memory A03 Flashcards
evaluate the MSM
strength: support for duration of STM in MSM - P+P trigrams study
showed that duration of STM is in fact 18-30 secs as pps found it hard to recall trigrams after no maintenance rehearsal (MR) for this length of time.
so, MSM is a good explanation of memory as it proves STM as a specific and limited duration without MR that is different from LTM and therefore the stores exist and are valid.
HOWEVER…
low mundane realism, not everyday task, no semantic meaning or consequences. IRL if don’t recall, can impact life (e.g. exam-career)
also, info IRL = more complex and can be revised during high stress and anxiety, which P+P pps didn’t have. so maybe duration IRL is longer, and MSM not good explanation of RL memory.
strength - however there are case studies that have high EV
Clive Wearing developed a herpes virus and damaged his ability to have
MR. He therefore only had a STM of up to 10 secs.
supports the MSM- proves do need to MR information in STM, as without it Clive could not form LTM.
HOWEVER…
Clive Wearing is a unique case study & his duration was lower than the 18-30sec duration supposed by P+P. This disproves MSM as it could just be
due to Clive’s herpes virus and not maintenance rehearsal issues.
Criticism - MSM = oversimplified
assumes STM only encodes acoustically and that humans can only encode one peice of info at a time and not dual processing like WMM.
Humans are not as simplistic, we have emotions that will affect the way our memories are stored or retrieved. treats humans too much like computers and ignores emotions.
may need to elaborately rehearse info to get it into LTM by processing the importance and meaning to the info.
However…
not all info can be encoded semantically, so MSM is good start in explaining how memory works.
Long term memory A03
strength: Research support for types of LTM from brain scans
Tulving - PET scans. 6 pp’s performing
memory tasks. Injected radioactive
traces of gold. More blood flow to
anterior (front) = episodic. More blood
flow to posterior (back) = semantic.
Objective measure, scientific causation,
no demand characteristics possible
when doing memory tasks and
measuring with PET scan so can be sure that Diff areas active when recalling distinct types of LTM.
HOWEVER… there are only 6 pps, and 3
dropped out (Tulving, his wife and 1
other pp left). Therefore, more of a case
study, hard to generalise to others as
maybe unique brain differences in those
3 pps. Cannot generalise as they are
unlike to normal pop, e.g., professors at
universities (highly educated).
strength - A criticism of Tulving is a lack of EV, but also research support with high EV.
Clive Wearing, lost episodic memories,
but retained some semantic & full
procedural memories, e.g., how to play
piano.
Proves that there are different types as
each type was affected to a greater or
lesser extent. If one type of LTM then all
would be affected to same extent.
However, could argue playing piano is
episodic as was a concert pianist and
maybe recalling memories of playing the
piano to play. Reading music (semantic). As a case study hard to generalise, he
was substantially different to other
people in terms of his profession.
Strength - good real-life application
from type of LTM research
Episodic memories can be improved in
older people with mild cognitive
impairments. This means that specific
treatments can be developed to help
with different LT memory impairments.
HOWEVER…
could be that in fact splitting our LTM into types is reductionist.
semantic, procedural and episodic memories are linked together, e.g., knowing how to play the piano, understanding where to play and what time the concert event is on. So maybe we need to consider LTM more holistically.
working memory model (WMM) AO3
strengthresearch support for dual processing
Ev- Baddeley + Hitch, tracking light and angles.
Ex - proves we cannot do do similar tasks (e.g. two visual tasks) as it overloads the VSS. whereas, we can dual task (one articulatory and one visual) without decrease in performance. Hence 2 separate slave systems.
L- lack of EV, no semantics or consequences (IRL, driving and reading a map - more serious consequence so may be able to do it better)
Strength - evidence from studies with higher ecological validity
Ev- KF - motorcycle accident. STM forgetting of auditory info rather than visual.
Ex- Had issues specifically with his PL. This supports the idea we have separate slave systems.
L- case study, unique, accident could have altered his brain functions
criticism - WMM can be criticised for being too vague
Ev- doesn’t fully explain CE (assumes single component, rather than made of many functions. E.g. cerebral brain tumour removed, performed well on reasoning tests but poor decision making (CE needed for both)
Ex WMM = reductionist, oversimplifies role of CE - maybe CE is describing a number of cognitive functions
interference AO3
strength - research support
for the existence of retroactive interference
McGeoch & McDonald
proves that that List B (new info) was affecting the recall of old info(List A) = retroactive interference (RI)
Highly scientific, only change is the list given.
HOWEVER…
lack of EV (no consequence), possibly less likely to have Ri if there is semantics to the information. Also, could be retrieval delay issues as 10 min break.
Strength However, there is
research support with high ecological validity.
Rugby Players - Forgetting was more due to the number of games played (so interference of memory) rather than the amount of time that passed between games.
so, Interference is the issue, and not retrieval delay in a real-life situation.
HOWEVER… could only be true of RI
strength - Though there is research support for proactive interference
Meta-analysis of other studies on proactive interference. If 10 or more lists remembered, after 24hrs 20% recalled new information. If only 1 list, it was 70% recalled.
Therefore, evidence of both retroactive and proactive interference, over many studies and within a real-life setting.
This has real life application for understanding how to improve memory recall and reduce forgetting, e.g.,
avoiding revising similar subjects for an exam on the same day.
retrieval failure AO3
strength - there is real
life application on retrieval failure
BOOB
same context= higher recall, useful as it shows should learn and recall in same external context. shows importance of learning in exam conditions to ensure a similar context.
HOWEVER…
not possible to conduct all learning in the same context, e.g. unethical to take eyewitnesses back to scene of crime (however can reinstate context in cognitive interview).
criticism - practical issues to using
strategies for using retrieval cues
48 medical students
more errors made in AS and SA conditions than AA or SS.
Being in the same internal state increases recall.
HOWEVER…
unethical and impractical to place people in the same state, e.g. PTSD or getting someone intoxicated in a police interview or court.
HOWEVER..
this does help with increasing the accuracy of EWT, e.g., reinstatement of context (getting the EW to consider the context or their state at the time).
leading questions A03
strength - research support
loftus and palmer exp 1
45 students
“how fast was the car going when it…into the other vehicle?”
(hit, collided, smashed, bumped, contacted)
hit 31mph, smashed 41mph average
shows leading Q’s decrease accuracy of EWT.
HOWEVER.. room for response bias
exp 2 broken glass
removed response bias
more people said yes in smashed than hit - more likely to have a false memory if had leading Q.
but lacks ecological validity, lack of real life consequences. also students - might not be experienced drivers yet, which could affect their answers.
However, there is research support with high ecological validity
Yuille & Cutshall: interviewed 13 EW’s to real life armed robbery; 2 misleading questions but very accurate 4 months after robbery.
No consequences in L&P’s study, e.g. lack of surprise/emotion, unlike in Yuille & Cutshall. Hence why leading questions did not affect in real life.
HOWEVER…
could be due to impact on anxiety
(Yerkes-Dodson Law) rather than seriousness of consequences. Good application to real life, e.g. reducing police using leading questions in interviews (cognitive interview).
Post-event discussion AO3
strength - research support with good population validity
Gabbert - 120pps (1/2 students, 1/2 older)
control group, exp group (PED)
71% gave info they hadn’t seen
60% said girl was guilty despite not seeing her commit the crime.
Post event discussion decreases accuracy; highly generalisable, as not just students but older people.
However, there are issues around ecological validity – no surprise, knew taking part in an experiment. lack of consequences.
strength- application to real life
Bodner: 3 groups
• Dyad = post event discussion
• Read = read another pps report
• Both-video = watched an alternative video.
They were either warned or not warned about effects of post event discussions.
Reduce the effects when warned, dyad
group as accurate as read group. They were less likely to include non-witnessed detail.
HOWEVER…
is this actually a false memory
being created or just NSI conformity?
anxiety AO3
strength - weapon focus study
cond 1: amicable- 49% accuracy in id’ing man
cond 2: hostile - 33%
cristisicm weapon focus study has low ecological validity
staged hostile and amicable discussion. This was acted and the pp’s may have
realised.
Possibly more under-arousal, lack of anxiety as not a real-life event. Hence poor memory performance; or demand characteristics.
HOWEVER…
it could be argued that the reason for the low accuracy in the hostile condition is that the pp’s were surprised by the argument, rather than the anxiety of the weapon and threat it poses.
However, there are studies that have higher ecological validity that do in
fact support the weapon focus theory
London dungeons (heart monitor to measure anxiety when scared). Results: high state of anxiety = fewer correct descriptors of person & inaccurate line up id.
This proves that the more anxiety the worse the accuracy of EWT, as the more physically anxious less recall.
HOWEVER…
this could be more due to surprise than weapon focussed anxiety.
backed up by pickel’s study where pp’s watched a thief enter hair salon
4 conditions: 1. Scissors, 2. handgun, 3. Wallet, 4. raw chicken.
The pp’s accuracy decreased to high surprise (raw chicken) than the handgun
(high threat).
criticises the weapon focus theory and supports the theory that EWT is affected by surprise rather than weapon focused anxiety.
However, both the London dungeon and the surprise studies results of poor
EWT recall may be overarousal, hence poor performance and not optimal
Yuille and Cutshall: Canada armed robbery. Police interviewed EW’s, 13 reinterviewed 4-5 months later. Accurate recall, even with 2 leading questions.
Highest levels of stress reported were the most accurate (88% - 75%).
Proves that in a real-life crime, EWT is accurate. Therefore, the weapon focus study was too underaroused and the London Dungeons over aroused (both not real crime situations).
This fits with Yerkes-Dodson Law: optimal anxiety which increases accuracy; too low (Weapon focus) or too high and less accuracy.
cognitive interview AO3
strength cognitive interview is more accurate
Simulated crime: used CI, SI and hypnosis. Found more accurate recall with CI.
Therefore, CI is more effective in getting reliable EWT for CJS.
Research found it also increases the amount of information recalled.
HOWEVER…
lack of EV, as no consequences to
incorrectly recalling, different in a real crime situation.
criticism - However, it depends on the element of the cognitive interview that is used
Recall everything & context reinstatement was the most preferred by police and seemed to be the most effective.
The CI as a whole lacks accuracy and is particularly ineffective in the more challenging elements of changing perspective and context reinstatement.
Therefore, better if only 2 elements, it also reduces the time taken to complete a cognitive interview.
criticism - On the other hand, there are problems in completing training and the time taken to do the training
Not all police are trained as it is expensive to do so. means that whilst training not being used to reduce offending.
Therefore, CI lacks usefulness as if there are few police then not employed in majority of crimes. so SI more used by police and hence useful.
Moreover, changing perspective and reversing the order are not good with children. They have not developed the ability to perspective take or abstract think until they are at least 7 years of
age.
