memory

Question 1

what are the three processes of memory?

Answer 1

storage
encoding
retrieval

Question 2

storage

Answer 2

when info is kept in your brain for a period of time

Question 3

encoding

Answer 3

translating information into a form that can be understood by the brain

Question 4

retrieval

Answer 4

process of accessing information stored in our brain and being able to use it.

Question 5

what are the three types of encoding?

Answer 5

Visual encoding - how it looks.
Acoustic encoding - how it sounds.
Semantic encoding - meaning.

Question 6

what are the three types of retrieval?

Answer 6

Recognition - remembering, as you’ve seen it before.

Cued recall - when you’re struggling to recall information you need a cue to help locate information.

Free recall - ability to recall information without any cues.

Question 7

what are two other types of encoding?

Answer 7

Olfactory: memory for smell.
Tactile: memory of what things feel to touch.

Question 8

what are the three types of LTM?

Answer 8

episodic
semantic
procedural

Question 9

outline the theory of the multi-store model

Answer 9

Sensory >STM> LTM.
- Sensory memory: capacity: large. Encoding: visually, semantically and acoustically. Duration: fraction of a second.
For info from the sensory memory to get into STM we must pay attention to it.
- STM: Capacity: 5-9 items. Encoding: visually and acoustically. Duration: 30 seconds.
Rehearsal moves information from the STM to LTM
-LTM: Capacity: unlimited . Encoding: semantically. Duration: lifetime.

Question 10

what is a weakness of the multi-store model theory?
*too simple.

Answer 10

P- too simple as it suggests we only have 1 STM and 1 LTM
E-research shows that STM is divided into visual and acoustic stores and that LTM is divided into semantic, procedural and episodic
L- memory is more complex

Question 11

what is a weakness of the multi-store model theory.

*artificial materials

Answer 11

P- research uses artificial materials
E- eg. word lists and nonsense syllables
L- doesn’t illustrate the different ways we use memory

Question 12

primacy effect:

Answer 12

• Tendency to remember words at the beginning of the list.
• Words at the beginning are remembered more as they’ve been rehearsed and gone into the LTM.

Question 13

recency effect:

Answer 13

• Tendency to remember words at the end of the list.
• Words at the end of a list are remembered more as they’ve been heard recently and are in the STM.

Question 14

outline Murdock’s serial position curve study

Answer 14

A: To investigate if memory of words was affected by where the words were positioned in the list
M: -Words from the 4,000 most common words in english were chosen randomly.
- There were 103 participants who were all taking a psychology course.
-Participants listened to 20 word lists (10-40 words)
-They recalled the words after each list
R: -Recall was related to the position of the word in the list.
-Higher recall=first few words.
-Higher recall=the last words.
-Less recall of middle words.
C: - Shows the serial position effect = position of a word determines the likelihood of recall.
-supports the MSM.

Question 15

strength of Murdock’s serial position curve study.
*lab study

Answer 15

P- It was carried out in laboratory conditions.
E- Things like familiarity of words could be controlled.
L- More certain that the position of the words affected recall.

Question 16

weakness of Murdock’s serial position curve study.
*artificial task

Answer 16

P- Task was artificial.
E- List of words=relates to only 1 type of memory.
L- Results don’t relate to how we use our memories in other ways (personal events).

Question 17

outline Bartlett’s war of ghosts study

Answer 17

A:to investigate whether people’s memory for a story is affected by previous knowledge (schemas) and the extent to which memory is reconstructive
M:-Bartlett gave British participants a Native American Folk story to read (culture different from their own) called “War of Ghosts”
-after 15 minutes he asked them to reproduce the story to another person who then has to recall it to someone else (Chinese whisperers)
-each time the story was reproduced a record was made, he asked them again and again over a period of months and years (serial production)
R: -main idea of story was remembered
-changed unfamiliar elements to make sense of the story using more familiar terms to their cultural expectations
eg= -shortened by omissions
-phrases were changed to language and concepts from the participants’ own culture (boat->canoe)
-slight variations
C: -our memory isn’t an exact copy of what we hear
-distorted by what we already know about the world
-people don’t remember details, we remember fragments and use our knowledge of social situations to reconstruct memory

Question 18

Weakness of Bartletts war of the ghost study:
*lacks control

Answer 18

P: Lacks control - no standards were set.
E: The participants were not given any specific instructions about what they should do. They were not told recall must be accurate. Challenged by other theories telling P’s recall must be accurate.
C: Suggests that recall is is probably more accurate than Bartlett suggests.

Question 19

weakness of Bartletts war of the ghost study.
*unusual

Answer 19

P: The story was unusual and may not reflect everyday memory.
E: Most of the time, we use memory to deal with everyday experiences. In such cases our memory is not affected by cultural expectations.
C: Study tells us very little about everyday memory.

Question 20

outline the theory of reconstructive memory

Answer 20

• Memory is an active process. We store fragments of information and when we need to recall something we build these fragments into a meaningful whole. However some elements are missing and is not accurate.
• We record small pieces of information when events occur. Later during recall we recombine the pieces to tell the story, every time we retell the story the elements are combined differently.
• When recombining pieces of information they can be impacted to what we believe to be true, therefore social and cultural expectations may influence our memory.
• Effort after meaning: we focus on the meaning of events rather than specific details. And afterwards we make an effort to interpret the meaning in more familiar terms.

Question 21

weakness the theory of reconstructive memory.
*some memories are accurate

Answer 21

P- Wrong to suggest all memories are inaccurate
E- Other studies have shown that sometimes memory can be accurate. (eg. first day of school- those memories are distinctive).
L- Shows that people don’t always actively construct memories and that some memories are accurate

Question 22

strength the theory of reconstructive memory.
*realistic

Answer 22

P- Bartlett’s way of investigating memory reflects how we use memory in everyday life.
E- He had his participants learn a story rather than using artificial tasks like word lists.
L- Therefore his research is more relevant to real-life memory processes.

Question 23

what are the three factors affecting the accuracy of memory?

Answer 23

Interference.
Context.
False memories.

Question 24

interference:

Answer 24

when 2 memories compete with each other, one memory may prevent us from accessing the other memory (likely when info is similar).

Question 25

what is proactive interference
and retroactive interference?

Answer 25

proactive interference: when you forget the new information because the older information interferes with it.
retroactive interference: when you forget the old information because the new information interferes with it.

Question 26

context

Answer 26

Place in which an event or memory happens and can act as a cue to recall memories.

Question 27

false memories:

Answer 27

Is a memory for somethting that did not actually happen but feels as if it were true.