Memory Flashcards
What are the 3 stores in the MSM?
- Sensory register
- STM
3.LTM
What are the 3 features you need to remember of each store in the MSM?
- Coding
- Capacity
- Duration
What type of coding does the sensory register use?
Information is stored in an unprocessed form and is modality specific
What was the aim of sperlings study?
To investigate capacity and duration of the sensory register
What was the method used in sperlings study into the sensory register?
Participants were flashed a 3x4 grid of letters on a screen for 50 milliseconds. Participants were then asked to recall as many letters as they remember. He then asked participants to recall single rows of letters
What were the results of sperlings study into the sensory register?
When asked to recall as many letters as they could participants could remember about 4 letters, when asked to recall rows participants could remember about 3 letters. This information decayed rapidly
What did sperling conclude from his study?
The capacity of the sensory register is a minimum of 4 items and duration lasts about 250/500 milliseconds
What are the evaluation points of sperlings study into sensory register? AO3
+ High control
- low ecological validity
How does sperlings study have high control? AO3
P: a strength of sperlings research is that it is a lab experiment and therefore has high control
E: for example, all participants had the same experience since they were all shown the same letters for the same ammount of time and were given the same standardised instructions in a controlled environment
E: this is a strength of the study as the results are unlikely to have been affected by confounding variables and therefore has high internal validity
How does sperlings study have low ecological validity? AO3
P: a limitation of sperlings study is that it has low ecological validity
E: for example, in sperlings research participants are shown random letters in a lab and asked to recall them which is highly artificial as most information won’t be presented like this in real life situations
E: this is a limitation because the findings may be difficult to generalise to how the sensory memory works in real life
What type of codings is used in the STM?
Acoustic (sound)
What’s the duration of the STM?
18-30 seconds
What is the capacity of the STM?
7+-2
What was the aim of Millers study into STM?
To investigate the capacity of STM
What was the method used in millers study into the STM?
Miller used a digit span technique consisting of participants hearing a list of numbers and trying to recall them in the correct order
What were the results of Millers study into STM?
The span of STM is 7+/-2 and that if people chunk together information they can remember more
What was concluded from Millers study into STM?
The capacity of the STM is 7+/-2
What was the aim of Peterson and Petersons study into STM?
To investigate the duration of the STM
What method did Peterson and Peterson use in their study into the STM?
24 undergraduate students were presented a consonant trigram. Rehearsal was prevented by being asked to count backwards in 3s from a specific number. After intervals of 3,6,9 etc participants were stopped and asked to recall the trigram
What were the results of Peterson and petersons study?
After 3 secs delay 80% recall then after 18 secs 10% recall and after 30 secs 0% recall
What was concluded from peterson and petersons study into the STM?
The duration of the STM is between 18-30 seconds if maintenance rehearsal is prevented
What are the evaluation points of Peterson and Petersons study into the duration of the STM? AO3
+ high control
- low ecological validity
How does Peterson and Petersons study have high control? AO3
P: a strength of Peterson and Petersons study is that it is a lab experiment so therefore establishes cause and effect
E: as this experiment had high control over extraneous variables such as participants having standardised instructions, we can be confident that the IV (number of seconds prevented from rehearsing) affected the DV (if the trigram was recalled accurately or not)
E: this is a strength of the study as the results are unlikely to be affected by extraneous variables so we can be confident that the duration of the STM is 18-30 seconds
How does Peterson and Petersons study have low ecological validity? AO3
P: a limitation of Peterson and Petersons research is that it has low ecological validity
E: for example, the participants were presented with a trigram and recalling it is an artificial and simple task which does not test the true complexity of memory
E: this is a limitation because Peterson and Petersons results cannot be necessarily generalised to real life and therefore might not provide externally valid support for the claim that the duration of the STM is limited to approximately 18-30 seconds
How are individual difference a limitation of Millers study into the capacity of the STM? AO3
P: a limitation of the claim that the STM can hold 7+/-2 pieces of information is that there are individual differences in memory capacity depending on factors such as age
E: for example, Jacob’s found that the mean digits an 8 year old could remember was 6.6 compared to 8.6 in a 19 year olds. He also found that people found it easier to recall numbers than letters as the average span for letters was 7.3 compared to 9.3 for numbers
E: this is a limitation because the assumption that all individuals have a STM that can hold between 5 and 9 pieces of information is over simplistic and may not generalise to how everybody’s STM works
L: the studies may not explain how most people’s STM works and therefore is not a fully valid theory of STM
What type of coding is used in the LTM?
Semantic
What is the duration of the LTM?
Lifelong
What is the capacity of the LTM?
Unlimited
What was the aim of Bahricks study into LTM?
To investigate the length of time that memories can be held in the LTM
What was the method used in Bahricks study into the LTM?
Investigators interviewed graduates from a high school over a 50 year period. 392 graduates were shown a set of photographs from their high school yearbook and participants were split into 2 groups:
- photo recognition group, participants given a list of names and asked to select the name which matched the person in the photo
- recall group, participants asked to name the person in the photo without a list
What were the results of Bahricks study into the LTM?
Photo recognition group
- 15 years - 90% could accurately match
- 48 years - 70% could accurately match
Recall group
- 15 years - 60% could accurately match
- 48 years - 30% could accurately match
What was concluded from Bahricks study into the LTM?
The duration of the LTM can last along time, atleast 34 years based on evidence from this study
What are the evaluation points of Bahricks study into the LTM? AO3
+ high ecological validity
- low control
How is having high ecological validity a strength of Bahricks study into the LTM? AO3
P: a strength of Bahricks study is that it has high ecological validity
E: unlike many memory experiments, the study has meaningful stimuli material (high school year book) and tested people’s memory in real life situations
E: this is a strength because it provides valuable real life evidence into the duration of the LTM being life long
How does Bahricks study into the LTM have low control? AO3
P: a limitation of Bahricks study is that it has low control over extraneous variables
E: it is possible that participants identification of classmates may have been affected by extraneous variables e.g. if participants had seen old classmates more recently than when they had left high school
E: this is a limitation because Bahricks conclusion may not have high internal validity
What was the aim of Baddeleys study into the LTM and STM?
To Investigate coding in the LTM and STM
What was the Method of baddeleys study into coding of the LTM and STM?
British housewives were divided into 4 conditions and were shown a list of 10 words either:
1. Acoustically similar
2. Acoustically dissimilar
3. Semantically similar
4. Semantically dissimilar
In STM study participants were asked to immediately recall the 10 words and in the LTM they were given an interval of 20 minutes to complete another task then recall them
What were the results of Baddeleys study into coding of LTM and STM?
LTM recall was much worse for semantically similar than semantically dissimilar
STM recall was much worse for acoustically similar than acoustically dissimilar
What did Baddeley conclude about coding in LTM and STM?
Coding in LTM is mainly semantic
Coding in STM is acoustic
What are the evaluation points of Baddeleys study into coding in STM and LTM? AO3
+ high control
- low ecological validity
- low population validity
How is high control a strength of Baddeleys study into coding in LTM and STM? AO3
P: Baddeleys study is a lab experiment and therefore establishes cause and effect
E: as a lab experiment this study had high control over extraneous variables so we can be confident that the IV (condition acoustic / semantic) affected the DV (number of words recalled)
E: this is a strength as the results are unlikely to have been affected by confounding variables so we can be confident that coding in LTM is semantic and in STM is acoustic
How does Baddeleys study into coding of STM and LTM have low ecological validity? AO3
P: a limitation of Baddeleys research is that it has low ecological validity
E: for example, recalling words from a list is an artificial and simple task and does not test the true complexity of memory
E: this is a limitation as the results may not be generalisable so might not be valid support for the claim that coding is semantic in LTM and acoustic in STM
How does Baddeleys study into coding of LTM and STM have low population validity? AO3
P: a limitation of Baddeleys research is that it has low population validity
E: since the sample consisted of British housewives it is likely the sample does not represent all people in society as the Memories of such individuals may operate differently
E: this is a limitation because the findings that the STM is coded acoustically and the LTM is coded semantically may be difficult to generalise to other people in society
What are the evaluation points of the MSM? AO3
+ supported by case study of Clive wearing
+ supported by Glanzer and cunitz
- flash bulb memories
- contradicted by case study of KF
How does the case study of Clive wearing support the MSM? AO3
P: a strength of the MSM is that it is supported by the case study of Clive wearing
E: Clive wearings memory restarted once the time span of the STM elapsed which shows that the STM works but his LTM was damaged and he could not recall some long term memories such as the names of the his children
E: these findings support the idea that the STM and LTM are separate stores and that one can be damaged and the other can remain intact
How does glanzer and cunitz study support the MSM? AO3
P: a strength of the MSM is that it is supported by glanzer and cunitz
E: glanzer and cunitz asked participants to recall words from a list and found that when participants recalled words they tended to recall words from the beginning and end of the word. The words at the start are linked to the LTM (primacy effect) and the words at the end of the list are linked to the STM (recency effect)
E: this is a strength of the MSM as it suggests that the LTM and STM are different stores as the model suggests so the MSM is a valid explanation of how memory works
How are flashbulb memories a limitation of the MSM? AO3
P: a limitation of the MSM is that it overemphasises the role of rehearsal in forming long term memories
E: may psychologists believe rehearsal to be a too simple process to account for the transfer of information from the STM to the LTM, for example flashbulb memories can be recalled easily without any need for recall.
E: this is a limitation because it would seem that material does not just pass from the STM to the LTM by being rehearsed as the MSM suggests so the MSM is not a valid explanation of how memory works
How does the case study of KF contradict the MSM? AO3
P: a limitation of the MSM is that it is contradicted by the case study of KF
E: KF had poor STM for digits when they were read out but had an ordinary STM when he read the digits to himself
E: this is a limitation of the STM because it suggests that the STM is not unitary but instead split into visual and acoustic stores. This therefore makes one of the claims of the MSM invalid
What is the central executive?
The organiser of the STM, attends all incoming information and decides which information goes to which component. The CE has limited capacity and codes information in all sensory forms
What is the phonological loop?
The PL deals with auditory information so the coding is acoustic. The capacity of the PL is limited
What 2 stores is the phonological loop divided into?
- The phonological store
- The articulatory loop
What is the function of the phonological store?
Stores the words you hear
What is the function of the articulatory loop?
Allows maintenance rehearsal and has a capacity of two seconds worth of what you say
What is the function of the visuaspatial sketch pad?
Stores visual and spatial information, dealing with what an item looks like and physical relations between them. The VSS has a limited capacity of 3/4 items
What is the Visuospatial sketchpad split into?
The visual cache
The inner scribe
What is the function of the visual cache?
Stores visual data
What is the function of the inner scribe?
Records arrangement of objects in visual field
What is the function of the episodic buffer?
Acts as a temporary backup store, also recalls material from LTM and integrates the information into other components of STM. Has a limited capacity
What are the evaluation points of the WMM? AO3
+ supported by research - baddeley
+ supported by case study of KF
- little known about central executive
- STM is difficult to study
How does Baddeley et als study support the WMM? AO3
P: a strength of the WMM is that it is supported by research using the dual task technique
E: Baddeley et al found that participants could successfully track a spot of light and complete a verbal task simultaneously but were less successful when asked to track a spot of light and describe the letter F since both tasks use the VSS
E: this supports the WMM as a valid explanation of memory since it supports the claim that the STM is not unitary.
How does the case study of KF support the WMM? AO3
P: a strength of the WMM is that it is supported by the case study of KF
E: KF suffered brain damage after a stroke following a motorcycle accident. KF had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information. This was demonstrated through his immediate recall of letters and digits being better when he read them compared to when they were read to him. This suggests that the phonological loop had been damaged but his VSS was intact
E: thus supports the WMM as a valid explanation of memory because it supports the existence of separate visual and acoustic stores as the model suggests