Memory Flashcards
what is memory?
the encoding (converting into form to be stored), storage (holding until needed) and retrieval (finding and accessing when needed) of information
what does the cognitive approach liken the brain to? why?
a computer
what are the different types of encoding memory?
imagery- pictures eidetic memory is enhanced form of this
procedural- how we do things, not available for conscious inspection
declarative- explicit, we can describe, can be semantic or episodic
what is duration?
how long a memory lasts
who proposed the multistore model for memory? when? how?
Atkinson and Shiffrin
1968
used research that had already been done
what are the parts of the multistore model for memory?
sensory store, short term memory, long term memory
describe the sensory store (multi store model)
info from senses comes into it. acts as filter so any info not attended to quickly fades away due to trace decay
capacity and duration of sensory store
limitless capacity
250 milliseconds duration
sensory store research
Sperling (1960) researched duration
used a tachiscope to flash symbols at participants for 1 twentieth of a sec
when show grid of 12 symbols, participants could only recall 3-4 but reported seeing more
describe the short term memory (multistore model)
info attended to by sensory memory is passed to stm
if info not transferred to ltm, it is lost by trace decay, displacement, interference
capacity and duration of stm
5-9 item capacity
18-30 second duration
capacity research for stm
Miller (1956)
digit span technique where participants had to repeat digits immediately after him
most could only recall between 5-9 which is presented as 7 +/- 2 hence magic 7
can increase capacity by chunking (83454 62849)
duration research for stm
Peterson and Peterson studied duration using Brown-Peterson effect using trigrams.
participants had to remember single trigram but had to count backwards in threes to prevent rehearsal
recall good but dropped after 3 secs
avg 18-30s wo maintenance rehearsal
describe the long term memory (multistore model)
final stage
info successfully stored can last a lifetime
capacity and duration of ltm
unlimited capacity
lifetime capacity
duration research for ltm
Bahrick et al asked participants to put names to faces from old high school year book
70% accuracy rate after 48 years
problem- may still be in contact with people so know better, individual differences in peoples memory, can guess
case study evidence for multistore model
HM and Clive Wearing are brain damaged patients who prove ltm and stm in diff places
case study not generalisable
Alcoholics can get Korsakoffs syndrome which has big effect on ltm but not stm
KF suffered brain damage in motorbike accident and ltm in tact but not stm
Baddeley used brain scanning techniques to see activity when ppts asked to recall info from stm and ltm
evaluation of multistore model
+
first attempt at model for mempry so prompted futher research
supported by research
case study evidance
reductionist but easier to understand
-
reductionist
unlikely to be linear
doesnt provide definitions
more than one type of ltm
what is semantic ltm?
episodic?
procedural?
concerned with meaning
detailed memory of a particular event
information about how to do something- not available for conscious inspection
coding in ltm
mainly semantic but sounds/ smells can trigger ltm
experiment proving stm and ltm are in diff places
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)
serial position effect
ppts memorise list of 21 common words then asked to recall
recalled more from start (primary) and end (recency)
words from start transferred to ltm, and still in stm and middle forgotten due to limited capacity of stm
evaluate experiment into serial position effect
+
reliable
evidence for the effect
practical applications eg lawyers placing info in middle to hide
-
temporal validity
ecological validity
who determines what is a common word? could standardise in other ways
how to operationalise start, middle, end
evaluate case study evidence for ltm and stm in diff places
+
practical applications- provide treatment
multiple research methods
-
hard to generalise
lack of reliability
time consuming and costly
who proposed working memory model? when? why? what is it?
Baddeley and Hitch
1974
response to criticism of multistore model being too linear and passive
active store whcih holds and manipulates info constantly