Memory

Question 1

define duration

Answer 1

measure of how long memory lasts before it is no longer available

Question 2

define capacity

Answer 2

measure of how much can be held in a memory store

Question 3

define coding

Answer 3

the way information is stored in memory

Question 4

define short term memory

Answer 4

memory for events in the present or immediate past

Question 5

Duration of STM: Peterson and Peterson
Procedure

Answer 5

24 PPs - university students
the experimenter said a trigram and then a 3 digit number. the PPs had o count backwards from this number in 3/4s until they were told the stop. Then the PP was asked to recall the trigram. Each PPs was given 2 practice trials followed by 8 trials.
On each trial the retention interval was different: 3,6,9,12,15, or 18 seconds.

Question 6

Peterson and Peterson
Findings

Answer 6

90% remembered during the 3 second interval
2% remembered during 18 second interval.

Question 7

Peterson and Peterson
Evaluation

Answer 7

Artificial: trying to memories consonant syllables doesn’t truly reflect the very day memory activities.
Generalisation: only tested students, can it be applied to other people?

Question 8

Capacity
Procedure

Answer 8

Jacobs (1887) used a technique to assess STM. He found the span for digits was 9.3 items, but for letters it was 7.3.
Miller (1956) wrote an article: ‘The Magic Number 7+-2’ in which he concluded the span of immediate memory is approximately 7, sometimes more, sometimes less. He noted that people remembered 7 flashed on a screen. Miller also noted that people could remember 5 letters, the same as five words- we chunk things together to retain more.

Question 9

Capacity
Evaluation

Answer 9

• Millers orginal findings have not been replicated: Cowan (2001) reviewed a variety of studies on STM, and concluded that it’s more likely to be limited to 4 chunks. This means the lower end of Miller’s range is more appropriate, and STM is not as extensive as we thought.
• Size of chunk matters: Simon (1974) found that people had a shorter memory span for larger chunks. this means STM has a limited capacity.
• Individual differences: Jacobs also found that recall increased steadily with age.
  8 year old average: 6.6.
  19 year old average: 8.6.
  This suggests that STM brain capacity is not fixed, and individual differences may play a role.

Question 10

Coding in STM & LTM: Baddeley
Method

Answer 10

4 groups of PPs were asked to remember different lists of words:
1. acoustically similar words
2. acoustically dissimilar words
3. semantically similar words
4. semantically dissimilar words

Question 11

Coding in STM& LTM: Baddeley
Findings

Answer 11

When they had to do the recall task immediately after hearing it, the tender to do worse with acoustically similar words.
If the PPs were asked to recall the word list after a timed interval of 20 minutes, they did worse with semantically similar words.

Question 12

Coding in STM& LTM: Baddeley
Evaluation

Answer 12

+
Provides evidence that there is a difference between LTM and STM. STM codes acoustically but LTM codes semantically.
-
artificial study: the word lists had no personal meaning to the PPs so Baddeley’s task doesn’t represent real life, therefore have limited application into the real world.

Question 13

Duration of LTM: Bahrick et al
Procedure

Answer 13

Investigators interviewed graduates from a high school in America over a 50 year period. Around 400 graduates were shown a set of photographs and a list of names, some of which were from their high school yearbook. They had to identify which of the faces were their classmates and then give their name.

Question 14

Duration of LTM: Bahrick et al
Findings

Answer 14

Participants were 90% correct in recognising the faces and names 15 years after graduation. Those who’d left 48 years previously recalled 80% of the names and 70% of the faces.

Question 15

Duration of LTM: Bahrick et al
Evaluation

Answer 15

+
High external validity because the researchers used meaningful memories. Other research has been conducted with meaningless pictures and recall rates were lower. this suggests Bahricks findings reflect a ‘real’ estimate of the duration of LTM.
-
Petersons study has low external validity because they use artificial stimuli to measure the duration of STM. Recalling trigrams doesn’t reflect everyday memory activities- therefore isn’t possible to generalise findings to everyday life.

Question 16

Multi-Store Model Of Memory
Atkinson and Schiffrin

Answer 16

information enters the sensory register via our senses. it has a supposedly unlimited capacity and a very limited duration of less than 1 second.
information that is attended to is passed to STM which as a limited capacity of 7+-2 chunks of information and a limited duration of 18-30 seconds.
maintenance rehearsal is used to keep information in STM.
Rehearsed information is then transferred to LTM, which has an unlimited capacity and a lifetimes duration. information in LTM is coded semantically and can be retrieved from LTM to STM when required.
Forgetting can occur at any stage
in sensory memory, information decays rapidly if not paid attention to.
In STM, decay or displacement can occur
LTM is prone to retrieval failure and interference

Question 17

Multi-store Model Of Memory
Evaluation

Answer 17

+
research support for the idea of LTM and STM being different and seperate stores was proved by Baddeley. He found that STM codes acoustically and LTM codes semantically.
-
Despite support for different stores of memory, in everyday life we form memories related to useful information: names, facts, places etc. However in studies, trigrams with no meaning are being used instead. eg peterson and peterson. therefore research into MSM may not be accurate in real life.
The MSM states that STM is a unitary store. However, Shallice and Warrington studied a patient known as KF who suffered with amnesia. KF’s STM for digits was very poor when read aloud to him, but his recall was much better when he was able to read the digits himself. this suggests there is more than one ST store - one for sounds and one for images. Therefore suggests there must be at least 2 types of STM store, rather than just 1 unitary store like MSM suggests.

Question 18

Types of LTM: Tulving
Episodic Memory

Answer 18

this is the ability to recall events in your life.
it is time-stamped: you remember when it happened, and also the people and places involved.
it needs a conscious effort to recall: you have to search for the information.
e.g. what you had for breakfast this morning

Question 19

Types of LTM: Tulving
Semantic memory

Answer 19

more factual recall and contains the knowledge of the world. these are not time-stamped
e.g. taste of an orange

Question 20

Types of LTM: Tulving
Procedural Memory

Answer 20

enables you to perform a specific learned skill. these can be recalled without a great deal of conscious awareness or effort
e.g. riding a bike

Question 21

Types of LTM: Tulving
Evaluation

Answer 21

+
In the cases of HM and Clive Wearing, episodic memory was severely impaired as a consequence of amnesia. they had trouble recalling events that had happened to them but their semantic memories were unaffected. therefore supports Tulving view that there are different types of memory stores in LTM.
Being able to identify different types of LTM allows psychologists to target certain kinds of memories in order to make peoples’ lives better.
Belleville demonstrated episodic memories could be improved in older people who had mild congnitive impairment. trained PPs performed better in a test of episodic memory than the control group.

Question 22

Working Memory Model

Answer 22

The WMM, proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974), disputes Atkinson and Shiffrin’s claim that STM is a unitary store. the model suggests there are 4 main components in STM.

Question 23

Working Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin
Central Executive

Answer 23

this is the most important component. it controls and monitors the operations of other systems
it has limited capacity.
it sorts information to be transferred to other components for further processing.
it makes a decision about data coming in and allocates it to slave system

Question 24

Working Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin
The Phonological Loop

Answer 24

Articulatory Control System:
subvocal repetition (rehearsal) of information, prepares a person for speech
the ‘inner voice’
limited capacity - 2 seconds
Phonological Store:
holds acoustic information (auditory coding)
the ‘inner ear’
limited capacity

Question 25

Working Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin
The Visuo-spatial Sketchpad

Answer 25

stores and processes visual and spatial information
the ‘inner eye’
visual cache: stores visual data
inner scribe: records the arrangements of objects in the visual field

Question 26

Working Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin
Episodic Buffer

Answer 26

the storage component of the central executive
temporary store for visual, spatial, and verbal information
maintains a sense of time sequencing by recording episodes that are happening
links working memory to LTM.

Question 27

Working Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin
The Dual Task Method

Answer 27

The dual task method tests PPs ability to divide their attention between 2 tasks.
The activity requires people to use both the visuo-spatial sketchpad (used for the reasoning task) and the phonological loop (rehearsing the number) at the same time. People are typically successful at completing both tasks because seperate parts of the WM are being used.

Question 28

Working Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin
Evaluation

Answer 28

+
The case study of KF is a man who had part of his brain taken out. After this, he couldn’t remember the digits read to him (phonological loop) but could recall if he read himself (visuo-spatial sketchpad). This suggests that there are different parts of STM or WM.
-
The central executive is very hard to study so we cannot be sure that it does monitor and coordinate the slave systems in a way that the model suggests.

Question 29

Explanations for forgetting: Interference
define interference

Answer 29

one memory disturbs our ability to recall another. this is likely to occur when the memories are similar.

Question 30

Explanations for forgetting: Interference
define proactive intereference

Answer 30

learning that has occurred in the past interferes with our ability to learn in the current.

Question 31

Explanations for forgetting: Interference
define retroactive interference

Answer 31

current attempts to learn something interfere with past learning.

Question 32

Explanations for forgetting: Interference Theory

Answer 32

Forgetting takes place because of interference, this occurs when 2 pieces of information conflict with each other. the result is one or both being forgotten or distorted. Interference explains forgetting in LTM. Once information reaches the LTM it is more or less permanent. Forgetting LTM is most likely because we cannot access them even though they are available. Interference between memories makes it harder for us to locate them and is experienced as forgetting.

Question 33

Explanations for forgetting: Interference
McGeogh and McDonald (1931)
Procedure

Answer 33

The researchers studied retrospective interference by changing the amount of similarity between 2 sets of material. PPs had to learn a list of words until they could remember them perfectly. Then they learned a new list. 6 groups of PPs had to learn different types of lists.
group 1: synonyms
group 2: antonyms
group 3: unrelated words
group 4: nonsesne syllables
group 5: 3 digit numbers
group 6: no new words

Question 34

Explanations for forgetting: Interference
McGeogh and McDonald (1931)
Findings

Answer 34

when items/words were similar, the PPs found it harder to remember
PPs found it easier to recall numbers than letters
interference was strongest in synonyms

Question 35

Explanations for forgetting: Interference
McGeogh and McDonald (1931)
Evaluation

Answer 35

• lacks ecological validity: learning lists of words is unrealistic and doesn’t represent real life. interference is much more likely in the lab.
  +
  thousands of lab studies have been carried out supporting interference as the likely reason for forgetting. lab experiments allow us to identify the cause and effect.

Question 36

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure
define retrieval failure

Answer 36

this is a form of forgetting. it occurs when we dont have the necessary cues to access memory. the memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided.

Question 37

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure
define cue

Answer 37

this is a ‘trigger’ of information that allows us to access a memory. such cues may be meaningful or may be indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning. for example, cues may be external (environmental context) or internal (mood or degree of drunkenness).

Question 38

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure Theory

Answer 38

The reason people forget information may be due to insufficient cues. When information is initially placed in memory, associated cues are stored at the same time. If these cues are not available at the time of recall, it may make it appear as if you have forgotten the information, but this is due to retrieval failure (not being able to access memories that are there)

Question 39

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure
Encoding specificity principle

Answer 39

Tulving (1983) reviewed research into retrieval failure and discovered a consistent pattern to the findings. He summarised that this pattern is what he calls the encoding specificity principle. This states that if a cue is to help us recall information it has to be present at encoding (when we learn the material) and at retrieval (when we are recalling it). It follows from this that if the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different there will be some forgetting. An example of cues are mnemonic devices.

Question 40

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure
Encoding specificity principle - examples of cues

Answer 40

Context dependent forgetting (external cues)
State-Dependent forgetting (internal cues)

Question 41

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure
Context dependent forgetting: Godden and Baddeley Procedure

Answer 41

In this study the divers learnt a list of words either underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land. There were 4 conditions.
1. Learn on land - recall on land
2. Learn on land - recall underwater
3. Learn underwater - recall on land
4. Learn underwater - recall underwater

Question 42

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure
Context dependent forgetting: Godden and Baddeley Findings

Answer 42

In 2 of these conditions the environmental context of learning and recall matched whereas in the other 2 they did not. Accurate recall was 40/5 lower in the non-matching conditions (2&3). The external cues available at learning available at learning were different from those at recall and this led to retrieval failure.

Question 43

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure
State-dependent forgetting: Carter and Cassidy - procedure

Answer 43

the researchers gave anti-histamine drugs to their PPs. the anti-histamines had a mild sedative effect making PPs slightly drowsy. This creates an internal psychological state different from the ‘normal’ state of being awake and alert. The PPs had to learn lists of words and passages of prose and then recall the information, creating 4 conditions.
1. Learn on drug - recall on drug
2. Learn on drug - recall not on it.
3. Learn not on drug - recall when on drug
4. Learn when not on drug - recall not on drug.

Question 44

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure
State-dependent forgetting: Carter and Cassidy - Findings

Answer 44

In the conditions where there was a mismatch between the internal state at learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significantly worse. So when the cues are absent, there is more forgetting.

Question 45

Explanations for forgetting: Retrieval Failure Theory
Evaluation

Answer 45

Baddeley argues that context effects aren’t very strong in real life. Different contexts would have to be very different before an effect is seen. E.G. it would be very hard to find an environment as different as underwater and on land. In contrast, learning something in one room and recalling it in another is unlikely to result in much forgetting because the environments are not that different. this is a limitation because it means that real-life applications of retrieval due to contextual cues don’t explain that much forgetting.
The context effect may be related to the kind of memory being tested. Godden and Baddeley replicated their underwater study but used a recognition test instead of recall-participants had to say whether they recognised a word read to them from the list, instead of retrieving it themselves. Performance was the same in all 4 conditions. This is a limitation of context effects because it means that the presence or absence of cues only affects memory when you test it in a certain way.

Question 46

eyewitness testimony definition

Answer 46

the ability of people to remember the details of the event, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves have observed. accuracy EWT can be affected by factors such as misleading information, anxiety, and misleading questions.

Question 47

Misleading information definition

Answer 47

Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event (post-event information). It can take many forms, such as leading questions, and post-event discussion between co-witnesses and/or other people.

Question 48

leading question definition

Answer 48

a question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer. E.g. “did you see the broken mirror?”. this suggests the answer is yes.

Question 49

post-event discussion definition

Answer 49

occurs when there is more than one witness to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with other people or co-witnesses. This may influence the accuracy of each witness’s recall of the event.

Question 50

Post event discussion: Loftus and Palmer
Procedure

Answer 50

45 students were shown 7 clips of road traffic accidents. the clips were originally made as part of a driver safety film. After watching each clip, the PPs were asked:
- to write an account of what they had just seen
- to answer questions about the accident. one of these was a critical question:
“about how fast were the cars going when they _________ each other?”
there were 5 conditions in the experiment, and PPs were assigned to one condition only. In each condition, PPs were asked a different critical question, where the blank space varied between 5 verbs.

Question 51

Loftus and Palmer
Findings

Answer 51

the different 5 verbs have a mean speed estimate.
contacted: 31.8 mph
bumped: 34 mph
hit: 38.1mph
collided: 39.3 mph
smashed: 40.8 mph

Question 52

Loftus and Palmer
Why do leading questions affect EWT?

Answer 52

Response-bias explanation: this explanation suggests the wording of the question has no real effect on PP’s memory, but influences how they answer. When a PP gets a leading question using the word ‘smashed’, this encourages them to choose a higher speed estimate.
Substitute explanation: Loftus and Palmer conducted a 2nd experiment that supports this explanation. the wording of the question changes the PP’s memory of the film clip. This was demonstrated because PPs who originally heard ‘smashed’ later were more likely to report seeing broken glass (there was none) than those who heard ‘hit’.

Question 53

Loftus and Palmer
Evaulation

Answer 53

Artificial: the task was artificial. this is because it lacks the stress of a real accident. This is a limitation because studies that use such artificial tasks may tell us very little about how leading questions affect EWT.
Demand characteristics: the task was high in demand characteristics. PPs don’t want to let the experimenter down so when they are asked a question they don’t know the answer to, they will guess, especially if it is a yes/no question. For example, you are asked, “Did you see the blue car”. you answer yes because it seems to be a more helpful answer.

Question 54

Post-event discussion -Gabbert et al
Procedure and findings

Answer 54

procedure:
in pairs, each PP watched a video of the same crime but filmed from different POVs. this meant that each PP could see elements in the event that the other could not.
findings:
71% of the PPs mistakenly recalled aspects of the event that they didn’t see in the video butt hey picked up in discussion. 0% of PPs mistakenly recalled the event in the control group, where a discussion didn’t take place. Gabbert et al concluded that witnesses often go along with each other to win social approval or because they believe the other witness to be right, and themselves wrong.

Question 55

Post-event discussion -Gabbert et al
Evaluation

Answer 55

external validity: a strength of this research is that it has practical uses in the real world, where there are very real consequences of inaccurate EWT (E.g. Robert Cotton). Loftus believes that leading questions can have a distorting effect on memory that police officers need to be aware of when they are phrasing questions to witnesses. Research into EWT can make a positive impact on the lives of people, improving the legal system, and appearing in court trials as expert witnesses.
Individual differences: there is some evidence that older people are less accurate than younger people when giving eyewitness reports. Anastasi and Rhodes (2006) found people in age groups 18-25 and 35-45 were more accurate than
people aged 55-78. However, all groups were accurate in identifying people of their own age. Research studies often use young people as the target to identify and this may mean some age groups appear less accurate but this is not true.

Question 56

define anxiety

Answer 56

a state of physical or emotional arousal. The emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension. Physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweatiness. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations, but can affect the accuracy and detail of EWT.

Question 57

Anxiety has a NEGATIVE effect on recall: Johnson and Scott 1976
procedure

Answer 57

PPs believed they were going to take part in a lab study. While seated in the waiting room, PPs heard an argument in the next room. in the ‘low anxiety’ condition, a man walked through the waiting area carrying a pen and grease on his hands. in the ‘high anxiety’ condition, PPs overheard the same heated argument, but this time is accompanied by the sound of breaking glass. A man walked out of the room, holding a paper-knife that was covered in blood.

Question 58

Anxiety has a NEGATIVE effect on recall: Johnson and Scott 1976
Findings

Answer 58

The PPs later picked out the man from a set of 50 photos.
49% of PPs from the low anxiety condition were able to identify the man.
33% of PPs from the high anxiety condition were able to identify the man.

Question 59

Anxiety has a POSITIVE effect on recall:
Yuille and Cutshall 1986
Procedure

Answer 59

The study was conducted on a real-life shooting in a gun shop in Vancouver, Canada. The shop owner shot a thief dead. of the 21 witnesses, 13 agreed to take part in the study. The interviews were held 4-5 months after the incident and these were compared with the original police interviews conducted at the time of the shooting. Accuracy was determined by the number of details made in the interview. the witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they felt at the time of the incident, using a 7-point scale, and asked if they had any emotional problems since the event, such as sleeplessness.

Question 60

Anxiety has a POSITIVE effect on recall:
Yuille and Cutshall 1986
Findings

Answer 60

the witnesses were very accurate in their accounts and there was little change in the amount of accuracy after 5 months. though some details were less accurate, such as recollection of the colour of items and age/height/weight estimates.
the PPs who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate.
highest levels: 88% accurate
lowest levels: 75% accurate

Question 61

Anxiety effects on recall: evaluation

Answer 61

Weapon focus may not be caused by anxiety: Pickel 1998 proposed that the reduced accuracy of identification due to the weapon focus effect could be due to surprise rather than anxiety. To test this, she arranged for PPs to watch a thief enter a hairdresser salon carrying a high-threat, low-surprise weapon (scissors), high-threat, high-surprise (handgun), and low-threat, high-surprise (raw chicken). Identification was highest in the high surprise conditions rather than a high threat. This supports the view that the weapon focus is related to surprise rather than anxiety.
Field studies lack control: Researchers usually interview real-life witnesses sometime after the event. All sorts of things will have happened to the PPs in the meantime that the researchers have no control over - discussions, and effects of being interviewed. This is a limitation of field research as extraneous variables are responsible for the accuracy of recall. The effects of anxiety may be overwhelmed by these other factors, and impossible to assess by the time the PPs are interviewed.

Question 62

Improving the accuracy of EWT: Cognitive Interview
define Cognitive Interview

Answer 62

a method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories. It uses 4 main techniques, all based on well-established psychological knowledge of human memory: report everything, context reinstatement, recall in reverse order, and change perspective.

Question 63

Improving the accuracy of EWT: Cognitive Interview - Fisher and Geiselman 1992
4 stages of the cognitive interview

Answer 63

1. Report everything: witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event, even though it may seem irrelevant or the witness isn’t confident about it. Seemingly trivial details may be more important and may trigger important other memories.
2. Context Reinstatement: the witness should return to the original crime scene ‘in their mind’ and imagine the environment (weather, what they could see) and their emotions.
3. Recall in reverse order: Events should be recalled in a different order to the original sequence. E.G. from the last incident to the first. This stops people from reporting expectations of how the event should happen.
4. Recall from a changed perspective: witnesses should recall the incident from other peoples’ perspectives. this is done to disrupt the effect of expectations, schema, and recall. The schema that you have for a particular setting generates expectations of what would’ve happened and it is the schema that is recalled rather than what actually happened.

Question 64

The enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 64

Fisher et al 1987 developed some additional elements of the CI to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction. For example, the interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact, and when to relinquish it. the ECI also includes ideas such as reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimizing distractions, getting the witness to speak slowly, and asking open-asked questions.

Question 65

Cognitive Interview Evaluation

Answer 65

The CI is time-consuming: a CI takes longer than a standard police interview e.g. more time is required to establish a rapport with the witness to allow them to relax. CI requires officers to be trained - time-consuming and expensive. Lack of time and training may mean police experience a true CI and its effects.
Some elements may be more valuable than others: Milne and Bull believe each element of the CI is necessary and leads to new information. However, a combination of ‘recall everything’ and ‘context reinstatement’ produced better recall than any other conditions. These findings are a strength as even if the full CI is not used, using some elements of CI can help recall.
Support for the effectiveness of the ECI: Kohnken carried out a meta-analysis of 50 students. ECI consistently provided more correct information than the standard interview used by police. Research shows CI gives the police a greater chance of catching and charging criminals, which is beneficial to society.