Memory research

Question 1

Recall

Answer 1

Free; recall what you know
+ Can be used to know what people remember and what errors of ommission/commission are made
- Lack of conficdence, preference for memory with precise knowledge

Forced: report a certain amount of information
+ Weaker knowledge in memory can be assessed, informative errors

Cued: designating some info as a target
+ Control of the context

Question 2

Recognition

Answer 2

Contents of environment are compared w contents of memory.

Includes correcting for false positive/false negative

Level of bias and discrimination can be measured using the signal detection theory

Question 3

Short memory decay study

Answer 3

Peterson’s experiment. Recall three digits after counting backwards to keep from rehearsal.

Forgetting curve, BUT likely due to interference of the counting backwards.

Underwood later found that it was the trials after that messed up the recall, due to interference with the previous set of digets they had to remember

Question 4

Norman interference task

Answer 4

Studied the effect of interference in recall experiment (probe and tone at the end, indicating what digit followed the earlier occurrence)

The more intervening items, the more interference, the greater the forgetting. Short-term memory forgetting is more of a function of the amount oif interference than the amount of time that passed