Memory

Question 1

What is the coding of;
(i) STM
(ii) LTM
And who found it?

Answer 1

STM = acoustic, e.g. cat, cab
LTM = semantic, e.g. large, big
Baddeley (1966)

Question 2

What’s an evaluative limitation of Baddeley’s (1966) work?

Answer 2

It used artificial material:

- no personal meaning, may use semantic for STM if meaningful –> generalise?

Question 3

What is the capacity of the STM?

Answer 3

1) Jacob (1887):
- researcher recalls digits until they can’t be recalled correctly.
- = 9.3 numbers, 7.3 digits on average.
2) Miller (1956):
- span of 7+/-2 = improved by chunking

Question 4

What’s an evaluative limitation of Jacob’s (1887) work?

Answer 4

Conducted a long time ago:

• early research lacked control of EVs, e.g. distraction.
• effects validity

Question 5

What’s an evaluative limitation of Miller’s (1956) work?

Answer 5

Cowan (2001) concluded it was about 4 chunks, so lower end of 7+/-2 chunks.

Question 6

What is the duration of the STM?

Answer 6

Petersen and Petersen (1959):

• 24 students given consonant syllables to remember and 3 digit number to count backwards from.
• = 80% after 3s, 3% after 18s
• = 18-30s

Question 7

What’s an evaluative limitation of Petersen + Petersen (1959) work?

Answer 7

Used artificial stimuli:

• syllables don’t reflect real life memories.
• external validity, phone numbers?

Question 8

What’s the duration of the LTM?

Answer 8

Bahrick et al. (1975):

• American participants ages 17-74 face recognition and free recall of high school photos.
• = 40 years after = 70% in photo recognition, free recall less accurate

Question 9

What’s an evaluative positive of Bahrick et al. (1975) work?

Answer 9

External validity:

• real life meaningful memories.
• Shepard (1967) found recall was lower if pictures wer meaningless
• any CVs?

Question 10

What are the 3 types of LTM?

Answer 10

1) Episodic memory
2) Semantic memory
3) Procedural memory

Question 11

What is the episodic memory?

Answer 11

Events from our lives, e.g. breakfast this morning.
- remember WHEN they happened, involve several elements such as people, place, also a conscious effort is needed to recall them

Question 12

What is the semantic memory?

Answer 12

Our knowledge of the world, e.g. taste of an orange.

- not time stamped, less personal –> knowledge based.

Question 13

What is the procedural memory?

Answer 13

Our actions and skills, e.g. riding a bike.

- recall effortless or without awareness, but hard to explain

Question 14

Give 2 evaluative strengths of different types of LTM

Answer 14

1) Supporting evidence for episodic memory:
- HM + Clive Wearing both had difficulty recalling past events; but semantic memory almost unaffected.
- = one damaged, another unaffected.
2) Brain scans show different stores:
- Tulving et al. (1994).
- participants performed various tasks whilst being scanned with a PET scanner.
- semantic in left prefrontal cortex, episodic in right.

Question 15

Give 2 evaluative limitations of different types of LTM

Answer 15

1) Problems with clinical evidence:
- based off case studies about damage done to memory.
- cannot control variables like location of brain damage.
- generalise?
2) Actually only two types of LTM?
- Cohen + Squire (1980)
- episodic and semantic together in one store called ‘declarative memory’ as they are consciously recalled.
- procedural different, and non-declarative
- = what is exact difference?

Question 16

Who made the Multi-Store model of memory?

Answer 16

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Question 17

How does stimuli pass into the sensory register, and what is the;
- Duration
- Capacity
- Coding 
(of the SR)

Answer 17

Passes into SR using our senses.
D - less than 1/2s
Ca - high
Co - depends on sense

Question 18

How does SR pass info on to STM?

Answer 18

By attention

Question 19

What is the:
- Duration
- Capacity
- Coding
(of the STM)

Answer 19

D - 18-30s
Ca - 5-9 items
Co - acoustic

Question 20

How does STM pass info on to LTM?

Answer 20

By maintenance rehearsal.

Question 21

What is the:
- Duration
- Capacity
- Coding
(of the LTM)

Answer 21

D - up to a lifetime
Ca - up to a lifetime
Co - semantic

Question 22

Give evaluative weakness of the MSM

Answer 22

1) Evidence suggesting more than one type of STM:
- Shallice + Warrington (1970)
- KF had amnesia, STM for digits was poor but when listening but better when he read them to himself.
- = one for auditory, one for visual?
2) MSM only explains one type of rehearsal:
- Craik + Watkins *1973) suggest there is;
(i) maintenance = already in MSM
(ii) elaborative = linking info. to existing knowledge
3) Research supporting MSM uses artificial stimuli:
- e.g. digits in Petersen+ Petersen’s (1959) study.
- memories about facts, places, people etc not random letters.
- MSM lacking external validity, lab only?
4) MSM oversimplifies LTM:
- evidence to suggest LTM is not just one store.
- facts of the world (semantic), riding a bike (procedural)

Question 23

Who made the Working Memory Model?

Answer 23

Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

Question 24

What bridges the Central Executive and the LTM?

Answer 24

The Episodic buffer.

Question 25

What does the Central Executive do?

Answer 25

Monitors data and allocates slave systems the relevant tasks; dependent on sense.

Question 26

What comes under the Phonological Loop, and who do they do?

Answer 26

1) Articulatory Control System = allows maintenance rehearsal to keep it in WM 2) Phonological store = words you hear

Question 27

What other slave system is there apart from the Phonological loop, and what does it do?

Answer 27

The Visuo-spatial sketchpad: | = stores visual and/or spatial info, such as how many windows are on a house.

Question 28

Which case study supports the separate STM stores of the WMM?

Answer 28

Shallice + Warrington (1970) - KF had brain damage. - Poor verbal ability but could process verbal info. = phonological loop damaged; others intact. - unique experiences however?

Question 29

Apart from case studies, give 2 evaluative strengths of the WMM

Answer 29

1) Dual task performance studies support the VSS: - Baddeley et al. (1975). - found participants had difficulty performing two visual tasks than doing a visual and verbal task. = both compete for same attention. 2) Support from brain scanning studies: - Braver et al. (1997). - participants did tasks involving the CE while being scanned. - = found prefrontal cortex worked harder as the task harder --> physical location?

Question 30

Give an evaluative criticism of the WMM

Answer 30

Lack of clarity over CE: - doesn't really explain anything. - more than simply just paying attention - separate components?

Question 31

What is the definition of forgetting?

Answer 31

The inability to get access to memories in the LTM even though they're available.

Question 32

What are the two types of interference?

Answer 32

1) Proactive interference: old memories disrupting new ones. 2) Retroactive interference: new memories disrupting old ones. Interference worse when memories are similar.

Question 33

Who did research into the effects of similarity on interference?

Answer 33

McGeoch and McDonald (1931)

Question 34

Describe McGeoch and McDonald's (1931) study

Answer 34

- Participants asked to recall a list of words 100% accurately, they were then given a new list of words. - 6 different lists, e.g. antonyms, synonyms. Found: - Similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall. - Different material increased the mean number of items recalled.

Question 35

Give 2 evaluative strengths of interference as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 35

1) Lab study demonstrates interference in memory: - show both types of interferences are likely causes of forgetting. - labs control EVs --> more valid 2) Research support in real life: - Baddeley + Hitch (1977). - Asked rugby players to recall every rugby team they had played, week by week. - = recall depended on games played in meantime, not how long ago.

Question 36

Give 2 evaluative limitations of interference as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 36

1) Research uses artificial materials: - different from things we remember in everyday life, e.g. someone's face. - lab explanation but not 'every day' forgetting? 2) Time allowed between learning in research: - time for learning words very low. - lab studies reduce experience into short time period. - may not reflect how we learn and remember in real life? - can we generalise from labs to real life?

Question 37

What can a lack of cues cause?

Answer 37

Retrieval failure

Question 38

What is the 'encoding specificity principle' and who came up with it?

Answer 38

(i) Tulving (1983). | (ii) Cues help retrieval if the same cues are present at encoding and at retrieval.

Question 39

What are the two types of cues that can help retrieval?

Answer 39

1) Context-dependent forgetting: external/environmental cue e.g. weather. 2) State-dependent forgetting: internal cue, state of mind e.g. drunk.

Question 40

Who's the key study for context-dependent forgetting?

Answer 40

Godden and Baddeley (1975)

Question 41

What was the procedure for Godden + Baddeley's study?

Answer 41

- The cues were the location of learning and recall; in this case land or underwater. - The context varied where they were asked to learn and recall the word lists.

Question 42

What were the findings of Godden + Baddeley's study?

Answer 42

- If the environmental context of learning and recall did not match, the accuracy was 40% lower than if they did. - When external cues at learning were different from the ones at recall, this led to retrieval failure.

Question 43

Give 2 evaluative strengths of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting

Answer 43

1) Range of evidence supports this explanation: - e.g. Godden + Baddeley's research with deep-sea divers. - Eysenck (2010) - most important/main reason for forgetting in LTM --> increased validity. 2) Context-related cues have everyday applications: - common in every day life, e.g. going upstairs and forgetting what you went upstairs for. - shows = when we have trouble remembering something, we should go and revisit environment in which you first experienced. - also seen is 'context reinstatement' of cognitive interview.

Question 44

Give 2 evaluative limitations of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting

Answer 44

1) Context effects not strong in real life: - Baddeley (1966) says contexts have to be very different to notice a significant effect - e.g. learning in one room, and recalling in a different room would not have a significant effect. - much real-life application? 2) ESP (Tulving) cannot be tested: - leads to tautology. - when a cue produces recall, we assume cue must have been present at learning. - if there's no recall, we assume cue was not encoded.

Question 45

What are the two types of consequences come from leading questions?

Answer 45

1) Response-bias = influences kind of answer given. | 2) Substitution = interference with eyewitness memory; distorting accuracy.

Question 46

Who's the key study for leading questions?

Answer 46

Loftus + Palmer (1974)

Question 47

What was the procedure of Loftus + Palmer's study?

Answer 47

- 45 participants watched clips of car accidents. - Each asked 'how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?' - 5 groups, all had a different verb = contacted-smashed.

Question 48

What were the findings of Loftus + Palmer's study?

Answer 48

- Contacted produced a response of 31.8mph. - Smashed produced a response of 40.5mph = Smashed suggested a faster speed than contacted.

Question 49

What are the two possible consequences of discussing an event after it happened?

Answer 49

1) Memory contamination = mixing of memories with others. | 2) Memory conformity = go along with others for NSI + ISI.

Question 50

Who is the key study for post-event discussion?

Answer 50

Gabbert et al. (2003)

Question 51

What was the procedure of Gabbert et al.'s (2003) study?

Answer 51

- Paired participants watched a videoed crime, but each saw different elements of the video. - Both discussed it, after watching it, then individually recalled.

Question 52

What were the findings of Gabbert et al.'s (2003) study?

Answer 52

- 71% recalled aspects of the event that they did not see, but had from a PED. - Control group; no discussion = no errors.

Question 53

How has research into misleading info had real-life applications?

Answer 53

- Practical use for police officers; consequences of using inaccurate EWT can be very serious. - Loftus says police need to be careful about how to phrase questions; so not to distort memory. - Improves legal system works.

Question 54

Give a limitation of Loftus + Palmer's study?

Answer 54

Used artificial materials: - watching clips of accidents very different from experiencing it. - Yuille + Cutshall (1986) found witnesses of a roberry had high accuracy.

Question 55

Who suggested there may be individual differences in accuracy of EWT, and what do he/she/they mean?

Answer 55

- Anastasi + Rhodes (2006) - Found that older people were less accurate than younger people when giving eyewitness testimony; but all age groups were more accurate when identifying their own age.

Question 56

How does research into EWT lack external validity?

Answer 56

- Foster et al. (1994) - say what you remember as an eyewitness is more important than remembering in real life = b/c the testimony may lead to a successful conviction. - Same not true for studies?

Question 57

Which 2 psychologists say anxiety has a negative effect on memory?

Answer 57

Johnson + Scott (1974)

Question 58

Describe the procedure of Johnson + Scott's study?

Answer 58

- Participants sat in a waiting room, and heard an argument where one person immerged. - Low-anxiety situation = a man comes through with pen + greasy hands. - High-anxiety situation = heated argument, followed by someone holding a paper knife with blood on it.

Question 59

What were the findings of Johnson + Scott's study?

Answer 59

- 49% of participants in low anxiety identified him successfully. - 33% of participants in high anxiety identified him correctly

Question 60

Why was there a lower percentage of recall in the high anxiety situation?

Answer 60

Weapon-focus effect; source of danger and anxiety.

Question 61

Which 2 psychologists say anxiety has a positive effect on the memory?

Answer 61

Yuille + Cutshall (1986)

Question 62

Describe the procedure of Yuille + Cutshall's study?

Answer 62

- Real-life crime, where the thief was shot dead. - 21 witnesses, 13 agreed to participate. - Participants interviewed 4-5 months after incident.

Question 63

What were the findings of Yuille + Cutshall's study?

Answer 63

- Very accurate, little change after 5 months for main aspects. - Participants who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate; = 88% compared to 75% for the least-stressed witnesses.

Question 64

Who came up with the Inverted-U theory?

Answer 64

Yerkes and Dodson (1908)

Question 65

According to the Inverted-U theory, the relationship between performance and arosual/stress is what?

Answer 65

Curvilinear.

Question 66

Give 2 limitations of Johnson + Scott's study

Answer 66

1) May test surprise not anxiety: - may focus on weapon because they are surprised not scared. - Pickel (1998) - used scissors, handgun, wallet and raw chicken: accuracy was poorer for unusualness = effect of anxiety EWT is what exactly? 2) Ethical issues: - creating anxiety purely for research purposes - real-life studies beneficial; psychologist don't have to created traumatic event. - don't challenge findings, just how research is conducted.

Question 67

Give 1 limitation of Yuille + Cutshall's study

Answer 67

1) Field studies lack control of variables: - things may happen in the meantime which researchers cannot control, e.g. discussing event with media. - EVs may be responsible for (in)accuracy.

Question 68

How is the Inverted-U theory too simplistic?

Answer 68

- Anxiety has many elements inc. cognitive, emotional, behavioural and physical. - I-U only assumes poor performance is linked to physiological arousal.

Question 69

Who came up with the different elements of the cognitive interview?

Answer 69

Fisher + Geiselmann (1992)

Question 70

What is the cognitive interview based off?

Answer 70

Psychological insight into how memory works

Question 71

What does 'report everything' mean?

Answer 71

- Include all details of the event, even if they're irrelevant = may trigger other memories.

Question 72

What does 'reinstate the context' mean?

Answer 72

- Return to the crime and imagine the environment, based on context-dependent forgetting.

Question 73

What does 'reverse the order' mean?

Answer 73

- Events recalled in a different chronological order; prevents people using expectations rather than actual events and prevents dishonesty.

Question 74

What does 'change the perspective' mean?

Answer 74

- Recalling from other people's perspectives; prevents the influence of expectations and schema on recall.

Question 75

Give an evaluative strength of the CI?

Answer 75

1) Some elements are useful: - Milne + Bull (2002) found each element was equally valuable. - Combo of 'report everything' and 'reinstate the context' produced the best recall than others individually.

Question 76

How do Kebbel + Wagstaff criticise the CI

Answer 76

- Much more time-consuming than a standard police interview. | - Requires special training; forces can only spare a few hours.

Question 77

How do Kohnken et al. (1999) criticise CI

Answer 77

- Produces an increase in inaccurate info as well as correct info. - 81% increase in correct info; 61% increase in incorrect info. = treat all info cautiously?

Question 78

How might research into CI be unreliable?

Answer 78

- Variations of it are used of CI, enhanced CI, and police forces use their own methods. = conclusions?