Memory

Question 1

Coding

Answer 1

refers to the format or ‘type’ of information which is stored in each memory store. Coding is acoustic in short-term memory, and semantic in long-term memory, as demonstrated by Baddeley (1966), who found that more mistakes are made when recalling acoustically-similar words straight after learning them, whilst more mistakes are made when recalling semantically-similar words 20 minutes after learning them (LTM recall).

Question 2

Capacity

Answer 2

refers to the volume of information/data which can be kept in any memory store at any one time. For example, the capacity of STM is thought to be 7 +/- 2 items (Miller), whilst the capacity of LTM is unlimited. This is based on Miller’s idea that things come in groups of 7 (e.g. 7 days of the week), suggesting that we are predisposed to remembering this quantity and that such a ‘chunking’ method can help us recall information. Jacobs also demonstrated that the mean letter span was 7.3 and the mean digit span was 9.3 (i.e. the number of letters or digits we can recall after increasing intervals).

Question 3

Duration

Answer 3

refers to the amount of time that information can be stored in each memory store. The duration of STM is about18, as demonstrated by Petersen et al (1959), who found that increasing retention intervals decreased the accuracy of recall of consonant syllables in 24 undergraduates, when counting down from a 3 digit number (preventing mental rehearsal). The duration of LTM is unlimited, as shown by Bahrick et al (1975), who found that photo recognition of graduating classmates of the 396 participants decreased from 90% to 70% between 15 years and 46 years of graduating.

Question 4

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Multi store model

Answer 4

*-There are 3 stores: the sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory.
-The sensory register contains one sub-store for
each of the 5 senses e.g. an echoic store for
auditory information. Since it receives information
from our senses, the sensory register has a huge
capacity, but a duration of less than half a second. Therefore, information will only pass from the sensory register to the short-term memory store if we pay attention to it.
STM- has a duration of 18 seconds. capacity is 7±2 items, and is acoustically coded.
LTM is coded semantically. has an unlimited duration and capacity.

Question 5

Coding, duration and capacity of STM

Answer 5

• STM is described as being acoustically encoded (Baddeley), having a capacity of 7+/- 2 items
  (Miller) and a duration of 18-30 seconds (Petersen). Maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat
  the new information to ourselves, allowing the information to be kept in the STM. Prolonged
  maintenance rehearsal allows the information to pass into the LTM, whilst a lack of such rehearsal
  causes forgetting.

Question 6

Coding, duration and capacity of LTM

Answer 6

LTM is described as being semantically encoded, having an unlimited capacity and a very long
duration (over 46 years, as shown by Bahrick et al). In order to remember information, ‘retrieval’
must occur, which is when information is transferred back into the STM, and will continue to pass
through the maintenance loop afterwards.

Question 7

Types of LTM: Episodic

Answer 7

Refers to our ability to recall events (episodes) in our lives and consists of memories such as our thoughts or experiences we have had and our personal recollections of them. These memories have some kind of personal meaning to us, alongside details as to when and how these events occurred, as well as the associated people and places. An example would be the memory of a wedding or the first time meeting a partner.
You have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories.

Question 8

Types of LTM: Semantic

Answer 8

Contains knowledge, facts, concepts and meanings the individual has learnt e.g. the capital of France is Paris. Semantic memory may also relate to how certain objects work, their functions, appropriate behaviour in situations or abstract concepts such as language or mathematics. These are not time-stamped and are typically not personal to us.

Question 9

Types of LTM: Procedural

Answer 9

This is our memory for actions, skills, or basically how we do things. Procedural memories are usually learnt through repetition and practice and do not require conscious thought.

Question 10

The working memory model

Answer 10

Is an explanation of how STM is organised and how it functions. The working memory model replaced the idea of a unitary Short-term memory store (STM) and suggested a system involving multiple stores consisting of active processing and short-term storage of information. The WMM suggests that STM is made up of the central executive, the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad and the episodic buffer

Question 11

WMM: The central executive

Answer 11

The main component and coordinates the other “slave systems” and ensures they don’t go astray. This has a very limited processing capacity.

Question 12

WMM: The phonological loop

Answer 12

Acts like the “Inner ear” and processes auditory information so is coded acoustically.
The capacity is believed to be about 2 seconds.
The PL is divided into:
-Phonological store stores the words you hear.
-Articulatory process acts as the “Inner Voice” linked to speech production and is used to rehearse and store verbal information from the phonological store through maintenance rehearsal.

Question 13

WMM: The visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 13

Processes visual information through the senses (eyes) or long-term memory on what things look like, patterns of recognition and spatial information. This has a limited capacity of about three or four objects (Baddeley).
Logie (1995) suggested the VSS could be further subdivided into:
-Visual cache which stores visual material on colour and form
-Inner scribe which deals with spatial relationships, rehearsal and the transfer of information from the visual cache to the central executive.

Question 14

WMM: The Episodic Buffer

Answer 14

Integrates all types of data processed by the other stores and so is described as the storage component of the central executive, as well as being crucial for linking STM to LTM. The episodic buffer has a limited capacity of about 4 chunks and also maintains time-sequencing recording events as they happen and transferring this information into long-term memory.

Question 15

Explanations for forgetting: Interference

Answer 15

Interference occurs when the recall of one memory blocks the recall of another, causing forgetting or
distorted perceptions of these memories.
Proactive interference occurs when an older memory interferes with a new one
Retroactive interference occurs when a newer memory interferes with an old one.

Question 16

Research on similarity: interference

Answer 16

In both PI and RI, interference is worse when words are similar.
Mcgeoch and Mcdonald studied RETROACTIVE interference by changing the amount of similarity between two sets of material. Participants had to learn a set of 10 words until they could remember them all with 100% accuracy. They then learned a new list. there were six groups of participants who had to learn different types of new lists:
group 1=synonyms to the originals
group 2=antonyms to the originals
group 3=words unrelated to the original ones
group 4=consonant syllables
group 5= three-digit numbers
group 6=no new list-they just rested (the control group
When the participants were asked to recall the original list of words, the synonyms produced the worst recall, which shows that recall is worse when words are similar.

Question 17

Explanations for forgetting: retrieval failure

Answer 17

Cues act as markers to aid recall and without these, the mind is unable to locate the correct memory. Retrieval failure suggests that forgetting occurs when the ‘cues’ (triggers of information recollection) present at the time of encoding the information are not present at the time of recall. This describes Tulving’s ‘encoding specificity principle’ (ESP).
* Context-dependent forgetting occurs when our external cues at the time of encoding do not match
those present at recall (eg location). This was demonstrated by Godden and Baddeley (1975) who found that with deep-water divers, recall at the ‘matching’ conditions (e.g. word list learnt underwater and recalled underwater) was significantly larger than the non-matching conditions. Therefore, there were 4 conditions in total, involving underwater and on-land encoding and recall.
* State-dependent forgetting occurs when our internal cues at the time of encoding do not match
those present at recall. This was demonstrated by Carter and Cassaday (1998), who gave anti-histamines instead to change the internal cue at the time of encoding and recall ( drowsy). The researchers found 40% higher rates of accurate recall in the matching conditions, compared to the non-matching conditions.

Question 18

Factors affecting EWT: Misleading information
Loftus and Palmer leading questions

Answer 18

In the Loftus and Palmer study, 45 students were shown several films of road traffic incidents and then given a questionnaire to describe the accident and answer a series of questions about their observation. One critical question varied between conditions with one group asked how fast the vehicles were going when they “hit” each other while other groups had verbs implying different degrees of a collision such as “bumped, smashed, contacted, collided”.Results found the words that implied a stronger collision resulted in greater average estimates of speeds from participants.
Those exposed to “smashed” gave the highest estimates (41mph) while “contacted” resulted in the lowest speed estimate (30mph), demonstrating how leading questions could influence memory recall.
The experiment was recreated with another group with the verbs “smashed” and “hit” while a control group was not exposed to such leading questions. They were questioned 1 week later and asked a series of questions with one critical question being whether they witnessed any broken glass.
There was no broken glass in the film however results found that those who were exposed to the “smashed” condition and thus led to believe the car was travelling faster were more likely to report seeing broken glass with the control group being the least likely.

Question 19

Factors affecting EWT: Misleading info
Gabbert et al Post event discussion

Answer 19

Gabbert et al (2003) conducted a study where participants were paired up and each partner watched a different POV video of the same event so that they had each viewed unique items. Pairs in one condition were encouraged to discuss the event before each partner recalled the event they watched.
The results found that 71% of witnesses who had discussed the event went on to mistakenly recall items acquired during their discussion, compared to the 0% control group rate who had worked alone throughout.
Post-event discussions also demonstrate the idea of ‘memory conformity’, where we are more likely to pick up upon incorrect ideas or details because we believe that we are wrong and the other person is right.

Question 20

Anxiety has a negative effect on EWT
Johnson and Scott weapon focus effect

Answer 20

Participants believed they were taking part in a lab study and were told to sit in a waiting room.
The high-anxiety condition overheard a heated argument in the neighbouring room, with the sound of smashing glass and a man walking through the waiting room with a bloody paper knife, as opposed to a greasy pen in the low-anxiety condition. When asked to identify the man, participants in the high-anxiety condition experienced 16% lower rates of accurate recall, compared to the low-anxiety condition. (49% recall with pen, 33% with knife).This may be explained by the tunnel theory of memory and the weapon focus effect, where our attention is drawn towards the weapon as a source of anxiety.

Question 21

Anxiety has a positive effect on EWT
Yuille and Cutshaw Canada shooting

Answer 21

They followed up 13 eyewitnesses, 5 months after a real-life shooting at a shop in Canada.
The researchers found that eyewitness accuracy was still high after this period, with an 11% higher
accuracy of recall for those eyewitnesses who ranked their anxiety as ‘high’ (compared to ‘low’) at
the time of the shooting and using a 7-point anxiety scale ( Most stressed had 88% accurate recall, lower stressed had 75% accurate recall). There were, however, small discrepancies overestimates of height, weight and clothing. This supports the idea that heightened anxiety draws our attention to external cues through the ‘fight or flight’ response, where such attention may have given us an evolutionary advantage by increasing our chances of escaping and survival.

Question 22

Optimal level of anxiety for EWT
Yerkes-Dodson law

Answer 22

Deffenbacher reviewed 21 studies of EWT and noted contradictory findings on the effects of anxiety. He found the stress-performance relationship followed an inverted U as proposed by the Yerkes-Dodson Curve. this was because when we witness a crime we become emotionally and physiologically aroused. This means that the efficiency of eyewitness testimony depended on the level of stress/anxiety with low and high amounts of anxiety resulting in poorer recall while moderate levels of anxiety yielded the best and most optimum level of recall and performance.

Question 23

Improving the accuracy of EWT
The cognitive interview

Answer 23

Fisher and Gieselman recommended four techniques (The cognitive) to help improve the accuracy of recall in witnesses.
Report everything-Witnesses are encouraged to recall every single detail of the event, even if it seems insignificant.
Reinstate the context-Witnesses should return to the crime scene in ‘their mind’ and imagine the environment and emotions.
Reverse the order-Events should be recalled in a different order from the original. This is done to prevent people from reporting their expectations of how it must have happened, rather than what actually happened.
Change perspective-Witnesses should recall the event from a different POV to help disrupt the expectations of the crime

Question 24

The enhanced cognitve interview (ECI)

Answer 24

Fisher et al developed some more elements of the CI to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction.
The interviewer needs to know when to make eye contact and break it.
Minimise distractions.
Minimise anxiety
Witness should speak slowly
Ask open-ended questions

Question 25

MSM is oversimplistic

Answer 25

The multi-store memory model can be argued to be oversimplifying memory structures and processes.For example, Shallice and Warrington found that their amnesiac patient KF had poor STM recall for auditory stimuli, but increasingly accurate recall for visual stimuli. This, alongside KF being able to differentiate and recall both verbal and non-verbal sounds highlight how short-term memory is not a single store as the MSM suggests.

Question 26

Research support to show LTM and STM are different

Answer 26

The MSM acknowledges the qualitative differences between STM and LTM by representing them as
separate stores. For example, STM is encoded acoustically, whilst LTM is encoded semantically and has a much longer duration. Therefore, the MSM portrays an accurate view of the differences between the two types of memory, as supported by Baddeley, who found that we mix up similar-sounding words in STM but mix up similar-meaning words in LTM.

Question 27

MSM:Prolonged rehearsal is not needed for LTM transfer

Answer 27

The MSM suggests that the amount of maintenance rehearsal determines the likelihood that the information will pass into the LTM, whereas Craik and Watkins (1973) suggest that it is the type of rehearsal which is more important. They suggest that elaborative rehearsal, instead of prolonged rehearsal is needed to transfer information from the STM into the LTM, by making links with existing knowledge. This suggests that the MSM does not fully explain how LTM storage is achieved

Question 28

Case studies to support types of LTM

Answer 28

The case of Clive Wearing shows how one type of LTM may be impaired (episodic in their cases), but the other types of LTM will be unaffected (i.e. procedural and semantic). For example, Clive Wearing was still able to skilfully play the piano and understand the concept of music (procedural and semantic) but was unable to remember his wife visiting him 5 minutes previously
(episodic). This gives strong support to the idea that different areas of the brain are involved in the different types of LTM and confirms the classification of different types of LTM as separate (one store can be damaged and the others remain intact).

However case studies are not representative and cannot be generalised.

Question 29

Conflicting neuroimaging evidence for types of LTM

Answer 29

Conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas in the brain. For example, Buckner and Peterson reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory. They concluded that semantic memory is located on the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic on the right. however, other research links the left prefrontal cortex with encoding of episodic memories and the right prefrontal cortex with episodic retrieval (Tulving). This challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory s there is poor agreement on where each type may be located.

Question 30

Clinical evidence for the WMM

Answer 30

Shallice and Warrington’s study of KF
provides support for the WMM because their findings show that KF had very poor STM recall for auditory stimuli, but increased STM recall for visual stimuli. This is because KF’s phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad remained intact. This suggests that the components of memory which process auditory and visual stimuli are separate

Question 31

Research studies to support WMM

Answer 31

Studies of dual-task performance by Baddely, where each participant must undertake a visual and verbal task
simultaneously, shows decreased performance for such tasks and so supports the idea that central executive has a very limited processing capacity (as predicted by the WMM) and the slave systems are in competition with each other for these tasks and resources.

Question 32

Lack of clarity over Central Executive

Answer 32

The central executive has not been precisely defined. For example, the term ‘process’ is vague, and the central
Executive may be made up of several sub-components or even be part of a larger component itself in working
memory. This lack of a comprehensive explanation for each component of WMM draws doubts about the accuracy of its depiction of working memory.

Question 33

Interference replicated many times.

Answer 33

Interference has been consistently demonstrated in several studies, but particularly in lab experiments. This increases the validity of the theory, due to the use of highly-controlled conditions in lab experiments, and standardised instructions alongside the removal of the biasing effects of extraneous and confounding variables.

Question 34

Real-world evidence of interference

Answer 34

Evidence of interference effects in more everyday situations. Baddely and Hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of teams they had played against during a rugby season. The players all played over the same time interval but the number of intervening games varied because some players missed matches. Players who played the most games had the poorest recall due to the most interference. This study shows that interference can operate in at least some real-world situations, increasing the validity of the theory.

Question 35

Interference can be overcome with cues (WEAKNESS)

Answer 35

A limitation is that interference is temporary and can be overcome with cues. Tulving and Ptoska gave participants lists of words organised into categories, one list at a time. Recall averaged at about 70% for the first list, but became worse as participants learned each list.. At the end of the procedure, the participants were given a cued recall test- they were told the names of the categories. recall then rose again to 70%. This shows that interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material still in the LTM, a finding not predicted by the interference theory.

Question 36

Artificial stimuli in interference research

Answer 36

The artificial stimuli used in these tasks, such as learning lists of random words with no personal meaning to the participants, means that the findings of interference studies are likely to have low mundane realism. This is because, in real life, we are likely to learn lists of meaningful information, such as revision topics for psychology, which we draw links upon and also which have personal meaning to us. These factors may also influence the extent of forgetting, rather than influence.

Question 37

Research support for retrieval failure

Answer 37

A strength is the impressive range of research that supports the retrieval failure explanation. The studies by Godden and Baddeley and Carter and Cassaday are just two examples because they show that a lack of relevant cues at recall can lead to context-dependent and state-dependent forgetting in everyday life. Memory researchers Michael Eysenck and Mark Keane (2010) argue that retrieval failure is perhaps the main reason for forgetting from LTM. This evidence shows that retrieval failure occurs in real-world situations as well as in the highly controlled conditions of the lab.

Question 38

Real-world application for retrieval failure

Answer 38

One strength is that retrieval cues can help to overcome some forgetting in everyday situations. Although cues may not have a very strong effect on forgetting, Baddeley suggests they are still worth paying attention to. For instance, we have probably all had the experience of being in one room and thinking ‘1 must go and get such-and-such item from another room. You go to the other room only to forget what it was you wanted. But the moment you go back to the first room, you remember again. When we have trouble remembering something, it is probably worth making the effort to recall the environment in which you learned it first. This shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in the real world to improve our recall.

Question 39

Context effects may depend on type of memory tested
Retrieval failure WEAKNESS

Answer 39

One limitation is that context effects may depend substantially on the trpe of memory being tested. Godden and Baddeley (1980) replicated their underwater experiment but used a recognition test instead of recall - participants had to say whether they recognised a word read to them from a list, instead of retrieving it for themselves. When recognition was tested there was no context-dependent effect, performance was the same in all four conditions. This suggests that retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person has to recall information rather than recognise it.

Question 40

Real-world application for misleading information

Answer 40

It has important practical uses in the CJS. the consequence of inaccurate EWT can be very serious. Loftus believes that leading questions can have such a distorting effect on memory that police officers need to be careful about how they phrase their questions when interviewing eyewitnesses. Psychologists are often asked to act as expert witnesses in court trials and explain the limits of EWTs to juries. This shows how psychologists can help to improve the way the legal system works, especially by protecting innocent people from faulty convictions based on unreliable EWTs.

Question 41

Same type of targets used in Misleading question research (WEAKNESS)

Answer 41

A key methodological criticism for studies of EWT is that they often use the same, young target to identify. This, as argued by Anastasi and Rhodes, may be affected by own age bias, which describes the tendency to recall others from your own age group with a high degree of accuracy, with a lower accuracy rate for those from other age groups. This means that participants aged 55-78 years may be inaccurately represented as having a lower accuracy of EWT, due to the frequent use of young
targets.

Question 42

Evidence challenging the memory conformity explanation of misleading info

Answer 42

A limitation of the memory conformity explanation is evidence that post-event discussion actually alters EWT. Skagerberg and Wright showed their participants film clips, with two different variations. Participants discussed the clips in pairs, each having seen the different versions. They often did not report what they had seen in the clips or what they had heard from the co-witness, but a blend of both. This suggests that memory itself is distorted through contamination by misleading post-event discussions, rather than the result of memory conformity.

Question 43

Support for negative effects of anxiety on EWT

Answer 43

One strength is evidence supporting the view that anxiety has a negative effect on the accuracy of recall.
The study by Valentine and Mesout supports the research on weapon focus, finding negative effects on recall. The researchers used an objective measure (heart rate) to divide participants into high- and low-anxiety groups. In this study anxiety clearly disrupted the participants’ ability to recall details about the actor in the London Dungeon’s Labyrinth.
This suggests that a high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on the immediate eyewitness recall of a stressful event

Question 44

Support for positive effects of anxiety on EWT

Answer 44

A strength is evidence showing that anxiety can have positive effects on the accuracy of recall.
Christianson and Hübinette interviewed 58 witnesses to actual bank robberies in Sweden. Some of the witnesses were directly involved (e.g. bank workers) and some were indirectly involved (e.g. bystanders). The researchers assumed that those directly involved would experience the most anxiety. It was found that recall was more than 75% accurate across all witnesses. The direct victims (most anxious)were even more accurate.
These findings from actual crimes confirm that anxiety does not reduce the accuracy of recall for eyewitnesses and may even enhance it.

Question 45

Lack of internal validity of Johnson and Scott

Answer 45

One limitation of the study by Johnson and Scott is that it may not have tested anxiety.
The reason participants focused on the weapon may be because they were surprised at what they saw rather than scared. Pickel conducted an experiment using scissors, a handgun, a wallet or a raw chicken as the hand-held items in a hairdressing salon video (where scissors would be high anxiety, low unusualness). Eyewitness accuracy was significantly poorer in the high unusualness conditions (chicken and handgun).
This suggests that the weapon focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety/threat and therefore tells us nothing specifically about the effects of anxiety on EWT.

Question 46

Support for the effectiveness of the CI

Answer 46

One strength of the cognitive interview is evidence that it works.
For example, a meta-analysis by Köhnken et al.
combined data from 55 studies comparing the Cl (and the ECI) with the standard police interview. The Cl gave an average 41% increase in accurate information compared with the standard interview. Only four studies in the analysis showed no difference between the types of interviews.
This shows that the Cl is an effective technique in helping witnesses to recall information that is stored in memory (available) but not immediately accessible.

Question 47

Not all parts of the CI are equally useful

Answer 47

One limitation of the original Cl is that not all of its elements are equally effective or useful.
Milne and Bull found that each of the four techniques used alone produced more information than the standard police interview. But they also found that using a combination of reporting everything and reinstating the context produced better recall than any of the other elements or combination of them. This confirmed police officers’ suspicions that some aspects of the Cl are more useful than others.
This casts some doubt on the credibility of the overall cognitive interview.

Question 48

The CI is time consuming

Answer 48

A limitation is that police officers may be reluctant to use the CI because it takes more time and training than the standard police interview.
For example, more time is needed to establish rapport with a witness and allow them to relax. The CI also requires special training and many forces do not have the resources to provide more than a few hours (Kebbell and Wagstaff 1997).
This suggests that the complete Cl as it exists is not a realistic method for police officers to use and (as in the point above) It might be better to focus on just a few key elements.