Memory Flashcards
(93 cards)
1
Q
CAPACITY
What is memory defined as?
A
The process by which we retain information about past events
2
Q
CAPACITY
Define capacity
A
How much can be held in memory
3
Q
CAPACITY
Define duration
A
How long a memory lasts before it is no longer available
4
Q
CAPACITY
Define coding
A
The way information is changed to be stored in memory
5
Q
CAPACITY
Who investigated the capacity of STM
A
Joseph Jacobs 1887 and Miller 1956
6
Q
CAPACITY
What technique did Joseph Jacobs use to assess the capacity of STM?
A
The digit span technique
7
Q
CAPACITY
What did Joseph Jacobs conclude about the capacity of STM?
A
It has a numerical capacity of 9 items
8
Q
CAPACITY
Which psychologist reviewed research on the capacity of STM?
A
Miller
9
Q
CAPACITY
What did Miller conclude about the capacity of STM?
A
It has a general capacity of 7+-2 items
9
Q
CAPACITY
What did Miller conclude about the capacity of STM?
A
It has a general capacity of 7+-2 items
10
Q
CAPACITY
How can you improve capacity of STM?
A
Chunking
11
Q
CAPACITY
Give three A03 negatives about the capacity of STM
A
- Cowan 2001 found it is more likely to be 4 chunks of info
- What defines a chunk? Simon 1974 found that there is a shorter memory span for longer chunks
- Individual differences, Jacobs found there to be a range from 6.6 to 8.6 digits in teenagers
12
Q
CAPACITY
How long is the capacity of LTM?
A
Potentially unlimited
13
Q
DURATION
What is trace decay theory?
A
In relation to STM information will be retained, but only for a short duration
14
Q
DURATION
How long can STM retain information for?
A
15 - 30 seconds
15
Q
DURATION
How did Peterson and Peterson investigate the duration of STM?
A
By having participant briefly look at trigrams, followed by an interference task and then attempting to recall the triad. They then repeat this with a longer interference task each time
16
Q
DURATION
What did Peterson and Peterson find?
A
80% recalled after three seconds, this decreased to fewer than 10% after eighteen
17
Q
DURATION
What did Peterson and Peterson conclude about STM
A
- STM has a limited capacity
- If info isn’t rehearsed it will be forgotten
- This may be due to trace decay theory
18
Q
DURATION
Give two negatives of the duration of STM
A
- Displacement rather than decay
- Lacks ecological validity due to having to recall meaningless information
19
Q
DURATION
What is the duration of LTM?
A
Potentially unlimited
20
Q
DURATION
Who investigated the duration of LTM?
A
Bahrick et al
21
Q
DURATION
How did Bahrick et al investigate the duration of LTM?
A
They showed 392pps aged 17 - 74 photographs of their old classmates and they had to name them
22
Q
DURATION
What did Bahrick’s results show?
A
14 years after graduation = 90% accuracy
48 years after graduation = 60% accuracy
23
Q
CODING
What are the three usual forms of coding?
A
- Acoustic
- Visual
- Semantic
24
CODING
| How did Baddley investigate coding?
By showing participants sets of different words and asking them to be recalled
25
CODING
| What were Baddley's findings?
Pp's had difficulty remembering acoustically similar words in short term memory not in long term memory. They also had difficulty remembering semantically similar words in long term memory but not in short term memory.
26
CODING
| What did Baddley conclude?
```
STM = coded acoustically
LTM = coded semantically
```
27
CODING
| Give three negatives of this theory
- Baddley may not have tested LTM properly. Only left 20 minutes.
- STM may not be exclusively acoustic, Brandimole found sufficiency in pp's performing a visual task
- LTM may not be exclusively semantic, Frost 1972 found visual remembering also. Circumstantial
28
MSM
| Who created the Multi-store Model of Memory
Atkinson & Shiffrin
29
MSM
| Describe the sensory register
Retrieves all info from the senses, has a large capacity, lasts for milliseconds and most information receives no attention
30
MSM
| Give two positives of the MSM
- Supporting evidence: Miller and Peterson and Peterson both investigated memory and found STM and LTM to be two separate stores
- Case studies: the case of HM, memory damaged in an operation. He could then create STM but no new LTM meaning they are different stores
31
MSM
| Give one negative of the MSM
It is overly simplistic: says that STM and LTM are both unitary stores, however WMM provides contradictory evidence suggesting there to be more than one type of LTM
32
WMM
| Who investigated the WMM
Baddeley and Hitch
33
WMM
| How is the WMM organized
Central executive
I
Visio spatial Episodic Phonological
sketchpad buffer loop
I
Long term memory
34
WMM
| Describe the central executive
Determines where to send information to and has a limited capacity
35
WMM
| Describe both subdivisions of the visio-spatial sketchpad
1 - the visual cache, stores visual items
| 2 - inner scribe, stores info about the arrangement of objects
36
WMM
| Describe the episodic buffer
An extra storage system which has limited capacity and integrates information from the LTM
37
WMM
| Describe the two aspects of the phonological loop
1 - phonological store, holds the words we hear
| 2 - articulatory control, words heard or seen are silently repeated
38
WMM
| Define dual task performance
Performing a visual and acoustic task simultaneously
39
WMM
| Give two positives of the WMM
- Evidence from brain damage patients: patient KF had an accident resulting in brain damage, had poorer STM for auditory information than visual stimuli indicating different stores
- In comparison to MSM this is a more specific and detailed explanation
40
WMM
| Give one negative of the WMM
Problems with the central executive: Richardson 1984 argued it's vague, not described well nor is it's function clear. Probably more complex than suggested by WMM.
41
Types of LTM
| Who proposed there to be three types of LTM?
Endel Tulving 1985
42
Types of LTM
| What were the three types of LTM Tulving proposed?
- Episodic memory
- Semantic memory
- Procedural memory
43
Types of LTM
| Describe episodic memory
- Refers to our ability to recall events from our lives
- These memories are time stamped and include several aspects
- You have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories
44
Types of LTM
| Describe semantic memory
- Contains our knowledge of the world
- Semantic memory contains facts that are not time stamped
- It contains an immense amount material which is constantly being added too
45
Types of LTM
| Describe procedural memory
- Our memory which recalls actions or skills
- Non conscious
- These skills are often quite difficult to explain
46
Types of LTM
| Give three positives of the types of LTM
- Clinical evidence: HM, episodic memory severely damaged but semantic memory remained intact, separate entities
- Neuroimaging evidence: Tulving et al got pps to perform tasks whilst attached to a PET scanner, they found that semantic and procedural memories came from different parts of the prefrontal cortex, highlights physical differences of stores
- RWA: Allows psychologists to tackle different parts of memory to improve people's lives, Belleville et al demonstrate how episodic memories could be improved in people with cognitive impairments
47
Retrieval failure theory
| Define the three parts of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting
- Encoding specifity principle
- Context dependent forgetting
- State dependent forgetting
48
Retrieval failure theory
| Define the encoding specifity principle
If a cue is to help us recall information it has to be present at encoding and at retrieval
49
Retrieval failure theory
| If cues available at encoding or retrieval are different what will happen?
Some forgetting
50
Retrieval failure theory
| Who researched into context dependent forgetting?
Godden and Boddely
51
Retrieval failure theory
| Who was involved in Godden et al's study?
Deep sea divers
52
Retrieval failure theory
| Describe Godden and Boddely's experiment
- Divers learnt a list of words either underwater or on land
| - They were asked to recall these words either underwater or on land, creating four conditions
53
Retrieval failure theory
| Describe the findings of Godden and Boddely's experiment
- Accurate recall 40% lower in conditions that didn't match compared to the conditions that did
- Due to different external cues retrieval failure occurred
54
Retrieval failure theory
| Give one appraisal of this theory
- An impressive amount of SUPPORTING RESEARCH
- Increases the validity
:)
55
Retrieval failure theory
| Give two negatives of this theory
- Questioning context effects: Baddeley argues that context effects aren't actually that strong, different contexts have to be very different for effects to be seen, limits the real world applications
- Recall vs recognition: the context effect may be related to the kind of memory being tested, Godden et al replicated the divers study using recognition rather than recall and found there to be no discernable results
56
INTERFERENCE
| When does interference occur?
Interference occurs when the recall of one memory blocks the recall of another, causing forgetting or distorted perceptions of these memories
57
INTERFERENCE
| What are the two types of interference?
Proactive and retroactive
58
INTERFERENCE
| Define proactive interference
When old memories block the recollection of new memories
59
INTERFERENCE
| Define retroactive interference
When new memories block the recollection of old memories
60
INTERFERENCE
| Which psychologists researched retroactive interference?
McGeoch and McDonald
61
INTERFERENCE
| What did Mcgeoch and Mcdonald's study include?
- Participants divided in 6 different groups to recall different lists of words (synonyms, antonyms, unrelated, constantans, syllables, no new word list)
- Those who learnt synonyms experienced an average of 3.1 fewer correct items recalled than the control group
62
INTERFERENCE
| What did McGeoch and McDonald's study show?
The idea that the extent of forgetting is larger when the two memories or materials are similar
63
INTERFERENCE
| Give two criticisms of this theory
- Artificial stimuli used in tasks: lab experiment, low mundane realism, lacks ecological validity
- Accessibility vs availability: Ceraso 1967 found participants tested 24 hours after task, recognition was recovered but recall wasn't, shows that info is temporarily not accessible rather than unavailable, validity issues
64
INTERFERENCE
| Give one positive of this theory
Real world applications: Danaher et al found that both recall and recognition of an adverts message were impaired when pps were exposed to two adverts with the same item, suggests effective advertising diluted by interference
65
EWT: misleading information
| Define EWT
The descriptions provided by individuals who have witnessed a crime or an event
66
EWT: misleading information
| What did Elizabeth Loftus show in a series of studies?
That eyewitness reports couldn't be relied upon because memories are not recalled like a video recorder. They have to be reconstructed meaning parts may be left out of modified.
67
EWT: misleading information
| What did LOFTUS and PALMER investigate?
The influence of leading questions
68
EWT: misleading information
| How did Loftus and Palmer go about researching the influence of leading questions?
They had 45 pps split into five groups and each group watch a video of a car crash. They were then asked "how fast were the cars going when they _____ with each other". Each group was given a different verb, being smashed, hit, bumped, collided and contacted.
69
EWT: misleading information
| What did Loftus and Palmer's results show?
Smashed 40.8 mph, contacted 31.8mph
| Shows how leading questions effect participant responses
70
EWT: misleading information
| What did Loftus and Palmer's second experiment involve?
"Did you see any broken glass?" - none there, more likely to say yes if they had the verb smashed originally
71
EWT: misleading information
| Describe two ways EWT may be made less accurate after the event
- Conformity effect: witnesses may discuss what they have seen and reach a group consensus view
- Repeat interviewing: each time a witness is interviewed there is a possibility that comments from interviewer will become incorporated into their recollection of events, this is most prominent in children
72
EWT: misleading information
| Give one positive of this theory
RWA: leading questions investigation warns the justice system about issues with EWT, mistaken EWT largest contributer to false imprisonments
73
EWT: misleading information
| Give two negatives of this theory
- Individual differences: Loftus and Palmer broken glass experiment most pps were accurate in saying no, some people have different ways of recollecting memories
- EWT in real life: experiment lacks ecological validity, pps not emotionally aroused, pps in real life would answer more accurately
74
EWT: anxiety
| Describe weapon focus :(
Loftus and her colleagues believed that in a situation where there is a dangerous weapon, attention is drawn to that, meaning witnesses may have limited recollection of other details
75
EWT: anxiety
| Describe Johnson and Scott's research into weapon focus
- Pps sat in a waiting room
- Man rushes out of an adjoining room with either a pen or a knife
- Pps then had to identify the man
76
EWT: anxiety
| What were Johnson and Scott's results?
Pen = 49% accurate, knife = 33% accurate
| Therefore anxiety hinders recall and supports weapon focus effect
76
no
no
77
EWT: anxiety
| Describe Christian and Hubinette's experiment
Questioned 58 real bank robbery witnesses, some bystanders others directly threatened, those directly threatened had a better recollection of events
78
EWT: anxiety
| Describe the evolutionary argument
Adaptive to have good recall when anxiety is provoked, enables us to adapt and survive, supported by the Yerkes - Dodson model of performance vs arousal
79
EWT: anxiety
| Give two negatives of this theory
- Individual differences: those who are neurotic vs those who aren't, same levels of anxiety, different accuracy of recollection
- Weapon focus may not be due to anxiety: Pickel found that weapon focus may be due to surprise rather than anxiety, in a study he found that identification was least accurate in high surprise conditions rather than high threat
80
EWT: anxiety
| Give one positive of this theory
Real life vs lab studies: Christianson and Hubinettes study was in the context of a real crime, natural results of participants, findings have more ecological validity for anxiety on EWT
81
ACCURACY EWT
| Briefly describe the standard interview
Focus on interviewer, closed questions, witness discouraged from adding exta details
82
ACCURACY EWT
| What is the cognitive interview designed for?
To help witnesses produce more accurate recall
83
ACCURACY EWT
| List the four parts of the cognitive interview
1) Mental reinstatement of original context
2) Report everything
3) Change order
4) Change perspective
84
ACCURACY EWT
| Describe the mental reinstatement of original context
Recreating both a physical and psychological environment of the original incident
85
ACCURACY EWT
| Describe report everything
Reporting even the smallest of details even if they seem irrelevant, so they can potentially be put together
86
ACCURACY EWT
| Describe change order
Recalling timeline in reverse order to reduce impact of schemas
87
ACCURACY EWT
| Describe change perspective
Recalling the incident from multiple perspectives, for example how it would've appeared to other witnesses at the time
87
ACCURACY EWT
| Describe change perspective
Recalling the incident from multiple perspectives, for example how it would've appeared to other witnesses at the time
88
ACCURACY EWT
| Give four examples of enhanced cognitive interview interviewers may use
- Establishing rapport
- Asking open ended questions
- Pausing after responses
- Avoiding interruptions
89
ACCURACY EWT
| Give one positive of this theory
Research support: Kohnken et al conducted meta analysis of 53 studies and found a 35% increase in correct recall when compared to standard interview techniques
90
ACCURACY EWT
| Give two negatives of this theory
- Quantity vs quality: incorrect recall also increased by 61%, finding a balance, validity issues
- Hard to establish effectiveness: multiple variations of CI, some forces use some or all of the techniques, difficult to control variables, the effectiveness is therefore not conclusive
