Memory

Question 1

Define Capacity

Answer 1

a measure of the amount of information that can be stored in memory

Question 2

define coding

Answer 2

refers to the way that information is modified so it can be stored in memory. information can be stored in the form of visual, acoustic or semantic codes

Question 3

define duration

Answer 3

a measure of how long a memory can be stored before it is no longer available

Question 4

describe Peterson and Peterson’s study on STM duration

Answer 4

• given a non sense consonant triad and a three digit number
• participants then had to countdown in threes from their three digit number during a retention period, after which they had to recall the triad they were given

Question 5

describe Baddley’s study on coding in LTM and STM

Answer 5

• gave participants word lists to learn: one semantically similar, acoustically different, etc.
• participants struggled short term with list 2 and long term with list 1
• concluded that LTM is encoded semantically and STM acoustically

Question 6

define proactive interference

Answer 6

when past learning interferes with attempts to learn something new

Question 7

retroactive interference

Answer 7

when current attempts at learning interference with the recollection of past learning

Question 8

describe Goodwin’s study on state dependent forgetting

Answer 8

researched state dependent forgetting.
- participants had to learn a word list either drunk or sober.
- recall of the words was when they were drunk during encoding and recalling or sober during both

Question 9

briefly explain the case of HM

Answer 9

his hippocampus removed to treat his epilepsy. he was unable to form new LTMs but could form STMs

Question 10

Describe Abernathy’s study on context dependent forgetting

Answer 10

students were tested in different conditions
results were best when tested in their usual room by their usual instructor

Question 11

list components of cognitive interview

Answer 11

• mental reinstatement of events
• report everything
• change the order
• change perspective

Question 12

describe Johnson and Scott’s study on the effects of anxiety on the accuracy of EWT

Answer 12

participate heard an argument and then saw a man run past holding a grease covered pen (low anxiety) or knife covered in blood (high anxiety)
identification of the man was higher when low anxiety

Question 13

list two types of declarative memory

Answer 13

semantic memory

Question 14

define procedural memory

Answer 14

this is memory that is concerned with knowing how to do things which eventually, through repetition become automatic

Question 15

who conducted research on the effects of misleading information on EWT

Answer 15

Loftus and Palmer 1974

Question 16

Describe research related to retrieval failure

Answer 16

Tulving and Pearlstone gave participants a list of 48 words from 12 different categories
recall was 40% accurate without retrieval cues
recall was 60% accurate when the category was given as retrieval cue

Question 17

define cues in regards to memory

Answer 17

these are things that serve as triggers to a memory. they may be things about the memory like the category a word belonged to, or the room in which you learned it

Question 18

define semantic memory

Answer 18

this is memory that is concerned with knowledge of facts

Question 19

define episodic memory

Answer 19

this is memory that is concerned with knowledge of life events

Question 20

define eye witness testimony

Answer 20

the refers to the ability to remember events they have witness usually with the effect that they have to testify about what they have seen in court, or identify the perpetrator of the crime

Question 21

Joseph Jacobs study on capacity

Answer 21

procedure: reads out four digits and participants recall these out loud, if they are correct the researcher reads more amounts of numbers until they can’t recall
findings: mean span for digits- 9.3 items
mean span for letters- 7.3 letters

Question 22

Barhrick et al - LTM duration

Answer 22

photo recognition of previous high school students from their year
free recall test of names of students without pictures
recall was more accurate when pictures were show even with the higher age
therefore LTM duration is lifetime

Question 23

multi store model

Answer 23

• describes the flow through memory system
• sensory register = large capacity, short duration, info processes into STM if we pay attention
• STM
  -LTM

Question 24

the working memory model

Answer 24

• a representation of how the STM organises and functions
• central executive= co ordinates the activities of the three sub systems in memory. allocates tasks to the slave systems and has limited processing capacity
• phonological loop= auditory information is stored here. subdivided into phonological store (words you hear) and articulatory process (allows maintenance rehearsal of words and sounds)
• visuo spatial sketchpad= visual and spatial information subdivided into visual cache (visual data) and inner scribe (the arrangement of object in the visual field)
• episodic buffer = brigs together material from other slave systems into a single memory and provides bridge to LTM

Question 25

KF study

Answer 25

suffered brain damage
he could remember words better if he read them out loud rather than just reading them in his head suggesting visual and auditory information are stored separately

Question 26

McGeoch and McDonald- retroactive study

Answer 26

• changing the amount of similarity o two lists of words given to participants
• found that the participants recall depended on the nature of the original and second list, if they were too similar the list produced the worst recall

Question 27

encoding specificity principle

Answer 27

if there is a cue that helps us access a memory it has to be present at encoding and at retrieval
two types- context dependent forgetting and state dependent forgetting

Question 28

Golden and Baddeley- context dependent

Answer 28

• studied deep sea divers recall when learning a list of words either in water/ land and retrieval either in water/ land
• they found those that learnt and retrieved the words in the same location recalled better

Question 29

Carter and Cassada- state dependent

Answer 29

• gave antihistamine drug to some during recall or retrieval
• those that recalled and retrieved on drugs and those that recalled off drugs and retrieved on drugs did significantly better at recalling

Question 30

post event discussion

Answer 30

when a witness discusses what they have seen with another witness, resulting in the accuracy of their testimony to become contaminated.