Memory Flashcards
What is the capacity of STM?
7 +/- 2
What is the capacity of LTM?
Unlimited
What is the capacity of sensory register?
Very large - all sensory experience
What is the duration of STM?
18 seconds
What is the duration of LTM?
Potentially a lifetime
What is the duration of sensory register?
1/4 to 1/2 a second
How is STM coded?
Acoustically
How is LTM coded?
Semantically
How is the sensory register coded?
It is sense specific
Who researched the capacity of STM?
Miller (1956)
Who researched duration of STM?
Peterson & Peterson (1959)
Who researched duration of LTM?
Bahrick et al (1975)
Who research coding of STM and LTM?
Baddeley (1966)
Which components make up the Multi-store model?
Sensory store, short term memory and long term memory
Which case study can be used to criticise the MSM?
KF
Which case study can be used to support the MSM?
HM
What are flashbulb memories and do they support or limit the MSM?
Limit - A flashbulb memory is an accurate and exceptionally vivid long-lasting memory for the circumstances surrounding learning about a dramatic event.
How can the MSM oversimplify memory?
More than one type of LTM and more than one type of rehearsal
Who provides supporting evidence for the MSM?
Baddeley / Glanzer & Cunitz - STM and LTM are distinct separate stores
How can the studies into coding, capacity and duration be criticised?
Lack ecological validity, artificial stimuli, lack of control for confounding variables
What are semantic memories?
Knowledge of the world (facts)
What are episodic memories?
Events or episodes from our lives or that we’ve heard from another source
What are procedural memories?
Actions or skills
Which types of LTM are declarative?
Semantic and Episodic
Which types of LTM are non-declarative?
Procedural
What did Tulving do to investigate types of LTM?
Tulving injected himself with particles of radioactive gold that he could use to track brain blood flow in a scanner. He scanned his brain whilst he thought about historical facts or his childhood experiences. He found that when he was thinking about historical facts blood flow increased at the back of his brain, whereas when he thought about childhood experiences blood flow increased at the front of his brain.
How does Clive Wearing support the idea that there are different types of LTM?
Because he can still remember how to play the piano, the procedural part of memory, but not much from his episodic or semantic memory (e.g. he knows he has children but does not know their names). He also can’t make new memories. Therefore, this shows there are different parts to our LTM
How can Clive Wearings case be criticised?
Can’t be generalised as it is a unique case study
How can understanding different types of LTM have practical applications?
It allows psychologists to help people with memory problems as distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed.
What did Buckner & Peterson find in relation to types of LTM?
They reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory. They concluded that semantic memory is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic memory is on the right. However, other research links the left prefrontal cortex with episodic memories and the right prefrontal cortex with semantic memories (Tulving et al, 1994).
Who developed the working memory model?
Baddeley & Hitch (1974)
What are the 4 main components of the WMM?
Central executive, episodic buffer, visuospatial sketchpad & phonological loop
What does the visuospatial sketch pad deal with?
The visuo-spatial sketch pad (INNER EYE) deals with visual and spatial information.
What is the phonological loop broken down into?
Phonological store (inner ear) and Articulatory loop (inner voice)
What is the role of the episodic buffer?
To provide a general storage facility, holding and combining information not only from the visuo-spatial sketch pad, phonological loop and central executive (STM), but also from LTM
What is the role of the central executive?
It controls and coordinates the operations of the OTHER components. It decides which information is attended to and which parts of the working memory to send that information to.