Answer 17

It is information which may lead a witness’ memory of a crime to be changed

Question 18

What is the multi-store model?

Answer 18

Explanation for how memory is stored between three different stores and how the information is transferred between these stores

Question 19

What is the phonological loop?

Answer 19

It codes speech sounds and involves maintenance rehearsal (repeating words over and over), this is why it is referred as a ‘loop’

Question 20

What is pro-active interference?

Answer 20

Past learning interferes with current attempts to learn something new

Question 21

What is post-event discussion?

Answer 21

A conversation between co-witnesses or an interviewer and an eyewitness after a crime has taken place which may contaminate a witness’ memory for the event

Question 22

What is procedural memory?

Answer 22

Memory on how to do things, e.g. riding a bike or learning how to read, these memories are automatic and repeated practice

Question 23

What is retrieval failure?

Answer 23

Happens because there is a failure of retrieval cues, being able to retrieve a memory which is there but not accessible

Question 24

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 24

Attempts to learn something interferes with past learning

Question 25

What is semantic memory?

Answer 25

Shared memories of facts and knowledge e.g. concrete (ice is made out of water) or abstract (math equations)

Question 26

What is the sensory register?

Answer 26

Information collected from your senses e.g. eyes, ears, nose, fingers. This information is only held for a brief time. The capacity is very large and coding depends on the organ involved

Question 27

What is STM?

Answer 27

This is immediate events and is measured in seconds and minutes. STM’s disappear unless they are rehearsed and also has a limited capacity of about 4 items. It is normally coded acoustically and is sometimes referred to as the working memory.

Question 28

What is the VSS?

Answer 28

Codes visual information as separate objects and the arrangement in one field

Question 29

What is the WMM?

Answer 29

Explanation of the memory used when working on a task, each store is qualitatively different