memory A01

Question 1

A01 Outline the procedure and findings of Baddeley’s Acoustic and Semantic study

Answer 1

-Coding
Procedure:
-Acoustically similar words (cat, cab, can) or dissimilar (pit, few, cow)
-Semantically similar (great, large, big) or dissimilar (good, huge, hot)
Findings:
-Immediate recall worse with acoustically similar words, STM is acoustic
-Recall after 20mins worse with semantically similar words, LTM is semantic

Question 2

A01 Outline procedure and findings of Jacobs’ Digit span study

Answer 2

-Capacity
Procedure:
-Researcher reads 4 digits and increases until participant cannot recall order correctly
-Final number= digit span
(Testing digit span)
Findings:
-Ppts could repeat back 9.3 numbers and 7.3 letters immediately after

Question 3

A01 Outline procedure and findings of Miller’s Magic number 7+/-2

Answer 3

-Capacity
Procedure:
-Observed everyday practice, noted things come in sevens (e.g days of week, deadly sins)
Findings:
-Span of STM is 7 items (plus or minus 2), increased by chunking (grouping letters/digits into meaningful unit)

Question 4

A01 Outline Procedure and findings of Peterson and Peterson’s Consonant syllables study

Answer 4

-STM duration
Procedure:
-24 students given consonant syllable (YCG) to recall and a 3-digit number to count back from
-Retention interval was varied: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds
Findings:
-After 3 seconds recall was 80%, 18secs 3%
-STM duration without rehearsal is up to 18 seconds

Question 5

A01 Outline procedure and findings of Bahrick’s Yearbook photo study

Answer 5

-LTM duration
Procedure:
-392 Americans aged 17-74
1) Recognition test- 50 photos from yearbook
2) Free recall test- ppts listed names from class
Findings:
1) Recognition test- 90% accurate after 15years, 70% 48years
2) Free recall test- 60% recall after 15years, 30% 48years

Question 6

A01 Outline the multi-store model of memory

Answer 6

-Atkinson and Shiffrin
-Describes how information flows through memory system (3 stores)
-Sensory register (stimuli from environment)
-STM coding: acoustic
capacity: 7+/-2
duration: 18secs
-LTM coding: semantic
capacity: unlimited
duration: unlimited
-When recalling info stored in LTM it must be moved into STM (this is retrieval)

Question 7

A01 What is meant by Episodic memory?

Answer 7

-LTM store
-Stores events from our lives (e.g recent visit to dentist, breakfast)
-Memories are complex (time stamped, involve several elements)
-Have to make conscious effort to recall

Question 8

A01 What is meant by Semantic memory

Answer 8

-LTM store
-Stores our knowledge of the world (e.g meaning of words)
-Not time stamped, less personal than episodic memories

Question 9

A01 What is meant by Procedural memory

Answer 9

-LTM store
-Stores memories for actions and skills (e.g swimming, driving)
-Recall occurs without awareness/effort (automatic with practice

Question 10

A01 What is the Working Memory Model?

Answer 10

-Baddeley and Hitch
-WMM is model for STM
-Concerned with the ‘mental space’ that is active when working on arithmetic problem or playing chess or understanding language

Question 11

A01 What is meant by the Central executive?

Answer 11

-Monitors incoming data/directs attention/allocates slave systems to tasks
-Limited storage capacity

Question 12

A01 What is meant by the Phonological Loop?

Answer 12

-Deals with auditory information/preserves order in which information arrives:
1) Phonological store: stores words you hear
2) Articulatory process: allows maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds to keep them in WMM while needed)

Question 13

A01 What is meant by the Visuo-spatial sketchpad?

Answer 13

-Stores visual/spatial information when required e.g recalling number of windows in your house
-Divided into:
1) Visual cache: stores visual data
2) Inner scribe: records arrangement of objects in visual field

Question 14

A01 What is meant by the Episodic Buffer?

Answer 14

-Temporary store for information
-Integrates visual/spatial/verbal information from
-Maintains time sequencing
-Links to LTM

Question 15

A01 Outline Retroactive interference

Answer 15

-New replaces the old memories
-Example: Teacher learns new names and cant remember previous students

Question 16

A01 Outline Proactive interference

Answer 16

-Old replaces new memories
-Example: Teacher learns names in the past so can’t remember current class

Question 17

A01 Interference Theory

Answer 17

-Forgetting occurs in LTM because we can’t access memories even though they are available
-Interference is worse when memories are similar

Question 18

A01 Outline the procedure for McGeoch and Mcdonald’s effects of similarity study

Answer 18

-Ppts asked to learn list of words 100% accurately
-Were given a new list to learn:
Group 1: Synonyms (same meanings as original
Group 2: Antonyms (words had opposite meanings as original
Group 3: Unrelated
Group 4: Consonant syllables
Group 5: 3 Digit numbers
Group 6: No new list (control condition)

Question 19

Outline the findings of McGeoch and Mcdonald’s Effects of similarity study

Answer 19

-Performance depended on nature of second list, most similar=worst recall
-Shows that interference is strongest when memories are similar

Question 20

Outline retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting

Answer 20

-Lack of cues can cause retrieval failure
-Encoding specificity principle (Tulving): Cues help retrieval if present at both encoding (learn material) and retrieval (recalling it)
-Meaningful links (the cue STM leads you to recall info about short term memory)
-Non meaningful links:
1) Context dependent forgetting (recall depends on external cue, weather/place)
2) State dependant forgetting (recall depends on internal cue, feeling upset/drunk)

Question 21

Outline the procedure and findings of Godden and Baddeley’s context-dependent forgetting study

Answer 21

Pricedure: Deep-sea divers learned word lists and later asked to recall them-
Condition 1: Learn on land-recall on land
Condition 2: Learn on land-recall underwater
Condition 3: Learn underwater-recall on land
Condition 4: Learn underwater-recall underwater
Findings: Accurate recall was 40% lower in conditions 2 and 3 than in 1 and 4
Retrieval failure was due to absence of encoded context cues at time of recall

Question 22

Outline the procedure and findings of Carter and Cassaday State-dependent forgetting study

Answer 22

Procedure: Ppts learned list of words and recalled them
Condition 1: Learn on drug-recall on drug
Condition 2: Learn on drug-recall not on drug
Condition 3: Learn not on drug-recall on drug
Condition 4: Learn not on drug-recall not on drug
Findings: Recall worse in conditions 2 and 3
When cues at encoding are absent at retrieval there is more forgetting

Question 23

Outline the procedure of Loftus and Palmer’s leading questions study

Answer 23

45 ppts watched film clips of car accidents and then answered questions about speed
‘About how fast were the car going when they hit eachother?’
5 groups of ppts each given a different verb in the critical question: Hit, contacted, bumped, collided or smashed

Question 24

Outline the findings of Loftus and Palmer’s leading questions study

Answer 24

The verb ‘contacted’ produced mean estimate speed of 31.8mph
For verb ‘smashed’ mean speed of 40.5mph
Leading question biased eyewitness recall of an event

Question 25

Why do leading questions affect EWT?

Answer 25

Response bias explanation- wording influences answers given
Substitution explanation- wording affects eyewitness memory (interferes with original memory distorting accuracy)

Question 26

Outline the procedure of Gabbert’s post event discussion study

Answer 26

Paired ppts watched video of same crime but filmed so each ppt could see elements in the event and other could not
Both ppts discussed what they had seen before completing recall test

Question 27

Outline the findings of Gabbert’s post event discussion study

Answer 27

71% of ppts wrongly recalled aspects of event they did not see in video but heard in discussion
Control group-no discussion and no errors
Evidence of memory conformity

Question 28

Why does post event discussion affect EWT?

Answer 28

Memory contamination-When discussing a crime they mix information from other witnesses with their own memory
Memory conformity-Witnesses go along with eachother to win social approval/believed they were right

Question 29

Outline the procedure of Johnson and Scotts study of anxiety having a negative effect

Answer 29

Ppts sat in waiting room thinking they were in a lab study
Low anxiety condition-Ppts heard casual conversation and saw a man walk through room carrying a pen with grease on his hands
High anxiety condition-Heated argument with sound of glass breaking, man walks through room with a knife covered in blood (weapon focus)
Ppts later asked to pick the man from set of 50 photographs

Question 30

Outline the findings of Johnson and Scotts study of anxiety having a negative effect

Answer 30

49% ppts in low anxiety condition and 33% in high anxiety condition were able to identify man
The tunnel theory of memory argues that people have enhanced memory of central events, weapon focus as a result of anxiety can have this effect

Question 31

What is meant by ‘weapon focus’?

Answer 31

When a crime involves a weapon this creates anxiety meaning witness’ attention is focused on weapon leaving less attention for other details of event

Question 32

Outline the procedure of Yuille and Cutshall’s study of anxiety having a positive effect

Answer 32

Actual crime where gun shop owner shot thief dead
13 witnesses agreed to be in study
Ppts were interviewed 4-5months after incident, information recalled was compared to police interviews at the time of crime
Witnesses rated how stressed they felt at time of incident

Question 33

Outline the findings of Yuille and Cutshall’s study of anxiety having a positive effect

Answer 33

Witnesses very accurate recall and little change in 5months
Ppts who reported highest levels of stress were most accurate
Anxiety does not reduce accuracy of EWT for real world even and may enhance it

Question 34

What is the cognitive interview?

Answer 34

Based on psychological understanding of memory
Fisher and Geiselman said EWT improved if police use techniques based on how memory works
4 main techniques:
1) Report everything- encouraged to report even if seems irrelevant (may trigger other memories)
2) Reinstate context- Witness returns to original crime scene in their mind and imagines environment (weather,sight,felt)
3) Reverse the order- Prevents story telling and basing description on how event must have happened rather than actual event
4) Change perspective- Recall from other peoples perspectives

Question 35

What is the enhanced cognitive interview?

Answer 35

Fisher developed this
Includes focus on social dynamics of interaction (eye contact)
Includes reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimising distraction, eyewitness speaking slower and open ended questions