Unit 1 - Memory Strategies for Improvement

Question 1

Describe Active Processing.

Answer 1

• We recall information that has been actively processed best (simple repetition alone is not effective).
• Active Processing means paying attention to the information and fully considering its meaning.
• Information can be processed on 3 levels:
• Structural (shallow), this is focusing on the physical appearance of information e.g. the colour of some text.
• Acoustic (intermediate), this is focusing on how information sounds.
• Semantic (deepest), this is focusing on the meaning of information and requires actively thinking about the information.
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Question 2

Explain why Active Recall works.

Answer 2

Explanation:

Deeper levels of processing activate various association in the LTM making material easier to retrieve because there are more retrieval routes.

The deeper the level of processing the more elaborate information is encoded and the enduring the memory.

Question 3

Describe and explain Organsation Through Categories.

Answer 3

• There is no difference in the brains of those with superior memory. They are just better at organising information.
• We naturally organise information in LTM in a way that makes it easily accessible.​

Explanation:

• By organising information we create cues that aid retrieval. Retrieval cues are most effective when they are encoded at the same time as the rest of the information that is to be later recalled.

Question 4

Describe and explain organisation through the “story method”.

Answer 4

Further research by Bower (1969) investigated organisation through a story. Participants were asked to memorise 12 lists of unrelated words by organising each list into a story. Participants in the story condition recalled more than 90% of words in comparison to 10% in the control group.

Question 5

Describe and explain mnemonics based in visual imagery (further organisation)/ Method of Loci.

Answer 5

• The method of Loci is a mnemonic (memory strategy) based on organisation. It involves attaching words with a series of locations. e.g. 10 words with 10 locations in your house. You need to imagine yourself moving from location to location visualising words in each place e.g. a crocodile in the hall way.

Explanation:

• If words and images are processed separately Loci means they are doubly encoded. Thus there is an increased likelihood that they will be remembered with Loci as it activates both words and pictures.

Question 6

Describe and explain mind maps.

Answer 6

• A mind map is a diagram used to represent information around a central theme. They are general flexible and work by integrating various information to be learned.

Explanation:

They integrate many of the other techniques. They help us to develop and state key ideas around a central focus in a visual and though provoking way.

Question 7

State the 4 components to the Cognitive Interview.

Answer 7

Context Reinstatement (CR)

Mentally reinstate the context of the target event. Recall the scene, the weather, what you were thinking and feeling at the time the preceding events etc.

Report Everything (RE)

Report every detail you can recall even if it seem trivial.

Recall from Changed Perspective (CP)

Try to describe the episode as if it have been seen from different viewpoints, not just your own…

Recall in Reverse Order (RO)

Report the episode in several temporal orders moving backwards and forwards in time.

Question 8

What 2 principles does the cognitive interview base itself on compared to the standard interview?

Answer 8

• There are several pathways to stored information and retrieval cues should be used to gain all the information the witness stores.
• Misleading information can cause inaccurate EWTs so no question should be misleading in order to produce an accurate as possible account.