memory

Question 1

what are the three processes of memory?

Answer 1

• storage
• encoding
• retrieval

Question 2

what are the three types of LTM

Answer 2

• episodic
• semantic
• procedural

Question 3

episodic

Answer 3

experiences

Question 4

semantic

Answer 4

knowledge of the world

Question 5

procedural

Answer 5

how to do things

Question 6

strength of different types of LTM

*locations

Answer 6

P-brain scans show that different types of LTM relate to different brain locations
E-eg. episodic memory is found in the right prefrontal cortex

L-shows there are different types of LTM

Question 7

strength of different types of LTM

*amnesic

Answer 7

P-supported by case studies of amnesic patients
E-eg. Clive Wearing lost most of his episodic memory but not his procedural as he could still play the piano

L-shows there are different types of LTM

Question 8

weakness of different types of LTM

*too simple

Answer 8

P- distinctive types of LTM are difficult to separate
E- memory is usually a mixture of types (no clear difference between episodic and semantic memories)

L- having different types of LTM may be an oversimplification

Question 9

primacy effect

Answer 9

tendency to remember words at the beginning of the list

Question 10

primacy and recency effect

Answer 10

• words at the beginning are remembered more as they’ve been rehearsed and gone into the LTM (primary)
• words at the end of a list are remembered more as they’ve been heard recently and are in the STM (recency)

Question 11

outline Murdock’s serial position curve study (9s)

Answer 11

A: to investigate if memory of words was affected by where the words were positioned in the list
M: -words from the 4,000 most common words in english were chosen randomly

-participants listened to 20 word lists (with 10-40 words on them)
-they recalled the words after each list
R: -recall was related to the position of the word in the list
-higher recall=first few words (primacy)
-higher recall=the last words (recency) compared to words in the middle of the list
C: -shows the serial position effect=position of a word determines the likelihood of recall
-supports the MSM

Question 12

Evaluate Murdock’s serial position curve study

Answer 12

+ lab study
P- it was carried out in laboratory conditions
E- things like familiarity of words could be controlled
L- more certain that the position of the words affected recall

• artificial task
  P- task was artificial
  E- list of words=relates to only 1 type of memory
  L- results don’t relate to how we use our memories in other ways (personal events)

+ supporting research
P- research with amnesiacs supports the conclusion
E- Carlesimo et al found that some amnesiacs can’t store long term memories and don’t show a primacy effect but show a recency effect
L- proves that primacy effect is related to LTM

Question 13

outline the theory of reconstructive memory (9t)

Answer 13

memory is an active process. we store fragments of information and when we need to recall something we build these fragments into a meaningful whole however some elements are missing and is not accurate

• we record small pieces of information when events occur. later during recall we recombine the pieces to tell the story, every time we retell the story the elements are combined differently (reconstruction)
• when recombining pieces of information they can be impacted to what we believe to be true therefore social and cultural expectations may influence our memory
• effort after meaning: we focus on the meaning of events and afterwards we make an effort to interpret the meaning in more familiar terms

Question 14

evaluate the theory of reconstructive memory (9t)

Answer 14

• *some memories are accurate
  P- wrong to suggest all memories are inaccurate
  E- other studies have shown that sometimes memory can be accurate. (eg. in Bartlett’s war of the ghosts study people remembered the phrase “something black came out of his mouth” because it was distinctive)
  L- shows that people don’t always actively construct memories and that some memories are accurate

+ real world application
P- can explain issues with eye witness testimony
E- eye witness testimonies used to be regarded as important/valuable evidence however, Bartlett showed that our memory isn’t always accurate and can be affected by our expectations. due to this it is no longer heavily relied on
L- shows that Bartlett’s research had important consequences

Question 15

what are the three factors affecting the accuracy of memory?

Answer 15

• interference
• context
• false memories

Question 16

interference

Answer 16

• form of regretting

- when 2 memories compete with each other, one memory may prevent us from accessing the other memory

Question 17

proactive interference

Answer 17

when you forget the new information because the older information is already stored and interferes with new memories

Question 18

retroactive interference

Answer 18

when you forget the old information because the new information interferes with the accuracy of the old memories

Question 19

outline McGeoch and McDonald’s study (interference)

Answer 19

A: to investigate if a second activity has an effect on the accuracy of memory

M: -12 participants
different kinds of lists were shown to the participants–>each had to learn the 10 words from one list until memorized and were then given a new list of types
synonyms, antonyms, unrelated, nonsense syllables, or no list
R: -memory was affected by the second list
-synonyms had least accurate recall
-participants who weren’t given a new list had the best recall
C: interference affects memory and is strongest when an intervening activity is similar

Question 20

outline interference study

Answer 20

artificial task

high control eg counterbalancing

Question 21

context

Answer 21

situation in which an event or memory happens and can act as a cue to recall memories

Question 22

outline Godden and Baddeley’s study (contex

Answer 22

A: to investigate if context improves recall
M: -18 participants were members of a diving club

-divers had to listen to a list of 36 unrelated words either on the beach (dry) or under water (wet)
-they were tested after 4 minutes to see how many words they could recall on beach or underwater
R:-recall was highest in the same environment for learning and for recall
-accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions
C: context of learning acts as a trigger or cue when trying to remember the information
(context enhances accuracy of memory)

Question 23

evaluate context study

Answer 23

artificial task

only stm no ltm

Question 24

false memories

Answer 24

• memory is an active process
• memories can be reconstructed because we record small pieces of information and when recalling we build up the fragments into a meaningful who so elements can missing or incorrect
• effort after meaning:we make an effort to interpret them meaning in more familiar terms
• our memories can also be influenced by what we expect to be true and can be transformed to fit our cultural and social influences

Question 25

outline Loftus’ “lost in the mall study (false memories)

Answer 25

A: to see if false memories could be created in participants
M:-4 stories about childhood events where 3 were true (given from relatives) and 1 was false (about getting lost in a shopping mall–>story was crafted to each individual to make it more realistic) were given to the participants

-they were told to read each story and write down what they remembered about each event
R: 6/24 (25%) of participants recalled the story fully or partially
C: imagining an event can implant a false memory in a person which reduces the accuracy of memory

Question 26

evaluate lost in mall study

Answer 26

+eyewitness testimony

• artificial task
• ethical issues

P- has important implications for eye witness testimony
E- by using leading questions the police could accidentally implant false memories
L- changed the courts deal with EWT as they no longer regard it as reliable evidence

P- has important implications for eye witness testimony
E- by using leading questions the police could accidentally implant false memories
L- changed the courts deal with EWT as they no longer regard it as reliable evidence

P- participants may be left with the false memories implanted
E- may have a lingering sense (cause distress)
L- raises ethical issues