Memory

Question 1

Define Memory

Answer 1

Our ability to retain information/the process of remembering things

Question 2

3 stages of memory process

Answer 2

Encoding
Storage
Retrival

Question 3

Memory encoding

Answer 3

The process of transforming information to put it into memory

Question 4

Define Memory Storage

Answer 4

Process of maintaining information in our minds

Question 5

Memory Retrieval

Answer 5

process of taking memory out of the memory storage [recall and recognition]

Question 6

Define memory recall

Answer 6

We consciously re-access a memory without having to be reminded of the memory first

Question 7

Define memory recogniton

Answer 7

When we are able to retrieve a memory when they’re shown the memory again - because it feels familiar to them

Question 8

Sensory register: coding, capacity, duration

Answer 8

Large capacity and short duration (1-2 seconds)

Question 9

Sensory register - Sperling

Answer 9

Lab experiment, ppts had to repeat a grid of letters which flashed for 50 seconds. He found they could repeat 4 or 5 letters back from the grid or 3 letters from any row.
Concluded that SR has Large capacity and short duration

Question 10

STM: coding, capacity, duration

Answer 10

Limited duration (18-30s)
Only stored until the ongoing task is completed
Limited capacity
Acoustic coding (can be sensory or semantic - acoustic is part of sensory)

Question 11

STM capacity - Jacobs [magic number]

Answer 11

Showed ppts a string of letters or digits and asked them to repeat it back in the same order. Over the study, he increased the length of the strings. He found that most could reliably recall 7+-2 digits
Capacity of STM remains fixed very low - is limited

Question 12

STM capacity: Miller [Chunking]

Answer 12

We can combine larger individual letters into smaller meaningful chunks to improve recall. Suggests that the capacity is determined by the number of chunks, not the individual items. So he still agreed that 7 was the max capacity of the STM (chunks not letters/digits)

Question 13

Summarise/Compare Miller and Jacobs findings

Answer 13

They both used letters/digits tests to find the capacity of STM
Jacob found that we could recall 7+-2 digits/letters
Miller found that we could recall 7+-2 meaningful chunks of digits/letters
They both agree on the magic number, just differentiate between chunking

Question 14

Long term memory coding, capacity, duration

Answer 14

Very large capacity
Potentially unlimited duration
Semantically coded (stored by it’s meaning)

Question 15

LTM Duration - Bahrick

Answer 15

Asked ppts to recall names of their high school classmates. He then showed them pictures and asked for their names or showed them names and asked them to match them to pictures. He tested them 15 years after leaving school [recall: 60% recognition: 90%] and then 48 years after leaving school [recall: 30% recognition: 80%]

Concluded that the duration is very long. Ability to retrieve info is much better when asked to recognise > recall

Question 16

Bahrik [LTM Duration] A03

Answer 16

+ names of the classmates, is something meaningful that relates to them, not artificial information like many other studies. This has high ecological validity and results are likely to generalise.
-Bahrik had no control over EVs such as how long did the ppt spend with their classmates or how much they liked them. Little control over EVs, can reduce validity.

Question 17

LTM Coding - Baddeley

Answer 17

Asked ppts to recall a list of words straight after seeing them (STM) then asked them 20 minutes later (LTM)

4 groups; similar sounding, different sounding, similar meaning, different meaning (acoustic/semantic)

Immediate recall; correct order for similar sounding remembered the fewest words. Different sounding the most were recalled
““People use an acoustic code for short-term memory

20 min recall; Similar meaning is fewest recalled
different meaning most recalled in correct order
““People use a semantic code for long-term memory

Immediately: acoustic difficult
20 minutes: semantic more difficult

Question 18

Multi-store memory model

Answer 18

Atkinson and Shiffrin
3 memory stores; SR, STM, LTM [explains transfer of memory between stores]
Info goes from the SR > STM > LTM (in one direction - unidirectional)

To get from SR to STM we have to pay attention to information
To get from STM to LTM we have to rehearse info

Each MS can be independently damaged
If LTM memory store is damaged, the rest can remain functioning. If STM is damaged, LTM will not be damaged but info cannot be passed onto the LTM and LTMs cannot be formed

Question 19

Multi-store model: Henry Molaison - support A03

Answer 19

Had brain surgery that removed part of his hippocampus. He could remember things he heard a few seconds/minutes ago but forgot them minutes later. He had damage to his LTM, not his STM.
Supporting that we have multiple memory stores that can be damaged independently

Question 20

Multi-store model: Brain imaging - A03 support

Answer 20

(neuroimaging) studies: found which parts of the brain are active when people recall info over short periods and long periods. Frontal cortex is responsible for storing STM. Hippocampus is responsible for storing LTM. Different brain areas being used supports that we have separate stores

Question 21

Clive Wearing + HM damaged LTM stores

Answer 21

Had damage to their episodic memory but not their procedural memory

Question 22

3 types of LTM - Tulving

Answer 22

Episodic
Semantic
Procedural

Question 23

Episodic memory

Question 24

Semantic Memory

Question 25

Procedural Memory

Question 26

What is a declarative memory

Answer 26

Memories that we can consciously describe out loud

Question 27

Tulving A03: Support

Answer 27

Case studies: CW and HM
Brain imaging studies: Different parts of the brain are active when recalling the diff types.
temporal lobe - semantic
cerebellum + motor cortex - procedural
hippocampus - episodic

Question 28

Tulving A03: limitations

Answer 28

-episodic and semantic may not be distinct types, Squire and Zola studied people who had LTM loss after damage to their temporal lobe. They researched which type of LTM was damaged semantic AND episodic memory. They believe that semantic memories may originally be episodic which then become semantic

Question 29

Patient KF case study

Answer 29

he case study of Patient KF shows support for the Working Memory Model. The patient had a damaged short-term memory, but was still able to store new information into his long-term memory. It was shown he had difficulties with verbal short-term memory, but not visual short-term memory. The working memory model would explain this as the patient having damaged their phonological loop, but not the other short-term memory stores. This allowed information to still pass through to the long-term memory, through the other, functional short-term memory stores.

Question 30

Working memory model

Answer 30

Baddeley and Hitch

Question 31

WWM: Central Executive

Answer 31

An attentional process which monitors incoming data and allocates slave systems to tasks. Divides attention. Very limited capacity

Question 32

WMM: Episodic Buffer

Answer 32

A temporary store for info which integrates the other slave systems, records events happening and maintains sequencing.
Generates episodic memories about the whole event

Question 33

WMM: Visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 33

Stores visual and spatial info

visual cache: stores visual data
inner scribe: records the arrangement of objects in a visual field

Question 34

WWM: Phonological Loop

Answer 34

Auditory and verbal acoustic coding preserves the order in which info arrives
Primary acoustic store: 1-2 seconds refreshes and filters out the acoustic info that isn’t needed
Articulatory process: stores useful for an ongoing (ie typing on a phone)
Allows maintenance rehearsal

Question 35

WWM: Word length effect

Answer 35

Capacity of articulatory process: amount of words we can say in 2 seconds

The longer the words, the fewer we can retain

Question 36

WWM: Dual task technique A03 +

Answer 36

Lab experiment dual task procedure with 2 groups
A: Follow a moving light whilst describing the angles on letters (both visual info - full capacity)
B: Follow a moving light and recall a list of words (neither store reached full capacity)

A found the procedure more difficult
Supports that we have separate working memory stores

Question 37

WWM: A03 - imaging study +

Answer 37

Neuroimaging to look at the parts are active when recalling word lists and spatial navigation tasks.

Occipital lobe is active when doing visuo-spatial tasks.
Temporal lobe is active when completing phonological loop involved tasks

Diff parts active = diff parts for diff stores

Question 38

Define Interference

Answer 38

When one memory disturbs the ability to recall another. This is more likely to occur when memories are similar

Question 39

Define proactive interference

Answer 39

When previously learnt information interferes with newly learnt information
i.e a class teacher calling new students by old students’ names

Question 40

Define retroactive interference

Answer 40

When newly learnt memory interferes with previously learnt information
i.e

Question 41

McGeoch and McDonald - retroactive interference

Answer 41

Changed the similarity of two sets of materials. The more similar the items, the stronger the interference. Individuals are more likely to remember numbers

Question 42

Baddely and Hitch - interference theory

Question 44

4 things that make our memories less accurate

Answer 44

Schemas
Leading questions
Post-event discussion
Anxiety

Question 45

What is a schema

Answer 45

Mental frameworks that we develop from past experiences.

Question 46

Leading questions

Answer 46

The answer is hidden in the question, suggesting a particular answer is correct. It can influence our memory of an event.

Question 47

Schemas affecting memory

Answer 47

We use schemas to help us with retrieval. They can lead us to have a false memory. They can cause us to misremember events in a way that is consistent with our schemas

Question 48

Post-event discussion

Answer 48

People discuss an event after it happened. It can influence how we remember things because other people have their own expectations of what happened.

Question 49

Anxiety

Answer 49

Negative emotions that occur at the time of an event can influence how well we remember the event
Deffenbacher studied found low levels of emotional arousal = low accuracy of memory
mid arousal = very accurate recall
high arousal = low recall
[upside down U shaped graph]

Question 50

Factors affecting EWT: Loftus and Palmer 1

Answer 50

in a lab experiment, made them watch videos of car crashes and asked them to remember everything that happened. They were then asked the speed of the cars. For each control group, they manipulated the wording of the Qs. How fast were the cars when they [] each other. [contacted, smashed…]
When they used a more intense verb, ppts judged that the cars were going faster. The way they asked the Q influenced the ppt’s memory

Question 51

Factors affecting EWT: Loftus and Palmer 2

Answer 51

Replicated their study. This time, they were tested once and a week later. When asked a week later, they were asked another leading question of “did you see the broken glass”, even though there was no broken glass in the video
They found that despite there being no glass in the video, some ppts did recall seeing glass - a false memory. They also found ppts more likely to recall a false memory if the accident was described with more intense language

Question 52

What did Loftus and Palmer find

Answer 52

Asking leading questions can influence participants’memory, leading them to recall false memories. The intensity of the verb also altered their memory on how fast the cars were travelling

Question 53

Loftus and Palmer A03

Answer 53

Demand characteristics: Aspects of the experiment act as hints that enable participants to guess the aim of the experiment.
It is possible that the wording was too obvious, ppts may have answered because that the way they thought the experimenter was asking of them and not that their memory had changed or that they did not know the answer

May have lacked ecological validity as it was conducted in a lab. May not have been representative of how ppts would remember in real life. Seeing a real life car crash would have been much more emotionally triggering and they may have also put more effort into recalling and tried harder to give a more accurate

Question 54

The Weapon Study: Effect of anxiety on memory accuracy

Answer 54

Johnson and Scott.
Ppts were sat in a room together whilst 2 confederates were having a loud discussion in a room. 1 confederate walked out of the room into where the ppts were sat - 2 control groups
Low anxiety: man walked out with a pen in grease
High anxiety: man walked out with a knife covered in blood

Ppts then had to identify the man from 50 diff photos.

Low A accuracy: 49%
High A accuracy: 33%

+Deffenbacker’s curve
- lab/low ecological validity

Question 55

Yuille and Cutshall: Effect of anxiety on memory accuracy

Answer 55

Real life gun shooting 5 months earlier. Even though it was high anxiety, they had a very accurate recall even 5mo later.
- difficult to control EVs, making it hard to establish cause/effect. i.e. their memory may have been better because they were physically closer, not because of their anxiety
- doesn’t support inverted U curve

Question 56

What is the cognitive interview

Answer 56

an interview technique designed to improve memory accuracy.

Question 57

4 components of Cognitive Interview: Fisher and Geiselman

Answer 57

Mental Reinstatement
Change of Perspective
Change of narrative order
Reporting everything

Question 58

Cognitive interview: Mental reinstatement

Answer 58

Describing the thoughts, feelings and experiences at the time of the event (internal cues and external cues) more likely to trigger memories.

Question 59

Cognitive interview: change of perspective

Answer 59

Witnesses are asked to recall an event from someone else’s perspective. This reduces reliance on their own schema and it’s negative effects on recall

Question 60

Cognitive interview: Change of narrative order

Answer 60

Asking the witness to recall the events in different chronological orders. This can help them to recall information which didn’t stick out at first

Question 61

Cognitive interview: reporting everything

Answer 61

getting the witnesses to try and recall everything they can possibly remember - even if they believe it to be irrelevant
Can act as a cue
Witnesses won’t miss out potentially important details

Question 62

Evidence for Cognitive Interview: Geiselman

Answer 62

A confederate wearing a blue backpack came and stole a projector from a uni lecture. 2 days later, students were interviewed to see what they could recall about the intruder. 2 groups:
standard interview technique (control) or cognitive interview (experimental)
Students were asked a leading question during the interview. Students in the CI group were less likely to recall the wrong colour bag.

Question 63

Cognitive Interview conclusion (Gieslman)

Answer 63

The CI reduces the effects of a leading question on memory accuracy.
The students were less susceptible to leading questions

Question 64

Cognitive Interview and Children (A03)

Answer 64

When interviewing children, they are more anxious and stressed, have worse memory than adults and are more susceptible to leading questions.
Some techniques can be too complicated for children.
To use this CI with children or more anxious poeple, G+F created the Enhanced CI.

Question 65

Enhanced Cognitive Interview components

Answer 65

all 4 previous + techniques to build a rs between eye witness and interview.

Interviewer doesn’t interrupt the EW
Witness is given more control over flow of info
encourages witnesses not to guess

reduces likelihood of false memories