memory Flashcards
what is capacity
amount of info that can be stored in the various memory stores
describe a study done on capacity
jacobs (1987) created the digit span technique where he called digits out adding another digit onto the sequence until pps no longer could recall
findings of Jacobs (1987) study
an average of 7 digits could be recalled tells us our STM is limited - backs up millers study of an immediate memory span of 7 + - 2
what is chunking
grouping sets of digits/letters into chunks
disadvantages of research on capacity
other researchers have found it is more likely to be 5 chunks rather than millers for. there are also individual differences like age that will have an impact
what is duration
length of time info can be held in memory
what was the outcome of Peterson and Petersons research on duration
recall of students got progressively worse as delay grew longer
disadvantage of research of duration (evaluation)
in Peterson and person study its hard to generalise as it does not reflect most real life memory activities so easier to forget
what is coding
refers to the way info is changed so it can be stored in memory. info enters brain through senses and is stored in various forms
describe baddeleys research on coding
he gave lists of words to four groups of pps groups 1 and 2 where acoustically (di)similar and groups 3 and 4 where semantically (di)similar
describe baddeleys findings
pps who had to recall immediately did worse with acoustically similar words but after 20 mins they did worse recalling semantically similar words therefor info is encoded semantically into LTM
disadvantage of research on coding (evaluation)
baddeley may not of tested LTM as it was only 20 mins swell his study was quite artificial and hard to generalise
who created the MSM
Atkinson and shiffrin
what are the key features on the MSM
sensory register, STM and LTM
describe the sensory register
part of memory that receives and stores info from environment through senses
what is iconic memory
visual info
what is echoic memory
auditory info
what is haptic memory
memory of things you’ve touched
describe features of the STM
material that is transferred from sensory store
lasts for 18 secs in STM
maintenance rehearsal will pass info into LTM
describe the LTM
info held for long period of time
where all our knowledge is
potentially permanent store for info
when we want to recall from LTM it has to go back to STM in process called retrieval
what is primary data
data gained directly from the researcher
what is secondary data
data that has already been found but is reused
weaknesses of case studies
hard to generalise to the population
can be unreliable due to memory changing over time
issue for WMM as most of its research that supports it comes from WMM
what are the strengths of using case studies
produces lots of detail on individual behaviour
not always ethical to redo conditions from study
allows us to research rare conditions
strengths of MSM (evaluation)
controlled lab studies on capacity, duration and coding support the existence of a separate short and long term store
what are the 3 different types of LTM
episodic semantic procedural
what is episodic memory
ability to recall events from our lives
memory concerned with personal details
what is semantic memory
contains our knowledge of the world facts and figures
what is procedural memory
memory for our actions and how we carry out the skills we recall these memories unconsciously
what evidence is there on LTM
brain scans show 3 types of memory found in different parts of the brain. episodic memory in the hippocampus semantic found in temporal lobe and procedural in the cerrelibium
strengths of MSM
study of KF shown different areas of the brain where involved in STM and LTM supporting the MSM
disadvantages of MSM
MSM suggests STM is involved before LTM suggesting STM is actually apart of the LTM and not a separate store
what are the problems with evidence from patients with brain damage
can’t reach a firm conclusion as its hard to reach certain parts of the brain until the person has died
what is a single disassociation
ability to form new semantic memories but not episodic
what is a double disassociation
poor semantic memories but generally episodic memories
what is priming
exposure to one stimulus may influence a response unconsciously (fav fruit banana then fav colour yellow)
who founded the WMM
baddeley and hitch
what is the function of the WMM
explanation of how one aspect of memory is organised and how it functions
describe the central executive
involved in problem solving and decision making
can process info from any of the senses
has unlimited storage capacity
describe the phonological loop
auditory store
rehearses sound based info to prevent rapid decay
2 subdivisions phonological store and articulatory loop
describe the phonological store
stores the words you hear referred to us as our “inner ear”
describe the articulatory loop
verbal rehearsal system used to prevent decay by saying info over and over again known as maintenance rehearsal
describe the Visio spatial sketch pad
stores visual and/or spatial (location of object) info which can be visualised in our head
describe the episodic buffer
added by baddeley (2000) to give the model a general store
has limited capacity it integrates info from all other components
describe a study on WMM
study of KF
KF’s STM worked independently of his LTM
some aspects of his immediate learning where impaired
auditory problems limited to verbal material but unable to register sounds
damage restricted to phonological loop suggesting there is different components
study giving evidence of central executive
bunge et al (2000) used FMRI scans to see what parts of the train where most active when pps where doing 2 tasks
found same brain areas where active in dual or single task conditions
what is interference theory
some of our forgetting takes place because of interference of 2 pieces of info that conflict with each other resulting in one or both being forgotten
what is proactive interference
older memories interferes with a newer one past learning interferes with attempt to learn something new
what is retroactive interference
happens when new memory interferes with with an older one
describe the Mceoch and McDonald study (1931)
they studied retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between 2 sets of materials. pps had to learn the first list to 100% accuracy then another list that was different for all 6 groups
findings from Mceoch and McDonald study’s
pps performance depended on the second list the most similar to list 1 was worst therefor interference is worst when recall is similar
what is the evaluation on interference theory (time)
time between learning
lab expts designed to maximise interference an example of this occurs is the time periods between learning list of words and recalling these should be as short as possible
pps may have to recall list immediately and then 20 mins after so the whole process is over half an hour
what is retrieval failure theory
main reason we forget material from our LTM is because the material is not accessible even though its available but lacks cues
what is tucking and Thompson (1973) study on forgetting
forgetting occurs because the correct retrieval cues are not available to acmes memory they found recall is best when retrieval cues are same as encoding conditions
what are external environment cues
hot or cold
what are internal psychical cues
sore leg
what are psychological internal cues
happy sad
what is tulvings research on psychological internal cues
cues have to be present at encoding and retrieval for us to remember if cues are different at retrieval and or encoding there will be some forgetting
what is golden and baddeleys study (scuba diver)
got pro divers to learn 40 unrelated words underwater or on beach they either learned on beach and recalled on beach learned on beach recalled underwater vice versa
recalling in a different environment to learning resulted in a 30% deficit
what is eyewitness testimony
legal term referring to the use of eyewitnesses to give evidence in court
describe the 3 phases EW memory goes through
witnesses encode into LTM info of event may be partial distortion
witness retains info for period of time memory may be modified during retention
witness retrieves info from storage accuracy may be affected when reconstructing the memory
what is misleading info
incorrect info given to other EW after event
what are the two types of misleading info
leading questions and PED
what are leading questions
a question which is phrased in a way that suggests a certain answer
what is Loftus and palmers study (1974) on leading questions
got 5 groups of pps to watch short clips of a car crash all played in different orders. they asked the different groups “what speed were the cars travelling at when they..” each group had a different verb ranging from bumped to smashed
Loftus and palmer fond the estimated speed was affected by the verb used telling us memory representation is altered as verb changes changes a person perception of accident
what is post event discussion
more than one witness to event where they discuss what they saw this my influence the accuracy of what they actually saw so their EWT may become contaminated with misinformation from others
describe Gabbert et al study on PED
put pps in pairs to watch clip fo same crime but at different pov they discussed what they saw after
71% of pps mistakenly recalled aspects of event they hadn’t seen but picked up from discussion therefor witnesses often go along with each other for social approval or believe they are right
what is anxiety
emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension psychical changes include increased heart rate
what does Loftus et al study show
anxiety has negative effect on recall. by monitoring EW movements they found the presense of a weapon caused attention to be draw to weapon and away from person
describe the heroes Dodson law when applied to EWT
lower levels of anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy
memory becomes more accurate as anxiety increases until it reaches optimal level
if EW experiences more stress recall suffers
evaluation on research of anxiety
individual differences
one key extraneous variable in studies of anxiety is emotional sensitivity
bothwell et al study labelled pps as either neurotic (anxious quick) or stable (less emotionally sensitive)
stable pps showed rising levels of accuracy as stress increased whereas opposite for neurotic
this shows individual differences play a big role in EWT
what is a cognitive interview
method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories
describe the first cognitive interview technique (report everything)
every single detail is reported even if it is irrelevant as the addition of small details over many witnesses can paint a clearer picture
describe cognitive interview technique (reinstate the context)
aim to make memories more accessible encourage interviewee to return to scene “what colours do u see”
describe the cognitive interview technique (reverse the order)
events recalled in different order to original e.g end to start to prevent pre existing schema (blocks in memory on what we remember) influencing recall
describe cognitive interview technique (change perspective)
interviewee recalls even from multiple pov”s
