Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

AI A LEVEL PSYCH > Memory > Flashcards

Memory Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

What is memory

A
  • process of retaining learned information
  • accessing information when needed
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are the processes in memory (3)

A
  • coding
  • storage
  • retrieval
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is coding

A
  • the way information is changed so it can be stored in memory
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is storage

A
  • keeping information within the memory system until it is needed
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is retrieval

A
  • recovering information stored in memory system when it is required
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are the different memory stores (3)

A
  • sensory register (SR)
  • short term memory (STM)
  • long term memory (LTM)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the sensory register (SR)

A
  • contains unprocessed impressions of information received through senses
  • has separate stores for each sensory input
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are the different stores within the sensory register and what are they for (5)

A
  • iconic store
    => for visual information
  • echoic store
    => for auditory information
  • haptic store
    => for physical senses of touch and internal muscle tensions
  • gustatory store
    => for taste information
  • olfactory store
    => for information related to smell
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is the short term memory

A
  • temporary store for information received from sensory register
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is the long term memory

A
  • permanent store for information from short term memory
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What factors cause differences between the STM and the LTM (3)

A
  • coding
  • capacity
  • duration
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

How is information coded in the sensory register

A
  • coding is modality specific
  • means each sensory store is coded differently
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

How is information in the short term memory coded and who researched into this

A
  • Baddeley (1966)
  • gave participants 4 lists of words
  • list A sounded similar, B sounded dissimilar, C had similar meaning, D had dissimilar meanings
  • found participants recalled B better than A
  • STM is thus coded acoustically
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How is information in the long term memory coded and who researched into this

A
  • Baddeley (1966)
  • similar to test for stm but had a 20m delay to ensure it was passed to LTM
  • found participants recalled D better than list C
  • LTM is thus coded semantically
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How would Baddeley (1966) be evaluated (positive and negative)

A
  • was a lab study
  • easy to replicate as variables have been controlled
  • high reliability
  • findings have low ecological validity
  • lists were seen as artificial
  • setting was also seen as artificial
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is the capacity of the sensory register

A
  • unlimited
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is the capacity of the short term memory and who researched into this

A
  • Jacobs (1887) digit span test
  • gave participants several sequences of digits or letters and asked them to repeat in order
  • sequence got longer each time
  • found on average we can hold 9.3 digits and 7.3 letters
  • Miller (1956) reviewed researched studies and concluded span of STM is 7 (+/-)2
  • new information displaces old information
  • easier to remember through chunking
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

How can the research into the capacity of the short term memory by Jacobs (1887) be evaluated

A
  • first to acknowledge STM capacity gradually improves with age
  • study conducted long time ago
  • may not have been done to same scientific standard as of today
  • validity and findings can be questioned
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What is the capacity of the long term memory

A
  • unlimited
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What is the duration of the sensory register

A
  • 250 milliseconds
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is the duration of the short term memory and who researched into this

A
  • Peterson and Peterson (1959) used nonsense trigrams
  • asked participants to count backwards from 100 in 3s to prevent maintenance rehearsal of trigrams and storing in STM
  • after 3 seconds, recall was 90%
  • after 9 seconds, recall was 20%
  • after 18 seconds, recall was 2%
  • concluded information lasts for 18-30 seconds in STM before it is lost due to decay
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

How would the study into the duration of the STM by Peterson and Peterson (1959) be evaluated

A
  • researched used fixed timings
  • elimated noise and other factors
  • high control using standardised procedures
  • findings could have be caused by interference from previous trigrams instead of short duration
  • lists lack meaning => lack ecological validity
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What is the duration of the long term memory and who researched into this

A
  • Bahrick (1979) tested 400 participants (17-74 yo)
  • photo recognition test showing 50 photos and deciding if they were in their class or not
  • in free recall test, participants asked to list names they could remember from graduating class
  • 90% accuracy within 15 years and 70% after 48 for photo recognition
  • 60% accuracy within 15 years and 30% after 48 for free recall
  • concluded duration of LTM is a lifetime but retrieval failure occurs and we need retrieval cues
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

How would the study into the duration of the LTM by Backrick (1979) be evaluated

A
  • high ecological validity
  • material more useful than that of Peterson and Peterson (1959)
  • problematic to control for extraneous variables
  • people may have stayed in touch or looked at yearbook after leaving
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What is the multi store model of memory (MSM)

A
  • developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
  • explains how information flows from one memory store to another
  • three structures; SR, STM, LTM
  • each structure differs; capacity, duration, coding
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

How does the multi store model of memory look like

A
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

How is the sensory register said to be in the multi store model of memory

A
  • environmental stimuli received through senses enter SR
  • short duration store retaining unprocessed impressions of information received through senses
  • has separate sensory store for each sensory input
  • capacity is unlimited
  • duration is 250 milliseconds
  • fraction of information is attended to and sent to STM, rest is lost to decay
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

How is the short term memory said to be in the multi store model of memory

A
  • information in SR attended to is acoustically coded into STM
  • information may be recalled and then forgotten before transferred to LTM
  • capacity of 7 (+/-) 2
  • new information displaces old information
  • duration of 18-30 seconds, old information decays
  • information is kept in STM through maintenance rehearsal
  • information is sent to LTM through elaborative rehearsal
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

How is the long term memory said to be in the multi store model of memory

A
  • semantically coded
  • potentially infinite capacity
  • potentially lifetime duration
  • information can be retrieved by STM and then recalled
  • sometimes information cannot be accessed due to retrieval failure so retrieval cues are necessary
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

What are positive evaluation points for the multi store model of memory (3)

A
  • Scoville (1957)
  • Shallice and Warrington (1970)
  • Murdock (1962)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

How is Scoville (1957) an example of a positive evaluation point for the multi store model of memory

A
  • patient HM epileptic
  • attempted to treat epilepsy by removing brain areas, including hippocampus
  • results in HM being unable to code new LTM although is STM was unaffected
  • supports idea of separate and distinct STM and LTM
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

How is Shallice and Warrington (1970) an example of a positive evaluation point for the multi store model of memory

A
  • patient KF motorbike accident
  • reduced STM of 1-2 digits but LTM normal
  • supports separate STM and LTM
  • however, KF had good STM for visual tasks but not verbal tasks
  • suggests more than one type of STM, contradicting multi store model
  • also, according to MSM, LTM are retrieved by STM, so if STM is damaged then should be difficult to retrieve LTM however KF could access without difficulty
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

How is Murdock (1962) an example of a positive evaluation point for the multi store model of memory

A
  • presented participants with long list of words to be recalled in any order (free recall experiment)
  • words are beginning and end recalled better due to serial position effect
  • words at beginning transferred to LTM due to rehearsal (primacy effect)
  • words at end are still in STM (recency effect)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

What are negative evaluation points for the multi store model of memory (2)

A
  • oversimplified
  • Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

How is oversimplification an example of a negative evaluation point for the multi store model of memory

A
  • assumes there is only one type of STM and one LTM
  • research shows several types of STM, such as different ones for verbal information and non-verbal information
  • researcher also shows several types of LTM, such as episodic, semantic and procedural memory
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

How is Baddeley and Hitch (1974) an example of a negative evaluation point for the multi store model of memory

A
  • could not explain ability to multi task
  • if there is only one type of STM, multi tasking would not be possible
  • however many people are able to multi task
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

What is the working memory model

A
  • Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
  • questioned idea promoted by MSM that people only have one type of STM
  • also argued STM is more complex than just being a temporary store
  • saw STM as active store holding several pieces of information
  • argued LTM is passive store
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

What are the different components of the working memory model (4)

A
  • central executive
  • phonological loop
  • visuo-spatial sketchpad
  • episodic buffer
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

What is the central executive

A
  • drives whole working memory, and allocates data to other components (slave systems)
  • deals with cognitive tasks; mental arithmetic, reasoning and problem solving
  • individuals have limited attentional capacity, tasks that are automated make less attentional demands on the central executive and so leave us free to perform other tasks
  • e.g. person who has been driving for 10 years finds driving becomes an automated task and does not make as many attentional demands so can talk or do other tasks with more ease than a learner driver
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

What is the phonological loop

A
  • component dealing with spoken and written material
  • two sub components; phonological store and articulatory loop
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

What is the phonological store

A
  • inner ear
  • linked to speech perception
  • holds information in speech based form for 1-2 seconds
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

What is the articulatory loop

A
  • inner voice
  • linked to speech production
  • used to rehearse and store verbal information from phonological store
  • allows for maintenance rehearsal
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad

A
  • stores and processes information in a visual or spatial form
  • used for navigation
  • inner eye
  • two sub components; visual cache and inner scribe
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

What is the visual cache

A
  • stores visual material about form and colour
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

What is the inner scribe

A
  • handles spatial relationships
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

What is the episodic buffer

A
  • Baddeley (2000) added another component
  • realised model needed general storage component to operate properly
  • this is because slave systems only deal with processing and temporary storage of specific types of information and CE has no storage capacity at all
  • limited capacity store, integrating information from STM components and LTM
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

What are positive evaluation points for the working memory model (4)

A
  • Shallice and Warrington (1970)
  • Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
  • Baddeley et al. (1975)
  • practical applications
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

How is Shallice and Warrington (1970) an example of a positive evaluation point for the working memory model

A
  • patient KF, motorbike accident
  • poor STM for verbal but not visual words
  • suggests more than one type of STM
  • shows we have a type of STM for verbal tasks and another for visual
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

How is Baddeley and Hitch (1974) an example of a positive evaluation point for the working memory model

A
  • gave participants dual task
  • asked to complete reasoning task, using CE, at the same time as a reading aloud task, using phonological loop
  • participants could do both simultaneously, supporting idea of separate components in STM
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
50
Q

How is Baddeley et al. (1975) an example of a positive evaluation point for the working memory model

A
  • gave participants brief visual presentations of lists of words
  • lists were made up of short or long words
  • participants asked to recall list immediately in correct order
  • found participants could recall more short than long words
  • word length effect, supports idea that phonological loop can hold as many items as it can in 1.5-2 seconds rather than 7 (+/-2)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
51
Q

How are practical applications an example of a positive evaluation point for the working memory model

A
  • improved understanding on how people learn to read
  • helped psychologists to assist those with dyslexia who struggle with reading
52
Q

What are negative evaluation points for the working memory model

A
  • several psychologists criticise WMM as idea of CE is vague and untestable
  • Damasio (1985) presented case of EVR who had cerebral tumour removed
  • he had good reasoning skills, which suggested CE was intact
  • however, EVR could not make decisions, suggesting CE was damaged
  • case study indicates CE is more complicated than WMM claims
53
Q

What are the different types of LTM (3)

A
  • episodic memory
  • semantic memory
  • procedural memory
54
Q

What is the episodic memory

A
  • memory for key events
  • three elements; specific details of event, context of event and emotions felt at event
  • stored in hippocampus
55
Q

What is the semantic memory

A
  • memory for facts and general knowledge
  • also relates to functions of an object, appropriate behaviour and abstract concepts
  • begin as episodic memories then transition when memory loses association to particular events and is generalised
  • stored in temporal lobe
56
Q

What is the procedural memory

A
  • muscle memory, concerned with motor skills and actions
  • acquired through practise and repetition and seem to be resistant to forgetting or amnesia
  • less aware of procedural memories as they are automatic and unavailable for conscious inspection
  • thinking about procedural memory can prevent you from carrying it out
  • stored in cerebellum
57
Q

What are positive evaluation points for LTM (3)

A
  • amnesia patients
  • brain scans
  • case studies
58
Q

How are amnesia patients an example of a positive evaluation for LTM

A
  • evidence for distinction between episodic/semantic and procedural memory comes from research on amnesia patients
  • typically patients are unable to store new episodic or semantic memory but procedural memory appears to be largely unaffected
59
Q

How are brain scans an example of a positive evaluation for LTM

A
  • supports view of different LTM
  • e.g. when asking participants to recall different types of information, different areas of brain are active on fMRI
  • episodic memories associated with hippocampus, semantic memories associated with temporal love and procedural memories associated with cerebellum
60
Q

How are case studies an example of a positive evaluation for LTM

A
  • case studies of brain damaged patients offer support for different types of LTM
  • e.g. Clive Wearing suffered viral infection damaging hippocampus
  • has no episodic memory and cannot form new semantic memory
  • however procedural memory is still intact
61
Q

What are negative evaluation points for LTM

A
  • research into different types of LTM have been conducted on individual patients
  • case studies are highly detailed and provide lots of information but are isolated cases of one individual
  • would be inappropriate to assume everyone’s LTM is formed in the same way
  • findings cannot be generalised to wider population
62
Q

What is forgetting

A
  • person’s loss of ability to recall or recognise something they have previously learnt
63
Q

What are the theories that provide evidence for forgetting (2)

A
  • interference theory
  • retrieval failure theory
64
Q

What is the interference theory

A
  • claims forgetting occurs when two lots of information get confused in memory
  • more likely to occur when two lots of information are similar
  • less likely to occur when there is a gap between the instances of learning
  • two types; retroactive interference and proactive interference
65
Q

What is retroactive and proactive interference

A
  • retroactive interference is when new information affects recall of old information
  • proactive interference is when old information affects recall of new information
66
Q

What are the positive evaluation points for interference theory (3)

A
  • Keppel and Underwood (1962)
  • McGeoch and McDonald (1931)
  • practical applications
67
Q

How is Keppel and Underwood (1962) an example of a positive evaluation for the interference theory

A
  • investigated proactive interference
  • participants presented with meaningless trigrams at different intervals (3, 6, 9 seconds)
  • to prevent maintenance rehearsal, participants counted backwards in three before recall
  • participants typically remembered trigrams that were presented first
  • concluded memory for earlier trigrams was interfering with memory for later trigrams
68
Q

How is McGeoch and McDonald (1931) an example of a positive evaluation for the interference theory

A
  • demonstrated retroactive interference
  • gave participants list of words to learn until recall was 100%
  • participants then learnt new list
  • new list was either synonyms or antonyms
  • participants asked to recall original list
  • participants with list of synonyms had lower recall, showing interference
69
Q

How are practical an example of a positive evaluation for the interference theory

A
  • students should be made aware of this theory so they do not attempt to revise similar content/subjects at the same time as it makes interference more likely
70
Q

What are negative evaluation points for the interference theory (2)

A
  • temporary forgetting
  • retrieval failure
71
Q

How is temporary forgetting an example of a negative evaluation for the interference theory

A
  • when interference occurs, loss of information may only be temporary
  • means interference is not a true explanation for forgetting as memory is not actually over-written and is still in LTM
72
Q

How is retrieval failure an example of a negative evaluation for the interference theory

A
  • some psychologists argue retrieval failure is a much better explanation of forgetting in everyday life than interference
  • theory states that we forget when there are no enough retrieval cues to help us remember
  • Godden and Baddeley (1975) got divers to learn and recall word lists on either dry land or underwater
  • results showed that words learnt and recalled in the same context were better remembered as there were retrieval cues in the environment
73
Q

What is the retrieval failure theory

A
  • argues forgetting occurs in absence of retrieval cues
  • when information is placed in memory, data associated with information is also stored at same time
  • if these retrieval cues are not available at the time of recall, it may appear as forgetting
  • some retrieval cues are linked to material that needs to be remembered in a meaningful way
74
Q

What are the different types of retrieval cues (2)

A
  • context cues
  • state cues
75
Q

What are context cues

A
  • environment in which material is learnt can act as a retrieval cue
  • this means if you recall information in same environment that your learned it then recall is better
  • if you are not in same context at retrieval as you were at coding then forgetting can occur
  • encoding specificity principle (Tulving, 1983)
76
Q

What is the encoding specificity principle (Tulving, 1983)

A
  • suggests cues will help retrieval if the same cues are present at coding and retrieval
  • the closer the retrieval cue to the original cue, the more effective the cue in triggering the memory
77
Q

What are state cues

A
  • an individual’s physical state can affect their recall
  • studies suggest recall is facilitated if people have a similar physical state at recall as when coding
  • if you are not in same physical state at recall when learning information, then you may fail to access information
78
Q

What are positive evaluation points for retrieval failure theory (4)

A
  • Abernethy (1940)
  • Godden and Baddeley (1975)
  • Darley et al. (1973)
  • practical applications
79
Q

How is Abernethy (1940) a positive evaluation for retrieval failure theory

A
  • demonstrated importance of context dependent cues
  • tested participants’ recall using a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar instructors and teaching rooms
  • participants tested by familiar instructor, in a familiar room, performed best because instructor and room acted as retrieval cues
80
Q

How is Godden and Baddeley (1975) a positive evaluation for retrieval failure theory

A
  • demonstrated importance of context dependent cues
  • asked divers to learn and recall word lists on dry land or underwater
  • results showed words learnt and recalled in same context were better remembered as there were retrieval cues to help
81
Q

How is Darley et al (1973) a positive evaluation for retrieval failure theory

A
  • showed importance of state dependent cues
  • found participants who hid money in a large warehouse while under influence of cannabis were more likely to recall hiding place when in a similar drugged state
82
Q

How are practical applications a positive evaluation for retrieval failure theory

A
  • retrieval failure has practical applications
  • whenever possible, students should learn/revise in the room in which they will take their final exams
83
Q

What are negative evaluation points for retrieval failure theory

A
  • Baddeley (1997) argues influence of retrieval cues is not strong
  • in real life, we often recall something in a different context to where we learn it
  • e.g students do not take their GCSE examinations in classroom where they learned the information for exam
84
Q

What is eyewitness testimony

A
  • evidence supplied to a court by people who have seen a crime based on theory memory of the incident
  • evidence can include identification of perpetrator or details of crime
85
Q

What are leading questions

A
  • questions phrased in a way to encourage certain answers
  • response bias explanation argues leading questions do not affect memory, merely the answer a person chooses to give
  • however, substitution bias explanation proposes leading questions distort memories as they contain misleading information
86
Q

Who was done research into leading questions

A
  • Loftus and Palmer (1974)
87
Q

What was the procedure carried out by Loftus and Palmer (1974)

A
  • showed 45 American students a film of a car crash
  • asked them to estimate speed the cars were travelling when they crashed
  • different verbs used in question depending on question; contacted, hit, bumped, collided or smashed
88
Q

What were the findings of the leading questions study by Loftus and Palmer (1974)

A
  • participants in contacted condition estimated 31mph but smashed condition estimated 41mph
  • week later participants asked if there was any broken glass even though there was none
  • 32% in smashed conditioned reported broken glass compared to 12% of control condition
  • shows leading questions have significant impact on what people recall and can change a person’s entire memory of an event
89
Q

What are positive evaluation points for leading questions

A
  • study was a lab experiment so was highly controlled
  • reduced extraneous variables, increasing validity
  • easy for psychologists to replicable so study is reliable
90
Q

What are negative evaluation points for leading questions (2)

A
  • questionable ecological validity
  • participants only watched a video
  • people who witness a real car accident have a stronger emotional connection so may not be as susceptible to leading questions
  • lacks population validity
  • consisted of students who are less experienced drivers and less competent are estimating speeds
  • unable to generalise to other ages
91
Q

What is post event discussion

A
  • people talking about an event
  • can lead to memory contamination
    => memory can be contaminated through discussing the details of an event with others, as a result of misinformation
  • can lead to memory conformity
    => desire for social approval can also lead to co-witnesses to reach a consensus view of what happened
92
Q

Who carried out research into post event discussion

A
  • Gabbert et al. (2003)
93
Q

What was the procedure into post event discussion by Gabbert et al. (2003)

A
  • put participants in pairs and got them to watch different video of same event so they each got unique details
  • one condition, participants encouraged to discuss event with one another before recalling event
  • other condition participants not allowed to discuss
94
Q

What were the findings into post event discussion by Gabbert et al. (2003)

A
  • 71% of witnesses who discussed event went on to mistakenly recall details that they could not have seen themselves, but they had learned of during the discussion with their partner
95
Q

What are the positive evaluation points for post event discussion

A
  • study has population validity
  • two different populations, students and older adults
  • compared and there were no significant differences
  • allows us to conclude post event discussion affects younger and older adults in same way
96
Q

What are the negative evaluation points for post event discussion

A
  • study lacks ecological validity
  • participants knew they were taking part in an experiment and were more likely to have paid close attention to details of video clip
  • results do not reflect real life where witnesses may be exposed to less information
97
Q

What is anxiety

A
  • state of apprehension, uncertainty, and fear resulting from a threatening situation
  • high anxiety can impair physical and psychological functioning
98
Q

How does anxiety affect memory

A
  • anxiety that occurs when witnessing crime can prevent accurate and detailed recall of crime
  • presence of weapon increases anxiety
  • people observing violent crime will focus on the aspect of a situation with highest threat due to anxiety caused
  • means witness can describe weapon in great detail but not rest about the criminal (weapon focus effect)
  • Yerkes-Dodson Law
99
Q

What is the Yerkes-Dodson Law

A
  • relationship between emotional arousal and performance looks like an inverted U
  • theory states that performance will increase with stress, but only to a certain point where it decreases
100
Q

Who has researched into the Yerkes-Dodson Law

A
  • Deffenbacher (1983)
  • lower levels of anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy
  • but memory becomes more accurate as the level of anxiety experienced increased
  • however, there comes a point where optimal anxiety level is reached => point of maximum accuracy
  • if an eyewitness experiences any more stress, then accuracy of recall reduces
101
Q

Who has carried out research into anxiety

A
  • Loftus (1979)
102
Q

What was the procedure into anxiety by Loftus (1979)

A
  • in experiment condition, Loftus arranged for participants to overhear heated and hostile argument
  • sounds of furniture being overturned and broken glass also heard
  • man emerged carrying letter opener covered in blood
  • control condition, participants overhead conversation about lab equipment failure with man walking out with grease over hands emerged carrying a pen
  • participants then asked to identify person they had seen from 50 photos
103
Q

What were the findings into anxiety by Loftus (1979)

A
  • only 33% from experiment condition recognised photo of person carrying letter opener
  • 49% from control condition recognised photo carrying pen
  • Loftus (1979) argued this occurred because people in former condition had focused on bloody letter opener rather then person as it posed as a weapon and a threat
104
Q

What are positive evaluation points for anxiety

A
  • supported by other studies
  • Loftus and Burns (1982) allocated participants into one of two conditions
  • one group watched violent short film with gun while others watched non violent short film of crime
  • participants less accurate in recall when they saw violent gun crime film
105
Q

What are negative evaluation points for anxiety (4)

A
  • ecological validity
  • ethical guidelines
  • Yuille and Cutshall (1886)
  • individual differences
106
Q

How is ecological validity a negative evaluation point for anxiety

A
  • lacks ecological validity
  • although participants in waiting room outside of lab, they may have anticipated something was going to happen, which could have affect accuracy of judgement and thus validity of the study
107
Q

How are ethical guidelines a negative evaluation point for anxiety

A
  • study violates numerous ethical guidelines
  • participants deceived about nature of experiment
  • participants not protected from psychological harm
  • exposed to man who they thought had killed someone, holding a bloody knife, which could have caused distress
  • may have left experiment feeling stressed
108
Q

How is Yuille and Cutshall (1986) a negative evaluation point for anxiety

A
  • investigated effect of anxiety in real life shooting, in which one person was killed and others wounded
  • 21 witnesses originally interviews by police, 13 agreeing to take part in follow up interview 5 months later
  • witnesses accurate in eyewitness accounts and little change was found in testimony
  • witnesses avoided leading questions and those who had been most distressed gave most accurate account
  • in real life cases, leading questions and anxiety do not affect accuracy of eyewitness testimony
109
Q

How are individual differences a negative evaluation point for anxiety

A
  • individual differences in how anxiety affects memory
  • some people have better recall when they are anxious
  • Christianson and Hubinette (1983) conducted research study using 110 real life eyewitnesses who witness one of 22 bank robberies
  • some were onlookers and some were bank clerks who were directly threatened by robbers
  • found victims were more accurate than onlookers in description of bank robbers
110
Q

What did Fisher et al. (1987) find about eyewitnesses

A
  • studied real police interviews over a four month period
  • found questions were brief, direct, fact based and closed
  • witnesses were often interrupted and not allowed to expand upon answers
  • referred to as standard interview
  • argued this might be contributing to failure of eyewitnesses accurately recalling event witnessed
111
Q

Who developed the cognitive interview

A
  • Geiselman et al. (1985)
  • developed to improve police interview techniques and obtain more accurate information from eyewitnesses
  • four main stages
112
Q

What are the four main stages of the cognitive interview

A
  • context reinstatement
  • report everything
  • recall from changed perspective
  • recall in reverse order
113
Q

What does context reinstatement consist of

A
  • witness tries to mentally recreate image of situation, including details of environments and emotional state
  • may act as retrieval cues (context dependent cues) to improve recall
114
Q

What does report everything consist of

A
  • interviewer encourages witness to recall all details about event, even though these details may seem to be unimportant
  • may highlight details which have been overlooked and trigger other memories
115
Q

What does recall from changed perspective consist of

A
  • witness tries to mentally recreate situation from different points of view
  • promotes more holistic view of event, enhancing recall and reducing influence of schemas
116
Q

What does recall in reverse order consist of

A
  • witness is asked to recall scene in a different chronological order
  • should verify accuracy of the witnesses’ account and reduce possibility that recall may be influenced by schemas/expectations
117
Q

What was the enhanced cognitive interview

A
  • developed by Fisher (1987) to improve EWT
  • same components as cognitive interview but with extra principles
118
Q

What are the extra principles in the enhanced cognitive interview by Fisher (1987) (8)

A
  • should actively listen
  • ask open ended questions
  • pause after each response
  • avoid interruption
  • encourage use of imagery
  • adapt their language to suit the witness
  • avoid any judgement comments
  • minimise distractions
119
Q

What are positive evaluation points for the cognitive interview (2)

A
  • Geiselman et al. (1985)
  • Fisher et al. (1990)
120
Q

How is Geiselman et al. (1985) a positive evaluation for the cognitive interview

A
  • showed participants a video of a simulated crime and tested recall using cognitive interview, standard interview or hypnosis
  • cognitive interview led to most information being recalled by eyewitnesses
121
Q

How is Fisher et al. (1990) a positive evaluation for the cognitive interview

A
  • trained real police offers in Miami to use enhanced cognitive interview when interviewing eyewitnesses
  • found on average 46% increase in amount of information given
  • 90% of information could be verified was accurate
122
Q

What are negative evaluation points for the cognitive interview (3)

A
  • Koehnken et al. (1999)
  • time consuming
  • Memon et al. (1993)
123
Q

How is Koehnken et al. (1999) a negative evaluation for the cognitive interview

A
  • found witnesses recalled more incorrect information when interviewed with cognitive interview compared to standard interview technique
  • perhaps because more detailed recall increases chance of making a mistake
124
Q

How is time consuming a negative evaluation for the cognitive interview

A
  • cognitive interview is time consuming to implement
  • police officers often do not have the time, training and resources to use it
125
Q

How is Memon et al. (1993) a negative evaluation for the cognitive interview

A
  • reported police offers believed recall from changed perspective stage of cognitive interview misleads witnesses into speculating about event they witnessed rather than reporting what they actually saw
  • for this reason, police were reluctant to use it

AI A LEVEL PSYCH (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions