theories of memory

Question 1

duration

Answer 1

the length of time information can be held in our memory

Question 2

encoding

Answer 2

the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores

Question 3

capacity

Answer 3

the amount of information that can be held in a memory store

Question 4

storage

Answer 4

the process of holding information in memory

Question 5

retrieval

Answer 5

the process of transferring information from the LTM to the STM (recalling information)

Question 6

mode of representation

Answer 6

the form in which information is encoded or stored

Question 7

WMM

Answer 7

focuses on the STM and is a multi-component system

Question 8

WMM - dual-task paradigm

Answer 8

the idea that our processing speed is slower when we are processing two different pieces of information that use the same store

Question 9

WMM - central executive

Answer 9

• function: monitors the whole slave system and allocates information to the correct system. deals with things like mental arithmetic, etc.
• capacity: doesn’t have a capacity of it’s own

Question 10

WMM - phonological loop

Answer 10

• split into the phonological store and the articulatory control system
• phonological store: our inner ear (stores spoken words), has a capacity of 1-2 seconds
• articulatory control system: our inner voice (stores verbal information), has a capacity of 2 seconds

Question 11

WMM - visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 11

• function: holds information we see, used for navigation
• capacity: 3-4 objects (e.g. if you look at a picture and then loom away you’d be able to remember 3-4 objects)

Question 12

WMM - the episodic buffer

Answer 12

• Baddeley introduces this in 2000 due to the limitation of there being no detail for how the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad interact
• function: integrates (combines) information from the two stores in order to form one memory that can then be moved to the LTM
• capacity: 4 chunks of information

Question 13

WMM - locations in brain

Answer 13

• biological evidence supports this model
• central executive: the frontal lobe
• phonological loop: the left hemisphere (in the temporal lobe)
• visuospatial sketchpad: the right hemispheres (simple tasks in the occipital lobe, more complex tasks in the parietal lobe)

Question 14

Tulving’s LTM

Answer 14

suggested that the MSM was too simplistic as there are different types of LTM - episodic and semantic memories

Question 15

Tulving’s LTM - semantic memory

Answer 15

• ‘mental encyclopaedia’
• stored in the frontal and temporal lobes
• natura of memory: facts, memories of relationships, where things are located, etc. e.g. 1+1=2
• time referencing: can’t remember when or where you learnt these things. no spatial links
• encoding: rules rather than individual knowledge, e.g. I before E except after C
• retrieval: don’t rely on context cues to be and are less likely to be forgotten
• forgetting: less likely to become distorted, e.g. 1+1=2 is unchanging

Question 16

Tulving’s LTM - episodic memory

Answer 16

• ‘mental diary’
• stored in the hippocampus
• nature of memory: personal events in life, names, etc.
• time referencing: memory is linked to the time the event occurred, may not be specific it’s more knowing the sequence of events. spatial referencing.
• encoding: linked to 5 senses
• retrieval: uses context cues from our 5 senses to bring memories stored in LTM to our conscious awareness
• forgetting: retrieval cue failure makes it unlikely that we will remember an event. memories are more likely to become distorted

Question 17

Tulving’s LTM - autonoetic consciousness

Answer 17

• part of episodic memory
• allows us to ‘time travel’ when thinking of past events so that we can almost relive them, e.g. feelings from the specific event you felt at the time

Question 18

Reconstructive memory

Answer 18

suggests that, when we forget information we fill in the gaps in order to make more sense of what happened and Bartlett suggested that we do this using schemas. highlights how memory is not a tape recorder and that it is often unreliable

Question 19

Reconstructive memory - schema theory

Answer 19

• schemas are like a mental filing cabinet which stores our own personal knowledge and aspects of the world based off what we’ve experienced. an example of a schema is what we’d imagine a robber to look like
• if new knowledge does not fit in with your schema it may fail to be encoded at all. if it doesn’t fit in with your expectations you may not notice it at all
• when recalling a memory, you might only recall elements that fit in with your schema so they may be forgotten or distorted

Question 20

Reconstructive memory - AO1

Answer 20

• active process: you can continuously add to memory as you are constantly experiencing new things and adding to your schemas
• imaging: you may create a mental image of something/someone based off things like media representation
• schemas: contains all of our past experiences, knowledge of the world, what we’ve seen in the media, etc.
• memories may be distorted: memory is not like a tape recorder and can be muddled due to things like the media, our schemas, etc.
• rationalisation: reasoning about what happened so that it makes more sense to you
• confabulation: subconsciously filling in the gaps with previous experiences (when doing recall)
• simplification: simplifying a story/event, e.g. removing parts that don’t fit into our schemas
• partially determined by social factors: schemas are formed based off of our pre-existing ideas of the world, may be affected by stereotype, prejudice, etc.
• levelling: downplaying information
• sharpening: exaggerating information