memory lessons 5-9

Question 1

what is interference theory

Answer 1

that forgetting occurs in the LTM because two memories are in conflict which may distort one of the memories.

Question 2

what is proactive interference

Answer 2

when an old memory interferes with a new memory

Question 3

what is retroactive interference

Answer 3

when a new memory interferes with an old memory

Question 4

what is the research support for interference

Answer 4

McGeoch and McDonald got 6 groups of pps to learn a list of words until 100% accuracy. 5 of the 6 groups had to learn a new list: synonyms, antonyms, unrelated words, nonsense syllables, 3 digit numbers, no list. they all had to recall the first list. the control group recalled the best and synonyms the worst which shows similar words cause interference.

Question 5

evaluation for interference as explanation for forgetting

Answer 5

strengths: lab studies to support which are well controlled variables. research support from baddeley and hitch who asked rugby players w injuries and wo in a season to recall the names of teams they have played. the players who played the most had less recall than injured ones.
weaknesses: lab study so lacks ecological validity. time period is shorter to retain memory in lab study

Question 6

what is the encoding specificity principle

Answer 6

by tulving who suggests cues help retrieval if same cues are present at coding.

Question 7

what are the two types of cues

Answer 7

cues linked meaningfully to information to be remembered
cues which are not linked meaningfully such as context like weather

Question 8

what is the research supporting the encoding specificity principle

Answer 8

tulving and pearlstone got pps to recall 48 words that belonged to one of 12 categories. as each word was presented it was preceded by its category (cue). if the cue was present then recall was 60% but wo cue recall was 40%.

Question 9

what is context dependant forgetting

Answer 9

when the environment during recall is different from the environment you were in when learning

Question 10

research support for context dependant forgetting

Answer 10

abernathy got a group of students to be tested before beginning a course. they were tested weekly in four groups. same rooms same instructor etc. when both the room and teacher were the same the students performed best. less able students were most affected by change.

Godden and Baddeley got 18 divers to recall 36 words in four conditions: learn on beach recall on beach etc. recall was best when environment was same.

Question 11

evaluation of research on context dependant forgetting

Answer 11

Baddeley argues context effects aren’t as strong irl and a lack of contextual cues may not commonly explain forgetting.
abernathy study proves context was an important cue in remembering.

Question 12

what is state dependant forgetting

Answer 12

when your mood or physiological state during recall is different to when learning

Question 13

research for state dependant forgetting

Answer 13

Carter and Cassaday gave pps anti histamines which made them feel drowsy. pps had to learn words and recall in 4 conditions: learn on drug recall on drug etc. pps recalled best when internal state matched when learning and recall

Question 14

evaluation of retrieval failure as explanation for forgetting

Answer 14

strengths: range of lab studies and real life situations so a mix of good ecological validity while keeping variables controlled.
weaknesses: retrieval cues do not always work. most studies focus on words which lacks ecological validity.

Question 15

what is eye witness testimony

Answer 15

the account given by people of an event they have witnessed

Question 16

what are leading questions

Answer 16

a question that suggests to the witness what answer is desired

Question 17

what study studies leading questions

Answer 17

loftus and palmer showed 45 students a video of a car accident and then were asked a question about the speed of the car. one group of pps were asked ‘how fast were the cars going when they hit each other’. other pps asked the same question but hit was replaced by smashed, bumped collided and contacted. contacted lead to lowest estimated speed and smashed led to highest.

Question 18

what is post event discussion

Answer 18

when witnesses to an event discuss what they have experienced after the event
it effects EWT due to memory contamination when they mix information or memory conformity when they pick up details they didn’t experience but believe others are right.

Question 19

research to support post event discussion

Answer 19

gabbert et al got 60 students and 60 adults to watch a video of a girl stealing money from a wallet. pps were either tested individually or in pairs. the pairs were told they watched the same video but they saw different perspectives of the same crime and only one person actually witnessed her steal. 71% of the pps recalled info they had not seen compared to 0% in the control group. 60% said the girl was guilty despite not seeing the girl steal.

Question 20

evaluation of research into effects of misleading info on EWT

Answer 20

strengths: most research is lab studies so variables are well controlled. has real life application to suggest post event discussion should be prevented.
weaknesses: watching a video is different to real life and watching a staged video doesn’t cause anxiety which could increase accuracy

Question 21

real crime study to show weakness of lab studies with EWT

Answer 21

yuille and cutshall got 13 witnesses of a real crime and interviewed them 5 months after and they were also asked 2 leading questions. recall was accurate and the leading qs had no effect. showing lab studies may not be as accurate

Question 22

what is the inverted U theory

Answer 22

yerkes and dodson said the relationship between emotional arousal and performance is like and inverted U. performance will increase with stress until a certain point. deffenbacher applied it to anxiety

Question 23

weapon focus effect study

Answer 23

johnson and scott got pps to sit outside a lab and listen to 2 situations inside. a friendly convo followed by a man with a pen with grease on his hands. an argument with glass smashing and a man with a blood stained paper knife. all pps had to identify the man off 50 photos. pps were 49% accurate with man with pen and 33% accurate with knife. which shows the anxiety of weapon directed attention to it rather than face.

Question 24

example of high anxiety having positive effect on EWT

Answer 24

christiansen and hubinette got 58 real witnesses either victims or bystanders from a bank robbery in sweden and interviewed them 4-15 months afterwards. the victims were found to have the best recall.

Question 25

evaluation of anxiety as a factor affecting EWT

Answer 25

weapon focus may not be caused by anxiety but by surprise proposed by pickel in a salon where pps saw a thief enter the salon holding scissors, gun, wallet and whole chicken and identification was least accurate in high surprise conditions. high ecological validity but variables aren’t tightly controlled. also there are ethical issues with psychological damage.

Question 26

what is the cognitive interview

Answer 26

developed by gieselman and is an interview to provide witnesses with cues and allows them to talk freely.

Question 27

what are the four principles of the cognitive interview

Answer 27

context reinstatement — where the interviewer encourages the interviewee to mentally recreate the physical and physiological environment of the incident.
report everything — where they are told to say absolutely everything without missing anything out as trivial things may be a cue for important things.
recall in changed order — such as recalling the incident backwards to get rid of schemas and people tend to remember what happened at the end best
recall from changed perspective — which also disrupts schemas.

Question 28

three points of the enhanced cognitive interview

Answer 28

should actively listen
minimise distraction
ask open ended qs

Question 29

evaluation of the cognitive interview

Answer 29

strengths: gieselman showed pps a staged crime and then did a cognitive interview and a standard police interview and found the cognitive interview generated more information. a meta analysis of 53 studies found an increase of 34% in the amount of correct information generated in the CI compared to standard interview.
weaknesses: CI is more time consuming and interviewer needs to establish more rapport they also need more training. many of the studies were lab studies so lack ecological validity. it is less successful for children 7 and below