Memory

Question 1

Short term memory:

Answer 1

Stores and allows recall of information for a period of several seconds up to 30 seconds without rehearsal. It’s capacity is very limited

Question 2

Long term memory:

Answer 2

Stores and enables us to recall information from the distant past. It’s capacity is unlimited and it’s duration is potentially a lifetime

Question 3

Duration:

Answer 3

A measure of how long information can be stored for or how long it lasts

Question 4

Short term memory duration:

Answer 4

Does not last long. In order to keep information in the STM for more than a few seconds it must be commonly rehearsed to keep it active

Question 5

Peterson and Peterson (1959):

Answer 5

• 24 undergraduate students were presented with a consonant trigram eg ZFB
• They were then asked to count backwards in threes to stop them repeating/rehearsing the consonant trigram
• After intervals of 3, 6, 9, 12, 18 seconds, Participants had to repeat the trigrams
• This was repeated using different trigrams

Results: Participants could remember about 90% after 3 seconds, 20% after 9 seconds and less than 10% after 18 seconds

Conclusion: information decays quickly when it can be rehearsed. The STM has a maximum duration of 18-30 seconds without rehearsal

Question 6

Strengths of Peterson and Peterson:

Answer 6

It is a lab experiment, so variables can be tightly controlled eg how many trigrams. This allows the procedure to be repeated to test reliability

Question 7

Weaknesses of Peterson and Peterson:

Answer 7

It had low ecological validity, as memorising trigrams is not common in daily life

Trigrams presented may have caused confusion - uncertainly if the results gained were due to confusion or forgetting the letters

Question 8

Bahrick et al (1975):

Answer 8

Tested how well 400 Americans remembered former classmates, by asking on to identity pictures, matching names to pictures and recalling names with no picture clue

Results: after 48 years, 70% accuracy. However, when asked to free recall the classmates names, then accuracy after 48 years was 30%

Conclusion: 30-50 years later, participants could remember classmates, suggesting the LTM can last a life time. If a cue is present, then recall is higher

Question 9

Strengths of Bahrick et al:

Answer 9

High external validity as it was meaningful material, (making it more useful than Petersons study which uses meaningless trigrams) making it applicable to daily life

Question 10

Weaknesses of Bahrick et al:

Answer 10

• Natural experiment so the experimenter had less control of the IV, so some of the names may have been rehearsed eg some classmates may still be in touch (confounding variable)
• Only looked at a specific type of information - names. May not be applicable to all forms of memory. Not all LTMs are there for a lifetime

Question 11

Capacity of memory:

Answer 11

This is a measure of the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores. LTM is potentially unlimited, STM is limited

Question 12

Jacobs (1887):

Answer 12

Developed the serial digit span technique. The researcher read out 4 digits and the participants repeated back immediately. Digits were added until the participant could not accurately repeat back

Results: on average 9 digits and 7 letters were recalled correctly. The capacity increased with age, possibly due to an increase in brain capacity and/or because people develop strategies eg chunking

Question 13

Weaknesses of Jacob (1887):

Answer 13

• Lacks ecological validity - listing numbers and repeating them is not a common occurrence
• Previous sequences recalled may have been confused in later trials (confounding variables)
• The study was conducted so long ago extraneous variables eg distractions cannot be calculated

Question 14

Strengths of Jacob (1887):

Answer 14

Has been repeated many times - suggests the study has validity

Question 15

Miller (1956):

Answer 15

Reviewed experiments into the capacity of STM concluded that it has a capacity of 7 +/-2 items He also stated that memory could be increased via chunking. Cowan (2001) stated that Miller may have overestimated the capacity of the STM and concluded it was around 4 chunks.

Question 16

Coding:

Answer 16

The form as which information is stored in various memories

Question 17

Acoustic coding:

Answer 17

Storing in terms of the way it sounds. STM is mainly encoded this may

Question 18

Semantic coding:

Answer 18

Coding information in terms of its meaning. LTM is usually encoded via this.

Question 19

Visual coding:

Answer 19

Coding something in terms of the way it looks

Question 20

Baddeley (1966):

Answer 20

Participants were shown a sequence of 5 words under one of four conditions:

Acoustically similar words eg cap, map
Acoustically dissimilar words eg pen, day
Semantically similar words eg tall, high
Semantically dissimilar words eg safe, late

Results: when tested immediately (STM) participants were least accurate with acoustically similar words. When tested after 20 minutes (LTM) participants were least accurate with semantically similar words

Conclusion: The STM encoded acoustically and the LTM encoded semantically (more likely to make mistakes which words that can be confused)

Question 21

Evaluation of Baddeley:

Answer 21

• Low ecological validity (the list was meaningless)
• Does not explain everyday life; limited application
• Identifies the clear difference in two memory stores

Question 22

The multi-store model:

Answer 22

First described by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968)

They argued that our memory involves a flow of information through a series of stages in a fixed linear sequence. These each have there own coding, capacity and duration

Sensory register (SR)
STM
LTM

First, information enters the SR (there are 5. Capacity is unlimited, duration is very short). If information from the SR is payed attention then it enters the STM. Maintenance rehearsal is when we repeat the material STM -> LTM

Question 23

Support for sensory register: Sperling (1960)

Answer 23

Lab experiment - pps were shown a grid with 3 rows of 4 letters for 0.05 seconds, then they had to recall either the whole grid, or a row indicated by a tone.

Results: pps could recall a particular row on average 3 out of 4 times

Suggests that almost all of the grid was held in the SR.

• Lacks ecological validity, but easily replicable.

Question 24

Five separate sensory stores proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Answer 24

Iconic store (images)
Echoic store (sounds)
Haptic store (touch)
Gustatory store (taste)
Olfactory store (smell)

Question 25

Sperling (1960)

Answer 25

Lab experiment (lacks ecological validity): pps were shown 3 rows of four letters for 0.05 seconds, then immediately recall the whole grid or a specific row.

On average, pps could recall 3 out of 4 rows suggesting that the capacity of the sensory register is large, but the duration is short

Question 26

Interference theory

Answer 26

Forgetting occurs in the LTM due to two memories being in conflict. This can result in forgetting or distorting of one or both memories This is move likely il the memories are similar

Question 27

Definition of forgetting

Answer 27

The inability to access or recover information that has been previously stored in memory

Question 28

Proactive interference

Answer 28

When an old memory interferes/disrupts with the recall of a new memory

Question 29

Retroactive interference

Answer 29

When a new memory interferes/disrupts with an old memory

Question 30

Interference may be worse when memories are similar because

Answer 30

• In PI previously stared information rakes new information more difficult to store
• In RI new information overwrites previous remarries which are similar

Question 31

McGeoch and McDonald (1931)

Answer 31

Aimed to see if interference had an impact on forgetting. Asked 5 groups of pps to learn 2 lists of words (one was a control). They found that those who had to recall numbers did best, while those who had to recall synonyms did worst.

Question 32

Strength of interference as an explanation for forgetting

Answer 32

Supported by many controlled lab studies such as McGeoch and McDonald, as well as realistic Studies such as Baddeley and Hitch (tested Rugby players on recalling names - everyday situation)

Question 33

Weaknesses of interference as an explanation for forgetting

Answer 33

Mainly gathered from lab studies that use unrealistic material eg consonant trigrams

The time between learning & recall is short - unrealistic

Tulving and Psotka found that interference can be overcome using cues (memories are stored in the LTM & forgetting comes from inaccessibility)

Question 34

Encoding specificity principle

Answer 34

The encoding specificity principle (Tulving, 1983) suggests that cues will help retrieval if the same cues are present at coding and retrieval

Question 35

Research supporting the role of the encoding specificity principle in improving recall

Answer 35

Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) got participants to recall 48 words that belonged to one of 12 categories. As each word was presented it was preceded by its category (cue): Gem: sapphire, Gem: diamond, Gem: ruby.

Results: If the cue was then present at recall (gem) then overall recall for the 48 words was 60%. If the cue was not present then recall fell to 40%.

Conclusion: Retrieval of information stored in LTM is far better when there are cues to trigger the memory – supporting the idea of the encoding specificity principle

Question 36

Context-dependent forgetting

Answer 36

can occur when the environment during recall is different from the environment you were in when you were learning.

Question 37

Godden and Baddeley (1975)

Answer 37

18 divers were asked to learn lists of 36 unrelated words on either the beach or in the water, and recall them either on the beach or in the water. Recall was best when occurring in the same environment as learning, due to external cues available at the time. This supports context dependent forgetting

Question 38

State dependent forgetting

Answer 38

Forgetting occurs when your mood or physiological state during recall is different from the mood you were in while learning

Question 39

Carter and Cassaday (1998)

Answer 39

They gave pps antihistamines and had them learn lists of words then recall. Pps recalled best when their internal state matched their state when learning. This supports state dependent forgetting as when internal cues are absent forgetting is more likely.

Question 40

Strengths of retrieval failure explanation of forgetting

Answer 40

• Research studies (Lab and real life) that shows retrieval failure due to an absence of cues. Eg Godden and Baddeley or Carter and Cassaday. Therefore there is a wide range of supporting evidence for retrieval failure due to an absence of cues.
• Both have real life applications with improving memory recall, such as in cognitive interviews with context reinstatement

Question 41

Weaknesses of retrieval failure explanation of forgetting

Answer 41

• Retrieval cues do not always work since learning is related to more than just cues, additionally many studies carried out tend to focus on words/passages — this lacks ecological validity & realism
• It is difficult to test the encoding specificity principle since we don’t know what cues are meaningful to individuals & how they are encoded

Question 42

Eyewitness testimony

Answer 42

Refers to an account given by people of an event they have witnessed

Question 43

Misleading information

Answer 43

Incorrect information given to the eyewitness (usually after the event, hence the name ‘post event discussion’)

Question 44

Leading questions

Answer 44

A question that suggests to the witness what answer is desired or leads them to give a certain answer because of the way it was phrased

Question 45

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Answer 45

45 pps were shown a video of a car accident, then asked how fast the car was going when they hit eachother. Each time the question was asked the verb ‘hit’ was changed with either ‘smashed’, ‘bumped’, ‘collided’ or ‘contacted’

The verb used had a significant impact on the estimated speed, with contact being the lowest (mean 31.8mph) and smashed the highest (mean 40.5mph). Therefore the verb choices must have had a leading affect

Question 46

Loftus and Zanni (1975)

Answer 46

Pps were shown a video of a car accident & asked questions. When asked if they had seen ‘a’ broken headlight 7% said yes, however when asked if they had seen ‘the’ broken headlight 17% said yes, even though there was no broken headlight.

Therefore, the word ‘the’ must have been leading as it implied there was a broken headlight, affecting memory

Question 47

Post event discussion

Answer 47

Involves when witnesses to an event discuss what they had seen after the event, this can lead to;

• Memory contamination: Witnesses mix information from other witnesses into their own memories
• Memory conformity: Witnesses pick up details from other EWT because they want social approval/believe others are right

Question 48

Gabbert et al (2003)

Answer 48

120 pps watched a video of a girl stealing, either individually or in a co-witness pair. The co-witness were told they had seen the same video, but watched different perspectives & only one person in the pair witnessed the girl stealing.

During discussion, 71% of the witnesses in the co-witness group recalled information they had not seen, compared to 0% in the control. Therefore, witnesses will absorb information from other witnesses, due to memory contamination/conformity

Question 49

Strengths of research into the effects of misleading information on EWT

Answer 49

• Most are lab studies with good control over the extraneous variables & are replicable due to standardised procedure
• Real life applications: Can be used during police interviews & shows that cowitnesses should be prevented from discussion — Shown in Gabberts study

Question 50

Weaknesses of lab studies into EWT

Answer 50

• Watching a staged event will not produce any anxiety (a small amount may increase accuracy)
• In real life EWT will have serious consequences
• In lab studies there is a risk of demand characteristics, affecting the validity of the study

Question 51

Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

Answer 51

Interviewed 13 pps 5 months after an armed robbery, during the interview pps were asked two leading questions. Recall was found to be accurate, with the leading questions having no affect on accuracy.

This suggests EWT is more accurate and less affected by leading questions in real life than in lab studies. Suggest studying EWT in labs is inaccurate