memory Flashcards
research on coding
word recall of similar/dissimilar words
Baddeley
acoustic in STM
semantic in LTM
coding - evaluation - separate stores
identified STM and LTM, supporting MSM
coding - eval - artificial stimuli
word lists had no personal meaning
research on capacity - digit span
Jacobs - 9.3 digits 7.3 letters
research on capacity - span of memory
Miller 7 +- 2 - putting items together extends STM capacity
capacity - eval - a valid study
later studies replicated findings eg Bopp and Verhaeghen so valid test of digit span
Capacity - eval - chunks
Miller overestimated STM, only four chunks - Cowan
research on duration - STM
Peterson and Peterson - about 18 seconds without rehearsal
research on duration - LTM
Bahrick et al
Yearbooks
face recognition 90%, free recall 60% (15 years)
face recognition 70%, free recall 30% (48 years)
duration - eval - meaningless stimuli in STM
petersons used consonant syllables - lacks external validity
duration - eval - high external
Bahrick et al used meaningful materials, better recall than studies with meaningless stimuli
Shepard
Sensory register
modality-specific coding
very brief duration
Sperling’s study, less than 50ms
high capacity
transfer to STM by attention
short-term memory
mainly acoustic coding - limited duration and capacity
transfer to LTM by rehearsal
long-term memory
mainly semantic coding
unlimited duration and capacity
created through maintenance rehearsal
retrieval from LTM via STM
msm - eval - research support
research shows STM and LTm use different coding and have different capacity
msm - eval - research support counterpoint
studies do not use everyday materials
eg consonant syllables
low validity
msm - more than one STM store
studies of amnesia eg KF show different STMs for visual and audacity material
msm - elaborative rehearsal
transfer to LTM more about elaboration (meaningful processing) than maintenance rehearsal (Craik and Watkins)
msm - bygone model
supporting evidence but also eg evidence of more than one type of STM and LTM
episodic memory
memory for events in our lives
time-stamped
semantic memory
memory for knowledge of the world, like an encyclopaedia and dictionary
procedural memory
memory for automatic and often skilled behaviours
unconscious recall
LTM - clinical evidence
Clive Wearing and HM had damaged episodic memories but semantic and procedural memories were relatively fine
LTM - clinical evidence - counterpoint
clinical studies lack control of variables
memory before injury
LTM - conflicting neuroimaging evidence
research links semantic to left prefrontal cortex and episodic to right (Buckner and Peterson) others reverse this (Tulving et al)
LTM - Real-world application
old-age memory loss improved by intervention to target episodic memory (Belleville et al)
LTM - same or different
Tulving now suggests episodic may be specialised subcategory of semantic but Alzheimer’s patients could form episodic not semantic memories (Hodges and Patterson)
Central executive
supervisory, allocates slave subsystems to tasks, very limited capacity
Phonological loop
Auditory information - phonological store and articulatory process - maintenance rehearsal
coding - acoustic
capacity - 2 seconds of speech
visuo-spatial sketchpad
visual information - visual cache and inner scribe
coding - visual
capacity - 3 or 4 objects
episodic buffer
integrates data from slave systems and records the order of events
linked to LTM
coding - flexible
capacity - 4 chunks
WMM - clinical evidence
KF had poor auditory memory but good visual memory
Damaged PL but VSS fine
WMM - clinical evidence - counterpoint
KF may have had other impairments that affected his WM
WMM - Dual-task performance
difficult to do two visual tasks (or two verbal) at same time, but one visual and one verbal is OK
Baddeley et al
WMM - nature of the central executive
not well specified, needs to be more than ‘attention’
WMM - validity of the model
dual-tasks studies support WMM but are highly controlled, using artificial tasks eg letter sequences
types of interference
proactive - old memories disrupt new ones
retroactive - new memories disrupt old ones
effects of similarity
McGeoch and McDonald - six groups learned list, similar words (synonyms) created more interference
explanation of the effects of similarity
proactive - makes new information difficult to store
retroactive - old information overwritten
interference - evaluation - real-world interference
rugby players remembered less if played more games over a season
Baddeley and Hitch
interference - evaluation - real-world interference counterpoint
interference unusual in everyday situations eg similarity unusual
interference and cues
interference effects are overcome using cues (Tulving and Psotka)
interference - support from drug studies
taking diazepam after learning reduce interference and forgetting - retrograde facilitation (Coenan and van Luijtelaar)
interference - validity issues
lab studies have high control but use artificial materials and unrealistic procedures
encoding specificity principle
Tulving - cues most effective if present at coding and at retrieval
link between cues and material may be meaningful or meaningless
context-dependent forgetting
Godden and Baddeley - recall better when external context matched
state-dependent forgetting
carter and cassaday
antihistamine - recall better when internal state matched
retrieval failure - real-world application
cues are weak but worth paying attention to as strategy for improving recall
retrieval failure - research support
wide range of support suggests this is main reason for forgetting
Eysenck and Keane
retrieval failure - research support - counterpoint
no forgetting unless contexts are very different, eg on land versus underwater
Baddeley
retrieval failure - recall versus recognition
no context effects when memory assessed using recognition test
Godden and Baddeley
retrieval failure - problems with ESP
research support for the principle but no independent measure of cue encoding
leading questions research support
speed estimates affected by leading question eg smashed, contacted
Loftus and Palmer
why do leading questions affect EWT
response bias - no change to memory
substitution explanation - supported by report of seeing broken glass
post-event discussion
co-witness discussion affect memories of event
why does PED affect EWT
memory contamination - mix misinformation fro others
memory conformity - responses given for social approval
misleading - real-world application
insights applied to police interviewing and expert witnesses
misleading - real-world counterpoint
film clips in lab are less stressful than everyday life, no consequences
EWT are reliable
misleading - evidence against substitution
central details not much affected by misleading information (Sutherland and Hayne)
misleading - evidence challenging memory conformity
post-event information on hair colour blended, supporting contamination
Skagerberg and Wright
misleading - demand characteristics
lab environment enables control but answers in lab studies influenced by desire to be helpful (demand characteristics)
anxiety has a negative effect on recall
Johnson and Scott (weapon focus) - high-anxiety knife condition led to poorer recall
tunnel theory of memory
anxiety has a positive effect on recall
Yuille and Cutshall
shooting in gun shop
- high anxiety associated with better recall when witnessing real crime
explaining the contradictory findings
deffenbacher reviewed 21 studies, Yerkes-Dodson inverted-U theory suggests both low and high anxiety lead to poor recall
anxiety - unusualness not anxiety
poor recall due to unusualness (chicken and handgun), not anxiety (Pickel)
anxiety - support for negative effects
London Dungeon - anxiety reduced accurate recall of an individual
Valentine and Mesout
anxiety - positive effects
the most anxious eyewitness at bank robbery had the most accurate recall
anxiety - positive effects counterpoint
interviews were long after event, lacks control of confounding variables
anxiety - problems with inverted-U theory
explains contradictory findings but focuses just on physical arousal, ignores cognitive aspects of anxiety
cognitive interview
1 - report everything
include even unimportant details
2 - reinstate the context
picture the scene and recall how you felt
avoids context-dependent forgetting
3 - reverse the order
recall from the end and work backwards
disrupts expectations
4 - change perspective
put yourself in the shoes of someone else present
disrupt schema
5 - the enhanced cognitive interview
adds social dynamics eg establishing eye contact
support for the effectiveness of the cognitive interview
cognitive interview 41% more accurate recall than standard interview
Kohnken et al
support for the effectiveness of the cognitive interview counterpoint
cognitive interview also increases inaccurate information Kohnken et al - even more true for enhanced cognitive interview
cognitive interview - some elements may be more useful
report everything and reinstate the context used together produced best recall
Milne and Bull
cognitive interview - time-consuming
it takes longer and needs special training
Kebbell and Wagstaff
full cognitive not realistic for police
cognitive interview - variations of the cognitive interview
pick and mix approach makes it hard to compare effectiveness but gives more flexibility
