Memory AO3

Question 1

Strengths of MSM

Answer 1

• Clive Wearing case study. CW suffered brain damage which lead to him being unable to tranfer info from STM to LTM. Supports sequential and linear nature of the model.
• Lab study support. Digit span test showed STM capacity is 5-9 items. Prevented rehearsal while recalling triagrams showed LTM duration of 18-30 seconds.

Question 2

Weakness of MSM

Answer 2

KF case study. Could remember things in STM visually but not acoustically. STM is too simple as KF shows STM has multiple components. Not a comprehensive model.

Question 3

Strengths of WMM

Answer 3

• Patient KF study. Could remember visually but not acoustically which shows STM having different stores. Shows model is valid and accurate.
• Physiological evidence exists through brain PET scans whic show different areas of the brain are active when completing verbal and visual tasks. These areas may correspond with WMM components.

Question 4

Weakness of WMM

Answer 4

Lab exp which involved an artificial stimulus. This makes task unrealistic so research support lacks mundane realism so not applicable to real life.

Question 5

Strengths of LTM

Answer 5

• Research support in HM case study. Partial removal of hippocampus rendered him unable to form new episodic memories but could still do procedural tasks. Shows distinction between types of LTM and supports episodic memories being formed in hippocampus.
• Brain scans support different types of LTM. Scans show different brain partd active when accessing different types of LTM. Shows different parts of LTM work individually and that they are responsible for different types of memory.

Question 6

Weakness of LTM

Answer 6

Patient case studies unrepresentative as they had unique medical conditions that affected how brains and memories worked. Lacks population validity.

Question 7

Strength of Research into effects of anxiety on EWT

Answer 7

Real life applications. Ppts didn’t now exp had started which made their reactions and observations more realistic. Gives research mundane realism so applicable to real life crimes.

Question 8

Weaknesses of Research into effects of anxiety on EWT.

Answer 8

• Ethical issues. Deception as they thought waiting room was real. Undermines value of research and makes it less reproducible.
• Opposing research by Y and C suggests anxiety can improve EWT. 13 ppts in Y and C’s study could accurately recall a high anexiety real life shooting 4-5 months later. Suggests J and S finding may not be valid.

Question 9

Strength of Research into effects of Leading Questions on EWT

Answer 9

Real life applications. Police and legal teams can use findings to make sure court trials and police investigations avoid leading questions. Ensures crimes are dealt with fairly and people involved are psychologically protected.

Question 10

Weaknesses of Research into effects of Leading Questions on EWT

Answer 10

• Artificial tasks used. Not usually asked about car speeds in real life. Lacks mundane realism due to unrealistic task so can’t be applied to real life.
• Unrepresentative sample of all american uni students. Not applicable to other nationalities/age groups. Lacks population validity.

Question 11

Strength of Research into effects of PED on EWT

Answer 11

Good population validity. 60 uni student and 60 older people. Results can be generalised to all age groups. However, bad population validity as all ppts from UK. Has cultural bias and can’t be applied to other nationalities.

Question 12

Weaknesses of Research into effects of PED on EWT.

Answer 12

• Lab exp. Highly controlled and simulated enviroment in uni. Lacks ecological validity as people may act differently in more realistic settings.
• Ethical issues. Deception as videos were filmed in misleading ways. Undermines value of research and makes it less reproducible.

Question 13

Strengths of Cognitive Interview Technique

Answer 13

• Research support suggests CI is more effective than SI. CI = 41.67 correctly recalled items, SI = 35.58 correctly recalled items. CI helps witnesses recall more accurately.
• Beneficial implications to economy. Method of interviewing helps police retrieve more accurate memories. Prevents miscarriages of justice and means stronger prosecution cases which helps police save time and resources.

Question 14

Weakness of Cognitive Interview Technique

Answer 14

CI’s can cost more time and money. Police have to take specialist training and CIs can take hours longer compared to SIs, even for low level crimes. CIs may not always be necessary/needed as some crimes are simple so police time and money may be wasted.

Question 15

Strength of Retrieval Failure

Answer 15

Rsearch support. G + B diver study found accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions due to external cues not being present. Shows Encoding Specificity Principle is valid explanation of forgetting.

Question 16

Weaknesses of Retrieval Failure

Answer 16

• Issues with context effect. Baddeley found that contexts have to be very different to see and effect. Real life examples due to contextual cues don’t explain much forgetting.
• Absence of cues only affects memory in certain ways. G + B found cues affect recall but nor recognition for all 4 conditions. RF can only explain certain types of forgetting.

Question 17

Strengths of Interference Theory

Answer 17

• Research support. M + M found ppts with similar words lists had worse recall. Ppts had memories distorted by similar words which makes IT more reliable and valid.
• 1000s of lab exps carried out. E.G. M + M study shows IT is a very common way we forget info from LTM. Lab exps control effect of irrelevant influences which makes IT a valid explanation.

Question 18

Weakness of Interference Theory

Answer 18

Items learned in lab studies are not as complex as items learnt in real life. Word lists not as realistic as people’s faces, birthdays etc. Use of artificial tasks makes interference more likely in the lab IT may not be as likely in everyday life.