Yellow Pack 2

Question 1

Describe Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store model of memory

Answer 1

• The MSM is an information processing model that has 3 main components, the sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory.
• Th MSM says that the sensory information (from one of our 5 senses) needs to be paid attention to in order for it to register.
• If it is paid attention to it goes into the short term memory, where information is encoded acoustically.
• The information in STM needs to be rehearsed for it to be transferred to long term memory.

Question 2

What are the memory stores in the multi-store model of memory according to the information processing/computer analogy?

Answer 2

Computer hardware

Question 3

Briefly explain the difference in encoding between short term and long term memory according to the MSM (2)

Answer 3

Encoding in STM is primarily acoustic (auditory or verbal sounds), whereas encoding in LTM is primarily semantic (meaning).

Question 4

Explain the difference in duration between short term and long term memory in the MSM using research to back up your explanation

Answer 4

• Information can be held in STM for up to 30 seconds, as shown by Peterson & Peterson (1959).
• Participants had 90% recall of trigrams after a 3 second delay and only 10% recall after 18 seconds.
• On the other hand, LTM can hold information for any length of time.
• This was shown by Bahrick et al. (1975) who found that participants could identify names and faces of students from their high school with 90% accuracy after 15 years and 70- 80% accuracy after 48 years.

Question 5

Explain why we forget using the MSM

Answer 5

• Unattended memory is lost from sensory memory.
• Unrehearsed information is lost from the STM.
• From the LTM, we forget because of interference with other information or through failure when retrieving it.

Question 6

Jenny needs to remember a 20-digit bank account number but has no way to write it down or record it. Explain how she should do this, according to the multistore model of memory. [4 marks]

Answer 6

• The bank account number could be encoded through the sensory memory through sight or sound, when this is attended to, the number will be processed in the STM.
• According to the MSM, Jenny needs to rehearse the number in the STM, using auditory processing several times. This will pass the information to her LTM.
• If Jenny does not rehearse the
account number, the information may be lost from the STM due to decay.
• Once the information is rehearsed, it
will be stored in the LTM. From here, Jenny can recall the number when she needs to through semantic or temporal search.

Question 7

Multi-store memory model: Encoding of sensory memory

Answer 7

Information enters (is encoded in) memory through one of five sensory registers (one for each of the senses
- sight, hearing, touch, taste or smell)

Question 8

Multi-store memory model: Capacity of sensory memory

Answer 8

3 to 4 items can be held

Question 9

Multi-store memory model: Duration of sensory memory

Answer 9

items can be held for up to half a second before they decay

Question 10

Multi-store memory model: Forgetting in sensory memory

Answer 10

Information decays if not paid attention to

Question 11

Multi-store memory model: Transfer of information in sensory memory

Answer 11

If we pay attention to the information it will be transferred to short term
memory

Question 12

Multi-store memory model: Encoding of short term memory

Answer 12

Information is transformed into mostly ACOUSTIC OR VERBAL forms to be registered in short term memory

Question 13

Multi-store memory model: Capacity of short term memory

Answer 13

This links to research by George Miller.
• He found that people remember around 7 ‘chunks’ of information at a time, (plus or minus 2)
• Therefore, we can hold 5 - 9 pieces of information at a time
❌• This could be individual numbers - 7, 6, 3, 5, 4 etc or ‘chunks’ of numbers - 1987, 1993, 1876, 1066. 1945

Question 14

Multi-store memory model: Duration of short term memory

Answer 14

STM has a duration of 15-30 seconds.

Evidence to support:
Peterson and Peterson (1959) used an interference task to stop people being able to rehearse information to transfer it to LTM.
Ps had to remember a single trigram of three consonants for intervals of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 seconds. (e.g. LTB, TPD)
The trigram was read out and participants had to count backwards in
threes from a given number (e.g. 679, 676, 673, etc.).
After a short time, correct recall was likely, but performance dropped rapidly after 15-18 seconds.
It can be concluded that decay occurs in the short-term store over a
period of 15 seconds.

Question 15

Multi-store memory model: Retrieval of short term memory

Answer 15

To retrieve information from short term memory, we search through the information in order (a sequential search).

Question 16

Multi-store memory model: Forgetting in short term memory

Answer 16

Information decays because it is displaced by more information coming in (5-9 item threshold).

Question 17

Multi-store memory model: Transfer of information in short term memory

Answer 17

We need to rehearse information (keep using it or saying it etc) for it to be passed to LTM

Question 18

What is the phonological similarity effect and why is it important in explaining STM? (particularly encoding in STM)

Answer 18

The PHONOLOGICAL SIMILARITY EFFECT:
The phenomenon that letters and words of a SIMILAR SOUND are MORE DIFFICULT to recall than those that sound different.

•ATKINSON & SHIFFRIN argued that the reason the effect happens is because the SIMILARITY of the words confuses our STM
• This suggests that ENCODING IN STM IS PRIMARILY ACOUSTIC (AUDITORY
OR VERBAL SOUNDS).

Question 19

Multi-store memory model: Encoding of long term memory

Answer 19

•Semantic and temporal
•Things are transferred into meaning
and order

Question 20

Multi-store memory model: Capacity of long term memory

Answer 20

• BRADY ET AL. (2008) showed participants 2,500 objects over 5.5 hours.
• Between 87% & 92% of the obiects were correctly identified
• This demonstrates that thousands of images can be maintained successfully in the long-term store.
• THIS SHOWS THAT THE CAPACITY OF LTM IS POTENTIALLY LIMITLESS

Question 21

Multi-store memory model: Duration of long term memory

Answer 21

•BAHRICK ET AL. (1975) investigated what they referred to as Very Long-term Memory (VLTM)
•400 participants aged 17 - 74 years old completed a series of memory tests on the names and faces of students in their high school yearbooks.
•Within 15 years of leaving school, identification of names and faces was 90% correct.
•Within 48 years of leaving school, accuracy was 70-80%
THIS SHOWS THAT THE DURATION OF LTM IS POTENTIALLY LIMITLESS

Question 22

Multi-store memory model: Retrieval of long term memory

Answer 22

-Because information is grouped by MEANING OR ORDER this means we search for intormation in the same way (semantic and temporal search)

Question 23

Multi-store memory model: Forgetting in long term memory

Answer 23

Decay and Interference - information can become muddled and changed

Question 24

Give a strength of the multistore-memory model using the primacy recency effect.

Answer 24

There is supporting evidence for the MSM comes from the primacy recency effect. This is the fact that we can remember things at the beginning and end of a list very well, but we forget things in the middle. It suggests that we remember the beginning due to LTM and rehearsal, and the end due to STM. This supports the idea of two separate stores.

Question 25

Give a strength of the multistore-memory model using case studies

Answer 25

There is supporting evidence for this theory. For example, case studies of brain damaged patients support the model. Henry Molaison was unable to transfer new information from his short-term to long-term memory, suggesting that there are two separate stores for short and long term memory, which backs up the model.

Question 26

Give a weakness of the multistore-memory model using Bekerion and Baddeley (1980)

Answer 26

A weakness of the model is that research has shown that rehearsal
does not necessarily transfer information to long-term memory. For example, Bekerion and Baddeley (1980) found that people did not know that the BBC radio wavelengths were changing, despite hearing the information around 1000 times on the radio. This shows that the model may over-emphasise rehearsal and there may be other processes involved in transferring information from STM to LTM.

Question 27

Give a weakness of the multistore-memory model using Morris (1985)

Answer 27

Evidence against the model comes from research that suggests the model is not necessarily linear, as people use their prior knowledge (LTM) to help their STM. For example, Morris et al. (1985) found that people who were interested in football made up scores more accurately than those who were not interested in football. This suggests that those interested used their previous knowledge to impose meaning on the information to help with their recall.

Question 28

❌‼️ only need one (i tbink idk) Give one strength or weakness of the use of lab experiments in the MSM

Answer 28

Laboratory experiments are often used to provide supporting evidence for the multistore model of memory. This is a strength as they standardised procedures which means that they can be replicated in different circumstances. It also means that the researcher is able to manipulate the independent variable and seeing how it
impacts on the dependent variable, allowing us to infer cause and effect. This increases the scientific credibility of the theory. For example, Baddeley’s research investigates the effect of acoustic and semantic similarity on memory for word sequences.

On the other hand, the use of laboratory experiments to investigate the multistore model of memory can also be viewed as a weakness. For example, Peterson & Peterson’s 1959 study on the effect of interference to prevent rehearsal used artificial tasks
(remembering trigrams) in an artificial laboratory setting. This is a weakness because due to the artificial nature of the task and the setting, it may not reflect how memory works in everyday life. It can also be described as REDUCTIONIST as it gives a limited understanding of memory.

Question 29

What are the applications for the multi-store memory model?

Answer 29

BUTLER AND ROEDIGER (2007) found that rehearsal of information presented in a lecture increased recall of the information one month later.
Therefore this can be useful in society to help students to learn more
effectively through rehearsal.

Question 30

Evaluate the Multi Store Memory Model [8 marks]

Answer 30

Intro:
•The MSM was developed by Atkinson & Shiffrin in 1968. It proposed that memory was made up of 3 sperate stores. Inital sensorg information enters the sensory register, where if it paid attention to will transfer to the short term memory. Here the information needs to be rehearsed in order to transfer into the long term memory.

• P: A strength of the MSM model is that it is backed up by evidence.
• E: This is a strength because it gives the model scientific credibility (or validity)
• E: For example, it was shown that H.M. was unable to transfer new information from his STM to his LTM, suggesting that there are two separate stores for these two memories.
• C: However, H.M. was a case study and therefore only one individual, so we can’t necessarily say you can apply the results to all peoples memory.

• P: A weakness of the MSM is that evidence shows that the MSM model is
not linear as proposed by Atkinson & Shiffrin.
• E: This is a weakness because it means that the model may lack validity.
• E: Morris et al. (1985) showed that people actually use the information in
the LTM to inform themselves or impose meaning on their recall. They
found that people used previous knowledge of football scores to help
them predict new scores,
• C: However, the short term memory aspect of this model was considered
too simplistic and further developed by Baddeley & Hitch (1974) in their
working memory model, to take into account new evidence

• Conclusion: Despite the MSM being considered too simplistic, it has still
been useful in everyday life. For example, it demonstrated that rehearsal is important for people to retain information in long term memory, and this idea has been used widely in education.

Question 31

Explain using a case study of a brain

damaged patient, how STM in the MSM was too simple.

Answer 31

Through the case study of KF Baddeley and Hitch found:

• KF (had a digit span of 2), but could transfer new information to his LTM).
• KF’s impairment was mainly for verbal information.
• His memory for visual information was largely unaffected.

•This suggests that although his STM had been disrupted, there must have been OTHER ASPECTS OF HIS STM that were still functioning.
•This shows that there ARE
SEPARATE STM COMPONENTS for visual information (VSS) and verbal
information (phonological loop).
This that STM in the MSM was far too simplistic and that STM is not a unitary store.

Question 32

What is working memory?

Answer 32

Working memory looks at STM only it is a system for holding things in mind while you are thinking about them and doing something with them.
The role of working memory is therefore to temporarily store and manipulate information being used.

It can be used for things such as Mental maths.
However, working memory is fragile and things can go wrong due to -
Distraction, Overload and Overwork.

Question 33

What are the three components for working memory?

Answer 33

1. Central executive
2. Phonological loop
3. Visuospatial sketchpad

Question 34

In Bradley and Hitch’s Working Memory Model was was added later in 2000?

Answer 34

The episodic buffer and Long term storage memory

Question 35

What are the two slave systems in the working memory model?

Answer 35

1. The phonological loop

2. Visuospatial sketchpad

Question 36

Briefly explain the role of the central executive

Answer 36

• The central executive runs the memory system, choosing the information to pay attention to and allocating the information to the appropriate ‘slave system’.
• It also deals with other cognitive tasks such as problem solving, and relates all of the information it controls to long term memory.

Question 37

Explain the differences between the articulatory rehearsal system and the phonological store (2)

Answer 37

• The articulatory rehearsal system is linked to speech production, acting as our inner voice, rehearsing and storing verbal information.
• Whereas the phonological store is linked to speech perception, acting as our inner ear, holding information in a speech form.

Question 38

Briefly explain the role of the visuospatial sketchpad

Answer 38

The Slave system that stores and processes VISUAL AND SPATIAL information.
• Plays an important role in helping us with NAVIGATION and stopping us from bumping into things and people as we walk along a road
• Also DISPLAYS AND MANIPULATES visual and spatial information that
is held in our long term memory.
• E.g., when some asks you for directions to the shops from your house, you may find yourself picturing the route that is held in your LTM before being able to describe it.

Question 39

Why is it difficult to process two conversations simultaneously, such as when you are talking on the phone and a friend is trying to tell you something at the same time?

Answer 39

• Point: It is difficult to process both conversations because they are verbal and both utilise the phonological store.
• Explanation: The phonological store has a limited capacity so it unable to cope with the demands of two tasks at once and results in poor performance in processing.

Question 40

Describe Baddeley and Hitch’s Working Memory model (4)

Answer 40

• The working memory model says that short term memory is an active memory, with 3 components for different roles:
• Central Executive [‘boss’]
• Visual Spatial Sketch Pad [ for visual/spatial information]
• Phonological loop [spoken/written information]

Question 41

Give two strengths of the WMM, explaining why they are strengths (4)

Answer 41

• There is a wide range of experimental evidence to support the different components. For example, participants found it difficult to track the location of a moving light whilst imagining the letter F and saying where they saw angles because both tasks require resources from the visuospatial sketchpad.
• There is a wide range of neuropsychological evidence to support the fact that there are different components of memory. For example, K.F. suffered brain damage after a motorcycle accident and had impaired verbal memory but intact memory for visual/spatial information. store. This supports the theory that WM has separate subsystems. PET scans have also shown that different areas are activated when people use the phonological store and articulatory rehearsal system giving the model validity.

Question 42

How does the word length effect support the WMM?

Answer 42

•The word length effect provides evidence for the articulatory rehearsal system, as the longer a word the more capacity was used and forgetting was more likely.

Question 43

Give two weaknesses of the WMM, explaining why they are weaknesses

Answer 43

• One weakness of the WMM is that the explanations are limited. For example, there is little evidence for how the central executive works and functions, and it does not explain sensory or LT memory. The original 1974 model also did not explain how the working memory communicated with long-term memory - the episodic buffer was added in 2000 to explain this. All of this means the validlty of the original model may be reduced.
• One weakness of the WMM is that it does not explain changes in processing ability, that occur due to time or pratice which means that the model is limited in its explanation of memory as a whole process.

Question 44

Describe the differences between the

MSM & the WMM (4)

Answer 44

•One difference between the WMM & the MSM is that the MSM model describes STM as a single unitary component, whereas the WMM argues that STM is made up of a number of components (Central executive, phonological store & Visual spatial sketch pad).
•Another difference is in the way the models link STM to LTM. For example, MSM emphasises that the STM is a stopping point for information on the
way to forgetting or LTM storage. However, the WMM argues that LTM is important in STM processing.

Question 45

Describe the similarities between the

MSM & the WMM (4)

Answer 45

•Both have evidence supporting them for example the MSM is supported by the primacy-recency effect. It suggests that we remember things at the beginning of a list due to LTM and
rehearsal, and the things at the end of a list due to STM, supporting the idea of two separate stores. This is similar to WMM which is supported by Neurophysiological evidence. For example, PET scans have shown that different areas of the brain are used while undertaking verbal and visual tasks. These areas may correspond to components of the WMM.
•Anouther similarity is that they both have useful applications. Eg. the rehearsal technique in MSM has been used in educational practices for learning and revising for exams. Similarly, the WMM helps identify children with memory impairments and also help them in classroon situations.

Question 46

Which one of Baddeley’s studies are we focusing on for our exam?

Answer 46

Experiment 3

Question 47

Why did Baddeley need to come up with a new way of testing long term and short term memory?

Answer 47

Previous research on this had used different research techniques for short and long term memory, which Baddeley said would mean it was impossible to tell whether they were the same or different.
He came up with a way of testing both types of memory with the same technique, by taking an established phenomenon of STM and attempting to reproduce in in LTM.

Question 48

What was the aim for you classic study in cognitive psychology?

Answer 48

To investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall in short term and long-term memory.

Question 49

What was the sample for you classic study in cognitive psychology?

Answer 49

72 Men and women recruited from the Applied Psychology Unit subject panel at Cambridge University.

Question 50

What is an interference task?

Answer 50

A task used to prevent rehearsal of information

Question 51

What was the procedure for you classic study in cognitive psychology for testing STM?

Answer 51

• For each condition, the 10 words were presented to participants on a projector for 3 seconds each (with a 2 second slide changeover time between).
• Then there was a task involving STM for six sequences of eight digits (six tasks). The sequences were read out at a 1 second rate and then participants were given 8 seconds to write out each sequence.
• They were then allowed 1 minute to write out the 10 word list in order - this was the test of memory.
• After doing the above three bullet points four times, participants completed a task involving 15 minutes of copying eight digit sequences at their own pace. This was an interference task put between the encoding and retrieval of the words. The reason for this interference task was to minimise the effect of short-term memory during learning.

Question 52

What was the procedure for you classic study in cognitive psychology for testing LTM?

Answer 52

After the 15 mins interference task they then attempted to recall the word list in order, which was a surprise retest.
Because this was a test of the sequence, not simply remembering the words, the words were visible the experiment.

Question 53

Why does it not matter that the words were visible throughout the experiment in your classic study for cognitive psychology?

Answer 53

• Because the experiment was a test of sequence, not a
simple memory test.
• The order of the words recalled was the important
aspect.

Question 54

What were the four conditions in your classic study for cognitive psychology?

Answer 54

A) acoustically similar words
B) acoustically dissimilar words
C) semantically similar words
D) semantically dissimilar words

Question 55

Of the four conditions in your classic study for cognitive psychology which were the control conditions?

Answer 55

B) acoustically dissimilar words

D) semantically dissimilar words

Question 56

In your classic study for cognitive psychology describe the results for acoustic similarity

Answer 56

In the early phases of learning (Tests 1-3) there was a significant difference between the similar list and the control list as the acoustically simmilar words were harder to learn.
Between Test 4 and the retest neither group showed any evidence of forgetting (no significant difference)

Question 57

In your classic study for cognitive psychology describe the results for semantic similarity

Answer 57

By test 4 and the retest performance on the semantically similar list was poorer compred to the control list. In other words, learning of word sequences was impaired by semantic similarity.

Question 58

What was the conclusions for you classic study in cognitive psychology?

Answer 58

• Participants found it harder to recall list A (acoustically similar words) in the initial learning phase which suggests that short term memory is largely acoustic. At the retest, list C (semantically similar) was the one that was impaired the most which suggests that encoding in long term memory is largely (but not exclusively) semantic.
• Baddeley said that although the study shows that in STM acoustic cues are important where as in LTM semantic cues may be used instead. This difference between the two stores needs further research.

Question 59

Evaluate the reliability of your classic study in cognitive psychology

Answer 59

• The study is high in reliability as standardised procedures were used. •For example the same word lists were used for each participant in each condition.
• Same equipment used, e.g. the projector showing the words (this helps reduce any situational variables).
• Same timings (each word shown for 3 seconds, given 1 minute to write out the word list in order)
• This increases reliability, meaning that the procedure can be replicated and produce consistent results.

Question 60

What are the applications of your classic study in cognitive psychology?

Answer 60

• Findings are that we encode semantically in LTM and acoustically in STM - helped other researchers investigate LTM in greater depth.
• The use of interference tasks to control STM has been useful in further research helped develop the WMM (Baddeley & Hitch)
• Means we can use this to suggest/promote the best learning strategies to improve memory (e.g. using mind maps for revision as LTM uses semantic links)

Question 61

Evaluate the ecological validity of your classic study in cognitive psychology

Answer 61

One of the main criticisms of Baddeley’s experiment is that the tasks lack mundane realism, because remembering the sequence of word lists is artificial and not an everyday task people would ordinarily do. This means that the ecological validity of the experiment is low.

Question 62

Evaluate the internal validity of your classic study in cognitive psychology

Answer 62

Baddeley used a very well controlled lab experiment. This means that
he could control extraneous variables and isolate the variable he wanted to measure. This means that a cause and effect link behween the IV of type of word list and the DV of correct sequential order of the word lists can be established. This increases the internal validity of the experiment.

Question 63

Evaluate the generalisability of your classic study in cognitive psychology

Answer 63

• Sample consisted of 72 men and women which is a fairly large sample consisting of both men and women making it more representative of the target population and therefore more generalisable.
It also allows us to find any gender differences in memory.
•All from the Cambridge Univeristy Applied Psychology Unit. This means Ps are all from/ live on the same area.
Students who go to Cambridge are brighter which may mean they have better memories possibly impacting findings.
However it is not likely their is anything inherently different about the memories of those in Cambridge and those in other areas.
(Cannot generalise to children)

Question 64

Give one strength of the sample used in your classic study for cognitve psychology explaining why this is a strength

Answer 64

• Both male and female participants were used
• This means we can see the effects of acoustic and semantic similarity on memory in both genders
• This means the results are more representative and therefore
generalisable

Question 65

Describe the interference tasks in your classic study for cogntive psychology

Answer 65

The first interference task
•participants were read six sequences of eight digits and had to write them out
The second interference task
• 15 minutes of coping eight digit sequences at their own pace

Question 66

Explain the differences between encoding in STM and LTM that were found in the study

Answer 66

• STM is largely acoustically encoded
• This is because it was harder to recall the acoustically similar list in the initial learning phase.
LTM is largely semantically encoded
• This is because at the surprise retest, the semantically similar list was impaired the most.

Question 67

What is mundane realism and how is it relevant to your classic study?

Answer 67

• It is the extent to which a task/activity/study is similar to a task/activity/process that someone would complete in everyday life.
• In this study, the tasks lack mundane realism as learning a word list and recalling it in the correct order is not something we usually do.