Memory Flashcards
What was the aims and procedures of Baddeley’s coding study ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
Aim - to know what format memory is stored in in the different memory stores
Procedure - Gave different lists of words to four groups of participants
Group 1 - Acoustically similar - words that sound similar
Group 2 - Acoustically disimilar - words that sound different
Group 3 - Semantically similar - words with similar meanings
Group 4 - Semantically disimilar - words with different meanings
What were the findings of Baddeley’s coding study ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
1) When recall completed immediately after hearing words
Ps did worse with semantically similar words
Conclusion - Information is coded acoustically in STM
2) When recall completed after 20 minutes
Ps did worse with acoustically similar words
Conclusion - Information is coded semantically in LTM
Means little in everydat life - cannot generalise to different tasks
Evaluation - Limitation - Use of artificial stimuli ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
Point - Words used had no meaning to participants so this tells us little about coding for everyday tasks
Further - this means we should be cautious about generalising the findings to different kinds of memory tasks
How did Jacobs research capacity and what did he find ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
Jacobs developed a technique to measure digital span:
P given 4 digits and asked to recall in correct order out loud
If correct given 5 digits and so on until P can’t recall the order correctly
This determines digital span
Findings - Mean span for digits was 9.3. Mean span for letters was 7.3
How did Miller research capacity and what did he find ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
Miller - observed everday practice
Memory Span in STM - STM is about 7 items (plus or minus 2)
Chunking - can recall 5 words as well as they can 5 letters by chunking – grouping sets of digits or letters into units or chunks
Cowan STM is 4 chunks - Simon shorter memory larger chunks
Evaluation - Capacity - Limitation - STM may be shorter than originally claimed ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
Point - Cowan reviewed research from other psychologists and found that the STM is shorter than miller claimed. He concluded the capacity of STM was only about 4 chunks
Further - Simon found that people had a shorter memory for larger chunks, such as eight-word phrases
Explain Peterson and Peterson’s study into the duration of the STM and the findings ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
Peterson and Peterson - Ps took part in 8 trials
On each trial, P given consonant syllable to remember and 3 digit numbers
P asked to count backwards from the 3-digit number until told to stop – this was to stop the Ps mentally rehearsing the consonant
On each trial, told to stop at a different time – 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds – called the retention interval
Conclusion - STM has very short duration unless we repeat something over and over again via verbal rehearsal
What was the procedure, findings and conclusion of Bahrick et al’s duration of LTM study ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
Procedure -
studied Ps between 17-74 years old
Obtained high school year books
Recall tested by:
Photo-recognition test of 50 photos from Ps’ yearbooks; and
Free recall test where Ps recalled all the names of their graduating class
Findings - Ps who were tested within 15 years of graduation were 90% accurate in photo recognition and 60% in free recall
After 48 years recall fell to about 70% for photo recollection and 30% in free recall
Conclusion - Shows LTM memory can last a very long time, up to a whole lifetime
doesnt reflect real life - Bahrick et al LTM study used real-life means
Evaluation - Limitation - Artificial stimulus ?
(Coding, Capacity & Duration)
Peterson and Peterson’s study uses artificial stimulus, this doesnt refelct real life memory activities where we attempt to memorise more meaningful things - lacks mundane realism
Counter - Bahrick et al’s study into LTM used real-life meaningful memories providing higher external validity
What is the multi store model ?
(Multi-Store Model)
Atkinson and Shriffin’s multi-store model describes how information flows through the memory system
Suggests memory is made up of three stores (Sensory Register, STM and LTM)
Draw the multi store model ?
(Multi-Store Model)
How does the sensory register work ?
(Multi-Store Model)
Stimulus from environment will pass in through the sensory register
Duration of material in the sensory register is less than half a second
They have an unlimited capacity
Information only passes further into MSM if you pay attention to it
Two main stores of sensory register
Iconic memory – visual information, coded visually
Echoic memory – audio information, coded acoustically
How does the STM work ?
(Multi-Store Model)
Capacity - 7 + or - 2
Coding - Acoustic
Duration - 30 seconds unless rehearsed
To keep information in the STM, we perform maintenance rehearsal
Prolonged Rehearsal - If we rehearse it long enough it passes into LTM
How does the LTM work ?
(Multi-Store Model)
Capacity – Psychologists believe it has unlimited capacity
Coding - Semantic
Duration - Potentially permanent, if rehearsed
Retrieval - Material is stored in LTM but when we want to recall it, it has to be transferred back into STM by a process called retrieval
STM and LTM mix ups different - brain scan Beardsley activation brain
Evaluation - Strength - Research support that STM and LTM are seperate ?
(Multi-Store Model)
Point - Baddeley’s research on coding, shows we mix up words that sound similar in STM and mix up words with similar meanings in the LTM - shows that the STM and LTM are different
Further - studies using brain scanning techniques demonstrate there is a difference between STM and LTM . Beardsley found that prefrontal cortex active during STM tasks but not LTM tasks
WMM different STM stores - More than 1 type of LTM
Evaluation - Limitation - More than one type of STM ?
(Multi-Store Model)
Point - The working memory model shows the STM is dividsed into a number of different stores with different capacities, durations and coding for each
Further - Research shows there is more than one type of LTM. We have different stores for our memories about the world and our memories for how to do things
Logie states STM relies on LTM - MSM reductionist
Evaluation - Limitation - The STM and LTM may not be seperate ?
(Multi-Store Model)
Point - The MSM suggests the STM is involved before LTM. Logie states that the STM relies on the LTM and therefore cant come first
I&D - The MSM is reductionist and oversimplifies the memory structures and processes and focuses on the STM and LTM as seperate entities, they should take a more holistic view
What are the 3 stores for LTM ?
(Types of Long Term Memory)
Episodic memory
Semantic memory
Procedural memory
What is the episodic store for memory ?
(Types of Long Term Memory)
Episodic - Our ability to recall events
Memories are time stamped
Remembers the details, context and emotions
Have to make a conscious effort to recall
What is the semantic store for memory ?
(Types of Long Term Memory)
Semantic - Facts about the world
Contains a lot of concepts and is constantly added to
Memories are not time stamped
Information is less personal
What is the procedural store for memory ?
(Types of Long Term Memory)
Procedural - Our memory for skills
Muscle based memory
Acquired through repetition and practice
We find it difficult to explain to people how to perform them
HM unable to form new episodic other stores intact - idiographic
Evaluation - Strength - Supporting clinical evidence ?
(Types of Long Term Memory)
Point - Case study of HM whom underwent surgery for epilepsy whereby he was unable to form new episodic memories but was still able to remember procedural task and semantic memory seems unaffected
I&D - as these case studies focus on one P, it takes an idiographic approach, this means meaningful generalisations cannot be made
Tulving PETscan different parts of brain dif memories - bio-reductionist
Evaluation - Strength - Supporting evidence from brain scans ?
(Types of Long Term Memory)
Point - Tulving et al got Ps to perform different memory tasks while brains were scanned using a PET scanner. Found episodic and semantic memories were both recalled from different hemispheres of the brain. Shows different types of memory are stored in different parts of the brain
I&D - Tulving’s research is biologically reductionist and it localises types of LTM to specific regions of the brain. Fails to take account of all the different biological and cognitive processes involved
Memory loss old = episodic - Belleville intervention episodic memory
Evaluation - Strength - Real life application ?
(Types of Long Term Memory)
Point - Memory loss in old age is specific to episodic memory
Further - Belleville et al devised an intervention for older people targeting episodic memory, which improved their memory compared to a control group
Draw the working memory model ?
(Working Memory Model)
What is the working memory model ?
(Working Memory Model)
Explanation of how the STM is organised and functions
Concerned with the part of the mind that is active when temporarily storing or manipulating information
What is the role of the central executive ?
(Working Memory Model)
monitors incoming data, it is involved in decision making and allocates ‘slave systems’ to tasks
Has a very limited capacity
Doesnt code information
What is the role of the phonological loop ?
(Working Memory Model)
One of the slave systems
Deals with auditory information
Preserves the order in which information arrives
Divides into:
Phonological store - stores words you hear
Articulatory control system - allows for maintenance rehearsal
Acesses LTM to store and retrieve information about language stores
What is the role of the visuo spatial sketchpad ?
(Working Memory Model)
Stores visual/spatial information
Logie subdivided into:
Visual cache - stores visual data
Inner scribe - records the arangements of objects in the visual field
Accesses the LTM to store and retrive visual-spatial information
What is the role of the episodic buffer ?
(Working Memory Model)
Temporary store for information
Integrates visual, spatial and verbal information
maintains a sense of time sequencing
Sends information to the LTM
KF brain damage poor verbal/good visual - idiographic
Evaluation - Strength - Supporting clinical evidence ?
(Working Memory Model)
Point - Case study of KF who suffered brain damage, had poor STM ability for verbal information but could process visual information. Suggests phonological loop had been damaged but other parts of WMM intact
I&D - Use of case study means idiograophic approach was taken, this means meaningful generalisations cannot be made
Baddeley dual comp study competition for slave system - artificial stim
Evaluation - Strength - Research support ?
(Working Memory Model)
Point - Baddeley et al’s dual performance study showed P’s had more difficulty doing two visual tasks than doing a visual and verbal task. Suggests that when doing two visual tasks they were competing for the same slave system
Counter - Study used artificial stimulus material, these dont reflect real-life memory activities and therefore lacks mundane realism
CE least understood - central execustives job needs specifying
Limitation - Lack of clarity over what the central executive is ?
(Working Memory Model)
Point - Baddley said the CE was the most important but least understood component of the working memory
Further - there must be more for the central executive than just being for attention. The central executives job needs to be more clearly specified. Some claim it may have more componants
What is interference ?
(Interference)
When two pieces of information conflict with eachother, resulting in regretting one or both, pieces of information
What is proactive interfernce ?
(Interference)
When an older memory interferes with a newer memory
What is retroactive interfernce ?
(Interference)
When a newer memory interferes with an older memory
What was the aim and procedure of McGeogh and Mcdonald’s effects of similarity study ?
(Interference)
Aim - Is proactive and retroactive interference worse when memories are similar or different
Procedure -
Ps learnt list of 10 words until they could remember 100% accurately
Then given a new list of words to learn:
Group 1 – new list was synonyms of 1st list
Group 2 – new list was antonyms of 1st list
Group 3 – new list was unrelated to 1st list
Group 4 – new list was nonsense syllables
Group 5 – new list was 3 digit numbers
Group 6 – no new list, Ps rested
What were the findings and conclusions made from McGeogh and Mcdonald’s effects of similarity study ?
(Interference)
Findings - Performance of remembering first list depended on the second list - most similar words had worst recall
Conclusion - interference is worse when memories are similar
Lab study support = improve validity - artificial stimuli
Evaluation - Strength - Evidence is from lab studies ?
(Interference)
Point - There have been thousands of lab experiments on interference which show both types of interference are very likely to be common ways we forget information from LTM. Lab experiments control for extraneous variables which improves the validity
Counter - Uses artificial stimulus in these lab experiments. Which is different from what we try to remeber in everday life therefore studies lack mundane realism
Baddeley and Hitch rugby players - Burke Skull magazine articles
Evaluation - Strength - Research support in more everyday settings ?
(Interference)
Point - Baddeley and Hitch ask rugby players to remeber names of the teams they played in the season. Results showed accurate recall did not depend on how long ago the matches took place but the number of games they played in the meantime (amount of interference)
Further - Burke and Skrull presented magazine articles to Ps who had to recall details of what they had seen. Found forgetting was worse when adverts were similar
Needs specific circumstances = similarity - individual dif = Kane Eagle
Evaluation - Limitation - Incomplete explanation of forgetting ?
(Interference)
Point - There needs to be quite specific circumstances for interference to lead to forgetting because the two memories need to be quite similar
Further - there are individual differences in the effect of interference on forgetting. Kane and Eagle found individuals with working memory span are less susceptible to proactive interfernce
What is retrieval failure ?
(Retrieval Failure)
Not being able to access memories that are their due to insufficient cues
What encoding specificity principle ?
(Retrieval Failure)
Tulving et al - encoding specificity principle claims if a cue is going to help us recall information , it has to be present at:
Encoding - when we learnt it
Retrieval - when we recall it
What are the 3 types of cues ?
(Retrieval Failure)
Meaningful cues - having a specific link to material
Context cues - environmental, based on where we was when we learnt the information
State cues - emotional, how we felt when the information was learnt
What is context and state dependant forgetting ?
(Retrieval Failure)
Context dependant forgetting - if the external cues at learning and recall are different this may lead to retrieval failure
State depedant forgetting - forgetting becayse the state cues are different at encoding and retrieval
Godden Baddeley deep sea diver - Abernathy teacher room study
Evaluation - Strength - Research support for context dependant forgetting ?
(Retrieval Failure)
Point - Godden and Baddeley’s deep sea diver study. Ps either learnt a list of words on water or land then recalled in same or different setting. Found that when environmental contexts of learning did not match, recall was 40% lower
Further - Abernathy using a combination of usual/different teacher and usual/different room. Found those tested by usual teacher in usual room performed better due to context dependant cues
carter and Cassaday antihistamines recall sudy - Goodwin drunk or sober
Evaluation - Strength - Research support for state dependant forgetting ?
(Retrieval Failure)
Point - Carter and Cassaday tested Ps recall of words and passages when some learnt words on antihistamines and some when not then recall either on or not. Found when there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance on memory test was worse
Further - Goodwin et al got Ps to learn and recall words either drunk or sober. Found when there was a match between states Ps performed better
Smith and Vela meaningful material less effec context effects - real app
Evaluation - Limitation - Retrieval cues dont always work ?
(Retrieval Failure)
Point - Smith and Vela claim when learning more meaningful material, context effects are largely eliminated as complex information is less easily triggered by a single cue
Counter - Has real life application. Research about context dependant cues has helped develop cognitive intertview used in eyewitness testimony where witnesses return to the crime scene in their mind and imagine the environment
What is the aim and procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s leading questions study ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Aim - to investigate the effects of leading questions on eye witness testimony
Procedure - Students were given a clip of the car crash and asked questions about it
The critical question was ‘‘how fast were the cars going when they hit eachother ‘’
The word hit was changed for different groups - collided, bumped, contacted, crashed
What were the findings and conclusion of Loftus and Palmers leading questions study ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Findings:
Mean estimated speed for group with word contact was 31.8mph
Mean estimated speed for group with word smashed was 40.5mph
Conclusion - Lading questions caused a bias in eyewitness recall of the event
What is the response bias explanation ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Wording of the question doesnt actually alter their memory, but just influences how they awnser
What is the substitution explanation ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Loftus and Palmer found wording of leading questions actually changed the memories of participants
What were the aims and procedure of Gobber et al’s post-event discussion study ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Aim - To investigate nthe impact of post event discusion of eye witness testimony
Procedure - Ps in pairs
Ps watched of the same crime but from different angles
Each P could see something the other couldn’t
Both Ps discussed what they had seen before individually recalling
What were the findings and conclusions of Gobber et al’s post event discusiion study ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Findings - 71% of Ps mistakenly recorded aspects they had not seen in the video
In control group with no discussion there was 0% mistakenly recalled aspects
Conclusions - Witnesses go along with eachother either for social approval or because they believe them to be correct
Why does post event discussion affect eye witness testimony ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Source monitoring theory - memories of the event are generally distorted. They can recall information from the event but not where it came from
Conformity theory - Eyewitness memories are not actually distorted. Eyewitness recall changes because they go along with co-witnesses. Either to win social approval or because they believe the other is correct
Loftus claim police need be careful - Wells/Olsen mistaken identificatio
Evaluation - Strength - Real life application ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Point - Consequences of innacurate eye witness testimony can be very serious leading to false conviction and imprisonment of innocent people. Loftus said that police need to be careful about how they phrase their questions when interviewing witnesses
Further - Wells and Olsen found recent DNA exoneration cases confirm the warnings about eye witness testimony. Mistaken identification was the largest single factor contributing to the conviction of innocent people
Loftus/Palmer video vs real life - Foster = real life improves accuracy
Evaluation - Limitation - Tasks are artificial ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Point - Lostus and Palmer’s study was based on film clips. This is very different from witnessing a real car accident because of the lack of stress
Further - Foster et al found that if Ps thought they was watching a real life robbery and their responses would influence a trial, their identification of the robber was more accurate
150 American students less experienced drivers - Demand characteristics
Evaluation - Limitation - Tasks are artificial ?
(Misleading Questions - Eye Witness Testimony)
Point - Loftus and Palmers experiment used 150 American students, therefore it can be assumed they were less experienced drivers who would be less accurate in estimating speeds and findings cannot be generalised to older more experienced drivers
Further - Demand characteristics are caused because participants do not want to let the researcher down.This means they are more likely to awnser yes to yes/no questions when they dont know the awnser which many of these experiments contained
What are the aims and procedure of Johnson and Scott’s anxietys affect on recall study ?
(Anxiety - Eye Witness Testimony)
Theory - Anxiety causes physiological arousal in the body, which can prevent us from paying attention to important cues
Aim - Investigate the effects of weapons on recall
Procedure - Ps believed they were taking part in a lab study and when seated Ps heard an argument in the next room
Low anxiety condition - man walked through a waiting area with pen covered in grease
High anxiety condition - Heard sound of breaking glass. Man walked out the room with knife covered in blood
Ps asked to identify man from a set of photos
What are the findings and conclusion of Johnson and Scott’s anxietys affect on recall study ?
(Anxiety - Eye Witness Testimony)
Findings - 49% of Ps in low anxiety condition identified him correctly, 33% of Ps in high anxiety condition identified him correctly
Conclusion - Weapon focus and tunnel theory, whereby witnesses attention narrows and focuses on a weapon because its the source of anxiety
What are the aims and procedures of Yuille and Cutshall’s positive effects of anxiety study ?
(Anxiety - Eye Witness Testimony)
Theory - Fight or flight response is triggered through stress, this increases alertness and improves memory as we are more aware of our cues
Aims - to inestigate the affect of anxiety on recall and real life robbery
Procedure - 13 witnesses to a reallife armed robbery
Witnesses interviewed 4-5 months later, interviews compared with original police testimony
Witnesses also asked to rate how stressed they were at the time of the incident
What are the findings and conclusion of Yuille and Cutshall’s positive effects of anxiety study ?
(Anxiety - Eye Witness Testimony)
Findings - witnesses were very accurate in their accounts with little change since their first interview. Ps who reported highest levels of stress were the most accurate
Conclusion - Anxiety has a posititve effect on recall
What did Yurke and Dodson find ?
(Anxiety - Eye Witness Testimony)
relationship between emotional arousal and performance looks like an inverted U
Pickel claim Johnson/Scott experiment = surprise - External validity
Evaluation - Limitation - Contradictory research - weapon focus ?
(Anxiety - Eye Witness Testimony)
Point - Pickel claims Johnson and Scott’s experiment may test surprise rather than anxiety. Experiment showing video of a hairdressing salon, thief enters with different items:
Scissors, hand-gun, wallet and raw chicken. Recall was worse with high surprise items rather than high threat
Counter - External validity - Ps watching videos - may not have taken the experiment seriously as may not have been as emotionally aroused as real life
Post-event discussion responsible for accuracy - natural experiments
Evaluation - Limitation - Lack of control in natural experiments ?
(Anxiety - Eye Witness Testimony)
Point - Real-life witnesses usually interviewed sometime after the event in the mean time post-event discussion, reading or seeing other accounts in the media may occur. These extraneous variables may be responsible for the accuracy of the recall
I&D and Counter - There are less ethical issues in natural experiments, creating anxiety on purpose could potentially be unethical as it may subject people to psychological harm. Natural experiments that take advantage of real life events are beneficial
Christiansen/Hubinette witnesses bank robbery - Halford/Milne violence
Evaluation - Strengh - research support for anxiety having a good effect on recall ?
(Anxiety - Eye Witness Testimony)
Point - Christiansen and Hubinette questioned 58 real witnesses to bank robberies in Sweden, witnesses either victims or bystanders. Witnesses showed generally good memories and those most anxious had the best recall
Further - Halford and Milne found victims of violent crimes were more accurate in their recall of crime scene information than victims of non-violent crimes
How are standard police interviews criticised by Fisher and Geiselman ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Discussions during interviews may contaminate witness memories
Practices encourage witholdal of information
Techniques disrupt the natural process os searching through memory
What are the 4 techniques of the cognitive interview ?
(Cognitive Interview)
- Report everything
- Reinstate the context
- Reverse the order
- Change perspective
How does the report everything stage work ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Witnesses encourage to report everything they see, even if information may seem irrelevant
This is used to trigger other memories
How does the reinstate the context stage work ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Witnesses return to the crime scene in ‘‘their mind’’ and imagine the environment
reimagining the environment and emotions may trigger memories
How does the reverse the order stage work ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Events must be recalled in a different order to the original sequence - End to beggining
Prevents people reporting their expectations of how event occureds
Prevents dishonesty
How does the change the perspective stage work ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Witnesses encouraged to recall incident from other people’s perspectives
disrupts the expectations based on pre-exisitng schemas
What is the enhanced cognitive interview ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Created by Fisher et al
Added focus to the social dynamics of the sitution
such as:
When to make eye contact
Techniques to reduce witness anxiety
Minimising distractions
Getting witnesses to talk slowly
Asking open ended questions
Kohnken et al meta analysis - increase in amount of incorrect info
Evaluation - Strength - Research support for the effectivness of cognitive interview ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Point - Kohnken et al’s meta analysis found a 34% increase in the amount of correct information given when using the cognitive interview
Counter - While it enhanced the quantity of information this could be at the cost of quality. Kohnken et al found an increase in the amount of incorrect information
Kebbell/Wagstaff uses too much time - requires specialist training
Evaluation - Limitation - Widespread use is impractical ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Point - Kebbell and Wagstaff found police officers report that the technique requires more time than usually available and police officers prefer to use deliberate strategies to limit witness reports
Further - Kebbell and Wagstaff claim the cognitive interview requires specialist training and many forces have only been able to provide a few hours
Mello/Fisher most useful for elderly - uses nomothetic approach
Evaluation - Limitation - Individual differences in effectiveness ?
(Cognitive Interview)
Point - Mello and Fisher found the cognitive interview is most useful when interviewing the elderly. Negative stereotypes of older peoples memories makes them cautious about what they report, but the cognitive interview may overcome this
I&D - The explanation of the benefits of the cognitive approach generally takes a nomothetic approach in attempting to make general laws of human behaviour
