Memory LTM and Forgetting

Question 1

Episodic memory

Answer 1

Episodic memory: ability to recall events from our lives e.g first day of school
‘Time-stamped’ - remember when the memory happened
Contains several elements such as people/places
Requires a conscious effort to remember

Question 2

Semantic memory

Answer 2

Semantic memory: knowledge of the world includes facts eg paris is the capital of france
Not ‘time-stamped’
Less personal but facts we all share
Immense collection of material constantly being added to

Question 3

Procedural memory

Answer 3

Procedural memory: memory for actions/skills - how to do things e.g how to ride a bike
Can be recalled without conscious awareness or effort
Hard to explain to others

Question 4

Explanations of forgetting: inference

Answer 4

Explanations of forgetting: inference
An explanation for forgetting long term memory occurs when two pieces of information conflict with each resulting in forgetting one or both

Question 5

Types of interference

Answer 5

Types of interference
Proactive interference: occurs when an older memory interferes with a newer one
Retroactive interference: when a newer memory interferes with an older one

Question 6

Retroactive interference research

Answer 6

Effects of similarity: McGeoch and McDonald found interference is worse when memories are similar
Procedure: studies retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between two sets of material - Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until they could remember them with 100% accuracy then they had to learn a new list. 6 groups with different words e.g Group 1 had to remember synonyms whilst group 2 had to remember antonyms
Findings: the performance of individuals depends on the nature of the second list - the most similar material (synonyms) produced the worst recall.

Question 7

Explanations of forgetting: inference: Retrieval failure

Answer 7

Explanations of forgetting: inference: Retrieval failure
The reason people forget information may be because they are not able to access memories that are there because of insufficient cues (that were stored at the same time as the information was stored)

Question 8

Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP)

Answer 8

Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP)
Tulving discovered the ESP which stated that a cue had to be present at encoding and at retrieval l to help us recall information. If the cues available at encoding and retrieval are different there will be forgetting.

Question 9

Context dependent forgetting research

Answer 9

Context dependent forgetting
Godden and Baddeley carried out a study of deep-sea divers working underwater who need to remember instructions given before diving about their work
Procedure: in the study divers learned a list of words underwater or on land and were asked to recall the condition underwater or on land which created four conditions
Findings: accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions as the external cues available at learning were different to the ones at recall which led to retrieval failure

Question 10

State-dependent forgetting research

Answer 10

State-dependent forgetting
Carter and Cassaday carried out a study where participants had to learn lists of words and passages in different conditions that involved taking anti-histamine drugs with sedative effects
Procedure: anti-histamine drugs (treating hay-fever) given to participants which had a mild sedative effect (making their participants drowsy) which created an internal physiological state different from the ‘normal’ state of being awake. Participants had to learn words lists in one of four conditions e.g learning whilst taking the drug/recalling whilst on the drug/memorising and recalling whilst on the drug
Findings: in conditions were there was a mismatch between learning and recall, performance was significantly worse