memory

Question 1

define sensory register

Answer 1

• the memory store for each of our five senses
• this part of the multi-store model of memory is not one but several store, one for each of the five senses
• the two main ones are iconic and echoic
• has a high capacity
• material only lasts very briefly, duration only 1/2 a second
• very little of this material is passed on further, but it will if you pay attention to it - the key is attention

Question 2

what is the iconic store

Answer 2

visual information is coded visually

Question 3

what is the echoic store

Answer 3

sound or auditory information is coded for acoustically

Question 4

what makes up the multi-store model

Answer 4

the sensory register, the short term memory and long term memory

Question 5

what Is the short term memory

Answer 5

the ‘limited capacity’ as can only contain a certain amount of things before forgetting takes place

Question 6

what is the capacity of short term memory

Answer 6

7 + or - 2, though research suggests its closer to 5 things

Question 7

how is information in the STM coded for

Answer 7

acoustically - lasts about 30 seconds unless rehearsed

Question 8

what is maintenance rehearsal in the multi-store model

Answer 8

when we repeat material over again and again

after its rehearsed long enough, it passes into the Long term memory

Question 9

define long term memory

Answer 9

potentially permanent memory store after it has been rehearsed after a long time
the capacity is unlimited and the duration can potentially be life-long
LTM tends to be coded for semantically
when we want to retrieve memories from the LTM, it has to be passed back through the STM, according to the multi-store model no information directly from the LTM

Question 10

what is the capacity of LTM

Answer 10

unlimited

Question 11

what is the duration of LTM

Answer 11

potentially be life time

Bahrick et al (1975) found many are able to recognise the faces of their classmates almost 50 years after graduating

Question 12

what is the coding of LTM

Answer 12

semantically, in terms of meaning

Question 13

what is the duration of STM

Answer 13

material lasts very briefly , only 1/2 a second

Question 14

what is the coding of STM

Answer 14

iconic - visual info coded visually

echoic - auditory info coded acoustically

Question 15

evaluation of multi-store model

supporting evidence

Answer 15

supporting research that LTM and STM are qualitatively different.
e.g. Baddeley discovered we tend to mix up words that sound similar in the STM but we mix up words with similar meanings when we use our LTM.
Shows STM is coded for acoustically and LTM is coded semantically - shows they are different
agrees with the multi store model LTM and STM is separate and independent

Question 16

evaluation of multi-store model

more than one type of rehearsal

Answer 16

According to the MSM what matters is the amount you rehearse something
so the more you rehearse something, its more likely it will transfer to the LTM
Craik and Watkins 1973, found this was wrong and its more about the rehearsal type.
Two types of rehearsal - maintenance rehearsal as described in the multi-store model but this doesnt transfer information into the LTM just stays in the STM.
Elaborative rehearsal is whats needed for long-term storage. this is where you link information to your existing knowledge and think about what it means

Question 17

evaluation of multi-store model

more than one type of STM

Answer 17

MSM, states that the STM is a unitary store
however evidence from people suffering from amnesia suggests this cannot be true.
Shallice and Warrington 1970 studied amnesia patient KF, they found his recall of digits that were read aloud to him was very poor but improved if he could read them outsell himself
Further research into amnesia patients suggests there could even be a STM for non verbal sounds
this is a limitation of MSM as research suggests there must be one STM to process visual information and another to process auditory, the WMM includes these stores

Question 18

MSM case study - patient HM

Answer 18

underwent brain surgery to relieve his epilepsy, unfortunately the procedure was still in its infancy and not fully understood.
the hippocampus was wrongly removed from both sides fo his brain which is central to memory function
when his memory was assessed he though it was 1953 when it was 1955
very little memory of the operation and couldn’t remember speaking to someone an hour before
LTM could never improve despite practice however he did perform well on tests of immediate memory span, the STM tests

Question 19

define MSM

Answer 19

a representation of how memory works in term of 3 memory stores - sensory register , STM and LTM
describes how information flows through this store

Question 20

define the working-memory model WMM

Answer 20

a representation of STM.
suggests STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub-units coordinated by a central decision making system

Question 21

what are the four components of the WMM

Answer 21

central executive
phonological loop
visuo-spatial sketchpad
episodic buffer

Question 22

what is the central executive

Answer 22

this coordinates the 3 subsystems of memory - an attention process that makes decisions and allocates ‘slave systems’ to tasks

Question 23

the capacity of the centra executive

Answer 23

very limited

Question 24

what is the phonological loop

Answer 24

deals with auditory information and preserves the order in which information arrives
-divided into 2 subsystems:
phonological store, words that you hear
articulatory store, allows maintenance rehearsal to keep them in the working model where they are needed
the capacity of this is believed to be 2 seconds
Logie 1995 subdivided this
visual cache which stores visual information
inner scribe which records the arrangement of objects in the visual field

Question 25

what is the visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 25

stores visual and/or spatial information when required

Question 26

what is the capacity of the visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 26

Baddeley 2003 suggests the capacity is limited, is about 3-4 objects

Question 27

what is the episodic buffer

Answer 27

added by baddeley 2000
its a temporary store of information, integrating the verbal spatial and visual information processed by the other systems
maintains a sense of time sequence, basically recording what is happening
Baddeley 2012 suggests the capacity is about 4 chunks
it links the WMM to the LTM and wider cognitive processes such as perception

Question 28

evaluation of the WMM

clinical evidence

Answer 28

Shallice and Warrington 1970 case study of patient KF who suffered brain damage
KF had poor STM ability for verbal information but could process visual information normally
shows is phonological loop was damage but the rest was in tact
supports separate visual and acoustic store

Question 29

evaluation of the WMM

dual task performance

Answer 29

dual task performance support the separate existence of the visuospatial sketchpad
Baddeley et al 1975 shows participants had more difficulty doing 2 visual tasks than doing a visual and verbal task at the same time
because the increased difficult of using the same system, VSS, rather than two

Question 30

evaluation of the WMM

lack of clarity over the central executive

Answer 30

CE is unsatisfactory as it doesnt really explain anything
The central executive needs to be more specified than just being simply ‘attention’
therefore the WMM hasn’t been fully explained

Question 31

what is the cognitive interview

Answer 31

a method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories

Question 32

who suggested that cognitive interviews could be improved and how

Answer 32

Fisher and Geiselman 1992 argued eyewitnesses could be improved if the police used better techniques 
1 - report everything 
2 - reinstate the context 
3 - reverse the order 
4 - change perspective

Question 33

cognitive interview 1st stage

Answer 33

report everything
witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail even though it may seem irrelevant
this may trigger other memories or turn out to be significant

Question 34

cognitive interview 2nd stage

Answer 34

reinstate context
witness should return to the crime scene ‘in their mind; and imagine the environment and their emotions
this is related to context-dependent forgetting

Question 35

cognitive interview 3rd stage

Answer 35

events should be recalled in a different order than chronological
to prevent the person reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened rather than what happened
prevents dishonesty its harder to produce an untruthful account if you have to reverse it

Question 36

cognitive interview 4th stage

Answer 36

change perspective
recalling the incident from the perspective of someone else e.g. to the perpetrator
to disrupt the expectations of schema recall

Question 37

what is the enhanced cognitive interview and who proposed it

Answer 37

Fisher et al 1987
developed additional elements to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction
e.g. when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it
suggests ideas such as reducing witness anxiety and asking open ended questions

Question 38

evaluation of cognitive interviews

it is time consuming

Answer 38

takes much more time than standard police interviews so the police may be reluctant to use it
e.g. more time is needed to establish a rapport
it also requires special training which requires even more time and many forces may not be able to provide more than a few hours
means the proper version of this is actually used which may explain why people haven’t been impressed by it

Question 39

evaluation of cognitive interviews

some elements may be more valuable than others

Answer 39

Milne and Bull 2002 found each individual element was equally important - each technique used alone provided more information than a standard police interview
However found that using a combination of report everything and context reinstatement produced better recall than any of the conditions
a strength as these two elements should be used to improve police interviewing of eyewitnesses even if it isn’t fully used increasing its credibility

Question 40

evaluation of cognitive interviews

support for the effectiveness of ECI

Answer 40

ECI may offer special benefits
For example meta-analysis by Kohnken et al 1990 combined data from 50 studies - ECI consistently provided more correct information than the standard interview
shows there are real benefits to the process