Memory: Long Term Memory (L7-9) Flashcards
1
Q
What are the types of LTM?
A
- episodic
- semantic
- procedural
2
Q
What is episodic memory?
A
- your memory for events
- for example your recollection of
your first day of school, a family holiday, your last birthday etc. - have three elements, specific details of the event, the context of the
event, and the emotions you were feeling at the time of the event
3
Q
Where are episodic memories stored?
A
- hippocampus
4
Q
What is semantic memory?
A
- your memory for facts and general knowledge about the world
- for example that the capital of England is London and that 2 + 2 = 4
- may also relate to things such as the functions of an object, what behaviour is appropriate in a certain situation, as well as abstract concepts
- such as mathematics and language
5
Q
How do semantic memories begin?
A
- memories begin as episodic
memories as knowledge is acquired based on personal experiences - gradual transition from episodic memory to semantic memory when memory slowly loses its association to particular events and is generalised
- sometimes people can have a strong recollection of when and where they learned a particular fact
6
Q
Where are semantic memories stored?
A
- temporal lobe
7
Q
What is procedural memory?
A
- procedural memory (sometimes called muscle memory) is concerned with motor skills and actions
- such as knowing how to tie your shoelaces, knowing how to
drive, or knowing how to read - typically acquired through practise and repetition and seem to be more resistant to forgetting or amnesia than other types of LTM
- we are less aware of procedural memories as they have become automatic and are unavailable for conscious inspection (unlike episodic memories and semantic memories) making it difficult to explain them verbally
- is important that procedural memories are automatic so that we can focus our attention on other tasks while performing these everyday skills
8
Q
What happens if you think too much about procedural memories?
A
- if you think too much about procedural memories it prevents you from carrying them out
- e.g. if you really think about what
you are doing while riding a bike, you will probably lose your balance - is important that procedural memories are automatic so that we can focus our attention on other tasks while performing these everyday skills
9
Q
Where are procedural memories stored?
A
- cerebellum
10
Q
Evaluation of LTM +ve:
A
- evidence for the distinction between episodic/semantic and procedural
memory has come from research on patients with amnesia - typically patients with amnesia are unable to store new episodic or semantic memories but their
procedural memory appears to be largely unaffected
= Scientific evidence captured from brain scans supports the view that there
are different types of LTM
= e.g. when asking participants to recall
different types of information, different areas of the brain are shown to be
active on an fMRI
= episodic memories are associated with the hippocampus, semantic memories are associated with the temporal lobe and procedural memories are associated with the cerebellum - cs of brain damaged patients offer support for the different types
of LTM - Clive Wearing suffered from a viral
infection, damaged his hippocampus - he has no episodic memory + can’t form new semantic memories
- but his procedural memory is intact, he can still play the piano
11
Q
Evaluation of LTM -ve:
A
- research into different types of LTM have been conducted on
individual patients like Clive Wearing and HM - cs highly detailed + provide lots of info but are isolated cases of one individual
- inappropriate to assume that everyone’s’ LTM is formed in the same
way - findings cannot be generalised to the wider population.
12
Q
What is forgetting?
A
- a person’s loss of ability to recall or
recognise something that they have previously learned
13
Q
What are the 2 theories to forgetting?
A
- interference theory
- retrieval failure
14
Q
What is the interference theory?
A
- claims that forgetting occurs when two lots of information become confused in memory
- more likely to occur when the two
lots of information are similar to one another - less likely to occur
when there is a gap between the instances of learning
15
Q
What are the 2 types of interference?
A
- retroactive, when new learning affects the recall of old info
- proactive, when old learning affects the recall of new info
16
Q
Evaluation of Interference Theory +ve:
A
- Keppel and Underwood (1962) investigated proactive interference
- P’s presented with meaningless three-letter consonant trigrams at different intervals (3, 6, 9, seconds etc.)
- P had to count backwards in threes before recall to prevent rehearsal
- P remembered the trigrams that were presented first
- Keppel and Underwood concluded that the memory for earlier trigrams was
interfering with the memory for later trigrams
= McGeoch and McDonald (1931) demonstrated retroactive interference
= gave p lists of words that they had to learn until they could recall with 100% accuracy
= P then learned a new list, was either synonyms or antonyms
= P then asked to remember og list
= P given list of synonyms had worst recall of og list
= learning a second list of words that have similar meanings to the first list of words would cause retroactive interference - theory has practical applications
- students should be made aware of this theory so that they do not attempt to revise similar content/subjects at the
same time, as this will make interference more likely to occur
17
Q
Evaluation of Interference Theory -ve:
A
- when interference occurs the loss of information may only be temporary
- therefore interference is not a true explanation for forgetting as info is not actually over-written and still in LTM
= some psychologists argue that retrieval failure is a much better explanation of forgetting in everyday life than interference
= this theory states that we forget when there are not enough retrieval cues to help us remember
= Godden and Baddeley (1975) got divers to learn and recall word lists on either dry land or underwater
= results showed that words learnt and recalled in the same context were better remembered as there were retrieval cues in the environment to help them remember the words
18
Q
What is retrieval failure?
A
- argues that forgetting occurs in the absence of appropriate
retrieval cues - when info initially placed in memory, data associated
with this information is stored at the same time - if these retrieval cues are
not available at the time of recall, may seem as if you have
forgotten the information when in fact you just cannot access it at that time - some linked to material that needs to be remembered in meaningful way, e.g. anagram ‘STM’ can help recall info about short term mem
- other cues coded at the same time of learning, not in meaningful way
19
Q
What are the 2 types of retrieval cues?
A
- context
- state
20
Q
What are context cues?
A
- environment in which material is learnt can act as a retrieval cues
- means that if you recall info in same environment that you learned it ,e.g. the same classroom, then your recall will be better
- if you are not in the
same context at retrieval as you were at coding then forgetting can occur
21
Q
What are state cues?
A
- individual’s physical state, e.g. mood, can affect their recall
- research studies suggest that recall is facilitated if people have a similar physical state at recall as when the info was coded
- if you’re not in the same physical
state at recall as you were when you learned the info then you might fail to access the info
22
Q
Evaluation of Retrieval Failure +ve:
A
- Abernethy (1940) demonstrated the importance of context-dependent cues
- they tested participants’ recall using a mixture of familiar and unfamiliar
instructors and teaching rooms - P tested by a familiar instructor in a
familiar room, performed the best - as the instructor and room acted as
retrieval cues
= Godden and Baddeley (1975) also demonstrated the importance of context dependent cues
= they asked divers to learn and recall word lists on either dry land or underwater
= results showed that words learnt and recalled in the same context were better remembered as there were retrieval cues to help them
remember the words - Darley et al. (1973) showed the importance of state-dependent cues
- they found that p who hid money in a large warehouse while under the
influence of cannabis were more likely to recall the hiding place when in ab similar drugged state
= Retrieval Failure has practical applications
= whenever possible students
should learn/revise in the room, in which they will take their final exams
23
Q
Evaluation of Retrieval Failure -ve:
A
- Baddeley (1997) argues that the influence of retrieval cues is not actually very strong
- irl we often recall something in a different context to where we learnt it
- e.g, students do not often take their GCSE’s in the classroom where they learned the info they need for that exam
