Memory

Question 1

What are the 3 types of recall + definition

Answer 1

Free recall (no help)
Cued recall (remembering with a hint
Recognition (remembering something because of options)

Question 2

The 3 types of encoding + definition

Answer 2

Acoustic encoding (holding information through sound)
Visual encoding (remembering visually through a picture)
Semantic - (remembering through meaning)

Question 3

What is episodic memory

Answer 3

Memories of personal experiences (eg a dream you had)

Question 4

What is semantic memory?

Answer 4

Facts or knowledge (eg, capital of france)W

Question 5

What is procedural memory?

Answer 5

Remembering how to do something (eg how to swim)

Question 6

What were the 4 groups in baddeley’s encoding study

Answer 6

Acoustically similar (cap, hat)
Acoustically dissimilar (dad, book)
Semantically similar (big, large)
Semantically dissimilar (hot, pen)

Question 7

What was done so that difficulty wouldn’t change results

Answer 7

The words were simple and one syllable

Question 8

Steps of the encoding study:

Answer 8

• Given 5 tasks, but only 4 were expected
• Had to recall their words in the right order
• Did an unrelated task
• Had to do it again

Question 9

Encoding study results:

Answer 9

• STM encodes acoustically
• LTM encodes semantically

Question 10

Strength and weakness of encoding study

Answer 10

Strength - lab study, well controlled
Weakness - he only waited 20 minutes before testing the LTM, much can be forgotten and could have still been in the STM

Question 11

Describe the order of the multi store memory model

Answer 11

• Stimulus (sound)
• Sensory memory
• STM
• LTM

Question 12

Sensory memory key features

Answer 12

• Large capacity, can hold millions of information
• Only stores information for 0.5 - 3 seconds
• If given attention will pass into STM

Question 13

STM key features

Answer 13

• Will be passed to LTM with repetition
• Duration of 18 secs
• Holds 7+/2 items
• Mainly acoustic

Question 14

LTM key feautures

Answer 14

• Processed through rehearsal
• Unlimited duration
• Unlimited capacity

Question 15

Evaluate multi store memory model

Answer 15

Weakness - too simplistic, doesn’t mention separate acoustic/visual STM, or different LTM, eg episodic
Weakness - Research used artificial tasks, not entirely useful in understanding how memory works

Question 16

What is murdock’s positional curve study

Answer 16

• Wanted to prove existence of STM and LTM
• Shown 20 words, 1 per second, had to recall as many as they could in 90 secs
• Found that words at the beginning and end were recalled best
• Provided evidence for multi store memory
• Concluded the first words went to the LTM, last words went to STM, and the middle words weren’t either so were easily forgotten

Question 17

What is the primacy and recency effect

Answer 17

Primary - when words were recalled from the start of the list
Recency - when words were recalled from the end of the list

Question 18

Evaluate murdock’s study

Answer 18

Strength - controlled, no extraneous variable, can be replicated, supports multi store memory
Weakness - artificial tasks, only represents a small part of our memory

Question 19

What is the war of the ghosts study

Answer 19

• Done to see if memories are influenced by personal experiences
• Western participants were told a native american story, and had to recall it to others
• Small details were changed, such as canoes becoming boats, hunting becoming fishing
• The order of the story was changed

Question 20

Evaluate the war of the ghosts study

Answer 20

Strength - revolved around telling a story, which is far less artificial than most memory studies, making it more realistic
Weakness - potential bias, bartlett recorded all the results, could have only recorded ones that supported his theory

Question 21

What is effort after meaning

Answer 21

We focus on the meaning of events, then afterwards we interpret the meaning into familiar terms (making sense of “fragments”)

Question 22

What is proactive interference

Answer 22

Old memories interfering with new ones

Question 23

What is retroactive interference

Answer 23

New memories interfering with old ones

Question 24

What is the interference study

Answer 24

• 12 participants learnt a list of 10 words
• Then were shown a new list (either synonyms, antonyms, unrelated words, nonsense syllables or 3 digit numbers)
• They were then retested on the first list
• The group shown synonyms of the original words had the worst recall
• Interference is strongest when the activities are similar

Question 25

Evaluate interference study

Answer 25

Weakness - doesn’t represent real life tasks, can’t generalise
Weakness - interference may not always explain forgetting, could access “forgotten” information in a cued recall test

Question 26

What is the context study

Answer 26

• 18 participants from a diving club
• Given a list of 36 random words
• 4 conditions (learned on land, tested on land, learned in water, tested in water, learned on land, tested in water, learned in water, tested on land)
• Those who were tested in the same environment recalled 40% more words

Question 27

Evaluate context study

Answer 27

Weakness - artificial task, can only be applied to specific situations (exams)
Weakness - participants recalled words almost immediately, only testing STM

Question 28

What is the false memory/mall study

Answer 28

• 24 participants (3 male, 21 female) ages 18-53
• Each one had a relative contacted
• Were all told stories that happened to them and had to identify the false one
• 6 participants recalled the false memory partially or fully
• Links to reconstructive memory

Question 29

Evaluate lost in the mall study

Answer 29

Strength - can be applied to real world (e,g eye witness testimony)
Weakness - some participants now have a false memory, could be ethically wrong
Weakness - Study was mostly women, can’t generalise fully to men