Memory

Question 1

Define encoding.

Answer 1

Changing information so that it can be stored.

Question 2

Define storage.

Answer 2

Holding information in the memory system (some of it for a lifetime).

Question 3

Define retrieval.

Answer 3

Recovering information from storage to use it.

Question 4

How does information enter our memory?

Answer 4

Information enters our memory through our five senses.

Question 5

What do you need to do with information to encode it?

Answer 5

Information has to be changed into a code that the brain understands.

Question 6

What are the three ways of encoding?

Answer 6

• Visual
• Acoustic
• Semantic

Question 7

Visual encoding

Answer 7

Encoding information that we receive from what we see.

Question 8

Acoustic encoding

Answer 8

Encoding information we receive from what we hear.

Question 9

Semantic encoding

Answer 9

Encoding information that we receive from reading.

Question 10

Primacy effect

Answer 10

Words at the start of the list were recalled well.

Question 11

Recency effect

Answer 11

Words at the end of the list were recalled well.

Question 12

Episodic memory

Answer 12

Memories of personal events in your life (for example: places you have visited and things you have done).

Question 13

Procedural memory

Answer 13

Action based memories. These use a motor code, not a verbal code (for example: riding a bike).

Question 14

Semantic memory

Answer 14

Remembering general knowledge and facts (for example: remembering the meanings of words).

Question 15

What is effort after meaning?

Answer 15

Putting unfamiliar ideas into familiar terms based on our past knowledge and experiences.

Question 16

What is the theory of reconstructive memory?

Answer 16

Bartlett believed that memory was not just a stored copy of facts. He said that we change our memories to fit in with what we already know, even though we think we are remembering exactly what happened.

Question 17

What are the factors that affect the accuracy of memory?

Answer 17

• Context
• False memories
• Interference

Question 18

Context

Answer 18

The general setting or environment in which activities happen.

Question 19

False memories

Answer 19

Remembering something that has never happened.

Question 20

Interference

Answer 20

The difficulty in recalling information when other memories get in the way

Question 21

What have studies on context shown?

Answer 21

The recall of information is higher if learning and recall take place in the same context.

Question 22

How is interference often tested?

Answer 22

By giving one group of participants a list of words to learn, followed by another list of words to learn. A second group of participants is only given the first list to learn. All participants are then asked to recall the first list of words. The recall of the first group is usually much lower than the recall of the second group. This is because the second list of words acts as interference.

Question 23

What did research about false memories show?

Answer 23

In one study, participants were questioned about their childhood. The researcher used information from their parents to describe some true events, as well as a false event about being lost in a shopping center. About 25% of participants believed that they had actually been lost and could also give some detail about what had happened while they were ‘lost’.

Question 24

What are standardized procedures?

Answer 24

A set order of carrying out a study that is applied to all participants when necessary.

Question 25

Capacity

Answer 25

How much information can be stored.

Question 26

Coding

Answer 26

The way that information is represented to be stored.

Question 27

Duration

Answer 27

How long information can be stored for.

Question 28

Long-term store

Answer 28

The memory store that holds a vast amount of information for a very long period of time.

Question 29

Sensory store

Answer 29

A memory store that holds information received from the senses for a very short period of time.

Question 30

Short-term store

Answer 30

Memory store that holds approximately seven bits of information for a limited amount of time.

Question 31

What is the theory of the multi-store model of memory?

Answer 31

The theory of memory that suggests that information passes through a series of memory stores.

Question 32

What is one strength of the MSM?

Answer 32

There is evidence for the existence of different memory stores. For example Baddeley, found that we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using our STMs. However we mix up words that have similar meaning when we use our LTMSs. This shows that the coding in the STM and the LTM is different.

Question 33

What is one weakness of the MSM?

Answer 33

The model is too simple. The model suggests that we have just one STM and one LTM. However, research has shown that these stores have separate parts (visual and acoustic/episodic, semantic & procedural).

Question 34

Interference evaluation

Answer 34

:) the procedure is standardized-> higher reliability
——————-
:( the procedure is artificial as irl it is rare that someone would have to learn and recall random lists of words meaning that the results of the studies do not reflect the way we use memory-> lower ecological validity.

Question 35

Context evaluation

Answer 35

:) the results have real life applications. we know that students will perform better in classrooms that they learned the information in
——————-
:( lists of words isn’t the way we use memory irl-> low ecological validity

Question 36

False memories evaluation

Answer 36

:) The test is believable and realistic so the results are more reflective or normal behavior-> higher ecological validity
——————
:( The study could cause ethical issues (mental harm) if the experiment brings up sensitive topics