Memory (easy) Flashcards
Name all the sub topics in this topic
Coding, capacity, duration of memory
The MSM of memory
Types of long-term memory
The WMM
Explanations for forgetting:
1)Interference
2)Retrieval failure
Factors affecting accuracy of EWT:
1)Misleading information
2)Anxiety
Improving the accuracy of EWT:
1)Cognitive interviews
What does Coding mean?
The format in which info is stored in the various memory stores
What does Capacity mean?
The amount of info that can be held in a memory store at a given time
What does Duration mean?
How much time information can be held in a memory store
What is Short Term Memory (STM) and what are it’s properties?
The limited capacity memory store
Coding is mainly acoustic
Capacity is between 5-9 items
Duration is between 18-30 seconds
What is Long Term Memory (LTM)?
The permanent memory store
Coding is mainly semantic
Unlimited Capacity
Unlimited store of memories
What are the Research Studies for Short Term Memory?
Baddeley- Coding
Jacob/Miller - Capacity
Peterson and Peterson - Duration
What are the Research Studies for Long Term Memory?
Baddeley - Coding
Duration - Bahrick
Describe Baddeley’s study. (Aims, Procedure, Findings, Conclusions)
Aims- Assess whether coding in STM was mainly semantic or acoustic
Procedure - word lists like cat, mat. 4 sets of word lists - acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar, semantically dissimilar.
Participants had to recall order of word lists. Done immediately to assess STM, 20 min after to assess LTM
Findings - Ppts given list of acoustically similar words had worst recall. Confused similar sounds word. Ppts given list of semantically similar words had worst recall.
Conclusion - Poor recall showed words were confused.
immediate recall -> acoustically sounding words weren’t remembered well.
Suggests STM is acoustically coded, people remembered other lists fine. For delayed recall, semantically sound words weren’t remembered well. LTM is semantically coded
Describe Jacobs (1887) Study
Aims- Research capacity of STM
Procedure - Developed technique to measure digit span - how many items an individual can remember in sequence and repeat in order
Findings - Found mean span for digit was 9.3 items. For letters it was 7.3
Conclusion - Memory can hold 7-9 items
Describe Miller (1956) study.
Aim - Research capacity of STM
Procedure - Saw things came in sevens (days of week). Chunked items into groups
Findings - Found people could recall 5 words, and 5 letters
Conclusion - Used term ‘magical number 7’ to describe capacity
Describe Peterson and Peterson (1956) study.
Aim - Research duration of STM
Procedure - 24 students did 8 trials and were given consonant syllable (BNT) and a three-digit number and asked to count back down to stop rehearsal
Findings - STM lasts 18s after this hard to recall
Conclusion - STM has a very short duration, unless rehearsed
Describe Bahrick (1975) study.
Aim - Research duration of LTM
Procedure - Tested recall of people participants had gone to school with using photo recognition and free recall
Findings - 90% accuracy for photo recog with people who graduated in 15 years and 60% accuracy for free recall. After 48 years, photo recog = 70% and free recall 30%
Conclusion - LTM lasts a long time
Baddeley AO3
What is a strength and limitation into coding research?
-ve
Baddeley’s study didn’t have any meaningful material
Words had no personal meaning
When info is meaningful people will use semantic coding even in STM
+ve
clear diff between 2 memory stores
STM acoustic, LTM semantic. Led to MSM
What is a strength and limitation of capacity?
-ve Miller (oversimplified)
Cowan (2001) reviewed other research and said that capacity of STM was only 4 chunks lower than 5-9 itms
Accepted capacity of STM = inaccurate
+ve
Jacobs study has been replicated. Better controlled studies with no confounding variables confirmed findings
What is a Limitation of research on duration?(STM)
Peterson (artificial)
artificial stimuli
YCG doesn’t represent real life
Lacks external validity
What is a Limitation and Strength of LTM duration research?
Bahrick = high external validity
Used memories of real life
Real life is more accurately representative
Confounding var not controlled - may have looked at photos before experiment
Who proposed the MSM of Memory?
Atkinson and Shiffrin
What three stores make up MSM?
SR, STM, LTM
What is the Multi Store Model of Memory?
A representation of how memory works in terms of three stores; sensory register, STM and LTM.
Describes how info is transferred from one store to another, how it’s remembered and how its forgotten.
What does Sensory Register mean (SR)?
stimuli from surroundings -> SR
compromises several registers, one for each 5 senses.
Coding = modality specific
visual info= iconic memory
acoustically = echoic
duration= brief, less than 1/2 second.
SR has high capacity
info passes further when there is attention.
Draw the MSM of memory
look in book for answer
What does iconic store mean?
Vision
What does echoic store mean?
Hearing
What is the coding in the iconic sensory register?
Visual
What is the coding in the echoic sensory register?
Acoustic
What is the capacity for Sensory Register?
huge
What is the duration of SR?
Less than half a second
What is the coding for Sensory Register overall? [5]
Iconic
Echoic
Olfactory
Haptic
Gustatory
What does Modality specific mean?
Whichever sense is registered will match the way it is consequently held (for e.g. taste is held as taste)
How is temporary storage primarily encoded?
Acoustic (sound)
How can you increase the capacity of the STM from 30 s?
Chunking (converting a string of items into a number of larger ‘chunks’)
How can you consolidate information from STM to LTM
Rehearse information via the rehearsal loop helps to retain info in STM, and then conslidate it to LTM
MSM, -ve more than one STM store AO3
-The case of Clive Wearing supports the MSM.
-Other case studies refute the model.
-For example, patient KF, injured in a motorcycle accident.
-Following the accident, KF could recall stored information from his LTM.
-However, he had issues with his STM.
-KF was able to remember visual images, including faces, but unable to remember sounds (acoustic information).
-This suggests at least two components within STM.
-One component for visual information and one for acoustic information.
-Suggests the MSM may provide an overly simplified account of STM.
Research support for MSM +ve AO3
-Support for the MSM comes from the case of Clive Wearing.
-Wearing contracted a virus causing severe amnesia.
-Following the virus, he could only remember information for 20–30 seconds.
-However, he could recall past information, such as his wife’s name.
-Wearing was unable to transfer information from STM to LTM.
-But he could retrieve some information successfully.
-Wearing’s case supports the idea that memories are formed by passing information from one store to the next in a linear fashion.
-Damage to any part of the MSM can cause memory impairment.
MSM, -ve some research reductionist AO3
Further support for the MSM comes from psychological studies.
-Miller (1959) supports the idea of a limited capacity of 7+/-2 chunks of information in STM.
-Peterson & Peterson (1959) support the idea of a limited duration in STM of approximately 20 seconds.
-Bahrick (1975) supports the idea of a lifetime duration in LTM.
-These studies support different elements of the MSM, suggesting the model is an accurate representation of human memory.
HOWEVER
-Research examining the MSM exemplifies experimental reductionism.
-It attempts to explain complex behaviour by relying on isolated variables operationalized in laboratory experiments, such as the capacity of STM or duration of STM.
-Many psychologists argue that reducing memory to isolated variables undermines the complexity of human memory and does not provide a comprehensive understanding of memory in everyday contexts.
What will you discuss in types of Long Term Memory?
Episodic memory, semantic memory, procedural memory
What does Episodic Memory mean?
A long term memory store for personal events.
It includes memories of when events occured and of people, places etc. involved
Memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort
What does semantic memory mean?
A long term memory store for our knowldge of the world
This includes facts and our knowledge of what words/concepts mean
Memories need to be recalled deliberately
What is Procedural Memory?
A long term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things
This includes our memories of learned skills
We recall these memories without conscious or deliberate effort
What does Explicit/Declarative mean?
What does Implicit mean?
Memories that can be inspected and recalled consciously
Memories that are unable to be consciously recalled
Which LTM types is explicit?
[2]
Episodic Memory
Semantic Memory
Which LTM type is implicit?
procedural memory
Episodic memories are “time ——–”
Stamped
Brain scan support for LTM +ve AO3
Brain scans provide support for different types of LTM.
Research suggests that different parts of the brain are active when accessing episodic, semantic, and procedural memories.
Episodic memories are associated with the hippocampus and temporal lobe.
Semantic memories are also associated with the temporal lobe.
Procedural memories are associated with the cerebellum and motor cortex.
Brain scan research suggests that different brain regions are responsible for the different types of LTM, supporting the idea that LTM is made up of at least three distinct categories.
Research support for LTM +ve AO3
Support for the distinction between implicit and explicit LTM comes from the case study of patient HM (Milner, 1962).
HM suffered from severe epilepsy and underwent surgery, including the removal of his hippocampus, to alleviate symptoms.
His STM remained intact; however, he was unable to transfer certain types of information to his LTM.
Milner discovered that HM could learn procedural (implicit) tasks but not episodic or semantic (explicit) information.
HM could complete a mirror tracing task, retaining the skill without forgetting, but had no knowledge of ever completing the task.
Therefore, HM could demonstrate his procedural memory through implicit behavior despite being unable to recall his experiences explicitly.
HM provides further evidence for the distinction between different types of LTM, namely implicit and explicit.
Real world application for LTM AO3 +ve
Understanding LTM helped psychologists help those with memory problems
People aging = memory loss. Seems to be specific 2 E memory
Belleville et al devised intervention to help improve E memory in old people
Trained them, performed better than control group
Shows distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed.
Who came up with the working memory model
Baddeley & Hitch (1974)
What did Baddeley and Hitch (1974) argue?
Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model:
Short-term memory (STM) is too simple.
STM: unitary store, limited information for short periods, minimal processing.
Baddeley and Hitch’s perspective:
STM not unitary; comprises sub-stores.
Each sub-store processes different information types.
Components of working memory have limited capacity and independence.
Disagreement with Atkinson and Shiffrin:
STM not just a temporary store but also processes information.
Renamed as working memory to reflect this function.
Conclusion:
STM replaced by working memory in their model.
What’s the working memory made up of
Central executive
3 slave systems:
- Phonological loop
- Visuo-spatial sketch pad
- Episodic Buffer
Central executive
‘supervisory’role
monitors incoming data, focuses and divides our limited attention and allocates ‘slave systems’ to tasks
limited processing capacity, does not store info
Phonological loop
Phonological Loop:
Deals with auditory info (acoustic) and is divided into:
1)Phonological Store:
(words you hear)
Linked to speech perception.
‘inner ear’
Holds information in speech-based form (e.g., spoken words) for 1-2 seconds.
2)Articulatory Process:
Allows maintenance rehearsal of word-based information. (repeating sounds or words in a ‘loop’ to keep them in working memory while they are needed)
Capacity belived to be 2 seconds.
Characteristics of the Phonological Loop:
Limited capacity and duration.
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad
visualand spacial info
Known as the “inner eye”.
Likely aids in spatial orientation and object positioning in the environment.
Limited capacity and duration (3-4 items)
Components of Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad:
Visual Cache: Stores visual data.
Inner Scribe: Remembers the arrangement of objects in space.
Episodic Buffer
Episodic Buffer:
Added to WMM in 2000.
temporary store of info
integrates VSS, verbal info processed by other stores and maintains sense of time sequences (events that happen)
limited capacity, 4 chunks.
links working memory to LTM
Central Executive Coding and Capacity
limited capacity
modality free (can store information in any sense form)
Phonological loop capacity and coding
Has a capacity of two seconds worth of what you can say
codes acoustically
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad coding and capacity
Has a capacity of 3-4 objects
Codes visually
Episodic Buffer coding and capacity
Has a capacity of about 4 chunks
stores visual, spatial and verbal info integrating it together
+ve Dual tasks performance AO3 WMM
supports the existence of visuo-spacial sketchpad
Dual task studies provide evidence.
Study by Baddeley and Hitch (1976):
When two tasks utilize the phonological loop, performance is impaired.
Exception:
When one task utilizes the phonological loop (remembering numbers) and the other utilizes the visuo-spatial sketchpad (copying a drawing), performance is not impaired.
Implication:
Supports the existence of multiple components within the short-term memory (STM) system.
Validates the model’s framework.
Support from case studies +ve AO3 WMM
Case Study: Patient KF
Motorcycle accident victim.
Demonstrates multiple components within STM.
Could recall stored information from LTM but had STM issues.
Able to remember visual images but not sounds.
Implies at least two components in STM: one for visual (visuo-spatial sketchpad) and one for acoustic (phonological loop).
Supports the Working Memory Model (WMM).
HOWEVER
Focuses only on short-term memory.
Provides detailed description of STM but lacks information on sensory register and long-term memory.
Not a complete model of memory.
Limited in explaining how information enters working memory and how it’s stored in long term.
Experimental reductionism, AO3 -ve WMM
WMM Research Critique:
Tends towards experimental reductionism.
Relies on isolated variables in lab experiments.
Nomothetic Approach of WMM:
Seeks universal laws for STM processing.
Based on lab dual task studies.
Idiographic Approach:
Used by researchers like Sacks and Milner.
Highlights individual variations in STM loss.
Example: HM vs. Wearing’s STM loss.
