Memory Flashcards
What are the types of LTM
Episodic- Personal events (time, people, objects, behaviours, places)
Semantic- Knowledge of the world (words and concepts meaning)
Procedural- Knowledge of how to do things (learned skills e.g. driving)
Short term memory
Limited capacity memory store, 5 to 9 items capacity (jacobs- letter digit span 7.3 and numbers is 9.3), 18 second duration (Peterson&Peterson- after 3 secs trigrams recall was 80% but fell to 3% after 18 secs), mainly acoustic coding.
LTM
Permanent memory store, unlimited capacity, can store memories for up to a lifetime (Bahrick-ptts cld remember classmates names 50 yrs later), mainly semantic coding.
Coding
Format in which information is stored in various memory stores.
Capacity
The amount of information that can be held in a memory store.
Research on coding (Baddeley)
What are retrieval cues?
Stimuli that assist in memory retrieval. Help access memory stored in LTM.
WMM evaluation
+Support from case studies: KFs STM damaged after motorcycle crash. Verbal impairment (phonological loop) but visual (VSS) was largely unaffected.
-Counterpoint: KF may have had other cog impairments affecting his performance e.g. trauma
+RWA in dementia diagnosis.
**+Baddeley’s research on dual task coding.
**
-Lack of understanding of central executive: Baddeley said ‘Central executive is the most important but least understood component of the WMM’.
Baddeley dual task study
When ptts are asked to perform 2 visual tasks (or verbal) at the same time there performance is much lower than if they are asked to perform one visual and one verbal task at the same time.
WMM Baddeley and Hitch
It’s an explanation of how STM is organised and it’s functions.
It consists of the central executive, visuospatial sketchpad (Visual info), episodic buffer and phonological loop (Auditory info).
Role of central executive
Coordinates activities of the 3 ‘slave systems’ (subsystems) allocating resources to them.
Has a very limited capacity.
Role of phonological loop
- Responsible for auditory info.
- Phonological store (inner ear)- stores words you hear.
- Articulatory control system (inner speech)- maintainance rehearsal
Capacity worth 2 seconds of what you can say, coding is acoustic
Role of Visuospatial sketchpad
- Responsible for visual info.
- Visual cache- stores visual data
- inner scribe- records objects arrangment in visual field
Capacityof 3/4 objects, coding is visual
Role of episodic buffer
Integrates data from slave systems and records the order of events.
Linked to LTM
Capacity is 4 chunks/items, coding is flexible
WMM Atkinson and Shiffrin
Model describes how info flows through memory system.
Environment-Sensory memory, (attention)-STM, (maintainance rehearsal/ rehearsal)-LTM (retreival when recalling info).
MSM evaluation
+Research support showing STM and LTM are different from Baddeley: We mix up words that sound similar in our STM but mix up words with similar meanings (synonyms) in our LTM.
-MSM is not valid everyday life representation of memory: Studies that support MSM use digits & letters (Jacobs), words (Baddeley) and constant syllables (Peterson&Peterson)
-Reductionist: elaborative rehearsal: MSM overestimates rehearsal as it states prolonged rehearsal is needed to transfer info into LTM. Craik & Watkins found **type of rehearsal is more important that the amount **.
-Oversimplifies unitary stores: Case study of KF show there is more than one STM store as his STM was poor for digits when read to him but was better when he read them himself.
Forgetting- interference
- One peice of info disrupts another leading to memory not being able to be accessed.
- Proactive- Old affects new
- Retroactive- New affects old
- Interference most likely if words are similar
- Interference least likely if theres time-gap between learning and recall
Studies supporting interference theory for forgetting
- Baddeley & Hitch: rugby players remembered less if they played more games over a szn but could always remember last game. Supports retroactive interference. Increases external validity of theory.
Interference theory for forgetting evaluation
+Real-world interference: (Baddeley & Hitch rugby players)
-However doesn’t occur often as memories have to be similar to interfere in everyday situations.
+Support from drug studies: Taking Diazepam after learning reduces interference and forgetting=retrograde facilitation
Retreival failiure as an explanation for forgetting
- Occurs when we don’t have necessary cues to access info.
- ESP: Tulving- cues are most effective if present at coding and retreival.
- 2 types: context and state dependent forgetting
What are 2 types of forgetting in retreival failure?
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State dependent forgetting: Internal factor of forgetting (e.g. being drunk, feeling upset).
Carter & Cassady gave antihistamine drug to certain ptts and word lists to recall. Recall better when internal states match (e.g. learn on drug and recall on drug or learn not on drug and recall when not on drug. -
Context dependent forgetting: External factor of forgetting (e.g. weather, place).
Baddeley & Godden deep sea divers **recall word lists better when external contexts match.
**
Retreival failure explanation for forgetting evaluation
+RWA: Although cues are weak Baddeley still thinks they’re worth paying attention to. When you have trouble remembering info aim to recall the env you learnt it in.
-Recall vs recognition: There were no context effects when memory was assessed using recognition tests so only applies to when memory needs to be recalled.
+Research support: Godden & Baddeley (deep sea divers), Carter & Cassady (drugs), Eysenk & Keane argue retreival failure main reason for forgetting from LTM.
-Counterpoint: Baddeley argues no forgetting occurs unless completely diff contexts such as deep sea divers study.
What are 3 types of LTM?
Episodic- Ability to recall personal events (e.g. gig you went to last week). They are conscious to recall and are time-stamped.
Semantic- Facts and knowledge of the world and concepts (e.g. what an orange tastes like). They’re conscious to recall but aren’t time-stamped.
Procedural- Knowledge of how to do things (e.g. drive a car, ride a bike). They’re unconscious to recall and aren’t time stamped.
Evaluation points of LTM
+RWA: Old-age memory loss improved by intervention to target episodic memory (Belleville et al)- trained ptts performed better.
+Clinical evidence: Clive Wearing and HM had damaged episodic memories but semantic and procedural were genrally fine.
-Clinical studies lack control of variables: No insight into memory before injury, trauma may affect HM (motorbike accident).
-Conflicting neuroimaging evidence: Buckner & Petersen- semantic memory left prefrontal cortex and episodic right prefrontal cortex.
However Tulving found the opposite.
