Learning

Question 1

Importance of studying learning

Answer 1

Helps improve learning which is used in all areas of life. Learn new skills or techniques.

Question 2

Importance of studying forgetting

Answer 2

-Understanding how memory works and fails to work can inform ways to improve memory. For example, the sin of absent mindedness impacts encoding

Question 3

Chunking

Answer 3

-Chunking effectively increases the capacity of the STM as more information can be help per chunk.

Question 4

Mnemonics

Answer 4

• Link new ideas to old ideas to create cues for recall
• Loci method: tie info to objects on an imaginary journey
• Peg word method: link info to learnt lists of words or rhymes

Question 5

Rehearsal

Answer 5

• increases likelihood of recall as it will move into the LTM
• Maintenance: Low level repetition
• Elaborative: Complex repetition focusing on meaning, details and understanding

Question 6

Forgetting curve

Answer 6

-The learning curve: Eddinghaus measured time taken to learn a list of nonsense syllables, more rehearsal = more learning

Question 7

Depth

Answer 7

-Information is processed at different levels: Structural (physical/visual), phonological (acoustic), semantic (meaning)
-Deeper level = more meaningful and better recall
+Support: Ppts given questions to instigate level of depth then presented structural, phonological and semantic recall increases for deeper (semantic) processing
-Criticism: Not explanatory or objective and may not be due to effort of processing not depth

Question 8

Aiding retrieval

Answer 8

• Context dependent forgetting: environment is the same at recall as encoding e.g. divers
• Cue dependent forgetting: cues present during encoding and recall e.g. scent and museum visit
• State dependent forgetting: internal state is the same at encoding as recall e.g. bipolar person couldn’t remember where they hid money during manic episode
• Mood dependent forgetting: feelings at encoding is the same at recall e.g. depressed mood = recall negative self info

Question 9

Serial position effect

Answer 9

• Free Recall Task discovered the primacy and recency effect
• Distractor tasks eliminate recency effect