Memory Flashcards

Question

AO3 Outline one weakness of MSM (Types of LTM)

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

-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

Answer 3

One strength of MSM is that it is supported by research from brain scans. For example, Beardsley 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 thus strengthening acceptance of the theory

Answer 4

Episodic - Hippocampus and frontal lobe Semantic - Temporal lobe Procedural - Cerebellum and motor cortex

Answer 5

-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.

Answer 6

One limitation is that there are conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas of the brain. For example, researchers reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory. They concluded that semantic memories are located in the left side of the PFC and the episodic memory on the right. However other research links the left PFC with encoding of episodic memories and the right PFC with episodic retrieval. This challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located

Answer 7

One strength of LTM is that understanding LTM has allowed psychologists to help people with memory problems. For example, as people age they experience memory loss. But research has suggested this is specific to episodic memory. Belleville et al devised an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people. The trained ppts performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group. This shows that distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed, thus strengthening acceptance of the theory of LTM as it can be used in real life to better improve memory in older people

Answer 8

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. HOWEVER, a major limitation is that the study may have lacked control of extraneous variables. The brain injuries experienced by ppts were unusually unexpected. The researcher had no way of controlling what happened to the ppt before or during the injury. The researcher has no knowledge of the individual's memory before the the damage. Without this, it is difficult to judge exactly how much worse it is afterwards. This lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about different types of LTM.

Answer 9

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

Answer 10

The episodic buffer is a multimodal store that combines information from all five senses to create a whole ‘scene’ of an event. This information can then be transferred to long-term memory to create episodic memories.

Answer 11

-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

Answer 12

-Deals with auditory (sound) information (coding is acoustic) -Preserves the order in which information arrives -Information is subdivided into phonological/ primary acoustic store - (stores words you hear) -Articulatory process - (allows maintenance rehearsal) stores useful information which we need for an ongoing task. Capacity of the articulatory process is determined by how many words we can say in 2 seconds. We can recall more words in a list of short words than in a list of long words, which is called the word length effect. -We use SUBVOCAL REHEARSAL to store information in the phonological loop.

Answer 13

-Stores visual and spatial information (known as the inner eye) -Doesn't rely on rehearsal -Limited capacity of 3-4 objects -Used for tasks such as visualising -Codes information visually

Answer 14

Visual cache - Stores visual information (what things look like) Inner scribe - Records spatial information (physical relation / arrangement of objects in visual field )

Answer 15

The process of rehearsing words in our head.

Answer 16

-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, thus strengthening acceptance of WMM as an explanation for STM

Answer 17

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

Answer 18

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

Answer 19

-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

Answer 20

Schemas Leading questions Post-event discussion Anxiety

Answer 21

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.

Answer 22

-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

Answer 23

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.

Answer 24

One strength of interference is that there is evidence of interference effects in more everyday situations. Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of the teams they ad played against in a season. The players all played for the same time interval but the number of games varied as some players had missed matches due to injury. Players who played the most games (most interference for memory) had the poorest recall. This suggests that interference can operate in at least some real world situations, increasing the validity of the theory

Answer 25

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. HOWEVER, interference theory can be criticised for lacking ecological validity 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. Perhaps other explanations such as retrieval failure may better explain real life forgetting.

Answer 26

One weakness is that interference is temporary and can be overcome by using cues. Tulving et al gave ppts a list of words organised into categories, one, list at a time. Recall averaged 70% for the first list, but became progressively worse as ppts learned each additional list (proactive interference). At the end of the procedure ppts were given a cued recall test, they were told the names of the categories. Recall rose again to about 70%. This shows that interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM, a finding not predicted by interference theory, thus weakening acceptance of the theory.

Answer 27

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.

Answer 28

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

Answer 29

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

Answer 30

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.

Answer 31

Internal (State/mood) External (Environmental/context)

Answer 32

-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

Answer 33

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.

Answer 34

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 and the theory may overexaggerate the role of cues in forgetting. 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

Answer 35

There is a lot of evidence that forgetting takes place when there is a mismatch of encoding and retrieval cues. However it may not be possible to independently establish whether a cue has been encoded or not. The reasoning is circular and based on assumptions. In an experiment, if a cue did not produce recall we assume it cannot have been encoded. If the cue did produce recall, we assume it must have been encoded. This questions the validity of of retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting, thus weakening acceptance of retrieval failure

Answer 36

One imitation is that context effects may depend substantially on the type of memory being tested. Godden and Baddeley replicated their underwater experiment but used a recognition test instead of recall - ppts 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 forgetting, 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.

Answer 37

-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

Answer 38

One strength is that it has important practical uses in the criminal justice system. The consequences of inaccurate EWT can be very serious. Loftus believes that leading questions can have a seriously distorting effect on memory that police officers need to be very careful about how they phrase their questions when interviewing witnesses. Psychologists are sometimes asked to act as expert witnesses in court trials and explain the limits of EWT to juries. This shows that psychologists can help to improve the way the legal system works, especially by protecting innocent people from faulty convictions based on unreliable EWT. HOWEVER, practical applications of EWT may be affected by issues with research. Participants may have realised that they were being asked leading questions as the phrasing was too obvious. Furthermore, ppts were only shown a clip and were not exposed to the real event. The film clips of the car crashes do not expose ppts to stress of experiencing a real life car crash. Therefore this weakens the practical applications of the research.

Answer 39

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

Answer 40

One limitation of the substitution explanation is that EWT is more accurate for some aspects of an event than for others. For example Sutherland et al showed ppts a video clip and when ppts were later asked misleading questions, their recall was more accurate for central details of the event than for peripheral ones. Presumably the ppts attention was focused on central features of the event and these memories were relatively resistant to misleading information. This suggests that the original memories for central details survived and were not distorted, an outcome that is not predicted by the substitution explanation

Answer 41

-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.

Answer 42

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.

Answer 43

-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

Answer 44

-Explains the relationship between emotional arousal and performance -Memory becomes most accurate as the level of anxiety experienced increases to an intermediate level

Answer 45

Proactive interference is when an old memory interfere with a new memory

Answer 46

When new information interferes with old information from being accessed

Answer 47

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

Answer 48

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

Answer 49

Discussing an event can cause us to reinterpret the memory or not remember what happened People discuss an event after it happened

Answer 50

From no anxiety to slight anxiety, accuracy of memory increases From moderate anxiety to lots of anxiety, accuracy of memory decreases

Answer 51

-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

Answer 52

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.

Answer 53

-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

Answer 54

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

Answer 55

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

Answer 56

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

Answer 57

-It was difficult to control extraneous variables.

Answer 58

-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.

Answer 59

1) Recall everything 2) Reinstate the context 3) Reverse the order 4) Change perspective

Answer 60

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

Answer 61

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

Answer 62

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

Answer 63

The episodic buffer acts as a 'backup' store which communicates with both long-term memory and the components of working memory (1). It is a temporary store that integrates information from the other components and maintains a sense of time, so that events occur in a continuing sequence (1).

Memory Flashcards

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