L1-6 Flashcards
what is memory?
memory is the process of retaining info + accessing info when it’s needed
what are the three processes of memory?
- coding
- storage
- retrieval
what is coding?
process in memory:
- the way info is changed so it can be stored in memory
what is storage?
process in memory:
- keeping info within the memory system until it’s needed
what is retrieval?
process in memory:
- recovering info stored in the memory system when it’s required
what are the three memory stores?
- sensory register
- short-term memory
- long-term memory
what is the sensory register? (SR)
SR is a memory store:
- contains unprocessed impressions of info received through senses = environmental stimuli
- separate sensory stores for each sensory input
- iconic store = visual info
- echoic store = auditory info
what is short-term memory? (STM)
STM is a temporary memory store for info received from the SR
what is long-term memory? (LTM)
LTM is a permanent memory store, holding limitless amounts of info for long periods of time, potentially a lifetime
what is capacity?
capacity is the amount of info that can be held in memory before new incoming information displaces it –> info is ‘pushed out’
what is duration?
duration is the amount of time info can be held in a memory store before it is lost due to decay –> the info ‘fades away’
describe coding in the SR
coding in SR is modality specific = each sensory store (iconic/echoic) codes info differently
describe coding in STM (Baddeley 1996)
Baddeley (1966) investigated this:
- participants given 4 lists of words to recall:
- List A = words that sounded similar
- List B = words that sounded dissimilar
- List C = words that had similar meanings
- List D = words that had dissimilar meanings
he argued that STM coded acoustically (STM organises info according to how it sounds = similar sounding words become muddled) = when parts performed worse in List A than list B, no difference between lists C and D
describe coding in LTM (Baddeley 1966)
Baddeley repeated experiment (re-explain) to test coding for LTM:
- tested recall after 20 min delay to ensure info passed into LTM
- parts recall of List C was worse than list D + no difference between A and B
- concluded that LTM organises info according to meaning = similar meaning words become confused
what is the +ves/ads of Baddeley’s (1966) experiment on tesing coding - STM + LTM?
Baddeley tested coding in STM + LTM:
- study is lab experiment + easy to replicate as variables have been closely controlled = reliability can be assessed
what is the -ves/disads of Baddeley’s (1966) experiment on tesing coding - STM + LTM?
- findings have low ecological validity = material parts needed to recall was artificial + lab setting
describe capacity of the SR
capacity of SR is unlimited
describe capacity of STM
- Jacobs (1887) used a digit span test to determine the capacity of STM
- gave participants several sequences of digits or letters, asking them to repeat each sequence immediately after he had given it, in the correct order
- sequences got longer by one item each time
- found that on average we can hold 9.3 digits + 7.3 letters
- Miller (1956) reviewed psychological research studies+ concluded that the span of STM is 7 (+/) 2
- If we try to recall more information than we have the capacity for then new incoming information displaces old information
what did Miller (1956) also find on his research of capacity of STM?
Miller (1956) also found that people can recall five words as easily as five letters, + so chunking (grouping large amounts of information into smaller groups) can help us remember more
what is an ad of Jacob’s (1887) research on capacity of STM?
his research was the first to acknowledge that STM capacity gradually improves with age
what is a disad of Jacob’s (1887) research on capacity of STM?
study was conducted a long time ago, so may not have been done to the same scientifically rigorous standard as research today = validity of findings questioned
describe capacity of LTM
capacity of LTM is unlimited
describe duration of SR
The duration of the SR is 250 milliseconds
describe duration of STM
- Peterson & Peterson (1959) used nonsense trigram’s (random 3 consonants) to test STM duration
- To prevent participants keeping the information in STM using maintenance rehearsal, they were asked to count backwards from 100 in threes
- After 3 seconds recall was accurate 90% of the time, after 9 seconds they were accurate 20% of the time, but after 18seconds it was only accurate 2% of the time
- concluded that information in STM lasts for 18-30 seconds w/out rehearsal, before it is lost due to decay
what is an ad for Peterson & Peterson’s (1959) research on duration of STM?
- researchers used fixed timings for participants to count backwards from + also eliminated noise and other factors that could have had an influence on memory
- the research can be said to have a high level of control, using standardised procedures to make sure all participants experienced the same process
what is a disad for Peterson & Peterson’s (1959) research on duration of STM?
- findings of this study may have been caused by interference rather than by STM having a short duration
- possible that earlier learnt trigrams became confused with later ones
describe duration of LTM (Bahrick 1979)
- Bahrick (1979) tested 400 people of various ages(17-74) on their memory of their classmates
- A photo recognition test consisted of participants being shown 50 photos and deciding if they belonged to their classmates or not
- In a free recall test participants were asked to list the names they could remember from their graduating class.
- found 90% accuracy at identifying faces of school friends within 15 years of leaving school
- After 48 years this declined to 70%.
- Free recall of names of classmates was 60% accurate within 15 years of leaving school, dropping to 30% after 48 years.
- Bahrick et al. (1979) concluded that the duration of LTM is potentially a lifetime but sometimes we have retrieval failureand need retrieval cues in order to access this information.
what is an ad of Bahrick’s (1979) research on duration of LTM?
study has higher ecological validity than Peterson and Peterson (1959) as the material used was more meaningful and relevant to everyday life
what is a disad of Bahrick’s (1979) research on duration of LTM?
It is problematic to control for extraneous variables e.g. people staying in touch after they left school or how many participants have looked in their yearbook since leaving school
what is the multi-store model of memory?
- MSM was developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
- attempts to explain n how information flows from one memory
store to another - here are three permanent structures in the memory system:
(SR), (STM) + (LTM)
describe the SR’s duration + capacity (MSM)
capacity = unlimited duration = 250 milliseconds
attended info from SR is selected for further processing in STM
unattended info is lost due to decay
describe STM in MSM
attended SR info is acoustically coded into STM = temporary stpre for info before transferred to LTM
describe capacity + duration for STM (MSM)
limited capacity - 7 +- 2 pieces of info = can be displaced
duration short = 18-30 secs
w/ out rehearsal, info will decay quickly
info can be kept in STM using maintenance rehearsal OR elaborative rehearsal –> info transferred to LTM
describe LTM in MSM
semantically coded into LTM - permanent storage for info = due to info sufficiently rehearsed in STM
describe the capacity + duration of LTM in MSM
capacity = potentially infinite BUT no way pf accurately measuring it
duration = potentially lifetime
when info needed = retrieved by STM + recalled –> sometimes cannot access cus of retrieval failure = need retrieval cues
what is the neurobiological evidence showing the ads of the MSM?
- Scoville (1957) attempted to treat a patient he referred to as HM’s epilepsy by removing several brain areas, including his hippocampus
- resulted in patient being unable to code new long-term memories(LTM), although his short-term memory (STM)was unaffected
- This supports the idea of separate and distinct STM and LTM
- Shallice and Warrington (1970) reported the case study of KF who as a result of a motorbike accident had reduced STM capacity of only one or two digits, yet his LTM was normal
- This supports the idea of a separate STM and LTM stores BUT KF had poor STM for verbal tasks but not visual tasks
- this suggests that there is more than one type of STM = CONTRADICTS the (MSM) of memory
- Also, according to the MSM, LTM are retrieved by STM so if STM is damaged it should be difficult to retrieve LTM BUT, KF was able to access LTM without any difficulty
what is the lab experiment showing the ads of the MSM?
Murdock (1962):
- presented participants with a long list of words to be recalled in any order = referred to as the free recall experiment
- Words at the beginning and the end of the lists were recalled better than those in the middle = called THE SERIAL POSITION EFFECT
- Words at the beginning of the list are recalled because they have been constantly rehearsed and transferred to LTM (the primacy effect), while words at the end of the list are recalled because they are still in STM (the recency effect)
- This supports the idea of separate and distinct STM and LTM.
what are the general disads of MSM?
- MSM is over simplified in assuming that there is only one type of STM and one type of LTM
- Research studies indicate that there are several types of STM e.g. one for verbal information (phonological loop)and another for non-verbal information (visuo-spatial sketchpad)
- Research also suggests that there are several types of LTM, we have episodic memory for life events, semantic memory for knowledge + facts and procedural memory for motor skills
- Baddeley and Hitch (1974) claimed that the MSM could not explain the ability to multi-task; if there is only one type of STM then multi-tasking would not be possible. However, people multi-task all the time, for example listening to the radio while driving.
what is the working memory model? (WMM)
- Baddeley and Hitch (1974) questioned the idea promoted by (MSM) of memory, that people only have one type of short-term memory (STM)
- also argued that STM is far more complex than simply being a temporary store for info before it is transferred to (LTM)
- They instead saw STM as an active store holding several pieces of info while they are being worked on = that is why they referred to their model as (WMM)
- They argued that LTM is the passive store that only holds previously learned material to be used by STM when needed
what are the 4 components of the WMM?
- central executive
- phonological loop
- visuo-spatial sketchpad
- episodic buffer
what is the central executive?
- drives the whole working memory system
- allocates data to other components = slave systems
- deals w/ cognitive tasks: e.g. mental arithmetic, reasoning + problem solving
- automated tasks make less attentional demands on central exec = free to do other tasks
what is the phonological loop?
the component of working memory that deals with spoken and written material
describe the phonological store
- The phonological store is sometimes referred to as the inner ear.
- It is linked to speech perception and holds information in speech-based form (i.e. spoken words) for 1-2 seconds.
describe the articulary loop
- The articulatory loop sometimes referred to as the inner voice.
- linked to speech production and is used to rehearse and store verbal information from the phonological store = allows for maintenance rehearsal.
describe the visuo-spatial sketchpad
- the visuo-spatial sketchpad stores + processes information in a visual or spatial form.
- used for navigation
- sometimes referred to as the inner eye
what are the two sub-components of the phonological loop?
- phonological store
2. articulary loop
what are the two sub-components of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
- visual cache
2. inner scribe
describe the visual cache
The visual cache stores visual material about form and colour.
describe the inner scribe
the inner scribe handles spatial relationships = space
describe the episodic buffer
Baddeley (2000) added another component called the episodic buffer = he realised that the model needed a general storage component to operate properly
- This is because the slave systems only deal with processing + temporary storage of specific types of information, + the central executive has no storage capacity at all
- episodic buffer is a limited capacity store, integrating information from the central executive, the phonological loop + the visuo-spatial sketchpad, as well as from LTM.
what is the neurobiological evidence showing the ad of the WMM?
- Shallice and Warrington (1970) reported the case study of KF who, because of
a motorbike accident, had poor STM for words that
were presented verbally but not for words that were presented visually - suggests that there is more than one type of STM, as WMM suggests = particularly, it shows that we have a type of STM for
verbal tasks (phonological loop) and another for visual (visuo-spatial
sketchpad).
what is the lab experiment showing the ads of the WMM?
- Baddeley and Hitch (1974) gave participants a dual task
- They were asked to
complete a reasoning task, which uses the central executive, at the same time
as a reading aloud task, which uses the phonological loop - Participants could do
both tasks simultaneously very well, supporting the idea of separate components
in STM - Baddeley et al. (1975) gave participants brief visual presentations of lists of
words = made up either of short words or long words. - Participants were asked to recall the list immediately in the correct order.
- It was found that participants could recall more short words than long ones.
- Baddeley (1975) called this the word length effect and concluded that it
supports the idea that the phonological loop can hold as many items as can be
said in 1.5 to 2 seconds rather than being limited by 7 (+/- 2) items as the (MSM) argues
what is a general ad of WMM?
+ The WMM has practical applications; it has improved understanding of how
people learn to read and so helped psychologists to assist those with Dyslexia
who can struggle with reading.
what is a general disad of WMM?
- Several psychologists have criticised the WMM because they think the idea
of a central executive is vague and untestable - Damasio (1985) presented the
case of EVR who had a cerebral tumour removed. He had good reasoning skills,
which suggested his central executive was intact, but he could not make decisions, which suggests his central executive was damaged - This case study
strongly indicates that the central executive is more complicated than the WMM claims
