Memory

Question 1

Coding

Answer 1

The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.

Question 2

Capacity

Answer 2

The amount of information that can be held in a memory store.

Question 3

Duration

Answer 3

The length of time information can be held in memory.

Question 4

Short term memory (stm)

Answer 4

The limited-capacity memory store. Coding is mainly acoustic (sounds), capacity is between 5 and 9 items on average, duration is between about 18 and 30 seconds.

Question 5

Long term memory (ltm)

Answer 5

The permanent memory store. Coding is mainly semantic (meaning), it has unlimited capacity and can store memories for up to a lifetime.

Question 6

Research on coding

Answer 6

The process of converting information from one form to another is called coding.
Alan Baddeley gave different lists of words to four groups to remember. Group1- words sounded similar. Group2- words sounded different. Group3- words with similar meanings. Group4- words with different meaning. When recall was immediate, words that were similar sounding was worse. After 20 mins recall was worse with similar meaning words.

Question 7

Research on capacity

Answer 7

Jacobs, gave 4 digits if they recalled right he would increase by one each time, the mean span for digits was 9.3 items, the mean span for letters was 7.3.
Miller, 7+-2.

Question 8

Research on duration (stm)

Answer 8

Peterson, tested 24 undergraduate students. They were given 8 trials and on each trial they were given 3 letters, and a 3 digit number which they had to count back from (for 3,6,9,12,15 or 18 seconds). Found that the stm has a short duration unless we repeat rehearsal.

Question 9

Research of duration- ltm

Answer 9

Bahrick, 392 participants from ohio age 17 to 74. Photo recognition from year book or recall names from class with nothing.
If tested within 15 years it was 90% accurate in photo 60% in recall. If tested within 48 years, it was 70% accurate for photo and 30% in recall.

Question 10

Evaluation on coding

Answer 10

Baddeley’s study used artificial stimuli, the words had no personal meaning, so can’t generalise or apply the findings.

Question 11

Evaluation on capacity

Answer 11

Jacobs study lacks validity, it was done a long time ago and lacks adequate control. Could be distracted whilst recalling, confounding variables that were not controlled.
However since then more studies have confirmed his research, supporting his validity

Question 12

Evaluation on duration

Answer 12

Meaningless stimuli in stm study, remembering letters doesn’t reflect real life, lacks external validity. But we do remember numbers.
Higher external validity in ltm, real life, but confounding variables aren’t controlled, they may have looked through their year books throughout the years.

Question 13

The multi store model of memory

Answer 13

See picture. It described how information is transferred from one store to another, how it os remembered and forgotten.

Question 14

Sensory register

Answer 14

The memory stored for each of our senses. Coding in the iconic (vision) sensory register is visual and in the echoic (hearing) sensory register is acoustic. The capacity of sensory registers is huge and information lasts for a very short time.

Question 15

Maintenance rehearsal

Answer 15

When we repeat material to ourselves over and over again. If we rehearse it long enough it passes into long term memory.

Question 16

The multi store model of memory evaluation

Answer 16

There’s more than one type of stm, KF suffered from amnesia, recall was very poor when they read out the digits but much better when he was able to read the digits himself. One for listening and one for visual.

Question 17

Types of long term memory

Answer 17

Episodic
Semantic
Procedural

Question 18

Episodic memory

Answer 18

Personal events. It includes memories of when the event occurred, people, objects, places and behaviours involved. They have to be retrieved consciously and with effort.

Question 19

Semantic memory

Answer 19

Knowledge of the world. This includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean. Need to be recalled deliberately.

Question 20

Procedural memory

Answer 20

Knowledge of how to do things. This includes memories of learned skills. No deliberate or conscious effort.

Question 21

Evaluation of types of long term memory

Answer 21

Clive wearing, had amnesia and couldn’t remember events in the past but could understand words and remember how to play the piano and read music.
Brain scans support this.

Question 22

The working memory model

Answer 22

A representation of stm. It suggests that stm is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub units coordinated by a central decision making system.

Question 23

Central executive

Answer 23

It co ordinates the activities of the three subsystems in memory. It also allocates processing resources to those activities.

Question 24

Phonological loop

Answer 24

The component of the working memory model that processes information in terms of sound. This includes both written and spoken material. Its divided into the phonological store and the articulatory process.

Question 25

Visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 25

The component of the working memory model that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called our inner eye.

Question 26

Episodic buffer

Answer 26

The component of the working memory model that brings together material from the other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands. It also provides a bridge between working memory and long term memory.

Question 27

Evaluation of the working memory model

Answer 27

Lack of clarity over the central executive, its the most important part but the least understood.
Explains why you can’t use your phone and drive, two tasks with the same components so can’t focus on both.

Question 28

Explanations of forgetting- interference

Answer 28

Forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be forgotten or distorted.

Question 29

Two types of interference

Answer 29

Proactive

Retroactive

Question 30

Proactive interference

Answer 30

Occurs when old memories disrupt newer ones. Happens more with similar memories. Eg. The teacher has learnt so many names in the past she can’t remember the new ones.

Question 31

Retroactive interference

Answer 31

Occurs when newer memories disrupt older memories. Greater if memories are similar. Eg. A teacher has learnt so many new names she cant remember the old.

Question 32

Effects of similarity, McGeoch and McDonald

Answer 32

Learnt 1 list then separated into 6 groups with different lists.
Group 1, words with the same meanings.
Group 2, words with opposite meanings.
Group 3, unrelated words.
Group 4, nonsense syllables.
Group 5, three digit numbers.
Group 6, no new list.
Found that the most similar lists produced worst recall.

Question 33

Evaluation of interference

Answer 33

Artificial materials, not same as peoples faces, birthdays.

Loads of lab studies, control irrelevant influences so makes interference a valid explanation for some forgetting.

Question 34

Explanation for forgetting, retrieval failure

Answer 34

It occurs when we dont have the necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible until a suitable cue is provided.

Question 35

Cue

Answer 35

Can be external, context dependent forgetting (environment) or internal state dependent forgetting (mood or degree of drunkenness).

Question 36

Context dependent forgetting, Godden and Baddeley

Answer 36

Divers learnt a list of words.
Four conditions: learned on land, recall on land. Learned on land recalled in sea. Learned in sea, recalled in sea. Learned in sea, recalled on land.
Found that accurate recall was 40% lower in the non matching conditions.

Question 37

State dependent forgetting, Carter and Cassaday

Answer 37

Similar but gave anti histamine drugs which made them slightly drowsy, 4 different conditions. Found that mismatched internal states made performance significantly worse.

Question 38

Evaluation of retrieval failure

Answer 38

Baddeley, replicated water experiment but used recognition of words from their list instead, there was no difference in the 4 conditions.
Suggests why you forget something walking down the stairs then remember when you walk back upstairs.

Question 39

Eyewitness testimony

Answer 39

The ability of people to remember the details of events which they themselves have observed. Accuracy can be affected by factors such as misleading information, leading questions and anxiety.

Question 40

Misleading information

Answer 40

Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event. Such as leading questions, post event discussion between co witnesses or other people.

Question 41

Leading questions

Answer 41

It suggests a certain answer, “was the knife in the left hand” this suggests the answer is left hand.

Question 42

Post-event discussion

Answer 42

Occurs when there is more than one witness. They discuss with each other. This may influence the accuracy of each witness’s recall of the event.

Question 43

Evaluation of misleading information

Answer 43

Loftus and Palmers study of watching car crash videos was artificial. Its very different to watching a real life car crash, less stress.
Demand characteristics, want to be helpful so lie to help.

Question 44

EWT- anxiety

Answer 44

Worried thoughts and is a normal reaction to stressful situations, but can affect accuracy and detail.

Question 45

Anxiety has a negative effect on recall

Answer 45

Anxiety creates physiological arousal in the body which prevents us paying attention to important cues so recall is worse.

Question 46

Anxiety- negative effect on recall- Johnson and Scott

Answer 46

Hear a heated argument next door, one condition is the man comes out with a pen and greasy hands (low anxiety) and one comes out after smashing glass with a paper knife covered in blood. (high anxiety).
Findings- they have to identify the man- in low anxiety 49% recognised him in high anxiety 33% recognised him. This supports tunnel theory, where they focus on the weapon.

Question 47

Anxiety has a positive effect on recall

Answer 47

Fight or flight response is triggered, which increases alertness. Yuille and Cutshaw- real life shooting in a gun shop, 21 witnesses 13 agreed to take part. Done 4/5 months after.
Findings- Little change in the amount or accuracy after 5 months. Those who reported highest levels of stress were most accurate.

Question 48

EWT- anxiety evaluation

Answer 48

Ethical issues, creating anxiety in people may cause psychological harm.

Question 49

The cognitive interview

Answer 49

4 main techniques. Fisher and Geiselman.

1. report everything.
2. return to original crime scene in mind.
3. reverse the order.
4. change perspective.

Question 50

The cognitive interview evaluation

Answer 50

Its more time consuming than a standard police interview. CI also needs special training.