Memory

Question 1

Define Coding

Answer 1

The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.

Question 2

Define Capacity

Answer 2

The amount of information that can be held in a memory store.

Question 3

Define Duration

Answer 3

The length of time information can be held in memory.

Question 4

Define Short-term memory (STM)

Answer 4

The limited-capacity memory store. Coding is mainly acoustic (sounds), capacity is between 5 and 9 items on average, duration is between about 18 and 30 seconds.

Question 5

Define Long-term memory (LTM)

Answer 5

The permanent memory store. Coding is mainly semantic (meaning), it has unlimited capacity and can store memories for up to a lifetime.

Question 6

Define Multi-store model (MSM)

Answer 6

A representation of how memory works in terms of three stores called sensory register, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). It also describes how information is transferred from one store to another, how it is remembered and how it is forgotten.

Question 7

Define Sensory register

Answer 7

The memory stores for each of our five senses, such as vision (iconic store) and hearing (echoic store), Coding in the iconic sensory register is visual and in the echoic sensory register it is acoustic. The capacity of sensory registers is huge (millions of receptors) and information lasts for a very short time (less than half a second).

Question 8

What is the coding of STM?

Answer 8

Acoustic (sound)

Question 9

What is the coding of LTM?

Answer 9

Semantic (meaning)

Question 10

What is the capacity of STM?

Answer 10

7 +/- 2

Question 11

What is the capacity of LTM?

Answer 11

Unlimited

Question 12

What is the duration of STM?

Answer 12

18-30 seconds

Question 13

What is the duration of LTM?

Answer 13

Unlimited

Question 14

Who researched into the coding of STM?

Answer 14

Baddeley (1966)

Question 15

Who researched into the coding of LTM?

Answer 15

Baddeley (1966)

Question 16

Who researched into the capacity of STM?

Answer 16

Jacobs (1887) and Miller (1956)

Question 17

Who researched into the duration of STM?

Answer 17

Peterson and Peterson (1956)

Question 18

What was the aim of Baddeley’s research?

Answer 18

Research coding in STM and LTM

Question 19

What was the procedure of Baddeley’s research?

Answer 19

-Used word lists such as cat,mat,hat and chat in research of memory. -4 sets of words: acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar and semantically dissimilar - Participants had to recall the order of the word lists. - This was done immediately to assess STM and after 30 minutes to assess LTM

Question 20

What does acoustically similar and dissimilar mean?

Answer 20

Similar - sound the same (cat, mat, bat, sat) Dissimilar - Don’t sound the same (cat, dog, tree, chair)

Question 21

What does semantically similar and dissimilar mean?

Answer 21

Similar - mean the same (big, wide, large) Dissimilar - Don’t mean the same ( house, car, stamp, phone)

Question 22

What were the findings of Baddeley’s research?

Answer 22

• List of acoustically similar words had worst recall (2 compared to 10 for other sets). Confusion of similar sounding words. (STM) - List of semantically similar words (2 compared to 10 for other sets) had worst recall. Confusion of similar meaning words. (LTM)

Question 23

What were the conclusions of Baddeley’s research?

Answer 23

• Lists that had poor recall showed words had become confused. - Immediate recall - acoustically sounding words weren’t remembered well. This suggest that STM is acoustically coded as participants could remember other lists fine. - Delayed recall - semantically sounding words weren’t remembered well. This suggests LTM is semantically coded, as participants could remember other lists words fine.

Question 24

What was the aim of Jacobs’ research?

Answer 24

Research capacity of STM.

Question 25

What was the procedure of Jacobs’ research?

Answer 25

• Developed a technique to measure digit span - how many items an individual can remember, in sequence and repeat back in order.

Question 26

What were the findings of Jacobs’ research?

Answer 26

Found the mean span for digits across participants was 9.3 items. Founds that the mean span for letters was 7.3.

Question 27

What was the conclusion of Jacobs’ research?

Answer 27

Memory can hole 7-9 items.

Question 28

What was the aim of Miller’s research?

Answer 28

Research capacity of STM.

Question 29

What was the procedure of Miller’s research?

Answer 29

• Observed that things come in sevens (days of the week, notes on music scale etc.). - Also used the digit span technique, but chunked item into groups e.g. words and sets of numbers.

Question 30

What were the findings of Miller’s research?

Answer 30

• Found people could recall 5 words, as well as 5 letters (via chunking).

Question 31

What was the conclusion of Miller’s research?

Answer 31

Used the term ‘the magical number 7 to describe the capacity of STM.

Question 32

What was the aim of Peterson and Peterson’s research?

Answer 32

Research duration of STM.

Question 33

What was the procedure of Peterson and Peterson’s research?

Answer 33

• 24 students took part in 8 trials - They were given consonant syllable/trigram such as BNT and a 3-digit number and asked to count backwards to prevent rehearsal. - On each trial, they were stopped after 3,6,9,12,18 seconds. This was the retention rehearsal.

Question 34

What were findings of Peterson and Peterson’s research?

Answer 34

• Found that STM lasts about 18 seconds - After very few people correctly recall the consonant syllable.

Question 35

What was the conclusion from Peterson and Peterson’s research?

Answer 35

It suggest that STM may have very short duration, unless it is researched.

Question 36

Who researched into the duration of LTM?

Answer 36

Bahrick (1975)

Question 37

What was the aim of Bahrick’s research.

Answer 37

Research duration of LTM.

Question 38

What was the procedure of Bahrick’s research?

Answer 38

• Testes recall of people participants had gone to school with using photo recognition (50 photos from yearbook) and free recall (recall names of graduating class)

Question 39

What were the findings of Bahrick’s research?

Answer 39

-Found 90% accuracy for photo recognition and 60% accuracy for free recall for people who had graduated within 15 years. -After 48 years, photo recognition recall was about 70% and free recall was 30%

Question 40

What were the conclusions of Bahrick’s research?

Answer 40

LTM lasts a very long time.

Question 41

What does the Multi Store Model of Memory look like?

Answer 41

Question 41

What is the coding, capacity and duration of the sensory register?

Answer 41

Coding - Iconic, Echoic, Haptic, Gustatory, Olfactory

Capacity - High

Duration - Less than half a second

Question 42

Give 3 limitations of the research into the capacity, coding and duration of STM and LTM

Answer 42

Baddeley’s study did not use meaningful material. The words used had no personal meaning to participants. When information is meaningful people will use semantic coding even in STM.

Jacob’s study was conducted a long time ago and early research such as this, often lacked control of extraneous variable. For example, some participants may have been distracted. This would reduce the validity of the findings.

Miller’s research may have been oversimplified capacity in STM. Cowan (2001) reviewed other research and concluded that the capacity of STM was only 4 chunks which is lower than Miller’s estimate of 7+/-2. thsi means the accepted capacity of STM may be inaccurate.

Question 43

Give a strength/ limitation(combo whopper) of research into the capacity, coding and duration of STM and LTM.

Answer 43

Bahrick et al’s study had high external validity. They used memories that were part of real life i.e. peers at school. Using real-life meaningful memories means that the findings are more likely to accurately represent memory in the real world. However, confounding variables were not controlled such as the fact some of the participants may have recently looked over their yearbook photos.

Question 44

Give description of the Multi Store Model of Memory.

Answer 44

• Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) developed the model.
• Describes flow between 3 permanent storage systems of memory: sensory register (SR), STM and LTM
• SR is where information from the sense is stored for half a second. It is modality-specific (a taste held as taste)
• If sensory info moves into the STM it is primarily encoded acoustically
• STM has a capacity of 5-9 items for approximately 30 seconds.
• Capacity is increased through ‘chunking’
• Rehearsing info via rehearsal loop help reatin info in STM and consolifate in LTM.

Question 45

Give 2 strengths about the Multi Store Model of Memory.

Answer 45

It makes sense that memories in the LTM are encoded semantically. For example, you might recall the general message put across in a political speech, rather than all the words as they were heard.

The MSM was a pioneering model of memory that inspired further research. It was influential in creating other models of memory, such as the Working Memory Model, to deal with he short comings of the original model. This shows how important Atkinson’s and Shirffrin’s contribution to the field of memory was.

Question 46

Give 3 limitations about the Multi Store Model of Memory.

Answer 46

There is evidence to suggest that there are different types of STM. K.F. had poor recall of information read to him but could recall the same information if he reads to himself. The view that STM is only one store is therefore not correct and overly simplified.

There is evidence that there are different types of LTM. Clive Wearing could not recall what his children were doing with their lives (episodic memory) but could remeber how to walk and play the piano (procedural memory). The view that LTM is only one store s therefore not correct and overely simplified.

Craik and Watkins (1973) argued there are two types of rehearsal (maintenance and elaborative). Maintenance rehearsal is the only one described in MSM. It is argued that elaborative rehearsal is needed for long term storage where information is linked to existing knowledge.

Question 47

What are the 3 types of LTM?

Answer 47

Episodic Memory

Semantic Memory

Procedural Memory

Question 48

What is episodic memory?

Answer 48

• LTM store for personal events
• Includes when events occurred and of the people, objects, places and behaviours involved.
• ‘Declarative memory’ - explicitly inspected and recalled consciously with effort
• ‘Time stamped’

Question 49

Where is episodic memory stored?

Answer 49

• Prefrontal cortex involved in intial coding with consolidation and storage involving the neocortex and hippocampus.

Question 50

What is explicit memory?

Answer 50

Memories that can be inspected and recalled concsiously

E.g. episodic memory, semantic memory

Question 51

What is implicit memory?

Answer 51

Memories that are unable to be consciously recalled.

E.g. Procedural memory

Question 52

What is semantic memory?

Answer 52

• LTM store for our knowledge of the world.
• Includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean.
• Declarative - explicit and consciously recalled
• Conscious recall of facts that have meaning

Question 53

Where is semantic memory stored?

Answer 53

Hippocampus, frontal lobe, and temporal lobe.

Question 54

What is proecdural memory?

Answer 54

• LTM store for our knowledge of how to do things
• Memories of learned skills
• Non declarative - unconscious recall and implicit
• Difficult to consciously recall how to manage a task but can do so with ease unconsciously.

Question 55

Where is procedural memory stored?

Answer 55

Neocortex including the primary motor cortex, cerebellum and prefrontal cortex.

Question 56

Give 2 strengths of LTM

Answer 56

There is evidence from brain scans to show that the different types of memory are stored in different parts of the brain. Tulving found episodic and semantic memory were both recalled from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) - however, the left PFC was involved in semantic memories and the right PFC for episodic memories. This supports view that there’s physical reality to the different types of LTM

Identifying different types of memory allows treatments to be developed. Belleville showed episodic memories could be improved in individuals who had mild cognitive impairment; trained participants performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group. This shows that there real life applications to research into the types of LTM.

Question 57

Give 1 limitation/strength of LTM.

Answer 57

There is clinical evidence to support the view that there are different types of LTM. HM could learn new procedural memories but not episodic or semantic memories. He got better at tasks for example drawing by looking at a reflection in the mirror, but he was unable to recall doing it previously. This evidence demonstrates that one store can be damaged but other stores are unaffected. However, there is a serious lack of control with brain damaged patients as we cannot see what they were like before the injury. It could be that their memory structures do not represent those of ‘normal people’

Question 58

Give 1 limitation of LTM

Answer 58

There is an argument about whether episodic and semantic memory should be separate. Cohen and Squire disagree with Tulving’s division of LTM into three types, instead arguing there should be two declarative v non-declarative. This is because it is very difficult to separate episodic and semantic memory into completely separate types; they are also both stored in the prefrontal cortex suggesting some similarity.

Question 59

What does the Working Memory Model look like?

Answer 59

Question 60

What is the working memory model?

Answer 60

Representation of STM that suggests STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub-units coordinated by a central decision-making system.

Question 61

Who developed the working memory model?

Answer 61

Baddeley and Hitch (1974) - focuses specifically on the workingsof STM.

Question 62

Why was the WMM developed?

Answer 62

Atkinson’s and Shiffrin’s Multi-Store Model of memory was criticised for over-simplifying STM (and LTM) as a single storage system, so the WMM alternative proposed that STM is composed of three, limited capacity stores.

Question 63

What is the central executive?

Answer 63

Manages attention and controls information from the twp ‘slave stores’ (phonological loop and visuo-spatial sketchpad).

Processes information in all sensory forms but is only able to deal with one strand of information at a time.

Question 64

What is the phonological loop?

Answer 64

• Component of the WMM
• Temporarily retains language-based information in auditory form and holds the amount that can be spoken out loud in two seconds.

Question 65

What stores does the phonological loop consist of?

Answer 65

Consists of an articulatory rehearsal process and the phonological store.

Question 66

What is the Articulatory Rehearsal Process?

Answer 66

• ‘inner voice’ of language, allows maintenance rehearsal
• includes any language presented visually and is then converted to a phonological state
• it involves subvocal repetition

Question 67

What is the phonological store?

Answer 67

• ‘inner ear’ holds auditory speech information and order which it was heard
• (or any visually-presented language converted by the articulatory process).

Question 68

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 68

• Component of the WMM
• Temporarily retains visual and spatial information.
• Holds 3 or 4 objects at one time
• Consists of the visual cache which stores visual information about form and colour; inner scribe which deals with spatial relationships and the arrangement of objects.

Question 69

What is the episiodic buffer?

Answer 69

• Component of WMM
• Facilitates communication between the components of WMM and LTM
• Integrates information from the other stores and maintains a sense of time sequencing.
• Can hold 4 chunks of information

Question 70

What is the difference between the central executive and episodic buffer?

Answer 70

CE is the ‘sorter’. Informationa arrives after the CE has paid attention. Then controls where the infromation is going - PL or VS.

EB is the link between the CE and LTM. Before it was introduced there was no way information from the LTM could enter the WMM. EB also holds information together and remembers sequence of information.

Question 71

Describe the ‘dual task technique’.

Answer 71

The WMM stemmed from research using this whereby performance is measured as participants perfrm two task simultaneously.

Question 72

What is one observation from dual tasks that provides evidence to suggest different, limites-capacity STM stores process different types of memory?

Answer 72

If one store is utilised for both task, then task performance is poorer than when carried out separately due to limited capacity.

E.g. repeating ‘the the the’ out loud and reading a text silently would use the articulatory-phonological loop for both tasks.

Question 73

What is another observation from dual tasks that provides evidence to suggest different, limites-capacity STM stores process different types of memory?

Answer 73

If the tasks require different stores, performance would be unaffected when performing them simultaneously.

E.g. repeating ‘the the the’ aloud whilst performing a reasoning task (requiring attention, i.e. the central executive), or whilst following a mobile stimulus with your eyes (using the visuo-spatial sketchpad).

Question 74

1) Give a strength of the WMM.

Answer 74

(Double Whopper)

Support for the WMM comes from Shallice and Warrington’s study of patient KF who had suffered brain damage. After the damage happened KF had poor STM ability for verbal information but could process visual infromation normally i.e he had difficulty with sounds but could recall letters and digits. This suggests that just his phonological loop had been damaged leaving other areas of memory intact.

Question 75

2) Give a strength of the WMM

Answer 75

(Hamburger)

Studies of dual-task performance support the separate existence of the visuo-spatial sketchpad. Baddeley et al showed that participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks than doing a visual and verbal task.Increased difficulty for two visual tasks is because both were competeing for the same slave system, whereas for the separate tasks there was no competition. This means there must be a separate slave system, the visuo-spatial sketchpad, that process visual input, further supporting the existence of separate STM storesfor visual and acoustic information.

Question 76

3) Give a strength of the WMM

Answer 76

(Double Whopper)

Brain scanning studies support the WMM. Braver et al (1997) gave participants tasks involving the CE while they having a brain scan and found greater activity in the prefrontal cortex. As difficulty of the task increased, activity in the left prefrontal cortex also increased. This makes sense in term of the WMM; as demands on the CE increase, it has to work harder to fulfil its fucntion. This suggests that there is biological basis to the CE componenet of the WMM, increasing the validity of the model.

Question 77

1) Give a limitation of the WMM.

Answer 77

(DOuble Whopper)

Evidence from case studies of patients with brain damage needs to be treated with caution. Evidence from brain damaged patients may not be reliable because it concerns unique cases with patients who have had traumatic experiences. Baseline measurements are not taken of their behaviour before which mean there is no control to compare the performance after the injury. It may be that the performance of these brain damaged individuals is not the same as that of someone without brain damage.

Question 78

2) Give a limitation of the WMM

Answer 78

(Double Whopper)

Cognitive psychologists suggest that there id a lack of clarity over the CE. It is argued tha this poart of the model is not really explained. The CE nedds to be more clearlyspecidfies than jiust being an attentional process. This means that that the WMM could be viewed as incomplete.

Question 79

What is the coding of the CE?

Answer 79

All sensory forms

Question 80

What is the coding of the phonological loop?

Answer 80

Auditory

Question 81

What is the coding of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 81

Visual and spatial

Question 82

What is the coding of the episodic buffer?

Answer 82

All sensory forms

Question 83

What is the capacity of the CE?

Answer 83

One strand of information at a time

Question 84

What is the capacity of the phonological loop?

Answer 84

Amount of information that can be spoken at loud in 2 seconds.

Question 85

What is the capacity of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 85

3 or 4 objects

Question 86

What is the capacity of the episodic buffer?

Answer 86

4 chunks of information

Question 87

What is the interference theory?

Answer 87

Forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memoriesto be distorted or forgotten

Question 88

What is proactive interference?

Answer 88

Forgetting occurs when older memories that are already stored, distrupt the recall of newer memories. The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar.

Question 89

What is retroactive interference?

Answer 89

Forgetting occurs when newer memories distrupt the recall of older memories that are already stored. The defree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar.

Question 90

Why is interference an explanation of forgetting?

Answer 90

It is an explanation of LTM. This is because once info reaches the LTM, it is more-or-less permanent and so forgetting is thought to occur because we cannot access the information, even though it is available.

Question 91

Give an example of procative interference,

Answer 91

Calling your current boyfriend/girlfriend by the name of your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend.

Question 92

Give an example of reteroactive interference.

Answer 92

Not being able to remember your old postcode because all you can think about is your new postcode

Question 93

Who investigated reteroactive interference?

Answer 93

McGeoch and McDonald

Question 94

What was the aim of McGeoch and McDonald’s research?

Answer 94

Investigate reteroactive interference

Question 95

What was the procedure of the McGeoch and McDonald’s research?

Answer 95

Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until 100% accuracy.

Then learn another list of words.

6 different conditons- different second word list to remember

Group 1- synonyms

Group 2- antonyms

Group 3- unrelated words

Group 4- non-sense syllables

Group 5- 3 digit numbers

Group 6-no new list

Question 96

What were McGeoch and McDonald’s findings?

Answer 96

Recall of the original list dependent on nature of second list. Most similar (Group 1) had worst recalled.

Question 97

What were McGeoch and McDonald’s conclusions?

Answer 97

Interference is strongest when the memories are similar.

Question 98

Give 2 strengths of interference as an explanation of forgetting.

Answer 98

There is support for retroactive interference. McGeoch and McDonald had 6 groups of participants who each had to learn a list of 10 words. Each group was then given a different second word list to learn. Their performance depended on the nature of the second list, with similar material in the second list leading to the worst recall. This shows interference is strongest when memories are similar. This suggests that interference is a valid explanation for forgetting.

There is research support for interference theory from everyday situations. Baddeley and Hitch asked rugby players to try to remember the names of the teams that they’d played in a season, week by week. Most missed out a game at some point, so ‘last team’ different for each player. Results showed that accurate recall didn’t depend on how long ago matches took place, but the number of matches that had been played. This shows that interference explanations can apply to at least some everyday situations. This increases the validity of the explanation of forgetting.

Question 99

Give 2 limitations of interference as an explanation of forgetting.

Answer 99

There’s much greater chance that interference will be demonstrated in lab experiments, than in real life, due to the artificial nature of the stimuli. Learning word lists is a common task in memory studies but isn’t the same as trying to remember in everyday life such as faces, names, birthdays, lists of ingredients. This is a limitation because evidence for interference theory cannot be generalised to everyday situations. This reduces the validity of the explanation.

The experience of learning information for a study on interference doesn’t represent everyday life. Participants may have to learn one list of words and then learn a second one 20 minutes later. Recall of a list may then be a few minutes after that. The setup of the studies means they’re designed to cause maximum abount of interference. We would’nt normally learn and remember information like this in real life meaning that studies into interference may overemphasise interference as an explanation of forgetting. This reduces the applicability of the explanation in the real world.

Question 100

What is the retrieval failure theory?

Answer 100

A form of forgetting. Occurs when we don’t have necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided.

Question 101

What is a cue?

Answer 101

A “trigger” of information. Such cues may be meaningful or indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning. They can be external (environmental context) or internal (mood or state).

Question 102

What is the encoding specificity principle?

Answer 102

Recall of information is best when there’s a large overlap between the information available at the time of retrieval (cues) and the information in the memory trace (from learning).

Question 103

What is context-dependent failure?

Answer 103

A form of forgetting where recall occurs in a different external setting to coding.

Question 104

What is state-dependent failure?

Answer 104

A form of forgetting where recall occurs in a different internal setting to coding

Question 105

Give one reason why people may forget information.

Answer 105

Insuffcient cues. When information initially placed in memory, associated cues are stored at the same time. The suggestion is that internal (mood,state) and external (temperature,smell) cues can help facilitate recall of a long-term memory. If cues aren’t available at time of recall, it may makes it appear as though information has been forgotten i.e. context and state dependent forgetting.

However, if the context & state of the individual are similar at recall, to where the memory was originally processed, the chances of recalling the memory will be increased.

Question 106

Who investigated cue-dependent forgetting?

Answer 106

Godden and Baddeley.

Question 107

What was the aim Godden and Baddeley’s study?

Answer 107

Cue-dependent forgetting.

Question 108

What was Godden and Baddeley’s procedure?

Answer 108

Divers learned list of words underwater or on land and then asked to recall the words either underwater or on land.

Question 109

What were the 4 condition in Godden and Baddeley’s research?

Answer 109

Condition Number Learning Recall

1 Land Land

2 Land Underwater

3 Underwater Land

4 Underwater Underwater

Question 110

What were the findings of Godden and Baddeley’s research?

Answer 110

In condition 1 and 4, where learning and recall conditions matched, recall was 40% higher, than in the non-matching conditions

Question 111

What were the conclusions of Godden and Baddeley’s research?

Answer 111

External cues available at learning help to “trigger” memories if they are also there at recall.

Question 112

Who investigated state-dependent forgetting?

Answer 112

Carter and Cassaday

Question 113

What were the aims of Carter and Cassaday’s research?

Answer 113

Antihistamine drug given to participants. These are a mild sedative that can make people feel slightly drowsy. Participants had to learn lists of words and passages of prose and then recall information, when they were either under the influence of the antihistamine drugs or in a “normal” state.

Question 114

What were the four conditions of Carter and Cassaday’s research?

Answer 114

Condition Number Learning Recall

1 On Drug On Drug

2 On Drug Not On Drug

3 Not On Drug On Drug

4 Not On Drug Not On Drug

Question 115

What were the findings of Carter and Cassaday’s research?

Answer 115

In conditions there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance on the memory test was significantly worse.

Question 116

What were the conclusions of Carter and Cassady’s research?

Answer 116

Internal cues available at learning help to “trigger” memories if they are also there at recall.

Question 117

Give 2 strengths of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting.

Answer 117

A range of laboratory, field and natural experiments support the idea of retrieval failure. For example, Godden and Baddeley (1975) demonstrated the importance of context-dependent learning and Carter and Cassaday (1998) demonstrated the importance of state dependent forgetting. Research support increases the likelihood that this is a valid explanation for forgetting.

There are real life applications from research into retrieval failure. Baddeley’s research into context dependent forgetting helps explain a common occurrence we experience in our everyday life of forgetting when the environment changes. Results could therefore be used to help those who have more problems with forgetting. When having trouble remembering something, it’s probably worth making the effort to remember where we were when we learnt it – this is one of the basic principles of the cognitive interview.

Question 118

Give 2 limitations of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting.

Answer 118

The research conducted to support this explanation is very different to forgetting in the real world. Baddeley argued that context effects are not actually very strong in real life. Contexts must be very different before an effect is seen e.g. under water and on land. Learning something in one room and then recalling in another is not likely to produce the same degree of forgetting. This is a limitation because it means that forgetting due to retrieval failure does not actually explain forgetting in the real world.

It may be impossible to test context dependent forgetting. In experiments where a cue produces the successful recall of the word, we assume the cue must have been encoded at time of learning. If cue does’nt produce the recall, we assume it was not encoded. However, these are just assumptions. This may mean that the experiments have low internal validity, i.e. they are not actually testing context dependent forgetting. Reducing the validity of supporting research, reduces the validity of the explanation for forgetting.

Question 119

What is Eye Witness Testimony?

Answer 119

The evidence given in court or a police investigation, by someone who has witnessed a crime or accident.

Question 120

What is misleading information?

Answer 120

Incorrect information given to an eyewitness following an event. It gives them the wrong impression. This can be during post-event discussion or take the form of leading questions.

Question 121

What is a leading question?

Answer 121

A question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer.

Question 122

What is post event discussion?

Answer 122

Occurs when there is more than one “witness” to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or with other people. Repeat interviewing also creates a form of this. It may influence the accuracy of each witnesses’ recall of the event.

Question 123

Who did research into leading questions?

Answer 123

Lotfus and Palmer (1974) - effects of leading questions on eyewitness accounts.

Question 124

E1: What was the procedure of Lotfus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 124

• 45 American students divided into 5 groups of 9
• They all watched a video of a car crash and answered a questionnaire adn asked a specific question about the speed of the cars.
• They manipulated the verbs used (“How fast were the cars going when they smashed/collided/bumped/hit/contacted with each other?

Question 125

E1: What were the findings of Lotfus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 125

The estimated speed was affected by the verb used.

Contacted - 31.8 mph

Bumped - 34.0 mph

Hit - 38.1 mph

Collided - 39.3 mph

Smashed - 40.8 mph

Question 126

E1: What were the conclusions made from Lotfus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 126

The results clearly show that the accuracy of eyewitness testimony is affected by leading questions and that a single word in a question can significantly affect the accuracy of our judgements.

Question 127

Who did research into the effects of leading questions on later memory?

Answer 127

Lotfus and Palmer (1974)

Question 128

E2: What were the procedure of Lotfus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 128

• 150 students, divided into 3 groups.
• Watched a one-minute video of a car accident and then given a questionnaire to complete.
• One group asked ‘how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?’
• Another asked ‘how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’
• Final was control and not asked any questions about speed.
• One week later the participants were asked, ‘did you see any broken glass?’. There wasn’t any.

Question 129

E2: What were the findings of Lotfus and Palmer’s study?

Smashed - 16 yes and 34 no

Hit - 7 yes and 43 no

Control - 6 yes and 44 no

Answer 129

• Smashed - 16 yes and 34 no
• Hit - 7 yes and 43 no
• Control - 6 yes and 44 no

Question 130

E2: What conclusions were made in Lotfus and Palmer’s study?

Answer 130

• The verb ‘smashed’ has connotations of faster speeds and broken glass and this questions led the participants to report seeing something that was not actually present.
• Their memory for the original event was distorted by the question used one week earlier, demonstrating the power of leading questions.

Question 131

Give one explanation of how leading questions impact EWT.

Answer 131

• Response Bias Explanation - the wording of the question has no real impact on the participants’ memories, it just influences how they decide to answer. When participants get a leading question like “smashed” it encourages them to choose a higher speed estimate.

Question 132

Give another explanation of how leading questions impact EWT.

Answer 132

Substitution Explanation - wording of a question can change the participant’s memory. This was demonstrated in Loftus’ second experiment, where the participants had their memory altered depending on which word they heard in the original question.

Question 133

Who did research into post event discussion?

Answer 133

Gabbert et al (2003)

Question 134

What was the aim of Gabbert et al’s research into post event discussion?

Answer 134

Investigated the effect of post event discussion on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Question 135

What was the procedure of Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 135

• 60 students from the University of Aberdeen and 60 older adults from a local community.
• They watched a video of a girl stealing money from a wallet, but filmed from different points.
• Participants were either tested individually (control group) or in pairs (co-witness group) on their recall.
• The participants in the co-witness group were told that they had watched the same video, but they’d seen different perspectives of the same crime.
• Only one person had actually witnessed the girl stealing.
• Participants in the co-witness group discussed the crime together.
• All of the participants then completed a questionnaire, testing their memory of the event.

Question 136

What were the findings of Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 136

71% of the witnesses in the co-witness group recalled information they had not actually seen.

The control group did not recall any information that they had not seen.

Question 137

What conclusions were made in Gabbert et al’s study?

Answer 137

The results highlight the issue of post-event discussion and the powerful effect this can have on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Question 138

Give one strength of Lotfus and Palmer.

Answer 138

Loftus and Palmer’s study had a great deal of control. It was a lab experiment and therefore because of the control of extraneous variables, we know that the only thing impacting on the DV was the IV. This means that the verb in a question impacts on the rating of speed and the memory of glass. Therefore, the results have greater internal validity.

Question 139

Give two limitations of Lotfus and Palmer.

Answer 139

Loftus and Palmer’s research lacked mundane realism.The task involved watching a video of a car crash. Partcipants probably guessed they were going to be asked questions about the video. In everyday life you do not know that you are going to be a witness so you may not be as aware of what is going on. Also, the emotion that might be present during a car crash will not be there when watching a video. This reduces the validity of this supporting evidence.

Loftus and Palmer’s study lacked population validity. All of the participants were university students. Students may not be experienced drivers, which may impact on their susceptibility to leading questions. The results may not be generalisable to other groups i.e., older and more experienced drivers. This is because these individuals may be less susceptible to leading questions because they might be a better judge of speed.

Question 140

Give two strengths of Gabbert.

Answer 140

Gabbert’s research has increased population validity. The study used two different populations – students and older adults. The results between the two groups were similar. This suggests that applied to more people.

Gabbert’s study had a great deal of control. It was a lab experiment and therefore because of the control of extraneous variables, we know that the only thing impacting on the DV was the IV. This means that post-event discussion can change people’s memories of the event. Therefore, the results have greater internal validity.

Question 141

Give one limitation of Gabbert.

Answer 141

Gabbert’s research lacked mundane realism. The task involved watching a video of a crime where money was stolen from a wallet. Participants probably guessed that they were going to be asked you may not be as aware of what is going on. Also, the emotion that might be present during a real crime such as a robbery will not be there when watching a video. This reduces the validity of this supporting evidence.

Question 142

Give one strength of misleading information.

Answer 142

There are practical applications of research into misleading information. Geiselman and colleagues designed the cognitive interview to ensure that police officers do not ask leading questions. This means that memory retrieval is more accurate. The impact of this is that innocent people are less likely to be convicted of a crime that they did not commit based on eyewitness testimony.

Question 143

Give four limitations of misleading information

Answer 143

Research into misleading information uses artificial tasks. Loftus and Palmer got participants to watch a video of a car crash. This is a very different experience from witnessing a real accident, which reduces the external validity of the findings. This means that research into this area may tell us very little about how leading questions impact eyewitness testimony in cases of real accidents or crimes.

There are individual differences in the accuracy of eyewitness testimonies. Anastasi and Rhodes (2006) found that people between 18-25 and 35-45 were more accurate in eyewitness reports than people between 55-78. This means that studies need to use participants of varying ages to ensure their results are generalisable to a large number of people.

Although research into misleading information shows that it has an impact on the accuracy of EWT this may not be true in the real world. Participants in an EWT study usually know they are in a study. They know that, no matter how serious or horrific the incident, the answers they give will not have any significant effects. In the real world, eyewitness testimony could have serious and far-reaching consequences so misleading information may have less of an impact on the accuracy of EWT. Therefore, laboratory studies into misleading information may underestimate the accuracy of EWT as a result of the lack of consequence, reducing their external validity.

Laboratory experiments may have low external validity. Zaragosa and McCloskey (1989) argue that many answers participants give in studies of EWT are the result of demand characteristics. They think they have guessed the aim of the study. This may mean that they are more susceptible to leading questions in a study. However, an eyewitness in court may anticipate being subject to leading arguments as legal teams try to “paint” guilt or innocence so they may be more able to avoid being misled.

Question 144

What is anxiety?

Answer 144

Anxiety is a state of emotional and physical arousal. Emotions include having worried thoughts and feelings of tension. Physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweatiness.

Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations but can affect the accuracy and detail of eyewitness testimony.

Anxiety is thought to have positive and negative effects on the accuracy of EWT.

Question 145

Describe and explain the negative impact anxiety has on recall.

Answer 145

Lotfus propesed th e’weapon focus effect’ which suggests that the anxiety caused as a result of witnessing a weapon focuses the attention away from potential perpetrators and reduces teh accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Question 146

Who researched into the ‘weapon focus effect’?

Answer 146

Johnson and Scott (1976)

Question 147

Describe the procedure of Johnson and Scott’s study.

Answer 147

• Invited participants to a laboratory where they were told to wait in the reception area.
• A receptionists excused herself to run an errand.
• Two conditions were used in the independent group design:
• In the ‘no-weapon’ condition, participants overheard an argument in the laboratory. After an individual (the target) walks past the participant holding a pen, with his hands covered in grease.
• In the ‘weapon’ condition, participants overheard the same argument and the sound of breaking glass. Then the indivdual left, holding a bloodied letter opener.
• 50 photographs were shown and asked to identify the person who’d left the laboratory. Participants were informed that the suspect may or may not be present in the photographs.

Question 148

What were the findings in Johnson and Scott’s study?

Answer 148

Those who had witnessed the man holding a pen correctly identified the target 49% of the time, compared to those who had witness the man holding a knife, who correctly identified the target 33% of the time.

Question 149

What conclusions were made by Lotfus from Johnson and Scott’s study?

Answer 149

Loftus claimed that the participants who were exposed to the knife had higher levels of anxiety and were more likely to focus their attention on the weapon and not the face of the target, a phenomenon known as the weapon focus effect.

Therefore, the anxiety associated with seeing a knife reduces the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Question 150

Who conducted research into the postive impact of anxiety on recall?Yulle and Cutshall

Answer 150

Yulle and Cutshall

Question 151

What were the procedures of Yulle and Cutshall’s study?

Answer 151

• Conducted a study into a real-life shooting. The shop owner shot a thief. There were 21 witnesses and 13 agreed to take part.
• Interview happened 4-5 months after the incident and were compared to the original interview to the police at the time of shooting. Number of details determined accuracy.
• Witnesses also rated their stress levels on a 7 point scale and asked if they had any emotional problems since the event.

Question 152

What were the findings and conclusions of Yulle and Cutshall’s study?

Answer 152

The witnesses were very accurate in their accounts and there was little change in the amount of accuracy after 5 months. Those participants who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate. About 88% compare to 75% for the less-stressed group. This suggests that anxiety can improve the accuracy of EWT.

Question 153

Explain the contradictory findings

Question 154

Give one strength of the weapon focus effect.

Answer 154

There are real-world applications of this research. Understanding the effect of anxiety on the accuracy of EWT could help to determine the credibility of a witness. We now know that there is an optimal level of anxiety, which will produce maximum accuracy. The findings of research in this area are useful for those responsible for questioning witnesses.

Question 155

Give four limitations of the weapon focus effect.

Answer 155

One criticism of the weapon focus effect is that the effect may not be caused by anxiety. Pickel (1998) arranged for participants to watch a thief enter a hairdressing salon carrying scissors (high threat, low surprise), a handgun (high threat, high surprise), a wallet (low threat, low surprise), or a raw chicken (low threat, high surprise). Identification was least accurate in the high surprise conditions rather than the high threat conditions. This supports the view that the weapon focus effect may be the result of surprise rather than anxiety. This means that the knowledge gained from studies about the effects of anxiety on EWT are limited.

Field studies can sometimes lack control. Researchers usually interview real-life eyewitnesses sometime after the event for example in Yuille and Cutshall’s study. The researchers have no control over discussions with other people about the event, accounts they may have read or seen in the media etc. (i.e., post event discussion). It is possible that these extraneous variables may be responsible for the accuracy of recall. This reduces the validity of the findings provided in this area in relation to anxiety and the positive impact that it can have on recall.

There are ethical issues to consider in this area of research. Creating anxiety in participants by creating lab experiments is risky and potentially unethical as it could subject people to psychological Johnson and Scott’s, but it does question the need for such research. This is especially the case when real-life studies can be used where psychologists interview people who have already witnessed an event, although it may be distressing to ask participants to re-live this.

The inverted-U explanation only focuses on the physiological aspects of anxiety. It says that it is the physical changes to the body and brain during stressful incidents that affect the accuracy of EWT. Anxiety is more complex than this and has many components including a cognitive element. The theory ignores these. It is possible that anxiety might have a different effect on EWT than the one predicted by the theory.

Question 156

What is the standard police interview?

Answer 156

Geiselman and colleagues (1985) identified several ways that standard police interview methodology could negatively impact eyewitnesses’ recall accuracy of crimes. Police questioning techniques often prompted:

• Regular jumps between memory modalities (such as describing physical appearances and recalling dialogue)
• Event recall in a non-chronological order
• False memories due to leading questions

Question 157

What is the cognitive interview?

Answer 157

Geiselman et al. integrated effective techniques into a new questioning methodology - the cognitive interview - to achieve more detailed and accurate eyewitness testimonies.

At the start, the interviewer attempts to help the witness feel relaxed, and seeks to tailor their language to suit the individual. They aim to be non-judgmental and avoids personal comments throughout. There are 4 techniques involved in the cognitive interview.

Question 158

What are the four techniques involved in the cognitive interview?

Answer 158

• Report Everything
• Reinstate the context
• Reverse the order
• Change perspective

Question 159

Describe the technique of reporting everything.

Answer 159

Witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event, though it may seem irrelevant or the witness does not feel confident about it.

Question 160

Explain the reason why the technique , report everything, is used.

Answer 160

Seemingly trivial details may highlight something that has been overlooked that may be important. It may also trigger other important memories.

Question 161

Describe the technique of reinstating the context.

Answer 161

The witness should return to the original crime scene “in their mind” and imagine the environment and their emotions. This links to context and state dependent forgetting.

Question 162

Explain why the technique, reinstating the context, is used.

Answer 162

Reinstating the physical and mental context may act as cues/triggers to recall.

Question 163

Describe the technique, reversing the order.

Answer 163

Events should be recalled in a different chronological order to the original sequence e.g., from the end to the beginning, from the middle to the beginning.

Question 164

Explain why the technique, reverse the order is used.

Answer 164

This helps to verify accuracy. It prevents people reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened rather than the actual event. It also reveals dishonest, as it is more difficult to produce an untruthful account in reverse order. This helps to verify accuracy.

Question 165

Describe the technique, changing perspective.

Answer 165

Witnesses should recall the incident from other people’s perspectives e.g., from another witness, or the perpetrator.

Question 166

Explain why the technique, changing the perspective, is used.

Answer 166

This promotes a more ‘holistic’ view of the event, which may enhance recall. It also disrupts the effect of expectations and schema on recall.

Question 167

Describe the enhanced cognitive interview.

Answer 167

Fischer et al (1987) developed additional elements of the cognitive interview to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction. For example, the interviewer needs to know when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it.

The enhanced cognitive interview also includes ideas such as reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimising distractions, getting the witness to speak slowly, and asking open-ended questions.

Question 168

Give two limitations of the cognitive interview.

Answer 168

The cognitive interview is time consuming. For example, more time is needed to establish a rapport with the witness and allow them to relax. This interview technique therefore takes up more resources than the standard police interview. The impact of this is that the police may be more reluctant to use the cognitive interview.

The cognitive interview creates an increase in inaccurate information. Kohnken et al. (1999) found an 81% increase of correct information, but a 61% increase of incorrect information when the enhanced cognitive interview was compared to a standard interview. This suggests that the cognitive and enhanced cognitive interviews should be used carefully as they produce inaccurate information, reducing the effectiveness of the cognitive interview and its application in the real world.

Question 169

Give a limitation and strength of the cognitive interview. (combo whopper)

Answer 169

According to Milne and Bull (2002), each individual element of the cognitive interview was equally valuable. Individually, each technique produced more information than the standard police interview. However, Milne and Bull found that using a combination of report everything and context reinstatement produced better recall than any of the other conditions. This suggests that some elements are more useful than others and that it is pointless to use all four elements of the cognitive interview procedure if only using two produces the best recall.

Question 170

Give one strength of the cognitive interview.

Answer 170

The cognitive interview is particularly helpful if interviewees are older. Mello and Fisher (1996) found that the cognitive interview produced significantly more information for older participants. This may be because older adults are overly cautious about reporting information if they feel they are wasting time, but the cognitive interview places an importance on reporting everything. This suggests that the cognitive interview is more effective for older people than younger people.