Memory

Question 1

What are the capacities of the 3 types of memory store in the multi store model

Answer 1

SM: huge
STM: 7 +/- 2 items
LTM: limitless

Question 2

What type of encoding do each of the stores of the multi store model of memory use

Answer 2

SM: no specific due to different inputs
STM: mainly acoustic
LTM: mainly semantic

Question 3

What is the definition of encoding

Answer 3

The way in which information is represented in memory

Question 4

What is the definition of episodic memory

Answer 4

Form of LTM for events occurring in a persons life

Question 5

Describe episodic memory

Answer 5

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

Question 6

What is semantic memory

Answer 6

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

Question 7

What is the problem with episodic and semantic memory, research?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Research for procedural memory?

Answer 8

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

Question 9

What are the 4 parts of the WMM

Answer 9

CE, PL, EB and VSS

Question 10

Describe the WMM

Answer 10

Active store which holds and manipulates information that the brain is consciously working on

Question 11

What is the phonological loop

Answer 11

2 parts: inner voice (articulatory control system) and inner ear (phonological store)

Question 12

What is the central executive?

Answer 12

Drives the WMM, allocates data into the subsystems, deals with higher cognitive tasks and plays a critical role in attention, planning and co ordination

Question 13

Why is the WMM a multi component system?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

What is the difference between proactive and retroactive interference?

Answer 14

Pro - older memory affects new one

Retro - newer memory affects old one

Question 15

Research for the interference theory?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

What is CDF

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What are the 2 types of CDF?

Answer 17

Context dependent failure (external) and state dependent failure (internal)

Question 18

What did Darley et al investigate and what were the conclusions?

Answer 18

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)

Question 19

What are the 3 factors affecting the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 19

Misleading information, post even discussion and anxiety

Question 20

How do misleading information and post even discussion affect EWT?

Answer 20

Lead to false memories being stimulated if questions suggest a certain answer, may be convinced that their memory is wrong

Question 21

Who investigated EWT and how?

Answer 21

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?’

Question 22

What conclusions were drawn from Loftus and Palmers EWT experiment

Answer 22

Misleading information affects memory recall
Contacted - 31.8
Smashed - 40.8

Question 23

What was the IV in Loftus and Palmers first experiment

Answer 23

The verb - contacted, collided, hit, smashed, bumped

Question 24

2 limitations of Loftus and Palmers experiment?

Answer 24

Demand characteristics

Lab experiment = artificial = lacks mundane realism as a real crash would have an intense emotional impact on recall

Question 25

How does anxiety affect memory recall?

Answer 25

Moderate anxiety can result in optimum recall ie weapon focus

Question 26

Describe the weapon focus experiment and what was the DV

Answer 26

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

Question 27

What are the 4 stages of the cognitive interview

Answer 27

Report everything
Context reinstatement
Recall in reverse
Recall from different perspective

Question 28

Who came up with the cognitive interview

Answer 28

Fisher and Geiselman

Question 29

What are the 2 principles of the cognitive interview

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Research evaluation of cognitive interview?

Answer 30

Kohnken et al = meta analysis of 53 studies, 34% increase in recall so relatively effective however must be conducted immediately

Question 31

Evaluation of cognitive interview?

Answer 31

Time consuming 
Trained staff needed 
Costly 
Interviewer effects (Mermon)
Proved more successful than normal interviewing techniques

Question 32

What did tulving et al find

Answer 32

Semantic and episodic memory concerns different parts of the brain

Question 33

How did baddeley research the central executive

Answer 33

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

Question 34

How did baddeley research the phonological loop

Answer 34

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

Question 35

How has the interference theory been researched

Answer 35

Schmidt - street names