Memory Flashcards
Short term memory (STM)
-memory for immediate events.
-seconds.
-disappears unless rehearsed.
-limited storage.
-coded acoustically (sound)
Long term memory (LTM)
-memory for past events.
-lasts anywhere from 2 mins to unlimited.
-coded semantically (meaning).
Who created the MSM?
Atkinson & Shiffrin (1996)
Features of multi-store model: sensory register
2 main stores:
-echoic memory = sound coded info.
-iconic memory = visual coded info.
Capacity:
-extremely high as eyes store strong data like over 100 cells.
Duration:
-short - under a second.
-little info from sensory register is passed onto STM.
Features of multi-store model: STM store
Coding:
-acoustic
Capacity:
-limited
-between 5-9 pieces of info.
Duration:
-without rehearsal, about 30 seconds.
Features of multi-store model: LTM a store
Coding:
-semantic
Capacity:
-unlimited
Duration:
-many years
Coding definition
The format in which memory is stored in.
Capacity definition
How much info can be held in a memory store.
Duration definition
How long info can be stored.
Features of STM - capacity : Jacobs (1887)
-measured digit span
-researcher read out 4, then 5, etc digits until ppt couldn’t recall order correctly.
-mean span for digits = 9.3
-mean spam for letters = 7.3
Evaluation of Jacobs
-been replicated.
-old research without adequate controls.
-ppts could have been distracted when testing (confounding variable).
-confirmed by controlled study (Bopp & Verhaeghen).
Features of STM - capacity : Miller (1956)
Noted things come in sevens:
-7 deadly sins, 7 days of week etc.
- chunking improves STM. (Grouping digits or letters into chunks).
- 7 plus or minus 2
Evaluation of Miller
:( may have overestimated capacity.
:( Cowan (2001) suggests memory storage is more limited to 4 plus or minus 1.
Research on coding : Baddeley (1966a, 1966b)
Gave diff lists of words to 4 groups of ppts:
-acoustically similar
-acoustically dissimilar
-semantically similar
-semantically dissimilar
Ppts shown words & asked to recall in correct order:
- did worse in acoustically similar words .
- after 20 mins , did worse with semantically similar words.
-suggests info is coded acoustically in STM & semantically in LTM.
Evaluation of Baddeley
:) identifies 2 different memory stores.
:) helps MSM.
:( artificial stimuli & cannot be applied to real life.
:( ignores visual coding.
Features of STM - duration : Peterson & Peterson (1959)
-24 students in 8 trials given consonant syllable (JKG).
-given number & have to count backwards to prevent rehearsal.
-varied between (3,6,9,12,15,18) seconds.
-3 seconds = 80% recall.
-18 seconds = 3% recall.
Suggested STM duration may be about 18 seconds without rehearsal.
Evaluation of Peterson & Peterson
:( artificial stimuli
:( lacks external validity
:) not fairly meaningless material (phone numbers)
Features of LTM - duration: Bahrick et al (1975)
-studied 392 American ppts aged 17-74.
-obtained yearbooks from high school.
Test 1: photo recognition consisted of 50 photos, some from school, some not.
Test 2: free recall, simply list who they remembered.
-Ppts within 15 years, were 90% accurate in photo recognition. 48 years were 70% accurate.
-Free recall within 15 years were 60% accurate, within 48 years, 30% accurate.
Suggests LTM can last up to lifetime for some material.
Evaluation of Bahrick et al
:) high external validity - meaningful memories (recall lower w meaningless memories -Shepard 1967)
:) historical validity
:( confounding variables - might look at yearbook often.
Mundane realism - common, usual task.
Features of sensory register - duration: Sperling (1960)
-ppts saw a grid of 12 digits and letters for 50 million seconds.
-asked to write down all 2 or heard tone after exposure & they would write indicated row.
-when asked to recall whole thing 42% recall.
-when asked to recalls one row 75% recall.
Strength of MSM: The case of HM
HM went through brain surgery to relieve his epilepsy.
Faulty procedure.
His hippocampus was removed.
-he could not form LTM.
-he would read same magazine repeatedly without remembering it.
-he had a great STM & performed well on immediate memory span.
:) shows that STM & LTM are different stores.
Limitation of MSM: Shallice & Warrington (1970)
-Found evidence of more than 1 STM store.
-Studied a client called KF who had amnesia.
-KF had poor recall of digits when read out loud, but good recall when he read them visually himself.
& also found a distinction in store: one for verbal and non-verbal sounds.
Found that there are 3 types of STM: verbal, visual and spatial.
Limitation of MSM: Craig & Watkins
Prolonged reversal not needed for transfer to LTM.
Found that type of rehearsal is more important than amount.
Elaborative rehearsal needed for long term storage (when you link info to existing knowledge).
Strength of MSM: Baddeley
Showed STM & LTM are different
Counterpoint: not valid model of how memory works: not meaningful information.
Types of LTM: Tulving (1985) (also limitation of MSM)
Criticism of MSM is that each memory store is classified as a unitary store.
Episodic, semantic & procedural memories.
Episodic memories
-Refers to ability to recall events from our lives e.g. visit to dentist, breakfast.
-These memories are time-stamped so you recall when and what happened.
-Includes several elements: people, places objects etc.
-Conscious effort required for recall.
Semantic memory
-Contains shared knowledge of work like an encyclopaedia.
-Knowledge of: how to apply to uni, concept of animals, meaning of words etc.
-Not time-stamped. Don’t remember when you learnt about concepts.
-Less personal and more factual.
-Tulving says less likely than episodic to forget.
Procedural memory
-Memory for actions, skills.
-Recalled without conscious awareness or effort (automatic). E.g. change gears, riding bike.
-If you try to describe action, task becomes harder.
Strength of types of LTM: Clive Wearing
Episodic memory damaged. He had amnesia that damaged hippocampus. Before this he was a world class musician & he could still play piano well but couldn’t remember musical education. Knows he has kids but doesn’t know names. He recognises wife but if she leaves room for few minutes he’ll act as tho he hasn’t seen her for years.
Supports Tulving’s view as it shows diff types of stores & one can be damaged while others are unaffected.
Counterpoint: lack of controls as no way of controlling what happened before memory loss. Difficult to judge how much worse memory is.
Limitation of types of LTM: Buckner & Petersen (1996)
Conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas of the brain.
Concluded:
- episodic = right prefrontal cortex
- semantic = left prefrontal cortex
Other research links left with encoding of episodic and right with episodic retrieval (Tulving).
Challenges neurophysiological evidence to support types of LTM as there is poor agreement on where each type is located.
Brain scans are reliable and valid. Objective measure - no subjectivity.
Strength of types of LTM: Belleville et al (2006)
Understanding LTM helps people with memory problems.
E.g. people age and have memory loss but research shows this is specific to episodic memory.
-Belleville devised intervention to improve episodic memories in older people.
-Trained group had better episodic memory than control group.
Distinguishing types of LTM enables treatments.
Limitation of types of LTM : Tulving (2002)
-He says episodic and semantic are in the same store - declarative memories (actively recalled).
-Concluded its impossible to have functioning episodic memory with damaged semantic.
However, Hodges & Patterson found that some people with Alzheimer’s can form new episodic memories but not semantic.
Working memory model (WMM) : Baddeley & Hitch (1974)
Part of STM you are using when you are working on something. The mental space that is active when temporarily storing info.
4 parts:
-central executive
-phonological loop
-visuo-spatial sketch pad
-episodic buffer
Central executive
Supervisory role. Monitors incoming data and divides attention by allocating subsystems to tasks.
Limited processing capacity & doesn’t store info.
Phonological loop (PL)
Deals with auditory info & preserves order in which information arrives:
-phonological store - stores words you hear.
- articulating process - allows maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds/words in loop). Capacity of loop is believed to be 2 seconds worth of what you can say.