memory Flashcards

Question

Baddeleys experiment

Answer 1

created 4 different groups Group 1 - Acoustically similar: words sound similar Group 2 - Acoustically dissimilar: words don’t sound similar Group 3 - Semantically similar: words with similar meanings Group 4 - Semantically dissimilar: words with different meanings For recall immediately (testing STM), recall was worst for group 1 (10%) suggesting that STM information is coded acoustically as information that sounded the same conflicted with each other and all other lists were 60-80% recall immediately. For recall after 20 minutes, recall was worst for group 4 (55%) suggesting that LTM is coded semantically as information with similar meanings conflicted with each other and all other lists were 70-85%

Answer 2

Limitation- alternative evidence Frost (1972) showed LTM was related to visual as well as semantic coding, Nelson and Rothbart (1972) found evidence of acoustic coding in LTM, low validity due to other findings Limitation- small difference between semantically similar (64%) and semantically dissimilar (71%) in STM suggesting semantic coding too and maybe coding in STM is more complex than Baddeley thought, lowers validity Coding may be more complex including all senses not just the ones originally thought. Lab experiments – high control and high reliability, low ecological validity and lacks real life application

Answer 3

A representation of how memory works in a linear sequential model 3 separate stores: sensory, short-term memory and long-term memory Information is passed from store to store and can be lost from every store

Answer 4

Atkinson and Sheffrin (1968)

Answer 5

The sensory store, an environmental stimulus is taken through the sensory registers where coding depends on the sense it s received from. E.g., visual is ionic whereas touch is haptic etc. the capacity is very large, but the duration is less than a second.

Answer 6

, if we pay attention to any of the information this is remembered in the short-term memory store. Here, the information is coded mainly acoustically has a capacity of 7+-2 items as proposed by Miller, so has limited capacity. The duration is 18-30 seconds unless rehearsed. Due to the limited capacity information can be displaced by new information or it can decay if not rehearsed. It can be transferred from STM to LTM by maintenance rehearsal.

Answer 7

is coded semantically as we understand the information, it also has a potentially unlimited capacity and duration can last up to a lifetime. When we want to recall information, it will be retrieved from LTM to STM. Finally, we can forget information in every store and is different for each store.

Answer 8

Supporting evidence HM, who sustained brain damage during an operation for severe epilepsy leaving him with a damaged LTM but could still recall information presented to him immediately (STM). This supports the model as it shows he couldn’t create LTM but still had a STM, suggesting there are separate stores as when one was damaged the other still functioned, supporting MSM. Some may argue his case cannot be generalised to a population and lacks population validity Despite this, the case of HM suggests MSM has internal validity to an extent as an example supporting separate stores. Supporting empirical evidence Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) presented ppts with a list of words and they had to free recall as many as they could. They found ppts were more likely to recall words at the start of the list and the end of the list. This shows the primacy effect where the first words were rehearsed so in LTM, and regency effect where later words were easily remembered as still in STM. This implies there are separate stores and shows the linear sequential model supporting basis of MSM. Controlled lab studies support separate stores Brain scanning has demonstrated a difference between STM and LTM Beardsley (1997) found the prefrontal cortex active during STM but not LTM and Squire et al (1992) found hippocampus active during LTM. Strong support of the basis of MSM

Answer 9

Alternative theories that are more effective MSM is too simplistic, suggesting that STM and LTM are single unitary stores, however research doesn’t support this The working memory model and its research suggest there are different types of STM and the same for LTM such as episodic and semantic memories MSM is too simplistic so reduces the validity of the theory Criticised for its emphasis on maintenance rehearsal Craik and Tulving (1975) gave ppts a list of nouns and asked a question involving shallow or deep processing, asked whether a word was printed in caps or if the word fitted in a sentence. Ptts remembered more words involving deep processing. Suggest the process of rehearsal doesn’t fully explain the process of creating long term memories and deep processing is also a key part so doesn’t support MSM as it states rehearsal is what transfers information from STM to LTM.

Answer 10

baddeley and hitch (1974)

Answer 11

central executive, phonological loop, visa special sketchpad and episodic buffer

Answer 12

allocates tasks with a limited capacity and controls the 3 slave systems, information can be recalled in any order or form (from senses or LTM)

Answer 13

encodes acoustically with a limited capacity of 2 seconds worth of words, has 2 sub systems, Phonological store- holds the words we hear (inner ear) Articulatory process-silently repeats the words we hear (sub-vocalisation), this is a form of maintenance rehearsal (inner voice)

Answer 14

encodes visually, capacity is around 4-5 chunks and stores info (visual and special) has 2 sub systems, Visual cache- holds info we see like the shape and colour of objects and what things look like Inner scribe- rehearses the visual information and stores the arrangement of objects (spacial- physical relationship between things)

Answer 15

general store and processes information from the PL and the VSS, capacity is limited to around 4 chunks and holds all forms of information (coding)

Answer 16

phonological store articulatory process

Answer 17

visual cache inner scribe

Answer 18

clinical evidence supporting the theory Shallice and Warrington’s (1990) case study of KF. For example, KF suffered from brain damage after a motorcycle accident and afterwards he had impairment to his STM. He was unable to recall verbal (acoustic) information but could still process visual including faces. This suggests his phonological loop had been damaged but his VSS was still intact For example, KF suffered from brain damage after a motorcycle accident and afterwards he had impairment to his STM. He was unable to recall verbal (acoustic) information but could still process visual including faces. This suggests his phonological loop had been damaged but his VSS was still intact. . However, KF may have other cognitive impairments that could change his ability to remember sounds and could challenge the evidence. Despite this the case study is useful as it shows individual working stores and supports WMM as it increases the internal validity. Baddeley and Hitch (1976) showed that p’s had more difficulty doing two tasks that required the use of their phonological loop. However, when one task involved them using their phonological loop (remembering numbers) and the other their VSS (copying a drawing) their performance was not impaired. This suggests that the p’s had difficulty doing two similar tasks as it overloaded the phonological loop whereas when doing tasks requiring the use of two slave systems there was no competition. This shows evidence there are multiple components within our STM which system which increases the validity of the model. However, these studies use tasks unlike ones we perform everyday so lack mundane realism and are carried out in a lab environment so cannot be generalised to real life (low ecological validity). Despite this, this still shows there are different slave systems for visual and verbal processing as we cannot perform tasks that require both processes so increase its validity as an explanation.

Answer 19

Central executive lack of detail Is said to be most important but is also the least understood part of WMM. Baddeley has been criticised for his lack of explanation into the role of the CE and arguing that it lacks detail. E.g., some psychologists believe CE maybe more complex and have several components so the validity of WMM is criticised and the most important is least understood. This also lacks experimental research so where some may argue it simply allocates tasks to the slave systems and has no role in storing info, no research has been done to prove this and back it up. This is a weakness as further research is needed and reduces the validity of the WMM. there is brain scan evidence (Braver, 1997) to support the existence of the CE, where p’s were given a task involving the CE and activity was seen in the prefrontal cortex and this became more active the harder the task became. However, further research is needed in this area. Only focuses on explaining the STM. It gives a very detailed account of the STM including the several slave systems, but it contains no information on the sensory store or how the information transfers to the LTM. The WMM is therefore not a complete model of memory as it only focuses on one aspect of the complex memory system. It is therefore limited in its application to everyday human memory.

Answer 20

episodic, semantic, procedural

Answer 21

the memory of specific events that have personal significance. It involves conscious thought and is declarative so is consciously recalled. An example of this is our 10th birthday party. These memories have details of the event and emotions that are connected to it, they are also timestamped, so we remember when they happened. These memories are associated with the hippocampus and the right prefrontal cortex.

Answer 22

Sematic memory is responsible for story general knowledge, facts, and information about the world. An example of this is London is the capital of England. This also involves conscious thought and is also declarative. They are not time stamped but may start as episodic memories. These are associated with the left prefrontal cortex.

Answer 23

is responsible for knowing how to do things and to carry out tasks. An example of this is how to ride a bike. This type of LTM memory does not involve conscious thought and is non declarative therefore we don’t have to think about doing it before we do it. These types of memories are associated with the cerebellum and motor cortex

Answer 24

Evidence from brain scans, showing different areas of the brain active when different types of LTM are active. Tulving et al (1994) got their ps to carry out memory tasks while in a PET scanner. They found episodic and sematic memories activated areas in the prefrontal cortex, semantic memories from the left ad episodic to the right. Procedural memory is further associated with the cerebellum. Evidence is only correlational as it is from brain scans, it does provide scientific evidence to support separate stores of LTM. This increases the validity of the multiple LTM stores. A strength of the theory of different LTM stores can be seen by case studies of patients with brain damage. The most famous case is that of HM. After surgery (which removed parts of the hippocampus), HM could still form new procedural memories but not episodic or semantic memories. For example, he gradually got better at a mirror drawing task despite not even remembering he had completed the task. The mirror drawing task uses procedural memory, but the fact that he had no memory he had even learned this task was both an episodic and semantic memory. HM’s non-declarative memory was still intact, but his declarative memory was impaired. This case study shows there are different types of LTM, which are distinct and separate from each other. A strength of the theory of different types of LTM is that it allows psychologists to target certain kind of memories to improve people’s lives. Belleville et al (2006) demonstrated that episodic memories could be improved in older people who had a mild cognitive impairment. The ‘trained’ group who had received episodic memory strategies performed better on a test than the control group. Episodic memory is the type of memory that is most effected by mild cognitive impairment, which highlights the benefit of being able to distinguish between types of LTM because specific memories can be targeted in therapy. It is a strength that we can understand that we have different types of LTM as it has real-world application in helping improve the quality of people’s lives

Answer 25

A limitation of using supporting evidence from patients with brain damage e.g., HM and Clive Wearing is that there is a lack of control over the research. In the case of HM there are clear confounding variables. For example, HM was on high doses of anti-epileptic medication prior to his operation. This may have affected his memory rather than just the removal of the hippocampus. Therefore, case studies such as HM have low internal validity due to the lack of controls. It cannot be denied that these studies have provided researchers with a lot of interesting information, but their findings must be generalised with caution due to the unique situation of each patient. A limitation of the theory is that some researchers believe there are only two stores and not three suggesting Tulving’s theory is not parsimonious. Cohen and Squire (1980) disagree with Tulving division of LTM into three. The agree that procedural memories represent one type of LTM but argue that semantic and episodic are stored together. They called this declarative memory (memories that can consciously be recalled). They call the other type of memory non-declarative. It is important to be able to distinguish between the type is memory as it can affect how memory studies are carried out. It is also important as psychologists need accurate knowledge to help people who suffer from amnesia. Therefore, the fact that other researcher disagree with Tulving’s theory poses a challenge to the theory that there are three types of LTM

memory Flashcards

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