Memory Flashcards
Capacity
How much information a store can hold
Coding
How much information is stored
Context
The situation in which something is learnt
Duration
How long information can be stored for
Effort after meaning
We focus on the meaning of events. Afterwards, we make an effort to interpret the meaning in more familiar terms
Encoding
The processing of information
Episodic memory
Personal experiences
False memories
A memory for something that did not happen but feels like a true memory
Interference
How old or new memories can affect our recall
Primary effect
More likely to recall words at the start of a list as the have gone into the ltm
Procedural memory
How we do things eg. Ride a bike
Recency effect
More likely to remember words at the end of a list as they stay in the stm
Reconstructive memory
Memories are not accurate, we rebuild memories from the fragments of memories we store
Serial position effect
More likely to remember words at the start and end of a list as
Sensory memory
Sensory information, what we see and hear
Short term memory
Holds 7+-2 items of information for 18-30 seconds
Storage
Holding information in your memory for it to be retrieved at a later point
Three types of retrieval
Free, cued, recognition
Free recall
Remember something without a hint
Cued recall
Being given a hint to help remember something
Recognition
Identifying something previously learned from a list of options
Three types of encoding
Acoustic, visual and semantic
Acoustic encoding
Holding of information in the form of a sound
Visual encoding
Process information in the form of a picture in our mind
Semantic encoding
Encoding something through its meaning
Baddeley’s encoding study results
Acoustically similar words were harder to recall than acoustically dissimilar ones.
Semantically similar words harder to recall than semantically dissimilar ones.
Performance was overall better in the semantic condition
Baddeley’s encoding study conclusion
Ltm encodes semantically
STM encodes acoustically
Types of memory evaluation
+ supported by the case of Clive Wearing, who had amnesia and lost some types of memory, but not others, showing that there are different types of memory.
+ empirical evidence from brains scans. If the different memories are separate then they should be found in different areas of the brain, brain scans show this.
Multi store model - sensory memory
Deals with sensory information
Encoding depends on the type of information received
Capacity is very high
Duration is milliseconds
Multi store model - short term memory
Encoding is acoustic
Capacity 7+-2
Duration 18-30 seconds
Multi store model - long term memory
Prolonged rehearsal moves information from the stm to the ltm
Encodes semantically
Capacity is unlimited
Duration is a lifetime
Evaluation of the multi store model of memory
- too simplistic. Suggests there is only 1 stm and ltm, however research has shown that there are different parts of each, decreasing validity
- research from the 50s and 60s used artificial tasks like lists, which does not represent all the things we do with our memory, and is not useful in understanding how our memory works
Murdock serial position curve study - method
Lab study:
Participants were presented with a list of 20 words at a rate of 1 words per second until all 20 words had been presented.
They had 90s to recall the words.
Murdock serial position curve study - results
Words at the start and end of the list were recalled better
Murdock serial position curve study - conclusion
Recency effect - words recalled at the end of the list were seen to still be in the stm
Primary effect - words recalled at the beginning of the list had been rehearsed and thus had transferred to the ltm
Evaluate Murdock serial position curve study
+ lab study, control extraneous variables, eg speed words appeared
- artificial task which only represents a small part of what we use our memories for
War of the ghosts - method
A game of broken telephone, where students were asked to pass on a story they were told to the next student. The story they were told was Native American, very different to what the students were familiar with
War of the ghosts - results
The story was dramatically changed to suit the students culture.
By the time it reached the final student, canoes changed to boats, the weapons were recalled as guns instead of bows and arrows
War of the ghosts - conclusion
Memory is not an accurate recording of events but constructed and reconstructed to fit an individual’s own experiences
Evaluation of the war of the ghosts
- the story was very unusual so it does not reflect our every day memory practises
- results are biased. Bartlett recorded himself whether he though it was accurate or not. He may have altered the results to fit in with his own theory
Memory is an active process (Bartlett)
People don’t behave like a memory machine - they actively reconstruct a memory
Memory is not accurate (Bartlett)
We restore fragments of information, and when we need to recall the information, we build these fragments into a meaningful whole. This results in missing elements, and memories which are not accurate representations of what happened.
Reconstruction (Bartlett)
We record small pieces of information and layer, when recalling the event, we recombine the pieces to tell the whole story
Social and cultural influences (bartletts theory)
The way we store and later recombine the small pieces can be related to social and cultural expectations. In The war of the Ghosts; people recombined the information to suit their cultural expectations
Effort after meaning
We focus in the meaning of events and after, we make an effort to interpret the meaning in more familiar terms.
Evaluate Barletts theory
+ can be used to explain the issues with eye witness testimony, which is relied in in court cases. Empirical evidence suggests that there may be inaccuracies
+ research has been used to test his theory which avoided using word lists. Many memory studies involve using artificial tasks which do not represent how we use our memory, however the war of the ghosts was far more realistic.
Pro active interference
An old memory interferes with a new memory that someone is trying to remember. Things we already know can cause problems for us as we try to take on new information
Retroactive interference
New memories interfere with old memories. New things we learn can cause problems for us when we are trying to recall information that we had learnt before
Evaluate interference
- studies used to investigate interference have used word lists which does not not represent real life tasks well. Only one aspect of our memory is being tested here. Not useful for explaining.
- interference may not be a good explanation for forgetting. Interference effects could be temporary and information may not be forgotten. In a cued recall test it light be that forgotten items are recalled. This show that the information is stored in the memory but we can’t access it.
Godden context study method
18 divers had to remember a list of 36 unrelated words either on the beach or under water. They were tested after 4 minutes how many words they recalled, some in different contexts.
2
WD
WW
DW
DD
Godden context study - results
Those who recalled in the same environment as that in which they had learnt, the words recalled were 40 % more.
Godden context study - conclusion
Recall of information is improved when the context stays the same as which it was learnt
Evaluate Godden context study
- use word lists which was artificial
- participants had to recall words almost immediately, which is rarely done in everyday life.
False memories method
24 participants 3 male 21 female
For each participants, a relative was contacted. They were told they were lost in a mall as a child and they had to recall the story of it (it never happened)
False memories results
I’m total 72 true episode were remembered and participants remembered 68% of these. 26% of participants recalled the false story partially or fully. 1 thought she recalled it then changed her mind. The others had no memory of the event. 19/24 participants correctly chose the memory as false
False memories conclusion
The simple act of imagining an event has the potential of creating and implanting a false memories in a person. Which shows that false memories are an example of reduced accuracy in memory.
Evaluate false memories
+ research has changed the way courts deal with eyewitness testing, it is no longer seen as reliable evidence
- raised ethical issues, participants may hand neem left with the implanted false memories
