Memory Flashcards
Outline research support for the Cognitive Interview
Köhnken et al (1999)
- Meta analysis of 50 studies on the CI
- 34% increase in amount of information given
- Only 3% difference in accuracy
Outline the Cognitive Interview
Fisher and Geiselman (1992)
- Recall everything - Minor details could still be helpful, they can act as cues and trigger more memories
- Reinstate the context - putting themselves back in the scene can act as cues and trigger more memories
- Reverse the order - Harder to lie and for schema to affect the story
- Change perspective - Disrupts the effect of schema, particularly effective for the elderly and children
What is the Yerkes-Dodson effect?
The observation that arousal has a negative effect on performance (such as memory recall) when it is very low or very high, but moderate levels are actually beneficial. This is described as an inverted U-shape curve.
Outline research support for anxiety having a positive effect on accuracy
Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
- 13 witnesses to a robbery where the thief was killed and the shop owner injured
- Participants were interviewed 5 months after police interviews
- Rated their anxiety on a Likert scale
- The details given were compared to previous police interviews
Results
- Low anxiety - 75% recalled the same
- High anxiety - 88% recalled the same
Outline research support for anxiety having a negative effect on accuracy
Johnson and Scott (1979)
- Participants seating in a waiting room unaware
- Heated argument can be heard from the next room
- Low anxiety condition - Man comes out of room holding a pen with hands covered in grease
- High anxiety condition - Sound of breaking glass, man walks out with letter opener covered in blood
- Participants asked to identify the man from a set of 50 photos
Results
- Low anxiety recall rate - 49%
- High anxiety recall rate - 33%
Outline research support for the effect of Post Event Discussion on eye witness testimony
Gabbert et al (2003)
- Participants watch a video of a girl stealing money
- Group 1 can see the theft, group 2 cannot
- Both groups are allowed to discuss (control group does not)
- They then answer a questionnaire
Results
- 71% in discussion condition recalled info they did not see
- 60% said the girls was guilty even though they did not see the crime
Outline research support for the effect of leading questions on eye witness testimony
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
- 45 participants watch a video of a car crash
- Then asked “How fast were the cars going when they ____ eachother?”
Results
- Smashed - 40.8 mph
- Collided - 39.3 mph
- Hit - 38.1 mph
- Bumped - 34.0 mph
- Contacted - 31.8 mph
Outline research support for forgetting due to retrieval failure
State-dependent Forgetting
Goodwin et al (1969)
- Male participants memorised a list of words either drunk or sober
- 24 hours later they recalled the list either drunk or sober (4 conditions)
Results
- Recall was best when done in the same state it was learnt in
Outline research support for forgetting due to retrieval failure
Context-dependent Forgetting
Godden and Baddeley (1975)
- Scuba divers learnt a list of words either on land or underwater
- They then recalled the list either on land or underwater (4 conditions)
Results
- Recall was best when done in the same environment it was learnt in
Outline research support for forgetting due to interference
McGeoch and McDonald (1931)
- Participants learnt a list of words to 100% accuracy then learnt a second list, then recalled the first list after 10 minutes
Second list conditions:
- Synonyms of first list
- Antonyms of first list
- Unrelated words to first list
- Consonant trigrams
- 3 digit numbers
- No new list
Results
1. 12% recall
3. 26% recall
5. 37% recall
Name the two types of interference and what they are
- Proactive interference -Old memory interferes with a new memory
- Retroactive interference- New memory interferes with an old memory
Outline research support for the Working Memory Model
Baddeley and Hitch (1976)
- Two conditions, both with two tasks performed simultaneously
- Track moving dot with a laser pointer, Mentally move around the edge of a letter F and categorise the corners as either top or bottom
- Track moving dot with a laser pointer, Perform a purely verbal task
Results
- Condition 1 is harder to do because both tasks utilise the visuospatial sketchpad
Outline research support for WMM
Physical evidence
D’Espasito et al (2014)
- Meta analysis of neuroimaging research into working memory
Results
- Central executive - Frontal lobe
- Phonological loop - Temporal lobe
- Visuospatial sketchpad - Occipital lobe
Outline research support for WMM
Case study
Shallice and Warrington (1970)
- Examined a man named “KF” who suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident
- KF’s STM was impaired for verbal info (phonological loop) but not for visual info (visuospatial sketchpad) suggesting they are separate
Counter for the WMM
Quote
“The central executive is the most important, but the least understood component”
Outline the Working Memory Model
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
Central executive
- Very limited capacity
- Coordinates the three slave systems
- Carries out cognitive tasks (maths, problem solving)
Phonological loop
- Capacity of ~2 seconds
- Phonological store stores speech based info
- Articulatory process does a form of maintenance rehersal by repeating info
Visuospatial sketchpad
- Capacity of ~4 objects
- Processes visual and spatial info to allow us to navigate through space
Episodic buffer
- Capacity of ~4 chunks of info
- Integrates info from the other stores to form a coherent episodic memory
- Acts as a general storage unit for the central executive
Outline research on physical evidence of Episodic and Semantic memories
Tulving et al (1994)
- Meta analysis of PET scans of LTM
Results
- Retreival of episodic memories linked to activity in the right prefrontal cortex
- Retrieval of semantic memories linked to activity in the left prefrontal cortex
Name the types of LTM
Tulving (1985)
Proposed three types of LTM:
- Episodic - Declarative - Time stamped
- Semantic - Declarative
- Procedural - Non-Declarative
Outline research on the coding of STM and LTM
Baddeley (1966)
Participants learnt one of four word lists
- Acoustically similar words
- Acoustically different words
- Semantically similar words
- Semantically different words
Particiants recalled immediately (STM) or after 20 minutes (LTM)
Results
- For STM condition, recall was worst for acoustically similar words
- For LTM condition, recall was worst for semantically similar words
- This means that STM is coded acoustically and LTM is coded semantically because of interference
Outline research on the duration of LTM
Bahrick et al (1975)
392 participants were shown photos of the high school yearbook and asked of the recognised them or their names
Results:
- 90% accurate after 15 years
- 70% accurate after 48 years
- For free recall of names it was 60% and 30%
Counter
- People likely looked at their yearbook in the years before their study
Outline research on the duration of STM
Peterson and Peterson (1958)
- Participants recall three consonants after counting down from a number for an increasing amount of time
- Duration is ~20 seconds
Outline research on the capacity of STM
Jacobs (1887)
- Digit / Letter span task
- Average 9.3 items for digits, 7.3 for items for letters
Miller (1956)
- Capacity is 7+ 2
- Chunking helps
Outline the Multi Store Model
Atkinson and Shiffrin
- Sensory info
- Sensory register (attention)
- STM (maintenance rehearsal)
- LTM (elaborate rehearsal, retrieval)
- Unitary and Distinct
