Memory Flashcards
What are the processes of memory?
Encoding, Storage, Retrieval
What is encoding?
Changing the information so that it can be stored
What is storage?
Holding information in the memory system
What is retrieval?
Recovering the information from storage
3 ways memories are encoded and stored
Visually, Accoustically, Semantically
What is accoustically encoded/stored memory?
Where information is encoded based on its sound
What is semantically encoded/stored memory?
Where information is encoded based on its meaning
What is visually encoded/stored memory?
Where information is encoded based on what we see
What are the different types of long-term memory?
Episodic, Semantic, Procedural
What is episodic memory?
Memory of personal events and experiences in our life E.g Wedding, birthday
What is semantic memory?
Our memory for facts and general knowledge e.g Capital of France is Paris (Wikipedia for our brain)
What is procedural memory?
Memory for complex skills , they are action-based, you have to do it physically to remember e.g. riding a bike, how to tie shoelaces
Define capacity
How much information can be stored
Define coding
The way information is represented to be stored
Define Duration
How information can be stored for
What is multi-store model of memory?
Theory of memory that suggests information passes through a series of memory stores
What is the sensory store?
Store that holds information received from the senses
What is the short-term store?
Store that holds approximately 7 bits of information for a limited amount of time
What is the capacity of the sensory store?
Very limited
What is the duration for sensory store?
Less than one second
What is the coding for short-term store?
Mainly acoustic
What is the duration for short-term store?
Up to 30 seconds
What is the coding for long-term?
Mainly semantic
What is the capacity for long-term store?
Unlimited
What is the capacity for the short-term store?
7 bits of info
What is the duration for long-term?
Unlimited
What does the multi-store model of memory believe?
All info has to be rehearsed to enter long term store
What are some limitations to the multi-store model of memory?
- Doesn’t explain visual encoding - how we remeber faces/images
- Reliance on rehearsal - doesn’t take into account if info is taken in semantically eg we can recall activities without rehearsal but struggle to recall exam info when rehearsed
- Doesn’t take account for schemas - treats long-term memory as to being similar to computer storage system
- Understanding the meaning of info is more important than repetition which undermines this explanation
What is a laboratory experiment?
Piece of research carries out in a highly controlled environment
What is an independant variable?
Researcher manipulates this variable in order to see what affect it has on the dependant variable
What is the dependant variable?
Researcher measure to see how the independant is affecting it
What is an extraneous variable?
Variables apart from the independant variable - something that cannot be controlled
What is standardisation?
When procedures are replicable so other researchers can do it with the exact instructions
Include variables and type
What was Murdock’s study?
Lab study where there was a control of extraneous variables - participants (M & F) had to recall a list of words - it was standardised
What was the independant variable in Murdock’s study?
The position of the words
What was the dependant variable in Murdock’s study?
The frequency of the words/ how often words were recalled
Results of Murdock’s study
- Words at end of list were recalled first
- Words from start recalled quite well
- Middle words recalled not so well
Why were the first few words recalled well?
- Primary effect (words remembered well at the start)
- Words at start had time to be rehearsed - transferred to LTS
Why were the last few words recalled well?
- Recency effect (words at end recalled easily)
- Short term memory store
Why weren’t the words in the middle recalled well?
- They neither had time to enter the LTS or STS
What is the name of the graph Murdock used?
Serial position graph
Does Murdock’s study support the multi-store memory?
Yes
Weaknesses of Murdock’s study
- Lacks ecological validity due to its aritifical setup that produces invalid findings + highly controlled
- Increased artificality of the performance of the ptcps as effects of serial position were tested in a laboratory seeting - difficult to generalisde reasearch findings to predict the effects of serial position in a more normal setting
- Students were similar ages and studying psychology - this won’t apply to people of different age groups/backgrounds. Eg students would try to work out the aim and display demand characteristics
- Students required to repeat study 80X - affected their genuine effort levels and low motivation
What is ecological validity?
Whether results can be applied to real-life behaviour
What is reconstructive memory?
Bartlett believed that we recontruct our memories so that they looked more logical and meaningful and to fit in with what we already know. Done by making inferences and deductions
What did Bartlett use to test the reconstructive theory?
Serial reproduction - when 1 person reads info and tells it to person 2 and tells person 3 - Chinese Whispers
What 2 things affect reconstructive memory?
Stereotypes and schemas
What is a stereotype?
Generalised belief about a particular group of people - used to make sense of the world and predictions
What is a schema?
Categorises objects and events based on common elements or characteristics that are influenced by culture or age. E.G 2 different cultures will have different schemas of a wedding
What is effort after meaning?
Make sense of something unfamiliar after it has happend - we try to fit what we remember and what we know
What was Bartlett’s study?
War of the Ghosts - lab study, some control of extraneous variables, standardised - to investigate how memory is affect by previous knowledge (how cultural background and unfamiliary to text would lead to distortion of memory)
Results of Bartlett study
- Passages became shorter
- Lot of details taken out
- Changes to detail - unfamiliar names to familiar
- Order of events changed
Limitations of Bartlett
- Lack validity - students may have intentionally changed the story to make it more entertaining
- Story misheard
- Not all memories are reconstructed. Research evidence shows that important personal events, such as our first day at school, are often accurately remembered
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Strengths of Bartlett
- The theory can be applied to everyday situations. It helps us understand why two different people, such as eyewitnesses, can give very different versions of the same events. Both have reconstructed the events in different ways.
- Supports reconstructive memory theory which suggests memory is altered to fit in with individuals rather than a recording of events + ppl add effort after meaning when recalling events (supports this idea)
Proactive interference
Old info interferes with new
Retroactive interference
New info gets inferterfered with old
What are false memories?
Remembering somthing that has never happend
What is context?
It is easier to recall info in the same environement where it was learnt
Stengths of case studies
- info is very detailed
- Good way of studying unusual behaviours that cant be studied using other methods
- Record behaviour over time - allows changes in behaviour to be seen
Limitations of case studies
- Info cant be applied to a wider op because its specific to the ptcps involved
- Ethical issues - ptcps are unique and it may be possible to identify them from any reports of the results - prevents confidentiality
Aim of Murdocks study
To investigate whether there are separate short term and long term memory stroes or to see if the likelihood of recalling a words depends o its position in the list
Method of Murdocks study
- Ptcps heard lists of words
- between 10 and 40 words on them
- asked to recall as many as they can
