Memory Flashcards
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
Created the multistore model of memory
an explanation of memory that sees information flowing through a series of storage systems.
Sensory register store (SR) - short duration store that holds impressions of information received by the senses
Short term memory store (stm) - temporary store holding small amounts of info for brief periods
Long term memory (LTM) - permanent store holding limitless amounts of info.
Multistore model of memory
Multi-store model of memory: Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
an explanation of memory that sees information flowing through a series of storage systems.
Sensory register store (SR) - short duration store that holds impressions of information received by the senses
Short term memory store (stm) - temporary store holding small amounts of info for brief periods
Long term memory (LTM) - permanent store holding limitless amounts of info.
How are stores are measured in the MSM
How are
Stores are distinguished by three terms:
Coding - what form it is stored in our memories ( sound, images, meaning )
Capacity - amount of information that can be stored
Duration - length of time that info can be held.
Whats the sensory store (MSM)
store
sensory stimulus from environment will pass though store ( sights smells sounds )
5 stores for each of five senses
Main stores are : iconic ( visual info ) and echoic ( auditory info )
Whats the short term memory store ( MSM)
Short term memory (stm)
limited capacity store of memory
Stores information that we process and recall straight away
When we take in new info ( from five senses), we must process it and transform it into a memory trace (coding)
If we dont attend to/rehearse sensory info then we forget it.
Coding:
mainly acoustic stores
Baddeley (1996):
gave four different word lists to participants to remember
Group 1: words are acoustically similar sounding eg: cat hat mat
Group 2: words are acoustically different : house pit blue
Found that in practice and recall participants did worse with acoustically similar words. So coded acoustically
Did worse when they are semantically similar because if they sound the same it is hard to code them by their meanings.
Capacity:
Jacob’s (1987)
digit span test to study capacity, participants given 4 digits to recall in order, when done correctly they get another digit each time.
Mean amount for numbers = 9.3 and mean amount for letters = 7.3
Therefore span for capacity in stm is 7+/-2
George Miller found that most things in life come in secrets (days of the week, number plates). He said that if we break things down by chunking which is breaking stuff down into groups which helps increase capacity.
Duration:
Peterson and Peterson () : found the decay of STM without rehearsal.
18-30 second duration in the STM
What the LTM atore (MSM) + CODING CAPACITY DURATION
Long term memory (LTM)
permanent memory store
Memory that has been rehearsed for a long period of time
When we want to recall info from out LTM we have to transfer it back to the STM through retrieveal. No memories are straight from LTM
Coding:
Baddeley (1996)
group 3 = words with similar meanings (semantically similar) eg: big, large, great
Group 4 = words that are semantically dissimilar eg: good, huge, hot
Participants did worse with semantically similar, so we code semantically
Duration:
Bahrick (1975) studied 392 participants from 17-74 using year books from school to recognise faces.
Recall was tested:
Photo recognition had 50 photos
Free recall was jsut any names
Participants who had graduated within 15 years had 90% accuracy in recognition
Participants who’d graduated 48 years ago had 70% photo recognition
Capacity:
Limitless
Assumptions about the MSM
Assumptions:
Different: clear distinction between two types of memory
Unitary: STM and LTM are seen as unitary aka only one type of STM or LTM
Linear: memory process = linear, flows in one direction.
What is rehearsal and what are the different types in the MSM
Rehearsal = long term repetition
Maintenance rehearsal = repeatedly verbalised or thinking about a piece of info
Elaborative rehearsal = involves thinking about the meaning of that term to remember it (more related to LTM cause LTM is semantic coding ( meaning )
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)
showed 20 words one at a time and then had to recall them verbally
Found serial position effect
Serial position effect = primacy and recency effect
Primacy effect = (first word in sequence) you remember first words because you rehearsed them the most
Recency effect = (last words in sequence )remember these because they are the most recent recalled and are still in the short term memory
Strong because it proves the MSM theory of unitary short term and long term memory stores.
Case study of H.M
What does it show/who does it support
CASE STUDY: case of H.M, had the hippocampus removed because it was believed to remove seizures.
he couldn’t form new memories. so long term memory was good, but short term memory didnt work he couldn’t remebr any recent events.
Supports MSM ( Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)) cause of unitary stores
Baddeley (1996) - what did he find for MSM
STM: mainly acoustic stores
Baddeley (1996):
gave four different word lists to participants to remember
Group 1: words are acoustically similar sounding eg: cat hat mat
Group 2: words are acoustically different : house pit blue
Found that in practice and recall participants did worse with acoustically similar words. So coded acoustically
Did worse when they are semantically similar because if they sound the same it is hard to code them by their meanings.
LTM
Baddeley (1996)
group 3 = words with similar meanings (semantically similar) eg: big, large, great
Group 4 = words that are semantically dissimilar eg: good, huge, hot
Participants did worse with semantically similar, so we code semantically
Jacob’s (1987)
Jacob’s (1987) - CAPACITY FOR STM
digit span test to study capacity, participants given 4 digits to recall in order, when done correctly they get another digit each time.
Mean amount for numbers = 9.3 and mean amount for letters = 7.3
Therefore span for capacity in stm is 7+/-2
George Miller found that most things in life come in secrets (days of the week, number plates). He said that if we break things down by chunking which is breaking stuff down into groups which helps increase capacity.
Peterson and Peterson
DURATION FOR STM
Peterson and Peterson () : found the decay of STM without rehearsal.
18-30 second duration in the STM
Bahrick (1975)
DURATION FOR LTM
Bahrick (1975) studied 392 participants from 17-74 using year books from school to recognise faces.
Recall was tested:
Photo recognition had 50 photos
Free recall was jsut any names
Participants who had graduated within 15 years had 90% accuracy in recognition
Participants who’d graduated 48 years ago had 70% photo recognition
Strengths/limitations of the MSM ( Atkinson and Shiffrin )
2p
6c
Strengths
bahrick - has high mundane realism as the task is realistic and applicable to real life.
baddeley - found acoustic stores for STM and LTM for semantic stores - had controlled studies
Limitations
jacob’s - found capacity for STM 7+/-2, which was a digit span test which has low temporal validity as we have more things to remover eg phone numbers or emails
More than one type of rehearsal - again undermines the unitary idea of the MSM
Craig and Watkins suggested what is important in rehearsal isnt the amount but the type
Maintenance rehearsal - in STM in able to pass onto LTM -
Elaborative rehearsal - needed in LTM only. Done by linking new knowledge to existing knowledge
H.M. case study - weak because
machine reductionist - they think memory works like a computer, which is too simplistic for the complexity of brains. eg emotions or..
Case study of K.F.
case study patient K.F.
K.F.’s STM digits was poor when the researchers read it aloud for him
but their recall was way better when reading them aloud to themselves.
implies that the unitary STM in the MSM is a limitation cause it shows we might have more than one STM for each sensory store.
More than one type of STM: goes against the ‘unitary’ assumption of MTM
Craig and Watkins
More than one type of rehearsal - again undermines the unitary idea of the MSM
Craig and Watkins suggested what is important in rehearsal isnt the amount but the type
Maintenance rehearsal - in STM in able to pass onto LTM -
Elaborative rehearsal - needed in LTM only. Done by linking new knowledge to existing knowledge
Tulving
Tulving (1985) - argued that MSM was too simplistic ( machine reductionist ) - suggested there are more types of LTM
3 Types of LTM: Procedural memory, Semantic memory, Episodic memory.
Procedural: processes, aka responsible for actions or skills like a muscle memory
Semantic: knowledge about the world, like facts or meanings
Episodic: episode, responsible for info about events, time stamped important memories
Procedural memory
Responsible for actions/skills, like a muscle memory. Eg: riding a bike, writing…
Doesn’t involve conscious thought, it is automatic
These skills are usually harder to explain as they are automatic to us
IMplicit cannot explain.
- Semantic memory
responsible for storing knowledge about the world, like facts or meanings
Involves conscious thoughts - need to make the effort
Not time stamped - dont need certain event
Impersonal not about personal experiences
- Episodic memory
responsible for info about events and important events
Eg a first day at school, a birthday
Are time stamped - you remember when they happen
Will include several elements-like people, places, objects, behaviours
Is a conscious recall, you have to make an effort to remember something
Three types of LTM according to Tulving (1985)
Procedural memory
Responsible for actions/skills, like a muscle memory. Eg: riding a bike, writing…
Doesn’t involve conscious thought, it is automatic
These skills are usually harder to explain as they are automatic to us
Doesnt involve conscious recall, just an automatic process.
- Semantic memory
responsible for storing knowledge about the world, like facts or meanings
Involves conscious thoughts - need to make the effort
Not time stamped - dont need certain event
Impersonal not about personal experiences - Episodic memory
responsible for info about events and important events
Eg a first day at school, a birthday
Are time stamped - you remember when they happen
Will include several elements-like people, places, objects, behaviours
Is a conscious recall, you have to make an effort to remember something
Supporting studies for Tulvings three types of LTM
Case study: K.F goes against the ‘unitary’ assumption of MTM
case study patient K.F.
K.F.’s STM digits was poor when the researchers read it aloud for him
but their recall was way better when reading them aloud to themselves.
implies that the unitary STM in the MSM is a limitation cause it shows we might have more than one STM for each sensory store.
Case study:Clive Wearing, severe amnesia, but had procedural LTM intact as he could remember to play. However did not have Episodic memory intact as he could rmeebr any events.
Pros/ cons of Case study: CLIVE WEARING
Limitations of brain damaged patients: ungeneralisable
Cant control lots of variables:
meds they’re on
Previous memory capacity
Previous surgeries/ medical records
Or Individual differences:
extraneous variables
More damaged
Causation problem
Pros:
Supports the MSM unitary idea,
Supports Tulvings multiple LTM idea
Episodic LTM: is it Implicit/explicit, what type of LTM is it and where in the brain is it located
Explicit
Memories/events
Temporal area/ hippocampus
Semantic LTM: is it Implicit/explicit, what type of LTM is it and where in the brain is it located
explicit - can be explain
Info/facts
Temporal
Procedural LTM: is it Implicit/explicit, what type of LTM is it and where in the brain is it located
implicit cannot explain
Actions/muscle memory
Motor cortex/cerebellum
Strengths/ Limitaitons of Tulvings Three types of LTM theory
1p
3/4c
Strengths:
Real life application:
Belleville et al (2006) - demonstrated that episodic memories could be improved in older people with mild cognitive impairment - REAL LIFE APPLICATION .
- shows how the Tulvings multiple stores of LTM enables specific treatments to be created.
Limitations
Case studies: Clive wearing is a case study : ungeneralisable, extraneous variables such as individual differences, different causes, pre-existing problems?
Cohen and Squire (1980)
Argue against 3 types of LTM. Think there’s only two
Declarative memory ( semantic and episodic )
Non declarative memory ( procedural )
relying on case studies:
- lacks replicability and reliability
Less generalisability
Clinical studies lack control of extraneous variables as they are purely observations rather than theoretical or lab studies
Is it better to have three types of LTM or two?
Better three:
brain regions are separate - would allow us to more closely see activity if we can distinct between parts
We need to have an accurate conception as to how memory works, pairing two together is unhelpful and un declarative
We need to apply accurate knowledge for people who have memory problems aka amnesia - we can therefore develop more localised help/meds
From a scientific pov its also better as it best matches the evidence as in the case study it shows they can be separate.
Better two:
episodic and semantic are similar so why not the same area, also brain can be lateralised not localised.
Cohen and squire(1980)
S/W
Cohen and Squire (1980)
Argue against 3 types of LTM. Think there’s only two
Declarative memory ( semantic and episodic )
Non declarative memory ( procedural )
relying on case studies:
- lacks replicability and reliability
Less generalisability
Clinical studies lack control of extraneous variables as they are purely observations rather than theoretical or lab studies
Better three:
brain regions are separate - would allow us to more closely see activity if we can distinct between parts
We need to have an accurate conception as to how memory works, pairing two together is unhelpful and un declarative
We need to apply accurate knowledge for people who have memory problems aka amnesia - we can therefore develop more localised help/meds
From a scientific pov its also better as it best matches the evidence as in the case study it shows they can be separate.
Better two:
episodic and semantic are similar so why not the same area, also brain can be lateralised not localised.
Belleville et al (2006)
Belleville et al (2006) - demonstrated that episodic memories could be improved in older people with mild cognitive impairment - REAL LIFE APPLICATION .
- shows how the Tulvings multiple stores of LTM enables specific treatments to be created.
Whats the ‘working memory model ’
What is it made up of
WMM is a model of how the STM is organised and how it functions
focus on the active, temporary storing an manipulating info
More complex part of STM from MSM
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
Central executive:
ttentional process, monitors incoming info
Makes decisions and allocates info to slave system
Limited storage capacity
Eg:
1st slave system: Phonological Loop
limited capacity - 2 second capacity
Deals with auditory info
Baddeley ( who found the coding of the LTM and STM ( semantic and auditory) ) found:
Phonological store: ‘inner ear’ stores/codes acoustic information
Articulatory process: “inner voice” allows maintenance rehearsal, sub vocal repetition repeating sounds or words in a loop
2nd slave system: Visuo- special sketch pad
visual/ special info stored here - inner eye
Limited capacity : 3-4 objects
visual cache: stores/codes visual data
inner scribe - manipulates mental images, and their spacing/arrangement
3rd slave system: episodic bugger
baddeley(2000) : added episodic buffer as he realised the model needed a more general store
temporary store for info: can be seen as storage for central executive
intergration of visual, spatial and verbal
maintains a time sequence : records events that are happening
limited capacity : 3-4 objects
BADDELEY AND HITCH : Dual task performance
found there is a separate existence of visio spatial sketch pad and other stores
it is more difficult to carry out 2 visual tasks ( eg: driving and going on phone )
it is easier to cary out two different types of tasks, eg: visual and verbal
both visual tasks compete for same slave system whereas there isnt competition for verbal+ visual
supports idea of separate components of the STM
Baddeley and hitch (1974)
WMM is a model of how the STM is organised and how it functions
focus on the active, temporary storing an manipulating info
More complex part of STM from MSM
BADDELEY AND HITCH : Dual task performance
found there is a separate existence of visio spatial sketch pad and other stores
it is more difficult to carry out 2 visual tasks ( eg: driving and going on phone )
it is easier to cary out two different types of tasks, eg: visual and verbal
both visual tasks compete for same slave system whereas there isnt competition for verbal+ visual
supports idea of separate components of the STM
Parts of the WMM
Explain each role
Central executive:
Attentional process, monitors incoming info
Makes decisions and allocates info to slave system
Limited storage capacity
1st slave system: Phonological Loop
limited capacity - 2 second capacity
Deals with auditory info
Baddeley ( who found the coding of the LTM and STM ( semantic and auditory) ) found:
Phonological store: ‘inner ear’ stores/codes acoustic information
Articulatory process: “inner voice” allows maintenance rehearsal, sub vocal repetition repeating sounds or words in a loop
2nd slave system: Visuo- special sketch pad
visual/ special info stored here - inner eye
Limited capacity : 3-4 objects
visual cache: stores/codes visual data
inner scribe - manipulates mental images, and their spacing/arrangement
3rd slave system: episodic bugger
baddeley(2000) : added episodic buffer as he realised the model needed a more general store
temporary store for info: can be seen as storage for central executive
intergration of visual, spatial and verbal
maintains a time sequence : records events that are happening
limited capacity : 3-4 objects
What are the three ‘slave systems’ of the working memory model
1st slave system: Phonological Loop
limited capacity - 2 second capacity
Deals with auditory info
Baddeley ( who found the coding of the LTM and STM ( semantic and auditory) ) found:
Phonological store: ‘inner ear’ stores/codes acoustic information
Articulatory process: “inner voice” allows maintenance rehearsal, sub vocal repetition repeating sounds or words in a loop
2nd slave system: Visuo- special sketch pad
visual/ special info stored here - inner eye
Limited capacity : 3-4 objects
visual cache: stores/codes visual data
inner scribe - manipulates mental images, and their spacing/arrangement
3rd slave system: episodic bugger
baddeley(2000) : added episodic buffer as he realised the model needed a more general store
temporary store for info: can be seen as storage for central executive
intergration of visual, spatial and verbal
maintains a time sequence : records events that are happening
limited capacity : 3-4 objects
Pros/cons of the WMM
Pros
( WMM ) : clearer than MSM
WMM: more efficient and applicable to IRL, the idea we cant use two visual tasks is helpful to learn how to multitask more efficiently.
Cons
based on case studies: weak as there can be extraneous variables ( individual differences ), ungeneralisable, different causes, might have pre existing problems, genetic conditions etc.
Case of H.M:
( WMM ) : unclear on the episodic buffer
all three: machine reductionist : all think that we process things in a very linear way, too simplistic for reality of complex system.
whats the case study of clive wearing
has severe amnesia
NO STM
OKAY LTM: had procedural memory cause he remembered howto play piano ( supports Tulvings three types of memory )
had some semantic memory : understood words and understanding, but didn’t know the year, so only some semantic memory is intact
Interference
One memory disturbing the ability to recall the other, resulting in forgetting/ distorting memories.
What are the two types of intereference in LTM
Proactive and retro active
