memory Flashcards
working memory model
short term memory processor of different types of information
- central executive
- phonological loop
- visuo spatial sketchpad
- episodic buffer
central executive
attentional process that monitors incoming data, makes decisions and allocates systems to tasks
phonological loop
- phonological store stores words you hear
- articulatory process allows repeating sounds to keep in the memory while needed
visuo-spatial sketchpad
stores visual information and has a limited capacity
- visual cache
- inner scribe records the arrangement of visual objects
episodic buffer
temporary stored information and integrates visual, spatial, and verbal information processed by other stores
episodic memory
recalling events from our lives
semantic memory
contains our knowledge of the world
procedural memory
contains our memory for actions and skills which we can recall without conscious awareness
coding
the format in which information is stored
capacity
the amount of information that can be stored
semantically
meanings
acoustically
sound
capacity of STM
around 7 items
duration of STM
less than 18 seconds
encoding of STM
acoustically
Peterson and Peterson
- 1959
- recall of constant syllables was accurate 90% after 3 seconds
- 2% accurate over 18 seconds
- artificial as words were meaningless
Baddeley on STM
- 1966
- found they struggled ordering acoustically similar words after just hearing them
capacity of LTM
potentially unlimited
duration of LTM
potentially unlimited
encoding of LTM
semantically
Bahrick et al
- 1975
- participants were 90% accurate at identifying faces from yearbooks 15 years later
- 48 years later, 70% accurate
- high external validity
multi store model
- Atkinson and Shiffrin
- sensory register
- short term memory store
- long term memory store
sensory register
- iconic memory stores visual information
- echoic memory is sound coded acoustically
- attention causes this information to pass into further memory
short - term memory store
- maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat material to keep it in short term
- if we rehearse long enough if enters long term
long - term memory store
- information rehearsed for a prolonged time
- recalling it means it has to be transferred back into short term memory by retrieval
proactive interference
older memory interferes with new memory
retroactive interference
new memory interferes with old memory
Tulving and Pearlstone
- 1983
- learnt a word list and split into 2 groups
- 40% of the words were remembered from free recall
- 75% of the words were cued recall
encoding specificity principle
if a cue is to help us to recall information is has to be present at encoding and retrieval
Godden and Baddely
- 1975
- scuba divers learn and recall a list of words in 4 conditions
- on land and underwater
- recall was better when both environments matched
Godwin et al
recall information learnt either when drunk or sober, easily recalled in the same state
retrieval failure
- encoding specificity principle
- context dependent forgetting
- state dependent forgetting
Loftus and Palmer
- 1974
- 5 groups of students were shown a clip of a car crash and all given different verbs
- contacted had the mean speed of 31.8 mph
- smashed had 40.8mph
factors affecting eyewitness testimony
- anxiety
- misleading information
negative effect of anxiety
creates physiological arousal in the body which prevents attention to important cues
Johnson and Scott
- 1976
- 2 groups of participants overheard an argument
- one group saw a man with a knife, and one with a pen
- 49% of pen participants could identify him
- 33% of knife could identify him
tunnel theory
a witness’ attention narrows to focus on a weapon as its the source of anxiety
anxiety has a positive effect
the fight or flight response is triggered which increases our alertness and become more aware to cues
Yerkes - Dosdon effect
there has to be a certain level of anxiety to create an accurate eyewitness testimony
cognitive interview
- report everything
- mental reinstatement
- change the order
- change perspective
report everything
witnesses are encouraged to include every detail as it can trigger more memories
mental reinstatement
witnesses return to the crime scene in their mind as the context will act as a cue
change the order
witnesses have to recall the events in a different order to stop people just recalling their expectations of the incident
change perspective
witnesses should recall the incident from other peoples perspective to reduce bias and stop expectations
Baddeley on LTM
- 1966
- struggled to recall a word list after 20 minutes and did worse with semantically similar words
Baddeley and Hitch
more accurate recall of team mates names when less games were played
Yuille and Cutshall
- 1986
- interview witnesses of a real life shooting
- higher levels of stress were more accurate recall
evaluation of types of long term memory
- supported by Clive Wearing and HM
- brain scan supports it
- real life applications for training programmes for people with cognitive impairments
evaluation of multi-store model
- coding research demonstrates difference between STM and LTM
- there’s more than one type of STM
- there’s more than one type of rehearsal
evaluation of working memory model
- KF case supports it
- dual task performance supports it
- lack of clarity over central executive
evaluation of interference theory
- artificial as wordlists aren’t like everyday memory
- real life studies (Baddeley and Hitch sports teams) supports it
evaluation of misleading information
- useful real life applications
- tasks are artificial so may be more accurate in a real situation
- individual differences can have an impact
