Memory Flashcards
Types of LTM
tulving (1985) one of the first cognitive psychologists
suggested that there’s not one type of LTM but there are 3
3 Types of LTM
episodic
semantic
procedural
episodic
our ability to recall events from our lives
semantic
the store that contains our factual knowledge of the world
procedural
memory of our skills and actions
tulving theory
he presented that each of these LTM stores contained very different types of information, which were accessible in different ways
Episodic memory
- this memory is like a diary where we record our daily happenings e.g. what you had for breakfast this morning
- these memories are times shaped- you remember roughly when they happened
- episodic memories have several elements: people, places, objects and behaviours interwoven into just one memory
- you must make a conscious effort to recall these memories-this can happen quickly or take some time
Semantic memories
- this store resembles an encyclopaedia or Dictionary
- it contains info on what foods we like, capitals of countries, meanings of words
- these memories are not time stamped- we done tend to remember exactly when we learn semantic knowledge
- this store has less personal info but it’s more than just fact - it’s a collection of material that constantly increases
Procedural memories
- our ability to do things depends on our procedural memory e.g. driving a bike, writing, mental maths
- we can recall these memories without conscious awareness ( don’t say unconsciously) our great effort
- these sorts of skills are usually difficult to explain to someone else e.g holding a pen
episodic examples
- friend wedding
- first date
- watching tv last night
- row with friends last week
semantic examples
- where eiffel towers is
- the purpose of piggy bank
- your address
- words of a song
procedural
- juggling
- how to ride a bike
- singing a song
- booking table
- check bill
- bake a cake
Evaluating LTM
- clinical evidence ( CW )
- neuro-imaging evidence (tulving)
- real life application
clinical evidence (case study)
case study: an in depth investigation on an individual personal or small group
clive has no short term memory, procedural memories aren’t affected as he can play piano, walk and talk
The case of clive wearing (cw)
- cw had a severe case of amnesia due to a viral infection in this brain fanning his hippocampus
- clive was a famous musician and can still play piano and conduct a choir but has no recollection of learning of learning how
- hee remembers some aspects of his life knows he has children but didn’t remember their names
- the only person he recognises is his wife
- he’s always excited to see her and can’t recall the last time he did even if it was seconds before
procedural Memories intact, a political memory, damaged, some semantic memories as he remembers his wife
Supports tulvings theory is shows differentiation between memory storage as there must be distinct types of LTM, if one can be affected if one can be affected without affecting the other
however : a case study is uslalu based on just one person we cannotgeneralise findings form one person to whole population - lacks population validity
Duration
the length of time information can be held in the memory store
research support
peterson and peterson (1959) STM duration
- they tested 24 undergrads accord trails
- on each trail ppts were given constant syllable to remember e.g. SML and a 3 digit number
they took the bowls out ( controlling variables) to make the constant syllables random and different to remember and recall
ppts had to recall the constant syllable after an interval of either 3,6,9,12,15/18 seconds
during the intervals ppts were instructed to count backward from the 3 digit number they were given to prevent rehearsal - preventing practice effect
control of practice effects
results:
90% correct after 3 seconds
20% correct after 9 seconds
2% correct after 18 seconds
conclusion: STM duration is between 18-30 secs
however most people’s duration of STM stopped before 18 seconds
types of memory
short term (STM)
long term (LTM)
STM
your memory for events in the present or immediate past
LTM
your memory for events that have happened in the distance
each type of memory is assesed via three features
- coding
- capacity
- duration
Baddley coding
- he split ppts into 4 groups each group was given a different word list of words to remember
- he looked at words that were either acoustically or semantically similar
4 groups - acustically similar, cat, cab, car
- acustically dissimilar, pit, few, cow
- semantically similar, great, large, big
- semantically dissimilar, good, hot, huge
groups either has to recall straight away or after 20 mins, seperating short term and long term memoery
coding
the format of which information is stored (coded) in the various memory stores
- reseach by baddley (1966) found that info is coded different, depending on the store it was going to
baddley coding
findings
- when recalling straight away, acustically similar had the worst recall
- when recalling after 20 mins semantically similar had the worst recall
e.g. tounge twisters are easier to resite after a while, synonyms after a while may be forgetten and brain wont focus on one
this suggests
- info is coded acoustically in the STM
- info is coded semantically in the LTM
baddley coding
evaluation
+ control group used
- individual differences, independant groups design
- may guess semantically similar words, low validity
+ standerdised word list
- artificial stimuli, badley used word lists that mean nothing to the ppts, low ecological validity, could coding work differently when we process meaningful information?, replace formulas with names, birthdays
Capacity
the amount of information that can be held in the memoery store
capacity
Digit span test
Jacobs 1887 - STM
- developed a technique to see how mucj information someone wold hold in thier STM at one time
- the number of digits would increase until the ppts could not recall the sequence correctly
- found that the avarage across ppts for numbers was 9.3 and letters was 7.3
- more digits than letters, people are more sed to remembering numbers, ‘nine’ is a word rather than ‘A’, more used to revising numbers on their own
how has capacity changed over time?
tech has allowed us to have a smaller capacity e.g. satchel
the magic number
Miller, 1956
7 + - 2 (5-9)
cheating capacity
chuncking
CARDOGLITPENBUY
CAR,DOG,LIT,PEN,BUY
- milller found that we can remember 5 words in the same way we can remember 5 letters
- to maximise the capacity of STM, we can chunk digits and letters to make meaningful sequences (words and phone numbers)
capacity
evaluation
- overestimated chunking capacity
Cowan 2001- we can only hold around 4 chunks; simon 1974, we have less capacity for longer words (8 letters) better for one syllable words - low historical validity: Jacobs 1887 was long ago so reslts may be invalid
LTM capacity, potentially infinite/unlimited
