Memory Flashcards
Strength of the Multi-store model
Research supporting how the STM and LTM are different…
Baddeley found we tend to mix up words that sound similar when using our STM whilst also mixing up words that have a similar meaning when using out LTM
This supports the MSM views as it shows how each memory store works separately and independently
Limitation of the Multi-store model
Evidence suggesting there is more than one STM store…
KF had amnesia, STM recall for digits was poor when he heard them however improved when he read them.
Other studies confirmed that there may also be a separate STM store for non-verbal sounds
Therefore the MSM is wrong to claim there is just one STM store processing different information
Limitation of the Multi-store model
Prolonged rehearsal is not needed for STM - LTM transfer…
Craik and Watkins argued that there are 2 types of rehearsal called maintenance and elaborative, Maintenance is the only one described within the MSM however elaborative rehearsal is needed for long-term storage. This occurs when you link existing knowledge.
This suggests that the MSM does does not fully explain how long-term storage is achieved.
What are the three types of long term memory?
Episodic
Semantic
Procedural
Describe episodic memory
Stores events from our lives
Likened to a diary of daily personal experiences E.G. your most recent visit to the dentist
Time stamped- you can remember when and how the events took place
You make a conscious effort to recall them
Describe Semantic memory
Combination of an encyclopaedia and a dictionary
It includes knowledge of things such as how to apply to university and the meanings of words
They are not time stamped and less personal
Describe procedural memory
Memory of how we do things; driving a car or swimming
These skills become automatic with practice however being able to explain each movement is difficult to do
What the the working memory model concerned with?
The ‘mental state’ that is active when working on an arithmetic problem , playing chess or analysing language
What is the central executive?
A supervisory role monitoring incoming data directing it to subsystems. It has a very limited capacity
What is the phonological loop?
Deals with the auditory information and preserves the order in which the info arrives
Phonological store- stores words heard
Articulatory process- allows maintenance rehearsal to keep them in your working memory whilst needed
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Stores visual and spatial information when required
Logie divided the VSS into:
Visual cache which stores visual data
Inner scribe which records arrangement of objects in the visual field
What is the episodic buffer?
Temporal store for information
Integrates visual, spatial, and verbal information and maintains the sense of time sequencing recording events that are happening
One strength of the MSM is support from other clinical evidence…
Shallice and Warrington studied KF who had a brain injury. His STM for auditory info was poor (damaged PL) but he could process visual info normally ( Intact VSS). This supports the WMM view that there are separate visual and acoustic memory stores.
Another strength is that dual task performance studies support the VSS…
Baddeley found it harder to carry out two visual tasks at the same time compared to one visual and out verbal task. The two verbal tasks were competing for the same subsystem however the visual and verbal tasks do not compete. Therefore there must be separate subsystems that process visual and verbal.
One limitation is the lack of clarity over the CE…
Baddely said that the CE was the most important but least understood component. There must be more to the CE than just being ‘attention’. Therefore the CE is an unsatisfactory component challenging the integratory of the model
One strength is the case study evidence of different types of LTM…
Clinical studies of amnesia showed both had difficulty recalling events that happened to them in their pasts But their sematic memories were unaffected. Procedural memories were also in tact. This supports the view that there are different memory stores in the LTM because one store can be damaged but others remain unaffected
One limitation is conflicting findings about types of LTM and brain areas…
Buckner and Peterson reviewed research findings and concluded that semantic memory is located in the left peripheral cortex and episodic in the right. But other studies have found that semantic memory was associated with right peripheral cortex and the reverse for episodic This challenges any neurochemical evidence to support types of memory
One strength of Baddeley’s investigation into coding is he identified 2 memory stores…
Research showed expectations to Baddely’s findings but LTM is mostly semantic and STM is semantic, this has lead to the development to the multi-store-model
One limitation is that Baddeley’s study had artificial stimuli…
The words had no meaning to the participants so it doesn’t show how we code for things in everyday life
People even use semantic memory for STM meaning the findings have limited application.
Another limitation is that millers research may overestimate STM…
Cowan reviewed other research and concluded that the capacity of the STM was only about 4, suggesting that the lower end of Millers estimates are more appropriate
What is meant by the inference theory?
When two pieces of information disrupt each other
What is proactive interference?
when an old memory disrupts the remembering of a newer memory
What is retro active interference?
When a new memory stops you from recalling an old one
Why is interference worse when memories are similar?
Proactive interference means that previously stored information makes new information harder to store and in retroactive interference, new information overwrites previous memories which are similar
