memory Flashcards
define encoding
converting infromation into a format that can be stored
define storage
holding the information in memery until needed
define retrieval
finding and accessing memory when it is needed
what does cognitive psychology suggest about the brain
it works like a computer
evaluate the computer analogy
+ can help determine an ordered process of thought simply
- not everyone is capable of these steps
- computers are more reliable at retrieving things and storing them
- machine reductionist
what are the three types of encoding
imagery- pictures and images ( photographic memory)
procedural- information about how to do things
declaritive- memories we can desribe
what does modality specific mean
memory is coded in the matter it exists
e.g. hearing –> acoustically
what was the first memory model and who came up with it and year
The Multi-store model
Atkinson and Shiffrin ( 1968)
who researched into duration of sensory memory
Sperling (1960)
used a tachiscope which flashed symbols to ppts for 1/20th of a second
When shown a grid of 12 symbols ppts could only recall 3-4 although they reported seeing more
sperling concludedt that the duration of sensory memory was 250 milliseconds
what does sensory memory do
acts as a filter and any infomration that is not attended to is faded away through trace decay
who investigated the duration of STM
peterson and peterson
they used the brown peterson effect using trigrams. participants were asked to remember a single trigram but had to count backwards in 3s to prevent rehearsal
Recall was good after 3 seconds but quickly dropped. average duration was between 18-30 seconds without maintanance rehearsal.
who investigated the capacity of STM and how
Miller (1956)
he used the digit span technique and asked participants to repeat the digits immediately after them. Thier score was calculated by the number of digits they could correctly recall.
He found that most ppts could only recall 5-9 items hence millers magic 7
he also found that capcaticty could be increased by chunking
who investigated duration of LTM and how
Bahrick et al
asked 392 ppts to put names to faces of their old high school yearbook and they found a 70% accuracy rate after 48 years
what is the evidence to support the multistore memory model
Glanzer and Cunitz “serial position effect” - gave ppts a lost of words to learn and allowed them to recall in any order and they found that the first few words and the last few words on the list are the most recalled. This is because teh first few words are rehearsed adn in the LTM and the last few words and still in the STM.
Shallice and Warrington- reported the case of KF who had been in a motorcycle accident. He had servere damage to his STM whist his LTM remained intact indicating 2 seperate stores
Baddeley used brain scannin and found different patterns in brain activity when ppts were asked to recall items from STM and LTM
evaluate the multi store model
+ very influenctial and caused more research to be done
+ provides a good understanding of the strcuture and processes of memory
- the simple “rehearsal” is problematic as there are different types and we dont know the amount of rehearsal is needed
- there are different types of LTM that arent showed on the model
- temporal validity
- it is a linear model but retrieval is backwards
who proposed the Working Memory Model
Baddeley and Hitch
what is the role of the central executive
it is a filter that monitors the operation of the other two components of the store
what does the episodic buffer do
acts as a backup store which communicates with LTM and components of working memory
what does the phonological loop consist of and what do they do
it consists of two subsystems
- Articulatory control system: inner voice where a verbal rehearsal system
- Phonological Store: inner ear where memory lasta 1.5-2 seconds if not refreshed by the articulatory control system.
what is the role of the visuospatial sketchpad
holds both the visual and spacial information which can come from the sensory memory or the LTM
evaluate the working memory model
+ improvement of the MSM
+ shows different types of STM
+ evidence from dual task research
+ evidence from case studies
_no reference to different LTM
_central executive role is unclear
_most reseach for it comes from brain damaged patients and therefore lacks generalisability
what is trace decay
automatic dissapearance of the memort trace and this occurs very rapidly in the sensory memory
what is displacement decay
when new information pushes the old information out of the memory
what is interference and what are the 2 types
when similar memories interfere with each other
proactive- older memories interfering with new
retroactive- newer memories interfering with older ones
who did research into interference and what did they do
Loess (1968)
- ppts were presented with a list of three words from a particluar category
- then they had to count backwards for 25 seconds to prevent rehearsal and then recall the three words
- this was then repeated 6 times
- the first list was well recalled the second less and so one as proactive interference had occured
- loess then changed the category and recall immediately increased as there was no interference
evaluate research into interference
- individual differences
- demand characteristics
- lacks ecolological validity
- lacks temporal validity
+ controls the variables
what is cue dependent retrieval and what is the research into it
retrival that only occurs when a cue is present to help
Tulving & Pearlstone
- one group were given words to memorise and recall the other group were given the categories as well
-the group given categories recalled more as the categories acted as retrieval cues
what is context dependent retrieval
normally to do with a location or the correct context
for example when you cant recognise your dentist straight away because they are in nomal clothes
what is the research into context-dependent retrieval
Godden and Baddeley
- got 4 groups of divers to memorise word lists
- the groups were:
1. learn and recall on land
2. learn and recall underwater
3. learn on land and recall underwater
4. learn and recall underwater
ppts had better recall when the recalled where they learnt the list
what is state dependent retrieval
Refers to the psychological state. If you are in the same psychological state in which you learnt something you are more likely to remember it.
what is the research into state dependent retrieval
Goodwin et al
University students to hide money and alcohol when they were drunk. When sober they couldnt find the stuff but once they were drunk again they could
who researched the accuracy of eye witness testimony and how leading questions influence it
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
- ppts were 45 students from the university
- they were each shown 7 filmclips of traffic accidents from driving education
- teh students were asked to write an account of the accident and asked to answer some specific questions about the speed of the car with a varying verb
- how quickly was the car going when it “smashed”, “collided” , “bumped” and “contacted”
findings:
- the phrasing of the question brougth about a change in speed estimate
evaluate research into eye witness testimony
+ controlled variables
- demand characteristics
- ecological validity
+ reliable and scientific
+ practical applications of police interviews improving
- not generalisable as there was only 9 in each group with the verb
who did research into weapon focus and how
Loftus et al ( 1987)
sample- 36 students from the university aged 18-31 recruieted by advertisments and paid $3.50 adn the others were psychology student particpating for extra credits
Method- shown 18 slides of a series of events in a restaurant . For both groups the slides were exactly the same except for one. For the control group the second person was handing the casheir a check and for the experimental group it was a gun.
The dependent variable was how well the person was recognized
Results- 38.9% of the control group identified correctly but only 11.1% of the experimental group did.
eye fixation data showed the gun group spent on average 1.28 seconds longer looking at the gun then the cheque
the ppts spent linger at the gun and therfore had more difficultly picking the suspect from the line up due to the Tunnel effect
what is the tunnel effect
anxiety and weaponse focus narrow attention
evaluate the weapon focus experiment
- lacks ecological validty
+ standardised and therefore reliable
+ practical apps like helpign us be aware of faulty testimonies - not generalisabke as the sample is only American, men aged 18-31
what is the contracting research to weapon focus
Yuille and Cutshall
sample- 13 wintnesses to a real crime
method- interviewed 4-5 months after the orignal interviews and asked to recall what happened. They were also asked to rate thir level of stress on a 7 point scale and if they had suffered any emotional issues
findings- the levels of accuracy was high and the more stressed the group were the more accurate 85% = whereas teh less stressful group were 75%
evaluate Yuille and Cutshalls research
+ ecological validity
- small sample
- post event discussion
-Loftus research opposes
- could be considered unethical to ask them to relive it
what is the Yerkes Dodson Law
the idea that stress improves our performance to a point and then our performances decreases
what are the steps on the cognitive interview techinique
- Report everything- encourages witnesses to report all detail that they can remember regardless of how trivial
- Context reinstatement- recreate the scene of the incident in the mind of the witness modelling the senses and emotions
- witnesses to recall events in different orders
- recall from a different perspective- witnesses to view the scene as othes present may have seen it
explain fisher an gieselmans lab test for the CIT
Procedure- 240 ppts watched a video of a store robbery. 120 were interviewed using standard policing techniwue and the other 120 using CIT
results- ppts interviewed by the CIT recalled 35% more facts
explain fisher an gieselmans field test for the CIT
procedure- real witnesses and 16 detectives from a robbery. seven of the stectives were trained in the CIT. the interviews were recorded and analysed by a team at university salifornia who were blind to the conditions.
Findings- 63% more informtaion was obtained by the detectives trained in CI
what are some supporting evidence for the CIT
fisher and gieselman lab and field experiment
Kohnken et al- meta analysis of 53 other studies and found that teh CI could elicit on avergae 34% more detial that the standard interview
evaluate fisher and Giselmans field research into CIT
+ ecological validity
- small sample
- not reliable
- no control of variables
Evaluate the CIT
- time consuming
+ supporting research - young children arent suited to it
- Milne and Bull say only report everything and context reinstatement needs to be used
outline Gabbert et als research into EWT and post discussion
lab experiment with a sample of 60 students from aberdeen university and 60 older adults recruited from the local community .
control group individually watched a video of a girl stealing
experimental group was a pair one watched the video of the girl stealing and the other watched from a different perspective. they were then allowed to talk about what they had seen
71% of witnesses recalled information they didn’t witness and 60% said the girl was guilt even though they had not seen her commit the crime
evaluate Gabbert et als research into EWT and post event discussion
+ generalisable in terms of age
+ practical applications
+ controlled variables
- ecologically invalid as witnessing real crime may be different e.g. weapon focus
- ethnocentric
- small sample size
- ethics - deception
