Memory Flashcards
1
Q
What does MSM stand for?
A
Multi store memory model
2
Q
What does coding mean?
A
The form in which information is stored
3
Q
What does capacity mean?
A
How much information can be stored
4
Q
What is the duration?
A
How long information can be stored for
5
Q
What are the 5 sensory memory stores?
A
Haptic store (touch) Olafactory store (smell) Iconic store (sight) Echoic store (hearing) Gustatory store (taste)
6
Q
What is ecological validity?
A
The ability to generalise research effect beyond the setting in which it is demonstrated
7
Q
Sensory memory capacity
A
Large 42%
8
Q
Sensory memory experiment scholar
A
Sperling
9
Q
Sensory memory duration + scholar
A
200-500 ms.
Walsh/Thompson
10
Q
Sensory memory coding + scholar
A
1 out of 5 senses.
Crowder
11
Q
What is the STM experiment?
A
Jacobs digit span
12
Q
What are the capacity results for STM? (Miller and Cowan)
A
7 +/- 2 (M) 4 chunks (C)
13
Q
What is the duration for STM? (+scholar)
A
20 seconds without rehearsal
Peterson + Peterson Trigram
14
Q
What is the coding for STM?
A
Mostly acoustic
15
Q
What are some criticisms of the trigram experiment?
A
- There are exceptions
- Artificial (lacks mundane realism)
- Could be displaced rather than decayed
16
Q
What are the 3 types of coding?
A
Visual
Acoustic
Semantic
17
Q
LTM Capacity
A
Unable to define, large capacity
18
Q
LTM duration scholar
A
Bahrick et al (1975)
Unlimited/At least 48 years
19
Q
What is the procedure for Jacobs digit span experiment?
A
Participants are presented with increasingly longer lists of digits/letters, in which they must then recall in the correct order.
20
Q
What are 2 criticisms of Jacobs digit span?
A
- Artificial stimuli
- Lacks mundane realism
21
Q
What is the procedure for Peterson & Peterson Trigram experiment?
A
The researcher will say 3 letters and 3 numbers (e.g ABC123) and the participant has to count back in 3’s for a duration of time until they are told to stop. They must then recall the 3 letters. This duration of time increases each time.
22
Q
What technique did Bahrick use to test long term memory? (LTM)
A
Yearbook
23
Q
What is a criticism Bahrick’s experiment? (LTM)
A
There is a lack of control over variables. E.g, the participant might have seen the yearbook recently, they might still be in contact etc.
24
Q
LTM Coding
A
Mainly semantic
25
What is the procedure for Glanzer and Cunitz serial position experiment?
Presented two groups with the same list of words. One group recalled the words immediately whilst the other group waited 30 seconds. During this time, group 2 counted backwards in 3s to prevent rehearsal and eliminate the recency effect.
26
What did Glanzer and Cunitz conclude from their experiment? (serial position experiment)
The earliest words were put into the long term memory because of the primacy effect the participant can rehearse the words. The words from the end of the lists went into the short term memory due to the recency effect. This means that there are separate stores for LTM and STM.
27
Who came up with the working memory model?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
28
What does the WMM imply about short term memory?
It is more complex than the MSM suggests
29
What is the working memory model?
A system of short term memory, it is more than just storage it is active and able to process cognitive activities
30
What are the main parts of the working memory model?
```
Central executive
Phonological loop
Primary acoustic store
Articulatory process
Visual spatial sketchpad
Visual cache
Inner scribe
Episodic buffer
```
31
What does the central executive do?
It allocates tasks - it has limited capacity
32
What does the primary acoustic store do?
Holds the words that are heard
33
What does the articulatory process do?
It is sub vocal repetition that acts as an inner voice
34
What does the visual cache do?
Processes visual information about shape (form) and colour
35
What does the inner scribe do?
It processes visual information and deals with spatial awareness
36
What does the episodic buffer do?
Processes information from PL and VSS
37
What would happen if the same store was being used for two concurrent tasks?
There would be interference and tasks are found to require more cognitive demand and not be completed successfully
38
What would happen if different stores were being for two concurrent tasks?
There would be no interference and tasks can be completed with success
39
What is an example of dual task processing for the phonological loop?
Recall word list with articulatory suppression
40
What is an example of dual task processing for the visual spatial sketchpad?
American football whilst driving (Baddeley)
41
What are 4 characteristics of the central executive?
- Controls 3 slave systems
- Decides when/where attention is needed
- Limited capacity
- Switches attention between different inputs
42
Why did Baddeley add the episodic buffer to the WMM?
Another store with more capacity was required
43
What are 4 criticisms of laboratory experiments?
- Lack ecological validity
- Participants know they are being studied and this could affect behaviour
- Less natural
- Demand characteristics
44
What is episodic memory?
Personal memories of events. This kind of memory includes contextual detail plus emotional tone
45
Is episodic memory explicit or implicit?
Explicit - knowing that
46
What are 3 elements of episodic memory?
Specific detail, context and emotion
47
What is procedural memory?
Memory of how to do something e.g, riding a bike. These memories are automatically as a result of repeated practice
48
Is procedural memory implicit or explicit?
Implicit - knowing how
49
What are 2 features of procedural memory?
- Acquired through repetition and practice
| - Attention to procedure disrupts automatic performance
50
What is semantic memory?
Shared memories for facts and knowledge. These memories may be concrete (ice is made from water) or abstract (mathematical knowledge)
51
What are 2 features of semantic memory?
- Shared rather than personal
| - Starts off episodic and transitions into semantic when memory loses its association
52
3 points of evaluation for LTM
- Brain scans
- Distinguishing implicit and explicit (Case of HM)
- Distinguishing episodic and semantic
53
What did Endel Tulving do? (Episodic)
- Injected gold, used neuro imaging
- Found different blood flow patterns between semantic and episodic
- Suggests separate forms of LTM
54
What is a criticism of Tulving's findings? (Episodic)
Only 3/6 participants showed differences and these were associates of Tulving
55
What are the 3 main areas of the brain used for episodic memory?
Initial coding - prefrontal cortex
Strengthening - neocortex
Connected by hippocampus
56
What did Kroenig do? (Semantic)
Crutter: rule based trial and similarity based trial
57
What did Kroenig find? (Semantic)
Alzheimers patients found it harder to do the rule based trial due to increased cognitive demand
58
What is the coding for semantic memory?
Frontal and temporal lobes
59
What did Finke do? (Procedural)
- Professional cellist had severe amnesia
He had the ability to read and play music however he could not form new semantic or episodic memories. This suggests separate stores
60
What is meant by procedural memory being non declarative?
It is easy to do but difficult to put into words (tieing shoe laces)
61
What is significant of procedural memory?
It does not require the hippocampus
62
What areas of the brain are used for procedural memory?
Neocortex: primary motor cortex, cerebellum and prefrontal cortex
63
What is a key problem about using evidence from brain damaged patients?
It is difficult to be certain of the exact parts of the brain that have been affected until a patient has died. Damage to a particular part of the brain does not always mean that area is responsible for a particular behaviour
64
What is the interference theory? (explanations for forgetting)
When information in LTM is disrupted by other (often similar) information
65
What is meant by the retroactive effect? Give an example
When new memories have a backwards effect on trying to retrieve older traces.
e.g) Schmidt (2000) street names where you grew up
66
What was the Postman experiment? (Forgetting)
2 groups - control, experimental.
Told to learn list of word pairs
Experimental group were given a 2nd list, control only had 1
67
What were the findings and conclusions of postman experiment? (Forgetting)
F: Control group's recall was more accurate for list 1
C: Proves RI because new memories (list 2) interfered with the experimental groups ability to recall list 1 (old memories)
68
What are 3 limitations of the interference theory?
- Similar conditions are required
- Lab based artificial research to support
- Some people are less affected by proactive interference than others (working memory)
69
What are 2 strengths of the interference theory?
- Real world applications
| - Research findings
70
What are the 2 explanations for forgetting?
- Interference
| - Cue dependent retrieval failure
71
What is a cue?
A trigger to help retrieve a memory
72
When does retrieval failure occur?
When there is an absence of cues
73
What is context dependent forgetting?
Cues occur within external environment
74
What is state dependent forgetting?
Cues occur within internal environment (drunk or sober)
75
What is eye witness testimony?
Evidence provided in court by a person who has witnessed a crime, with a view to identifying the perpetrator of the crime
76
What is a leading question?
A question (through its form or content) suggests to the witness what answer is desired or leads the witness to the desired answer
77
What is inattention blindness?
The failure to perceive an unexpected visual object
78
What are 3 problems with EWT?
- Monkey business illusion (Simons and Chabris, 1999, invisible gorilla)
- Inattentional blindness
- Expectations and schema affect the encoding and retrieval of memory
79
Summarise Bartlett 1932 experiment (EWT)
- Read story to participants
| - Asked them to reproduce straight away and after a period of time
80
What did Bartlett 1932 find and conclude from his research? (EWT)
- Main idea of story was remembered
- They changed unfamiliar elements of the story to make sense for them
Bartlett concluded that memory are not copies of experience but similar reconstructions
81
What is misleading information?
Supplying information that may lead a witness' memory for a crime to be altered
82
What did US statistics find about EWT?
200 convictions that were based on EWT, 75% were found innocent by DNA tests
83
What factors could affect the accuracy of EWT?
- Expectations/schema
- Pro/retroactive interference
- Leading/misleading questions
- Anxiety
- Post event discussion
84
What was did Loftus and Palmer investigate for EWT?
Whether the language used in eyewitness testimony can alter memory
85
What was the Loftus and Palmer procedure for the EWT experiment?
- Showed video of a car crash
| - Asked participants how fast they think the car was going when it smashed/collided/bumped/hit/contacted the other car
86
What did Loftus and Palmer find for the EWT experiment?
- Estimated speed was affected by the verb used
| - Participants recalled a faster speed for the more aggressive verbs (Smashed = 40.8mph, Contacted = 31.8 mph)
87
What did Loftus and Palmer conclude for the EWT experiment?
EWT might be biased by the way questions are asked
88
What are the 2 possible explanations for Loftus and Palmers EWT conclusion?
Substitution explanation
| Response bias explanation
89
What is the substitution explanation?
The wording of the questions actually change an individuals memory of the event
90
What is the response bias explanation?
The wording doesn't change the memory it just influences how they choose to answer
91
What are some criticisms of Loftus and Palmer's EWT experiment?
- Real life vs lab experience
- Demand characteristics
- Ethical issues (traumatic, deceit)
- Individual differences (older people have more impaired memory)
92
What is post event discussion?
A conversation between co-witnesses (or an interviewer and an eye witness) after a crime has taken place which may contaminate a witness' memory of an event
93
What was the Gabbert (2003) experiment about post event discussion?
- 2 groups watched video of same event
| - Pairs in one condition were encouraged to discuss before asked to recall
94
What did Gabbert (2003) find and conclude for his experiment about post event discussion?
- 71% of witnesses went on to mistakenly recall items (acquired during discussion)
- 60% said girl was guilty even though they did not see her commit the crime
He concluded that discussion affects the accuracy of EWT
95
What is a weakness of Gabbert's post event discussion experiment?
It might not be PED, it could be poor memory or social conformity
96
What is the Yerkes Dobson effect?
The observation that arousal (anxiety) has a negative effect on memory recall when it is very low or high but moderate levels are actually beneficial due to increased attention and alertness
97
What is the weapon focus effect?
The view that a weapon distracts attention from other features in a crime and therefore reduces accuracy of identification
98
Summarise the procedure for Johnson and Scott's (1976) weapon focus effect study
- Participants in waiting room , hear an argument in next room
- Man came through with either a pen covered in grease (low anxiety condition) or a knife covered in blood (high anxiety, weapon focus)
- Participants later asked to identify the man
99
What did Johnson and Scott (1976) find and conclude for the weapon focus effect study?
- 49% identified pen man correctly
- 33% for knife man
- Loftus found eye movement was drawn to weapon
Concluded that anxiety can have a negative effect in EWT
100
What is a cognitive interview?
A police technique for interviewing witnesses to a crime, which encourages them to recreate the original context of the time in order to increase the accessibility of stored information
101
What do cognitive interviews aim to do?
- Remember how they felt/reconstruct scene (context)
- Avoid using existing schemas
- Avoid using leading questions
102
What are 3 key features of a STANDARD police interview?
- Revolves around interviewer
- Witnesses are discouraged from adding extra information
- Leading questions
103
What are some of the problems of standard police interviews?
- Information could be withheld
| - Answers may be abbreviated
104
What 2 principles of memory is the cognitive interview based on?
1. Organisation of memory
| 2. Context of memory
105
What are the 4 elements of a cognitive interview?
1. Mental reinstatement of original context
2. Report everything
3. Change order
4. Change perspective
106
What are the key strengths of the cognitive interview?
- Proved to be more accurate (Geiselman, 1985)
- Advantageous for older participants
- Can be modified for younger and vulnerable witnesses
107
What are some of the weaknesses of the cognitive interview?
- Police personnel have to be specially trained, this is expensive and time consuming
- 61% increase in incorrect information (Kohnken, 1999)
- Some aspects are used more than others, it is difficult to assess its effectiveness
