Memory Flashcards
What are the two types of memory that we have?
Long term and short term memory
What is coding?
Refers to how information is stored in memory, it’s format.
Is it stored according to how it sounds (acoustic)? Or its meaning (semantic)?
What is short term memory?
The limited capacity memory store. Coding is mainly acoustic, capacity is between 5-9 items, duration around 18 seconds.
What is long term memory?
The permanent memory store. Coding is mainly semantic (meaning), unlimited capacity, can store memories for a lifetime
Capacity
The amount of information that can be held in a memory store
Duration
The length of time information can be held in memory
Baddeley (1966) research and findings
Researched coding in STM.
Found that words were coded acoustically in STM.
Found that information was coded semantically in LTM.
Used word lists such as cat, mat, hat, chat in research on memory.
Peterson and Peterson (1959) research and findings
Researched duration of STM.
Used consonant syllables such as BNT in their research.
Found that STM lasts about 18 secs.
Used counting backwards as a means of preventing rehearsal.
Miller (1956) research and findings
Researched capacity of STM.
Used the term ‘the magical number 7’ to describe capacity of STM.
Did some research similar to that of Jacobs (1887).
Investigated chunking in STM.
Chunking
Breaking a larger piece of information down into smaller pieces
Primary effect
Remember the information received first better than information from later
Recency effect
Remember the information received recently better than older information
Why might memory models be useful in healthcare?
Could provide a map for memory for healthcare professionals, could help with diagnosis of memory issues, and may help developments of treatments for memory loss
Episodic Memory.
STM or LTM? What is it composed of? Explicit or Implicit?
Memory of our personal histories
LTM
Events we have experienced, people we know, places we have been, things we have done, stuff we own.
Explicit
Semantic Memory
STM or LTM? What is it composed of?
Explicit or Implicit?
What we know
LTM
Facts, knowledge about the world, words to communicate, concepts and ideas we come to understand
Explicit
Procedural memory
STM or LTM? What is it composed of? Explicit or Implicit?
Physical skills and abilities
LTM
How to put on socks, brush teeth, run, use mobile, drive a car
Implicit
Evaluation of LTM stores: case studies
Highly detailed, provide insight
Case studies might stimulate further research
Findings can’t be generalised to wider population
Lack of control of variables, what was the memory like before?
Evaluation of LTM stores: Brain scan evidence
Studies show different parts of brain active in different LTM tasks.
Episodic: hippocampus
Semantic: Prefrontal cortex
Procedural: Cerebellum
However, conflicting findings are present relating to where these stores are in the brain.
Multi Store Model
Describes flow between three permanent storage systems of memory: the sensory register (SR), short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).
Why was the Working Memory Model developed?
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Multi-Store Model of memory (MSM) was criticised for over-simplifying STM (as well as LTM) as a single storage system, so the WMM alternative proposed that STM is composed of three, limited capacity stores.
What is the central executive in the WMM?
Monitors incoming information, and assigns it to the appropriate slave system
Information is transferred from these slave systems into Long Term Memory
What is the phonological loop in the WMM?
Stores auditory information
Phonological store: holds words/sounds
Articulatory Process: allows words/sounds to be repeated, a kind of inner voice
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad in the WMM?
Stores visual images and the spatial relationships between visual images
Two parts to the VSS
-Visual Cache: stores visual information
-Inner scribe: stores the position/spatial relationship between visual objects
What is the episodic buffer in the WMM?
Some memories are made up of visual and auditory information. Also, accurate recall requires a time line, or ability to sequence information, by putting it in the right order.
So EB brings together material from other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands, and also provides a bridge between working memory and long term memory
How are the central executive and episodic buffer coded?
Modality free: not limited to sight or sound or any one sense since it needs to manipulate all manner of information
What is proactive interference?
When old information stored in long-term memory interferes with the learning of new information
What is retroactive interference?
When a new memory interferes with recall of an older one
What is the effect of similarity on recall?
McGough and McDonald (1931) found that synonyms made recall of target words harder, but 3 digit number lists interfered with recall much less.
Why might similarity cause memory faliure?
Proactive interference: previously stored information makes it harder to story new information
Retrospective interference:
How did Baddeley and Hitch test interference theory?
Asking players to recall the teams they played in the last season
More games = worse recall
What is the encoding specificity principle?
The situation in which we store information needs to match the situation in which we recall, so remembering is assisted by clues that ‘take up back’ to the time we learnt the information, because it provides hints about where to look in memory. Therefore, if there is a mismatch between the situation in which we store or recall information, we can’t remember
What are two types of retrieval failure?
Context dependent forgetting:
-Context means external clues such as -physical environment or people present at the time.
State dependent cues
-Inside of us
-Include emotions, level of alertness
-So if we were relaxed when memory was made, helps if relaxed when recalling it
What is eyewitness testimony?
Someone who gives evidence to the court about what they saw/heard
Have to promise to tell the whole truth
EWT can be decisive in a trial, because it can be persuasive to juries
What did Loftus and Palmer (1974) find when looking at the effect of leading questions on EWT, and how did they test it?
What happened in the followup experiment?
45 participants in 5 conditions, watching videos of car accidents, and were asked ‘how fast was the car going when it…’
-hit
-bumped
-collided
-contacted
-smashed
‘… into the other car?’
Estimates:
Contacted: 30.8mph
Smashed: 40.5mph
Shows that the phrasing of questions can alter the eyewitness testimony, can be influenced
In followup, asked ‘Did you see broken glass in the accident’
Participants in ‘smashed’ condition were more likely to report seeing broken glass than those in hit condition, even though there was no broken glass
Concluded that the critical verb changed the memories of participants
What did Gabbert (2003) find when looking at the effect discussion on EWT, and how was it tested?
Participants watched a video of a crime, but from a different viewpoint to each other
71% of participants reported seeing something that they hadn’t, but had learnt through discussion
How should jurors act when doing jury duty?
Jurors must not research the case online, discuss the evidence with family/friends, and the only discussion allowed is with other jurors whilst considering verdicts
Describe Goodwin’s study on state-dependent forgetting
Goodwin (1969) researched ‘state dependent forgetting’. Participants had to learn a word list either drunk or sober. Recall of the words was best when they were drunk during both encoding and recall or sober during both encoding and recall.
Briefly explain the case of HM
Scoville and Milner (1957) studied HM who had his hippocampus removed to treat his epilepsy. He was unable to form new LTMs but could form STMs
Describe Abernathy’s study on context dependent forgetting
Abernathy (1940).‘context dependent forgetting’. Students were tested in different conditions: by their regular instructor in their usual teaching room/different one, or by a different instructor in usual teaching room/different one.
Results were best when tested in their usual room by their usual instructor.
Describe research related to retrieval failure
Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) gave participants a list of 48 words from 12 different categories.
Recall was 40% accurate without retrieval cues.
Recall was 60% accurate when the category was given as a retrieval cue.
How did Johnson and Scott (1976) research the effects on anxiety on EWT and what did they find?
Participants in a waiting room
Condition A: a casual conversation in next room. Man walks out holding pen with grease on hands.
Condition B: heated conversation in next room, broken glass, man walks past holding a knife with blood on it.
Participants then asked to identify man that walked past them from set of 50 photos. Low anxiety was 49% accurate, high anxiety condition was 33%
How did Yuille and Cutshall (1986) research the effects on anxiety on EWT and what did they find?
Investigated recall in 12 witnesses of a REAL robbery in which the thief was shot dead.
Participants were interviewed 4 months after the event, and rather their anxiety at the crime scene on a 7 point scale
Recall accuracy was measured by comparing their interview statments with details recorded by police from original eyewitness interviews
Participants reporting high anxiety had 88% recall accuracy, less anxiety had 75% accuracy.
How did Valentine and Mesout (2009) research the effects on anxiety on EWT and what did they find?
Participants were visitors to London Dungeon, and were asked to wear heart rate monitors during their tour to measure arousal whilst in there.
Recall of the actors in the dungeons was 17% in the high anxiety conditions, but 75% in the low anxiety condition
What is the cognitive interview?
An interview technique based on psychology research.
Aims to help the police get detailed, reliable evidence from eyewitnesses. Gather more reliable, detailed evidence than traditional interviewing methods
What are key components of the cognitive interview?
-Report everything in detail
-Encourage mental re-creation of the scene
-Ask questions that force the witness to think through the even in a different order from their original recall
-Ask the witness to describe the event from someone else’s viewpoint
What enhancements did Fisher (1987) outline to make the cognitive interview better?
Effective use of eye contact with the witness
Ways to reduce witness anxiety
Minimising distractions during the interview
Encouraging the witness to speak slowly
Asking open ended questions
What is rehersal?
The repetition of information in an attempt to maintain it longer in memory.
What is interference?
A process that affects memory recall in which specific memories interfere with the retrieval of other memories
What is the Yerkes-Dodson law?
Suggests that performance increases with mental arousal (stress) but only up to a point: when an individuals’ level of stress is too low or too high, their performance deteriorates
What is the sensory register?
the memory store where information first comes in through the senses. Information only lasts for a brief moment unless attention is directed to that register, which then transfers the information to STM.
