Memory

Question 1

What is the multi store model of memory and what are its features?

Answer 1

Proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968

Sensory Register -(attention)-> STM -(rehearsal)-> <-(retrieval)- LTM

Question 2

What is the coding, capacity and duration of the sensory register in the MSM?

Answer 2

Coding - modality specific
Capacity - very large
Duration - very short

Question 3

What is the coding,capacity and duration of the LTM in the MSM?

Answer 3

Coding - semantic
Capacity - unlimited
Duration - very long

Question 4

What is the coding capacity and duration of the STM in the MSM?

Answer 4

Coding - acoustic
Capacity - 7+-2
Duration - 18s

Question 5

What are some strengths of the MSM?

Answer 5

Jacobs - found the capacity of the STM is 7+-2

Glanzer and Cunitz - Found the STM and LTM are separated as words at the beginning and end of the list are easier to recall

Bahrick - Found the duration of the LTM is very long

Question 6

What are some limitations of the MSM?

Answer 6

Cognitive tests of memory models are highly artificial - means they lack mundane realism and lack generalisability

There are different types of LTM which the MSM does not account for

The capacity of the STM can be altered

Question 7

What are the different types of LTM?

Answer 7

Episodic
Semantic
Procedural

Question 8

What is the episodic LTM?

Answer 8

‘Time stamped’ experiences and events which can be accessed consciously and are expressed in words

Question 8

What are some limitations to the types of LTM?

Answer 8

Generalising studies to explain memory is problematic

Types of LTM may not truly be distinct (episodic becomes semantic overtime)

Question 8

What is the procedural LTM?

Answer 8

Unconscious memories of skills often learnt in childhood which are NOT consciously recalled

Question 8

What is the semantic LTM?

Answer 8

Facts, meanings and knowledge which can be accessed consciously and are expressed in words

Episodic becomes semantic overtime

Question 9

What are some strengths of the types of LTM?

Answer 9

Clive Wearing - Has retrograde amnesia, so suffers from having no episodic memory

Varagha-Khadem - found children with damage to the hippocampus not parahippocampus corticles had episodic amnesia but were still able to learn semantic info

Question 10

What is the working memory model and what are its features?

Answer 10

Founded by baddeley and Hitch 1974) which was created to replace the STM in the MSM

Central executive
Phonological loop
Viso-spatial sketchpad
Episodic buffer (not added until the 2000s)

Question 11

What is the central executive in the WMM?

Answer 11

Receives sense information, controls the attention and filters information

Limited in capacity and capable of dealing with only one strand of info at a time

Question 12

What is the phonological loop in the WMM?

Answer 12

Processes sound info - only has a capacity of 2 seconds

Question 13

What is the visuospatial sketchpad in the WMM?

Answer 13

Processes visual codes and spatial information

Question 14

What is the episodic buffer in the WMM

Answer 14

Acts as a general store

Question 15

What are some strengths of the WMM?

Answer 15

Baddeley - when asked to do two visual or a visual and a verbal task it was found that performance was better when they were not using the same processor, suggests the VSS and PL are separate systems

Shallice and Warrington - After a brain injury KF had selective impairment to his STM but visual functioning was not affect, suggests the PL and VSS are seperate

WMM is more accurate than the STM component in the MSM

Question 16

What are some limitations of the WMM?

Answer 16

Impossible to directly observe the processes of memory

There are issues with external factors in the studies, so therefore they lack mundane realism and cannot be generalised

Criticised the central executive as it does not have a full explanation of its function

Question 17

What are the explanations for forgetting?

Answer 17

Interference - Proactive/Retroactive

Retrieval failure due to absence of cues - Stage dependent cues, Context dependent cues, Cue dependent forgetting

Question 18

What is proactive interference?

Answer 18

Old information disrupts new - Interference works forward in time when old information is already stored it interferes with recalling something new

Question 19

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 19

New info disrupts old - interferences works backwards in time

Question 20

What is context dependent cues?

Answer 20

When aspects of our external environment works as cues to memory

Question 21

What is stage dependent cues?

Answer 21

Aspects of our internal environment works as cues to memory

Question 22

What is cue dependent forgetting?

Answer 22

Information is in the LTM but forgetting happens due to absence of appropriate cues encoded at the same time

Question 23

What are some strengths of explanations for forgetting?

Answer 23

Schmidt - sent a questionnaire to 211 11-19 year olds, found the more times an individual moves homes the less names they could recall

Research into forgetting has practical applications

Question 24

What are limitations to the explanations for forgetting?

Answer 24

Interference and cue theory may only explain a temporary loss of info not a permanent loss

Interference only explains forgetting when two sets of info are similar and learnt close together

Question 25

What are factors affecting the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 25

Post event contamination
Leading questions
Anxiety

Question 26

What is post event contamination?

Answer 26

The recall of events by one witness alters the accuracy of another witness’s recollection

Question 27

What are leading questions?

Answer 27

Questions which imply a particular answer - causes substitution/response bias

Question 28

How does anxiety affect the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 28

High anxiety may decrease recall due to the weapon effect

Question 29

What does Bartlett argue about the factors affecting the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 29

Argued memory is not an accurate recording of events, it is reconstructed in recalling and may produce errors

Question 30

What are some strengths of factors affecting the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 30

Loftus and Palmer - Car crash words + video clip

Bodner - found when participants were warned about the danger of post event discussion witnesses changed their EWT less

Question 31

What are some limitations of factors affecting the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 31

Research that deceives participants and causes anxiety breaks ethical guidelines

Yuille + Cutshall - FOund when interviewed four months after a shooting, 13 witnesses resisted misleading info and those who had the most anxiety produced the most accurate EWT

Question 32

How do you improve the accuracy of the EWT?

Answer 32

Fisher and Geiselman suggested the cognitive interview as an improvement

Question 33

What are some factors of the cognitive interview in improving the accuracy of the EWT?

Answer 33

Report everything
Context reinstatement
Recall in reverse order

Question 34

What are some strengths of improving the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 34

Cost benefit to using additional resources - CI reduces crime

Question 35

What are some limitations of improving the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 35

CI is not effective in improving the recognition of success
CI are time consuming