memory - models of memory Flashcards
1
Q
who created the multi store model of memory?
A
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
2
Q
what is coding and what are 3 main ways that information can be encoded?
A
the way information is changed so that it can be stored in the memory
1) visual (picture)
2) acoustic (sound)
3) semantic (meaning)
3
Q
define capacity
A
how much info can be stored
4
Q
define duration
A
the period of time information can last in the memory stores
5
Q
what is short term memory (STM)?
A
your memory for events in the present or immediate past
6
Q
what is long term memory (LTM)?
A
your memory for events that have happened in the more distant past
7
Q
why can’t we ask people what codes they are using?
A
coding happens unconsciously
8
Q
how does the STM code and how do we know?
A
acoustically → baddeley’s research
9
Q
when did baddley’s research occur?
A
1966
10
Q
the aim of baddley’s research into STM
A
to examine whether coding in STM is primarily acoustic or semantic
11
Q
what procedure did baddley use when investigating STM?
A
-75 participants were divided into 4 groups
-each group heard a word list drawn from one of the following categories
(acoustically similar/dissimilar words, semantically similar/dissimilar words)
-immediately after hearing the 5 words they were asked to recall them in the correct order
-this procedure was repeated 4 times
12
Q
findings of baddeley’s research into STM
A
-recall was worst in the group given acoustically similar words (55% accuracy)
-there was acoustic confusion (confusion of similar sounding words)
13
Q
conclusions from baddeley’s research into STM
A
since acoustically similar words were recalled the least efficiently, it seems there is acoustic confusion in STM → the STM is coded acoustically
14
Q
how does the LTM code and how do we know?
A
semantically → baddeley’s research
15
Q
the aim of baddley’s research into LTM
A
to examine whether coding in LTM is primarily acoustic or semantic
16
Q
what procedure did baddley’s use while investigating LTM?
A
-same procedure as his original study, but instead gave his participants a 20-minute interval before recall (now testing LTM)
-during the interval, they conducted another task
17
Q
findings of baddeley’s research into LTM
A
-it was found that participants with semantically similar words performed the worst and had only 55% recall accuracy
-recall for other lists was 70-85%
18
Q
conclusions from baddeley’s research into LTM
A
-there is semantic confusion in LTM
-suggests that LTM is encoded semantically
19
Q
evaluations of baddeley’s research:
A
-good validity
-meaningful material was not used
-baddeley may not have tested LTM
20
Q
ao3 baddeley’s research: good validity
A
P - a strength of Baddeley’s research into coding is that it has good validity
E - word length was standardised which eliminated some extraneous variables
↳ this allows us to establish cause and effect as we can be more certain that it is the changes in the types of words affecting recall and no other
factor
L - increases the internal validity of
baddeley’s findings into the coding in
memory
21
Q
ao3 baddeley’s research: meaningful
material was not used
A
P - limitation of baddeley’s study is that meaningful material was not used
E - the words used in the study had no
personal meaning to participants
↳ this means that baddeley’s findings might not tell us much about coding in everyday life
↳ for example, people tend to use semantic coding even for STM tasks as they have a reason for trying to remember it (e.g. a shopping list)
22
Q
ao3 baddeley’s research: baddeley may not have tested LTM
A
P - baddeley may not have tested LTM
E - in the study, STM was tested by asking participants to recall a word list immediately after hearing it, LTM was tested by waiting 20 mins
↳ it is questionable whether this is really testing LTM
L - this casts doubt on the findings of the research into the coding of short and long term memory
23
Q
what is the capacity of the STM and how do we know?
A
limited capacity, we can hold only a small amount of information before it is forgotten → jacobs research
24
Q
when did jacobs carry out his research?
A
1887
25
who did jacob’s use in his study?
jacobs used a sample of 443 female students from the north london collegiate school
26
method of jacob’s study
-jacobs used a digit span test, to investigate the capacity of STM **for numbers and letters**
-he read a list of either letters or numbers (monosyllabic ‘w' and '7' were excluded)
-participants had to repeat back a string of numbers or letters in the same order / the number of digits or letters was gradually increased, until the participants could no longer recall the sequence
27
what were the findings of jacob’s research into STM?
-jacobs found that STM capacity for digits was 9 (9.3), whereas letters was 7 (7.3)
28
conclusion of jacob’s research into STM
-STM has a limited capacity of 5-9 digits and that numbers were easier to recall than letters
29
what happens when new info comes into the STM?
the STM pushes out the old information (displacement) due to its limited capacity
30
when did miller carry out his research?
1956
31
miller’s observations
-miller made observations of everyday practice
-he noted that things come in sevens: seven notes on the musical scale, seven days of the week, seven deadly sins
-miller thought that the capacity of STM is about 7 items, plus or minus 2
32
miller’s magic number
7 plus or minus 2
33
how did miller demonstrate his observations?
-he read list of digits to participants who immediately had to repeat back each list
in the right order
-the list increased in length 1 digit at a time – the maximum number of digits that could be recalled in the correct order is your immediate memory span
34
miller and chunking
-‘miller believed that our short-term memory stores chunks’ of information rather than individual numbers or letters
-explains why we are able recall items like mobile phone numbers, which contain more than 7 digits
35
what is the capacity of the LTM and how do we know?
-unlimited capacity
-we know that our brains are not full of information
36
strengths & weaknesses of research into the capacity of the STM:
jacob’s
-it was conducted a long time ago
-the capacity of STM is not the same for everyone
miller’s
-miller’s research may have overestimated the capacity of STM
37
ao3 jacob’s study: it was conducted a long time ago
(+however)
P - limitation is that it was conducted a long time ago
E - early research in psychology often lacked adequate controls of extraneous variables
↳ eg: some participants may have been
distracted while they were being tested so they didn’t perform as well
L - this could mean that the results into the capacity of STM may not be valid because there were confounding variables
C - other research, has been able to
replicate digit span studies in more controlled conditions
↳ this suggests that jacob’s and miller’s
study is a valid test of digit span on STM increasing the internal validity of the findings
38
ao3 miller’s study: miller’s research may have overestimated the capacity of STM
P - a limitation of miller’s research is it may have overestimated the capacity of STM
E - cowen (2001) reviewed other
research and concluded that the capacity of STM was only about 4 chunks
↳ this suggests that the lower end of miller’s estimate (5 items) is more
appropriate than 7 items
↳ although miller’s (1956) theory is supported by psychological research, he did not specify how large each ‘chunk’ of information could be and therefore we are unable to conclude the exact
capacity of STM
L - consequently, further research is required to determine the size of information ‘chunks’ to understand the exact capacity of STM
39
ao3 jacob’s study: the capacity of STM is not the same for everyone
P - the capacity of STM is not the same for everyone
E - jacobs also found that recall in the digit span test increased steadily with age
↳ 8 year olds could remember on average 6.6 digits whereas the mean for 19 year olds was 8.6
↳ this age increase may be due to an increase in brain capacity or that as you get older you develop strategies to improve digit span such as chunking
40
what is the duration of STM and how do we know?
limited (about 18 secs) → peterson & peterson
41
when was peterson and peterson’s study conducted?
1959
42
the aim of peterson & peterson’s study into STM
to test how long information in the STM lasts when rehearsal is prevented
43
who did peterson & peterson use in their study into STM?
they used 24 university students to participate in their study
44
what procedure did peterson and peterson use to study STM?
-participants were briefly shown a trigram (consonant syllables) and asked to remember it
-after each trigram participants heard a number and had to count backwards in 3s to prevent them from rehearsal
-counting stopped after a number of seconds (3,6,9,12,15 or 18) & then participants had to try and recall the trigram
-this was repeated a number of times using different trigrams
45
why were consonants chosen?
the inclusion of vowels might have made the trigrams seem more word like, it is important that they are completely meaningless to the participant so they could not use their LTM (eg: BBC)
46
findings & conclusion of the peterson and peterson study into STM;
findings:
-about 80% of the trigrams were correctly recalled after a 3 second interval, dropping to 3% after 18 seconds
conclusion:
if verbal rehearsal is prevented information, information lasts in STM for 18 seconds
47
strengths and weaknesses of peterson2 study into STM duration
-it was carried out in a laboratory setting
-lacks external validity
-sample wasn’t representative
48
ao3 / peterson study - sample wasn’t representative
P - sample wasn’t representative & consisted of psychology students
E - the students hay have encountered the MSM before and altered their behaviour / the memory of psychology students may be different from that of other people (eg: different ages), especially if they had previously studied strategies for memory improvement
L - as a result we are unable to generalise the results of this study to other groups (non-psych students )
49
ao3 peterson’s study: it was carried out in a laboratory setting
P - one strength of peterson and peterson’s study is that it was carried out in a laboratory setting
E - laboratory settings allows researchers to isolate the IV (trigram) and DV (recall) to test the duration of STM and remove possible extraneous elements variables (rehearsal) which would have influenced
participant’s recall of the trigram
↳ this tightly controlled procedure enabled researchers to find causal links between variables which can provide general laws of the duration of STM
L - we can replicate the research to check for reliability. this increases the validity of the research into the duration of STM
50
ao3 peterson’s study: lacks ecoval
P - this method can be criticised for
lacking external validity
E – laboratory settings are very artificial in terms of the setting (controlling the IV and EVs) and the task
↳ if participants were asked to
remember everyday items like a shopping list, the duration of STM may be different
L –this research does not allow us to test
our STM in everyday situations which reduces the overall ecological validity of the study into the duration of STM
51
what is the duration of the LTM and how dw we know?
unlimited/lasts as long as we live → bahrick at all
52
what was the aim of bahrick at al’s research into LTM duration?
-establish the existence and duration of the LTM
-to see if there is any difference between recognition and recall
53
who was used in bahrick at al’s study?
graduates from a high school in america
54
what procedure was used during bahrick at al’s study into the duration of the LTM
-392 graduates from a high school in america were shown photos from their school yearbook
-participants were aged between 17 and 74
-the time of graduation varied between 2 weeks to 57 years
they were split into 2 groups:
group 1 (recognition group) they were given a picture and a list of names, they had to select the correct name
group 2 (recall group) asked to name the participants without the list of names
55
results of bahrick at al’s study
group 1:
recognition of names and pictures and matching of names and pictures all remained high (90%) dropping to 70% after 48 years
group 2:
free recall was less accurate than recognition – 70% accuracy after 3 months, about 60% after 15 years, dropping to 30% after 48 years
56
conclusions from bahrick at al’s study
people can remember certain types of information for almost a lifetime
57
evaluations of bahrick at al’s study
-high external validity
-lacks population validity
-his research is unable to explain whether LTM becomes less accurate over time because of a limited duration, or whether LTM simply gets worse with age
58
ao3 bahrick’s study: high external validity
P - bahrick’s study had high external validity
E - real life meaningful memories were studied, when lab studies were carried out with meaningless pictures to be remembered, recall rates were lower
L - this increases the validity of findings into duration of LTM
C - downside is that confounding variables are not controlled, bahrick’s participants may have looked at their yearbook photos and rehearsed
their memories over the years. this casts doubt on the accuracy of this research into duration of LTM
59
ao3 bahrick’s study: lacks population validity
P - bahrick's research used a sample of 392 american university graduates and therefore lacks population validity
E - psychologists are unable to generalise the results of bahrick's research to other populations
L - we are unable to conclude whether other populations would demonstrate the same ability to recall names and faces after 47 years
60
ao3 bahrick’s study: why does LTM get less accurate?
P - his research is unable to explain whether LTM becomes less accurate over time because of a limited duration, or whether LTM simply gets worse with age
E - psychologists are unable to determine whether our LTM has an unlimited duration (like the MSM suggests), which is affected by other factors such as getting old, or whether our LTM has a limited duration
61
what is the MSM?
a representation of our memory
62
MSM layout:
sensory store → STM → LTM
63
how does information go from the sensory store to the STM?
attention
64
how is information kept in the STM?
rehearsal keeps it in the short erm storage and then be transferred to the LTM for potential indefinite storage
65
what happens if information in the STM isn’t rehearsed?
it is transferred to the LTM
66
how is information transferred from the LTM to STM?
retrieval
67
key assumptions of the MSM:
-sensory register, STM and LTM are separate & unitary (can’t be subdivided( stores
-information passes from store to store in a linear, sequential way
-frequently repeated rehearsal is needed to consolidate information from STM to LTM
-each store has its own features in terms of coding, capacity and duration
68
overview of the sensory register
-the first part of our memory where information is held
-whenever we sense environmental stimuli it goes to our sensory register
69
does the sensory store only have one register?
store depends on the sense organ
that the information comes from
(coding is modality specific)
70
coding in the sensory register:
coding is modality specific
-the store depends on the sense organ that the information is from
71
capacity of the sensory register
-very high as it has to contain the sense impressions of all the senses
-only what is paid attention to is passed to the STM
72
duration of the sensory store
less than half a second
↳ we only pay attention to a small amount of this information
73
define maintenance rehearsal
continuously repeating information over and over again to keep it in our STM
74
elaborative rehearsal
deeper processing of information
75
if rehearsal is done enough information will…
transfer/consolidate to our LTM
76
what is meant by retrieval?
getting information out of the LTM and into the STM so it can be remembered
77
how are retrieval and rehearsal fluid?
we may draw something out of our LTM to remember it when we need it, but then we can let it go back to our LTM after use
78
ao3 strengths of the MSM:
-evidence from case studies
-evidence to support separate store assumption
-brain scans show that there is a difference between the STM & LTM
79
ao3 weaknesses of the MSM:
-lack of evidence for unitary store assumption
-rehearsal isn’t always need to transfer information to the LTM
80
MSM strength: supporting evidence from patients with amnesia (+ counter about external validity)
S - a strength of MSM is that there is supporting evidence from case studies of patients with amnesia
E - HM and clive wearing both had severe damage and lost the ability to form new long-term memories
↳ both had normally functioning short term memories, but as STM only has a duration of up to 30 seconds anything that happened to them was completely forgotten.
L - this provides strong evidence that STM and LTM are completely separate entities in the human brain, and supports this assumption of the MSM
COUNTER:
↳ the evidence has come from case studies → low population validity
case studies only involve the study of one person (brain damage which is not representative of the general population)
↳ we cannot conclude with certainty whether memory is structured in the same way for everyone and whether other people process information in the same way, which threatens the validity of the MSM
81
MSM strength: there is evidence to support that there are different features
P - there is evidence to support the assumptions of the MSM
E - there are controlled lab studies on coding, capacity and duration
↳ these support the existence of a separate STM and LTM stores, which is a key assumption of the MSM
↳ eg: peterson and peterson found that STM duration is 18-30 seconds and bahrick found that LTM has unlimited duration
L - STM is different to LTM in terms of duration, capacity and coding which supports this assumption of MSM; that the two from one another stores are separate and can function independent
82
MSM strength: evidence from brain scans
P - evidence from brain scans has shown that there is a difference between STM and LTM
E - beardsley found the pre frontal cortex was active during STM tasks but not LTM, suggesting that these memories are stored and processed in different areas of the brain
L - different brain regions are responsible for the different components of the MSM, supporting the idea that our memory is made up of discrete stores
83
MSM weakness: there a lack of evidence for the assumption that the LTM can’t be subdivided
P - there a lack of evidence for the assumption that STM & LTM are unitary stores
E - HM and clive searing both provide us with evidence that LTM is more complex than just one store
↳ HM had no episodic LTM but could still learn new procedures (golf) despite not remembering ever having done them, he would improve golf every time it was played
L - LTM seems to comprise of more than one component and therefore is not a unitary store
↳ goes against the assumption of MSM that the LTM can’t be sudivided
84
MSM weakness: rehearsal is not always needed to transfer information to the LTM
P - rehearsal is not always needed to transfer information to the LTM
E - jenkins found that information which interesting, funny or personally relevant can be automatically' lodged into our LTM without much effort or rehearsal required (incidental learning)
L - this suggests that not all information has to go through the transfer of maintenance and elaborative rehearsal for it to be stored in the LTM
↳ information does not always pass through each store in a linear way, which refutes this assumption of the MSM
85
outline and evaluate the Multi-Store model of Memory (16 marks) - AO1
-MSM is a linear model of memory (information moves through each component in order)
-the MSM consists of the sensory register, STM and LTM. these are separate and unitary (can’t be subdivided)
-information from the senses is received by the sensory register which has a large capacity but a very short duration - it is modality free which means that it can code for all sense information
-if attention is paid to the information, the information moves to the STM
-this is a temporary store for information with a capacity of 7+/-2, a duration of 18-30 seconds and codes acoustically
-information will disappear from the STM if new information enters (displacement)
-if information in the STM is rehearsed then it can be retained in the STM and then be transferred to the LTM for potential indefinite storage
-LTM is the potentially permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed for a prolonged time
-it has unlimited capacity and duration and codes semantically
-information can be retrieved from the LTM (getting information out of the LTM so it can be used by the STM)
86
what is a major issue with the MSM and long term memory?
its' description of long-term memory as a single, unitary store
87
who addressed the issue of LTM and the MSM and what did they say?
-endel tulving realised that the multi-store model's view of long-term memory was too simplistic and inflexible
-he proposed that there are three LTM stores, containing quite different types of information
-there are two forms of long term memories (implicit & explicit)
88
what are the three LTM stores?
episodic memory, semantic memory and procedural memory
89
what is an explicit memory?
knowledge for events and facts
-easy to explain
-knowing ‘that’
90
what is an implicit memory?
**skilled behaviours**
-difficult to explain
-become automatic through practice
-knowing ‘how’
91
what is an episodic memory?
(+ example)
includes memories of personal experiences (episodes)
(eg: first day at school)
92
is episodic memory implicit or explicit?
explicit
93
which three elements do episodic memories have?
-details of the event
-the context
-emotions
94
the strength of episodic memories is determined by…
the strength of the emotions experienced when the memory is coded
95
what part of the brain are episodic memories associated with?
the hippocampus
96
episodic memories and time:
they are time-stamped
97
what do all memories start as?
episodic memories
98
what are semantic memories?
the store for our knowledge for facts, words, concepts & meaning
99
are semantic memories explicit or implicit?
explicit
100
what usually must happen for semantic memories to remain in the LTM?
rehearsal
101
semantic memories & episodic memories:
-semantic memories often start as episodic memories, as we acquire knowledge based on our personal experiences
-semantic memories aren’t time-stamped & they don’t remain closely associated with a particular event
-semantic memories are generally stronger than episodic memories
102
which part of the brain are semantic memories associated with?
temporal lobe
103
what is a procedural memory?
-memory of how to perform certain tasks, actions or skills
-difficult to explain
-automatically rehearsed
104
are procedural memories explicit or implicit?
implicit
105
how are procedural memories usually acquired?
through repetition and practice
106
when are many procedural memories formed?
-early in life
-it’s important that these become like second nature to us so that we can focus our attention onto other everyday tasks we perform at the same time
107
which part of the brain are procedural memories associated with?
the cerebellum (fine motor skills) and motor cortex
108
ao3 strengths of LTM:
-brain scans provide support for the different types of LTM
-support for the distinction between implicit (procedural memory) and explicit LTM comes from clive wearing
109
ao3 /strength - brain scans provide for the different types of LTM
P - brain scans provide support for the different types of LTM
E - research has shown that different parts of the brain are active when accessing episodic, semantic and procedural memory
↳ rpisodic memory has been associated with the hippocampus, semantic memory is also associated with the temporal lobe
L - brain scan research suggests that different brain regions are responsible for the different types of LTM, supporting the idea of sub units
110
ao3 / strength - support for the distinction between implicit (procedural memory) and explicit LTM comes from clive wearing
P - support for the distinction between implicit (procedural memory) and explicit LTM comes from clive wearing
E - clive wearing knew what a piano was (semantic) and he knew how to play it (procedural) but he couldn’t remember playing the piano (episodic)
L - this shows that there is more than one type of LTM
111
ao3 weaknesses of LTM:
-there is conflicting evidence for the location of the different types of long-term memory
-an issue with the theory of three types of LTM is that it is argued that there may only be two types instead
112
ao3 / weakness - there is conflicting evidence for the location of the different types of long-term memory
P - there is conflicting evidence for the location of the different types of long-term memory
E - tulving found that episodic memory and semantic memories were **both recalled from the prefrontal cortex**
↳ left = semantic memories
↳ episodic memories = right
(This also supports the view that there is a physical reality to the different types of LTM, within the brain.)
113
ao3 / weakness - it is argued that there may only be two types instead
P - it is argued that there may only be two types of LTM
E - cohen and squire argued that episodic and semantic memories are actually stored together in one LTM store called declarative memory (memories that can be consciously recalled)
↳ they agree that procedural memory is a different kind of memory
L - it is important to get the distinction between episodic and semantic memories as it can influence how memory studies are carried out
114
who proposed the WMM?
baddeley & hitch (1974)
115
key assumptions of the WMM:
-deals only with the STM and recently activated parts of the LTM
-concentrates on how information is processed in the STM & emphasises the idea of an active processor
-proposes that STM is not a gateway in between sensory memory and LTM, information can go straight into LTM from sensory memory
-STM is not a unitary store
116
what are the parts of the working memory model?
-central executive
-phonological loop
-visuo-spatial sketchpad
-episodic buffer
117
what is the central executive?
-directs attention to slave systems
-coordinates the actions of the other components
-most important part of WMM
118
what are the slave systems?
-phonological loop
-visuospatial sketchpad
119
capacity of the central executive:
very limited processing capacity
120
coding of the central executive:
modality free:
can store info/code for any sense modality
121
what is the phonological loop?
-a temporary store for verbal information
-has two components
122
which two components comprise the phonological loop?
-articulary control process (inner voice)
-phonological store (inner ear)
123
what does the inner voice (articulary control process) do?
allows for subvocal repetition of acoustic information
124
what does the inner ear (phonological store) do?
-a temp storage space for coding
acoustic information
-has a limited capacity
125
capacity and coding of the phonological loop:
-limited capacity
-acoustic coding
126
what is the visuospatial sketchpad?
-temporary store for visual and spatial information
-has two components
127
what are the two components of the visuospatial sketchpad?
the inner scribe + visual cache
128
what does the inner scribe do?
it deals with the manipulation of mental images
129
what does the visual cache do?
-codes visual + spatial info
-stores visual info (colour + shape)
-limited capacity
130
why was the episodic buffer added to the WMM?
the model needed a more general store
131
what is the episodic buffer?
an extra storage system with limited capacity
132
strengths of the MSM:
-dual task performance studies support the VSS
-the case of KF supports the existence of subdivisions within STM
-support of the CE from brain scanning studies
133
ao3 / strength - dual task performance studies support the VSS
P - dual task performance studies support the VSS
E - baddeley et al found participants had more difficulty doing two visual tasks (tracking a light and describing the letter F) than doing a visual and a verbal task at the same time
↳ both visual tasks compete for the same resources (limited capacity of VSS), when doing a verbal and visual task simultaneously there is no competition (VSS & PL)
L - therefore dual task activity provides evidence of the existence of separate slave systems in the WMM. the MSM can't explain this.
134
ao3 / strength - the case of KF supports the existence of subdivisions within STM
P - the case of KF supports the existence of subdivisions within STM
E - for KF, his brain damage seemed to be restricted to the phonological loop
↳ he couldn’t remember lists of digits when read out to him (auditory) but remembered significantly more when he read the digits to himself (visual). this suggests that his VSS remained intact
L - the research into KF supports the idea of two slave systems, therefore providing support to the WMM and the idea of a multi-component STM system
135
ao3 / strength - support of the CE from brain scanning studies
P - there is support of the CE from brain scanning studies
E - braver et al's participants did tasks involving the CE while they were having a brain scan
↳ activity was seen in an area called the prefrontal cortex
↳ activity in this area increased as the task became harder, this makes sense in terms of the WMM because as demand increases on the CE it has to work harder to function
L - this study provides evidence that the CE may have a physical reality in the brain
136
criticisms of the MSM:
-it is unclear whether KF had other cognitive impairments which may have affected his performance
-lack of clarity over the CE
137
ao3 / strength - it is unclear whether KF had other cognitive impairments which may have affected his performance
(KF counterpoint)
P - it’w unclear whether KF had other cognitive impairments (apart from his damage to his phonological loop) which might have affected his performance on memory tasks
E - his injury was caused by a motorcycle accident, the trauma involved may have affected his cognitive performance
L - this challenges evidence for WMM that comes from clinical studies of people with brain injuries that may have affected many different systems
138
ao3 / strength - lack of clarity over the CE
P - lack of clarity over the CE
E - cognitive psychologists suggest that the CE is unsatisfactory and doesn't really explain anything
↳ the CE should be more than just paying attention to something and some psychologists believe that it may consist of separate components
L - this means that the WMM has not yet been fully explained
