Memory Flashcards
3 processes of memory
Encoding storage retrieval
What does encoding mean
Changing information so that it can be stored in the brain
Different methods of encoding
Visual, acoustic, semantic,tactile,olfactory
Long term memory
Large capacity long duration permanent
Short term memory
Short duration small capacity temporary
Storage
Information is kept in your brain for a period of time
Retrieval
The process of being able to access information that has been stored in my brain and being able to use it
Recognition
Seeing someone and being able to identify who they are different from trying to remember hat they look like
Cues recall
A clue to help you remember
Free recall
Retrieval without cues
One strength of baddaley experiment
Well controlled experiment enhances the validity of the research - conducted in a lab and monitored so that only Iv affects DV eg: controlled poor hearing. Level of control means that we can be more confident that the IV is affecting the DV.
One weakness of Baddeky experiment
Baddeley overlooked cases where encoding in STM was visual rather than acoustic. He used artificial stimuli so if a different stimuli was used stm may not always be acoustic
AND
Baddeley may not have been testing LTM at all because he only waited 20mins which they might not remember in a month . Therefore he may not have been testing what he claimed to be testing at all
Name 3 types of LTM
Episodic, semantic and procedural
Episodic
Personal events, that have to be retrieved conscious,y and with effort
Procedural
Knowledge of how to do things - recalled usually without concious or deliberate effort
Semantic
What words and concepts mean. Recall is deliberate and knowledge is often shared
What is explicit declarative
Conscious recall
Implicit non declarative
Unconscious recall
Infections may affect some parts of the brain so different types of memories may be affected..
Clive Wearing lost all memory of his past but not hot to play the piano. This is a real life example suggesting that procedural memories are not affected by infections.
One strength of dividing LTM into separate parts is that research has proven they have different locations.
Episodic is associated with the right prefrontal area, semantic with the left prefrontal area and procedural with the motor area.
One weakness is that there isn’t a clear difference between episodic and semantic memories.
Amnesia patients retain some of their semantic memories such as language . Most memories are a fusion of episodic and semantic, therefore the idea of three store# may just be too oversimplified to be true .
What does MSM stand for and who made it
Multi store model of memory and was made by Atkinson and Shriffin
What is MSM
Representation of how memory works in terms of three stores: sensory register, short term memory and long term memory
Sensory register
Memory store for each of our senses such as iconic, echoing, haptic, gustatory and olfactory
Revise MSM model on page 29
Good
One strength of MSM is that it’s supported by research
Baddeley found that we mix up words that sound similar in STM but we mix up words that have similar meanings in LTM. This shows that coding in stm is acoustic and in LTM is semantic . This supports MSM view that LTM and STM are two different stores are separate and independent
One limitation is that there is more than one type of stm
MSM suggests that 1 STM and 1 LTM however they are divided into visual, acoustic , episodic , semantic, procedural . This shows memory is far more complex than the model shows
A limitation of many of the research studies is that they used artificial materials
The studies often required recall of word lists or nonsense syllables such as PRQ or RDS. The results would not illustrate all the different ways we use memory instead of just focused on verbal learning
Aim of baddeley
Whether there is a difference between encoding in LTM and STM
Method of baddeley study
4 groups listened to 20 word lists ; 2 groups similar words 2 dissimilar words. 1 of each recalled after 20 seconds.
Results of Baddelys study
Acoustically similar words were harder to remember in STM and semanticlyy similar words were easier to remember in LTM
Conclusion Baddeley
Results suggest stm is acoustic and LTM is semantic
Aim of Murdock study(primacy and decency effects)
If the memory of words was affected by the number of words needed to remember 1962
Method Murdock
From 4,000 most common words he randomly selected and tested 103 American participants
Listened to 20 word lists of varied lengths then asked to recall after each list
Results Murdock
No matter what the length of the list participants had higher recall for the first few words(primacy) and the highest recall for last few words (recency
Conclusion Murdock
The rescuers demonstrates a serial position effect which supports the MSM model because there first few words are remembered and rehearsed the longest hence in LTM. The most recent are in STM
One strength of Murdock study is that it was conducted in a well controlled environment therefore we can trust the results
The controlled environment means that any EVs are controlled so we can be sure that there IV(position of word)is affecting the DV (probability of recall)eg controlled the speed of saying the words.
One weakness of Murdock study is that it was an artificial task
This means it only tells us about one small aspect of memory - the ability of memorising words and not real life application. This means it can’t be applied for all types of memory.
One strength of Murdock study is there is research that supports it
People with amnesia can’t store LTM hence do not show a primacy effect btu shows a recency effect. Confirms primacy effect is related to LTM.
Bartlett’s war of ghosts study aim
To investigate how memory is reconstructed over a period of time by using a story from a different culture.
Bartlett’s War of ghosts study method
Participants in America were shown a story from a different culture and asked to read it and recall after 15 mins then a month then a year. None of the participants knew the aim of the study.
Bartlett’s war of ghosts results
Participants remembered different parts of the study and interpreted the story based on their cultural or social expectations.
Key observations were
Many omissions
Different words such as canoe to boat and hunt to fish
Each recall was slightly different
Bartlett’s war of ghosts conclusion
All transformations were aimed to make the strong easier to remember. This suggests that we R.E.M. we the overall meaning and fragments of the story but do not remember the details. When recalling it we remember the overall meaning and reconstruct the details based of our own social and cultural expectations.
One weakness of the Bartlett’s war of ghosts study is that it lacks control spas the study was conducted casually with no set standards
Participants were not given any instructions about the aims. Another study found that recall was more accurate when participating knew that accuracy was vital. This suggests recall is more accurate than Bartlett says
One weakness off Bartlett’s study was that the results may have been biased as his
Own beliefs could have affected the way he interpreted the data.
This means his results may not be valid
Another weakness of Bartlett’s study is that the story was unusual
We generally use our memory for everyday activities so cultural expectations won’t affect memory Hence doesn’t test everyday memory or usual brain activity
What is the theory of reconstructive memory ?
It described how memory is an active process. It states that memory is inaccurate, that we remember fragments and piece them together differently during each recall. It shows that our reconstruction of events are based on our social or cultural expectations and that we remember the meaning of an even then put effort into the details.
One weakness of reconstructive memory is that it is wrong to suggest that all memories are inaccurate or distorted by social expectations…
For example in Bartlett’s study many participants remembered the phrase “something black came out of his mouth” likely because it is quite a distinctive phrase. Many study’s have shown that memory is quite accurate. Therefore this shows that memory is not always affected by social expectations and can be quite accurate.
One strength of Bartlett’s study is that he did not use an artificial task rather used a task which reflects everyday use of memory
In studies before Bartlett’s nonsensical syllables were used which does not explore the full capacity of memory nor the everyday, real life application of it. Therefore the study is relevant to everyday life.
One strength of Bartlett’s study is that it has real world application for example
It explains why there are problems with eyewitness testimony and that it is not completely reliable. This has caused laws to be put in place which now decree that a suspect can not be convicted on just eyewitness testimony unless there are many eye witnesses. This shows that study has had real impact on the world.
What is interference?
When two memories compete with each other causing the memory to be distorted or mixed.
The study for interference is…?
McDonald and McGeoch
McDonald and McGeoch’s study aim?
To investigate whether a second activity can effect the recall from the first activity.
McDonald and McGeoch’s study method?
12 participants learned a list of 10 words with a 100% accuracy and were then shown a second list. The second list had varied conditions for example synonyms, antonyms, unrelated, nonsensical syllable and three letter digits. There was also a control group with no second list.
McDonald and McGeoch’s study results
The highest accuracy was the control group, then the numbers, then the nonsensical syllables, then the unrated words then the antonyms then the synonyms.
McDonald and McGeoch’s study conclusion
This shows the more different the two activities the less interference.
One strength of McDonald and McGeoch’s study is that the researchers used a number of techniques to ensure their study of memory was unbiased.
One of the techniques used was counterbalancing. If all participants had been shown the first list first then it may skew the results due to fatigue. Therefore counterbalancing controlled the order effects ensuring that fatigue did not skew the results.
One weakness of McDonald and McGeoch’s study is that it was an artificial task
This means it doesn’t reflect our everyday use of memory as it only speaks about one aspect of memory. Therefore the theory of interference is limited to certain conditions.
One weakness of McDonald and McGeoch’s study is that interference is not really an explanation for forgetting.
It is possible that interference effects are temporary and that the information is not really forgotten. If participants are given a cured recall test they appear to remember items that were previously forgotten (
Tulving and Pskota 1971) this suggests that information is stored in the memory but is not accessible via free recall.
Godden & baddely aim
I’d recall under water more accurate if learning is also underwater? Does contest improve recall
Godden & badddely method
18 participants from a divers club
Listen to 36 unrelated words & recall in 4 groups;wet & wet, wet & dry,dry & wet and dry & dry
Godden & baddely results
Highest scores of 13 & 11 words recalled were in same context eg wet wet or dry dry
Godden & baddely conclusion
Suggests that context of learning acts as a cue for recall.
One weakness of godden & baddely study was that it was an artificial task.
Field experiment however task wasn’t natural . This may change natural behaviour of participants hence affects validity .
Another weakness of godden & baddely is that the recall was almost immediate so
Generalistatjon of context effects to another situation mah not be valid as a short time gap is unrealistic . This only tells us about a very specific aspect of recall …..short term recall
Another weakness of godden & baddely is that it only affects very specific situations
Most learning material for example in an exam occurs in multiple contexts so context effects do not affect the accuracy of recall.
Loft us and pickrell study aim
Can we form a memory of something that never really happened? false memories
Lottie and pickrell study method
24 participants from 18 - 15
The participants relatives were contacted
The participants were give 4 short stories about their childhood of which one was false - they were lost in a shopping mall & a elderly lady found them.
They read the stories wrote down what they remember then two weeks later asked to recall what they remember then debriefed then asked to guess which one was false
Loftus and pickrell results
68% of 72 true episodes were correctly recalled
6 participants recalled the false story
19 out of 24 correctly recognised the fake story
Loftus & pickrell conclusion
The mere act of imagining an event can implant a false memory
false memories are an example of reduced accuracy if memory & based on reconstructive memory
One strength of ,Optus and pickrell is that it has real world application abilities
The police are now trained not to ask eyewitnesses leading questions hence less false memories are implanted. This now mean eyewitness testimony is no longer regarded as reliable
One weakness of loftus & pickrell is that is is an artificial task and is not traumatic
This may mean harmless incidents are easier to implant than traumatic omen hence confusions are limited
Another weakness of loftus & pickrell is that is has ethical issues
Pareticilants May have been left with implanted memories leaving a sense of unease hence ethical issues about whether the research was valuable enough to manipulate people are raised
