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Memory Flashcards

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1
Q

Define memory

A

Memory is the process of coding, storing and retrieving information from either our STM or LTM

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2
Q

2 differences between LTM and STM

A

STM= temporary memory store holding limited amounts of information= 7+/-2
Codes acoustically

LTM= permenant store that holds unlimited amounts of information- capacity= potentially unlimited
Codes semantically

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3
Q

Define capacity and duration

A

Capacity is the amount of information an individual can retain in their memory

Duration is how long a memory trace can be held before it is forgotten

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4
Q

What was Baddeleys process

A

Participants were presented with 1 to 4 lists of worlds with acoustically similar words, acoustically dissimilar words, semantically similar words, and semantically dissimilar words. Words were presented 1 art a time and pp. had to learn these before being tested on their recall immediately and after 20 minutes.
With the idea that immideately tested STM
And after 20 minutes tested LTM

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5
Q

What year did baddeley do his research

A

The year 1966

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6
Q

What did baddeley conclude and what was a strength and weakness of his research

A

STM- prefers to code acoustically
LTM- prefers to code semantically

Strength- his conclusion stood the test of time and was used in the creation of the MSM by Atkinson and Shiffrin

Weakness- artificial task, with no meaning to the participants, lacks real world application and pop validity.

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7
Q

Whop were the two researchers who studied the capacity of STM

A

Jacob’s
Miller

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8
Q

What was Jacob’s study on STM about

A

Research into digit recall span, researcher would read out a number of digits and the participants would have to recall this correctly, if they managed to do this, the sequence would progressively get longer (eg: 3,4,5,6) until they can’t recall anymore.

This would indicate the capacity of STM for the participants.

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9
Q

Results and strength of Jacob’s study

A

Results= participant average was 9 digits and 7 letters

Strength= it has been replicated multiple times and the findings have been validated , as the study has stood the test of time. This suggests that Jacob’s study’s is a valid test for digit span in STM.

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10
Q

What did George miller do in his 1956 study

A

Miller made observations of people in their every day life, and found most people could absorb around 7+/-2 chunks of information at a time in their STM

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11
Q

What is a counter argument to Millers study in 1956

A

Cowan who retreated the sty and found the STM actually only can storer around 4 chunks of information - disproving Millers original estimation and suggesting its a lower value

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12
Q

What did perterson and Peterson study in 1959

A

Peterson and Peterson 1959 study:
Participants had to remember nonsense triagrams of three unrelated letters and a three digit number. The interval times between memory and recall progressively increased by 3 increments eg: 3,6,9,12,15,18 seconds

And to refrain for participants doing maintenance rehearsal. They were asked to countdown from the three digit number they had to remember, eg: 103,102,101…

They then found that the STM had a duration of around 18 seconds as only 10% recalled correctly after this amount of time

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13
Q

What is a weakness of Peterson and Peterson study

A

It has low external validity due to the artificial diagrams, they used which had no meaning to participants

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14
Q

Study of duration by Bahrick et al. (1975)

A

Bahrick asked participants to record the names of individuals they had gone to school with in two conditions
The first condition was a free recall where they had no visual aid to help them remember.
The second recall had a visual aid of a yearbook class photo.

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15
Q

What was the results of Bahrick et als???

A

Within the first condition=

With yearbook aid, 60% within 15yrs
Without yearbook aid, 30% within 48yrs

Within the second condition=

With yearbook aid, 90% accuracy - 15yrs
Without yearbook aid, 70% accuracy -48yrs

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16
Q

Strengths and weaknesses of Bahrick et al. Study

A

High external validity, due to the meaningful memory, such as names and faces, research since then hasn’t seen as good results due to meaningless images, making recall rates for so his study must be more effective of the true duration of LTM, as there wasn’t any artifical stimulus

However, some people may have revisited their yearbook in recent years for nostalgia and therefore recognise the names and faces as they’ve seen them more recently

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17
Q

What year did baddeley conduct his study on coding

A

1966

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18
Q

What was the procedure of baddeley study in coding

A

Participants were presented with 4 lists of word=
Group 1= acoustically similar (cat,cab,bab)
Group 2= acoustically dissimilar (pit,flew)
Group 3= semantically similar= (great,big)
Group 4=semantically dissimilar (good,hot)
Words were presented one at a time as pp. were asked to recall these after 1 minute and after 20- with the idea that 20 tested LTM and 1 tested STM!

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19
Q

What was the results of baddeleys study

A

Participants struggled to recall order of acoustically similar words
- acoustic confusion

After 20 minutes people struggled to order semantically similar words
- semantic confusion

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20
Q

So what type of coding does STM prefer

A

Acoustic

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21
Q

And what type of coding does LTM prefer?

A

Semantic

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22
Q

What was good about baddeleys study on memory

A

A standardised procedure which is- replicable, reliability (repeated) and valid

Study stood the test of time and we later use his conclusion in the creation of the MSM

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23
Q

What’s one of the weaknesses in baddeleys study

A

The word list had no personal meaning to participants so baddeley test might not tell us about coding in different memory tasks= low real world application

Other ways of coding rather than just acoustic or semantic

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24
Q

Who proposed the ides of the multi store model

A

Atkinson and shiffrin on 1968

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25
Q

The MSM is made up of three _________ stores called:
The ________ register
_____-____ memory
_____-____ memory

A

Unitary stores
The sensory register
Short term memory
Long term memory

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26
Q

The MSM suggests that information is transferred from one store to another in a

A

Fixed linear sequence/ fashion

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27
Q

Give details about the sensory register

A

It’s the memory store for all 5 senses including iconic (visual information) echoing (sound information) and therefore info can be coded differently, as described as modality specific

Our sensory register has an unknown capacity (supposedly unlimited) and a very limited duration of less that 1 second

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28
Q

Tell me about the processes of the STM and LTM in the MSM

A

Information that is attended to is passed to the STM from the sensory register, which has a limited capacity of 7+/-2 chunks and duration of 18-30 secs.

Info in STM coded acoustically- maintenance rehearsal to keep info in STM- therefore after elaborate rehearsal information is transferred to the LTM which has an unlimited capacity and duration. Info in LTM is coded semantically

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29
Q

Who was the case of HM????

A

A patient suffering from seizures and blackouts throughout his upbringing die to a damage to his skull in his childhood. He had his hippocampus removed and therefore was unable to form new LT memories and retrieve anything from the last decade.

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30
Q

Why is HM a strength of the MSM

A

Supports the idea that LTM and STM are unitary stores and even separate in the brain

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31
Q

Why can’t we always rely on case studies?

A

Case studies are specific to the individual, it is considering therefore is incomparable and not replicable so we have to be cautious when generalising to a wider population.

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32
Q

What case study can you use the evaluate the MSM

A

He MSM stating STM+LTM unitary store but Shallice and Warrington study on patient KF, suggested this to not be true.
STM for digits poor when read to him aloud but recall was much better when he was able to read them
-suggests more than one STM store-one for verbal and one for non verbal info.
Challenges MSM depiction!!!!

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33
Q

What can we use to support the MSM in an evaluation question

A

Research that the LTM and STM being different stores was provided by Badelley 1966
1 of 4 lists acoustic and semantic dissimilar and similar words- acoustic confusion and semantic confusion
Shows there are two types of memory

CA= despite such apparent support, we develop personal memories rather than artificial information.

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34
Q

What can we say about the outdated nature of the MSM

A

Atkinson and shiffrin based the multi store model off of evidence available at the time which showed STM and LTM as single memory stores-separate and independent.

However there is a lot of evidence that the LTM is not a single memory store for example episodic and procedural memory.

Combined with research that there is more than 1 STM suggests MSM is an oversimplified and outdated model or memory.

35
Q

What is the working memory model

A

WMM proposed by baddeley and hitch in 1974 as an updated version of the STM consisting of 4 main components which are qualitatively different in terms of capacity and coding

36
Q

What are the 4 components of the WMM

A

-Phonological loop
-visual spatial sketchpad
-episodic buffer
-central executive

37
Q

What is the phonological loop

A

The phonological loop is a store for verbal information consisting of the:
-articulatory system= inner voice
-phonological store= inner ear

38
Q

What is the Visio-spatial; sketchpad

A

A temporary store for visual and spatial information, made of two components:
-inner scribe= mental images
-Visual cache= 3 dimensional images

39
Q

What is the episodic buffer

A

Combines information from various sources into chunks or episodes in the time sequence. It has an important function whereby it integrates material from LTM to meet needs if WM

40
Q

What is the central executive

A

This is the supervision of the WMM
It is in control of attention and allocates tasks to the slave system.
The CE has very limited capacity and flexible coding

41
Q

What is a strength of the WMM with shallice and Warrington case study=

A

Increased models validity + reliability
The patient of KF had poor STM ability for verbal information but could process visual information.
Supports the WMM that there are separate stores for the STM- increases real world application- as there is the PL and VSS
WMM therefore a credible resource for memory

42
Q

What is a CA of the Shallice and Warrington case study to support the WMM

A

Case studies are only specific to the individual its considering, therefore cannot be generalised to the wider public

43
Q

What can we say about Braver et al. Experiment using brain scans

A

A strength of the WMM is the research on the CE as the main organiser of information.
Braver et al gave their participants a task involving the CE while having a brain scan, found greater activity in prefrontal cortex which increased as the task got harder.
Coveys idea that the CE acts as the head of the model- sub system functions!

44
Q

What are the 3 types of LTM proposed by Tulving (1985)

A

-Episodic memory
-procedural memory
-semantic memory

45
Q

What is interference

A

When two lots of info become confused in the memory- with one memory blocking another, causing one or both of the memories to be forgotten or distorted.

46
Q

What type of interference is when old memories affect the recall of new information

A

Proactive interference

47
Q

What is retroactive interference

A

Where new memories affect the recall of old information

48
Q

What was McGeoch and McDonald’s study that supports retroactive interference

A

Changed the amount of similarities between two sets of materials. They had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy. Then they had to remember a new list:

Group 1- synonyms
Group 2- antonyms
Group 3- words unrelated to original list
Group 4- nonsense syllables
Group 5- three digit numbers
Group 6- no new list

When asked to recall original list of words- interference was strongest with most similar words (synonyms). Suggests interferences is strongest when the memories are similar.

49
Q

What did baddeley and hitch’s study say about interference

A

Asked rugby players to try to remember the names of the teams they had played s far in that season, week by week . Some players had missed games so for some the last game was last week for others last month. They found recall didn’t depend on how long ago the matches took place- but the matches they played in the meantime.
Supports retroactive interference

50
Q

What is retrieval failure

A

A theory that argues that forgetting occurs due to the absence of appropriate cues/ triggers.

51
Q

What does the encoding specificity principle argue

A

Argues that for a cue to be helpful in recall, it has to be present at encoding and retrieval. If the cues are different at encoding and retrieval there will be some forgetting

52
Q

What are the two types of forgetting in the encoding specificity principle

A
  • context- dependant forgetting
  • state dependant forgetting
53
Q

What is context dependent forgetting

A

being in a different place at recall may inhibit memory. The external cues available at learning (encoding) are different from those at recall which leads to retrieval failure. E.g. classroom vs exam hall.

54
Q

What is the state dependant theory

A

being in a different mood/state of arousal at recall may inhibit memory. The internal cues at learning (encoding) are different from those at recall, which leads to retrieval failure. E.g. drunk vs sober.

55
Q

what are eyewitnesses

A
  • someone who has seen or witnessed a crime, usually present at the time of the incident.

They use their memory of the crime to give their testimony or a ‘reconstruction’ of what happened.

56
Q

What can eyewitness testimony accuracy be affected by

A

Misleading information
Anxiety

57
Q

What is Lotus and Palmers 1974 study

A

They arranged for participants (students) to watch film clips of car accidents and
then gave them questions about the accident. In the critical question (leading
question), participants were asked to describe:
‘how fast the cars were going when
they hit each other?’ This is a leading question because the verb ‘hit’ suggests the speed the car was growing. There were 5 groups of participants. Each was given a
different verb in the critical question. These were ‘hit’, ‘collided’, ‘contacted’,
‘bumped’ and ‘smashed.’

58
Q

What was the findings of lotus and Palmers 1974 study

A

The mean estimated speed was calculated for each group. The mean estimated
speed for contacted was 31.8mph and for smashed was 40.5mph. The leading
question biased the eyewitnesses’ recall of the event.

59
Q

How would the researcher bias explanation explain the findings of Loftus and Palmers study

A

not because the wording has changed their memory; it just influences how they choose to answer. E.g. smashed makes them think faster, so they estimate higher.

60
Q

How would the substitution explanation explain the findings of Loftus and Palmers study

A

The wording actually changes the participant’s memory of the film clip.

This is supported by the finding that those who heard smashed were far more likely to report seeing broken glass (when there wasn’t any) than those who heard hit.

61
Q

What is post-event discussion

A

This occurs when a witness to a crime discusses it with another witness or someone else.

This means that their eyewitness testimonies may become contaminated and therefore affects the accuracy of their recall of the event.

This is because the witness combines (mis)information from other witnesses with their own memories.

62
Q

What was Gabbert et al. (2003) study

A

They studied participants in pairs. Each participant watched a video of the same crime, but the crime was filmed from different points of view. This meant that each participant could see elements of the event that the other could not.

For example, only one of the participants
could see the title of a book being carried by a young woman. Both participants then
discussed what they had seen before individually completing a test of recall.

63
Q

What was Gabbert et al. (2003) study

A

They studied participants in pairs. Each participant watched a video of the same crime, but the crime was filmed from different points of view. This meant that each participant could see elements of the event that the other could not.

For example, only one of the participants
could see the title of a book being carried by a young woman. Both participants then
discussed what they had seen before individually completing a test of recall.

64
Q

What was Gabbert et al. 2003 findings

A

The researchers found that 71% of the participants mistakenly recalled aspects of the event that they did not see in the video but had picked up in the discussion.

The corresponding figure in the control group, where there was no discussion, was 0%. Gabbert et al. concluded that witnesses often go along with each other, either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong.

This is called memory conformity.

65
Q

What is a strength of research into misleading information

A

Real world application.

strength of all of the research into misleading information is that it has hugely important practical uses in the real world where the consequences of inaccurate EWT can be very serious indeed.

This therefore supports the external validity of the research on misleading information affecting EWT.

66
Q

What is a weakness of EWT research studies

A

Weakness of EWT research study groups

There is evidence that older people are less accurate than younger people when
giving eyewitness reports. Research has found that people in 18-25 and 35-45-year
age groups are more accurate than the 55-78 year age group.
However, all age groups were more accurate when identifying people own their own age.

As studies tend to use younger confederates as the target to identify, this may mean that some age groups appear less accurate when in fact this may not be true. Therefore,
the studies may tell us little about the effects of misleading info on EWT.

67
Q

What is the cognitive interview

A

A method of interviewing eyewitness to help retrieve more accurate memories of events. This is structured into 4 techniques based on the psychological insights

68
Q

What are the four stages of the cognitive interview

A

Report everything
Reinstate the context
Reverse the order
Change the perspective

69
Q

What is the report everything stage of the CI

A

Witness is encouraged to include every single detail of events, even if irrelevant.
Witnesses may not realise some details are important
Details can trigger more memories to be recalled

70
Q

What is the reinstate the context stage of the CI

A

Imagine and return back to the original crime scene, this disrupts the effect of expectations and schemes on recall. The schemas you have for a particular setting generates expectations of what would have happened. It is the schema that is recalled rather than actual factual events

71
Q

What is the reverse the order stage in the CI

A

Different chronological order than original sequence, from final point to first point.
Prevents expectations of how the event should have happened
Prevents dishonesty, harder to lie when recalling backwards

72
Q

What is the change perspective stage of the CI

A

Changing perspective, viewpoint from another person.
This elevates the chances of schemas or expectations

73
Q

What is a disadvantage of the cognitive interview

A

Time consuming. Special training needed, many establishments aren’t able to provide spacing for more than a few hours. Only effective when used appropriately/ correctly.

74
Q

What are some strengths of the cognitive approach

A

Research suggested reinstate and report everything betters recall rates
Confirmed police suspicious about some CI stages being more effective than others
Increased credibility + appreciation amongst police.
CA= reinstate context, psychological harm- triggering trauma, reinforcing fears which can be seen as unethical

John Ken et al. Combination of meta analysis, shows enhanced CI consistency
Increased rates of correct info compared to standard interview rates (81%)
CA= however, 61% incorrect info using CI compared to standards interview rates
Emphasising practice elements and benefits for police. Greater chance of catching criminal- bettering society.
But cost benefit analysis consider potential for incorrect information
Testimonies must be treated with caution.

75
Q

What is anxiety?

A

A state of emotional and physical arousal. The emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension. Physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweating.

76
Q

How do some psychologists believe anxiety negatively effects recall

A

creates physiological arousal in the body which prevents us paying attention to important cues, so recall is worse.

77
Q

How do some psychologists believe anxiety positively effects recall

A

physiological arousal from anxiety triggers the fight or flight response which increases our alertness and improves our memory for the event because we become more aware of cues in the situation.

78
Q

What was Johnson and Scott’s 1976 procedure into a inert affecting EWT

A

Conducted research where they told participants they were going to take part in a lab study. They were asked to sit in a waiting room. (This was part of the study but the pps didn’t know this!)

Unbeknownst to them, the participants had previously been placed in one of 2 conditions; low anxiety or high anxiety.

Depending on which condition they were in, participants witnesses a different scene whilst sitting in the waiting room.

79
Q

What was the two conditions of Johnson and Scotts study into anxiety effects on EWT

A

Low anxiety: Participants heard an argument taking place in the next room (raised voices)
man walk into the waiting room, carrying a pen and with grease/oil on his hands

High anxiety: Participants heard the same argument taking place in the next room (raised voices)
the sound of breaking glass.
saw a man walk into the waiting room, carrying a paper knife covered in blood!

80
Q

What was the findings of Johnson and Scotts 1976 study into anxiety effects of EWTs

A

It was found that 49% of pps from the low anxiety condition were able to correctly identify the man compared to only 33% from the high anxiety condition.

demonstrated the weapon focus effect= when a person is experiencing high anxiety, they focus all of their attention on the weapon instead of any other details.

This makes recall difficult and you cannot recall much else!

81
Q

What is an ethical issue with Johnson and Scotts study?

A

Ethical issues with participant wellbeing
Possible psychological harm- watching a man with a knife would be distressing. Real life studies, more useful, decreased ethical issues, no manipulation of event occurrence.

Suggests it’s difficult to test EWT in the lab, less controlled natural experiments are the only way to test it.

82
Q

What is a strength of Johnson and Scott’s research into anxiety effects on EWT

A

Practice applications of research
If we relate cause and effect, high anxiety= reduced ability to recall events. Ensure potential witnesses are handled sensitively and with care- possibly involving counsellors.

Research- real life value, highly beneficial!

83
Q

How has Yuille and Cutshall’s study contradicted the findings of Johnson and Scotts s 1976 study

A

Yuille and Cutshall conducted a real life study in Canada where a shop owner shot a thief dead. 13 witnesses, interviewed 4-5 months after the crime.
Compared interviews with original police interviews- finding witnesses were accurate in their accounts.

High stressed pp. were 85% accurate
Lowest stressed pp. were 75% accurate

84
Q

How has Yuille and Cutshall’s study contradicted the findings of Johnson and Scotts s 1976 study

A

Yuille and Cutshall conducted a real life study in Canada where a shop owner shot a thief dead. 13 witnesses, interviewed 4-5 months after the crime.
Compared interviews with original police interviews- finding witnesses were accurate in their accounts.

High stressed pp. were 85% accurate
Lowest stressed pp. were 75% accurate

psychology (10 decks)

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