Memory Flashcards
Outline the difference between the capacity of short-term memory and the capacity of long-term memory. (2 marks)
Short term memory’s capacity is 7+- 2 (millers magic number)
Long term memory’s capacity is potentially unlimited.
How is STM encoded?
Acoustically - refers to the sound of the word
How is LTM encoded?
Semantically - refers to meaning of the word
What were the 4 groups in Baddley’s research?
Group1 - acoustically similar
Group 2 - acoustically dissimilar
Group 3 - semantically similar
Group 4 - semantically dissimilar
What were the findings of Baddley’s research for LTM? +explanation.
LTM: When asked to remember words after a longer period of time, they did worse with semantically similar words this indicates we code semantically.
Explanation: This is because the words that have similar meanings are competing for space in the LTM and may have become distorted or confused as they all have the same meaning.
What were the findings of Baddley’s research for STM? + explanation.
STM: When participants were asked to recall words directly after they heard them they had poorer recall or words which were acoustically similar compared to words which were acoustically dissimilar.
Explanation : We are more likely to become confused with similar sounding words because they sound similar. Words become distorted in the STM .
AO3
Give one strength of research into duration
(Bahrick et al)
-Use of meaningful stimuli
-Real life memories were studied as ppts were asked to recall names which is something we do in everyday life and is a real representation of how our LTM works
-These findings have high ecological validity because they can be generalised to real life.
-Strengthens our acceptance of the research
AO3
Outline one strength of research into encoding
One strength of research into encoding STM is that it clearly identified a difference between two memory stores.
Later research showed there are some exceptions to Baddeley’s findings. but the idea that STM uses mostly acoustic encoding and semantic mainly for LTM has stood the test of time. This was an important step in enhancing our understanding of the memory system, which led to the multi store model of memory
AO3
Outline one weakness into encoding in STM and LTM
One limitation is that there was use of artificial stimuli rather than meaningful stimuli.
For example, the word lists has no pesonal meaning to the ppts so baddeleys findigns may not be applicable to the real world, where we need to remeber things with meaning such as names, adresses and important dates. This is a weakness of the research as it has low ecological validity as the task can be criticised for lacking mundane realism, thus weakening acceptance of the theory
One weakness of Peterson and Peterson’s research into duration
-Research is artificial
-Ppts were asked to recall consonant symbol triagrams.
-This is a weakness because the stimuli is artificial
-This doesn’t represent how our memory works in real life scenarios
-In everyday life we dont use our memories to learn random syllables
-Therefore we should accept the findings from Peterson and Peterson with some caution and more meaningful stimuli should be used to to test STM
What were Baddley’s conclusions?
Information is coded acoustically in the STM and semantically in the LTM.
Describe Peterson and Peterson’s research
-Lab experiment
-24 participants
- triagrams were presented 1 at a time to the participants and had to be recalled after intervals of 3,6,9,12,15,18 seconds in each trial
- after hearing the triagram they were asked to count backwards in 3s out loud from a specified random digit number until they saw a red paper
- This is known as the Peterson technique which is aimed TO PREVENT REHEARSAL
Explain semantic memory
-Contains our knowledge of the world, includes facts about everything
-Memories are not time stamped
-Not as personal
e.g. meaning of words
Explain procedural memory
-Muscle memory
-Recall these memories without conscious awareness
-Almost automatic
-These memories are taught
-Not time stamped
e.g. how to ride a bike
Explain episodic memory
-Events/stuff that happened in our lives
-Time stamped (you know when they happened)
-You make a conscious effort to remember them (declarative memory)
-You remember specific details, context and emotion.
What is a declarative and non-declarative memory?
-Declarative = The recall requires conscious effort to retrieve information
-Non-declarative = The recall doesn’t require conscious effort to retrieve information
Explain primacy effect (MSM)
Occurs because this information was the first to be rehearsed and transferred to LTM
Explain recency effect (MSM)
Recency effect occurs because this information is the last information to be presented therefore these are the words that are remembered.
AO3
Outline one strength of MSM
(CW)
One strength of MSM is that there is research support from Clive wearing (CW). For example, CW didn’t have the rehearsal mechanisms which transfers information from STM to LTM. This suggests there are two different stores and also a process that transfers information from one store to another, which is what coincides with the principles of MSM, thus strengthening acceptance of the theory.
AO3
Outline one weakness of MSM
(Types of LTM)
One weakness of LTM is that it lacks detail.
For example, patient CW had problems with LTM but still had procedural memory as he could still play the piano but he couldn’t remember his own children’s names. This evidence undermines MSM explanation as it appears that there must be more types of LTM which are not considered by LTM, thus weakening acceptance of the theory.
How do brain scans provide evidence for different types of LTM?
-Different areas of the brain are active when different kinds of LTM are active
-Episodic memory is associated with frontal lobe
-Procedural memory is associated with cerebellum and motor cortex
-Semantic memory relies on Temporal lobe
Scans are objective and factual meaning this strengthens our acceptance of types of LTM
Give features of the Episodic buffer in WMM
-Acts as a general store for central executive
-Temporary store that integrates visual, spatial and verbal info from other slave systems
-Links working memory to LTM
How does research from brain scans make acceptance of MSM stronger?
Beardsly found that prefrontal cortex is active during STM tasks but not LTM tasks
Squire found that hippocampus is active during LTM task but not STM task
This provides evidence for the existence of different memory stores as suggested by MSM
How does research from brain scans provide evidence for different types of LTM?
Episodic - Hippocampus and frontal lobe
Semantic - Temporal lobe
Procedural - Cerebellum and motor cortex
(AO3)
Outline one weakness of LTM
(lack of generalisability)
-Lack of generalisability for the supporting research
-Both HM and CW had had brain injuries that lead to amnesia, due to the uniqueness of their experiences we cant apply this to other individuals. Case studies use such a small sample that they can be said to lack external validity. This means that such findings cant be generalised to the population.
AO3
Outline one strength of LTM
(HM)
Patient HM’s case study is clear support for the different types of LTM
HM didn’t have any memory for specific events that had occurred in his life but his semantic memory was still in tact. HM would not recall stroking a dog and hour before or owning a dog in his past. Yet he could understand the concept of a ‘dog’. HM still had procedural memory e.g. being able t tie his shoe lace
This therefore provides evidence that there are separate stores of memory as HM was capable to perform some procedural tasks involving LTM (shoelace) but didn’t have episodic memory as he couldn’t remember events.
Weakness of research of HM and CW
However a weakness of this research support for different types of LTM is the issue of generalisability - HM and CW suffered from brain injuries that lead to amnesia due to uniqueness of their experiences we cant apply this to other individuals. Case studies use such small sample that they can be said to lack external validity. This means that such findings cant be generalised to wider population
Give features of central executive (WMM)
-Most important component of the model
-Is an attentional process that monitors incoming information
-Makes decisions and allocates slave systems to tasks
-Makes decisions about which issues deserve attention and which should be ignored
Give features of the Phonological loop (WMM)
-Deals with auditory (sound) information (coding is acoustic)
-Preserves the order in which information arrives
-Information is subdivided into phonological store - (stores words you hear) and articulatory process - (allows maintenance rehearsal)
Give features of visuospatial sketchpad (WMM)
-Stores visual and spatial information (known as the inner eye)
-Limited capacity of 3-4 objects
-Used for tasks such as visualising
- Codes information visually
What are the 2 components of the visuospatial sketchpad
Visual cache - Stores visual information (what things look like)
Inner scribe - Records spatial information (physical relation / arrangement of objects in visual field )
AO3
Strength of WMM
(Dual task performance provides empirical evidence for WMM)
-Dual task performance provides empirical evidence to support WMM and its separate components
-For example; Baddeley found that Ppts had difficulty when carrying out two visual tasks simultaneously compared to a visual and verbal task, which require different processing systems
-This is clear support for the WMM as research clearly shows that our memory is processing information. The greater the difficulty when doing tasks that require the same ‘slave system’ can be explained by information competing for that store.
This means that there must be separate slave systems e.g. one that processes visual information and one that process verbal information because we can process more than one type of information at the same time in some scenarios (talking whilst playing a video game)
-This strengthens our acceptance of the model
AO3
Criticism of WMM
(Central executive lacks detail)
Central executive is not fully explained and lacks details. Baddeley himself said the CE is the most important but least explained component. Many researches have criticised this component, stating it is not satisfactory in terms of its role in WMM. Case study research suggests that the CE may not be a unitary store and may actually be made up of sub components
AO3
Outline one strength WMM
(KF)
+Counter
One strength of WMM is that there is real world support from patient KF
For example, due to a brain injury, KF had poor STM ability auditory information, but could process visual information normally. E.g. his immediate recall of digits was better when he read them vs when they were read to him
This indicates there are separate stores (slave systems) in the STM which is what the theory predicts, thus strengthening acceptance of the WMM as there is real world supporting research.
HOWEVER, this research comes from only one person as the research was a case study meaning the research has extremely low population validity. Furthermore, KF had a brain injury but not everyone does, therefore this acts as a confounding variable, causing us to accept the real world support with caution
Loftus and palmer found that…
-When the verb used to describe the accident was more intense, the participants judged that the car was travelling faster
-The way you ask a question can influence the participants memory of how quickly the car was travelling
-A week later, when participants were asked about smashed glass, many participants had a false memory that there was some in the video
What are the 4 factors influencing memory recall?
Schemas
Leading questions
Post-event discussion
Anxiety
Outline interference theory
An explanation for forgetting in LTM because one memory blocks another memory. This causes one or both memories to be distorted. Usually occurs when memories are similar or learned in quick succession.
Outline Mcgeohs research into effects of similarity on our memories
-Lab study
-Ppts learned a list of words till they recalled them with 100% accuracy
Group 1: Synonyms
Group 2: Antonyms
Group 3: Unrelated words
Group 4: Consonant words
Group 5: Numbers
Findings:
-Ppts recall of the original list of words was impaired
-Ppts that learned the 2nd word list did the poorest with the synonyms
-Interference is strongest when materials are similar
(AO3) Strength of Interference theory
(Evidence from lab studies, Mcgeoh and Mcdonald)
Mcgeohs and McDonald’s research shows that both types of interference are likely to be ways we forget info in LTM
This is a strength because lab experiments control the effects of irrelevant influences and thus give us the confidence that interference is a valid explanation for some forgetting.
Outline Underwood’s research into proactive and retroactive interference
In 1957, Underwood reviewed past studies into participants’ recall of word lists. He found that earlier learning of other word lists caused proactive interference with recall of later word lists.
In a second study in 1960, Underwood and Potsman studied participants’ learning of word pairs and showed that learning a second list of word pairs using some of the same words caused retroactive interference with the recall of the first-word pair list.
(AO3) Evaluate one weakness of interference theory
(Use of artificial stimuli, underwood)
One weakness of interference theory is that it lacks ecological validity and the task lacks mundane realism.
For example, underwood used word lists which have no meaning, compared to real-life things we need to remember (e.g. people’s names, bus routes, and dates) which all have importance.
This suggests we can’t apply these findings to real-life scenarios, meaning interference theory Is not a good explanation for real-life forgetting, thus weakening acceptance of interference theory
(AO3)
Outline one strength of interference theory
(Real life studies)
One strength of interference theory is that Underwood’s research found support for proactive interference.
He found that when ppts only had to learn one word list, their recall was 80%, however when they had to learn multiple word lists, their recall of the last word list was 20%.
This suggests proactive interference is a real thing that impacts real-life memory recall, thus strengthening the acceptance of interference theory.
AO3
Outline one weakness of interference theory
(Theory lacks detail)
A second criticism of interference theory is that It can only explain forgetting that occurs when we have two or more memories that are very similar to one another.
For example, interference theory only occurs when one memory blocks another memory from being accessed. However, the theory fails to explain how we forget when there isn’t a memory blocking another one. This suggests that the theory lacks detail and Is incomplete.
(AO1 research)
Outline Godden and Baddeley’s research into the effect of the environment on recall.
(Environment dependent forgetting)
Divers were asked to learn lists of 36 unrelated words of two or 3 symbols
4 conditions:
-Learn on beach recall on beach
-Learn on beach recall underwater
-Learn underwater recall underwater
-Learn underwater recall on beach
Conclusion: When ppts learned and recalled in the same place, recall was better
(AO1 research)
Outline Overton’s (1972) research
(State dependent forgetting)
4 conditions:
- Learn words sober and recall whilst sober
-Learn words sober and recall words drunk
-Learn words drunk and recall words sober
-Learn words drunk and recall words drunk
WHEN BOTH STATES WERE THE SAME, RECALL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER
What is meant by a cue?
A trigger for information that allows us to access a memory.
When we encode a new memory, we also store information that occurred around it.
What are the 2 types of cues?
Internal (State/mood)
External (Environmental/context)
AO3
Strength of retrieval failure
(Supporting research from Godden and Baddeley and Overton )
-There is supporting research.
-Evidence for the effects of context dependent forgetting comes from research from Godden and Baddeley (divers study) and research from Overton supports state dependent forgetting.
-Both studies demonstrate the effect of state and context dependent forgetting. Results support the predictions that the theory makes. It is likely that forgetting occurs when there is a mismatch in cues at encoding and retrieval (different conditions).
-Both studies validate the theory as the research demonstrates the effects of retrieval failure both in the lab and in real life settings
AO3
Outline one strength of Retrieval failure
(Carter and Cassidy)
One strength of retrieval failure is that it is supported by research from Carter and Cassidy who found support for lack of internal cues negatively affecting recall.
They had 4 conditions:
1) Learn on drug, recall on drug
2) Learn on drug, recall off drug
3) Learn off drug, recall on drug
4) Learn off drug, recall off drug
They found that when cues aligned (learning and recall states were the same) recall was significantly better than when cues didn’t align. This supports the theories central notion that when internal cues dont align, we will struggle to retrieve information due to a lack of cues. Therefore the supporting research strengthens our acceptance of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting.
(AO3)
Outline one weakness of retrieval failure.
(Context effects are not very strong in real life)
One weakness of retrieval failure is that the context effects may not be as strong in real life as they were in the supporting research
For example, context/environments are not so extreme as how they have been investigated in research (being on land or underwater)
This is a weakness as the effects of context dependent forgetting have not really been tested in real life settings. Maybe learning and recalling in a different context in a real life setting would not lead to that much forgetting as generally environments are similar.
Therefore theory lacks ecological validity, weakening our acceptance of the explanation of forgetting
Outline Loftus and Palmer’s research into misleading information on eye witness testimony’s
-Ppts watched a film of a car crash and then gave speed estimates of the cars
-They were asked ‘How fast were the cars going when they X into each other?’
-Those exposed to the verb ‘smashed’ gave a speed estimate 8.7 mph greater than those who’d heard ‘contacted’. Other ppts heard the verbs ‘bumped’ and ‘collided’.
-Therefore, this shows that leading questions due to their phrasing suggest there is a correct answer. Wording has no effect on memory, but influences how the ppts decide to answer
(AO3)
Outline one weakness of Loftus and Palmer’s research
(Demand characteristics)
-Participants may have realised that they were being asked leading questions
-Perhaps the phrasing was too obvious and as a result they may have realised they were being asked leading questions
-E.g. Ppts were asked ‘How fast was the car going when it smashed?’
Therefore this weakens our acceptance of Loftus and Palmer’s research
(AO3)
Provide a weakness of EWT
(Demand characteristics)
-Demand characteristics may reduce the reliability of the findings.
-Psychologists argue that that Ppts want to be as helpful as possible.
-Through social desirability bias an ‘Please-U’ effect, when in doubt over their answer to a question, they are likely to give an answer which seems most beneficial or expected for the researcher, thus biasing the results.
(AO3)
Weakness of EWT - Loftus and Palmer
(Low ecological validity)
The artificial tasks used by Loftus and Palmer, alongside Gabbert, reduces ecological validity of the findings and the mundane realism of the methodology. For example, the film clips of the car crashes do not expose ppts to anxiety of experiencing a real life car crash. The anxiety may either have a negative or positive effect on accuracy of EWT, thus biasing the findings.
How does anxiety effect EWT in a positive way?
-The stress of witnessing the crime creates anxiety through psychological arousal in the body.
-Increases alertness. We pay more attention to cues in the environment. Activates fight or flight response
-Evolutionary response to aid survival
Outline Yerkes-Dodson curve
-Explains the relationship between emotional arousal and performance
-Memory becomes most accurate as the level of anxiety experienced increases to an intermediate level
(AO3)
Evaluate one weakness of the effect of anxiety on EWT
(lack of control over extraneous variables)
One weakness with real life studies into the effects of anxiety on EWT arise from the lack of control over extraneous variables in field studies.
For example, when witnesses were interviewed after the event this can be an issue because the interviewer could have asked leading questions, suggesting a certain type of answer. Further more, post event discussion can occur between witnesses. This also skews the testimony as false information can be planted into a memory, making them less reliable.
Increased accuracy in such real life situations could be due to other factors which were not controlled. This means the relationship between anxiety and accuracy of EWT is very difficult to be sure of. This decreases validity of research findings.
This weakens our acceptance of the theory
What is proactive interference?
Proactive interference is when an old memory interfere with a new memory
Explain what is meant by retroactive interference
When new information interferes with old information from being accessed
How do schemas affect memory accuracy?
They can lead to false memories if we use pre-existing schemas to fill in a memory
When we retrieve a memory we use all our pre-existing schemas to fill in the gaps
How do leading questions affect memory accuracy?
Leading questions suggest a certain type of answer which can influence our memory recall e.g. ‘How was David dressed when he spoke to you?’
The question already assumes things, as a result, this can make us believe things which didn’t happen
How does post-event discussion influence memory accuracy?
Discussing an event can cause us to reinterpret the memory or not remember what happened
People discuss an event after it happened
How does anxiety affect memory accuracy?
From no anxiety to slight anxiety, accuracy of memory increases
From moderate anxiety to lots of anxiety, accuracy of memory decreases
AO1
Outline Johnson and Scott’s 1976 Weapons study
(Negative effects of anxiety on EWT)
-Participants in the low anxiety condition performed better than those in the high anxiety condition
-The study supports the idea that anxiety has a negative impact on memory
-Participants saw a man leave a room with either a knife covered in blood or a pen with grease and were asked to recall the man’s face.
-33% of those in high anxiety condition gave the correct answer when asked to recall the mans face compared to 49% in the low anxiety condition.
-Suggests anxiety worsens the accuracy of our EWT
AO1
Outline Yuille and Cutshall’s case study
(Positive effects of anxiety on accuracy of EWT)
-Conducted a case study on 13 people who witnessed a real life shooting on a shop owner shooting a thief
-Found that those ppts who reported higher levels of anxiety gave about 88% accurate information compared to those who reported lower levels of anxiety who gave 75% accurate EWT
-Suggests anxiety may not have a detrimental impact on accuracy of EWT and could potentially improve it
AO3
Outline one weakness of the effects of anxiety on accuracy of EWT
(Unusualness not anxiety)
One weakness of the study by Johnson and Scott is that it may not have tested anxiety.
The reason to why ppts focused on the weapon and subsequently had worse accuracy of their EWT, was because they were surprised rather than scared
For example, Kerri Pickel tested this. She conducted an experiment using a handgun, raw chicken, wallet and scissors in a hair salon. She found that EWT accuracy was significantly poorer in the high unusualness conditions (chicken and handgun). This suggests that the weapons focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety/threat and therefore tells us nothing specifically about the effects of anxiety on EWT, thus weakening acceptance of Johnson and Scott’s research
AO3
Outline one strength of the effects of anxiety on accuracy of EWT
(Research support for negative effects)
One strength of the theory is that there is support for the weapons focus test (Johnson and Scott) who found that anxiety negatively influences accuracy of EWT.
In the London dungeons, ppts heart rate was tracked to divide them into high anxiety group and low anxiety group. The researchers found that anxiety disrupted the ppts ability to recall information regarding an actor. This indicates that higher levels of anxiety negatively impact the accuracy of EWT, as found by Johnson and Scott. Therefore this supporting research strengthens our acceptance of the notion that higher levels of anxiety reduce the accuracy of EWT
AO3
Outline one strength of the effects of anxiety on accuracy of EWT
(Research support for positive effects)
+ COUNTER
One strength is that there is research support for the positive effects of anxiety from a real life bank robbery.
Researchers found that bank workers who were presumed to have higher levels of anxiety than bystanders, as the bank workers were directly involved. Recall was more than 75% accurate across all witnesses, and those who were more directly involved gave more accurate EWT. Therefore this strengthens acceptance for the notion that anxiety can positively impact the accuracy of EWT as it increases alertness, due to activation of flight or fight response.
HOWEVER, it is difficult to establish cause and effect with such real life scenarios as there may be many extraneous variables at play, which impact the ppts recall. For example, the researchers could have asked leading questions which suggest a certain type of answer or the ppts may have engaged in post event discussion, further altering their perception of the event, reducing the validity of the EWT
Criticism of Yuille and Cutshall’s study
-It was difficult to control extraneous variables.
AO1
Research into Post event discussion on EWT
-Controlled lab experiment, independent group design
-Showed ppts a film clip of the same crime scene, but with different details for each member. After engaging in post-event discussions with the other member of each pair and individually completing a test of recall, the researchers found 71% inaccuracy rates of information gained through the discussions, compared to a 0% control group rate who had worked alone throughout. Evidence of memory conformity.
AO3
Research into Post event discussion
(Gabbert et al)
One limitation of the memory conformity explanation is evidence that post-event discussion actually alters EWT
Skakberg and Wright (2008) showed ppts 2 versions of a film clip. In one version, a mugger had dark brown hair and in the other clip they had light brown hair. Ppts discussed the clips in pairs, each having seen different versions, they often did not report what they had seen in the clips or what they had heard from the co-witnesses, but a ‘blend’ of the two. This suggests that the memory itself is distorted through contamination by misleading post event discussion, rather than the result of memory conformity
4 stages of the cognitive interview
1) Recall everything
2) Reinstate the context
3) Reverse the order
4) Change perspective
AO3
Outline one strength of the cognitive interview
(Effectiveness)
+COUNTER
Cognitive research is effective
A meta-analysis found that the cognitive interview produces 41% more correct information than the standard interview
This means the cognitive interview is effective in helping ppts recall information
However, the sample was mainly drawn from students (can’t generalise) and was conducted in a lab setting (lack of ecological validity)
Furthermore, the cognitive interview technique also increased amount of inaccurate information being recalled, making it slightly ineffective
AO3
Outline one weakness of the cognitive interview
(Credibility of all the stages)
One weakness arises regarding the credibility of all stages of the CI
For example, research found that when ‘reinstate the context’ and ‘report everything’ were paired together, it produced the highest amount of accurate recall of information compared to any other combinations of techniques. This suggests that all stages of the CI may not be necessary to effectively improve the accuracy of EWT in police cases, saving the police time and resources. This questions the credibility of all the stages of CI, weakening use of the CI as a method to improve the accuracy of EWT
AO3
Outline one weakness of the cognitive interview
(Time and resources)
One weakness of the using the CI technique is that it is time consuming and uses up lots of the polices resources.
In lots of cases, when police are trying to solve a case, they cant afford to spend lengthy periods of time going through all stages of the CI. Furthermore, the police may not have resources to train the officers, further disincentivising the police to use the CI technique to improve the accuracy of EWT, therefore decreasing acceptance of CI as a method to improve the accuracy of EWT
