Memory: Case Studys Flashcards
Who are Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)?
Proposed the multi-store model
What did Peterson & Peterson(1959) investigate?
STM by conducting a lab study with 24 students who recalled 3 letter trigrams at different intervals, then counted backwards to prevent rehearsal until asked to recall.
What did Peterson & Peterson find?
Found longer intervals led to less accurate recall. At 3 seconds 80% of trigrams were correctly recalled whereas 18 seconds was only 10%
What is Petersons & Petersons conclusion?
STM has a limited duration of around 18 seconds therefore if we are unable to rehearse it will not go into our long term memory
Who investigated the duration of LTM?
Bahrick et al (1975)
What did Bahrick et al do?
Examined 392 American university graduates on their memory for former classmates by asking participants to match the names of former classmates to pictures in a yearbook.
What were the findings for Bahrick et Al?
60% accuracy for matching names and faces 47 years after graduation
What is the conclusion of Bahrick et Al?
Memories stored in LTM can last a lifetime (or at least 47 years)
Who is patient KF?
He was injured in a motorcycle accident, after the accident he was able to recall information recalled in his LTM but he has issues with STM. He was able to remember visual images but was unable to remember sounds.
Does patient KF provide evidence for or against the multi-store model?
It provides evidence against as it shows there’s at least 2 STM stores, acoustic and visual but MSM shows only one
What was the aim of Johnson and Scott (1976)?
To identify whether arousal has a positive or negative affect on accuracy of the eyewitness testimony
What was Johnson and Scott’s procedure?
Participants heard a discussion in two adjoining rooms. Condition A) A man emerged holding a pen with grease on his hand. Condition B) the discussion was rather heated and a man emerged holding a paper knife covered in blood
What we’re Johnson and Scott’s findings?
When asked to identify the man from 50 photos participants in condition A were 49% accurate compared with 33% accuracy in condition B
What was the conclusion of Johnson and Scott?
In this study the presence of anxiety appeared to reduce the accuracy of eyewitness testimony - with the more anxious individuals being less likely to be able to identify the perpetrator
What was the aim of Yuille and Cutshall (1986)
To identify if arousal has a positive or negative affect on the accuracy of the eyewitness testimony
What was Yuille and Cutshalls procedure?
21 witnesses observed a shooting incident in which 1 person was killed and 2 seriously injured. All of the witnesses were interviewed by the investigating police and 13 witnesses (aged 15-32 years) agreed to a research interview 4-5 months after the event.
What was Yuille and Cutshalls findings?
The eyewitness accounts provided in both the police and research interviews were analysed. The witnesses were highly accurate in their accounts, and there was little change in the amount of accuracy of recall over 5 months.
What was Yuille and Cutshalls conclusion?
The eyewitnesses resisted leading questions, and their stress levels at the time of event appeared to have no negative effects on subsequent memory.
What was the aim of Loftus and Palmer (1974) ?
They conducted a classic experiment to investigate the effect of leading questions on the accuracy of the eyewitness testimony
What was the procedure of Loftus and Palmer?
Their sample consisted of 45 American students who were divided into groups. All participants watched a video of a car crash and then were asked questions about the speed of the cars. They manipulated the verb used in the question e.g smashed/hit.
What were the results of Loftus and Palmer?
They found that the estimated speed was affected by the verb used. Smashed had an average of 40.5 mph and contacted had 31.8 mph.
What is the conclusion of Loftus and Palmer?
The results clearly show that the accuracy of the eyewitness testimony is affected by leading questions.
What is the aim of Gabbert’s study?
To investigate the effect of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
What is the procedure or Gabbert’s study?
Each participant watched a video of the same crime but from a different point of view, so participants would see elements another participant wouldn’t. They then would discuss what they saw after.
