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AQA A Level Psychology > Memory > Flashcards

Memory Flashcards

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1
Q

Who proposed the multi-store model? 

A

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

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2
Q

What are the three components that make up the MSM?

A

Sensory Register
Short-Term Memory
Long-Term Memory

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3
Q

According to the model, how are memories are formed and information passed from one component to the next?

A

Memories are formed sequentially

Information passes, passively in a linear fashion.

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4
Q

What is Coding?

A

Coding refers to the way in which information is changed and stored in memory

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5
Q

What is Duration?

A

Duration refers to the length of time that information is held in the memory store

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6
Q

What is Capacity?

A

Capacity refers to the amount of information that can be stored

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7
Q

What is the coding, capacity and duration of the SR

A

Raw/unprocessed information (from ALL 5 senses)

Very Large

Very limited (approximately 250 ms)
(Unknown but)

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8
Q

What is the coding, capacity and duration of the STM

A

Acoustic (Sound) Baddeley (1966)

Limited (7+/‐2 ‘chunks’ of information) Jacobs (1887) Miller (1956)

Limited (20 seconds) Peterson & Peterson (1959)

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9
Q

What is the coding, capacity and duration of the LTM

A

Semantic (Meaning) Baddeley (1966)

Unlimited

Lifetime/Years Bahrick (1975)

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10
Q

What studies support the MSM

A

Miller (1956)
Baddeley (1966)
Peterson & Peterson (1959)
Bahrick (1975)

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11
Q

What was the aim of Miller‘s (1956) study?

A

To investigate the capacity of STM

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12
Q

What was the method of Miller‘s (1956) study?

A

Literature review of published investigations into perception and STM, from the 1930s to 1950s

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13
Q

What were the results of Miller‘s (1956) study?

A

Organising stimulus input into a series of chunks enabled STM to cope with about seven ‘chunks’

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14
Q

What was the conclusion of Miller‘s (1956) study?

A

Organisation (or ‘encoding’) can extend the capacity of STM and enable more information to be stored there, albeit briefly

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15
Q

What are the evaluations of Miller‘s (1956) study?

A

His theory is supported by psychological research. For example, Jacobs did an experiment using a digit span test, to examine the capacity of STM.
He used female student participants who had to repeat back numbers or letters in the same order and they were gradually increased, until they could no longer recall the sequence.
He found that the students had an average span of 7.3 letters and 9.3 words

He didn’t specify how large each ‘chunk’ of information could be and therefore we are unable to conclude the exact capacity of STM.

His research didn’t take into account other factors that affect capacity. For example, age could also affect STM and Jacobs’ (1887) research acknowledged that STM gradually improved with age

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16
Q

What was the aim of Peterson & Peterson’s (1959) study?

A

To investigate how different short intervals containing an interference task affect the recall of items presented verbally, and to infer the duration of STM

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17
Q

What was the method of Peterson & Peterson’s (1959) study?

A

Male student participants were used. The verbal items tested for recall were ‘trigrams’.
There were also cards containing three‐digit numbers.
The researcher spelled the trigram and said a three‐digit number.
The participant had to count down backwards in 3s or 4s from the number. At the end of the interval of between 3-18 seconds a red light went on and the participant had to recall the trigram.

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18
Q

What were the results of Peterson & Peterson’s (1959) study?

A

They found that the longer the interval the less accurate the recall.
At 3 seconds, around 80% were correctly recalled, and at 18 seconds only 10%.

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19
Q

What was the conclusions of Peterson & Peterson’s (1959) study?

A

STM has a limited duration of approximately 18 seconds.
If we‘re unable to rehearse information it will not be passed to LTM, providing further support for the MSM and the idea of discrete components.

20
Q

What are the evaluations of Peterson & Peterson’s (1959) study?

A

They used a sample of psychology students.
The psychology students may have encountered the MSM of memory previously and may have demonstrated demand characteristics.
The memory of psychology students may be different from that of other people, especially if they had previously studied strategies for memory improvement.
So we can’t generalise the results.

The study has low ecological validity as they were asked to repeat trigrams which is not a mundane task.
So we can’t to apply the results to everyday examples of memory can’t conclude if the duration of STM may be longer for more important information.

Their study was highly controlled and was in a lab.
So they had a high degree of control for extraneous variables, meaning it’s easy to replicate to test reliability.

21
Q

What was the aim of Bahrick’s (1975) study?

A

To investigate the duration of LTM

22
Q

What was the method of Bahrick’s (1975) study?

A

American university graduates were shown photographs from their high school yearbook and for each photograph participants were given a group of names and asked to select the name that matched the photographs.

23
Q

What were the results of Bahrick’s (1975) study?

A

90% of the participants were able to correctly match the names and faces 14 years after graduating and 60% of the participants were able to correctly match the names and faces 47 years after graduation.

24
Q

What was the conclusion of Bahrick’s (1975) study?

A

He concluded that people could remember certain types of information, (e.g names and faces) for almost a lifetime.
These results support the MSM and the idea that our LTM has a lifetime duration (at least 47 years), and is semantically encoded.

25
Q

What are the evaluations of Bahrick’s (1975) study?

A

His research American university graduates and therefore lacks population validity.
Psychologists are unable to generalise the results of his research to other populations.
So we can’t conclude whether other populations would demonstrate the same ability to recall names and faces after 47 years.

He found that the accuracy of LTM was 90% after 14 years and 60% after 47 years. His research is unable to explain whether LTM becomes less accurate over time due to limited duration, or if LTM simply gets worse with age.
Psychologists are unable to determine whether our LTM has an unlimited duration, which is affected by other factors (e.g old age) or whether our LTM has a limited duration.

His study has high levels of ecological validity as it uses real‐life memories. The results reflect our memory for real‐life events and can be applied to everyday human memory.

26
Q

Give an overall evaluation of the MSM

A

Clive Wearing, who contracted a virus that caused severe amnesia.
Following the virus, Wearing could only remember information for 20‐ 30 seconds; however, he was able to recall information from his past, (e.g) his wife’s name.
Wearing was unable to transfer information from his STM to his LTM, but was able to retrieve information.
His case supports the idea that memories are formed by passing information from one store to the next in a linear fashion and that damage to any part of the MSM can cause memory impairment.

Research examining the MSM is an example of experimental reductionism, as it attempts to explain a complex behaviour by relying on isolated variables operationalised in laboratory experiments.
However, as memory is a complex phenomenon, psychologists argue that reducing memory to isolated variables undermines the complexity of human memory.

27
Q

What are the 3 types of LTM?

A

Episodic
Semantic
Procedural

28
Q

What is explicit LTM?

A

The knowledge for events and facts (knowing that)

29
Q

What is implicit LTM?

A

Skilled behaviours (knowing how), which are very largely unconscious

30
Q

Which type of memory includes personal experiences?

A

Episodic memory

31
Q

Give an example of an episodic memory

A

First day of school
When you first visited the doctor

32
Q

What are the 3 specific elements included in episodic memory?

A

Details of the event
Context
Emotions

33
Q

Y/N an unconscious effort is required to retrieve episodic memories?

A

No, a conscious effort is needed

34
Q

Which part of the brain is responsible for episodic memories?

A

Hippocampus (and prefrontal cortex)

35
Q

Is episodic memory implicit or explicit?

A

Explicit

36
Q

What type of memories does semantic memory include?

A

Knowledge
Facts
Concepts
Meanings (of the world around us)

37
Q

Give an example of a semantic memory

A

Capital of England is London
The legal age of driving is 17 in the UK

38
Q

What is the strength of semantic memories determined by?

A

By the strength of emotions experienced when the memory is coded

39
Q

Y/N semantic memories stem from episodic memories

A

Yes

40
Q

Y/N semantic memories are weaker compared to episodic memories

A

No, they’re stronger

41
Q

Which part of the brain is semantic memories associated with?

A

Temporal lobe

42
Q

Is semantic memory implicit or explicit?

A

Explicit

43
Q

What does procedural memory include?

A

Performance of certain tasks, skills and actions

44
Q

Swimming, reading and writing is an example of what type of LTM?

A

Procedural memory

45
Q

How is procedural memory acquired

A

Through practice and repetitions

46
Q

When are procedural memories formed?

A

In early life

47
Q

Which part of the brain is responsible for procedural memory?

A

Cerebellum and Motor Cortex

AQA A Level Psychology (2 decks)

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