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Psychology A Level (AQA) > Memory > Flashcards

Memory Flashcards

Paper 1

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1
Q

Baddeley - Coding

A

Different lists of words to four groups of participants to remember :
Group 1 - Acoustically similar
Group 2 - Acoustically dissimilar
Group 3 - Semantically similar
Group 4 - Semantically dissimilar

Shown original words and asked to recall them in correct order.
When they recalled immediately (STM) they did worse with acoustically similar words.
When they recalled after 20 minutes (LTM) they did worse with semantically similar words.
LTM - Coded Semantically
STM - Coded Acoustically

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2
Q

Is information coded acoustically or semantically in LTM

A

Semantically

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3
Q

Jacobs (1887) - capacity

A
  • Measuring digit span
  • Researcher reads 4 digits and then participant recalls digits out loud in correct order
  • If they get these correct they move on and another digit to the order etc until they cannot recall correctly anymore
  • Mean span for digits = 9.3 items
  • Mean span for letters = 7.3
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4
Q

Miller - Span of memory and chunking

A
  • noted that things come in sevens (seven days in the week, seven deadly sins etc)
  • span / capacity of STM is 7 plus or minus 2
  • people can recall five words as easily as they can recall 5 letters
  • chunking = grouping sets of digits or letters into units or chunks
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5
Q

Peterson and Peterson - duration of STM

A
  • 24 students in 8 trials
  • each given a consonant syllable to remember
  • student counted backwards from this number (to avoid maintenance rehearsal)
  • after 3 second - average recall 80%
  • after 18 seconds - average recall 3%
  • STM duration is up to 18 seconds unless we repeat the information over and over (rehearsal)
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6
Q

Bahrick et al - Duration of LTM

A
  • 392 American participants aged between 17 and 74
  • High school yearbooks attained for each
    Recall tested using
  • Photo recongition test consisting of 50 photos
  • Free recall where participants named all the names from graduating class

Participants tested within 15 years of leaving highschool - 90% accurate in photo recall
Participants tested within 48 years of leaving highschool - 70% accurate in photo recall
Free recall was less than photo recognition :
60% after 15 years
30% after 48 years

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7
Q

One strength and one limitation for Baddeleys research on Coding

A

Strength = Identified a clear difference between two memory stores - evidence led to multi store model
Limitiation = Used artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material - word lists had no personal meaning for participants

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8
Q

One strength and one weakness for capacity research (Miller and Jacobs)

A

Strength = Jacobs study has been replicated
Weakness = Miller may have overestimated STM capacity - Cowan reviewed other research and concluded that the capacity of STM is 4 plus or minus 1

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9
Q

One strength and one weakness of duration - Bahrick et al & Peterson and Peterson

A

Strength = Bahrick et al had high external validity - researchers investigated meaningful memories
Weakness = Peterson and Peterson stimulus material artificial - recalling consonant syllables does not reflect most everyday memory - lacked external validity

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10
Q

Who did the multi-store model

A

Atkinson and Shiffrin

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11
Q

What are the different things involved within the multi - store model and what is their order

A

Stimulus from environment - Sensory register - (attention) Short term memory store - (prolonged rehearsal) Long term memory store

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12
Q

Name the 5 stores within the sensory register

A

Iconic - Sight
Echoic - Hearing
Gustatory - Taste
Olfactory - Smell
Haptic - Touch

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13
Q

What is the duraction and capacity like in the sensory register

A

Duration - very brief (less than 1/2 a second)
Capacity - Very high

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14
Q

STM - coding and duration

A

coding - acoustic
duration - 18 seconds
STM is more of a temporary store - if we rehearse information long enough (maintenance rehearsal) it will pass into our LTM

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15
Q

How do STM and LTM interact (retaining information etc)

A

STM to LTM is prolonged rehearsal (maintenance rehearsal is the rehearsal loop keeping information in LTM)

LTM to STM is retrieval

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16
Q

One strength for the Multi-Store Model

A
  • Support from studies suggesting LTM and STM are seperate : Baddeley - mix up words that have similar meanings when we use our LTMs (semantic)
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17
Q

3 weaknesses for the multi-store model

A
  • In everyday life we form memories related to all sorts of useful things - peoples faces , names etc : all studies supporting msm use none of these materials
  • Evidence for more than one STM store : Warrington and Shallice - KF who had amnesia.
    KF STM for digits was poor when read out loud
    KF STM for digits much better when he personally read the digits

-Prolonged rehearsal is not needed to transfer to LTM : Craik and Watkins found the type of rehearsal more important than the amount - elaborative rehearsal

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18
Q

The 3 types of LTM

A
  • Episodic
  • Semantic
  • Procedural
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19
Q

What does the episodic memory refer to

A
  • Recall events from our lives (episodes)
  • Time-stamped
  • Memory of single episode will include several elements
  • Make a concious effort to recall episodic memories
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20
Q

What does the semantic memory refer to

A
  • The store contains shared knowledge about the world
  • Memories not time stamped
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21
Q

What does procedural memory refer to

A
  • Memory of actions or skills (how we do things)
  • Can recall without concious awareness
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22
Q

What are the 2 strengths of the different types of LTM

A
  • Supporting evidence from case studies : HM and Clive Wearing - episodic memory severly impaired due to brain damage, semantic and procedural memories relatively unaffected
  • Understanding types of LTM allows psychologists to help people with memory problems : Belleville et al: devised an intervention to help older people with episodic memory
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23
Q

Which psychologist suggested their were multiple types of LTM

A

Tulving

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24
Q

Two negatives of the different types of LTM

A
  • Clinical studies are not perfect: lack control of variables (no knowledge of prior memory, or how injury occurs and what it affects)
  • Conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas of the brain:poor agreement on where each type might be
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25
Q

Which two psychologists are responsible for the Working Memory Model

A

Baddeley and Hitch

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26
Q

What are the 5 elements of the WMM:

A
  • Episodic buffer
  • Phonological loop
  • Visuo-spatial sketchpad
  • LTM
  • Central executive
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27
Q

Who added the episodic buffer

A

Baddeley

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28
Q

What is the episodic buffer

A

Temporary store of information - limited capacity

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29
Q

What is the central executive

A

Has a ‘supervisory’ role - monitors incoming data, does not store information

30
Q

What is the phonological loop

A

Deals with auditory information and preserves the order in which information arrives

31
Q

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad

A

Stores visual and/or spatial information when required. Has limited capacity

32
Q

2 strengths of the Working Memory Model

A
  • Support from Shallice and Warringtons case study of KF - after his brain injury KF had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information normally (phonological loop damaged but visuo-spatial sketchpad intact)
  • Studies of dual-task performance support the seperate existence of the visuo-spatial sketchpad - Baddeley et al participants could carry out visual and verbal tasks together but struggled to complete two visual tasks at the same time - shows competition of the VSS
33
Q

2 weaknesses of the Working Memory Model

A
  • Unclear if KF had other cognitive impairments (apart from damage to his phonological loop) - challenges evidence that comes from clinical studies
  • Lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive : Baddeley self-critised the model saying that the CE was too vague and needs more than just being ‘attention’
34
Q

The two types of interference

A

Proactive
Retroactive

35
Q

What is proactive interference

A

When an older memory interferes with a newer memory

36
Q

What is retroactive interference

A

When a newer memory interferes with an older memory

37
Q

What is McGeoch and McDonalds study of similarity and interference

A

Participants had to learn a set of 10 words until they could recall it with 100% accuracy then after learned a new list:
Group 1 - Synonyms
Group 2 - Antonyms
Group 3 - words unrelated to the original ones
Group 4 - consonant syllables
Group 5 - three-digit numbers
Group 6 - no new list

38
Q

What did McGeoch and McDonalds findings show

A

Those in group 1 (synonyms) had the worst recall. This shows that interference is strongest when memories are similar

39
Q

2 strengths of interference as an explanation for forgetting

A
  • Evidence for interference effects in more everyday situations : Baddeley and Hitch - asked rugby players to recall past teams they had played in the season - players who had played the most games had the worst recall - INCREASES VALIDITY
  • Evidence of retrogade facilitation: John Wixted - the drug (diazepam) prevents new information reaching parts of the brain involved in processing information - - reducing the interference reduces the forgetting
40
Q

2 weaknesses of interference as an explanation for forgetting

A
  • Interference can cause some forgetting but it is unusual - conditions necessary for interference to occur are rare (lab studies = high degree of control = create ideal conditions for interference) - two memories have to be fairly similar for interfernce to occur
  • Interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues (retrieval - encoding specificity principle)
41
Q

Which psychologist proposed the encoding specificity principle

A

Tulving

42
Q

What are the 2 types of forgetting

A

State- dependent - forgetting
Context- dependent- forgetting

43
Q

Godden and Baddeley study on context-dependent- forgetting

A

Procedure:
- participants learned a list of words either underwater or on land and asked to recall on land or underwater
four conditions:
- learn on land & recall on land
- learn on land & recall underwater
- learn underwater & recall underwater
- learn underwater & recall on land

44
Q

What were the findings and as such conclusions to Godden and Baddeleys study

A

Accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions.
- External cues available at recall led to the likelihood of retrieval failure to decrease

45
Q

Carter and Cassaday study on state-dependent forgetting

A

Procedure:
- Gave some participants antihistamines - creates an internal physiological state that is different to their ‘normal’ state
- Given list of words
four conditions:
- Learn on drug & recall on drug
- Learn on drug & recall off drug
- Learn off drug & recall of drug
- Learn off drug & recall on drug

46
Q

Carter and Cassaday findings

A

In the conditions where there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall performance was worse - when cues are absent then there is more forgetting

47
Q

2 strengths of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting

A
  • Retrieval cues can help to overcome some forgetting in everyday situations - research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall
  • Extensive research support on the retrieval failure explanation - Godden and Baddeley & Carter and Cassaday - occurs in real world and in highly controlled conditions of lab
48
Q

2 weaknesses of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting

A
  • Baddeley argues that context effects are actually not very strong - different contexts have to be very different for an effect to be seen (e.g learning on land and underwater rather than learning and recalling in different classrooms)
  • Context effects may depend substantially on the type of memory being tested : Godden and Baddeley replicated their test but used a recognition test rather than recall - when recognition was tested the performance was the same in all 4 conditions (retrieval failure only applicable when recalling not recognising)
49
Q

What may be an issue with EWT (eye witness testimonies) due to police questions

A

Leading questions

50
Q

Loftus and Palmer - leading questions study

A
  • 45 participants (students)
  • Watched clips of car accidents and then asked questions about the incident
  • Participants asked how fast the cars were travelling when they (blank) eachother
    5 groups all given a different verb to fill in the (blank) of the question ;
  • hit
  • smash
  • contacted
  • collided
  • bumped
51
Q

Loftus and Palmer - leading questions findings

A

The mean estimated speed was calculated for each participant group:
- contacted : 31.8 mph
- smashed : 40.5 mph

Findings showed that the verb used impacted peoples perception of what happened

52
Q

Gabbert et al : post-event discussion study

A
  • Studied participants in pairs
  • Both participants watched the same crime but from a different POV so could see elements that the other could not
  • Both participants then discussed what they had seen before individually completing a test of recall
53
Q

Gabbert et al : post even discussion findings

A
  • 71% of participants mistakenly recalled aspects of the event they did not see but had picked up during the discussion
  • Control group : 0% of participants recalled aspects of the event they did not see
54
Q

1 strenth of misleading information in the accuracy of EWT

A
  • Research has important practical uses in the criminal justice system - consequences of inaccurate EWT can be very serious
55
Q

2 weaknesses of misleading questions in the accuracy of EWT

A
  • Issues within research - Loftus and Palmer participants watched videos in lab rather than witnessing it in real life (e.g less stressful - linked with effects of anxiety) , response in experiment does not have any post-effect or consequences whereas misinformation in real life would
  • Memory conformity is evidence that post-event discussion actually alters EWT (which is false) - Skagerberg and Wright - participants discussed what they had seen and created a blend of the twos answers (e.g the mugger had medium brown hair) - this suggests that memory itself is distorted through contamination rather than the result of memory - conformity
56
Q

What study suggested that anxiety had a negative effect on recall and why is this

A

Johnson and Scott - weapon focus (tunnel theory)

57
Q

Johnson and Scott - anxiety - study

A

Procedure:
- Participants believed they were taking part in lab study
- While seated in waiting room participants in the low condition heard a casual conversation and a man walk out with a pen covered in grease
- High anxiety condition : overheard a heated argument accompanied by sound of glass, man walked out of room holding a knife covered in blood

58
Q

Johnson and Scott - anxiety - findings & conclusion

A

Findings:
- Participants later picked out man from a set of 50 photos - 49% who saw man carrying pen could accurately recall
- 33% of participants who saw man carrying knife could accurately recall the correct man

Conclusion:
- The high anxiety condition were negatively impacted on recall suggesting that high anxiety = lower levels of recall
- The tunnel theory of memory argues that people have enhanced memory for central events
- Weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect

59
Q

What study suggested that anxiety had a postive effect on recall and why is this

A

Yuille and Cutshall - study of actual shooting in Vancouver
Flight or flight response activated - increased alertness

60
Q

Yuille and Cutshall - anxiety - study

A
  • Conducted study of an actual shooting in a gun shop at Vancouver
  • Shop owner shot thief dead
  • 21 witnesses - 13 of which took part in the study
  • Interviewed 4-5 months after incident and compared with the original police intervierws
  • Witnesses asked to rate how stressed they felt at time of incident (7-point scale) and whether they had emotional problems since the event
61
Q

Yuille and Cutshall - anxiety - findings & conclusion

A

Findings:
- Witnesses very accurate in their account and little change in recall
- Those reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate (88% compared to 75% of less stressed group)

Conclusion:
- Anxiety does not have a detrimental effect on accuracy of EWT and may even enhance it

62
Q

What does the Yerkes - Dodson law suggest (what is another name for the theory)

A

Medium arousal = highest level of performance
Inverted - U theory

63
Q

2 strengths of anxiety and its effect on the accuracy of EWT

A
  • Support for the negative effects - Valentine & Mesout supports the research on weapon focus
  • Support for positive effects - Christianson & Hubinette - interviewed 58 witnesses to actual bank robberies in Sweden - direct victims (assumed to have highest anxiety) had higher recall than those indirectly involved - findings from actual crimes boosts ecological validity of studies
64
Q

2 weaknesses of anxiety and its effect on the accuracy of EWT

A
  • Johnson and Scott study may not have tested anxiety - participants may have focused on weapon due to surprise rather than fear - tells us nothing on the effects of anxiety on EWT
  • Christianson and Hubinette (swedish robberies) interviewed their participants several months after the event (4-15 months) so had no control over what their participants did between this time (e.g post event discussion) - shows a lack of confounding variables
  • Yuille and Cutshall also interviewed participants 4-5 months after incidient
65
Q

what are the 4 elements of cognitive interviewing (RRRC)

A
  • Report everything
  • Reinstate context
  • Reverse the order
  • Change perspective
66
Q

What 2 psychologists established the cognitive interview

A

Fisher and Geiselman

67
Q

What does it mean to reinstate context and what is the link between this and retrieval failure

A

Witnesses should return to the original crime scene in their mind and imagine the environment and their emotions
- Context - dependent forgetting

68
Q

Who created the enhanced cogntive interview and what does it add to the original cognitive interview

A

Fisher et al
- Focuses more on social dynamics of interaction
- E.g the interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact , minimising distractions and asking open ended questions

69
Q

1 strength of the cognitive interview in improving the accuracy of EWT

A

Evidence that it works - meta - analysis: Kohnken et al - combined data from 55 studies comparing the CI and the standard police interview - CI gave an average increase of 41% in accurate information : shows that the CI is an effective technique

70
Q

2 (+) weaknesses of the cognitive interview in improving the accuracy of EWT

A
  • Kohnken et al also found an increase in the amount of innaccurate information - more prevalent in the ECI than the CI - CIs may sacrifice quality in favour of quanity (amount of details)
  • Not all elements are equally effective or useful - Report everything and reinstate the context produced better recall: casts doubts over the overall credibility of the cognitive interview
  • Police officers may be reluctant to use the CI because it takes more time and training than standard police interview - not a realistic method for police officers to use

Psychology A Level (AQA) (12 decks)

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