Memory Flashcards

Question

Evaluation for interference as an explanation of forgetting.

Answer 1

strength; support from real-life research, Baddeley & Hitch- rugby players (explain study), TMB it shows interference is a valid explanation for forgetting in a real life situation, therefore increases validity limitation; lacks external validity, Muller used an artificial stimuli to test retroactive interference (nonsense syllables) TMB it lacks eco validity- means may not reflect real life, limiting interference as an explanation of forgetting. limitation; better explanations, for example Anderson (2000) retrieval failure, in particular when info is not similar to each other. TMB suggests there are other attributes to forgetting, thus limiting interference as an explanation. limitation; individual differences- Kane & Engle (2000). Working memory spans effects interference levels. TMB shows that interference isn't a stand alone concept but depends on our working memory (STM) which varies for everyone, limiting interference.

Answer 2

when we encode a new memory we also encode the info that is around it too (cues). At recall, if we cannot remember the info it is because there is a lack of cues and the situation that we're in isn't the same. the memory is still available- we are just not able to access it- cue dependent forgetting.

Answer 3

greater the similarity between the encoding event and the retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of recalling the original memory.

Answer 4

Context dependent forgetting- external, environmental cues (sights/sounds/smells) State dependent forgetting- internal cues, like how we felt (emotions, alcohol, drugs, state of arousal) Organisational dependent forgetting- categories, helps remember factual information

Answer 5

- 4 different conditions, used counterbalancing as repeated measures used CONDIT 1 During Learning- underwater During Recall- underwater % of words recalled- 32% CONDIT 2 During Learning- underwater During Recall- on land % of words recalled- 23% CONDIT 3 During Learning- on land During Recall- on land % of words recalled- 38% CONDIT 4 During Learning- on land During Recall- underwater % of words recalled- 24% - shows that we forget because the context at recall is diff to context in which learning took place in- context dependent forgetting.

Answer 6

- 48 male students, 4 different conditions, asked to recall list of words 24 hrs after learning. GROUP 1 sober both days- BEST RECALL GROUP 2 drunk both days- 2ND BEST GROUP 3 sober day 1, drunk day 2- 3RD BEST GROUP 4 drunk day 1, sober day 2- WORST RECALL

Answer 7

strength; real life applications- cognitive interviews, using mental reinstatements to help witnesses/victims recall event, eg questions like 'what did you see?' this triggers cues like context- dependent. Useful because it helps police to solve a crime, benefiting victims and helping criminals be prosecuted, thus adding validity. strength; research support- Baker (2004), chewing gum when learning and recall, recall was better. Supports ESP, closer the recalling situation is to the learning situation, greater the recall. Adds validity to RF. strength; better explanation for forgetting than interference. Tulving & Psotka found that the effects of interference disappeared when cues were provided. TMB it shows that RF can be used to explain both reasons for forgetting, and that the lack of cues is more key than interference, this shows that RF is more important explanation than interference for forgetting. Adding validity limitation; ESP cannot be tested, Baddeley argued that ESP is a circular concept and that we cannot test something that isn't there, like the lack of cues. TMB it means the absence of cues is only associated with RF rather than having empirical evidence it is the cause, could be other factors causing RF. Limiting validity.

Answer 8

a question which suggests a desired answer or leads a witness to believe a desired answer (either by form or content)- usually closed questions & contain misleading info/wording

Answer 9

EXPERIMENT 1 - 45 students shown 7 videos of car crashes, then they were asked questions about the speed the car was going after. Each question used a different verb (collided/bumped/smashed..) - different verbs changed the speeds that were estimated (smashed= 40.8mph) EXPERIMENT 2 - 150 students shown multi-vehicle car accident - Group 1 asked ' how fast were the cars going when they HITinto ...' - Group 2 asked ' how fast were the cars going when they SMASHED into ...' - Group 3 asked nothing - students returned a week later and was asked if they had seen any smashed glass in the video, students that had been asked using 'SMASHED' said that they did (there was no glass) - shows power of misleading words in questions

Answer 10

involves witnesses talking about the event after it has happened, this can lead to distortion and inaccuracies in memory

Answer 11

- 120 ptps (split into two groups) - all watched an event, two groups watched it from different angles - half of the ptps were given time after the even to talk to the other group about what they had seen (talking about the different angles) - other half isolated - 71% of the discussion group reported something that they hadn't seen, 60% of these claimed the girl in the video was guilty of a crime they hadn't seen - evidences that post-even discussion can lead to distortion in memory

Answer 12

memory contamination- After PED, memory is changed as new info becomes mixed with original memory (retroactive interference) memory conformity- After PED, the memory has not actually changed but people change their recalling of events because of they are conforming to others for social approval (normative social influence)

Answer 13

strength; support from research, Brawn- Disneyland & Bugs Bunny (2002)- college students who had visited Disney as children asked to evaluate advertisements about Bugs Bunny (not a Disney character). People whom had reviewed this material reported shaking hands with Bugs than the control group who were giving no misleading info. TMB how powerful misleading info can be, creating a false or inaccurate memory, which supports substitution theory. Adding validity. strength; practical and has real life applications. Recent DNA exoneration cases have confirmed the warnings of eyewitness identification researches, the biggest factor for the conviction of innocent people is faulty EWT's. This shows the importance of the role of EWT research to ensure that innocent people are not convicted on the basis of a faulty EWT, thus suggesting we shouldn't rely as heavily on EWT's as we do. Increasing usefulness of research into the effects of misleading info on EWT. limitation; contradictory evidence from real life research. Yuille & Cutshall (1986) found misleading info did not have any effect on memory of people whom had witnessed a real life armed robbery. TMB shows Loftus & Palmer research lacks eco validity as misleading info may have more of an influence in the lab than in a real life setting, limiting validity. limitation; ignores importance of individual differences. Schacter (1991) found that elderly people have more difficultly remembering the sources of their info rather than the event itself compared to younger subjects. As a result they become more prone to the effect of misleading info than younger people. TMB shows misleading info may have a greater impact on elder people however most research investigating misleading info uses college students, so the findings may not be generalisable to different age groups. Limits the application of research of effects of misleading info on EWT.

Answer 14

- unpleasant emotional state when we fear something bad is about to happen, often leads to physiological changes (state of arousal) such as increased heart rate, shallow breathing etc. - research shows that anxiety decreases the accuracy of EWT

Answer 15

Johnson & Scott (1976) WFE- the idea that usually in violent crimes attention is drawn to more central details, such as a weapon rather than more peripheral details such as what the person looked like or what they were wearing. - ptps sat in a waiting room, argument broke out in the office, a man walked out with a greasy pen (low anxiety condition) or a bloody knife (high anxiety condition) - ptps then asked to identify the man from a set of photos - mean accuracy in pen condit- 49% - mean accuracy in knife condit- 33% shows that anxiety focuses attention on central features

Answer 16

- low anxiety= very poor recall - medium anxiety= very good recall - high anxiety= very poor recall

Answer 17

strength; research support for effect of anxiety on recall. Deffenbacher (2004)- lab research that supports anxiety reduces accuracy of EWT, and also has support from real-life studies. TMB it suggests that anxiety actually decreases the accuracy of EWT, and studies that shows different such as Hubinette may just be an exception and most real-life research shows that anxiety decreases the accuracy of EWT. Supporting the validity of lab research into the effect of anxiety on EWT. limitation; WFE may not actually be caused by anxiety. Pickel (1998), ptps in a hair-dresser watched a thief walk into the shop on 4 separate occasions, each time holding something new, conditions consisted of- scissors (high threat, low surprise), handgun (high threat, high surprise), a wallet (low threat, low surprise) and a raw chicken (low threat, high surprise). He found that recall was at it's worst in the high surprise conditions compared to the high threat. TMB shows WFE caused by surprise not by anxiety due to the context of the situation which means research may not be measuring the right thing. Limiting validity. limitation; individual differences, Bothwell (1987) ptps labelled either 'neurotic' (tend to become anxious quickly) or 'stable' (less emotionally sensitive). Found that increased levels of stress on 'stable' group increased levels of accuracy compared to the 'neurotic' group. TMB suggests that anxiety effects witnesses differently depending on their personality type (this is an extraneous variable), the relationship between anxiety and accuracy of EWT's is complex. Thus limiting our understanding of the effect of anxiety on EWT. limitation; real-life studies suggest that there is no simple conclusion of the effect on anxiety on EWT's. Halford & Milne (2005) found that victims of violent crimes were more accurate in their recall of events. TMB as it shows it's not just anxiety that has effects on EWT's but the nature of the crime committed, and there could be many more factors. Thus limiting our understanding of the effects of anxiety on EWT's.

Answer 18

police technique for interviewing witnesses to a crime, they aim to recreate the original context in order to increase the accessibility of the stored info.

Answer 19

Report Everything (free recall)- told to recall everything they can remember in any order 'tell me everything you can remember from the event from start to finish in your own words' Reinstatement of Context- mentally replace the scenario 'close your eyes and place yourself at the scene, what can you see?' May trigger recall Change Order- remembering events in a different order, info that doesn't match original info could be inaccurate info, prevents schemas from filling in the gaps. Change of Perspective- separates false info from accurate info, asks witness to take on perspective of a different person that was at the scene of the crime (could be a passer by or another witness) Prevents expectations from schemas.

Answer 20

strength; real-life applications. Fisher & Geiserman's study. Analysed interviewers before and after training in cog interviewers accuracy. 47% more info recalled was recalled from cog interviews. TMB it shows cog interviews are more effective in gaining info about the crime, this helps build greater case and helps solve the crime. Strengthening the use of CI's for EWT. strength; real-life application and individual differences. Melo & Fisher- compared older and younger recall either using a CI or a standard interview, recall was greater using a CI, but they actually found that the elderly had greater recall of the event than the younger ptps. TMB shows the effectiveness of the CI on a group who tend to be considered a 'bad' eyewitness. Enables the CI's to be used for everyone and helping less capable eye witnesses. Strengthening the use of CI's. limitation; info not always correct reducing quality of EWT. Khonkens meta -analysis- found CI's produced 85% correct info however also found that there was a 61% increase in incorrect info. TMB it shows that although the quantity of info increased it may not be high quality of info which means police may need to still treat EWT's with caution and this method may make it harder for police harder for officers to determine the true events. Limiting the effectiveness of CI's to improve EWT'S. limitation; a lot of time and training needed. Kebbell's & Wagstaff's interviews with police. CI's take more time than what is available and officers prefer to limit eye witness accounts to the minimum. TMB it shows inconsistencies in police force, showing practical application is limited. Limiting reliability.