Memory Flashcards
Outline and evaluate the multi store model of memory. (AO1)
Theoretical model developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin.
Suggests information flows through three memory stores, sensory register, short term memory, and long term memory. Each store is separate as they have different coding, capacities and durations. Each store is unitary- cannot be subdivided.
The sensory register detect sensory stimuli, codes modality free and has a large capacity.
If information is paid attention to, it is transferred to the short term memory which has a capacity of five to nine items, codes acoustically and has a duration of up to 30 seconds.
Rehearsal involves repeating information that people are trying to remember over and over again. This prevents information from decaying and allows it to enter the long term memory.
Long term memory has a potentially unlimited capacity and duration and is coded semantically. Information in the long term memory can be accessed by the short term memory during retrieval.
Information can be lost from each store through decay or displacement.
Outline and evaluate the multi store model of memory. (AO3)
+ Supporting evidence for the idea that each of the three stores are different. Baddeley investigated coding in STM & LTM: 70 young servicemen were divided into four different groups and underwent trials where they were briefly presented with the same 5 words. However, the orders of the words changed each time. Their task was to write down the words in the correct order. G1: words acoustically similar. G2: words acoustically dissimilar. G3: words semantically similar. G4: words semantically dissimilar. To assess coding in STM recall was assessed within 30 seconds. To assess LTM coding, recall was assessed after a long duration. For STM: Difference in recall between acoustically similar words and acoustically dissimilar words - codes acoustically. For LTM: Difference in recall between semantically similar words and semantically dissimilar words.- codes semantically.
-Challenging evidence: stores aren’t unitary. Research using dual task studies shows that the short term memory can complete two different tasks (visual and acoustic) at the same time which suggests it has subdivisions. Research also suggests that the LTM could be subdivided into different parts: Episodic, semantic and procedural. This challenges the multi store model of memory’s, assumption that all stores are unitary.
+ Practical application. Some ideas from the multi store model of memory can be used to help in education. For example, the idea of rehearsal to help a memory enter the long term memory can be used by students and teachers. It means students should revise by regularly rehearsing information. And teachers should regularly revisit topics to continue rehearsal. This shows that this model can be useful in the real world.
Outline & Evaluate the Working memory model of memory. (AO1)
It is a model for short term memory only, developed by Baddeley and Hitch.
It divides the short term memory into 4 to 8 subdivisions: a controller & slave systems. Each subdivision is specialised for a specific information and can only deal with one task at time. We can complete tasks using different types of information at the same time. This is the dual task technique.
The central executive is the supervisor of the short term store. It controls and directs attention, plans and makes decisions, passes info to components and can takeover from overloaded slave systems for brief periods: codes modality free & codes acoustically
Phonological loop- stores speech-based sound for brief periods. Codes acoustically, limited capacity. A) phonological Store (inner ear): briefly stores acoustically coded items B) articulatory control process (inner voice): sub vocal repetition of stored items.
Visuospatial sketch Pad- Sets up and manipulates mental images from visual and spatial information. Codes visually, limited capacity of four objects. A) Visual cache: object form and colour info. B) inner scribe: object arrangement info.
Episodic buffer. Temporary storage system allowing incoming info to be combined with long term memory info. Codes modality free, capacity limited to four chunks.
Outline & Evaluate the Working memory model of memory. (AO3)
+Supporting evidence: dual task studies
If a participant can complete a verbal and visual task at the same time, it supports the idea that the short term memory is subdivided. If they are unable to complete simultaneously two similar tasks, it shows that the capacity of each component is limited. For example, the study by Robbins et al. Showed that the phonological loop, visuospatial sketch Pad and Central Executive can deal with different tasks at the same time (&thus subdivided). However, they can’t deal with two tasks for period of time due to their limited capacity.
+supporting case study evidence - KF
suffered brain damage affecting STM. Struggle with tasks dealing with sounds but was able to compete visual tasks. If one component is damaged yet the others aren’t, it shows that each component is separate.
- Limitations of case study evidence: The use of brain damaged patients makes it hard to draw conclusions from these studies as the research is focused on abnormal brains. May not be able to generalise findings to the wider population who have normal brains.
- Central executive is oversimplified. Patient EVR had a cerebral tumours removed. He performed well on reasoning tasks, but poorly on everyday decision making - both of which require the central executive. This suggests that the central executive is not unitary. It is more complex than described by the working memory model.
Describe and evaluate types of long term memory. (AO1)
Tulving proposed three types of long term memory: episodic, semantic, and procedural.
Episodic memory, hippocampus - memories of personal experiences involving specific details, context and emotions. Declarative: require conscious effort to remember. eg- a first date
Semantic memory, temporal/frontal lobes - Memories of knowledge about the world that is shared with everyone (facts) rather than personal memories. Declarative: requires conscious effort to remember. eg- the currency of a country
Procedural memory, cerebellum/motor cortex - Knowing how to do things / memory of skills that become automatic. Implicit: Requires no conscious effort to recall. eg- how to ride a bike
Describe and evaluate types of long term memory. (AO3)
+ supporting evidence based on case studies of brain damage individuals that suggest that episodic memories and semantic memories are different. Vicari et al: Case study of an 8 year old girl who suffered brain damage following the removal of a tumour. Due to the location of the damage, she found it difficult to create new episodic memories, but was still able to make some semantic memories. This suggests that episodic and semantic memories are separate types of LTM and are associated with different parts of the brain.
-Problems with evidence: Evidence from brain damage. Small sample sizes, so hard to generalise, and conditions are often unique, so we can’t say typical brains function in the same way.
- Long term memory may not be heavily subdivided. Some researchers disagree with the idea that episodic and semantic memories are stored differently, as they don’t believe they are distinctive enough to be separate. Instead, they should be collectively known as declarative memories. This is a limitation as it suggests there may only be two types of long term memory, not 3.
+Practical application. A researcher found that older people with a mild cognitive impairment could be trained to improve episodic memory. Being able to identify different types of long term memory allows psychologists to have a positive impact on the lives of people with memory issues. It may also help people get back to work, which would have a positive effect on the economy.
Describe and evaluate interference as an explanation for forgetting. (AO1)
Interference is forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten.
It is an explanation for forgetting long term memories- interference between memories makes them hard to locate. Therefore we experience forgetting.
There are two types of interference, proactive and retroactive.
Proactive interference is when older memories disrupt the recall of newer memories. For example, a teacher has learnt so many names in the past that they have difficult remembering the names of their current class.
Retroactive interference is when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories. For example, a teacher learned so many new names this year they have difficulty remembering the names of their previous students.
Describe and evaluate interference as an explanation for forgetting. (AO3)
+ supporting evidence for retroactive interference: McGeoch & McDonald.
All participants learn list A (10 words), have a 10 minute break and then learn list B (different 10 words). Then they are asked to recall list A. Gr1: List A and B are similar (12% accurate). Gr2: List B comprised of nonsense syllables (26% accurate). Gr3: list B comprised of numbers (37% accurate). Or conditions experienced for getting and retroactive. Interference is strongest when content learned is very similar.
+ Supporting evidence for proactive interference: Underwood.
Meta analysis of research into interference. Found that if participants learned more than 10 lists, they could only recall 20% of the last list they learned after 24 hours. If they only learned one list, they could recall 70% of that list after 24 hours. This is evidence for proactive interference as each list makes it more difficult to learn subsequent lists. This gives us confidence that the conclusions drawn are valid.
- Supported by flawed evidence. Lab experiments require participants to learn and recall meaningless stimuli (word lists and nonsense syllables) over short periods of time. They therefore have low ecological validity, as this is not how interference occurs in real life.
Describe and evaluate retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting. (AO1)
Cue dependent forgetting is a theory as to why we can’t recall long term memories.
Internal cues (mood and state) & External cues (temperature and smell) can help facilitate recall of a long term memory. Forgetting is due to a lack of access to a memory, which occurs when the context and feelings of an individual are different when recalling than when learning.
Retrieval failure occurs when the necessary cues aren’t available, therefore we can’t access the memory.
A cue is a triggered information allowing us to access a memory. They can be meaningful links, context, or state cues.
Context dependent forgetting occurs when no external cues are present, whereas state dependent forgetting occurs when no internal cues are present.
The encoding specificity principle is the idea that if a cue is to help us recall information, it must be present at encoding and retrieval. If cues available at learning and retrieval are different, forgetting will occur. This means that cues must be encoded with memories.
Describe and evaluate retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting. (AO3)
+ Supporting evidence for context dependent cues: Godden and Baddeley. 1) Learn on land, recall on land. 2) Learn on land, recall underwater. 3) Learn underwater, recall on land, 4)Learn underwater, recall underwater. They found that. recall was 40% lower where the context of learning did not match. This means that the external cues available at the time of learning were not present at recall, which lead to retrieval failure.
- Not a complete explanation forgetting.
Retrieval cues did not always lead to successful recall. Studies concluding students who use mental reinstatement have improved recall. have generally used word list as a stimulus material and most exam material that must be recalled is much more complex and less easily triggered by single cues (room material is learnt in). This shows some forgetting can still occur even when encoded queues are available during recall. Therefore, retrieval failure due to absence of cues doesn’t explain much forgetting in real life.
+ Supporting evidence for state dependent cues: Goodwin et al.
Male participants asked to remember a list of words when they are either drunk or sober. (Drunk, defined as three times over the UK drink driving limit). Participants were asked to recall words 24 hours later whilst I either drunk or sober. Results: best recall was from participants who were sober in learning and recall, but the second best recall came from participants who were drunk during learning and recall. This shows that information learned is more available when in the same state during recall.
Describe and evaluate research into the influence of misleading information on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (AO1)
Misleading information is incorrect information given to an eye witness after an event. They include leading questions and post event discussions.
Leading questions are questions that suggests a certain answer because of the way it is phrased.
Loftus and Palmer 1974 investigated the effect of leading questions on immediate recall: Student participants were shown slides of a 2 car incident and were later asked questions. One critical question was “about how fast were the cars going when they contacted/hit/bumped/smashed into one another?” They found that the estimated speed was affected by the verb used: Smashed was an average of 41mph, contacted was an average of 32mph.
One week later, participants were asked whether they had seen broken glass - (none was present). 32% of the participants who experienced the verb “smash” in the question said yes, and 14% of those who experienced “hit” said yes.
In conclusion, misleading information can contaminate the memory of an event, so we may not be able to trust the recollection of eye witnesses.
Post event discussion is where witnesses may discuss what they have seen with Co-witnesses or other people which may influence the accuracy of each witness’s recall of the event.
Gabbert et al: Pairs of participants watch short film of a crime. Both participants thought they were watching the same film However, they were watching it from different perspectives. Participants then discuss what they had seen before being tested on their recall.
They found that 71% of participants incorrectly reported aspects of the crime that had not been seen in the film but had been mentioned in the discussion afterwards. This suggests that eye witnesses often go along with each other to gain social approval or because they think others are correct. This is known as memory conformity.
Describe and evaluate research into the influence of misleading information on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (AO3)
+ Use of lab experiments: highly controlled experiments so able to establish a cause and effect relationship, more ethical than field experiments as this would require a crime to be set up - this could be distressing for participants. Lab experiment enable insights into the impact of misleading info on EWT
- Use of lab experiments: low ecological validity due to exposure to an artificial environment. In lab experiments, participants know there are no consequences if they recall right or wrong, however in real life, eyewitnesses would feel more pressure as their testimony may put someone in prison.
This idea was shown in research that found if participants thought their responses would influence a trial, their identification of a perpetrator was more accurate than those who didn’t. This finding suggests that findings from lab experiments can’t be generalised to the wider population and that misleading information may have less of an impact on eyewitness testimony in real life. - Not all misleading info misleads to the same extent: Affects different witnesses (the elderly and children) more. Effect of misleading info limited to less important details: Central details (weapon, gender of perpetrator) are less likely to be altered by misleading info than peripheral details (whether or not there was broken glass). We cannot conclude whether misleading info consistently affects memory and thus eyewitness testimonies.
Describe and evaluate research into the influence of anxiety on eyewitness testimony (AO1)
Some psychological research has shown that anxiety may have a negative effect on memory, decreasing accuracy of eyewitness testimony. It has been suggested that this may be because of Weapon Focus; when directly threatened with a weapon, we exclusively focus on the detail of what is threatening us and ignore other peripheral factors.
Johnson and Scott conducted a laboratory experiment where participants in a high anxiety condition were exposed to loud voices, a smash and a perpetrator walking past with a knife and blood on their hands. When asked to identify the perpetrator later, there is an average correct rate of 33%. In the low anxiety condition, participants exposed to low level voices and a perpetrator walking past them holding a pen with grease on their hands. In this condition there was a 49% correct identification rate. This research therefore shows that anxiety has a negative effect on memory.
Other psychological research has demonstrated a different affect of anxiety - that of increasing eyewitness testimony. It has been argued that this could be due to evolution, as it would make survival sense to recall in great detail any events that have threatened our survival. This may explain why people recalled stressful and shocking events in great detail. Yuillie and Cutshall conducted a natural experiment using a real life robbery of a gunshop. They interviewed a number of witnesses and found that those were most who were most anxious at the time were those who were able to give the most accurate detail four months later. This clearly shows that anxiety does not always have a negative effect on memory but can in fact have a positive impact..
Describe and evaluate research into the influence of anxiety on eyewitness testimony (AO3)
- Lab experiment: All participants were aware that they were being tested. As a result, it is not possible to rule out demand characteristics. Perhaps participants had guessed the aim of the study and had altered their recollections to match what they thought the experimental wanted. It is also the case that such research is low in ecological validity. In such artificial circumstances, we may not be able to claim that anxiety affects eyewitness testimony in real life.
- Natural experiment: Many extraneous variables were not controlled for. For example, it may be the case that some of these witnesses engaged in post event discussion or exposed to leading questions which could have altered the accuracy of their regular recollections. And as such, we cannot be certain that it was only the higher anxiety that caused such a clear eyewitness testimony. In all cases it may be that will field of research is low in validity.
- Challenging evidence: The research has shown that it might not be anxiety that sex memory but surprise. A researcher conducted a study where participants were shown a perpetrator entering a hairdressers. This perpetrator was carrying an object either scissors (high threat low surprise), a whole chicken (low threat high surprise), a wallet (low threat low surprise), or a handgun (high threat high surprise). Later, all participants were asked to identify the perpetrator. It was found that the poorest recollection was in both high surprise conditions, certainly suggesting that it is not necessarily anxiety, but surprise that may affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. As a result, we conclude that research into anxiety and eyewitness testimony may be inaccurate, needs to focus less on anxiety and more in surprise.
Describe and evaluate the congnitive interview as a way of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (AO1)
The cognitive interview is a method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories. It
involves four main techniques that are used.
The first is encouraging the witness to report everything; they are encouraged to include every single detail of the event, even though it may seem irrelevant or the witness doesn’t feel confident about it. Seemingly trivial details may be important and, moreover, they may trigger other important memories.
The second is to enable the witnesses to reinstate the context. The witness should return to the original crime scene ‘in their mind’ and imagine the environment (such as what the weather was like), and what their emotions were like.
Another method is reversing the order. Events should be recalled in a different chronological order to the original sequence, for example, from the final point back to the beginning. This is done to prevent dishonesty as it is much harder for people to produce an untruthful account if they have to reverse it.
As well as this, witnesses should recall the incident from other people’s perspectives. For instance, what the event may have looked like in the eyes of another witness or to the criminal
themselves. This is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and schema on recall. The schema you have for a particular
setting generate expectations of what would have happened. The enhanced CI also includes ideas such as reducing anxiety, minimising distractions, getting the witness to speak slowly, and asking open-ended questions.
