Memory Flashcards
(94 cards)
What is the multi-store model of memory and its features?
A linear model which suggests that information flows through the memory system
The model suggests that our memory is split into three stores linked by processing (sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory)
Each store has its own characteristics in terms of coding, capacity and duration
What is the definition of coding?
The format in which information is stored in a memory store
What is the definition of capacity?
The amount of information that can be held in a memory store
What is the meaning of duration?
The length of time that information can be held in a memory store
What is the sensory store?
Memory store for each of our 5 senses.
Receives and stores information from our environment via our senses
What does information in the sensory store needs in order to be transferred into short term memory?
Attention
What is the coding of the sensory memory store and who is the researcher?
MODALITY SPECIFIC
The information is stored in the form it arrives, each of the 5 senses has its own store
CROWDER
Found that the sensory register only holds info in the iconic store for a few milliseconds, 2-3 seconds in the echoic store
What is the capacity of the sensory memory store and who is the researcher?
VERY LARGE
SPERLING
3 X 4 grid letters were flashes onto a screen for a small moment, after a tone was sounded which indicated which row participants had to recall. Results indicated that participants could effectively process all sensory based information and recall the allocated rows
What is the duration of sensory memory and who is the researcher?
0.5-3 seconds
- limited, dependent on age
WALSH AND THOMAS
-found that the iconic sensory store has an average duration of 0.5-3s, decreases as individuals get older.
What is short term memory?
A limited capacity store which receives information from the sensory register and temporarily stores it.
What is the coding of our short term memory and who is the researcher?
ACOUSTIC
BADDLEY
Gave different lists of words to 4 groups of participants to remember
G1= acoustically similar words
G2=acoustically dissimilar words
G3=semantically similar words
G4= semantically dissimilar words
- found that participants performed worse with acoustically similar words, after having to recall immediately, caused by acoustic confusion in their STM
- found that participants performer worse with semantically similar words, after having to recall after 20 minutes, caused semantic confusion in their LTM
What is the capacity of our short term memory and who is the researcher?
7 +/- 2 ITEMS
MILLER
- digit span test
-participants read a series of numbers and repeated them back to the researcher in the same order
- number of digits they had to recall increased
-capacity of STM can be increased by chunking
What is the duration of our short term memory and who is the researcher?
18 -30 SECONDS MAXIMUM
PETERSON AND PETERSON
- 24 undergrad students, each in 8 trials
- participants were given a letter triagram to remember and also a 3 digit number
- participants had to count backwards in threes from that 3 digit number until they were told to stop
- told to stop counting after different amounts of time
- after 3s the average recall was 80%, after 18s the average recall was 3%
What is long term memory?
Permanent memory store.
Receives information from short term memory
What is the coding of our long term memory and who is the researcher?
SEMANTIC
BADDELEY
- when they recalled the word list after 20 mins, from their LTM, participants performed worse with semantically similar words
- caused semantic confusion in their long term memory.
What is the capacity of our long term memory and who is the researcher?
UNLIMITED
- information may be lost due to decay but losses do not occur due to limitations of capacity
LINTON
- kept a daily diary of events on cards, associated each event with a keyword
-could recall any days events by being given a key word to the accuracy of 70% even up to 7 years later
- shows huge capacity of LTM as an estimated 11,000 items were recorded
What is the duration of our long term memory and who is the researcher?
UNLIMITED / UP TO LIFETIME
BAHRICK ET AL
- 392 American participants aged 17 - 74
- photo recognition/ recall test for names
- participants tested within 15 years illustrated 90% accuracy in the photo recognition task
- after 48 years, participants still illustrated 70% accuracy in the photo recognition task
- emphasises how information in long term memory may last up to a lifetime
How does the case study Clive Wearing SUPPORT the multi-store model of memory?
-contracted a viral infection which resulted in a severe form of amnesia.
-still knew he had children from an earlier marriage and recognises his second wife.
- cannot make any new short term memories, new ones formed only lasted 30 seconds.
-provides evidence to suggest that long term memory is in fact lifetime
- duration of short term memory can be as little as 30 seconds.
How does the Murdock Serial position effect SUPPORT the multi store model of memory?
- Murdock suggested that our ability to recall information usually works on what we learn/ hear first and what we learn/ hear last
-suggestion came from experiments whereby participants were asked to read a list of words and then immediately recall them in any order - results indicated that words at the beginning for the list (primacy effect) and end of the list (recency effect) were recalled better than those in the middle
- supports the multistore model as it shows we have 2 different stores that our memory is broken into.
-increases validity
-primacy effect= long term store
-recency effect= short term store
How does the case study of KF QUESTION the multi store model of memory?
- had amnesia
- found that his short term memory for dugouts was poor when read out loud to him but much better when he read the digits to himself
- difficulty in dealing with verbal based information but a normal ability with visual based information
- suggests that there is more to the short term memory store, STM suggests that it works best with verbals information KF proves this as wrong
-questions/ decreases validity of model
What is the working memory model?
Model that suggests our short term memory is an active processor of information.
Consists of components such as ‘slave systems’ which enable several pieces of information to be held at one time in our short term memory whilst they are being processed
Suggests that we can complete two tasks at the same time (dual tasking) effectively but only if each task requires/ uses a different system. This is due to the small capacity each system has.
What is the central executive within the working memory model?
The component of the model which controls and coordinates the activities of the three other systems, it allocates jobs to other systems and collects the responses
What is the capacity and coding of the central executive system within the working memory model?
Limited capacity
Coding; modality free
What is the visuo-spatial sketch pad within the working memory model?
Process visual and spatial based information
Has been subdivided into:
Visual cache- stores the visual information
Inner scribe- records the spatial information