MEMORY Flashcards

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1
Q

Define memory

A

process of retaining information after the original thing is no longer present

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2
Q

What are the 3 key concepts in memory and define them

A

CODING - format in which memories are stored
CAPACITY - amount of information that can be stored in the memory
DURATION - length and time information can be stored and held in the memory

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3
Q

Match primacy and recency effect with LTM or STM

A

Primacy = LTM

recency = STM

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4
Q

A01 research on capacity - digit span

A

-research on capacity of STM
-Joseph Jacobs (1887) measured capacity of the STM using digit span
-He reads 4 digits and participant recalls out loud in correct order. if correct then 5 digits and so on.
-found that the mean span for digits across all participants was 9.3 while mean span from letters was 7.3

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5
Q

A03 research on capacity - digit span +

A

-A strength is that the study has been replicated and findings have been similar
-BUT some older studies lacked proper controls (cofounding variable)
-BUT replication suggests Jacob’s study is a valid test of digit span in STM

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6
Q

A01 span of memory and chunking - What did George Miller find on capacity of the short term memory

A

-George Miller (1956) observed that many items in life come in groups of 7
-Believed capacity of STM was 7 items +/-
2 (referred to as Millers magic 7)
-also noted that participants could recall 5 words as easily as 5 letters
-This is done by chunking - grouping set digits/letters into units/’chunks’

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7
Q

A03 span of memory and chunking ( - )

A

-Miller may have overestimated STM capacity
-Cowan (2001) reviewed other research (replicated) and concluded STM capacity is 4 +/- 1
-suggests the lower end of Miller’s estimate (5 items) is more appropriate than 7 items

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8
Q

A01 duration of STM

A

-Peterson and Peterson (1959)
-tested 24 students in 8 trials each
-each trial student was given a consonant syllable and 3 digit no., to remember
-Student counted backwards from this no. until told stop, counting backwards was to prevent any mental rehearsal of the consonant syllable (which would increase the duration of STM for the syllable).
-on each trail they’ll stop after varying period of time (retention interval)
-after 3 secs avg recall was about 80%, but after 18 secs it was 3%
- … findings suggested that STM duration may be about 18 secs, unless we repeat the info over and over (verbal rehearsal)

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9
Q

A03 duration of STM (-)

A

-One limitation is that the stimulus material was artificial
-study is not completely irrelevant because we do sometimes try to remember fairly meaningless material (e.g. phone nos.). Even so, recalling consonant syllables doesn’t reflect most everyday memory activities where we are trying to remember is meaningful
- … study lacked external validity

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10
Q

A01 duration of LTM

A

-Harry Bahrick (1975)
-Studied 392 American participants (17-74 Y/o) and high school yearbooks were obtained
- recall was tested in various ways:
1) photo-recognition test = consisting of 50 photos, some from participants high school year book
2) free recall test = recalled all their names of their graduating class
-within 15 years of graduation, 90% accurate in photo recognition
-after 48 yrs, recall declined to about 70’5 for photo recognition
-free recall was less accurate than recognition - about 60% after 15 yrs, 30% after 48yrs.
- … LTM may last up to a life time for some material

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11
Q

A03 duration of LTM (+)

A

-one strength = high external validity
-researchers investigated meaningful memories (people’s names and faces), when studies on LTM were conducted with meaningless pictures to be remembered, recall rates were lower (e.g. shepard 1967)
- … Bahrick et al’s findings reflect a more ‘real’ estimate of the duration of LTM

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12
Q

Define STM

A

Limited-capacity memory store
-coding is mainly acoustic, capacity is between 5+9 items on avg with duration of 18 secs

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13
Q

Define LTM

A

Permanent memory store
-coding is mainly semantic (meaning), it has unlimited capacity and can store memories for up to a lifetime

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14
Q

AO1 coding in STM AND LTM

A

-Baddeley (1966)
- Gave lists of words to 4 groups: acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar and semantically dissimilar. ppt were shown then asked to recall in correct order

results: Immediate recall = did worse with acoustically similar words
after 20 min delay ppt did worse on semantically similar words

therefore STM coded acoustically and LTM coded semantically

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15
Q

A03 whole concept of STM and LTM -of Baddeley’s research (separate memory stores)

A

Strength:
- identified clear difference between 2 mem stores
-findings have stood the test of time
-important step in development of MSM

Weakness
- artificial stimuli > not meaningful to ppt> findings don’t tell use about memory tasks in every life> limited application

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16
Q

What is the process of the Multi-store model

A

-stimulus from the environment
-sensory register (iconic, echoic, other sensory stores
-information is only stored if attention is payed
-Short term memory store
-prolonged rehearsal to store in the long term memory
-response is remembering

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17
Q

MSM sensory register

A
  • info passes into STM if paid attention, if not it gets lost.
  • duration = >0.5 sec
  • capacity = very high due to retrieval cells
  • coding = store depends on format . e.g. visual stored in iconic memory and acoustic stored in echoic memory
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18
Q

How is information stored in the short term memory

A

-rehearsal keeps info in STM if rehearsed enough , transfers to LTM
-duration = 18 secs
-capacity = 5-9 items
-coding =acoustic

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19
Q

MSM LTM

A

-memories from LTM have been retrieved and transered back to STM

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20
Q

How is information stored in the long term memory

A

-memories from LTM have been retrieved and transferred back to STM
-duration = life time
-capacity = unlimited
-coding = semantic

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21
Q

What is the Sensory register

A

The memory stores for each of our five senses, such as vision (iconic store) and hearing (echoic store)

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22
Q

What is the Multi-store model

A

A representation of how memory works in terms of three stores called the sensory register, short term memory and long term memory.

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23
Q

How is information stored in the sensory register

A

Duration: less than half a second
Capacity: very high
Coding: store depends on format

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24
Q

How is information passed on from the sensory register

A

by paying attention

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25
Q

Who came up with the Multi-store model of memory

A

Atkinson and Shiffrin

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26
Q

Maintenance rehearsal

A

We repeat material to ourselves over and over again which keeps it in the STM. If it’s rehearsed long enough it will pass onto the LTM

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27
Q

Retrieval

A

Recalling information from the LTM into the STM

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28
Q

+ MSM - research support

A

Strength
- Support from other studies show STM and LTM are different > Baddeley (1966) we tend to mix words that sound similar when using STM but mix words with similar meanings when use LTM> STM and LTM are separate + independent memory stores
-Extra evidence > Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) 2 groups ppt, 1 had immediate recall other had delay recall (counted backwards to prevent retrieval). Immediate = remembered 1st and last words. delayed = remembered word from beginning. both had difficulty remembering middle

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29
Q
  • MSM - non-meaningful info
A

-Uses non-meaningful info> everyday life we form memories related to useful things e.g. names, faces but MSM studies use letters, words (Baddeley), consonant syllables (peterson x2) and so have no meaning > MSM may not be a valid model of how memory works in our everyday life where we have to remember much more meaningful info
-more than 1 STm store > Shallice and Warrington (1970) client KF had a clinical memory disorder . KF’s STm for digits = very poor when read out to him but recall was better when he read digits to himself > further studies show there could be and STM store for non-verbal sounds > MSM is wrong claiming there’s 1 STM store processing different types of info

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30
Q

What is a limitation of the Multi-store model of memory (Elaborative rehearsal)

A

A
-prolonged rehearsal is not needed to transfer to LTM
-Craik and Watkins found that the type of rehearsal is more important than the amount
-Elaborative rehearsal is needed for long-term storage and this occurs when you link the information to existing knowledge or think about what it means
-This suggests that the MSM does not fully explain how long-term storage is achieved

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31
Q

What is a limitation of the Multi-store model of memory (More than one STM store)

A

-Shallice and Warrington studied a client they referred to as KF who had amnesia
-KF’s STM for digits was poor when they were read out loud to him but his recall was better when he read the digits to himself.
-Further study of KF showed that there could even be another Short term store for non-verbal sounds
-This evidence suggests that the MSM is wrong in claiming there is just one STM store processing different types of information.

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32
Q

What is a strength of the Multi-store model of memory (research support)

A

-Studies show that the STM and LTM are different
-Baddeley (1966) found that we tend to mix up similar sounding world when using our STM, but similar meaning words when using LTM
-Further support in studies on capacity and duration
-These studies show that STM and LTM are separate and independent memory stores

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33
Q

What is a counterpoint to research support for the multi-store model

A

-Studies that support MSM used information that was not meaningful.
-They used digits,letters and sometimes words.
-This means that the MSM may not be a valid model of how memory works in our everyday lives

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34
Q

What are the 3 types of long term memory

A

Episodic
Semantic
Procedural

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35
Q

Who came up with the types of Long term memory

A

Tulving (1985) realised that the MSM view of LTM was too simple and there must be multiple stores for different types of LTM.

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36
Q

Episodic memory

A

-ability to recall personal events + also how events relocate to each other in time
-most complex
1) time stamped - remember when they happened
2) memory of a single episode e.g. ppl or objects
3) need to make a conscious effort to recall epi memories - done quickly

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37
Q

Semantic memory

A

-contains shared knowledge of the world eg meaning of words
- less vulnerable to distortion, not time stamped, less personal, contains immerse collection of material which is always being added to

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38
Q

Procedural memory

A
  • memory for actions or skills
  • effort isn’t needed
  • once learnt how and without conscious awareness
  • may find it difficult to explain to someone else how it is done
  • if describe what you’re doing it may be more difficult
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39
Q
A
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40
Q

What is a strength of the types of memory stores (clinical evidence)

A

-Evidence from case studies of HM and clive wearing
-episodic memory in both men was severely impaired due to brain damage
-but their semantic memory and procedural memory was intact
-Still understood the meaning of words
-Didn’t recall stroking a dog half an hour ago but didn’t need to have the concept of a dog explained to him
-This evidence supports Tulving’s view that there are different memory stores in LTM

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41
Q

What is a counterpoint of clinical evidence

A

-Studying people with brain injuries can help researchers understand memory
-Lack control variables
-The brain injuries experiences were usually unexpected
-Researcher had no way of controlling what happened to the participant before or during the injury
- no knowledge of the individuals memory before the injury
-This lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about different types of LTM

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42
Q

What is a limitation of the types of memory stores (conflicting neuroimaging evidence)

A

-conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas of the brain
-Buckner and Petersen reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory.
-Concluded semantic memory is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic is on the right
-Other researchers found that the left prefrontal cortex is linked to encoding of episodic memory and the right with episodic retrieval
-This challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory

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43
Q

What is a strength of the types of memory (real world application)

A

-Allows psychologists to help people with memory problems
-E.g as people age they experience memory loss. But research has shown this seems to be specific to the episodic memory
-Belleville derived an intervention to improve episodic memory in older people by training participants on a episodic memory test.
-This shows that distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed.

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44
Q

The working memory model

A

A representation of short-term memory. It suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using subunits co-ordinated by a central decision-making system.

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45
Q

Central Executive

A

The component of the WMM that co-ordinate’s the activities of the three subsystems in memory. It also allocates processing resources to those activities.

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46
Q

Phonological Loop

A

The component of the WMM that processes information in terms of sound. This includes both written and spoken material. It’s divided into the phonological store and articulatory process.

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47
Q

The Phonological Store

A

The “Inner Ear”
Stores words you hear

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48
Q

The Articulatory Process

A

The “Inner Voice”
-Allows maintenance rehearsal to keep information in working memory.
-Capacity of about 2 seconds’ worth of sounds

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49
Q

The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad

A

The component of the WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called our ‘inner eye’

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50
Q

What was the VSS subdivided into

A

The Visual Cache
Stores visual data (e.g. form and colour)
The Inner Scribe
Records the arrangement of objects in the visual field.

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51
Q

The Episodic Buffer (later addition)

A

The component of the WMM that brings together material from the other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands. It also provides a bridge between working memory and long-term memory.

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52
Q

What is strength of the working memory model (clinical evidence)

A

-support from Tim Shallice and Elizabeth Warrington’s (1970) case study of patient KF.
-KF had poor STM ability for auditory (sound) information but could process visual information normally.
-For instance his immediate recall of letters and digits was better when he read them (visual) than when they were read to him (acoustic).
-KF’s phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was intact.
-This finding strongly supports the existence of separate visual and acoustic memory stores.

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53
Q

What is a counterpoint to clinical evidence of the working memory mode

A

-it is unclear whether KF had other cognitive impairments (apart from damage to his phonological loop)
-might have affected his performance on memory tasks. -E.g, his injury was caused by a motorcycle accident. The trauma involved may have affected his cognitive performance quite apart from any brain injury.
-This challenges evidence that comes from clinical studies of people with brain injuries that may have affected many different systems.

54
Q

What is a strength of the working memory model (dual-task performance)

A

-studies of dual-task performance support the separate existence of the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
-Baddeley et al’s (1975) participants carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time (dual task), their performance on each was similar to when they carried out the tasks separately. But when both tasks were visual (or both were verbal), performance on both declined substantially.
-This is because both visual tasks compete for the same subsystem, whereas there is no competition when performing a verbal and visual task together
-This shows there must be a separate subsystem (the VSS) that processes visual input (and one for verbal processing, the PL).

55
Q

What is a limitation of the working memory model (nature of the central executive)

A

-lack of clarity of the central executive (CE)
-Baddeley (2003) himself recognised this when he said, ‘The central executive is the most important but the least understood component of working memory”
-The CE needs to be more clearly specified than just being simply ‘attention’ For example, some psychologists believe the CE may consist of separate subcomponents.
This means that the CE is an unsatisfactory component and this challenges the integrity of the WMM.

56
Q

Who developed the Working memory model

A

Baddeley and Hitch

57
Q

What are the roles of the central executive

A

-Monitors incoming data
-divides our limited attention
-allocates subsystems to tasks

58
Q

Who divided the VSS

A

Robert Logie

59
Q

Who added the episodic buffer to the model

A

Baddeley

60
Q

Interference

A

Forgetting because one memory blocks another,causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten

61
Q

Proactive interference

A

Forgetting occurs when older memories, already stored disrupt the recall of newer memories. The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar

62
Q

Retroactive interference

A

Forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored. The degree of forgetting is again greater when the memories are similar

63
Q

What type of memory is interference a explanation of forgetting for

A

ltm

64
Q

What is the procedure of research into effects of similarity

A

Studies retroactive interference by getting participants to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy and then learning a new list. There were six groups, who had to learn different types of words (synonyms, antonyms, three digit numbers)

65
Q

What were the results of effects of similarity (McGeoch and McDonald)

A

When participants were asked to recall the original list of words, the most similar materials (synonyms) produced the worst recall. Showing that inference is strongest when the memories are similar

66
Q

Why does similarity affect recall?

A

two possible reasons:
Proactive interference – previously stored information makes new similar information more difficult to store.
Retroactive interference – new information overwrites similar memories due to similarity.

67
Q

What is a strength of interference (real-world interference)

A

-Evidence of interference effects in everyday situations
-Baddley & Hitch (1977) asked Rugby Players to remember who they played against.
-Players had played different numbers of games over the season due to injury
-Players who had played the most games had the poorest recall
-Increases the validity of the theory

68
Q

What is a counterpoint of real-world interference

A

-interference may cause some forgetting in everyday situations but is unusual
-Conditions necessary for interference to occur are relatively rare
-Unlike lab studies where the high degree of control means a researcher can create ideal conditions for interference
-Suggests that most forgetting may be better explained by other theories such as retrieval failure due to lack of cues.

69
Q

What is a limitation of interference (interference and cues)

A

-Interference is temporary and can be overcome using cues.
-Tulving & Psotka (1971) gave participants lists of words in different categories.
-Recall of first list ~70%. Became progressively worse for each new list they learnt
-When a cue (name of category) was given, recall for later lists rose to ~70%.
- This shows that interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in the LTM

70
Q

What is another strength of interference (support from drug studies)

A

-Evidence of retrograde facilitation
-Coenen & van Luijtelaar (1997) gave participants a list of words and later asked them to recall the list
-Found when the list of words was learned under the influence of diazepam recall one week later was poor
-but when learnt one week before recall was better (improved recall of material learned beforehand)
-This finding shows that forgetting can be due to interference- reduce the interference and reduce the forgetting

71
Q

Outline retroactive interference as an explanation for forgetting. (3 marks)

A

-retroactive interference is where a newer memory disrupts an older memory: the older information is forgotten
-retroactive interference is greater when the two lots of information are similar
-retroactive interference is less likely to occur when there is a gap between the instances of learning.

72
Q

Retrieval

A

Recall of information previously stored in memory.

73
Q

Cues

A

a trigger of information that allows us to access a memory. Such cues may be meaningful or may be indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning

74
Q

How can forgetting occur ?

A

Forgetting may be due to insufficient cues at the time of recall.
i.e. the memory has been stored, but you don’t have the right cues to access it again.

75
Q

What is encoding specificity principle

A

Tulving found a consistent pattern:
For a cue to be helpful, it has to be present at encoding (ie learning) and retrieval (ie recall).
Cues are encoded at the time of learning.
They can be meaningful (linked to the information being remembered) or indirect.

76
Q

Context-dependent forgetting

A

Recall depends on external cues
(Weather, sounds, smell)

77
Q

State- dependent forgetting

A

Recall depends on internal cues
(Feeling upset, being drunk)

78
Q

What is the procedure of research into context-dependent forgetting
Godden & Baddeley (1975)

A

studied deep-sea divers to see how learning on land affected work under water.
Divers learned a list of words on land or underwater, then had to recall on land or underwater.

79
Q

What were the findings of research into context-dependent forgetting

A

Accurate recall was 40% lower when learning and recall conditions did not match.

80
Q

What was the procedure of research into state-dependent forgetting

A

Gave participants antihistamine drugs – produced a slightly drowsy state (different to ‘normal’ state).
Participants had to learn lists of words and prose passages, then recall them, in one of the two states.

81
Q

What were the findings of research into state dependent forgetting

A

When the state during learning was different to the state during recall, recall was significantly worse.

82
Q

What is a strength of retrieval failure ? (real world application)

A

-Retrieval cues can help recall in real world situations.
-Baddeley suggests although the effect of cues on forgetting is not very strong, they are still worth paying attention to.
-e.g. you go to collect something from another room, but when you get there you have forgotten what.
Then if you go back to the room you were in, you remember straight away.
-This shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall

83
Q

What is a strength of retrieval failure? (research support)

A

-A range of evidence supports retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting.
-Godden & Baddeley (1975) and Carter & Cassaday (1998) are just two examples as they show that a lack of relevant cues at recall can lead to forgetting
-Eysenck & Keane (2010) argue retrieval failure may be the most significant cause of forgetting in LTM.
-This evidence shows retrieval failure occurs in real world situations as well as highly-controlled lab studies.

84
Q

What is a counterpoint of research support to?

A

-Baddeley argues effect of retrieval cues on forgetting is not that strong.
-Contexts have to be very different (e.g. land vs underwater) before an effect is seen.
-Learning in one room and recalling in another is unlikely to have a strong effect because the environments aren’t different enough
-This means retrieval failure due to a lack of context-dependent cues may not describe much forgetting in real life.

85
Q

What is a limitation of retrieval failure ? (Recall versus recognition)

A

A
-Effects of context-dependent cues may depend on the type of memory being tested.
-Godden & Baddeley (1980) replicated their 1975 study, but divers had to say if they recognised words read to them, rather than recalling the words themselves.
-Participants given lists of words in different categories.
-When recognition was required, there was no significant difference between the conditions.
-So context-dependent cues may be a limited explanation of forgetting when recall is required.

86
Q

Who developed the encoding specificity prinicple

A

Tulving

87
Q

Retrieval failure

A

A form of forgetting. It occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided

88
Q

Who researched into context- dependent forgetting

A

Godden and Baddeley

89
Q

Who researched into state dependent forgetting

A

Carter and Cassaday

90
Q

What was the procedure for research into leading questions

A

45 participants watched videos of staged car accidents.
Researchers asked questions about the accident.
Participants were asked a leading question
About how fast were the cars going when they _____________ each other? eg hit , smash , bumped

91
Q

What were the four conditions of research into context -dependent forgetting

A

-learn on land-recall on land
-learn on land- recall underwater
-learn underwater- recall on land
-learn underwater- recall underwater

92
Q

what were the four conditions of recall for research into state-dependent forgetting

A

-learn on drugs-recall when on drugs
-learn on drugs-recall when not on drugs
-Learn not on drugs- recall when on drugs
-learn not on drugs-recall when not on drugs

93
Q

What were the findings of research into leading questions

A

The mean estimated for the speed was calculated for each participant group. The more violent the verb the faster the mean average was.

94
Q

How do leading questions affect eye witness testimony?

A

-Response-bias explanation suggests:
Wording has no effect on the actual memory, but influences how they choose to answer.
- Loftus and palmer conducted a second experiment that supported: Substitution explanation
Wording alters the memory of an incident. Eg participants who heard smashed more likely to report seeing broken glass when there as none - the critical verb altered their memory of the incident

95
Q

What was the procedure for research into post event discussion

A

-Gabbert (2003)
-Pairs of participants watched videos of a crime from different perspectives - so ppt saw details the other did not.
Participants then discussed what they had seen in their pairs.

96
Q

How does post-event discussion affect eye witness testimony?

A

-Memory contamination
The memory of an event is distorted by details from others witnesses when these are combined with the original memory.
-Memory conformity
Witnesses may go along with each other to gain social acceptance or because they believe other accounts are more correct. The actual memory is unchanged, but reporting of it is affected.
-Source Monitoring
Eyewitnesses can recall information about the event, but not where it came from (their own memory of the event of from someone else’s account (known as source confusion).
The memory is distorted as the source information is lost.

97
Q

What were the findings of research into post event discussion

A

71% of participants incorrectly recalled details they had not seen (so had picked up from discussion). (For control group = 0%)

98
Q

post-event discussion

A

Occurs when there is more than one witness to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or with other people. This may influence the accuracy of each witness’s recall of the event.

99
Q

Leading question

A

A question which because of the way its phrased suggests a certain answer.

100
Q

What is a strength of misleading information (Real-world application)

A

-Has important practical uses in the criminal justice system.
-The consequences of inaccurate EWT can be very serious.
-Loftus (1975) believes police officers need to be very careful about how they phrase their questions when interviewing eyewitnesses.
-Psychologists are sometimes asked to act as expert witnesses in court trials and explain the limits of EWT to juries.
-This shows that psychologists can help to improve the way the legal system works, especially by protecting innocent people from faulty convictions based on unreliable EWT.

101
Q

What is a counterpoint of real-world application

A

-However, the practical applications of EWT may be affected by issues with research.
-Loftus and Palmers’ participants watched film clips in a lab, a very different experience from witnessing a real event.
-Foster et al. (1994) point out that what eyewitnesses remember in research do not matter in the same way as in the real world (so research participants are less motivated to be accurate).
-This suggests that researchers such as Lotus are too pessimistic about the effects of misleading information - EWT may be more dependable than many studies suggest.

102
Q

What is a limitation of misleading information (evidence against substitution)

A

-EWT is more accurate for some aspects of an event than for others.
-Sutherland and Hayne (2001) showed participants a video clip. When participants were later asked misleading questions, their recall was more accurate for central details of the event than for peripheral ones. -Presumably the participants’ attention was focused on central features of the event and these memories were relatively resistant to misleading information.
-This suggests that the original memories for central details survived and were not distorted, an outcome that is not predicted by the substitution explanation.

103
Q

What is a limitation of misleading information (evidence challenging memory conformity)

A

-evidence that post-event discussion actually alters EWT.
-Skagerberg and Wright (2008) showed their participants film clips. There were two versions, e.g. a mugger’s hair was dark brown in one but light brown in the other. Participants discussed the clips in pairs, each having seen different versions. They often did not report what they had seen in the clips or what they had heard from the co-witness, but a ‘blend of the two.
-This suggests that the memory itself is distorted through contamination by misleading post-event discussion, rather than the result of memory conformity.

104
Q

eyewitness testimony

A

The ability of people to remember the details of events such as accidents and crimes which they themselves have observed. Accuracy of EWT can be affected by factors such as misleading information and anxiety

105
Q

Misleading informtion

A

Incorrect information given to an eyewitness usually after the event. It can take many forms such as leading questions and post event discussion between co-witnesses and other people

106
Q

Leading question

A

A question which because of the way its phrased suggests a certain answer.

107
Q

Anxiety

A

A state of emotional and physical arousal. The emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension.

108
Q

Anxiety has a negative effect on recall (weapon focus)- procedure and finding

A

*Procedure
-Johnson and Scott
-one group seated in a waiting room participants heard a casual conversation in the next room and then saw a man walk past them carrying a pen and with grease on his hands= low anxiety condition
-Other participants overheard a heated argument, accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. A man walked out of the room, holding a knife covered in blood =high-anxiety condition.

*Findings and conclusion
-participants later picked out the man from a set of 50 photos
- 49% who had seen the man carrying the pen were able to identify him.
-participants who had seen the man holding the blood-covered knife was 33%. -The tunnel theory of memory= people have enhanced memory for central events

109
Q

Anxiety has a positive effect on recall- procedure and findings

A

*Procedure
-Yuille and Cutshall
-conducted a study of an actual shooting in a gun shop in Canada.
-The shop owner shot a thief dead.
-There were 21 witnesses - 13 took part in the study.
-They were interviewed four to five months after the incident and these interviews were compared with the original police interviews
-The witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they had felt at the time of the incident (on a 7-point scale)

*Findings and conclusion
-The witnesses were very accurate in their accounts and there was little change in the amount recalled or accuracy after five months
-Those participants who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate (about 88% compared to 75% for the less-stressed group)

110
Q

explaining the contradictory findings- effects of Anxiety on EWT

A

-Yerkes and Dodson= relationship between emotional arousal and performance looks like an inverted U
-there is an optimal level of anxiety, which is the point of maximum accuracy. -If a person (or eyewitness) experiences any more arousal, then their recall suffers a drastic decline.

111
Q

What is a limitation of anxiety having a negative effect on recall (unusualness not anxiety)

A

-May not have tested anxiety
-Pickel’s experiment,Weapons are unusual – Johnson & Scott (1976) may have been measuring this effect, rather than anxiety.
-Hair salon video featuring a handheld item:
Scissors (high anxiety, low unusualness)
Wallet (low anxiety, low unusualness)
Hand gun (high anxiety, high unusualness)
Raw chicken (low anxiety, high unusualness)
-Recall was poorer in both unusual situations.
-So J&S tell us nothing specifically about the effect of anxiety on EWT.

112
Q

What is a strength for anxiety having a positive effect on recall

A

-More support for positive effects
-Christianson & Hübinette (1993)
Interviewed 58 witnesses to bank robberies in Sweden
-Some directly involved, some indirectly involved.
-Researchers assumed those directly involved had higher anxiety.
-Recall was 75% across all witnesses.
Direct witnesses recall was even higher.
-Findings from actual crimes support the idea that anxiety does not have a negative effect on recall, and can have a positive effect.

113
Q

What is a counterpoint of the strength to support anxiety having a positive effect on recall

A

-Problems with Christianson & Hubinette (1993) research
-Length of time between robbery and interview (4-15 months)
-Researchers had no control over confounding variables in that time (e.g. post-event discussion).
-Results might be to do with these confounding variables - invalidates their support of the theory.

114
Q

support for negative effects (Anxiety)

A

-strength
-evidence supporting the view that anxiety has a negative effect on the accuracy of recall.
-Valentine and Mesout supports the research on weapon focus, finding negative effects on recall.
-In their study anxiety clearly disrupted the participants’ ability to recall details about the actor in the London Dungeons’ Labyrinth.
-This suggests that a high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on the immediate eyewitness recall of a stressful event.

115
Q

what is cognitive interview

A

A method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories. It uses four main techniques, all based on evidence-based psychological knowledge of human memory - report everything, reinstate the context, reverse the order and change perspective.

116
Q

what are the four main techniques that are used in cognitive interview and elaborate on them

A

105
Q
what are the four main techniques that are used in cognitive interview and elaborate on them

1)Report everything
-Witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event
-trivial details may be important and, moreover, they may trigger other important memories.
2) Reinstate the context
-witness should return to the original crime scene in their mind’ and imagine the environment and their emotions
-This is related to context-dependent forgetting
3) Reverse the order
-Events should be recalled in a different order from the original sequence
-This is done to prevent people reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened rather than reporting the actual events
4) Change perspective
-Witnesses should recall the incident from other people’s perspectives
-is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and also the effect of schema on recall.
-The schema you have for a particular setting generate expectations of what would have happened

117
Q

what is the enhanced cognitive interview

A

-Fisher et al. developed some additional elements of the Cl
-e.g. the interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it.
-also includes ideas such as reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimising distractions, getting the witness to speak slowly and asking open-ended questions.

118
Q

What is a strength of cognitive interview (support for the effectiveness of the CI)

A

evidence that it works.
-a meta-analysis by Köhnken et al. (1999) combined data from 55 studies comparing the CI (and the ECI) with the standard police interview.
-The CI gave an average 41% increase in accurate information compared with the standard interview.
-Only four studies in the analysis showed no difference between the types of interview.
-This shows that the CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses to recall information thaat is stored in memory (available) but not immediately accessible.

119
Q

What is a counterpoint of the effectiveness of the CI

A

-Köhnken et al. also found an increase in the amount of inaccurate information recalled by participants.
-This was a particular issue in the ECI, which produced more incorrect details than the CI.
-Cognitive interviews may sacrifice quality of EWT (i.e. accuracy) in favour of quantity (amount of details).
-This means that police officers should treat eyewitness evidence from CIs/ECIs w

120
Q

What is a limitation of cognitive interview (some elements may be more useful)

A

-not all of its elements are equally effective or useful.
-Milne and Bull (2002) found that each of the four techniques used alone produced more information than the standard police interview. But they also found that using a combination of report everything and reinstate the context produced better recall than any of the other elements or combination of them.
-This confirmed police officers’ suspicions that some aspects of the Cl are more useful than others.
-This casts some doubt on the credibility of the overall cognitive interview.

121
Q

What is another limitation of cognitive interview (the CI is time consuming)

A

-police officers may be reluctant to use the CI because it takes more time and training than the standard police interview.
-more time is needed to establish rapport with a witness and allow them to relax. The Cl also requires special training and many forces do not have the resources to provide more than a few hours (Kebbell and Wagstaff 1997).
-This suggests that the complete Cl as it exists is not a realistic method for police officers to use and (as in the point above) it might be better to focus on just a few key elements.

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