Memory - Different Types Of Memory And The Different Models

Question 1

Who made the Multi store model of memory?

Answer 1

Atkinson and Shiffinn (1968)

Question 2

What is the sensory register/memory?

Answer 2

Initial contact for stimuli. SM is only capable of retaining info for a short time.

Question 3

What is the short term memory?

Answer 3

The info we are currently aware of or thinking about. The info comes from paying attention to sensory memories (saying info over and over in your head).

Question 4

What is long term memory?

Answer 4

Continual storage of info largely outside our awareness, but can be called into working memory to be used when needed.

Question 5

What is the Multi-store memory model

Answer 5

(Maintenance rehearsal)
Environmental stimuli —> SM —> attention —> STM —> elaborative rehearsal —> LTM
I I
Decay Decay

Question 6

What happens in the brain when new info is learnt?

Answer 6

New neural pathways are formed.

Question 7

What happens in our brain when we rehearse info?

Answer 7

The neural pathways become stronger the more we use them.

Question 8

What is the duration of the SM?

Answer 8

1-2 seconds

Question 9

What is the capacity of the SM?

Answer 9

Said to be unlimited/large but info doesn’t stay there long enough to confirm.

Question 10

How is the SM encoded?

Answer 10

Through the 5 senses

Question 11

What is the duration of STM?

Answer 11

Up to 30 seconds without rehearsal.

Question 12

What is the capacity of the STM?

Answer 12

About 5-9 items.

Question 13

How is the STM encoded?

Answer 13

Acoustically (through sound).

Question 14

What is the duration of the LTM?

Answer 14

Said to be a Lifetime

Question 15

What is the capacity of the LTM?

Answer 15

Unlimited

Question 16

How is the LTM encoded?

Answer 16

Semantically (through meaning, must understand info you are trying to remember).

Question 17

Define capacity.

Answer 17

How much info this store can hold.

Question 18

Define duration.

Answer 18

How long this store can hold info for.

Question 19

Define coding.

Answer 19

The form in which the memory is processed.

Question 20

What was Miller’s magic seven?

Answer 20

• Capacity of human memory = 7 +/- 2 or 5-9.

- We can recall 5 words as easily as 5 letters - this is called chunking.

Question 21

What is chunking?

Answer 21

Miller found that the capacity of the STM could be considerably increased by combining/organising separate bits of info. E.g. you tell your phone number 3 numbers at a time.

Question 22

Describe Peterson and Peterson experiment, 1959.

Answer 22

Aim = investigate the duration of STM. 
Method = showed people trigram of letters and asked them to count backwards from a random number in 3’s for different amounts of time each trigram. 
Results = 80% remembered after 3 secs, 50% after 6, after 18 less than 10%.

Question 23

Describe Baddeley’s experiment in coding STM and LTM.

Answer 23

Gave a different list of words to four groups of participants to remember.
Group 1 = acoustically similar words.
Group 2 = acoustically dissimilar words.
Group 3 = semantically similar words.
Group 4 = semantically dissimilar words.

Participants tended to worse with acoustically similar words in the STM but not in the LTM, whereas semantically similar words posed little problem for STM but led to muddled LTM’s. This suggests STM is encoded acoustically and LTM is encoded semantically.

(For LTM Baddeley let the P’s listen to the words for 20 mins)

Question 24

Describe Bahrick’s study (1975).

Answer 24

He investigated the duration of LTM using 392 US Uni graduates. Group 1 participants were shown photographs from there high school year book and for each photo the participants needed to match a name to a face.

• > 90% were able to correctly match names and faces 15 years after graduating.
• > 70% were able to correctly match names and faces 48 years after graduating.

Group 2 participants ha d to free recall the names of fellow students.

• > 60% accurate after 15 years.
• > 30% accurate after 48 years.

People remember LTM info better with a prompt.

Question 25

Evaluate Bahricks study.

Answer 25

• > Lacks population validity.
• > Research is unable to explain whether LTM becomes inaccurate over time due to a limited duration or due to simply age.

-> Study has high ecological validity.

Question 26

What are the two case studies learnt in memory?

Answer 26

The case of Clive Wearing and the case of Henry Molaison (CW and HM).

Question 27

What happened in the case of Clive Wearing?

Answer 27

A virus effected parts of his body including his brain.

• his hippocampus was almost completely destroyed.
• he was still able to play the piano and could remember he had a wife and kids but doesn’t know who they are.
• cannot make any new LTM.

Question 28

What happened in the case of Henry Molaison?

Answer 28

He underwent an operation to remove parts of the brain (including his hippocampus) in an attempt to control his epileptic fits.

• intact IQ.
• memory until operation.
• can’t form new LTM’s.
• can learn new motor skills but cannot recall learning them.

Question 29

What can psychologists use to find out what parts of the brain are being used and when?

Answer 29

They can use MRI scans to show which parts of the brain are being used when certain tasks are being carried out.

Question 30

Who proposed the different LTM stores and what was his criticism about the multi-store model?

Answer 30

Tulving (1985) said that the multi-store models was too simplistic and inflexible in regards to LTM. He proposed that there were 3 different LTM stores with 3 different types of info in each.

Question 31

What is episodic memory and what are its properties?

Answer 31

Refers to our ability to recall events in our lives e.g. what you had for dinner last night.

• time stamped so you will remember when they happened.
• your memory of the episode, so you will remember several details such as who was there, places and objects.
• you make a conscious effort to recall them, explicit memories.

Question 32

What is semantic memory and what are its properties?

Answer 32

Knowledge of the world (people, places, facts).

• not time stamped, we don’t remember when or how we learnt about them.
• have to deliberately recall these facts, explicit memories.

Question 33

What is procedural memory and what are its properties?

Answer 33

Memory of actions/skills, how we do things. Includes memory of previously learnt skills.
- we can recall these without conscious awareness, implicit memories.

Question 34

What are the different parts of the brain and what do they do?

Answer 34

Frontal lobe - stores semantic and episodic memories.
Prefrontal cortex - involved in the storage of STM’s.
Temporal lobe - involved in the formation and storage of LTM (semantic and episodic ones) and contributes to the processing of new material in STM.
Amygdala - vital to the formation of new emotional memories.
Hippocampus - plays a pivotal role in the formation of new LTM’s (semantic and episodic ones).
Cerebellum - plays an important role in the storage of procedural memories.
Motor cortex - involved in storing procedural memories.

Diagram of the brain in notes + double check if need to learn this.

Question 35

Based on what you know about the 3 different LTM stores explain the case studies of HM and CW.

Answer 35

HM - he could make new procedural memories but only had his episodic and semantic memories before the operation.
CW - he had procedural memories, limited episodic memories and had his semantic memories up until his illness.

Question 36

What does the working memory model explain and who developed it?

Answer 36

This model explains our STM and was developed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) as they argued STM in the MSM was far too simplistic. According to the WMM the STM has subsystems.

Question 37

Where is each subsystem in the WMM located?

Answer 37

Central executive - prefrontal…
Articulatory control process - left frontal, Broca’s area. 
Visual cache - inferior temporal. 
Phonological loop - left parietal. 
Spatial tasks - occipital.

Question 38

What is the central executive and what are its properties?

Answer 38

It’s has overall control.

• a limited capacity.
• processes info via the 5 senses and decides what to pay attention to (inhibiting irrelevant info)
• allocates tasks to the slave systems (sub-systems).
• most important component.
• coordinating activity needed to carry out more than one process at a time.
• has the capacity to focus, divide and switch attention (can only do this if 2 different parts of the brain are being used for the 2 different tasks).

Question 39

What is the Phonological loop (slave system 1) and what are its properties?

Answer 39

The ‘inner ear’ + ‘inner voice’.

• inner ear, deals with auditory information and holds words we hear.
• inner voice, repeats info you are trying to remember in your head.
• hold auditory speech information.
• has a limited capacity.

Question 40

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad (slave system 2) and what are its properties?

Answer 40

The ‘inner eye’.

• limited capacity.
• temporary memory system for holding visual and/or spatial info.
• visual cache (collection of data) linked to an active ‘inner scribe’ that acts as a rehearsal mechanism e.g. planning a route.
• Geographical orientation.

Question 41

What is the episodic buffer and what are its properties?

Answer 41

Storage component for the central executive.

• temporary store for info, integrating info being processed by other stores.
• maintains sense of time sequencing.
• links working memory to LTM and other cognitive processes.

Question 42

What is dual task theory?

Answer 42

It is when you cannot do 2 tasks at the same time that require the same part of the brain.