Memory Flashcards
Who proposed the multi store model
Atkinson and Shiffrin
Describe the three components of the multi store model
Sensory register- stores memory for each of our five senses, such as vision (iconic) and hearing (echoic)
Short term memory- this is a limited capacity store as it can only contain a certain number of items before we forget, maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat material to ourselves over and over again, if we rehearse it long enough it passes to our LTM
Long term memory- potentially permanent store for info that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time, when we want to recall it it must be transferred back into the STM
What does coding mean
The format in which information is stored in each memory store
What does capacity mean
The amount of information that can be held in a memory store
What does duration mean
The length of time information can be held in memory
How is the sensory register coded
Iconic - visual
Echoic- acoustic
How is STM coded
Acoustically
How is LTM coded
Semantically (meaning)
What is the capacity of sensory register
Huge (eg millions of receptors in the eye)
What is capacity of STM
What research established this, describe and evaluate
7 plus or minus 2
Miller 1956- digit span task
Also found chunking can expand this store
✅methodology- high control
What is the capacity of the LTM
Potentially ulimited
What is the duration of the sensory register
Less than half a second
What is duration of STM
What research supports this, describe and evaluate
18-30seconds
Peterson and Peterson 1959
Trigrams and distractor task
❌artificial items- lack ecological validity
What is duration of LTM
What evidence supports this
Lifetime
Bahrick
Recall was tested by: photo recognition test, free recall test on names
Results- 90% accurate within 15 years ( photos ) 60% accurate within 15 years ( names)
Describe study 1 and study 2 of Baddeley (1966)
Study 1
- found that participants made errors with similar sounding but did not make mistakes when words had a similar meaning
- found STM is coded acoustically
study 2
- participants made errors on words that had the same meaning
- LTM is encoded semantically
briefly evaluate the multi store model
pro- clinical evidence (case study HM) cons- oversimplified- more than one type of LTM oversimplified KF flashbulb memories
describe HM case study
had the hippocampus removed, HM became unable to transfer information between the LTM and STM, supports multi store model as it shows there are different stores for different types of memory
describe KF case study
a motorcycle accident left him with brain damage, his STM for verbal materials was poor however his memory for visual material was the same
this challenges the multi store model for being too simple as their must be different stores for different types of short term memory
why are flashbulb memories a limitation of the multi store model
these are highly significant and emotional events
challenges multi store model because they do not need rehearsal and are automatically transferred into the LTM
what is the working memory model
consists of four main components:
- central executive- controls and coordinates the operations of other components, decides which component deals with each issue and what needs attention
- phonological loop- composed of two parts- (1) the phonological store- inner ear, this recieves sound info from the environment and also from internal speech. (2) the articulatory loop-inner voice, this is a verbal rehearsal component used to prepare words and think in speech.
- vissuospatial sketch pad- deals with visual and spatial information, this helps us keep track of where we are in relation to other objects
- episodic buffer-acts as a backup store which communicates with both LTM and components of the working memory
what is the supporting evidence for the phonological loop
PAULESU:
participants were asked to memorise a series of letters (inner ear) or to rehearse the sounds of the letters in their heads (inner voice)
a PET scan was used to identify the different regions of the brain being used
shows that there are different parts of the brain used in each part of the phonological loop
what is the supporting evidence for the VSSP
LOGIE:
participants were asked to play a video game and at the same time carry out either a:
-visuo spatial distractor task
-or a verbal memory distractor task
those who did the visuospatial distractor task experienced a lowered performance in terms of perception and movement
those who did the verbal memory distractor task experienced a worse performance in verbal aspects of the game
this shows the existence of separate components for vissuospatial and sound based components
evaluate the Working memory model
+
-KF case study- verbal memory poor, visual fine= must be different sotres for different types of short term memory
-methodological- high control of variables
X
- understanding of the central executive is limited and lacks clarity
what is procedural memory
for actions/skills
does not call on our conscious memory
non declarative cannot be consciously inspected
knowing how
what is semantic memory
knowledge of the world (facts)
includes memory about the meaning of words
declarative
what is episodic memory
long term memory for events of episodes
for specific life events with personal memories
eg flashbulb memories
declarative and can be consciously inspected
describe a piece of experimental evidence for the different types of long term memory
TULVING
injected radioactive gold into his blood stream
using PET scan he tracked the flow of blood in the different parts of the brain when thinking about semantic and episodic memories.
demonstrates different stores for different types of memory
describe the case study of Clive Wearing
suffered from a brain disease that affected his hippocampus
he could play the piano brilliantly (procedural memory) however his semantic and episodic memories were affected
supports different storesfor different types of memory
criticise the case study of clive wearing
- cannot generalise, single person this is a unique case and so cannot represent whole population
- cannot be replicated
- cannot establish casue and effect (extraneous variables)
what are the two explanatios for forgetting
- interference
- retrieval failure
describe interference
two types:
-retroactive interferance ( new memories affect old memories)
-proactive interferance (old memories affect new memories)
suggests that forgetting is more likely to occur when memories are similar
what is the supporting evidence for interferance
UNDERWOOD
participants were asked to learn multiple word lists
asked to recall 24 hours later
participants who had learned 15 or more word lists could only recall 20% of the last word list
participants who had only learnt one list recalled 80%
example of proactive interferance, old info can affect the new info learned
evaluate the interferance theory
+
-methodology- high control of variables
X
-artificial items so can not be applied to everday learning tasks - lacks ecological validity
what more ecologically valid research can be used for interferance theory
BADDELEY AND HITCH
rugby players were asked to recall the names of teams they played earlier in the season
whether a team was recalled correctly was related to the number of games played inbetween and not the time that had passed
shows retroactive interferance, new info affects old
describe retrieval failure
explains forgetting as a problem with accessing the LTM
there are insufficient cues/triggers available to trigger the memory
cues may be:
-external/context
-internal/state
what is encoding specificity principle
idea that if a cue is to help us to recall information it has to be present at encoding as well as retrieval
suggests recall is improved when the retrieval context is similar to the encoding context
what is the supporting evidence for context dependant forgetting (external cues)
GODDEN AND BADDELEY
participants either learnt a list of words underwater or on a beach
after learning the words they were asked to recall them either in the same environmental context or different context
found those who learned and recalled in the same context remembered around 40% more words
supports retrieval failure
what is the supporting evidence for state dependant forgetting
GOODWIN
investigated the effect of alcohol on state dependent retrieval
found people who encoded information when drunk where more likely to recall it in the same state
evaluate retireval failure
+
-methodology- high control
-real life application- cognitive interview (idea of reinstating the context)
X
-godden and baddeley- non generalisable to everyday
define eye witness testimony
refers to the account given by people of an event they have witnessed
breifly name the three factors which can affect eyewitness testimony
- leading questions
- post event discussion
- anxiety
describe Loftus and Palmer and evaluate
LEADING QUESTIONS
students watched a clip of a car crash, they were then asked to identify how fast the cars were travelling, each time the question was rephrased, each time using different words such as ‘hit’, ‘smashed’ and ‘collided’
found a varying speed of 9mph when the question was rephrased
X- artificial task, varies enormously from what would actually be experienced in a real life experience, here the participants are paying close attention
describe gabbert and evaluate
POST EVENT DISCUSSION
in pairs, participants watched th esame video of the same crime from different perspectives, they then discussed what they had seen
found 71% had said something that they had not directly seen to the interviewer, whereas in the control group (no discussion|) this was 0%. shows eyewitnesses go along with each other
this is called memory conformity
X- artificial task, varies enormously from what would actually be experienced in a real life experience, here the participants are paying close attention
describe Johnson and Scott and evaluate
ANXIETY HAS A NEGATIVE EFFECT ON RECALL
participants sat in waiting room overheard a argument in the room next door, in condition A, low anxiety, saw a man walk through with a pen and grease on his hands
condition B, high anxiety, saw a man walk past with blood and a paper knife
Low anxiety= 49% identified the man with pen
high anxiety= 33% identified man with knife
more anxious we are poorer recall is.
X- knew they were taking part- demand characteristics
what is tunnel theory
argues that witnesses attention narrows to focus on the weapon because this is the source of anxiety
describe Yuille and Cutshall and evaluate
ANXIETY HAS A POSITIVE EFFECT OF RECALL
real life shooting, thief was shot dead, 13 of the 21 witnesses agreed to take part. at the time they were asked to rate how stressed they were. found those who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate
high stress=88%
low stressed=75%
X-real life= lack of control of different variables.difficult to establish cause and effect
what is a criticism of the effect of anxiety of EWT
surprise rather than anxious?
PICKEL
similar study, used a variety of different weapons, scissor |(low anxiety), wallet, handgun, raw chicken
found EW accuracy was poorer in the highly unusual conditions . suggests weapon focus may be due to unusualness rather than anxiety.
what are the four main techniques used in a cognitive interview
1) report everything- even if it may seem irrelevant, based on idea that memories are interconnecting and so may trigger another memory
2) reinstate the context- interviewer encourages interviewee to mentally recreate both the physical and psychological environment, based on idea of context related forgetting
3) reverse the order- to reduce the affects of schmeas and ensure that every detail is gathered
4) change perspective- again done to disrupt the effectof schemas
evaluate the cognitive interview
+
-godden and baddeley supports reinstating the context
-Kohnken- meta analysis found cognitive interview provided constantly more accurate info, supports the real practical benefits
X
-time consuming- takes much more time also requires special training
