Memory Flashcards
What are the capacities of the 3 types of memory store in the multi store model
SM: huge
STM: 7 +/- 2 items
LTM: limitless
What type of encoding do each of the stores of the multi store model of memory use
SM: no specific due to different inputs
STM: mainly acoustic
LTM: mainly semantic
What is the definition of encoding
The way in which information is represented in memory
What is the definition of episodic memory
Form of LTM for events occurring in a persons life
Describe episodic memory
Autobiographical record of events and experience, strength is determined by emotions present at the time and their extremity, helps to distinguish between real life and imagination
What is semantic memory
LTM associated with meaning, understanding and knowledge, underpinned by episodic memory because we learn knowledge from experiences, the more time memories spend in semantic memory the more the knowledge becomes detached from the event
What is the problem with episodic and semantic memory, research?
Extent to which episodic and semantic memory stores are different is unclear, semantic memories originate in episodic memory so can they be classified as separate systems?, semantic memory may not be one memory store but possibly a larger network of interrelated links. Tulving = episodic and semantic stores concern different brain areas
Research for procedural memory?
Finke et al = episodic and semantic memory of a 68 y o cellist damaged but not procedural, however lack of evidence and case studies hard to find
What are the 4 parts of the WMM
CE, PL, EB and VSS
Describe the WMM
Active store which holds and manipulates information that the brain is consciously working on
What is the phonological loop
2 parts: inner voice (articulatory control system) and inner ear (phonological store)
What is the central executive?
Drives the WMM, allocates data into the subsystems, deals with higher cognitive tasks and plays a critical role in attention, planning and co ordination
Why is the WMM a multi component system?
One component can be working on one task whilst a different component works on another, if one component reaches its capacity the others remain to operate successfully
What is the difference between proactive and retroactive interference?
Pro - older memory affects new one
Retro - newer memory affects old one
Research for the interference theory?
Schmidt (street names) - random sample from dutch elementary school asked to recall the neighbourhood that they used to live in, asked a series of questions ie how many times they have moved house. Negative correlation found between number of street names remembered and number of neighbourhoods lived in. However extraneous variables and correlation does not equal causation
What is CDF
States internal and external cues can facilitate recall of LTM, suggests forgetting is due to lack of access to a memory rather than its availability, chances of recall increase if contest and feelings of individual for recall are similar to when the memory was created
What are the 2 types of CDF?
Context dependent failure (external) and state dependent failure (internal)
What did Darley et al investigate and what were the conclusions?
CDF - ppts who hid money whilst under influence of marijuana we less able to recall the position of the money when they were not high than when they were (providing support for state dependent failure)
What are the 3 factors affecting the accuracy of EWT?
Misleading information, post even discussion and anxiety
How do misleading information and post even discussion affect EWT?
Lead to false memories being stimulated if questions suggest a certain answer, may be convinced that their memory is wrong
Who investigated EWT and how?
Lotus and Palmer - 1) 45 uni students, 7 video clips of car crashes, wrote account of what they could recall, key question ‘how fast were the cars going when they (verb) eachother’ 2) 150 students viewed a 1 min video of a car crash, 50 ppts in each condition, ‘smashed’, ‘hit’ and control, ‘did you see any broken glass?’
What conclusions were drawn from Loftus and Palmers EWT experiment
Misleading information affects memory recall
Contacted - 31.8
Smashed - 40.8
What was the IV in Loftus and Palmers first experiment
The verb - contacted, collided, hit, smashed, bumped
2 limitations of Loftus and Palmers experiment?
Demand characteristics
Lab experiment = artificial = lacks mundane realism as a real crash would have an intense emotional impact on recall
How does anxiety affect memory recall?
Moderate anxiety can result in optimum recall ie weapon focus
Describe the weapon focus experiment and what was the DV
36 Washington uni students, 18 slides of events, control group = 2nd person in queue hands cashier a cheque, experimental group = same person pulls a gun on the cashier, dependent variable was recognition of the customer, assessed by a questionnaire
Results: control = 39% correct identification compared to 11% in experimental group, 3.72 seconds fixation time on gun compares to 2.44 seconds on cheque
DV: identification of second person in line
What are the 4 stages of the cognitive interview
Report everything
Context reinstatement
Recall in reverse
Recall from different perspective
Who came up with the cognitive interview
Fisher and Geiselman
What are the 2 principles of the cognitive interview
1) several retrieval paths so information not available in one technique could be available in another
2) a memory trace is made up of several e features so use as many retrieval cues as possible
Research evaluation of cognitive interview?
Kohnken et al = meta analysis of 53 studies, 34% increase in recall so relatively effective however must be conducted immediately
Evaluation of cognitive interview?
Time consuming Trained staff needed Costly Interviewer effects (Mermon) Proved more successful than normal interviewing techniques
What did tulving et al find
Semantic and episodic memory concerns different parts of the brain
How did baddeley research the central executive
Ppts found it difficult to generate lists of random numbers whilst pressing numbers and letters on a keyboard = both tasks competing for CE resources so CE must be limited in capacity and can only cope with 1 type of information at a time
How did baddeley research the phonological loop
Reported on the word length effect. Ppts recalled more short words in order than long words so capacity of PL is set by how long it takes to say words rather than how many there are
How has the interference theory been researched
Schmidt - street names
