Memory

Question 1

Who did research on coding?

Answer 1

Baddeley 1966

Question 2

Research on coding - Baddeley 1966

Answer 2

• Group 1 = acoustically similar
• Group 2 = acoustically dissimilar
• Group 3 = semantically similar
• Group 4 = semantically dissimilar
• Results = STM recall worse acoustically similar - LTM recall worse semantically similar
• Suggests info = encoded semantically in LTM

Question 3

Limitations of research on coding

Answer 3

Limitation; artificial stimuli

- Artificial rather than meaningful - no personal meaning - take caution when generalising findings to diff mem tasks

Question 4

Who did research on capacity?

Answer 4

• Jacobs 1887; digit span

- Miller 1956; chunking

Question 5

Research on capacity - Jacobs 1887 & Miller 1956

Answer 5

• J; researcher reads out 4 digits & p’s recall out loud in correct order - if correct, adds 1 more dodger to list - indiciares individual’s digit span - mean span for digits = 9.3 items - means span for letters = 7.3
• M; observations of everyday practice - come in 7’s - capacity of STM = 7+/-2 items - chunking allows better recall

Question 6

Strength of research on capacity

Answer 6

• Jacobs’ study = replicated - may have been distracted during testing (confounding variable) - Bopp & Verbarghen 2005 confirmed findings - validity

Question 7

Limitation in research on capacity

Answer 7

• Cowan 2001 concluded capacity of STM only about 4+-1 chunks - suggests estimate of 5 = more appropriate

Question 8

Research on duration - Peterson & Peterson 1959 & Bahrick et al 1975

Answer 8

• STM - 24 students - 8 trials - student given consonant syllable & 3 digit number - counted back until told to stop to prevent mental rehearsal
• Each trial retention interval - 3s, 6s, 12s, 15s / 18s - findings = after 3s avr recall = 80%, after 18s = 3%
• Suggest STM duration = 18s unless rehearsed

Question 9

Research on duration - Bahrick et al 1975

Answer 9

• LTM - 392 Americans - 17-74yrs - high school yearbooks - recall1 = photo recognition = 50 photos from yearbooks - recall2 = free recall test = p’s recalled names of graduating class
• 15yrs of graduation = 90% accurate in photo recognition - after 48yrs recall declined to 70%
• 15yrs of graduation = 60% accurate in free recall - after 48 yes recall dropped to 30%
• LTM may lay to lifetime - free recall = less accurate than recognition

Question 10

Strength of research on coding

Answer 10

• Clear difference between 2 memory stores - later research shows STM = acoustic coding & LTM = semantic coding

Question 11

Strength of research on duration

Answer 11

• High external validity Bahrick’s study - researchers investigated meaningful memories - recall = lower with meaningless pictures (Shepard 1967)
• Suggests findings reflect more ‘real’ estimate of duration of LTM

Question 12

Limitation of research on duration

Answer 12

• Stimulus material = artificial - however we do sometimes recall meaningless info (phone numbers) - lacks external validity

Question 13

What does the multi-store model describe?

Answer 13

• Describes how info flows through memory system & suggests that memory = made up of 3 stores linked by processing

Question 14

What are the key features of the sensory register?

Answer 14

• Coding = depends on sense passing through - store coding for visual = iconic memory, acoustic = echoic memory + other senses
• Capacity = very high
• Duration = <0.5s
• Info passes further through system if you pay attention

Question 15

What are the key feature of short-term memory?

Answer 15

• Coding = acoustic
• Capacity = limited to 7+/-2
• Duration = 18s
• Maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat material over & over - can keep info in STMs if rehearsed & if long enough, into LTM

Question 16

What are the key feature of long-term memory?

Answer 16

• Coding = semantic
• Capacity = unlimited
• Duration = unlimited
• To recall into from LTM, it has to be transferred back into STM with process of retrieval

Question 17

What case study concerns the multi-store model?

Answer 17

• HM - brain surgery to relieve epilepsy - procedure wasn’t fully understood - hippocampus = removed from both sides of brain (central to memory function)
• Memory = assessed in 1955, thought it was 1953 - little recall of operation - couldn’t form new long-term memories e.g. read same magazines without remembering but performed well on test that measured STM

Question 18

Strengths of the multi-store model?

Answer 18

• Supporting evidence that STM & LTM = diff - Baddeley 1966; tend to mix up acoustic words when using STMs & semantic words when using LTM - clearly show they’re separate & independent memory stores
• Case study of HM proves existence of diff memory stores

Question 19

Limitations of the multi-store model

Answer 19

• Real life application - digits & letters (Jacobs) words (Baddeley) & consonant syllables (P&P) use meaningless materials but support MSM - not valid model for memory in everyday life
• Shallice & Warrington 1970; more than one STM store - KF = amnesia - STM for digits = poor when read to him - recall = better when read himself - MSM wrong claiming 1 STM store
• Craik & Watkins 1973; type of rehearsal = imp than amount - elaborative needed for LT storage - occurs when linking info with existing - info can be transferred to LTM without prolonged rehearsal

Question 20

Who suggested 3 LTM stores containing different types of information?

Answer 20

Tulving 1985 - realised MSM’s view of LTM = too simplistic & inflexible

Question 21

What is episodic memory?

Answer 21

• Refers to ability to recall events in our lives e.g. record of personal experiences
• Memories = complex
• Time-stamped - remember when & what happened
• Conscious effort to recall memories

Question 22

What is semantic memory?

Answer 22

• Shared knowledge of world e.g. facts - less personal
• Aren’t time-stamped - don’t remember when
• Contains immense collections of material that’s constantly being added to depending on experiences

Question 23

What is procedural memory?

Answer 23

• Refers to memory for actions / skills
• Can recall without conscious effort e.g. riding bike, driving - automatic through practice
• Hard to explain to others

Question 24

Strengths of the types of LTM

Answer 24

• Case studies of HM & Clive Wearing - e mem = impaired due to brain damage - s & p mem = unaffected - understood meaning of words & could walk & speak - W; musician could read read & sing music & play piano - diff mem stores in LTM
• Real world application - harder to recall e mem with age - Belleville et al 2006; improve e mem in older people - trained p’s = better on e mem test than control group - specific treatment

Question 25

Limitations of the types of LTM’s

Answer 25

• Lack of control of variables - brain injuries = unexpected - no way of controlling before & after injury - no knowledge of mem before damage - limits what clinical studies can tell us
• Buckner & Petersen 1996; reviewed evidence of location of s & e mem - concluded s mem = left prefrontal cortex & e = right - Tulving et al 1994; links left prefrontal cortex with encoding of e mem & right prefrontal cortex with e retrieval

Question 26

What is the working memory model?

Answer 26

• Baddeley & Hitch 1974; an explanation of how one aspect of memory (stm) = organised & how it functions
• Concerns mental space that’s active when we’re temporarily storing & manipulating info

Question 27

What are the key features of the central executive?

Answer 27

• Monitors incoming data, focuses & divides limited attention & allocates slave systems to tasks
• Capacity = very limited & doesn’t store info

Question 28

What are the key features of the phonological loop?

Answer 28

• Deals with auditory info (coding = acoustic) & preserves order which info arrives

Question 29

What is the phonological loop subdivided into?

Answer 29

• Phonological store - stores words you hear

- Articulatory process - allows maintenance rehearsal that lasts for 2s

Question 30

What are the key features of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 30

• Stores visual &// info when needed

- Limited capacity of 3-4 objects

Question 31

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad subdivided into? Logie 1995

Answer 31

• Visual cache - stores visual data

- Inner scribe - records arrangement of objects in visual field

Question 32

What are the key features of the episodic buffer?

Answer 32

• Added to model by B in 2000
• Temp store for info, integrates visual, spatial & verbal info processed by other stores & maintains sense of time sequencing
• Storage component to CE
• Limited capacity of around 4 chunks
• Links working memory to LTM & wider cognitive processes (perception)

Question 33

Strengths of the working memory model

Answer 33

• Support from S&W patient KF - had poor STM ability for auditory info but could process visual info - recall = better for digits & letters when read himself (v) than to him (a) - PL = damaged - VSS = intact - existence of separate visual & acoustic mem stores
• Dual task performance - B et al 1975; p’s visual & verbal task at same time - performance = similar when separate = both visual / verbal performance declined - both visual takss compete for same subsystem (VSS) - separate slave system that processes visual input & verbal processing

Question 34

Limitations of the working memory model

Answer 34

• Unclear if KF has other cognitive impairments from damage to PL that could’ve affected performance on mem tasks - challenged evidence from clinical studies of brain injuries that may affet diff systems
• B 2003; lack of clarity over nature of CE - ‘least understood component’ - some psychs believe CE may consist of separate subcomponents - challenged integrity of WMM

Question 35

What does the interference theory suggest as an explanation of forgetting in LTM?

Answer 35

• Interference occurs when 2 pieces of info disrupt each other resulting in forgetting of one / both
• Once info = reached LTM, it’s more / less permanent - any forgetting in LTMs = most likely because we can’t get access to them

Question 36

What are the types of interference?

Answer 36

• Proactive - when older memory interferes with new e.g. teacher learnt so many names that it;s hard to remember your classes’
• Retroactive - when newer memory interferes with old - teacher learnt so many names this year, she forgot names of students last year

Question 37

Research on interference - McGeoch & McDonald 1931

Answer 37

• Studied retroactive by changing similarity between 2 sets of materials
• P’s learn list of 10 words until 100% accurate, then learn new list
• Group 1 = synonyms, 2 = antonyms, 3 = unrelated to original, 4 = consonant syllables, 5 = 3 digit numbers, 6 = no new list
• Recall original list, synonyms = worst recall - shows interference = strongest when memories = similar

Question 38

What is the explanation of the effects of similarity?

Answer 38

• Reason similarity affects recall = PI = previously stored info makes new similar info more difficult to store - RI = new info overwrites previous similar memories because of similarity

Question 39

Strengths of interference as an explanations of forgetting

Answer 39

• Support - Baddeley & Hitch 1977; rugby players recall names of teams they played during season - some missed matches because of injury - players who played most = poorest recall because more interference - shows int can operate in some real world situations - validity of theory
• Coenen & Luijtelaar 1997; gave p’s list of words to later recall - when learned under drug diazepam, recall 1w later = poor compared to placebo control group - when learned before drug, later recall = better than placebo - drug improved recall before

Question 40

Limitations of interference as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 40

• Int = temp & can be overcome with cues - Tulving & Psotka 1971; gave p’s list of words in categories - recall avr 70% for first list but became worse each additional list (PI) - at end, given names of categories & recall rose to 70% - int causes temp loss of accessibility to material in LTM
• Validity - most studies supporting theory = lab based - researchers can control confounding variables - means studies show clear link between int & forg - but studies use artificial & unrealistic procedures

Question 41

What does retrieval failure suggest as an explanation of forgetting in LTM?

Answer 41

• People forget because of insufficient cues - when info = placed in mem, associated cues = stored at same time - if unavailable at time of recall = retrieval failure

Question 42

What is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 42

• Tulving 1983; reviewed research into RF & discovered consistent pattern to findings - pattern = ESP - states that cue has to be both present at encoding & retrieval - if not = forgetting

Question 43

What are the 2 types of forgetting?

Answer 43

• Context dependent - depends on external cue (weather / place)
• State dependent - depends on internal cue (feelings / being drunk)

Question 44

Research on context-dependent forgetting - Godden & Baddeley 1975

Answer 44

• Studies divers who work underwater to see if training on land helped / hindered their work underwater
• Learn on land = recall on land - learn on land = recall underwater - learn underwater = recall on land - learn underwater = recall underwater
• Accurate recall = 40% lower than in non-matching conditions - concluded external cues available at learning = diff from ones at recall which led to RF

Question 45

Research on state-dependent forgetting - Carter & Cassaday 1998

Answer 45

• Gave antihistamine drugs (treating hay fever) to p’s - had mild sedative effect making p’s drowsy - created internal physiological state diff from ‘normal’ state of being awake - had to learn list of words & passages of prose & recall
• Learn on drug = recall when on drug - learn on drug = recall when not on drug - learn not on drug = recall when on drug - learn not on drug = recall when not on drug
• Mismatch between internal state at learning & recall performance on mem test = worse - when cues = absent, there’s more forgetting

Question 46

Strengths of retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 46

• Real life application - B suggests cues = worth paying attention to - worth making effort to recall environment which you learned - shows research can remind us strategies in real world to improve recall
• Eyseneck & Keane 2010; RF = main reason for forgetting from LTM - evidence shows RF occurs in real world situations as well as highly controlled conditions of lab

Question 47

Limitations of retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 47

• B 1997; context effects = not very strong in everyday life - diff contexts have to be very diff before effect = seen - hard to find environment as diff as land & water - RF due to lack of contextual cues may not explain everyday forgetting
• G & B 1980 replicated experiment using recognition test instead of recall - p’s say whether they recognise word read from list - when rec = tested, performance = same all 4 conditions - RF = limited explanation as it only applies when persona has to recall info rather than recognise

Question 48

What does misleading information as a factor affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony suggest?

Answer 48

• Suggests that wording of question has no real effect on p’s memories but influences how they decide to answer
• L & P’s second experiement supported substitution exp that proposes that wording of LQ changes p’s memory of clip - ‘smashed’ more likely to report seeing broken glass than ‘hit’

Question 49

Research on leading questions - Loftus & Palmer 1974

Answer 49

• 45 students to watch film of car accidents & asked questions about accident - in critical question, p’s = asked to describe how fast cars were travelling - 5 groups given diff verb - hit, contacted, bumped, collided & smashed
• Mean est speed = calculated for each group - ‘contacted’ = 31.8mph - ‘smashed’ = 40.5mph

Question 50

Research on post-event discussion - Gabbert et al 2003

Answer 50

• Studies p’s in pairs - each watched video of same crime from diff POV - mean each could see elements that other couldn’t - both then discussed what they’d seen before test of recall
• Found 71% mistakenly recalled aspects they didn’t see but picked up in discussion - control group where there was no discussion = 0% - evidence of mem conformity

Question 51

Why does post-event discussion affect EWT?

Answer 51

• Memory contamination - when co-witnesses discuss, their EWT may become distorted because they combine misinfo from other witnesses with own mem’s
• Memory conformity - G et al concluded witnesses go along to win social approval / they believe other = right & they are wrong

Question 52

Strengths of misleading information as a factor affecting eyewitness testimony

Answer 52

• Real world application - Loftus 1975 believed LQ’s police need to consider how they phrase questions when interviewing eyewitnesses - psychs = sometimes asked to act as expert eyewitness in court trials & explain limits of EWT to juries - psychs can help improve legal system by protecting innocent from faulty convictions

Question 53

Limitations of misleading information as a factor affecting eyewitness testimony

Answer 53

• L & P’s p’s watched film in lab - Foster et al 1994; what eyewitnesses remember = imp consequences in real world but p’s responses don’t matter in same way - suggests L = too pessimistic about effects of MI
• Zaragoza & McCloskey 1989; many answers by p’s in lab studies = due to demand characteristics

Question 54

Research on anxiety having a negative effect on recall (weapon focus) - Johnson & Scott 1976

Answer 54

• A created physiological arousal in body that prevents paying attention to imp cues so recall = worse
• P’s believed taking part in lab study - low-anxiety = heard casual convo in next room & saw man walk past carrying pen & grease on hands - high anxiety = other overheard heated argument with breaking glass & man walked out room holding knife covered in blood
• P’s picked man out from 5- photos - 49% who saw with pen were able to identify him - 33% who saw blood-covered were able to identify him
• Tunnel theory of mem; people have enhanced mem for central events

Question 55

Research on anxiety having a positive effect on recall - Yuille & Cutshall 1986

Answer 55

• Fight / floght response = triggered, increasing alertness which may improve mem
• Study of actual shooting in gun shop Canada - shop owner shot thief dead - 21 witnessed - 13 took part in study - interviewed 4-5m after - accuracy determine by number of details reported - also asked to rate stress they felt during incident on 7point scale & whether they had emotional problems since
• Witnesses very accurate & little chance of accuracy after 5m - highest levels of stress - most accurate - 88% compared to 75% for less stressed - suggests anxiety enhances accuracy / recall

Question 56

Contradictory findings of anxiety as factor of affecting eyewitness testimony - Deffenbacher 1983

Answer 56

• Yerkes & Dodson 1908; relation between emotional arousal & performance = inverted U
• D; reviewed 21 studies of EWT & noted contradictory findings on effects of anxiety - used Yerkes-Dodson Law to exp findings - when we witness crime we become emotionally & physiologically aroused - we experience anxiety as well as physiologial changes in body
• Lower levels on arousal produce lower levels of recall accuracy & mem becomes more accurate as level of arousal increases - however, to an extent - point of max accuracy - any more, recall suffers drastic decline

Question 57

Strengths of anxiety as a factor affecting EWT

Answer 57

• Supporting evidence - Valentine & Mesout 2009; used objective measure (heart rate) to divide p’s into high & low anxiety groups - anxiety clearly disrupted p’s ability to recall details about actor in London Dungeon’s Labyrinth - high level has negative effect on immediate eyewitness recall
• Christianson & Hubinette 1993; interviews 58 witnessed to bank robberies in Sweden - some directly involved & others indirectly - recall = more than 75% accurate across all witnessed - direct = more accurate

Question 58

Limitations of anxiety as a factor affecting EWT

Answer 58

• J & S may not have tested anxiety - Pickel 1998 conducted experiment using scissors, handgun, wallet / raw chicken as hand held items in hairdressing salon - scissors = high anxiety, low unusualness - EW accuracy = poorer in high unusualness conditions (chicken & handgun) - weapon focus effect = due to unusualness rather than threat
• C & H interviewed p’s 4-15m after event - researchers had no control over what happened between (post event discussion) - effects of A may have been overwhelmed by other factors - lack of control over confounding variables

Question 59

Who suggested the accuracy of EWT could be improved using cognitive interviews?

Answer 59

• Fisher & Geiselman 1992; techniques should be based on psychological insights into how mem works

Question 60

What techniques are used in the cognitive interview?

Answer 60

• Report everything - include all details even if they seem insignificant as they may trigger imp memories
• Reinstate the context - returning to the scene in their minds & imagining the environment (weather, what they could see) & their emotions - context dependent
• Reverse the order - recalling events in diff order from original sequence - to prevent reporting their expectations of how it must have happened rather than what did happen - also prevents dishonesty
• Change the perspective - recalling incident from other perspectives e.g. the victim - done to disrupts effect of expectations & schema on recall

Question 61

What is the enhanced cognitive interview?

Answer 61

• Fisher et al 1987 developed additional elements to CI to focus on social dynamics of interaction - interviewer needs to know when to make eye contact - minimising distractions, getting witness to speak slowly & asking open-ended questions

Question 61

Strengths of the cognitive interview

Answer 61

• Kohnken et al’s 1999 meta-analysis combined data from 55 studies comparing CI & ECI with standard police interview - CI = avr 41% increase in accurate info compared to standard - 4 studies showed no diff between types of interview - CI = effective in recalling available mem

Question 62

Limitations of the cognitive interview

Answer 62

• K found increase of inaccurate into recalled - ECI produced more incorrect details than CI
• Milne & Bull 2002 combo of report everything & reinstate contect produced better recall - confirms officers’ suspicions that some aspects of CI = more useful than others - casts doubts on credibility of CI
• Time consuming & expensive because of special training & resources needed - more time needed to establish rapport with witness & making them relaxed - CI isn’t realistic method for officers to use