MEMORY Flashcards

1
Q

What is capacity?

A

A measure of how much can be held in memory.

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2
Q

What is the capacity of STM?

A

Miller (1956) concluded about 7 items sometimes less and sometimes (7+_2).

Jacobs (1887) 9.3 seconds for digits and 7.3 for letters. He suggest because there are only nine digits but 26 letters.

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3
Q

What is the evaluation of capacity of STM?

A

Cowan (2001) reviewed that STM is likely to be limited to 5 chunks which is not as extensive as once thought.

Jacobs found that recall increased steadily with age, eight year olds could recall on average 6.6 digits, while 19 year olds recalled 8.6 digits.

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4
Q

What is duration?

A

A measure a how long a memory lasts before it’s no longer available.

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5
Q

What is the duration of STM?

A

18 seconds.

Peterson and Peterson - used constant syllables and doubt that participants recalled correctly 90% of the time after 3 seconds, 20% after 9 seconds and only 2% correct after 18 seconds.

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6
Q

What is the evaluation for duration of STM?

A

Trying to memorise consonant syllables does not truly reflect most everyday memory activities.

Reitman (1974) used auditory tones instead of numbers so that displacement doesn’t occur (sounds don’t interfere with verbal rehearsal) and STM’s duration was longer.

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7
Q

What is the duration of LTM

A

2 minutes to 100 years.

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8
Q

What is coding?

A

The way information is changed so that it can be stored in memory such as visual codes (picture), acoustic codes (sounds), semantic codes (the meaning of the experience).

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9
Q

What did Allan Baddeley (1966a and 1996b) find out about acoustic and semantic coding?

A

STM is largely encoded acoustically (through sounds) and LTM is largely encoded semantically (through meaning).

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10
Q

What is the evaluation for coding?

A

Baddeley tested LTM after just 20 minutes- which really isn’t LTM.

STM appears to rely on acoustic coding for storing information but some experiment shows visual coding. Bandimote (1992) found that participants used visual coding in STM is a visual task was given.

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11
Q

Describe what happens to information based on the multi-store model of memory?

A
  1. Environmental stimuli enters the sensory model.
  2. If a person pays attention to sensory store then the data is transferred to STM.
  3. Information disappears from STM when new information enters displacing the original information.
  4. Repetition keeps information in STM but eventually such repetition creates a long term memory.
  5. The process of getting information from LTM involves the information passing back through STM.
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12
Q

What are the strengths of the MSM.

A

Studies using brain scanning techniques have also demonstrated that there is a difference between LTM and STM. (STM to prefrontal cortex, LTM to hippocampus.)

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13
Q

What are the limitations of the MSM?

A

MSM is too simple, STM and LTM are not unitary stores.

LTM involves elaborative rather than just maintenance rehearsal.

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14
Q

What are the 4 parts of the working memory model?

A

The central executive.
The Phonological loop.
Visio-spatial sketchpad.
Episodic buffer.

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15
Q

What does the Central Executive act as?

A

Monitors and coordinates all other mental functions in WM.

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16
Q

What is the role of the phonological loop?

A

Preserves order of auditory information.

  • Phonological store holds the words heard. Like an inner ear.
  • An articulatory process which is used for words that are heard or seen. These words are silently repeated (looped) like an inner voice.
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17
Q

What is the role of a visuo-spatial sketchpad?

A

When you have to plan a visual task. Visual information is what things look like and Spatial information is the physical relationship between things.

It’s split into two:
- A visual cache which stores information about visual items.

  • An inner scribe which stores the arrangement of objects into the visual field.
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18
Q

What’s an episodic buffer do?

A

Records events (episodes) as they happen links to LTM.

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19
Q

What are the strengths of the working memory model?

A

Shallice and Warrington (1979) studies a man who’s short-term forgetting of auditory information was much more than that of visual stimuli. Thus his brain damage was restricted to the phonological loop.

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20
Q

What are the limitations of the working memory model?

A

A man who had his central executive was suggested intact through tests requiring reasoning couldn’t pick where to eat for hours.

The central executive is unsatisfactory because it fails to explain anything and is probably more complex than currently represented.

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21
Q

What are the three types of LTM?

A

Episodic memory.
Procedural Memory.
Semantic Memory.

22
Q

What is episodic memory?

A

Personal memories of events such as what you did yesterday.

23
Q

What is procedural memory?

A

Memory for how to do things such as riding a bike. Automatic from practice and repetition.

24
Q

What is semantic memory?

A

Shared memories for facts and knowledge such as mathematical skills.

25
Q

What is the evaluation for types of long-term memory?

A

Different types of LTM have different areas of the brain active when they are active. eg, semantic memory relies on temporal lobe whereas procedural is associated with the cerebellum.

26
Q

What is interference?

A

An explanation for forgetting in terms of one memory disrupting the ability to recall another.

27
Q

What is proactive interference?

A

Old interferes with new.

28
Q

What study is Muller (1900) involved in regarding retroactive interference ?

A

He gave his participants a list of nonsense syllables to learn from and he found that recall was less good if there was an intervening task.

29
Q

What is retroactive interference?

A

New interferes with old.

30
Q

What did Underwood find out from his study about proactive interference?

A

The more lists learned the lower percentages of recall.

31
Q

What is the evaluation of Explanations for forgetting: interference?

A

Artificial research: words and nonsense syllables are low motivation. Doesn’t represent everyday memory.

Cereal found that there was spontaneous recovery of recognition after interference.

32
Q

What is retrieval failure?

A

An explanation of forgetting due to the absence of cues.

33
Q

What are cues?

A

Things that serve as reminder.

34
Q

What is the encoding specificity principle?

A

Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) proposed that memory is more effective if cues were made. They demonstrated that free had a 40% chance of recall while cued had 60% chance of recall.

35
Q

When did Tulving and Thompson (1973) propose that memory is most effective?

A

If the information that was present at encoding is also available at the time of retrieval.

36
Q

What is context-dependant forgetting according to researchers?

A

Abernathy proposed that recall is best with same instructor in the room.

Baddeley and Godden proposed that recall was best when initial context (land or water) matched recalled environment.

37
Q

What is state-dependant forgetting according to researchers?

A

Godwin proposed that the recall was best when initial state (drunk or sober) was matched at recall.

38
Q

What is the strength of explanations for forgetting: retrieval failure?

A

High validity- Wealth of supporting research evidence both in lab and natural environments.

39
Q

What is the limitation of explanations of forgetting: retrieval failure?

A

Cues don’t always work nor useful when learning meaningful material.

40
Q

What is misleading information?

A

Supplying information that may lead a witness’ memory for a crime to be altered.

41
Q

What are two examples of misleading information?

A

Leading questions - suggests the desired answer

Post-event discussion - a conversation between two co-witnesses may contaminate a witness’ memory of the event.

42
Q

What is the research for leading questions?

A

Loftus and Palmer asked a critical question contained hit, smashed, collided, bumped or contacted.
They proposed that the verb altered the memory of the event.

43
Q

What are the types of post-event discussion?

A

Conformity effect- participants recollect influenced by discussion with others (Gabbert)

Repeat interviewing- comments from interviewer become incorporated into the events (LeRooy)

44
Q

What is the evaluation for misleading information?

A

Real World Applications. The criminal justice system relies on eyewitness identification for investigation. Psychological research has been used to warn the justice system of problems.

45
Q

How does anxiety affect accuracy of eye-witness testimony?

A

Johnson and Scott proposed that weapon focus effect reduces accuracy of face identification.

Stress has a negative effect on accuracy.

46
Q

What is the alternative argument for anxiety reducing accuracy of eye-witness testimony?

A

The evolutionary argument- It is adaptive to remember stress inducing events so that you could identify similar situations and recall how to respond.

47
Q

What is the evaluation for anxiety reducing accuracy of eye-witness testimony?

A

Pickel proposed that weapon focus effect was due to surprise not anxiety.

Deffenbacher et al proposed that real life studies show even less accuracy than lab studies so lab findings actually underestimate the effects of anxiety.

48
Q

Why was the cognitive interview introduced?

A

To increase the accessibility of stored information.

49
Q

What were the four components of the cognitive interview?

A
  1. Mental reinstatement of original context- physical and psychological cues recall.
  2. Report everything - even seemingly insignificant details, may cue recall.
  3. Change order- reduces effects of schema.
  4. Change perspective- disrupts schema.
50
Q

What are the strengths of the cognitive interview?

A

With a meta-analysis of 53 studies found an increase of 34% in the amount of correct information generated in the CI compared with standard interviewing techniques.

51
Q

What is the limitation of the cognitive interview?

A

Quality vs Quantity - As the quantity is enhanced it is not guaranteed that the quality will.

köhnken (1999) found an 81% increase of correct information but also a 61% increase of incorrect information.