Memory

Question 1

The multi-store model

Answer 1

Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed the Multi-Store Model in 1968. It regards memory as a series of stores through which information passes linearly (one-way) through a fixed
sequence i.e. each store acts as a gateway to the next

Question 2

Sensory register

Answer 2

The sensory register stores a very brief memory (< 1 second) of unprocessed and unfiltered “raw” information from the five senses. This sensory register thus gives rough information about shape, size, colour and location.

Question 3

Short term memory

Answer 3

the short-term memory can still
only hold 7 +- 2 chunks. It should be noted that chunking is greatly improved if the chunks already have meaning from long-term memory. For example, when the chunked letters form
an acronym for a saying or establishment that you already have a memory of it is very easy to recall the chunks (BBC, RAF, LOL).

Question 4

Long term memory

Answer 4

It is important to realise that long-term memory is not a passive store of information, but a dynamic system that constantly revises and modifies stored information in the light of new information. It holds vast quantities of information which can be stored for long periods of time. Long-term memory is much larger and more complex than short-term memory.

Question 5

Declarative memories

Answer 5

requires concious recall - semantic and episodic

Question 6

Semantic memories

Answer 6

factual for e.g remembering the name of a capital city

Question 7

episodic memories

Answer 7

event based memories, such as a memory of an activity

Question 8

Nondeclarative memories

Answer 8

memories are memories without conscious recall such as procedural memories

Question 9

procedural memories

Answer 9

skill-based memories, such as the ability to brush your teeth

Question 10

What did Peterson and Peterson (1959) investigate?

Answer 10

Peterson and Peterson (1959) investigated the duration of short-term memory with their trigram experiment.

Question 11

Peterson and peterson (1959) aim

Answer 11

To test the hypothesis that information which is not rehearsed is lost quickly from
STM

Question 12

Peterson and peterson (1959) method

Answer 12

– A lab experiment was conducted in which 24 students had to recall trigrams
(meaningless three consonant syllables e.g TGH). The trigrams were presented one at a time
and had to be recalled after intervals of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds. To prevent rehearsal
participants were asked to count backwards in threes from a specified random number until
they saw a red light appear and then you could try and recall the trigram.

Question 13

Peterson and peterson (1959) results

Answer 13

– After 3 seconds, participants remembered about 90% of the time. After 18
seconds this fell to about 2%. STM has a limited duration when rehearsal is prevented. It is thought that this
information is lost from STM by trace decay.

Question 14

Peterson and peterson (1959) evaluation

Answer 14

– This experiment lacks mundane realism and ecological validity as they used
very artificial stimuli (people do not try to recall trigrams in real life). It is possible, however,
that interference from the counting task (not merely decay) caused the poor recall. They also
only considered STM duration for one type of stimuli. They did not provide information
about other types of stimuli such as pictures and melodies. The fact that the research was
carried out only with students means the results cannot be generalised to the whole
population. The results of this study do show however that STM is different from LTM in
terms of duration, thus supporting the MSM of memory.

Question 15

What did Baddeley (1966) investigate?

Answer 15

Baddeley (1966) carried out an experiment which showed that long-term memory uses
mainly semantic encoding, as it is applied to a context.

Question 16

Baddeley (1966) Aim

Answer 16

To demonstrate that the type of encoding used in STM is different to the type of
encoding used in LTM

Question 17

Baddeley (1966) method

Answer 17

Baddeley started off trying to test Long Term Memory (LTM). He gave participants four trials at learning the order of a list of words. Then he used a 20 minute delay (to remove Short Term Memory or STM) and then asked participants to recall as many words as possible in order.

Question 18

Baddeley (1966) results

Answer 18

Acoustically similar words were harder to recall than acoustically dissimilar words. Remembering the words cap, hat, and sack is more difficult than remembering cow, dad, and led.

Semantically similar words were harder to recall than semantically dissimilar words. Remembering the words big, large, and huge is more difficult than remembering hot, pen, and man.

When assessing STM, this is, when comparing trials before the break, the worse performance was for the acoustically similar words.

Performance was overall better on the semantic condition than on the acoustic one.

Question 19

Baddeley (1966) conclusion

Answer 19

The main conclusion that Baddeley drew from such results is that LTM is encoded semantically. This comes from the fact that performance on the firth condition was better for the semantic condition than for the acoustic one. Further, Baddeley (1966) concluded that STM encoding is acoustic. This was deduced by the fact that performance on the short-term conditions (trials 1-3) was worse for semantically similar words.

Question 20

Baddeley (1966) evaluation

Answer 20

It provides strong experimental evidence that STM and LTM are separate and
encode new information differently. The findings are backed up by Conrad’s (1964)
findings. This study has been used as the basis for further in-depth studies into LTM.
Baddeley’s use of interference tasks to control STM has been particularly influential leading
to Baddeley and Hitch developing a new model of memory – The working memory model.
However, it is limited in using just words as it is now known that STM also uses some visual
encoding.

Question 21

Strengths of the multi-store memory model

Answer 21

The idea of STM and LTM continues to provide a framework that psychologists find
useful for describing and understanding memory. This means researchers can do
experiments to improve on this model and make it more valid. Therefore, the model
is influential as it has generated a lot of research into memory.
- Many memory studies provide evidence to support the distinction between STM and
LTM in terms of encoding, duration and capacity – Sperling (1960), Conrad (1964),
Miller (1956), Peterson and Peterson (1959), Baddeley (1966), Bahrick et al (1975),
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966).
- Another strength of the MSM is that it is supported by amnesiacs for e.g patient HM
(Scolville & Milner, 1957). This is a strength because HM lost his LTM following
brain surgery but kept his STM, suggesting they are distinct stores.

Question 22

Weakness of the multi-store memory model

Answer 22

• It is too simplistic a model to explain the whole memory system.
• It tends to be inflexible and under-emphasises the interaction between short and
  long-term memory. For e.g It does not consider how long-term memory influences
  what information is given attention to and subsequently processed from the sensory
  register. Also Morris et al (1985) showed that people with prior knowledge of
  football performed better on a STM recall test of football scores. If LTM can affect
  STM, then the one-way transfer of information as proposed by the multi-store model
  must be incorrect.
• It only proposes one long-term store rather than separate stores for the different kinds
  of long-term memory (for e.g semantic, episodic etc)
• Rehearsal is considered too simple an explanation to account for the transfer of
  information from STM to LTM. For instance, the model ignores factors such as
  motivation, effect and strategy (e.g. mnemonics) which underpin learning.
• Also rehearsal does not guarantee transfer into LTM. For example, why are we able
  to recall information which we did not rehearse (e.g. swimming) yet unable to recall
  information which we have rehearsed (e.g. reading your notes while revising).
• The MSM does not account for emotion. This is a weakness because we tend to
  remember information which is funny or emotional more so than other types of
  information, independent of rehearsal.

Question 23

What did Glanzer & Cunitz (1966) investigate?

Answer 23

Researchers Glanzer & Cunitz (1966) were interested in the serial position effect and
wanted to know what would happen if they introduced a ‘distraction task’.

Question 24

Glanzer & Cunitz aim

Answer 24

To examine whether the position of words influences recall (primacy and recency
effects) and see if there are two separate stores of memory (STM and LTM).

Question 25

Glanzer & Cunitz method

Answer 25

The respondents were read out a list of words one at a time. They were then asked
to recall the words and could do so in any order. Half of the participants recalled the words
immediately (immediate recall group). The other half had to count back from 30 before they
recalled the words.

Question 26

Glanzer & Cunitz results

Answer 26

Delaying recall by 30 seconds destroys the recency effect causing recall of later words to be similar
to ones in the middle, however it does not influence primacy effect.
* Participants had a higher probability of recall on items that were near the start of the list (i.e. early
serial position). This is called the primacy effect.
* Participants had a higher probability of recall on items that were near the end of the list (i.e. late
serial position). This is called the recency effect.

Question 27

Glanzer & Cunitz evaluation

Answer 27

The experiment offers evidence for two separate stores of memory (STM and LTM) thus supporting
the MSM model of memory
* High control but Low Ecological Validity – memorizing list of random words artificial
* This is a controlled laboratory study with highly controlled variables, but there is no random
allocation of participants to experimental conditions so it is not a true experiment

Question 28

Working memory model

Answer 28

Baddeley & Hitch (1974) tried to combine key facts about STM into a new model. They
focused on the way that STM is used as a flexible, active store with which we carry out
numerous tasks on a day-to-day basis, such as holding a conversation and playing a game.
They felt that it is not just a memory store but also a system that can process information and
solve problems. Because of the active nature of the store, Baddeley and Hitch prefer the term
working memory (WM) rather than STM, and so their theory is known as the Working
Memory Model.

Question 29

Central executive

Answer 29

Information arrives from the senses or from LTM and the central executive decides which of
the ‘slave systems’ is needed to deal with it. It deals with several tasks, for e.g attention,
switching attention between tasks and other higher mental processes such as mental
arithmetic, decision making and problem solving.

Question 30

Phonological loop

Answer 30

The phonological loop deals with auditory/acoustic information and has a limited capacity. It
is subdivided into the phonological store and the articulatory process. The phonological store
(inner ear) retains words we hear for 1-2 seconds. The articulatory process (inner voice)
retains information we see or hear by silently repeating it (looped) like an inner voice.

Question 31

Visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 31

The ‘inner eye’ holds visual (how things look) and spatial (the relationship between things)
information. It manipulates mental imagery, perceives movement and recognises patterns.
Limited capacity.

Question 32

What did Baddeley et al (1975) Investigate?

Answer 32

The Multi-Store Model assumes that the short term memory has a definite capacity of 7  2
items (Miller, 1956). One of the assumptions, however, of the Working Memory Model is
that the capacity of working memory is not fixed, but rather depends on the time needed to
process the information. Baddeley and colleagues carried out an investigation to investigate
this. (The word length effect)

Question 33

Baddeley et al (1975) aim

Answer 33

In this study, Baddeley et al looked for evidence of one of the key principles of the
WM model – that processing something in your head (e.g rehearsing a word) is done in real-
time, that is, it takes the same amount of time as it would to actually say the word.

Question 34

Baddeley et al (1975) method

Answer 34

Participants were given groups of 5 words to remember. The group of words were
either short (e.g book) or long (e.g university). Participants were asked to recall the first
three letters of the words they could remember.

Question 35

Baddeley et al (1975) findings

Answer 35

The longer the words to remember the fewer people could retain.

Question 36

Baddeley et al (1975) evaluation

Answer 36

– It is useful in that it helped to distinguish between the two main models of
memory, supporting the WMM over the MSM. As a lab experiment it was well controlled
and makes it easy to reproduce. The findings have been supported by other studies, including
research that found that bilingual speakers of English and Welsh had a shorter digit span in
Welsh, in which it takes slightly longer to pronounce the numbers (Ellis and Hennelly, 1980)
However, it is a lab experiment so very artificial (lacking ecological validity) and total
control over all variables is not possible.

Question 37

Episodic buffer

Answer 37

The original WMM was updated by Baddeley (2000) after the model failed to explain the
results of various experiments. The model did not provide a clear explanation of how stimuli
from different parts can be combined and linked with LTM. An additional component (i.e a
third slave system) was added called the episodic buffer. This is seen as the mind’s way of
combining a mixture of sights and sounds into a coherent ‘episode’ that can be encoded into
episodic LTM. The episodic buffer acts as a ‘backup’ store which communicates with both
LTM and the components of Working memory. The current Working Memory Model
therefore looks like this:

Question 38

Trace Decay

Answer 38

This explanation of forgetting in STM assumes that memories leave a trace within the
brain. A ‘trace’ can be thought of as a physical/chemical change in the nervous system.
During this stage of the process (i.e. corresponding to STM) the trace is very fragile and can
be easily disrupted. This explanation suggests that if the trace is repeated often enough it will
lead to permanent structural changes in the cells of the brain and turn the STM into LTM. If
the trace is disrupted, however, then the information would decay and disappear. Trace
decay focuses on time and the limited duration of short term memory and suggests that short
term memory can only hold information for between 15 and 30 seconds unless it is rehearsed.
After this time the information / trace decays and fades away.

Question 39

Interference

Answer 39

-It is likely that the two memories that are interfering with each other were stored at different times.

Proactive interference:
-happens when older memories that are already stored disrupt the recall of newer memories.

E.g a teacher has learnt so many names in the past she struggles to remember the names in her current class.

Retroactive interference:
-happens when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored.

E.g a teacher has learned so many new names this year that she struggles remembering the name of previous students.

Effects of similarity:
-The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar meaning that interference is worse.

Question 40

Forgetting due to the absence of cues

Answer 40

Forgetting due to the absence of cues suggests that
memories are available for recall but we have a problem
locating and retrieving it from LTM. Context-dependent – what the environment was like when the memory was stored
e.g colour of the room, pictures of the wall etc
 State-dependent – what feelings were experienced when the memory was stored e.g
happy, sad etc

Question 41

Brain damage

Answer 41

Brain damage can often result in serious and sometimes permanent changes to memory,
which is usually called amnesia. A distinction can be made between two common types of
amnesia which result from brain damage: retrograde amnesia and anterograde amnesia.

Question 42

Anterograde amnesia

Answer 42

a type of memory loss that occurs when you can’t form new memories. In the most extreme cases, this means you permanently lose the ability to learn or retain any new information. Caused by strokes, alcoholism sizures, brain tumours

Question 43

Retrograde amnesia

Answer 43

Retrograde amnesia is a form of memory loss that causes an inability to remember events from the past. It can be caused by injury, illness, stress, infection, or other medical conditions that affect the brain. Such memory loss can be brief and temporary, but it can also be permanent.

Question 44

What did Scoville and Milner (1957) investigate

Answer 44

Henry Molaison, a young man with severe
epilepsy, reported to American
neurosurgeon William Scoville and his
colleague Milner in the 1950s. Scoville
attempted a radical surgery which would cure Henry’s symptoms, but would ultimately leave
him with severe memory side effects.

Question 45

Scoville and Milner (1957) aim

Answer 45

The hippocampus was removed from patient HM in the hope of curing his epilepsy.
The aim of this case study was to examine the impact on his memory loss and in doing so
figure out the role the hippocampus plays in memory.

Question 46

Scoville and Milner (1957) method

Answer 46

The researchers conducted interviews with the patient and his family, and
administered a range of tests. Milner's early tests were simple recall tasks, testing H.M.'s
ability to recall events from his childhood, from his adult life before the operation and from
his experiences after the operation. She also tested his short and long term memory recall.
Finally, she tested his other cognitive faculties, like IQ, perception and general knowledge.
Milner also tested H.M. with maze tasks. H.M. attempted to trace the correct route through the maze with his finger. Milner then tested him over and over with the same maze to see if
H.M. would remember the route, even if he didn't remember having attempted the task
before.

Question 47

Scoville and Milner (1957) findings and conclusion

Answer 47

In the opinion of his family, Henry’s personality was unchanged and his IQ was
undiminished. However, he suffered from dramatic loss of memory function after the
operation. He was still able to recall his early life but could no longer remember anything
from around the time of the operation. More importantly still. He could not encode any new
information to LTM. This left him in a permanent state of amnesia, unable to hold a sustained
conversation or take in anything new. His score on the Wechsler memory test was zero in
some areas and he ‘failed to improve with repeated practice’. Curiously, however, HM was
still able to learn new skills – Milner (1970) later reported that he was still able to learn a
mirror-drawing task, even though he had no recollection of his repeated attempts at the task.
This suggested that non-declarative memory might have been unharmed by the damage to his
hippocampus.

Conclusion - Milner's qualitative data shows a clear difference between short term and long
term memory. They suggest that the hippocampus plays a vital role in transforming short
term memories into long term memories, because this was something H.M. (whose
hippocampus had been removed in the operation) couldn't do.

Question 48

Evaluation Scoville and Milner (1957)

Answer 48

The study of HM should not be considered unethical – his memory loss was an
accidental side effect of earlier surgery. The precise nature of the damage has made him an
especially useful case to science. It was a tragic case for HM himself, but he became the most
studied man in the history of psychology. The application of H.M.'s case studies for
psychology has been huge. Before H.M., psychologists thought that memory was a single
function that took place all across the brain. After H.M., it became clear there are different
memory functions that take place in different parts of the brain. The distinction H.M.
revealed between short term and long term memory led to the development of the Multi Store
Model.
H.M was a “one-off” – a unique case. Scoville never performed this surgery again and
modern resection surgery is accurate enough to avoid the sort of brain damage H.M. suffered.
This means we can never be sure just how "normal" H.M. really was. Because no one
expected the resection to cause memory loss, no one tested H.M.'s memory before the
operation. So the results cannot be generalised to the wider population.