Memory Flashcards
Who was the MSM created by?
Atkinson and shiffrin 1968
What are the features of MSM?
-sensory register
-attention
-short term memory
-rehearsal
-maintenance
-retrieval
-long term memory
What are the features of the sensory register?
Coding-modality specific
Capacity-very large
Duration-very short low as 250 milliseconds
What are the key features of STM?
Coding-acoustic
Capacity-7+/-2 items or 5-9 chunks
Duration-18-30 seconds
What are the key features of long term memory ?
Coding-semantic
Capacity-no limit
Duration-unlimited
What study supports that the STM and LTM stores are separate ?
Glanzer and Cunitz 1966 asked ppts to free recall word lists
It was found recall was much stronger for words at the start and at the end of the list
These results suggest there are separate short and long term memory stores with the words first heard entering LTM and venue recalled and the most recent words being held by STM and being recalled .
What is sperling 1960 study of capacity ?
Trained ppts were presented with a 3x4 grid of letters when presented quickly (1/20 of a sec) then has to recall one row
It was found that recall for a row was over 75% this suggests that all rows were contained within the capacity of the ionic store so sensory memory is large
What is baddeley 1966 coding study?
Gave four 10 word lists to 4 ppt groups
A: acoustically similar- words sound the same
B: acoustically dissimilar-word sound different
C:semantically similar-have related meanings
D:semantically dissimilar-words are unrelated
It was found that immediate recall was worst for list A and recall after 20 mins was worst with list D this suggests that the coding is STM is acoustic as recalling list A was most difficult as the recalling similar sounds caused confusion in recall and LTM is semantic
What is Jacob’s 1887 capacity study? And who suggests the length can be improved
Ppts were presented with lists of letters or numbers ppts then had to recall the list it was found that the capacity for letters was on average around 7 items for letters and 9 for numbers this suggests that the capacity of stm is very limited
Miller suggests this can be improved by chunking
What is the duration study of Peterson and Peterson ?
Showed ppts three letter trigrams then ppts had to count backwards for a few secs to stop maintenance rehearsal it was found after 18 secs recall was less than 10% this suggests that unless maintained info is held in stm for only a few secs before it disappears
What is wagenaar 1986 capacity study?
Created a diary of over 2400 events during the course of 6 years including recording who,when what and where it was found when tested using these cues he had 75% recall of one particular critical detail after 1 year and 45% after 5 years and his sense of remembering the event was high 80% after 5 years this suggests the capacity of LTM is very large
What is bahrick duration study?
392 ppts ages 17-74 were tested for memory of old photographs and names of their school friends it was found recall in matching names to faces was 90% after 15 years and still 80% for names after 48 years this suggests that the duration of LTM is very large
What are disadvantages of the MSM?
-highly artificial studies lacking in external validity
-low ecological validity as may not be generalised to more naturalistic situations and lack of mundane realism
-researchers make inferences which could be incorrect
-later research proved that neither LTM or stm are unitary stores therefore the WMM might be a better explanation
What are advantages of the MSM?
-the artificial nature of the design may be the only was of measuring memory
-the large capacity and short duration of the sensory register matches what would be expected of the evolutionary thoery
What types of long term memory are explicit and what does that mean ?
Semantic and episodic
They can be consciously recalled (explicit) and put into words (declarative)
Why is procedural MEMOERY implicit ?
Can’t be consciously recalled and it difficult to put into words
What are the three types of long term memory and what are they?
-semantic (facts,meanings,knowledge about the world
-episodic(memory of experiences and specific events )
-procedural (unconscious memory of skills also known as muscle memory )
What are the comparisons of types of long term memory?
Declarative(episodic, semantic)
Time stamped (episodic)
Recalled consciously(episodic, semantic)
From easiest to hardest to forget: episodic,semantic,procedural
What was vargha-khadem et al investigation of 3 young patients ?
Investigated 3 young patients who had damage to their hippocampus but avoided significant damage to the nearby parahippocampal coritces
It was found all 3 had very significant episodic amnesia however all are able to attend school, speak and can learn and recall factual info
This suggests that semantic memory is less dependant on the hippocampus than episodic memory and so is biological evidence that semantic and episodic memories are distinct processes using different brain regions
What did Clive wearing research suggest?
He had retrograde amnesia so can’t remember his musical education however he remembers facts about his life. He can also play the piano
This suggests semantic episodic and procedural memory exist as separate processes
How is the use of ideographic research positive ?
Allows researchers to study memory in a way that would be impossible experimentally however we cant apply that the every individual
What impact had the use of modern cognitive neuroscience brain scanning techniques had on research?
Allow researchers to study the brain and memeory more scientifically fmri identify which types of memory are associated with particular brain areas this allowed ideas gained by ideographic case studies to be studied via nomothetic methods on larger and healthy samples allowing generalisations to be made
What do the similarities between types of LTM suggest?
Suggest they may not be truly distinct episodic and semantic memories are both declarative and episodic become semantic over time also there is a link between semantic and procedural as we are able to produce automatic language using semantic concepts without having to consciously recall the details of each idea
Who created the WMM?
Baddeley and hitch 1974
What are the features of the WMM?
-central executive
-phonological loop
-episodic buffer
-visuo spatial sketchpad
-long term memory
What are the features of the central executive?
“Head of the model”
Control attention
Receives sense information and filters this before passing onto sub systems
Limited in capacity
What are the key features of the visuo spatial sketchpad?
Processes visual and spatially coded info thought of as the innner eye
Visual cache-a passive store of form and colour
Inner scribe-active store holding the relationship between objects in 3D space
What are the key features of the phonological loop?
Processes auditory coded info
Primary acoustic/phological store-the inner ear holding words recently heard
Articulatory process-the inner voice holds info via sub vocal repetition
The PL has a limited capacity of what can be said in 2 seconds
What are the key features of the episodic buffer?
Added to the WMM in 2000 as the model needed a general store to hold and intergrate info form the VSS, PL,CE and LTM
What was baddeley 1975 visual task of WMM ?
Ppts were asked to perform 2 visual tasks tracking moving lights at the same time as describing the angles of the letter F. Or a visual and verbal task
It was found that performance was much better when the tasks were not using the same processing this suggests that the VSS and PPL exists as separate systems and the capacity of the VSS can be overwhelmed with visual info
What was shallice and Warrington 1970 KF study?
It was found KF has a selective impairment to his verbal STM caused by a brain injury however the visual functioning of his STM is not affected this suggests the PL and VSS subsystems are separate processes located in seperate regions of the brain
What was prabhakaran et al 2000 study of using brain imaging ?
Using FMRI scans researchers asked ppts to complete tasks with equal amounts of spatial and verbal info but in one condition the spatial and verbal info was separate in the other condition the info was intergrated
It was found there is more activation in the prefrontal cortex when info is intergrated however posterior brain regions when info was not intergrated this suggest the EB exsists and is in the prefrontal cortex a brain region specialised in the combo of temporary storage of visual and verbal info.
What was baddeley 1975 word list study? Of WMM
Ppts were visually shown word lists and then asked to write them down in the same order one condition had monosyllabic words the second condition had polysyllabic words
It was found the ppts could recall more monosyllabic words than polysyllabic words
This suggests the capacity PL is not the number of distinct items but the time it takes to say the world this is known as the word length effect
Why has the central executive been critsiced ?
Has been criticised as being vague concept without a full explanation of its function and not fully open to testing
How has the WMM improved from the MSM ?
The MSM sees STM as a passive store of info while the WMM seems more accurate in describing how memory is used as an active processor
How does a lab environment benefit the findings?
High internal validity as standardised procedures are used
Why might the data found not be generalisable ?
Lack mundane realism as the tasks performed in the lab might not reflect the tasks in real life
What lowers the validity of the data found in WMM?
Make inferences which means it cant be always accurate
What is the inference theory ?
Suggests we forget because our long term memories become confused by other info while it is coded
What is proactive interference ?
Old info distrupts new inference works forward in time when old info already stores interferes with recalling something new
What is retro active interference ?
New info disrupts old interference works backward in time new info being stored interferes with recall of old info
What is similarity interference ?
Inteference is more likely to occur when the two pieces of info are similar this is due to response competition
What is time sensitive interference ?
Interference is less likely to occur when there is a large gap bertween the instances of leanring
What is Schmidt et al 200o investigating retroactive interference study?
Investigates retroacitve interference using the memeory of childhood street names 11-79 year olds were sent a questionnnaire containing a map of the area around their old school without street names
It was found the more times an individual moved home the fewer street names recalled a negative correlation between numbers of times moved home and street names recalled
This suggests retro active interference the process of remembering new streets makes interferes with the previously stored LTM of old street making recall of older names harder
What is Greenberg and underwood 1950 10 paired word list study?
Asked ppts to learn 10 paired word lists then gave the ppts 48h before recall this was repeated 4 times it was found the number of correctly recalled word pairs decreased the more word pairs had been learnt previously
This provided evidence for pro active interference as the previously learnt word combinations caused confusion in the coding of the later word lists interfering with the accurate recall of later learnt word lists
What is cue dependant forgetting ?
Info in LTM but forgetting happens due to absence of appropriate cues encoded at the same time (encoding specific principle )
What are context dependant cues ?
Aspects of the external environment work as cues to memory so being in different place would inhibit memory as we would lack environmental cues
What is godden and baddeley diver study?
Studied divers asking them to learn new material either on dry land or while underwater then tested either on dry land or water it was found recall was worse if in different context and best if same for example info learnt underwater was recalled best underwater
This suggests being in the same environment for both learning and recall aids recall by providing context cues
What are state dependant cues?
Aspects of out internal environment work as cues to memeory so being in a different emotional state would inhibit memeory as we would lack state dependant cues
What was Overton 1972 emotional cue study?
Asked ppts to learn material either drunk or sober then tested them on this info when they were drunk or sober
It was found recall was worse if in different internal state and best if internal state e.g. info was learn drunk it would be best recalled drunk this suggests being in the same state for both learning and recall aids recall by providing state dependant cues
Was is category depdeant cues ?
Providing cues that relate to the category of memories may aid recall as its easier to find a file if the draws are labelled the most effective cues have fewer things associated with them the lack of category cues may inhibit memory
What is tulving and pealstone 1966 recall study?
Asked ppts to learn 48 words the ppts either used free recall or recall to match 12 4 word categories
It was found ppts recalled significantly more in the category condition
This suggests the categories acted as cues and aiding recall
Can the research found with cues be used in real life?
Psychological research into how forgetting works has real practical applications students can develop effective revision strategies and theories like context cues improving recall have been used in the development of an effective police technique called the cognitive interview
How can cue theory not be valid in explainaing forgetting?
As interference and cue theory may only explain a temporary loss of info they may not be a true explanation for forgetting this would be the permanent loss of info from long term memory it could be interference involves over writing of other info or just makes it inaccessible
How does the theory struggle to explain day to day examples of forgetting?
Interference only explains forgetting when 2 sets of info are similar and often when learnt close together in time this means the theory struggles to explain many day to day examples of forgetting such as forgetting someone’s bday
Why is the external validity of cues research low?
Much of the evidence on interference as a factor in forgetting comes from artificial lab experiments using artificial tasks which is why external vanity might be low as they might not occur in tge same real life settings
What is a schema?
Packages of info about people and objects in the world around us
We use schema as mental shortcuts because when we recall a memory it is influenced by schemas memories change to fit with the individuals pre existing bias
What is reconstructive memory ?
Memory isn’t an accurate recording of events it is a reconstructed in recalling and may produce errors
What are leading questions?
Questions that imply a particular answer can influence how a memory is recalled this could be due to an actual change to the memory or not to a change in memory but due to an emotional pressure to give a particular response
What is post event contamination?
When the recalling of events by one witness alters the accuracy of the recall by another witness this could be memory conformity the witness goes along with other accounts for social approval
What is loftus and palmer car word study?
Ppts were shown a car accident clip without broken glass after viewing they were asked the following critical questions how fast were the cars going when they — into each other. The missing verb was changed to (smashed,collided,bumped,hit or contacted) it was found the more extreme the verb the faster the estimation of MPH contacted=31.8 and smashed=40.8 this suggests misleading info in the form of leading questions can influence the recall of eyewitness testimony
What was gabbert et al 2003 study of videos of crime shots ?
Videos of crime shot from different perspectives were shown to pairs of ppts with unique info available in each film it was found 71% of pairs allowed to discuss what they had seen included aspects of the film they hadn’t seen in their recollection of the video this compared to 0% in pairs who weren’t allowed to discuss what they had seen
This suggests that witness will change their account of crimes to match other witness testimony this may be an attempt to seek social approval resulting in memory conformity
What is eye witness testimony ?
IRL EWT is often used after violent crimes causing high anxiety research in EWT often has no emotional impact on the ppts resulting in low validity
What is the weapon focus effect?
Weapons are a cause of anxiety witnesses are distracted focusing attention of the weapon rather than the criminal
What increases recall in EWT?
A state of arousal improves alertness and awareness of the situation and surroundings also the strong emotions felt could improve memory encoding
What is Yerks-Dodson law of arousal ?
EWT accuracy increases as anxiety raises as the witness becomes alert however at a point anxiety becomes too high and more stress results in lower accuracy
What is Johnson and Scott man with a knife study?
Naive ppts were placed outside a lab listening to conversations
1)normal convo about equipment failure, man walks out with greasy hands and a pen
2)hostile breaking glass furniture knocked over man walks out with knife covered in blood
Then asked to identify the man from 50 photographs coming out of a lab it was found more ppts identified a man with a pen (49%) than knife (33%) this suggests anxiety is caused by knife resulting in decreased focus on the man’s face and more on the weapon
What is peters 1988 injection study?
Patients at a real healthcare centre were given a real injection by a nurse with a researcher also present in the room
It was found that the patients were better able to recognise the researcher then the nurse this suggests anxiety is caused by having an injection and there is weapon focus on the syringe
What is the yuille and cutshall 1986 deadly shooting study?
Interviewed 13 witnesses to a deadly shooting four months after the event it was found the witnesses resisted misleading info and those with the most stress closest to the shooter produced the most accurate EWT this suggest misleading info and anxiety may not be a significant problem for real world eye witness testimony
How has EWT research led to real life app?
Development of cognitive interview this technique is designed to reduce the influence of schemas on the accuracy of recall
Why is it not good that the experiments were conducted in a lab?
Experimental designs such as loftus using films of staged crashes and crimes are conducted in a lab setting rather than in a court room this means that lots are aware there is a lack of consequences for providing inaccurate EWT it could be that in the real world under oath people provide more accurate eEWT when what they say could lead to a conviction
How do demand characteristics affect EWT ?
Lab based studies can suffer from demand characteristics with ppts often wanting to help the researcher by giving responses they expect in the case of researching leading questions the ppt may just be picking up on the language used and giving an answer they think will help the researcher (response bias explanation )
How can research be viewed as unethical on EWT?
Researchers have an ethical duty to protect their ppts from harm and to ask for informed consent research on anxiety such as Johnson and Scott breaks both of these guidelines and could be considered unethical even interviewing people about traumatic experiences could cause additional anxiety
What techniques did fisher study?
Studied the techniques used by the police in Florida when interviewing witnesses the following factors were identified as needing improvement and called the standard interview
-witnesses were given a large number of quick direct and closed questions in a short time
-the order of questions weren’t asked in a way that matched witness mental respresentation
-witnesses weren’t able to talk freely about their experience were frequently interrupted
Who suggested cognitive interview?
Range of technique that fisher and geiselman suggested police interviewers use in order to improve the accuracy of EWT
4 features of the cognitive interview?
-context reinstatement (mentally returning to the scene of the crime this is based on cue dependant forgetting
-report everything(all details even if they seem irrelevant should be mentioned as they trigger memeories)
-recall from a changed perspective (mentally recreate how the crime would be recalled from perspective of other witnesses used to minimise bias and distrupt schema)
-recall in reverse order(recall is switch to different chronology e.g. from end to beginning)
What was fisher, geiselman and amador 7 detective study ?
Used a field study to compare 7 detectives trained in CI with 9 detectives using the standard interview the results showed the CI trained detectives received 47% more info in real interviews after their training and 63% more info than the untrained detectives this suggest the cognitive interview is effective in enhancing memory improving info
What is Kohnken et al EWT meta analysis ?
Meta analysis of 42 studies including over 2500 interviews found a significant increase in the amount of correct info recalled however there was also a significant increase in the amount of incorrect information recalled resulting in a very similar accuracy rate 85% CI and 82% SI this suggests the CI may be of limited practical use due to increased errors
What was Milne and bull effect on recall study?
Investigated the effect on recall of each of the 4 aspects of the CI seperatetly each aspect produced a similar level of recall however the CR+ RE condition produced significantly more correct recall this suggests no one aspect is more important in the CI by the effect of the CI is cumulative
What could be a practical issue on improving accuracy of eyewitness testimony?
CI can be time consuming requiring more time than officers have available especially when conducting a time sensitive case it also requires significant training
What is an advantage of the CI on the economically?
Cost benefit analysis would consider the effect on the overall justice system and economy of the CI
The investment ultimately recedes crime and its cost to wider society
Why is the CI not as effective ?
Not effective in improving the recognition of suspects in identity parades and from photographs which means it has limited usefulness in a number of common police activities
Why can’t the CI be used on everyone?
Has been found to be effective with older children and adults but not effective with very young children as they are egocentric which means they can only see the world from their own perspective
