Memory Flashcards

1
Q

what are the three processes of memory?

A
  • storage
  • encoding
  • retrieval
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2
Q

storage

A

when info is kept in your brain for a period of time

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3
Q

encoding

A

translating information into a form that can be understood by the brain

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4
Q

retrieval

A

when information is located in the brain and brought back

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5
Q

what are the three types of encoding?

A
  • visual encoding
  • acoustic encoding
  • semantic encoding
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6
Q

visual encoding

A

how it looks

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7
Q

acoustic encoding

A

how it sounds

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8
Q

semantic encoding

A

in terms of meaning

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9
Q

what are the three types of retrieval?

A
  • recognition
  • cued recall
  • free recall
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10
Q

recognition

A

remembering, as you’ve seen it before

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11
Q

cued recall

A

when you’re struggling to recall information you need a cue to help locate information

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12
Q

free recall

A

ability to recall information without any cues

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13
Q

outline Baddeley’s study of encoding

A

A: to investigate the difference between the type of encoding for STM and LTM
M: -4 groups, each with a list of words
-each group were read 12 sets of 5 words (one second for each word)
-dissimilar and similar sounding words were recalled immediately whereas words with dissimilar and similar meaning were recalled after 20 minutes
R: -recalled acoustically similar words worst compared to acoustically dissimilar words
-lower recall for semantically similar words compared to semantically dissimilar words
C:-encode acoustically in STM
-encode semantically in LTM

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14
Q

strength of Baddeley’s study of encoding

*hearing test

A

P- extraneous variables were controlled well
E- hearing was controlled by giving participants a hearing test
L-more certain that the type of words is what affected recall

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15
Q

weakness of Baddeley’s study of encoding

*sometimes visual

A

P- encoding in STM doesn’t always involve sound
E-other studies have found that if pictures are used rather than words visual encoding is used
L- information doesn’t just go into STM in acoustic form

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16
Q

weakness of Baddeley’s study of encoding

*not tested

A

P- LTM may not have been tested
E- waiting for 20 min doesn’t mean the words are in LTM
L- lacks validity

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17
Q

what are two other types of encoding?

A
  • olfactory: memory for smell

- tactile: memory of what things feel to touch

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18
Q

what are the three types of LTM

A
  • episodic
  • semantic
  • procedural
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19
Q

episodic

A

experiences

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20
Q

semantic

A

knowledge of the world

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21
Q

procedural

A

how to do things

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22
Q

strength of different types of LTM

*locations

A

P-brain scans show that different types of LTM relate to different brain locations
E-eg. episodic memory is found in the right prefrontal cortex
L-shows there are different types of LTM

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23
Q

strength of different types of LTM

*amnesic

A

P-supported by case studies of amnesic patients
E-eg. Clive Wearing lost most of his episodic memory but not his procedural as he could still play the piano
L-shows there are different types of LTM

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24
Q

weakness of different types of LTM

*too simple

A

P- distinctive types of LTM are difficult to separate
E- memory is usually a mixture of types (no clear difference between episodic and semantic memories)
L- having different types of LTM may be an oversimplification

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25
Q

outline the theory of the multi-store model (9t)

A
  • Attention Rehearsal
    Sensory —>Short Term —> Long Term
    Memory —> Memory
    -sensory memory: capacity: large. encoding: visually, semantically and acoustically. duration: fraction of a second. for info from the sensory memory to get into STM we must pay attention to it.
    -STM: capacity: 5-9 items. encoding: visually and acoustically. duration: 30 seconds. rehearsal moves information from the STM to LTM
    -LTM: capacity: unlimited .encoding: semantically. duration: lifetime.
26
Q

what is a strength of the multi-store model theory (9t)

*research support

A

P- support for the existence of different memory stores
E- Baddeley’s study of encoding shows that STM and LTM encode information differently
L-STM and LTM have qualitative differences

27
Q

what is a weakness of the multi-store model theory (9t)

*simple

A

P- too simple as it suggests we only have 1 STM and 1 LTM
E-research shows that STM is divided into visual and acoustic stores and that LTM is divided into semantic, procedural and episodic
L- memory is more complex

28
Q

what is a weakness of the multi-store model theory (9t)

*artificial materials

A

P- research uses artificial materials
E- eg. word lists and nonsense syllables
L- doesn’t illustrate the different ways we use memory

29
Q

primacy effect

A

tendency to remember words at the beginning of the list

30
Q

recency effect

A

tendency to remember words at the end of the list

31
Q

primacy and recency effect

A
  • words at the beginning are remembered more as they’ve been rehearsed and gone into the LTM (primary)
  • words at the end of a list are remembered more as they’ve been heard recently and are in the STM (recency)
32
Q

outline Murdock’s serial position curve study (9s)

A

A: to investigate if memory of words was affected by where the words were positioned in the list
M: -words from the 4,000 most common words in english were chosen randomly
-participants listened to 20 word lists (with 10-40 words on them)
-they recalled the words after each list
R: -recall was related to the position of the word in the list
-higher recall=first few words (primacy)
-higher recall=the last words (recency) compared to words in the middle of the list
C: -shows the serial position effect=position of a word determines the likelihood of recall
-supports the MSM

33
Q

what is strength of Murdock’s serial position curve study (9s)
*lab study

A

P- it was carried out in laboratory conditions
E- things like familiarity of words could be controlled
L- more certain that the position of the words affected recall

34
Q

what is weakness of Murdock’s serial position curve study (9s)
*artificial task

A

P- task was artificial
E- list of words=relates to only 1 type of memory
L- results don’t relate to how we use our memories in other ways (personal events)

35
Q

what is strength of Murdock’s serial position curve study (9s)
*supporting research

A

P- research with amnesiacs supports the conclusion
E- Carlesimo et al found that some amnesiacs can’t store long term memories and don’t show a primacy effect but show a recency effect
L- proves that primacy effect is related to LTM

36
Q

outline Bartlett’s war of ghosts study (9s)

A

A:to investigate whether people’s memory for a story is affected by previous knowledge (schemas) and the extent to which memory is reconstructive
M:-Bartlett gave British participants a Native American Folk story to read (culture different from their own) called “War of Ghosts”
-after 15 minutes he asked them to reproduce the story to another person who then has to recall it to someone else (Chinese whisperers)
-each time the story was reproduced a record was made, he asked them again and again over a period of months and years (serial production)
R: -main idea of story was remembered
-changed unfamiliar elements to make sense of the story using more familiar terms to their cultural expectations
eg= -shortened by omissions
-phrases were changed to language and concepts from the participants’ own culture (boat->canoe)
-slight variations
C: -our memory isn’t an exact copy of what we hear
-distorted by what we already know about the world
-people don’t remember details, we remember fragments and use our knowledge of social situations to reconstruct memory

37
Q

what is a strength of Bartlett’s war of ghosts study (9s)

*eye witness testimony

A

P- explains problems with eye witness testimony
E- this research showed memory is affected by expectations showing that people don’t always recall accurately
L- EWT is no longer solely relied on as evidence in criminal investigations

38
Q

what is a strength of Bartlett’s war of ghosts study (9s)

*real life

A

P- reflects how we use memory in our everyday life
E- uses a story instead of artificial materials
L- findings are more relevant to real life memory processes

39
Q

what is a weakness of Bartlett’s war of ghosts study (9s)

*“something black”

A

P- not all memories are reconstructed
E- participants often recalled “something black came out of his mouth” because it was distinctive
L- shows some memories are accurate

40
Q

outline the theory of reconstructive memory (9t)
Active
Fragments
Influences
E/M

A
  • memory is an active process. we store fragments of information and when we need to recall something we build these fragments into a meaningful whole however some elements are missing and is not accurate
  • we record small pieces of information when events occur. later during recall we recombine the pieces to tell the story, every time we retell the story the elements are combined differently (reconstruction)
  • when recombining pieces of information they can be impacted to what we believe to be true therefore social and cultural expectations may influence our memory
  • effort after meaning: we focus on the meaning of events and afterwards we make an effort to interpret the meaning in more familiar terms
41
Q

what is a weakness the theory of reconstructive memory (9t)

*some memories are accurate

A

P- wrong to suggest all memories are inaccurate
E- other studies have shown that sometimes memory can be accurate. (eg. in Bartlett’s war of the ghosts study people remembered the phrase “something black came out of his mouth” because it was distinctive)
L- shows that people don’t always actively construct memories and that some memories are accurate

42
Q

what is a strength the theory of reconstructive memory (9t)

*realistic

A

P- Bartlett’s way of investigating memory reflects how we use memory in everyday life
E- he had his participants learn a story rather than using artificial tasks like word lists
L- therefore his research is more relevant to real-life memory processes

43
Q

what is a strength the theory of reconstructive memory (9t)

*eye witness testimony

A

P- can explain issues with eye witness testimony
E- eye witness testimonies used to be regarded as important/valuable evidence however, Bartlett showed that our memory isn’t always accurate and can be affected by our expectations. due to this it is no longer heavily relied on
L- shows that Bartlett’s research had important consequences

44
Q

what are the three factors affecting the accuracy of memory?

A
  • interference
  • context
  • false memories
45
Q

interference

A
  • form of regretting
  • when 2 memories compete with each other, one memory may prevent us from accessing the other memory (likely when info is similar)
46
Q

proactive interference

A

when you forget the new information because the older information is already stored and interferes with new memories

47
Q

retroactive interference

A

when you forget the old information because the new information interferes with the accuracy of the old memories

48
Q

outline McGeoch and McDonald’s study (interference)

A

A: to investigate if a second activity has an effect on the accuracy of memory
M: -12 participants
-5 different kinds of lists were shown to the participants–>each had to learn the 10 words from one list until memorized and were then given a new list of varying types (eg.synonyms, antonyms, unrelated, nonsense syllables, 3 digit numbers and no new list)
R: -memory was affected by the second list
-synonyms had least accurate recall
-participants who weren’t given a new list had the best recall
C: interference affects memory and is strongest when an intervening activity is similar

49
Q

what is a strength of McGeoch and McDonald’s study (interference)
*high control

A

P- high control
E- a number of techniques were used such as counterbalancing in order to control the experiment
L- the order of the lists wasn’t a variable that would’ve affected the results

50
Q

what is a weakness of McGeoch and McDonald’s study (interference)
*artificial materials

A

P- used artificial tasks (word lists)
E- people usually don’t need to recall a list of similar words in real life
L- doesn’t reflect accuracy of memory in real life

51
Q

what is a weakness of McGeoch and McDonald’s study (interference)
*only 1 reason

A

P-ignores other reasons why memories are inaccurate
E- interference isn’t the only reason why people forget
L- interference isn’t a complete explanation of why memories are inaccurate

52
Q

context

A

situation in which an event or memory happens and can act as a cue to recall memories

53
Q

outline Godden and Baddeley’s study (context)

A

A: to investigate if context improves recall
M: -18 participants were members of a diving club
-divers had to listen to a list of 36 unrelated words either on the beach (dry) or under water (wet)
-they were tested after 4 minutes to see how many words they could recall on beach or underwater
R:-recall was highest in the same environment for learning and for recall
-accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions
C: context of learning acts as a trigger or cue when trying to remember the information
(context enhances accuracy of memory)

54
Q

what is a weakness of Godden and Baddeley’s study

*artificial tasks

A

P- uses artificial tasks to measure forgetting
E- divers had to remember word lists which isn’t the most accurate way to measure forgetting in real life
L-other research has shown that when remembering more complex/real life information, memory isn’t affected by context

55
Q

what is a weakness of Godden and Baddeley’s study

*short-term

A

P- recall of words were asked in a short term context
E- its unrealistic as the participants recalled words almost immediately
L- only tells us how we remember and forget in a short term therefore the research is limited

56
Q

what is a weakness of Godden and Baddeley’s study

*very similar

A

P- context only acts as a cue for recall if the context at the time of learning are very similar
E- learning information for a test isn’t affected by context as most exams happen in a happen in a quiet enclosed area
L- context doesn’t affect the accuracy of memory in all situations

57
Q

false memories

A
  • memory is an active process
  • memories can be reconstructed because we record small pieces of information and when recalling we build up the fragments into a meaningful who so elements can missing or incorrect
  • effort after meaning:we make an effort to interpret them meaning in more familiar terms
  • our memories can also be influenced by what we expect to be true and can be transformed to fit our cultural and social influences
58
Q

outline Loftus’ “lost in the mall study (false memories)

A

A: to see if false memories could be created in participants
M:-4 stories about childhood events where 3 were true (given from relatives) and 1 was false (about getting lost in a shopping mall–>story was crafted to each individual to make it more realistic) were given to the participants
-they were told to read each story and write down what they remembered about each event
R: 6/24 (25%) of participants recalled the story fully or partially
C: imagining an event can implant a false memory in a person which reduces the accuracy of memory

59
Q

what is a strength of Loftus’ “lost in the mall study

*eye witness testimony

A

P- has important implications for eye witness testimony
E- by using leading questions the police could accidentally implant false memories
L- changed the courts deal with EWT as they no longer regard it as reliable evidence

60
Q

what is a weakness of Loftus’ “lost in the mall study

*artificial task

A

P- artificial task (not a traumatic event)
E- harmless events are easily implanted but traumatic events may not
L- conclusions that can be drawn are limited

61
Q

what is a weakness of Loftus’ “lost in the mall study

*ethical issues

A

P- participants may be left with the false memories implanted
E- may have a lingering sense (cause distress)
L- raises ethical issues