memory

Question 1

Who discovered the working memory model

Answer 1

Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

Question 2

What are the four components of the WMM

Answer 2

Central executive
Phonological loop
Visuo -spatial
Episodic buffer

Question 3

Describe the central executive

Answer 3

The component of the WMM that coordinates the activity of the subsystems in memory.

It allocates processing resources

It makes rescissions and allocates to subsystems
-limited capacity

Question 4

Describe the phonological loop

Answer 4

The component of the WMM that processes auditory information

Includes both written and spoken material

The phonological store :stores words you hear
The articulatory process :this allows maintenance rehearsal

Question 5

Describe the visuo -spatial sketch pad

Answer 5

The component of the WMM which processes visual and spatial information

This system has limited capacity of around 3-4 objects according to baddeley

Has been subdivided into two parts
The visual cache -store visual data
Inner scribe -stores spatial data

Question 6

Describe the episodic buffer

Answer 6

The component which brings together material from subsystems into single memory rather than separate strands.

Integrates the visual spatial and auditory

Bridges the gap between STM and LTM

Question 7

describe the working memory model

Answer 7

1Created the WMM as a criticism of the MSM – argued that the MSM’s representation of the STM was too simplistic

2 The WMM describes the subdivisions of the STM –
It does this by looking at the STM as an active store and explains how we temporarily store and manipulate info

Question 8

what are the four components of the working memory model

Answer 8

central executive
phonological loop
visuo-spatial sketchpad
episodic buffer

Question 9

what is the strength and research study for working memory

Answer 9

Studied brain damaged patient KF.
They found his STM for digit span was very poor when numbers were read aloud to him
however his recall was much better when he was able to read the digits to himself

Question 10

describe the brain scanning support for working memory model

Answer 10

Braver et al. (1997)

Gave ppts tasks that involved the central executive while they were having a brain scan

They found that there was greater activity in the left PFC
This activity increased when the task was more difficult

This suggests that as the demands of the CE increase, it has to work harder to fulfil its function.

Question 11

what are the types of LTM

Answer 11

Tulving (1985) – one of the first cognitive psychologists
Suggested that there is not just one type of LTM, but there are three:
Episodic
Semantic
Procedural

Question 12

define episodic memory
define semantic memory
define procedural memory

Answer 12

-the ability to recall information from our lives
-the store that recalls knowledge of the world
-memory skills and actions

Question 13

describe the case of clive wearing as a strength for the existence of different LTM

Answer 13

CW has a severe case of amnesia due to a viral infection in his brain, damaging the hippocampus

Clive was a famous musician – he can still play the piano and conduct a choir, but has no recollection of learning how

He remembers some aspects of his life – knows he has children, but doesn’t remember their names

The only person he recognises is his wife

Question 14

what does the clive wearings case suggest

Answer 14

CW’s case shows us that one type of LTM can be intact whilst another is damaged/affected, supporting Tulving’s idea that there are different types of LTM

His case also suggests that different types of LTM are located in different parts of the brain

Question 15

what is the brain scanning evidence for the types of LTM

Answer 15

Tulving et al. (1994)

got ppts to perform various memory tasks while their brains were being scanned (PET scan)
They found that both episodic and semantic memories were recalled from an area known as the pre-frontal cortex (PFC)
The PFC is split into two halves – the left PFC and the right PFC
The left PFC was involved in recalling semantic memories and the right PFC for episodic memories

This research gives physical evidence for the different types of LTM

Question 16

what are the practical applications of LTM

Answer 16

Belleville et al. (2006) –

demonstrated that episodic memory can be improved in older people with a mild cognitive deficit
Those given training performed better on a test on episodic memory compared to a control group
This shows that specific LTM stores can be targeted /treated to better people’s lives

Question 17

who proposed the multi store model

Answer 17

Atkinson and Shirffin

Question 18

what does the model overall describe what features

Answer 18

How information is transferred from one store to another
How information is remembered
How information is forgotten

Question 19

what is the sensory register

Answer 19

The sensory register takes in stimuli from the environment – stimuli is then stored via our senses

Two main stores:
Iconic memory – where visual info is coded (visually)

Echoic memory – where auditory info is coded (acoustically)

Question 20

what is the duration of the sensory register

Answer 20

Duration of the sensory register is less than half a second, however the capacity for each store is large

Question 21

what causes information to be stored into the short term memory

Answer 21

Only if you pay attention to the stimuli

Question 22

describe the STM as a memory store

Answer 22

The STM is a limited capacity store
7±2 items
What was the duration of the STM?

Info in the STM only lasts up to 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed

Question 23

what is maintenance rehearsal

Answer 23

Maintenance rehearsal: when we repeat (rehearse) material to ourselves over and over again.

We can keep info in the STM as long as we rehearse it
If we rehearse it long enough, it passes into the LTM

Question 24

describe the LTM as a memory store

Answer 24

This is the potentially permanent memory store for info that has been rehearsed for a long period of time

Psychologists believe that the capacity is unlimited and can last many years

Question 25

what is retrieval

Answer 25

When we want to recall information from the LTM, it has to be transferred back into the STM – this process is called

Question 26

describe the case of HM as a strength for the multi store model

Answer 26

His hippocampus was removed, damaging his LTM

He had no memories for events that had just happened and his LTM never improved with practice

His STM was intact as he could recall info that was presented to him immediately

Evidence that it is possible to suffer damage to one store whilst the other can be relatively unaffected

Question 27

what is a weakness for the multi store model

Answer 27

more in depth explanation for multi store model

Studied brain damaged patient KF.

They found his STM for digit span was very poor when numbers were read aloud to him
however his recall was much better when he was able to read the digits to himself

What does this suggest?

Atkinson & Shiffrin’s view of a unitary STM was too simplistic
There must be one short term store to process visual information and another to process auditory information

Question 28

what is a strength for the multi store model

Answer 28

the role of rehearsal

the more you rehearse something the more likely it is to be remembered
e.g learning lyrics of a song
the more you play the song the more likley you are to remember the lyrics
c: elaborative rehearsal is needed for LT storage. This occurs when you link the info to your existing knowledge, or you think about what it means.

Question 29

what three features assess memory

Answer 29

coding
capacity
duration

Question 30

describe coding

Answer 30

the format in which information is stored in memory stores

Question 31

describe research on coding by baddeley

Answer 31

Research by Baddeley (1966) found that information is coded differently, depending on the store it is going to

He split ppts into 4 groups –each group was given a different list of words to remember

He looked at words that were either acoustically similar or semantically similar

Question 32

what are the groups baddeely used to test coding

Answer 32

Group 1 (acoustically similar): words sounded similar (cat, cab, can)
Group 2 (acoustically dissimilar): words sounded different (pit, few, cow)
Group 3 (semantically similar): words with similar meanings (great, large, big)
Group 4 (semantically dissimilar): words with different meanings (good, huge, hot)

Question 33

what did the results suggest on baddeleys coding research

Answer 33

when recalling straight away, group 1 (acoustically similar) had the worst recall

When recalling after 20 minutes, group 3 (semantically similar) had the worst recall

This suggests that:
Information is coded acoustically in the STM
Information is coded semantically in the LTM

Question 34

what is the evaluation on baddeleyes research

Answer 34

Artificial stimuli

Baddeley used word lists that meant nothing to ppts
lacks ecological validity

Question 35

describe capacity

Answer 35

the amount of memry can be held in a mmory store

Question 36

what is the capacity of the STM

Answer 36

7 plus minus two

Question 37

describe duration

Answer 37

the length of time a memory can be held in a memory store h

Question 38

how was duration studied

Answer 38

Peterson and Peterson (1959) – STM duration
Tested 24 undergraduate students across 8 trials
On each trial ppts were given consonant syllable to remember (e.g. SMY) and a 3-digit number (e.g.)
Ppts had to recall the consonant syllable after an interval of either 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 seconds

Question 39

what were the results of the peterson peterson study

Answer 39

90% correct over 3 seconds
20% correct over 9 seconds
2% correct over 18 seconds

Question 40

how the duration of LTM studied

Answer 40

Bahrick et al. (1975)
Studied 392 ppts from Ohio – ages ranged from 17-74
Yearbooks were obtained from ppts or from old schools
They tested recall on photo-recognition on 50 photos and free recall (naming people from their graduating class)

Question 41

what are the results of the Bahrick study

Answer 41

Ppts tested within 15 years of graduating were 90% accurate in photo recognition – this declined to 70% after 48 years

Within 15 years 60% were accurate in free recall – this declined to 30% after 48 years

Question 42

what is retrieval failure

Answer 42

a form of forgetting. when we dont have the necessary cues t access the memory

Question 43

what does tulving suggest about retrieving information

Answer 43

Tulving (1983) reviewed research and discovered that if a cue is to help us recall information it needs to be present at encoding (when we learn the material) and at retrieval (when we recall the material).

Question 44

what is a context dependent cue

Answer 44

an external cue which triggers a particular memory e.g a smell
a photo

Question 45

what was the research conducted by godden on context dependant cues

Answer 45

Godden and….? (1975)
Studied context-dependent cues in deep-sea divers working under water
Asked divers to learn a list of words either underwater or on land – they were and then they were asked to recall underwater or on ground

results
Those who learned and recalled the lists in the same environment had the best recall
Regardless of whether it was land or underwater

Recall was 40% lower for those in the non-matching conditions

Question 46

what is state dependent cue

Answer 46

a internal cue that triggers a particular memory
e.g mood
intoxicated

Question 47

describe the research on state dependent cues

Answer 47

carter and cassidy

Gave anti-histamine drugs to ppts (to treat hay fever)
anti-histamines have a mild sedative effect that causes drowsiness
Ppts has to learn a list of words and passages of prose
They then had to recall the info either on or off the drug
Those who learned and recalled whilst off/on the drug had better recall than those who learn and recalled in different states (learn on the drug, recall off, and vice versa)