Memory

Question 1

Sensory Register Features

Answer 1

Coding: sense (modality) specific

Capacity: Found to be very large. (Sperling (1960)

Duration: Iconic traces last up to 250 milliseconds. (Sperling 1960)

Question 2

STM Features

Answer 2

Coding: Acoustic Preference

Capacity: 5-9 items. (Miller’s magic number)

Duration: 18-30s (Peterson + Peterson)

Question 3

LTM Features

Answer 3

Coding: Semantic Preference

Capacity: Infinite - but untestable

Duration: Lifetime with cues

Question 4

Peterson + Peterson study

Answer 4

Duration of STM

• Read nonsense trigram
• Count back in 3s as distraction
• This time period was calleds retention interval and varied from 3-30s, was used to stop rehearsal of trigrams.
• participants had to recall trigram.

90% = 3s
10% = 18s
0% = 30s

Question 5

Multi-store model of memory

Answer 5

Sensory Regisiter:
Environmentsl Input
Acts as filer
Infomation lost when no attention

STM:
Rehearsal loop to prevent decay + displacement
Conscious

LTM:
Storage
Retrieval failure
Interference

Question 6

Multi-store model of memory AO3

Answer 6

Challenging Evidence:
KF - motoebike accident, brain injury

Supporting Evidence:
Clive Wearing

I+D:
Experimental reductionism - reducing memory to isolsted variables undermines the complexity of human memory and does not provide us with a comprehensive understanding.

Question 7

Case study of KF

Answer 7

Motorbike accident - brain injury
Challenges MSM

Reduced capacity in STM was only for verbal items, visual and acoustic were fine. Suggesting that one unitary store for all STMs is oversimplifying.

Question 8

Case study of Clive Wearing

Answer 8

Herpes virus - temportal lobes - no LTM.
Support MSM

Only damages LTM. Sensory and STM were fine. Suggest that different types of memory are in different locations in the brain. Supports idea of seperate stores.

Question 9

Working Memory Model

Answer 9

Sensory Register
Central Executive

Phonological loop:
Articulatory Process
Phonological store

Episodic Buffer

Visio-spatial Sketchpad:
Visual cache
Inner scribe

LTM

Question 10

Central Executive

Answer 10

Allocates resources dependent on cognitive demands.
Restricts conscious awareness to 2 items - one from each subsystem.
Filter.

Question 11

Phonological Loop

Answer 11

Temporay acoustic storage system.
Articulatory process holds words for subvocal repetition to prevent decay.
Phonological store represents auditory infomation - pitch + loudness.

Question 12

Visuo-spatial Sketchpad

Answer 12

Rehearses visual + spatial information
Visual cache stores visual information - colour
Inner scribe stores infomation on spatial relationships - arrangement of objects.

Question 13

Episodic Buffer

Answer 13

Sends info to LTM
Binds together information from different sources.
Recall from LTM.

Question 14

WMM AO3

Answer 14

Challenging + Supporting Evidence:
Physiological Evidence from PET brain scans

Supporting Evidence:
Case study of KF

I+D:
Experiementally Reductionist - reducing memory to isolsted variables undermines the complexity of human memory and does not provide a comprehensive understanding.

Question 15

Physiological Evidence from brain scans for ~WMM

Answer 15

Support existence of seperate subsystem visuo-spatial sketchpad. Showed participants had more difficultly doing two verbal tasks than doing both a visual and verbal task. Because both visual tasks compete for same subsystem.
However, no evidence of common areas, challenging central executive + episodic buffer.

Question 16

Types of long-term memory: Episodic Memory

Answer 16

Explicit Memories
Refer to a event (episode) from the past at a specific time, place, behaviour, people - personal memories.

Question 17

Types of long-term memory

Answer 17

Episodic
Semantic
Procedural

Question 18

Types of long-term memory: Semantic

Answer 18

Explicit Memories
Knowledge of the world.
Facts, words, concepts.
Impersonal.

Question 19

Types of long-term memory: Procedural

Answer 19

Implicit Memories
Knowlegde of how to do things.
Practial skills, muscle memory.

Question 20

Types of long-term memory: AO3

Answer 20

Supporting:
Neuroimaging Evidence

Supporting:
Clive Wearing - only lost episodic.

I+D:
Reductionism

Question 21

Neuroimaging Evidence for types of long-term memory

Answer 21

Show different types of memory are stored in different areas of the brain.
PET scans.
Prefrontal cortex = semantic
Hippocampi = episodic
Cerebrum = procedural

Question 22

Explanations of Forgetting - Interference

Answer 22

Occurs when one memory disrupts our ability to recall another. Only occur when two memories are similar.

Retroactive Interference:
Newly acquire information inhibits our ability to recall previously acquired similar information. New will overide old. E.g remeber content at end of school year.

Proactive interference:
Tendency for previously acquired material to hinder recall of subsequent/new similar information. Old will overide new. E.g. entering old password.

Question 23

Explanations of Forgetting - Retrieval Failure

Answer 23

Retrieval Failure occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access a memory. Memory available, but not accessible unless suitable cue is provided.

Context Dependent Forgetting:
Occurs due to a lack of the correct environmental (external) cues.
Divers experiement - 50% better recall in same environment.

State Dependent Forgetting:
Occurs due to lack of the correct personal (internal) cues.
Alcohol Experiment

Question 24

Explanations of Forgetting - AO3

Answer 24

Supporting Evidence - Interference Study

Supporting Evidence - Retrieval Failure Study

I/D - Nomothetic

Question 25

Explanations of Forgetting - Interference Study

Answer 25

All groups: Adjective list 1
Group 2: Numbers list 1
Group 3: Adjective list 2

Group 1 = Learn adjective list one until they can recall perfectly, 10m rest, recall list.

Group 2 = Learn adjective list one, then learn number list, 10m rest then recall list one.

Group 3 = Learn adjective one, then learn list two, 10m rest then recall list one.

Supports idea of retroactive inferference. Group C showed signs of interfernce. Numbers not as similar, better recall.

Question 26

Explanations of Forgetting - Retrieval Failure Study

Answer 26

Underwater Divers Experiement:
18 diving club participants, repeated measures design.
Learning on land - recalling on land, learning on land - recalling underwater, learning underwater - recalling undewater, learning underwater - recalling underwater.
38 unrelated words heard twice during learnig stage. 24 hours between conditions.

50% better recall when learning and recall environment are the same.

Question 27

Cognitive Interview

Answer 27

Aids eyewitnesses in recalling information more accruately.
Based on belief of serveral recall paths.

• Report everything: recollection of one small memory may act as rertrieval cue to other important memories.
• Recreate the context: encouraged to mentally recreate envrionment and psychological state. May trigger contextual or emtional cues.
• Change order: recall in reverse or at different stages, reduces chance of expectations or schemas of how event unfolded.
• Change perspective: recall from different persons perspective, to reduce influence of individuals schemas.

Question 28

Cognitive Interview AO3

Answer 28

Supporting Evidence:
Fisher et al. MIAD - effective in gaining more inforamtion but also found to increase amount of incorrect information. Major limitation - doesn’t guarantee accruacy.

Potentiall socially sensitive:
Asking victims or witnesses of crime to recall the event and psychological states in detail may lead anxiety or becoming distressed.

Study has high ecological validity and external validity. Used real police officers and witnessess.

Question 29

Cognitive Interview Study

Answer 29

Fisher et al.
16 experienced police officers interviewed 47 witnesses or victims of crime. All first interviews were standard police interviews. 7 officers were trained in cognitive interview technique, other 9 would continue using standard method and form a control group. Victims were interviewed again.

Findings:
Overwhelming support for cognitve interview. 47% more facts about the crime compared to no increase to second standard interview.

Question 30

Misleading Information

Answer 30

Incorrect information given to eyewitness that may aklter memory of event. (broken glass)

Question 31

Leading questions

Answer 31

Questions that make it likely for the person’s schema to influence answer.
(bumped, contacted, smashed)

Question 32

Post-event discussion

Answer 32

Misleading conversation after the event has occured may alter eyewitness memory. E.g with other witnesses.

Question 33

Effect leading questions on accruacy of eyewitness testimony - Study

Answer 33

Loftus + Palmer (1974)
45 students shown short films involving car acidents. After each film they were given a questionaire where there was one critical question: estmation of the speed the cars were travlling at. Different groupds had different conditions, different verbs (hit, smashed, collied, bumped and contacted.

Findings:
Smashed have highest average speed estmate (40.8mph).
Contacted gave lowest (31.8mph).
More extreme verb, higher estimation, concludes leading questions do affect recall accruacy.

Question 34

Effect of misleading information on the accruacy of eyewitness testimony

Answer 34

Loftus + Palmer (1975)
New participants watched video of car accident and were ashed similar speed estimation questions.
Week later some participants were also asked if they saw any broken glass. There was no broken glass but participants in the ‘smashed’ conditon reported seeing some.

Conclusion:
Led to believe the car was travelling faster and therefore more likely to report seeing broken glass shows influence of misleading information on recall.

Question 35

Factors affecting accruacy of eyewitness testimony AO3

Answer 35

Leading questions Study: Loftus + Palmer.

Misleading information study: Loftus + Palmer.

Lab experiment - may lack ecological validity and therefore external validty. Use of students may have been a confouding variable, not representative. Younger children found to be more susceptible to leading questions.
MIAD - lab experiement allowed for reduction of extraneous variables, highly controlled.

Question 36

Anxiety’s affect on accruacy of eye-witness testimony

Answer 36

The high levels of anxeity that crimes tend to cause can in turn cause memories to distort.

The Yerkes-Dodson Inverted-U Hypothesis:
Shows anxiety has negative effect on the accuracy of eye witness recall when it is at very low (low attention) or very high levels (sensory shutdown). But moderate levels are actually beneficial to accuracy of recall as adrenaline can sharpen our senses and create clearer memories.

Question 37

Supporting research for anxiety as a factor affecting accuracy of eyewitness testimony

Answer 37

Johnson + Scott - Weapon Effect Experiement(1976):

Participants were waiting outside a laboratory overhearing a exchange between two people in the adjacent room. In one condition man with greasys hand storms out the room with a pen (low anxiety). In the other condition a man emerged holding a knife covered in blood (high anxiety). Participants were later asked to identify the person out of a set of photos.

Findings:
Pen conditions more accruate at recognising the man (49% vs 33%).
Believed anxiety elicited by weapon narrowed the focus of attention, reducing amount of detail beyond the weapon, therefore reducing accuracy of eye-witness testimony.

Question 38

Contradictory evidence of anxiety causing inaccurate EWT.

Answer 38

Yuille + Cutshall Case study of real life crime (1986):

Investigation into real life shooting between gun owner and theif in middle of busy street in Vancover, Canada.
21 witnesses, 13 agreed to a research interview 4-5 months later.

Findings:
Found to be highky accurate in their accounts and little change in amount or accuracy of recall over a 5 month period.
Leading questions, misleading information and post-event discussion was found to have no effect suggesting right level of anxeity can lead to highly accurate recall.