Memory Key Words

Question 1

Coding

Answer 1

The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.

Question 2

Capacity

Answer 2

The amount of information that can be stored in a memory store.

Question 3

Duration

Answer 3

The length of time information can be held in memory.

Question 4

STM

Answer 4

The limited-capacity memory store. Coding is mainly acoustic (sounds), capacity is between 5 and 9 items on average, duration is between about 18 and 30 seconds.

Question 5

LTM

Answer 5

The permanent memory store. Coding is mainly semantic (meaningful), it has unlimited capacity and can store memories for up to a lifetime.

Question 6

Consonant Syllable/Trigram

Answer 6

Three letter chunks with no vowels

Question 7

Digit Span

Answer 7

A way of measuring the capacity of STM in terms of the maximum number of digits that can be recalled in the correct order[

Question 8

Chunking

Answer 8

Grouping sets of digits or letters into units or ‘chunks’

Question 9

Free Recall

Answer 9

A method of testing memory where participants are given lists to memorise and are later asked to recall the items

Question 10

Memory Trace

Answer 10

The physical record or ‘trace’ of memory

Question 11

Spontaneous Decay

Answer 11

The disappearance of the physical memory trace over time where there is no external cause

Question 12

Semantically

Answer 12

The meaning of something, such as a word

Question 13

Acoustically

Answer 13

Refers to sounds or the sense of hearing

Question 14

Generalisation (Research Findings)

Answer 14

The extent to which findings and conclusions from an investigation can be broadly applied to the population

Question 15

Multi-Store Model (MSM)

Answer 15

A representation of how memory works in terms of three stores called sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. It also describes how information is transferred from one store to another, how it is remembered and how it is forgotten.

Question 16

Sensory Register

Answer 16

The memory stores for each of our five senses, such as vision (iconic store) and hearing (echoic store). Coding in the iconic sensory register is visual and in the echoic sensory register it is acoustic. The capacity of sensory registers is huge (millions of receptors working at once) and information lasts for a very short time (less than half a second)

Question 17

Maintenance Rehearsal

Answer 17

Verbally repeating an item to keep it in memory

Question 18

Retrieval

Answer 18

Recall of information previously stored in memory

Question 19

Episodic Memory

Answer 19

A long-term memory store for personal events. It includes memories of when the events occurred and of the people, objects, places and behaviours involved. Memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort.

Question 20

Semantic Memory

Answer 20

A long-term memory store for our knowledge of the world. This includes facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean. These memories usually also need to be recalled deliberately.

Question 21

Procedural Memory

Answer 21

A long-term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things. This includes our memories of learned skills. We usually recall these memories without making a conscious or deliberate effort.

Question 22

PET Scan

Answer 22

Positron Emission Tomography. A brain scanning method used to study activity in the brain. Radioactive glucose is ingested and can be detected in active areas of the brain

Question 23

Brain Scan

Answer 23

A technique used to investigate the functioning of the brain by taking images of the living brain.This makes it possible to match regions of the brain to behaviour by asking participants to engage in particular activities while the scan is done. Brain scans are also used to detect brain abnormalities such as tumours. Examples,: CAT, PET, MRI fMRI scans

Question 24

Hemisphere

Answer 24

The forebrain (largest part of the brain) is divided into 2 hemispheres

Question 25

Control Group

Answer 25

In an experiment with an independent groups design, a group of participants who receive no treatment. Their behaviour acts as a baseline against which the effect of the IV may be measured

Question 26

Declarative Memory

Answer 26

Memories that are consciously recalled, explicit and can be put into words

Question 27

Non-declarative Memory

Answer 27

Memories are implicit, on automatic pilot and without conscious thought they cannot be put into words

Question 28

Working Memory Model (WMM)

Answer 28

A representation of short-term memory (STM). It suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub-units coordinated by a central decision-making system.

Question 29

Central Executive (CE)

Answer 29

The component of the WMM that co-ordinates the activities of the three sub-systems in memory. It also allocates processing resources to those activities.

Question 30

Phonological Loop (PL)

Answer 30

The component of the WMM that processes information in terms of sound. This includes both written and spoken material. It’s divided into the phonological store and the articulatory process.

Question 31

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (VSS)

Answer 31

The component of the WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called our ‘inner eye’.

Question 32

Episodic Buffer (EB)

Answer 32

The component of the WMM that brings together material from the other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands. It also provides a bridge between working memory and long-term memory.

Question 33

Phonological Store (PL)

Answer 33

A component of the phonological loop which acts as an ‘inner ear’ i.e. storing sounds

Question 34

Working Memory

Answer 34

An area of memory that deals with information that is being worked on, equivalent to STM. It is divided into separate stores representing different modalities

Question 35

Visual Cache

Answer 35

In the WMM, a component of the VSS which deals with the storage of visual information, such as the arrangement of objects

Question 36

Inner Scribe

Answer 36

In the WMM, a component of the VSS which deals with spatial relations, such as the agreement of objects in the visual field

Question 37

Articulatory Process

Answer 37

A component of the phonological loop which acts as an ‘inner voice’, i.e. sounds are verbally repeated

Question 38

Articulatory Suppression Task

Answer 38

An activity that prevents rehearsal of words in the articulatory loop

Question 39

Dual-task performance

Answer 39

Refers to a research procedure where an individual is asked to perform 2 tasks simultaneously. If participants are slower doing these tasks at the same time than when doing them separately, it is assumed that both tasks complete for the same resources in the brain

Question 40

Word-length Effect

Answer 40

People remember lists of short words better than lists of long words, governed by the capacity of the phonological loop

Question 41

Cued recall test

Answer 41

A method of testing memory where the participants are given material to be learned and when recall is tested, they are given cues to enhance recall. This permits one to discover all the words that are available not just those that are currently accessible

Question 42

Interference

Answer 42

Forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten.

Question 43

Proative Interference (PI)

Answer 43

Forgetting occurs when older memories, already stored, disrupt the recall of newer memories. The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar.

Question 44

Retroactive Interference (RI)

Answer 44

Forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored. The degree of forgetting is again greater when the memories are similar.

Question 45

Retrieval Failure

Answer 45

A form of forgetting. It occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided.

Question 46

Cue

Answer 46

A ‘trigger’ of information that allows us to access a memory. Such cues may be meaningful or may be indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning. For example, cues may be external (environmental context) or internal (mood or degree of drunkenness).

Question 47

Encoding Specificity Principle

Answer 47

Recall is best when there is a large overlap between the information available at the time of retrieval (cues) and the information in the memory trace

Question 48

Eyewitness testimony (EWT)

Answer 48

The ability of people to remember the details of events, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves have observes. Accuracy of EWT can be affected by factors such as misleading information, leading questions and anxiety.

Question 49

Misleading Information

Answer 49

Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event. It can take many forms, such as leading questions and post-event discussion between co-witnesses and/or other people.

Question 50

Leading Question

Answer 50

A question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggest a certain answer. For example, “Was the knife in the accused’s left hand?” This suggests that the answer is ‘left hand’.

Question 51

Post-event discussion (PED)

Answer 51

PED occurs when there is more than one witness to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or with other people. This may influence the accuracy of Each witness’s recall of the event.

Question 52

Own age bias

Answer 52

The tendency to recognise or remember things more easily if they relate to your own age group

Question 53

Anxiety

Answer 53

A state of emotional and physical arousal. The emotions include having worried thought and feelings of tension. Physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweatiness. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations, but can affect the accuracy and detail of eyewitness testimony.

Question 54

Tunnel Theory

Answer 54

An explanation for weapon-focus effect that the weapon narrows the field attention and thus reduces information to be stored

Question 55

Fight-or-flight response

Answer 55

The way an animal responds when stressed. The body becomes physiologically aroused in readiness to fight an aggressor or, in some cases, flee

Question 56

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Answer 56

The inverted U theory states that performance will increase with stress, but only to a certain point, where it decreases drastically

Question 57

Cognitive Interview (CI)

Answer 57

A method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories. It uses four main techniques, all based on well-established psychological knowledge of human memory – report everything, reinstate the context, reverse the order, and change perspective.