Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psychology > Memory AO1 > Flashcards

Memory AO1 Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
AP® Psychology flashcards Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

What is capacity?

A

How much information can be stored in our memory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is duration?

A

How long information can be stored in our memory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is coding?

A

The format (way) that information is stored in our memory

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is the capacity of the Sensory Register?

A

Very high/ unlimited

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is the capacity of the STM?

A

7 (+/- 2 chunks )What

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is the capacity of the LTM?

A

Unlimited ( cannot be tested )

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the duration of the Sensory Register?

A

Less than half a second

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is the duration of the STM?

A

18-30 seconds

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is the duration of the LTM?

A

Potentially a lifetime

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is the coding of the Sensory Register?

A

Modality- specific
( Uses each of the 5 senses )

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is the coding of the STM?

A

Acoustically ( by sound )

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is the coding of the LTM?

A

Semantically ( based on meaning )

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What are the 3 stores in the MSM?

A
  1. Sensory Register
  2. Short Term Memory
  3. Long Term Memory
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How does information reach the sensory register?

A

Environmental Stimuli ( all information that is happening to you )

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How does information pass from the Sensory Register to the STM?

A

Information must be payed attention to

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How does information pass from the STM to the LTM?

A

Rehearsing and keep repeating information

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

How does information pass from the LTM to the STM?

A

Retrieval

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Which stores can information be forgotten from?

A

All 3 stores but once information reaches the LTM we do tend not to forget it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How do we keep information in the STM?

A

Maintenance rehearsal ( Keep repeating the information )

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What does the Primacy- Regency Effect prove?

A
  • We tend to remember words at the start and the end and NOT the middle
  • Words at the start have been rehearsed so stored in the LTM and the words at the end have just be practiced so stored in the STM
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Baddeley’s ( 1966 ) Experiment

A
  • Gave different groups lists of words they had to remember
  • Group 1 similar sounding words
  • Group 2 dissimilar sounding words
    -Group 3 words with similar meanings
  • Group 4 words with different meanings
  • Recalling from STM , ps tended to do worse with accoustically similar words
  • Recalling from LTM, ps tended to do worse on semantically similar words
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Jacobs ( 1887 ) Experiment

*Significantly old study which may lack validity

A
  • The researcher reads out 4 digits and the participant recalls out-loud in the same order
  • If correct, the researcher continues increasing the amount of digits by 1 each time, until the participant can no longer get it right
    -Indicates a digit span
  • Studys findings show that mean digit span for number is 9.3 items
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Peterson & Peterson ( 1959 )

A
  • Tested 24 students in eight tests each
  • Students were given a constant syllable to remember and were also given a 3- digit number
  • The student counted back from this number until they were told to stop ( the counting back was to prevent any mental rehearsal of the constant syllable
  • Findings suggested that the average recall was about 80 % after 3 seconds and after 18 seconds it was around 3%
  • Suggests STM duration may be about 18 seconds
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Bahrick et al ( 1975 )

A
  • Studied 392 American participants aged between 17 and 74
  • High school yearbooks were recovered and participants were tested in various ways e.g. photo-recognition tests and free- recall tests
  • Participants tested within 15 years of graduation were about 90% accurate
  • After 48 years recall declined to about 70%
  • This shows that LTM may last up to a lifetime for some material
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What are the 3 types of Long Term Memory?

A
  1. Procedural Memory
  2. Semantic Memory
  3. Episodic Memory
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

Procedural Memory
( How to do things e.g. walking )

A
  • Do not need to be conscious to preform
  • Ability to do these things becomes automatic through procedure
  • Memories are hard to describe to others
  • Least likely to be forgotten
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Episodic Memory
( Personal experiences e.g. birthdays )

A
  • Memories are time stamped so remember where and what happened
  • Memories of single episodes/ events include many elements e.g. people
  • Have to make a conscious effort to recall memories
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Semantic Memory
( General factual information e.g. capital cities and basic maths )

A
  • Memories are not time-stamped and we don’t know when we learned it
  • Have to make a conscious effort to recall memories
  • Less vulnerable to forgetting
29
Q

What is the Working- Memory Model? (WMM)

A
  • A model which refers specifically to the STM
  • An active processor and temporarily stores and manipulates information
30
Q

What are the parts of the WMM?

A
  • Central Executive
  • Phonological Loop
  • Episodic Buffer
  • Visuo- spacial Sketchpad
31
Q

What are the properties of the Central Executive?

A
  • The part that co-ordinates and controls the other subsystems
  • Decides where information needs to go and processes information
  • Helps us to divide out attention
  • Does NOT store information
32
Q

What are the properties of the Phonological Loop?

A
  • Deals with auditory information
  • ‘Inner ear’
  • Contains 2 parts: 1. The phonological loop which stores the words we hear
    -2. Articulary loop which allows for maintenance rehearsal
33
Q

What are the properties of the Visuo- Spacial Sketchpad?

A
  • Temporary storage of visual and spacial information
  • ’ Inner eye’
  • Has a limited capacity ( 3-4 chunks )
  • Visual Cache which stores visual data
  • Inner Scribe which records the arrangement of objects
34
Q

What are the properties of the Episodic Buffer?

A
  • This was a later addition to the model
  • Brings together information from the other stores into a single memory
  • Has a limited capacity of 4 chunks
  • Provides a bridge between the model and the LTM
35
Q

What are two predictions of the WMM?

A
  1. If two tasks make use of the same component they cannot be preformed succesfully together e.g. patting head and rubbing stomach
  2. If two tasks make use of different components it is usually possible to preform them well together
36
Q

What is the interference theory?

A

When two pieces of information disrupt each other because they are similar and/or learnt close together in time

37
Q

What are the two types of interference?

A

Proactive and Retroactive

38
Q

What is proactive interference?

A

When an old memory interferes with a new memory- ‘ causes the new memory to be forgotten

39
Q

What is an example of proactive interference?

A

A teacher struggling to remember the names of her new class because the old names are interfering

40
Q

What is retroactive interference?

A

When a new memory interferes with an old memory - ‘ causing the old memory to be forogtten’

41
Q

What is an example of retroactive interference?

A

A teacher has learnt the names of her new class very well so then begins to forget the name of the old class

42
Q

What is Retrieval Failure?

A

When forgetting due to the lack of cues (reminders)

43
Q

What are the 3 areas of Retrieval Failure?

A
  • ESP- Encoding Specificity Principle
  • Context- dependent forgetting
  • State- dependent forgetting
44
Q

What is ESP - Encoding Specificity Principle?

A
  • If a cue is going to be helpful it needs to be present at both encoding and recall
  • If the cues are different at encoding and recall there will be some forgetting
45
Q

What is Context- Dependent Forgetting?

A

Forgetting due to lack of external cues e.g. weather and location

46
Q

What is the study linked to CDF?

A

Godden and Baddeley ( 1975 ) where divers learnt a list of words either underwater or on land. They then had to recall that list on either land or underwater which created four different control group. In their findings they discovered accurate recall was 40% lower in non matching settings

47
Q

What is State- Dependent Forgetting?

A

When we forget due to lack of internal cues e.g. our emotions such as sadness, happiness or being drunk

48
Q

What is the study linked to SDF?

A

Carter and Cassaday ( 1998) where they gave antihistamines to participants which contained a slight sedative making them slightly drowsy. They then had to learn a list of words or passages and then repeat either without taking a drug or with retaking it creating 4 different groups. The results showed that when there was a mismatch between learning states and recall state the test results were worse

49
Q

What is an eye- witness testimony?

A

When a person witnesses a crime and they must give an account of what they saw

50
Q

What is a leading question?

A

When the wording or way a question is phrased and is leading to a certain answer e.g. directs toward to a particular answer
such as ‘ Did you see the gun?’

51
Q

Loftus and Palmer (1974) Experiment

A

Procedure- arranged for 45 participants to watch a film of a car accident and then asked questions about the car accident. In the leading question participants were asked to describe how fast the car is going but the verb used each time was changed e.g. contacted, smashed, bumped or collided

Findings- The verb contacted resulted in a lower mean speed whereas the verb smashed had a higher mean speed. The leading question biased the eye witnesses recall of events

52
Q

What are some small evaluation points for Loftus and Palmers experiment?

A
  • Lacks ecological validity
  • Lab experiment
  • High demand characteristics
  • High internal validity
53
Q

Why do leading questions affect EWT?

A
  1. The wording of the question has no actual affect on the memory but influences how they decide to answer
  2. OR it can actually change their original memory ( substitution)
54
Q

What is Post-Event Discussion?

A

When eyewitnesses to a crime may discuss their experiences and memories with each other

55
Q

Gabbert et al ( 2003) Experiment

A

Gabbert et al (2003) studied participants in pairs who each had to watch a video of the same crime, but from a different angle. The different angles contained events or information that cannot be seen from the other angle, meaning the other participant could not know. Both participants then had to discuss what they saw before completing a recall test.
Findings: 71% of the participants recalled information they could not possibly know whereas compared to the control group ( did not discuss information with the other participant) who recalled 0% of unknown information

56
Q

Why does PED affect EWT?

A
  1. Memory Contamination- When witnesses discuss their testimonies which then becomes distorted or altered e.g. combine misinformation with their own memories
  2. Memory Conformity- Witnesses discuss and assume their information is wrong so go along with the others ( the actual memory is unchanged)
57
Q

Summary of Leading Questions

A
  • A question which leads the participant to a particular answer
    1. The wording has no effect on the memory only how we influence the answer
    1. The original memory can be affected
  • The experiment was when participant watched a video of a car crash and were then asked how fast the car is going using different verbs e.g. smashed, collided and bumped
58
Q

Summary of Post-Event Discussion

A
  • When a participant are able to discuss their memories and events with another witness
  • The explanations are memory contamination OR memory conformity
  • The experiment was of pairs of participants who watched angles of an incident and then PED. This lead to 71% of recall mistakes and 0% from a control group ( no PED )
59
Q

What are the general issues with research for misleading information?

A
  • Have to use artificial tasks
  • High chance of demand characteristics
    -No consequences in lab studies like there would be in real-life
60
Q

What is Anxiety with EWT?

A
  • Can cause physical changes such as heart rate or sweating
  • Can also cause emotional changes such as worries thoughts or feelings
  • Anxiety can have positive or negative impacts on EWT
61
Q

Negative effect of Anxiety on EWT experiment ( Johnson and Scott)

A

Johnson and Scott (1976) exposed participants to one of two conditions:
1. Overheard a low-key discussion in a lab about an experiment going wrong and then emerge from his lab holding a pen with grease on his hands
2. They overheard a heated argument between two people and after there was a sound of breaking glass and then a men emerged with a bloody knife in his hand
Participants were then asked to identify the man from 50 different photos
Findings: Those who saw the man with the pen were 49% accurate and those who saw the man with the knife were 33% accurate. This shows the negative effect of anxiety

62
Q

Positive effect of Anxiety on EWT experiment (Chrsitianson and Hubbinette)

A

Christianson and Hubinette (1993)- questioned 110 people who had been apart of bank robberies. Some were bank onlookers and others were employees who were directly threatened. Employees were more accurate in their recall and remembered more details about who they were and what they did. This therefore shows that highly stressful situations can improve recall in real-life experiences

63
Q

What is the Yerkes Dodson Law?

A

A graph which shows when there are low levels of anxiety, recall accuracy is low and then memory becomes accurate as anxiety increases. However once anxiety has passed the optimum point accurate recall increases.

64
Q

What is the cognitive interview?

A

An interview conducted by the police which has 4 general memory enhancement techniques

65
Q

What are the 4 techniques apart of the cognitive interview?

A
  • Reinstate the context
  • Recall in a different order
  • Change the perspective
  • Report Everything
66
Q

What does Reinstate the Context mean?

A

When the witness mentally reconstructs the scene of the crime or actually returns to the scene itself

67
Q

What does Recall in a Different Order mean?

A

When witnesses recall the scene in reverse order which prevents the influence of expectation and general knowledge

68
Q

What does Changing the Perspective mean?

A

When the witness tries to recall the event from another persons view point e.g. the criminal or another witness. This helps to provide retrieval cues or produce a more accurate recall

69
Q

What does Report Everything mean?

A

Witnesses sometimes hold back information that they are not completely confident or sure about. This means that all information is reported

Psychology (7 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions