Memory

Question 1

What 3 ways are long term and short term memory different

Answer 1

1) duration
2) capacity
3) coding

Question 2

What is the short term memory duration

Answer 2

18-30 seconds without rehearsal

Question 3

Experiment for short term memory duration

Answer 3

Conducted by Peterson and Peterson (1959)
1) 24 undergraduate students were presented with a consonant trigram
2) they were then asked to count backwards in threes to stop them from rehearsing the trigram
3) After intervals of 3 -18 seconds, participants had to stop counting and repeat the trigram
4) this was repeated using different trigrams.

Question 4

Results of Peterson and Peterson (1959) STM duration experiment

Answer 4

1) participants could remember 90% of trigrams after 3 seconds
2) 20% after 9 seconds
3) less than 10% after 18 seconds

Question 5

Strengths of Peterson and Peterson experiment

Answer 5

1) a strength of this study is that it is a lab experiment where variables are tightly controlled for example, how long the trigrams are presented for.
2) The procedure can also be replicated to test if results are reliable. For example, nonsense trigrams can be given to participants today to see if the duration of short term memory has gotten better or worse

Question 6

Weaknesses of the Peterson and Peterson experiment

Answer 6

1) Trigrams are an unrealistic thing to remember as we do not remember meaningless trigrams in regular day to day life. Therefore it can be said that the experiment has low ecological validity.

2) the trigrams presented in earlier trials may have interfered with when partcipants came to remember trigrams in later trials so we do not know if results gained from participants were due to forgetting the trigrams or being confused due to interference.

Question 7

Experiment for long term memory - duration

Answer 7

It was conducted by Bahrick et al (1975)
They tested how well 400 American participants (17-74 years old) could remember their former classmates by asking them to identify pictures, matching names to pictures and recalling names with no picture cue.

Question 8

Results of Bahrick et al study

Answer 8

1) even after 48 years, when asked to link names and faces, accuracy was around 70%.
2) however when asked to free recall the names of the classmates, accuracy dropped to 30%
3) recall is much higher with cues suggesting that cues are often needed to help retrieval

Question 9

Duration of long term memory

Answer 9

Lifetime

Question 10

Strengths of Bahrick et al experiment

Answer 10

1) Bahrick’s experiment has high external validity because the researchers investigated meaningful material therefore this study has higher ecological validity than Peterson’s study which uses nonsense trigrams, whereas remembering names is a day to day task.

Question 11

Weaknesses of Bahrick et al’s experiment

Answer 11

1) as Bahrick’s study is a natural experiment, the experimenter had less control of the independent variable thus it is likely that some of the names were rehearsed eg, if classmates had still been in touch. This would be a confounding variable making results potentially invalid
2) it looked at a very specific type of information, names of classmates. This type of information is meaningful and therefore not all LTMs remain there for a lifetime.

Question 12

What is the capacity of the short term memory

Answer 12

Miller (1956) concluded it was 5-9 items
Cowan (2001) concluded capacity was about 4 items

Question 13

Experiment for capacity of short term memory

Answer 13

It was conducted by Jacobs (1887)
He developed the serial digit span technique. The researcher read out 4 digits ans the participant was asked to repeat it back immediately. More digits were added until the partcipants could no longer accurately repeat the digits back.

Question 14

Results of Jacob’s study

Answer 14

On average about 9 digits and 7 letters were correctly recalled. This capacity increased with age during childhood.

Question 15

Evaluation of Jacob’s study

Answer 15

1) one problem with jacob’s research is that it lacks ecological validity- learning random lists of numbers and repeating them back is not a realistic method to test the capacity of STM . More meaningful information may be recalled better.

2) another problem with Jacob’s study is that previous sequences may have confused participants in later trials so we do not know if that factor becomes a confounding variable.

3) as Jacob’s study was conducted so long ago, we cannot be sure extraneous variables were controlled . However the experiment has been repeated and the study does have validity.

Question 16

The 3 possible ways information can be coded

Answer 16

1) Acoustic coding: storing information in terms of the way it sounds
2) semantic coding: coding information in terms of its meaning
3) visual coding: storing information in terms of how it looks

Question 17

Experiment for coding of memory

Answer 17

It was conducted by Baddeley (1966)
Partcipants were shown a sequence of 5 words under one of four conditions ans then immediately had to write them down in order:
1) acoustically similar words
2) acoustically dissimilar words
3) semantically similar words
4) semantically dissimilar words

Question 18

Results of Baddeley’s experiment

Answer 18

1) when tested immediately (STM) participants were least accurate with the acoustically similar words
2) when tested 20 minutes later (LTM) participants were least accurate with semantically similar words.

Question 19

Evaluation of Baddeley’s experiment

Answer 19

1) Baddeley’s experiment has low ecological validity. This means findings cannot be applied to real life as the words given were a meaningless list. As a consequence this does not tell us much about coding memories in everyday life.

2) Baddeley’s experiement does identify a clear difference in the coding of the two memory stores making his experiment more accurate.

Question 20

Who developed the multi store model

Answer 20

Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968)

Question 21

How is information processed through the multi store model

Answer 21

1) first information is detected from the environment by the sense organs and enters the sensory register
2) if attention is payed to this information in this SR then it enters the short term memory
3) if the information in the STM is rehearsed it enters the long term memory.
4) to transfer information from LTM to STM, the information has to be retrieved.

Question 22

Sensory register - duration , capacity , coding

Answer 22

Duration - very brief (250 Milliseconds)
Capacity - unlimited
Coding - depends on the sense (visual auditory taste smell touch)

Question 23

Sensory register stores

Answer 23

Iconic store - visual images
Echoic store - auditory sense
Haptic store -physical senses of touch
Gustatory store -taste information
Olfactory store - smell

Question 24

Evidence for the sensory register

Answer 24

1) Sperling (1960) carried out a lab experiment, where participants were shown a grid with three rows of four letters for 50 milliseconds.
2) They then had to immediately recall either the whole grid or a random row indicated by a tone.

Question 25

Results and conclusion of Sperling (1960) experiment

Answer 25

When participants were asked to recall a particular row, participants could recall an average of 3 out of 4 items.
Participants did not know what row was going to be selected but still managed to recall most of the items suggesting almost the whole grid was in their sensory register showing capacity is very large but duration is short.

Question 26

Evaluation of Sperling’s experiment

Answer 26

1) as it was a lab experiment, it was highly scientific and variables would be controlled.
2) it is also easy to replicate the study allowing scientists today to find a change
3) as it is in an articifical setting means it lacks ecological validity
4) it is an artificial task as remembering random letters is not a common task so lacks ecological validity

Question 27

Short term memory -capacity, duration, coding

Answer 27

Capacity - 5-9 items
Duration - 30s
Coding - acoustic

Question 28

Long term memory - capacity , duration , coding

Answer 28

Capacity - unlimited
Duration - lifetime
Coding - semantic

Question 29

Strengths of the multi- store model

Answer 29

1) research evidence from Murdoch’s study found that when participants were given a list of 10-40 words, the serial position effect occurred. He found that they could recall words at the beginning and end but not in the middle. The words at the beginning have gone into the LTM due to rehearsal (primacy effect) and the words at the end have gone into our STM (recency effect)

2)Beardsley (1977) used brain scanning to investigate brain activity and found that the different parts of the brain active during STM and LTM tasks. For example the pre frontal cortex was active during STM task but not LTM tasks. He also found the hippocampus was active during LTM. This suggests that the STM and LTM are seperate stores due to brain scans.

Question 30

Weaknesses of the multi store model

Answer 30

1) it lacks ecological validity. This is because in most supporting studies , participants were asked to complete unrealistic tasks which didn’t test their memories relatable to every day life eg random lists and trigrams. In real life, we tend to form memories related to meaningful information suggesting MSM lacks external validity.

2) it is believed that the STM can be divided into at least 2 stores, one for visual information and one for auditory information. In support patient K.F sustained brain damage after a motorcycle accident which left him impaired for verbal information but his visual STM showed no impairment . This suggests that K.F has damaged just part of his STM and therefore that it is not a unitary store like the MSM argued.

Question 31

Types of long term memory

Answer 31

1) episodic memory
2) semantic memory
3) procedural memory

Question 32

What is Episodic memory

Answer 32

1) it’s the memory that is a record of personal experiences such as when their birthday is.
2) the strength of episodic memories is influenced by emotions present at the time for example traumatic experiences are well recalled due to high e emotional content. It also affected by degree of processing.
3) pre frontal cortex is associated with initial coding, with consolidation associated in the neo cortex however connecting together to make a full memory is in the hippocampus.

Question 33

What is semantic memory

Answer 33

1) this type of memory contains all knowledge (facts, concepts and meanings) an individual has learned.
2) the strength of semantic memories is dependant on the degree of processing occuring during coding.
3) coding is mainly associated with the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain . Semantic memory is stored in the hippocampus

Question 34

What is procedural memory

Answer 34

1) a type of memory associated with skills eg how to drive, how to ride a bike etc. Procedurak memory does not require conscious thought, it allows people to multi task with other tasks that require cognitive attention
2) Procedural LTM is associated mainly with the neocortex brain areas of primary motor cortex, cerebellum and pre frontal cortex. It doesn’t need the hippocampus to function.

Question 35

Differences between the three types of LTMs

Answer 35

1) One difference between the different types of LTMs is that both episodic and semantic memories are conscious but procedural is unconscious.

2) semantic and episodic memories tend to be stored in the hippocampus whilst procedural memories are stored in the cerebellum and motor cortex.

3) we do not know when we learnt semantic or procedural memories but episodic memories are stored with reference to time and place.

Question 36

Strengths of types of long term memory

Answer 36

1) Tulving (1989) did an experiment where he asked participants to take part in some memory tasks which required them to use semantic and procedural memories whilst have PET scans. He found when the task required the use of semantic memory then there was more brain activation in the frontal and temporal lobes whereas when the memory was episodic, then the prefrontal cortex was used suggesting that different LTMS use different parts of the brain.

2) Finke (2012) reported the case of PM, a 68 year old professional cellist who suffered brain damage leading to severe episodic and semantic memory difficulties. However, even though he could not recall musical facts, he could still read and play music suggesting procedural memory was unaffected.

3) types of LTMs can be used in real life applications- as being able to identify different LTM stores has positive applications. Knowing episodic is a distinct store means it can be targeted in people with specific episodic memory difficulties. Belleville (2006) showed that it is possible to improve episodic memories in elderly people with impairments. It allows specific treatments to be developed.

Question 37

Weaknesses of types of long term memory

Answer 37

1) there is gender differences in LTMs suggesting that research on LTMs cannot be generalised to the population. Herlitz et al (1997) assessed LTM abilities in 1,000 Swedish participants and found females consistently performed better on tasks requiring episodic memory however there were no differences in semantic LTM ability.

Question 38

Who created the working memory model

Answer 38

Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

Question 39

What is the working memory model?

Answer 39

Baddeley and Hitch argues that STM is not a unitary store- it has sub stores and each is responsible for processing different types of information. STM is renamed as working memory.

Question 40

What are the 4 components of the WMM

Answer 40

1) central executive
2) phonological loop
3) visuo-spatial sketch pad
4) episodic buffer

Question 41

What is the central executive ?

Answer 41

1) it has overall control. It processes information in all sensory forms and decides which one if the slave systems are needed to complete them.
2) it is involved in problem solving /decision making
3) it has a limited capacity - it cannot make many decisions at the same time.

Question 42

What is the phonological loop

Answer 42

1) remembers word based information so it is active whenever you read, listen or speak words.
2) it is divided into 2 stores, phonological store and articulatory process
3) the phonological store acts as the inner ear and holds information in speech based form for 1-2 seconds.
4) articulatory process allows maintenance rehearsal of the word based information.

Question 43

What is the Visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 43

1) stores a limited amount of visual and spatial information for a brief period of time.
2) it is split into 2 stores, visual cache + inner scribe
3) visual cache stores visual data
4) inner scribe remembers arrangement of objects in space

Question 44

What is the episodic buffer

Answer 44

1) it was added after the year 2000. It acts as a backup which integrates information processed by other stores. It also records the order in which events happen.
2) under the control of the central executive and sends information to the LTM

Question 45

Coding and capacity of each store in WMM

Answer 45

Central executive - limited capacity , modality free
Phonological loop - two seconds capacity , acoustic coding
Visuo spatial sketchpad - three to four objects capacity , visual coding
Episodic buffer - 4 chunks capacity , stores visual, spatial and verbal info integrating it together

Question 46

Study to support WMM + results

Answer 46

1)Baddeley and Hitch (1976) conducted an experiment in which participants were asked to perform two tasks at the same time (dual task technique).
2) one task was a digital span task (repeating numbers) and a verbal reasoning task (answer true or false questions)
3) as number of digits increased in digital span task, participants took longer to answer the reasoning questions (only by a fraction of a second) ans none of the answers were wrong.
4) verbal reasoning task used central executive ans digital span task used phonological loop.

Question 47

Strengths of working memory model

Answer 47

1) one strength of the WMM is the brain scanning evidence to support the different components of the WMM. For example D’Esposito et al (1995) used fMRI scans to test this and found that the prefrontal cortex was activated when verbal and spatial tasks were performed together but not when performed seperately, suggesting this area is involved with central executive.

2) another strength of the working memory model is that it accounts for case studies like K.F (studied by shallice and Warrington 1970). Patient K.F was injured in a motorcycle accident. He could recall memories from LTM but not STM. He was able to remember visual images but not able to remember sounds suggesting there are at least 2 components within STM. This supports the idea of two slave systems (visuo spatial sketchpad and phonological loop).

Question 48

Weaknesses of working memory model

Answer 48

1) one weakness is that many studies supporting WMM especially dual task studies tend to be lab experiments where participants are required to recall random letters or numbers. The findings from these studies may lack ecological validity and tells us nothing about how the WMM works in everyday life. Furthermore participants under highly controlled conditions tend to show demand characteristics.

2) another weakness of the WMM is that the exact role of the central executive remains unclear. It isn’t clear how it works and what it does. It has been argued that it sends information to certain slave systems to carry out a task but this is vague. Eslinger and Damasio studied EVR who had a cerebral tumour removed. He had poor decision making skills suggesting his central executive was damaged but he could still perform reasoning tasks suggesting the central executive could have sub components.

Question 49

Forgetting definition

Answer 49

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

Question 50

What are the two main explanations of forgetting

Answer 50

1) interference including proactive and retroactive interference
2) retrieval failure due to absence of cues

Question 51

What is interference theory?

Answer 51

1) forgetting occurs in LTM because two memories are in conflict. This is more likely to occur when memories are similar . There are two types of interference, proactive and retroactive.
2) proactive interference is when an old memory disrupts the recall of a new memory.
3) retroactive is when a new memory interferes with an old memory.

Question 52

Research support for interference

Answer 52

Conducted by Mcgeoch and Mcdonald (1931)
1) six groups of participants had to learn a list of words till 100% accurate
2) five of those groups had to learn a new list. The words in the new list varied in terms of how similar they were.
3) all participants were then required to recall the first original list

Group 1- synonyms
Group 2- antonyms
Group 3- unrelated words
Group 4- nonsense syllables
Group 5- 3 digit numbers
Group 6- no new lost (control)

Question 53

Results of Mcgeoch and McDonald interference support

Answer 53

1) the control group recalled the most number of words as they had no interference task
2) out of the 5 groups, given another list, those who had to learn numbers did the best recalling the initial list of words
3) the group that had synonyms had the lowest recall score. This can be explained as interference occurred because the second list of words was similar to the first set. This shows how interference is more likely to occur when two pieces of information are similar.

Question 54

Strengths of interference as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 54

1) it is supported by many lab studies which have shown both types of interference lead to information in LTM being forgotten. For example, Mcgeoch and McDonald’s study supported interference theory. Also lab studies are well controlled and extraneous variables are minimised.

2) Baddeley and Hitch (1977) conducted a study where rugby union players who had played every match in the season and players who had missed some games due to injury were used to test interference in everyday life. Players were asked to recall the names of the teams they had played against earlier in the season. Players who had played more games, proportionally forgot more games than those who played less. Baddeley and hitch concluded this was due to retroactive interference as the new team names interfered with earlier team names.

Question 55

Weaknesses of interference as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 55

1) one Limitation of the interference explanation is that most supporting evidence is gathered from lab studies and use unrealistic material (lists of words). In real life we rarely remember random words. Thus supporting studies lack ecological validity.

2) another limitation of interference research is that in lab experiments, the time period between learning lists of words and recalling them tends to be short eg 20 mins. In real life, there tends to be much longer gaps when we learn new information. Therefore, supporting research may lack validity and not reflect how interference works in real life.

Question 56

What is retrieval failure due to abscence of cues

Answer 56

This theory argues that the information stored in the LTM cannot be retrieved due to a lack of cues. Cues are often needed to trigger a memory

Question 57

What is the encoding specificity principle

Answer 57

This principle (by tulving 1983) suggests that cues will help retrieval if the same cues are present during coding and retrieval. The closer the cue to the original cue, the more effective the cue is in the triggering the memory.

Question 58

Research supporting the encoding specificity principle

Answer 58

Tulving and pearlstone (1966) got participants to recall 48 words that belonged to 12 categories. As each word was presented, it was preceded by its category. If the cue was present at recall, then overall recall was 60%. If the cue was not present it fell to 40%. Retrieval of information is better when the cues trigger the memory.

Question 59

What is context dependant forgetting

Answer 59

This is when the environment during recall is different from the environment you were in when you were learning, leading to forgetting.

Question 60

Study to support context dependant forgetting

Answer 60

A study was conducted by Godden and Baddeley (1975).
18 divers were asked to learn a list of 36 unrelated words and then recall them
Each diver had to participate in 4 conditions:
-learn and recall on beach
-learn and recall underwater
-learn on beach, recall underwater and vice versa

Recall was better when they recalled in the same environment they learned in.

Question 61

What is state dependant forgetting

Answer 61

This is when your mood or psychological state during recall is different from the mood you were in when you were learning, leading to forgetting

Question 62

Study to support state dependant forgetting

Answer 62

A study was conducted by Carter and Cassaday (1998).
They gave participants antihistamines, making them slightly drowsy. Participants had to learn lists of words and then recall.
They were in 2 groups, where internal state and recalling were same and in the other 2, internal state mismatched .

Participants had recalled best when internal state matched learning and recall. This suggests that when internal cues are absent, forgetting is more likely.

Question 63

Strengths of retrieval failure due to absence of cues

Answer 63

1) there is a range of research that shows retrieval failure due to absence of cues is a major explanation for forgetting. For example Godden and Baddeley’s study shows that the context is an important cue when remembering information. The divers who had learned and recalled underwater remembered more than those whose contexts were mismatched.

2) the concept of context dependant cues has real life application. It suggest remembering the context or your internal state in which you encoded the memory may improve memory recall as shown in both carter and Cassaday’s study and Goddena and Baddeley’s study. Both these principles are used in the cognitive interview to help memory recall

Question 64

Weaknesses of retrieval failure due to absence of cues

Answer 64

1) retrieval cues do not always work since our learning is related to a lot more than just cues. Also many studies tend to focus on learning words which is not a task we do everyday. Therefore, many of the studies lack ecological validity and the overall picture of retrieval failure cannot be applied to real life

2) it is difficult to test the encoding specificity principle since we don’t know what cues are meaningful to individuals and how they are encoded during learning as we cannot prove exactly what cues enhanced learning.

Question 65

What is an eyewitness testimony

Answer 65

This refers to the account given by people of an event they have witnessed.

Question 66

What two things are the accuracy of eye witness testimony affected by

Answer 66

1) leading questions
2) post event discussion

Question 67

What is a leading question

Answer 67

A leading question is a question that suggests to the witness what answer is desired.

Question 68

Study to support leading questions

Answer 68

It was conducted by Loftus and Zanni.
Participants were shown a video of a car accident and then asked questions. When they were asked if they had seen “a” broken headlight, 7% of participants said yes.
When asked if they had seen “the” broken headlight, 17%of participants said yes, even though there was no broken headlight.

Question 69

What is post event discussion

Answer 69

When witnesses to an event discuss what they have experienced after the event. This leads to:
Memory contamination: witnesses mix information from other witnesses into their own memory

Memory conformity: witnesses pick up information from other witnesses because they want social approval or believe other witnesses are right and they are wrong

Question 70

Research to support post event discussion

Answer 70

It was conducted by Gabbert et Al.
60 students and 60 adults watched a girl stealing money from a wallet. They were either tested individually or in pairs. With Participants in the pair, only one saw the girl stealing, the other saw an alternate perspective. The participants discussed the video then completed a questionare.
71% of witnesses recalled information they had not actually seen and 60% said the girl was guilty.

Question 71

Strengths of effects of misleading information on EWT

Answer 71

1) one strength of research into effect of misleading information is that they are mainly lab studies. Therefore extraneous variables are well controlled, making it easier to make a conclusion about the effect of misleading information. Also studies can be replicated easily to see if results are reliable.

2) research into misleading information on the accuracy of EWT has applications to real life. This is because leading questions can affect witness memory so police must be careful on how they phrase questions when interviewing witnesses.

Question 72

Weaknesses of effects if misleading information on EWT

Answer 72

1) watching a video of an event such as a car accident in loftus’ study is very different to watching a real event in real time. Watching a staged event does not create anxiety and studies have shown that a small amount of anxiety increases accuracy so we could say results from lab studies are not valid.

2) in lab studies into EWT, there is risk of demand characteristics as participants may guess the aim of the experiment and give answers they feel the experimenter wants to hear. This affects validity of EWT research as participants may be giving answers that don’t reflect true memory. Yuille and Cutshall did a study to show impact of real life including on accuracy during EWT and found no effect of leading questions.

Question 73

Study showing real life incidents and accuracy of EWT

Answer 73

It was conducted by Yuille and Cutshall(1986).
There were 13 witnesses of a real crime (armed robbery) ans were interviewed 5 months after the event. Participants were asked 2 leading questions it see if it would affect accuracy. Recall was found to be accurate and the leading questions had no effect.

Question 74

How does anxiety affect the accuracy of EWT

Answer 74

Deffenbacher (1983) applied the Yerkes-Dodson law to EWT. Lower levels of anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy. Memory becomes more accurate as level of anxiety increases. However there is an optimal amount of anxiety that produces maximum accuracy and after this point, recall of the event suffers a drastic decline.

Question 75

What is the weapon focus effect

Answer 75

A crime may be committed and eye witnesses will be watching the event. Suddenly the perpetrator may pull out a weapon. Suddenly, the anxiety levels of the observers beings to rise and their focus shifts from the crime to the weapon.

Question 76

Research for weapon focus effect

Answer 76

Johnson and Scott (1976) -participants sat outside a laboratory and heard one of 2 situations from inside.
1) a friendly conversation followed by a man emerging carry a pen with on his hands (low anxiety condition)
2) an argument with smashing glass and overturned furniture followed by a man emerging with a blood stained paper knife (high anxiety condition)

All participants had to identify the man on the basis of 50 photos. Witnesses were 49% accurate in low anxiety condition and 33% accurate with the high anxiety condition.

Question 77

Example of how high anxiety can have positive effect on EWT

Answer 77

A study was conducted by Christianson and Hubinette (1993). They questioned 58 real witnesses to a bank robbery in Sweden. The witnesses were either victims or bystanders. It showed that all witnesses has good memories for details of the robbery itself. The witnesses that were more anxious (victims) had the best recall of all suggesting that high anxiety enhanced accurate recall.

Question 78

Evaluation of anxiety as a factor affecting EWT

Answer 78

1) weapon focus effect may not be caused by anxiety. Pickel (1998) who proposed that the reduced accuracy was due to surprise rather than anxiety. She arranged participants to watch a thief enter the hairdressing salon carry scissors, handgun, wallet, or a whole raw chicken. Identification was least accurate with high surprise conditions (chicken) than the high threat condition.

2) field studies sometimes lack control. For example Christianson and hubinettes study may have been affected by extraneous variables such as post event discussion or information they read about the event afterwards. However, as it is a natural study it still have high ecological validity.

3) the Yerkes Dodson law explanation is too simplistic as anxiety is difficult to measure accurately therefore we cannot be sure what exactly improves accuracy of EWT and what level of anxiety gives maximum accuracy.

4) it could be that anxiety affecting a person’s accuracy in recalling an event, it could be their personality characteristics. Individual differences in anxiety levels and accuracy of recall may not affect everyone in the same way.

Question 79

Who created the cognitive interview

Answer 79

Geiselman et Al in 1984

Question 80

What are the four principles of the cognitive interview

Answer 80

1) context reinstatement
2) report everything
3) recall in changed order
4) recall from alternate perspective

Question 81

What is context reinstatement

Answer 81

This is where the interviewer encourages the interviewee to mentally recreate both physical and psychological environment of the original environment.
The interviewer could say “recall the scene weather, how you were feeling etc”
This is intenddd to trigger memory and is based on context dependant and state dependant recall

Question 82

What is report everything

Answer 82

The interviewer encourages the interviewee to report every single detail of the event even if the details may be irrelevant.
The idea is that the trivial information may aid in recall of more important details.

Question 83

What is recall in changed order

Answer 83

The interviewer may try to ask to interviewee to repeat the order of events in reverse order. Recalling the event backwards prevents your pre existing scheme influencing what you recall.
Working backwards may also trigger extra memories and prevents dishonesty

Question 84

What is recall from a changed perspective

Answer 84

The interviewee is asked to recall the incident from multiple perspectives, imagining how it would’ve appeared to other witnesses at the time.
This disrupts the effects of schemas on recall.

Question 85

What is the enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 85

Fisher developed the enhanced CI which has the following principles:
1) should actively listen
2) ask open ended questions
3) pause after each response
4) avoid interruption
5) encourage use of imagery
6) adapt their language to suit the witness
7) avoid any judgmental comments
8) minimise distractions

Question 86

Strengths of cognitive interview

Answer 86

1)there is research evidence that CI generates from accurate information. Gieselman et Al (1986) created a staged situation where an intruder wearing a blue rucksack enters and steals a slide projector from a classroom. Participants are questioned using a standard interview or cognitive interview 2 days later. Participants were asked the misleading question “was the guy with the green backpack nervous”. Participants in the CI were less likely likely to recall the rucksack as green

2) a meta-analysis of 53 studies found an increase of 34% in the amount of correct information generated in the CI compared to a standard interview. Milne and Bull (2002) found that when participants were interviewed with a combination of report everything and “mental reinstatement” recall was much higher than just using “report everything” suggesting using multiple components of CI may be more beneficial.

Question 87

Weaknesses of the cognitive interview

Answer 87

1) the CI can be very time consuming, with the amount of time required not always available to the interviewer.

2) many of the studies Testung the effectiveness of CI tested volunteer’s EWT in a lab, which may not generalise findings to everyday life.

3) the CI required that the interviewer receives a lot of training in order to see results. Memon et al(1994) reported that when experienced detectives received relatively little training (4 hours) , it did not produce any significant increases in amount of information generated.