Memory Flashcards

Question

What are the types of LTM

Answer 1

Episodic memory Semantic memory Procedural memory

Answer 2

Episodic memory is the ability which is used to recall events. Memories are firstly time stamped, then the many aspects of that memory are woven together (objects, behaviours, people, places), lastly the memories must be recalled through conscious effort.

Answer 3

This store contains memories of the world. Unlike episodic memories are not time stamped therefore we do not know when we learnt them. Furtherly semantic memory is less about facts and more about facts of the world.

Answer 4

Procedural memory works with actions, skills or stuff we do. These memories aren't consciously recalled. For example learning to drive a car is done without conscious awareness once its been learnt.

Answer 5

That semantic and episodic memories are stored together in the declarative memory as they called it. Therefore they say there is only 2 types of LTM.

Answer 6

Both men had amnesia which severely impaired their episodic memory therefore had difficulty in recalling events from their past. Supporting idea that LTM is split into different memory stores.

Answer 7

Tulving et al got participants to perform memory tasks whilst their brains were scanned using a PET scanner. Found episodic and semantic memories were located in the prefrontal cortex.

Answer 8

Central executive Phonological loops Visuo-spatial sketchpad Episodic buffer

Answer 9

The central executive processes and monitors incoming data it then makes decisions and allocates slave systems to deal with this data. Central executive has limited processing capacity.

Answer 10

The phonological loop deals with auditory information and preserves the order in which information arrives in.

Answer 11

Phonological store Articulatory process

Answer 12

Subdivision of phonological loop Stores words you hear

Answer 13

Subdivision of phonological loop The articulatory process allows maintenance rehearsal, and capacity is believed to be 2 seconds worth of what we can say.

Answer 14

The VSS stores visual and/or spatial information, when required. Also has capacity according to Baddeley which is about 3 - 4 objects. Logie (2003) subdivided VSS into visual cache - stores visual data and inner scribe which records arrangement of objects in the visual fields.

Answer 15

Added by Baddely and works with temporary information, integrating information processed in other stores and maintains a sense of time keeping which basically records events that happen. Can be seen as storage component of central executive. Has limited capacity of about 4 chunks.

Answer 16

+ Clinical evidence - KF + Dual task performance - Lack of clarity over the central executive - Cognitive psychologist suggests this component is unsatisfactory as its most important however least understood and needs more clarity than just simple 'attention'

Answer 17

Suffered brain damage, after his accident KF had poor STM ability for verbal information but could process visual information. (KF see)

Answer 18

Studies of dual task performance support separate existence of visual spatial sketchpad. Baddely (1975) showed participants having more difficulty doing two visual tasks (tracking light and describing letters).

Answer 19

Proactive interference Retroactive interference

Answer 20

Occurs when an older memory interferes with a new one.

Answer 21

When a newer memory interferes with an older one.

Answer 22

Forgetting due to one memory blocking another in which one or even both memories can become distorted.

Answer 23

Long - term memory

Answer 24

As discovered by John McGeoch and William McDonald (1931) interference is worse when the memories or learning are similar.

Answer 25

Studied retroactive interference by looking at how people recalled 2 different lists of similar words. These words were similar in 6 different ways and given to 6 groups of participants. Participants only began to recall the second list once the first could be recalled with 100% accuracy.

Answer 26

When participants recalled the original list performance depended on the nature of the second list. Most similar material (synonyms) produced the worse recall.

Answer 27

Its finding are highly consistent as thousands of laboratory experiments have been conducted into the explanations of forgetting, most showing both types of interference are very common ways to forget. Meaning its a valid explanation.

Answer 28

The stimulus material used were artificial meaning it may not be the best explanation for forgetting in real life as it is in the laboratory.

Answer 29

Endel Tulving and Joseph Psotka (1971)

Answer 30

Gave participants 5 lists of 24 words which were each organised into 6 categories, these categories were not explicit but were presumed to be obvious to participants. Recall was about 70% but fell as participants were given each additional list to learn.

Answer 31

The time between learning and recalling varies ie a participant may learn one list and then a second 20 minutes later, and then recall one of them a few minutes after that. This decreases the validity of the studies.

Answer 32

Context dependant forgetting State dependant forgetting?

Answer 33

Encoding specificity principle (ESP)

Answer 34

Encoding specificity principle is where a cue helps us to recall information as it was present during encoding (when we learnt the material).

Answer 35

If the cues at retrieval and at encoding are different there will be some forgetting.

Answer 36

Forgetting due to external cues not being present when wanting to recall information.

Answer 37

Duncan Godden and Alan Baddeley (1975)

Answer 38

Divers learned a list of words either underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land which therefore created 4 conditions.

Answer 39

Accurate recall was 40% lower in non matching conditions. When the cues available at learning were different from those at recall the participants suffered retrieval failure.

Answer 40

Forgetting due to internal cues not being present when wanting to recall information.

Answer 41

Sara Carter and Helen Cassaday (1998)

Answer 42

Gave antihistamine drugs to participants which had a mild sedative effect making participants slightly drowsy. Placing them in a different physiological state they were then asked to learn and recall information creating 4 conditions.

Answer 43

There is more forgetting when there is a mismatch between the states being learnt/recalling. This is because there are less cues which were present in the previous state when information was learnt.

Answer 44

That large amounts of research support it as an explanation of forgetting. Micheal Eysenck (2919) even said it's perhaps the main reason for forgetting from LTM. All this evidence increases the validity.

Answer 45

Baddeley (1997) said that context effects aren't very strong, especially in real life. Ie remembering in a room and forgetting in another is unlikely as they aren't different enough.

Answer 46

Godden and Baddeleys replication of context dependant forgetting research.

Answer 47

Replicated the underwater experiment but used a recognition test instead of recall. This is where the participants just said which word they recognised from the list. This study showed no effect of context dependant forgetting as performance was always the same. This means absence of certain cues is only a factor when memory is tested in a certain way.

Answer 48

Misleading information - Leading questions, post event discussion Anxiety - Positive/negative effects

Answer 49

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Answer 50

Got participants (students) to watch film clips of car accidents and then ask them questions based on the accident.

Answer 51

'How fast were the cars going when they "hit" each other?' The verb hit was changed between 5 groups.

Answer 52

Hit, contacted, bumper, collided, smashed.

Answer 53

Mean estimated speed was calculated and when the verb contacted was used estimated speed was 31.8mph. For the verb smashed the mean was 40.5 mph .

Answer 54

Response-bias explanation Substitute explanation

Answer 55

Suggests the wording of the question has no effect on the participants memories but rather influences how they should answer. The word 'smashed' encourages them to estimate higher.

Answer 56

States that the wording changes the participants memory which was seen in Loftus and Palmers second experiment.

Answer 57

Participants who originally heard smashed were more likely to report seeing broken glass when there was in fact none.

Answer 58

When co witnesses discuss what they saw after the crime eye witness testimonies are often contaminated. This is due to the combination of misinformation.

Answer 59

Fiona Gabbert and colleagues (2003)

Answer 60

Participants were placed into pairs and asked to watch the same crime video but from different points of view. Meaning each participant could see elements the other couldn't. Then they discussed what they saw before completing a recall test.

Answer 61

71% of participants mistakenly recalled aspects they did not see but picked up in the discussion. When there was no discussion 0% changed.

Answer 62

Participants watched film clips which is a very different experience to witnessing a real accident. This is because these clips lack the stress which is caused in a real accident.

Answer 63

Answers in laboratory studies give answers due to demand characteristics. This is because participants usually try to be helpful and when asked questions they do not know they guess especially when its a yes or no answer.

Answer 64

It has a good level of practical application where consequences of eye witness testimony can be very serious.