memory Flashcards
processes of memory
encoding, storage and retrieval
encoding
taking information into memory and changing it into a form that can be stored
storage
holding information in the memory system
retrieval
recovering information from storage
different ways of encoding written information
- visually: taking the information in and changing it into pictures
- acoustically: taking the information in and changing it into sounds, for example repeating words to learn what they sound like
- semantically: turning the information into something that you understand
types of memory
episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory
episodic memory
unique memories which are concerned with personal experiences or events
procedural memory
our memory for carrying out complex skills
semantic memory
memories which are concerned with general knowledge rather than personal experience
the two theories of memory
multi-store model
reconstructive memory
the multi-store model
sensory store:
coding- the same way in which it is received from the senses
capacity- very limited
duration- around 0.5 seconds
short-term store:
coding- usually acoustic
capacity- +-7 items
duration: 18 to 30 seconds
long-term store:
coding- usually semantic
capacity- unlimited
duration- unlimited
what is the multi-store model
the theory of memory that suggests information passes through a series of memory stores
evaluation of the multi-store model
+ It can provide practical ideas for how to remember things more effectively. For example, we need to pay attention when our teacher is talking to us because information is only passed from sensory to short-term memory if we pay attention to it.
+ The evidence supports the idea of STM and LTM being separate types of memory and it has been verified through the use of PET scans and FMRI scans when participants have been doing separate tasks related to short-term memory and long-term.
- The multi-store model has been criticised for being oversimplified. For example, it states we have one single long-term memory store. However, other research evidence has shown that there are several
types of long-term memory; procedural, episodic and semantic - although some information might be rehearsed many times, it might not be moved to the long term store, the MSM does not explain this
- the theory cannot explain why some memories are distorted. this is explained by reconstructive memory
primacy effect
more of the first information received is recalled than subsequent later information
recency effect
more of the information received later is recalled than earlier information
serial position effect
the chances of recalling any item depends on its position in the list
serial position curve
the name given to the graph that displays the results of a serial position experiment
murdock’s serial position curve study aim
to see how the recall of lists of words relates to the serial position curve
murdock’s study design
a laboratory study in which there was control of possible extraneous variables. all procedures were standardised to ensure that the study could be replicated easily. the participants were male and female psychology students. it was part of their course requirement to take part in psychological research
murdock’s method
16 participants were presented with a list of 20 words at the rate of 1 word per second. once they had heard all 20 words, they were asked to recall as many words from the list as they could remember, in any order. this is called free-recall. they were given 90 seconds to recall the words. the test was repeated with the same participants 80 times over a few days. a different list of 20 words was used each time
murdock’s results
the words at the end of the list were recalled first (recency effect). words from the beginning of the list were also recalled quite well (primacy effect), but the words in the middle of the list were not recalled very well at all. murdock displayed his results in a graph called a serial position curve/
murdock’s conclusion
- Words recalled at the beginning of the list had time to be rehearsed and had been transferred to the long-term memory store ready for recall
- Words recalled at the end of the list were seen to still be in the short-term memory store so they were readily available for recall
- The words in the middle were not recalled as well as they had been stored in neither the short-term or long-term store.
- he concluded that this provided strong evidence for the multi-store model of memory and short-term and long-term memory stores being separate from one another.
evaluation of murdock’s study
+ a variation of the study, with a distraction task (not recalling straight away) demonstrated the same points
+ the study was repeated with a different amount of words and a varied presentation time, yet the results still produced primacy and recency effects
- participants were uni students, they don’t represent other age groups so we cannot be sure if we can generalize these results to the whole population
- low ecological validity, the task (unrelated words in a list) and the environment (laboratory) do not represent daily life.
- the participants know that they are being studied so they might not act naturally (might try harder than they normally do)
reconstructive memory
altering our recollection of things so that they make sense to us, even though we think we are remembering exactly what happened. theory that memory is an active process and not a copy of facts.
effort after meaning
making sense of something unfamiliar after it has happened
evaluation of the theory of reconstructive memory
+ useful in explaining why eyewitnesses are unreliable. their memory might be inaccurate because they try to make sense of what they saw/heard in the crime/accident
+ the theory can explain why 2 people recalling the same event might give different information. they are not telling lies, but their memory is reconstructed based on their own attempt to make sense of the situation
- the theory proposes that memory is reconstructed and therefore changed, there are cases where emotional events are remembered accurately, without being reconstructed
- It does not help us to understand why some memories are not actively reconstructed and are
remembered accurately.
bartlett’s ‘war of the ghosts’ study aim
to see if people, when given an unfamiliar study to remember, would alter the information so that it makes sense to them
bartlett’s study design
laboratory study in which there was some control of possible extraneous variables. all procedures were standardised to ensure the study could be replicated easily. the participants were undergraduate students studying English at Cambridge University
bartlett’s study method
each participant was asked to read a story called ‘War of the ghosts’, which is a native american folk tale. they were told to read the passage twice through to themselves, at their normal reading pace. about 15 minutes later, they were asked to retell the story to another person. that person then had to retell the story to another person, and so on, like a game of ‘chinese whispers’. a record was made of the story that each person reported, allowing bartlett to know what the changes were from one person to the next
bartlett’s study results
after the story was passed on ten times:
the story had gone from 330 words to 150 words. all mention of ghosts disappeared despite the title being emphasised by bartlett to the first participant. unfamiliar words were changed into familiar ones. despite the complex nature of the story, the final version of it was a clear story of a fight and death
bartlett’s study conclusion
bartlett concluded that our memory is not an exact copy of what we hear. it it distorted by what we already know about the world. therefore, our memory is influenced by our own beliefs and stereotypes
evaluation of bartlett’s study
+ the way participants were tested was relatively meaningful. they were not given a random list of words like other studies, which does not represent memory in real life
+ there are other studies with similar results which support it (study with white man with weapon arguing with black man shown to white participants)
- the story was completely unfamiliar and meaningless to people from a different culture as it was a native american folk tale, therefore it has low ecological validity
- bartlett had to score each person’s responses. scoring text material is difficult to do in an object way
- the participants were all british students from cambridge, they don’t represent the general population
factors affecting the accuracy of memory
- interference
- context
- false memories
interference
the difficulty in recalling information when other memories get in the way
- information we have recently learnt hinders our ability to recall information we have previously learnt
- information we have already learnt hinders our ability to take in new information
interference study
participants are split into two groups. the first group is given a list of words to learn, followed by a second list of words to learn. the second group is given only the first list of words to learn. both groups of participants are asked to recall the words from the first list. the recall of the first group is usually much lower than the recall of the second group. this is because the second list acts as interference
context
the general setting or environment where activities happen
context study
a study on context used sea divers as participants who were asked to learn a list of words. the participants were split into two groups. one group learned and recalled the list of words on land (same context) and the other group learned the list underwater and recalled it on land (different context). the recall of words was higher when the learning and recalling took place in the same context
false memories
remembering something that has never happened
false memories study
in one study participants were questioned about their childhood. the researched used information from their parents to describe some true events, as well a false event about getting lost in a shopping centre. 25% of participants believed that they had actually been lost and could even give some details about what happened while they were ‘lost’
