Memory

Question 1

Coding

Answer 1

• The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores

Question 2

Capacity

Answer 2

• The amount of information that can be held in a memory store

Question 3

Duration

Answer 3

• The length of time information can be held in memory

Question 4

Short-term memory (summary)

Answer 4

• limited capacity memory store
• capacity: 5-9 items
• coding mainly acoustic (sounds)
• duration: 18-30 seconds
• unless rehearsed then can pass into LTM

Question 5

Long-term memory (summary)

Answer 5

• permanent memory store
• coding mainly semantic (meaning)
• capacity: unlimited
• duration: up to a lifetime

Question 6

Baddeley coding research: method

Answer 6

• memory is stored in different formats, depending on the memory store
• process of converting information from one form to another = coding

method:

• gave different lists of words to four groups of p’s to remember:
  1. acoustically (sounding) similar: e.g. cat, cab, can
  2. acoustically dissimilar: e.g. pit, few, cow
  3. semantically similar (meaning) e.g great, large, big
  4. semantically dissimilar: e.g. good, huge, hot
• P’s were then shown a list of these words and asked to arrange them into the correct order

Question 7

Baddeley coding research: findings

Answer 7

• when the recall task was given immediately after hearing it (short-term memory recall) they did worse with ACOUSTICALLY similar words
• –> suggests STM codes acoustically
• when the recall task was given after a time interval of 20 minutes (long-term memory recall) they did worse with the SEMATICALLY similar words
• –> suggests STM codes sematically

Question 8

Jacobs capacity research: method

Answer 8

• used digit span to measure capacity
• 4 digits given to P and then P asked to recall them in the correct order out loud
• if they get this correct this researcher then gives 5 digits (+1)
• and so on until the P is unable to recall the order correctly- this determines the induviduals digit span

Question 9

Jacobs capacity research: findings

Answer 9

• mean average digit spans:
  digits = 9.3
  letters = 7.3

Question 10

Research on duration of STM: method

Answer 10

• 8 trials, 24 students
• in each trial student is given a triagram e.g. LDY. KJC, LPS, etc. and a 3 digit number e.g 634. 392, 912
• then asked to count backwards from that number to prevent any rehearsal of the trigram which would increase the memory
• in each trial they were asked to stop after a different amount of time- 3,6,9,12,15 or 18 seconds
• the retention interval
• the number of correct responses decreased at retention interval time increased

Question 11

Research on duration of STM: findings

Answer 11

• STM has a short duration unless we are able to repeat it out loud over and over again (maintenance rehearsal)

Question 12

Miller capacity research

Answer 12

• observation of everyday practice
• noted that many things come in sevens e.g. days of the week, deadly sins, etc.
• suggested the span or capacity of the STM is about 7 items plus or minus 2
• also noted that [people can recall 5 words just as well as they can recall 5 letters –> they do this by grouping set into units or chunks –> chunking

Question 13

Research on duration of LTM: method

Answer 13

• 392 P’s between 17-74
• obtained high school yearbooks of each
• tested recall in various ways:
  1. photo recognition test (names from pictures)
  2. free recall: recalled all names of graduating class

Question 14

Research on duration of LTM: findings

Answer 14

• P’s tested within 15 years of graduation were 90% accurate in phot0 recognition
• after 48 years recalled declines to 70%
• free recall was worse: 15 years = 60% 48 years = 30%
• LTM can last a long time

Question 15

Evaluation: Baddeley

Answer 15

P - artificial stimuli
E - the random list of words were quite artificial rather than meaningful or personal to the participants
C - we should be cautious about generalising the findings to different types of memory tasks
- e.g. processing more meaningful info –> here people may code semantically even in short term memory tasks
–> limited application

Question 16

Evaluation: research on capacity

Answer 16

P - Jacobs digit span test lacks validity
E - It was conducted a long time ago when psychological studies often lacked adequate control
e.g. some P’s may have been distracted when being tested so didn’t preform as well
- results may not be valid due to confounding variables that were not controlled
H - the results have been replicated in newer research supporting its validity

P - use Miller to support Jacobs and vise a versa

P - Miller did not specify how large each ‘chunk’ of information could be
E - therefore we are unable to conclude the exact capacity of short-term memory.
C - further research is required to determine the each size of information ‘chunks’ to understand the exact capacity of short-term memory.

P - Miller’s (1956) research into short-term memory did not take into account other factors that affect capacity.
E - e.g. age could also affect short-term memory
C - Jacobs (1887) research acknowledged that short-term memory gradually improved with age.

Question 17

Name all features in order of the multi-store model of memory

Answer 17

• -> stimulus from the environment
• -> Sensory register - iconic, echoic, other sensory stores
• -> short term memory store
• -> long term memory store
• response (memory)
• maintenance rehearsal (rehearsal loop)
• retrieval
• prolonged rehearsal

Question 18

Sensory register

Answer 18

• stimulus from the environment will pass into the sensory register
• sights, sounds, smells, etc
• this part of the memory is not one store but many (one for each of the 5 senses)
• 2 main:
  - -> echoic (coded: acoustically)
• duration: 3 secs
  - -> iconic (coded: visually)
• duration: less than half a second
• capacity: high - 100 million cells in one eye
• info only passes further into the memory system if it is paid ATTENTION to

Question 19

Maintenance Rehearsal

Answer 19

• when we repeat material to ourselves over and over
• can keep info in our STM as long as we rehearse it
• if we rehearse for long enough the info will pas into the LTM

Question 20

The multi-store model of memory

Answer 20

• representation of how memory works in terms of 3 stores
• sensory register, the short term memory and the long term memory
• describes how info is transferred from one store to another, how it remembered and how it is forgotten

Question 21

The multi-store model of memory: evaluation

Answer 21

P - case study evidence support
E - The case of HM supports the MSM
- he was unable to encode new long-term memories after surgery where his hippocampus was removed but his STM was unaffected.
- He remembered little of personal (death of mother and father) events that had occurred over the last 45 years.
C -This supports the view that the LTM and the STM are two separate stores.
H - however it could be said his case does not offer good support for the msm since it is a case study and a unique case of a brain damaged individual so it may not generalise to all memory

P - There is more than one type of short term memory
E - MSM says it is a unitary store
- evidence from people with amnesia shows this cannot be the case
- case study: KF
- short term memory for digits was poor when read out to him
- but recall was much better when he read them to himself
C - this research shows that the very least there must be one short-term store to process visual info and one for audial info

P - A lot of the research used to define the coding, capacity and duration of the stores was artificial
E - in every day life memories are more related to meaningful and useful things
- e.g. facts, names, places, etc
- the studies used meaningless subjects such as in P&P’s trigrams that have no real meaning for the P
C - lacks ecological validity and may not reflect how memory woks in every day

Question 22

The working memory model

Answer 22

• a representation of short term memory i organised and how it functions
• it suggests that STM processes different types of information using sub-units coordinated by a central decision-making system
• each component is qualitavely different based off of coding and capacity

Question 23

Central Executive

Answer 23

• monitors incoming data, makes decisions and co-ordinates the activities of the three sub-systems in the memory
• very limited processing capacity

Question 24

Phonological loop

Answer 24

• one of the slaves systems
• deals with auditory info (coding is acoustic)
• preserves the order in which info arrives
• divided into:
  - phonological store: stores the words we hear
  - articulatory process: allows maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds or words in a ‘loop’ to keep them in working memory while they are needed) capacity of this loop = 2 secs worth of what you can say

Question 25

Visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 25

• one of the slave systems
• stores visual/spatial information when required
• sub-divided into:
  - visual cashe: stores visual data
  - inner scribe: records the arrangement of objects
  in the visual field
• temporary - limited capacity 3-4 objects

Question 26

Episodic buffer

Answer 26

• one of the slave systems
• a temporary storage for information.
• integrates visual, spatial and verbal information.

Question 27

The Working Memory Model: Evaluation

Answer 27

P - support for multiple STM memory stores
E - evidence from people with amnesia supports this
- case study: KF
- short term memory for digits was poor when read out to him
- but recall was much better when he read them to himself
C - this research supports the idea of one short-term store to process visual info and one for audial info
H - however it could be said his case does not offer good support for the wsm since it is a case study and a unique case of a brain damaged individual so it may not generalise to all memory

P - Dual task performance
E - Baddeley showed that P’s had more difficulty doing 2 visual tasks
- e.g. tracking a light and tracing a letter F
- than doing a visual and verbal task at the same time
- visual –> uses same slave system
- verbal + visual –> separate slave systems#
C - supports the idea for separate slave systems for audial and visual input

P - Lieberman: it is suggested that the visuospatial sketchpad implies that spatial information is first visual
E - but blind people have excellent spatial awareness, although they have never had any visual information
C - VSS should be separated into two different components: one for visual information and one for spatial.

Question 28

The cognitive interview

Answer 28

• a method of interviewing eyewitnesses

helps them retrieve more accurate memories

Question 29

4 features of the cognitive interview

Answer 29

1. Report everything
2. Reinstate the context
3. Reverse the order
4. Change the perspective

Question 30

Report everything

Answer 30

• encouraged to include every single detail of the event
• even if it seems irrelevant / they aren’t confident about it
• detail may be important/might trigger other memories

Question 31

Reinstate the context

Answer 31

• return the original crime scene in their mind
• imagine the environment e.g. the weather, what they could see, etc and their emotions
• 5 senses
• may trigger the recall of context dependent memories

Question 32

Reverse the order

Answer 32

• recall in a different chronological order
• e.g. end to start or middle to start
• prevents people from filing in the gaps with their expectations of what must have happened rather than the actual vents
• also prevents dishonesty - it’s harder to lie if they have to reverse it

Question 33

Change perspective

Answer 33

• recall the incident from another person at the scene’s perspective
• e.g. other witnesses or the perpetrator
• disrupts the affect of expectations and schema on recall

Question 34

The enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 34

• additional elements added to the cognitive interview
• teaching the interview when and when not to establish eye contact
• how to reduce eyewitness anxiety, minimising distractions, getting the witness to speak more slowly and asking open-ended questions

Question 35

The cognitive interview: evaluation

Answer 35

P - time consuming and expensive
E - takes much more time than the standard police interview
- requires special training that many forces are unable to give the time for
C - this makes it unlikely that the ‘proper’ cognitive interview is actually being used
- explains why police aren’t too impressed by it

P - some elements may be more valuable than others
E - Milne found that a combination of ‘report everything’ and ‘context reinstatement’ produced better recall than any other combinations
- shows that some are more useful
C - strength because if the full interview cannot be used simply just these 2 elements can be used to improve police interviewing and its reliability

P - support for effectiveness
E - metanalysis has found the CI consistently provided more correct information than the standard interview used by police
C - shows that there are real benefits to police using the CI as it gives them a better chance of catching & charging criminals which is beneficial to society as a whole