Memory

Question 1

Capacity

Answer 1

The maximum amount of information that memory can hold.

Question 2

Central executive

Answer 2

The central executive has been described as an ‘attentional process’ with a very limited processing capacity, and whose role is to allocate tasks to the 3 slave systems.

Question 3

Coding

Answer 3

The way different memory systems store information, by converting that information into a suitable format for our brain.

Question 4

Duration

Answer 4

The length of time a memory stays stored in memory.

Question 5

Episodic buffer

Answer 5

The episodic buffer integrates all types of data processed by the other stores (e.g. auditory, visual, spatial) and so is described as the storage component of the central executive, as well as being crucial for linking STM to LTM.

Question 6

Episodic memory

Answer 6

Episodic memory describes those memories which have some kind of personal meaning to us, alongside details as to when and how these events occurred, as well as the associated people and places. An example would be the memory of a wedding or the first time meeting a partner.

Question 7

Leading questions

Answer 7

A type of question which when asked, encourages a certain answer. For example, “Was the perpetrator black?” being asked instead of the question “What ethnicity was the perpetrator?”

Question 8

Long-term memory

Answer 8

LTM is described as being semantically encoded, having an unlimited capacity and a very long duration (over 46 years, as shown by Bahrick et al). In order to remember information, ‘retrieval’ must occur, which is when information is transferred back into the STM, and will continue to pass through the maintenance loop afterwards.

There are 3 types of long-term memory: episodic, semantic and procedural.
• Episodic memory describes those memories which have some kind of personal meaning to us, alongside details as to when and how these events occurred, as well as the associated people and places. An example would be the memory of a wedding or the first time meeting a partner.
• Semantic memories describe our memories of the world and the associated knowledge e.g. an understanding of what words, themes and concepts mean. An example would be the ability to use information related to one concept to help us understand another.
• Procedural memories describe our memories of ‘learned skills’, such as swimming or driving.
• Episodic and semantic memories must be recalled consciously, whereas procedural memories are recalled unconsciously.

Question 9

Phonological loop

Answer 9

The phonological loop processes auditory information and allows for maintenance rehearsal by being made up of the articulatory process (stores the words you hear) and the phonological loop.

Question 10

Proactive interference

Answer 10

An explanation for forgetting which suggests information we have learned previously interferes with new information we are trying to store. For example, a psychology teacher forgetting the names of her new students, and instead remembering the names of her old students. (Proactive = forward acting = new memories are interfered with.)

Question 11

Procedural memory

Answer 11

A type of unconscious long-term memory that stores information regarding the way we carry out actions without conscious involvement i.e. walking, driving.

Question 12

Retroactive interference

Answer 12

An explanation for forgetting which suggests new information we learn interferes with information we already know. For example, a psychology teacher forgetting the names of her old class because of her new students. (Retroactive = backwards acting = old memories are interfered with.)

Question 13

Semantic memory

Answer 13

A type of conscious long-term memory that contains information regarding “facts” we have learned. This type of memory is uncomplicated and does not include contextual information as episodic memory does.

Question 14

Sensory register

Answer 14

A place that holds information gathered through your senses for a very short amount of time, perceiving information before it is stored or processed by any other memory store.

Question 15

Short-term memory

Answer 15

A type of memory store lasting about 30 seconds that can hold 5-9 pieces of information. Information from here can be moved into long-term memory via rehearsal.

Question 16

Visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 16

A component of the working memory model in which visual and spatial information is stored for a short amount of time.

Question 17

The Multi-Store Model (AO1)

Answer 17

The multistore model of memory was proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin and is a structural model. They proposed that memory consisted of three stores: sensory register, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). Information passes from store to store in a linear way. Both STM and LTM are unitary stores. Sensory memory is the information you get from your sense, your eyes and ears. When attention is paid to something in the environment it is then converted to short-term memory. If maintenance rehearsal (repetition) does not occur, then information is forgotten, and lost from short term memory through the processes of displacement or decay.

Question 18

Multi-Store Memory (AO2)

Answer 18

Each store has its own characteristics:
• Encoding is the way information is changed so that it can be stored in the memory. There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed): 1. visual (picture), 2. acoustic (sound), 3. semantic (meaning).
• Capacity concerns how much information can be stored.
• Duration refers to the period of time information can last in the memory stores.

Question 19

Sensory Registry

Answer 19

The duration is 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 second.
The capacity is all sensory experience (v. larger capacity)
The encoding is sense specific (e.g. different stores for each sense)

Question 20

Short-Term Memory

Answer 20

The duration is 0-18 seconds
The capacity is 7 +/- 2 items
The encoding is mainly acoustic

Question 21

Long-Term Memory

Answer 21

The duration is Unlimited
The capacity is Unlimited
The encoding is Mainly semantic (but can be visual and acoustic)

Question 22

The Multi-Store Model (AO3)

Answer 22

— There are different types of LTM, as proposed by Tuvling et al i.e. procedural, semantic and episodic. The MSM does not represent this because it sees LTM as a single, unitary store. This also does not represent that some types of LTM can be retrieved unconsciously (e.g. procedural) whilst others must be retrieved consciously (e.g. semantic), which is not reflected in the universal process of information being consciously transferred to the STM during the process of retrieval.
— The MSM suggests that the amount of maintenance rehearsal determines the likelihood that the information will pass into the LTM, whereas Craik and Watkins (1973) suggest that it is the type of rehearsal which is more important. They suggest that elaborative rehearsal, instead of prolonged rehearsal, is needed to transfer information from the STM into the LTM, by making links with existing knowledge.
+ The MSM acknowledges the qualitative differences between STM and LTM by representing them as separate stores. For example, STM is encoded acoustically, whilst LTM is encoded semantically and has a much longer duration. Therefore, the MSM portrays an accurate view of the differences between the two types of memory, as supported by Baddeley and Miller.
— The MSM incorrectly represents STM as a single, unitary store. For example, Shallice and Warrington found that their amnesiac patient KF had poor STM recall for auditory stimuli, but increasingly accurate recall for visual stimuli. This, alongside KF being able to differentiate and recall both verbal and non-verbal sounds, suggests that there may be multiple types of STM

Question 23

Long-Term Memory (AO1)

Answer 23

One of the earliest and most influential distinctions of long term memory was proposed by Tulving (1972). He proposed a distinction between episodic, semantic and procedural memory.

Question 24

Procedural Memory

Answer 24

Procedural memory is a part of the long-term memory is responsible for knowing how to do things, i.e. memory of motor skills. It does not involve conscious (i.e. it’s unconscious - automatic) thought and is not declarative.
For example, procedural memory would involve knowledge of how to ride a bicycle.

Question 25

Semantic Memory

Answer 25

Semantic memory is a part of the long-term memory responsible for storing information about the world. This includes knowledge about the meaning of words, as well as general knowledge.
For example, London is the capital of England. It involves conscious thought and is declarative.

Question 26

Episodic Memory

Answer 26

Episodic memory is a part of the long-term memory responsible for storing information about events (i.e. episodes) that we have experienced in our lives. It involves conscious thought and is declarative.
An example would be a memory of our 1st day at school.

Question 27

Long-term Memory (AO3)

Answer 27

Evidence for the distinction between declarative and procedural memory has come from research on patients with amnesia. Typically, amnesic patients have great difficulty in retaining episodic and semantic information following the onset of amnesia.
Their memory for events and knowledge acquired before the onset of the condition tends to remain intact, but they can’t store new episodic or semantic memories. In other words, it appears that their ability to retain declarative information is impaired.
However, their procedural memory appears to be largely unaffected. They can recall skills they have already learned (e.g. riding a bike) and acquire new skills (e.g. learning to drive).

Question 28

Working Memory Model (AO1)

Answer 28

The working memory model (Baddeley and Hitch, 1974) replaced the idea of a unitary STM. It suggests a system involving active processing and short-term storage of information.
Key features include the central executive, the phonological loop, and the visuospatial sketchpad.

Question 29

The Central Executive

Answer 29

The central executive has a supervisory function and acts as a filter, determining which information is attended to.
It can process information in all sensory forms, directs information to other slave systems and collects responses.
It has limited a limited capacity and deals with only one piece of information at a time.

Question 30

The Phonological Loop

Answer 30

One of the slave systems is the phonological loop which is temporary storage system for holding auditory information in a speech-based form.
It has two parts: (1) the phonological store (inner ear), which stores words you hear; and (2) the articulatory process (inner voice), which allows maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds or words to keep them in working memory while they are needed).
The phonological loop plays a key role in the development of reading.

Question 31

The Visuospatial Sketchpad

Answer 31

The second slave system is the Visuospatial
sketchpad (VSS). The VSS is a temporary memory system for holding visual and spatial information. It has two parts:
(1) the visual cache (which store visual data about form and colour), and (2) the inner scribe (which records the arrangement of objects in the visual field and rehearses and transfers information in the visual cache to the central executive).

Question 32

The Episodic Buffer

Answer 32

The third slave system is the episodic buffer which acts as a ‘backup’ (temporary) store for information which communicates with both long term memory and the slave system components of working memory.
One of its important functions is to recall material from LTM and integrate it into STM when working memory requires it.

Question 33

Working Memory Model (AO3)

Answer 33

Working memory is supported by dual task studies. It is easier to do two tasks at the same time if they use different processing systems (verbal and visual) than if they use the same slave system.
For example, participants would find it hard to do two visual tasks at the same time because they would be competing for the same limited resources of the visuospatial sketchpad. However, a visual task and a verbal task would use different components and so could be performed with minimum errors.
The KF Case Study supports the Working Memory Model. KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident that damaged his short-term memory. KF’s impairment was mainly for verbal information - his memory for visual information was largely unaffected.
This shows that there are separate STM components for visual information (VSS) and verbal information (phonological loop). However, evidence from brain-damaged patients may not be reliable because it concerns unique cases with patients who have had traumatic experiences.
One limitation is the fact that little is known about how the central executive works. It is an important part of the model but its exact role is unclear.

Question 34

Research Study for Working Memory

Answer 34

Baddeley and Hitch conducted an experiment in which participants were asked to perform two tasks at the same time (dual task technique). A digit span task which required them to repeat a list of numbers, and a verbal reasoning task which required them to answer true or false to various questions (e.g. B is followed by A?).

Results: As the number of digits increased in the digit span tasks, participants took longer to answer the reasoning questions, but not much longer - only fractions of a second. And, they didn’t make any more errors in the verbal reasoning tasks as the number of digits increased.

Conclusion: The verbal reasoning task made use of the central executive and the digit span task made use of the phonological loop.

Question 35

Retrieval Failure (AO1)

Answer 35

Retrieval failure is where information is available in long-term memory but cannot be recalled because of the absence of appropriate cues.
When we store a new memory, we also store information about the situation, and these are known as retrieval cues. When we come into the same situation again, these retrieval cues can trigger the memory of the situation.
According to retrieval-failure theory, forgetting occurs when information is available in LTM but is not accessible. Accessibility depends in large part on retrieval cues.
Forgetting is greatest when context and state are very different at encoding and retrieval. In this situation, retrieval cues are absent, and the likely result is cue-dependent forgetting.

Question 36

State Retrieval Cues

Answer 36

Bodily cues inside of us, e.g. physical, emotional, mood, drunk etc. The basic idea behind state-dependent retrieval is that memory will be best when a person’s physical or psychological state is similar at encoding and retrieval.
For example, if someone tells you a joke on Saturday night after a few drinks, you’ll be more likely to remember it when you’re in a similar state. Stone cold sober on Monday morning, you’ll be more likely to forget the joke.

Question 37

Context Retrieval Cues

Answer 37

External cues in the environment, e.g. smell, place etc.

Evidence indicates that retrieval is more likely when the context at encoding matches the context at retrieval.

Question 38

Organisation Retrieval Cues

Answer 38

Recall is improved if the organisation gives a structure which provides triggers, e.g., categories.

Question 39

Retrieval Failure (AO3)

Answer 39

People tend to remember material better when there is a match between their mood at learning and at retrieval. The effects are stronger when the participants are in a positive mood than a negative mood. They are also greater when people try to remember events having personal relevance.
Several experiments have indicated the importance of context- based (i.e. external) cues for retrieval. An interesting experiment conducted by Baddeley indicates the importance of context setting for retrieval.
Baddeley (1975) asked deep-sea divers to memorize a list of words. One group did this on the beach and the other group underwater. When they were asked to remember the words half of the beach learners remained on the beach, the rest had to recall underwater.
Half of the underwater group remained there and the others had to recall on the beach. The results show that those who had recalled in the same environment (i.e. context) which that had learned recalled 40% more words than those recalling in a different environment. This suggests that the retrieval of information is improved if it occurs in the context in which it was learned.
A study by Goodwin investigated the effect of alcohol on state- dependent (internal) retrieval. They found that when people encoded information when drunk, they were more likely to recall it in the same state.
For example, when they hid money and alcohol when drunk, they were unlikely to find them when sober. However, when they were drunk again, they often discovered the hiding place. Other studies found similar state-dependent effects when participants were given drugs such as marijuana.
The ecological validity of these experiments can be questioned, but their findings are supported by evidence from outside the laboratory.

Question 40

Interference (AO1)

Answer 40

Interference is an explanation for forgetting from long term memory – two sets of information become confused. Proactive and retroactive Interference is thought to be more likely to occur where the memories are similar, for example: confusing old and new telephone numbers. Chandler (1989) stated that students who study similar subjects at the same time often experience interference. French and Spanish are similar types of material which makes interference more likely.

Question 41

Proactive Interference

Answer 41

Proactive interference (pro=forward) is where old learning prevents recall of more recent information.
When what we already know interferes with what we are currently learning – where old memories disrupt new memories.

Question 42

Retroactive Interference

Answer 42

Retroactive interference (retro=backward) is where new learning prevents recall of previously learned information.
 In other words, later learning interferes with earlier learning - where new memories disrupt old memories.

Question 43

Interference (AO3)

Answer 43

Semantic memory is more resistant to interference than other types of memory.
Postman (1960) provides evidence to support the interference theory of forgetting. A lab experiment was used, and participants were split into two groups. Both groups had to remember a list of paired words – e.g. cat - tree, jelly - moss, book - tractor. The experimental group also had to learn another list of words where the second paired word if different – e.g. cat – glass, jelly- time, book – revolver. The control group were not given the second list.
All participants were asked to recall the words on the first list. The recall of the control group was more accurate than that of the experimental group. This suggests that learning items in the second list interfered with participants’ ability to recall the list. This is an example of retroactive interference.
Interference theory tells us little about the cognitive processes involved in forgetting.
Most research into the role of interference in forgetting has been carried out in a laboratory using lists of words, a situation which is likely to occur infrequently in everyday life (i.e. low ecological validity). As a result, it may not be possible to generalize from the findings. Baddeley states that the tasks given to participants are too close to each other and, in real life; these kinds of events are more spaced out.

Question 44

Loftus and Palmer (AO1) Procedure

Answer 44

Forty-five American students formed an opportunity sample. This was a laboratory experiment with five conditions, only one of which was experienced by each participant (an independent measures design).
Participants were shown slides of a car accident involving a number of cars and asked to describe what had happened as if they were eyewitnesses. They were then asked specific questions, including the question “About how fast were the cars going when they (hit / smashed / collided / bumped /contacted) each other?”

Question 45

Loftus and Palmer (AO1) Findings

Answer 45

The estimated speed was affected by the verb used. The verb implied information about the speed, which systematically affected the participants’ memory of the accident. Participants who were asked the “smashed” question thought the cars were going faster than those who were asked the “hit” question. The participants in the “smashed” condition reported the highest speeds, followed by “collided”, “bumped”, “hit”, and “contacted” in descending order.

Question 46

Loftus and Palmer (AO3)

Answer 46

The research lacks mundane realism, as the video clip does not have the same emotional impact as witnessing a real-life accident and so the research lacks ecological validity.
A further problem with the study was the use of students as participants. Students are not representative of the general population in a number of ways. Importantly they may be less experienced drivers and therefore less confident in their ability to estimate speeds. This may have influenced them to be more swayed by the verb in the question.
A strength of the study is it’s easy to replicate (i.e. copy). This is because the method was a laboratory experiment which followed a standardised procedure.

Question 47

Anxiety / Stress (AO1)

Answer 47

When we are in a state of anxiety, we tend to focus on whatever is making us feel anxious or fearful, and we exclude other information about the situation. If a weapon is used to threaten a victim, their attention is likely to focus on it. Consequently, their recall of other information is likely to be poor.
However, a study by Yuille and Cutshall (1986) contradicts the importance of stress in influencing eyewitness memory. 21 witnesses observed a shooting incident in Canada outside a gun shop in which 1 person was killed and a 2nd seriously wounded.
24

The incident took place on a major thoroughfare in mid- afternoon.
All the witnesses were interviewed by the investigating police, and 13 witnesses (aged 15-32 years) agreed to a research interview 4-5 months after the event. The witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they had felt at the time of the incident, using a 7-point scale. The eyewitness accounts provided in both the police and research interviews were analysed and compared.
The results of the study showed the witnesses were highly accurate in their accounts, and there was little change in amount or accuracy of recall after 5 months. The study also showed that stress levels did not have an effect on memory, contrary to lab findings.
All participants showed high levels of accuracy, indicating that stress had little effect on accuracy. However, very high anxiety was linked to better accuracy. Participants who reported the highest levels of stress were most accurate (about 88% accurate compared to 75% for the less-stressed group).

Question 48

Anxiety / Stress (AO3)

Answer 48

One strength of this study is that it had high ecological validity compared with lab studies which tend to control variables and use student populations as research participants.
One weakness of this study was that there was an extraneous variable. The witnesses who experienced the highest levels of stress where actually closer to the event (the shooting) and this may have helped with the accuracy of their memory recall.

Question 49

Context Reinstatement

Answer 49

Trying to mentally recreate an image of the situation, including details of the environment, such as the weather conditions, and the individual’s emotional state including their feelings at the time of the incident.

Question 50

Recall from a Changed Perspective

Answer 50

Trying to mentally recreate the situation from different points of view e.g. describing what another witness present at the scene would have seen.

Question 51

Recall in Reverse Order

Answer 51

The witness is asked to describe the scene in a different chronological order e.g. from the end to the beginning.

Question 52

Report Everything

Answer 52

The interviewer encourages the witness to report all details about the event, even though these details may seem unimportant.

Question 53

The Enhanced Cognitive Interview

Answer 53

The main additional features are:
• Encourage the witness to relax and speak slowly.
• Offer comments to help clarify witness statements.
• Adapt questions to suit the understanding of individual witnesses.

Question 54

The Cognitive Interview (AO3)

Answer 54

One limitation is the cognitive interview is that it’s time consuming to conduct and takes much longer than a standard police interview. It is also time consuming to train police officers to use this method. This means that it is unlikely that the ‘proper’ version of the cognitive interview is used.
Another limitation is that some elements of the cognitive interview may be more valuable than others. For example, research has shown that using a combination of ‘report everything’ and ‘context reinstatement’ produced better recall than any of the conditions individually.

A final criticism is that police personnel must be trained and this can be expensive and time consuming.
Geiselman (1985) set out to investigate the effectiveness of the cognitive interview. Participants viewed a film of a violent crime and, after 48 hours, were interviewed by a policeman using one of three methods: the cognitive interview; a standard interview used by the Los Angeles Police; or an interview using hypnosis.
The number of facts accurately recalled, and the number of errors made were recorded. The average number of correctly recalled facts for the cognitive interview was 41.2, for hypnosis it was 38.0 and for the standard interview it was 29.4.