Memory Flashcards

Question

what is a supporting study of interference? (rugby team)

Answer 1

Aim: to investigate whether interference is a better explanation of forgetting than the passing of time (known as decay) Procedure: Rugby players asked to recall names of teams they had played against over a season. Some players had played in all games. Some players had missed games due to injury. Therefore, the time span from start to end of season was the same for all players but the number of games played was different. Findings: players who played the most games forgot a higher number of the team names (despite the season lasting for the same amount oftime for all players). Conclusion: interference caused the forgetting & not the passing of time (decay). This is because the players who had played more games had more team names to interfere with each other.

Answer 2

Old memories interfere with memories you are learning

Answer 3

New memories interfere with recalling old memories.

Answer 4

when memories/ learning is similar

Answer 5

Aim: To investigate how retroactive interference affects learning. In other words, to investigate whether information you have recently received interferes with the ability to recall something you learned earlier. Procedure: A lab experiment was used. Participants were split into two groups. Both groups had to remember a list of paired words The experimental group also had to learn another list of words where the second paired word was different. The control group were not given the second list. All participants were asked to recall the words on the first list. Findings: The recall of the control group was more accurate than that of the experimental group. Conclusion: This suggests that learning items in the second list interfered with participants’ ability to recall the list. This is an example of retroactive interference.

Answer 6

recall can be increased by increasing cues.

Answer 7

mental state you are in at time of learning provides cues to retrieval.

Answer 8

Information stored into LTM but cannot be found, unless given a hint, thus it could be well remembered

Answer 9

Aim: to investigate whether context is important in forgetting Procedure: Divers were divided into two groups and were asked to learn lists of words either under water or on land. They then had to recall the words either in the same environment (also under water or on land) or in the opposite environment i.e half the Ps who learnt the words under water also recalled them under water whilst half the Ps who learnt the words under water recalled them on land. Findings: They found that recall was higher if Ps were tested in the same environment that they had learned the list due to increase in cues. In a different environment words were forgotten due to lack of retrieval cues. Conclusion: An absence of cues in the environment increases forgetting

Answer 10

Aim: to investigate state dependent forgetting Procedure: male volunteers were asked to learn a list of words when they were either drunk (3x driving limit!) or sober. 24 hours later Ps recalled the words either in the same state as when they learnt them or in the opposite state. Findings: Recall was much higher when the recall state was the same as the learning state. There was more forgetting when in the opposite state on recall. Conclusion: Forgetting is more likely to occur when in a different state to learning

Answer 11

Tendency for witness to focus on weapon instead of actual crime, it will also increase anxiety, disrupting recall.

Answer 12

Memory may be altered through discussing events/ being questioned multiple times

Answer 13

the wording of questions that lead to a desired answer

Answer 14

Aim- how the precise wording of question can affect the accuracy of eyewitness Procedure- showed 45 P’s a film of car accident and asked ‘how fast car was going when they hit each other’ All asked same question except word ‘hit’ replaced with ‘smashed’, ‘collided’, ‘bumped’ and ‘contacted’ Findings- ‘contacted’= 32mph, ‘bumped’= 38mph, ‘smashed’=41mph, ‘hit’=34mph, ‘collided’= 39mph Is this due to demand characteristics or genuine memory distortion Part 2: 150 P’s in 3 groups, how fast was car going when they ‘hit’ or ‘smashed’ and a control group, who weren’t asked a question. Week later P’s asked if they saw broken glass, this in ‘smash group were more likely to say yes wrongly. Conclusion- wording of question affected judgements of speed and reduced accuracy of EWT.

Answer 15

Aim- effects of post-event discussion on individuals who witness and discuss a criminal event Procedure- 60 students from uni and 60 older students. Video of girl returning book to office then stealing money from wallet in drawer. Control group watched video where perspective meant theft wasn’t obvious. P’s in co-witness group told they watched same video as their partner. P’s in co-witness group discussed crime. All P’s completed question are on memory of event Findings- 71% of co-witness group recalled info they hadn’t seen. Compared to 0% in control group Conclusion- results highlight post-event discussion and effect this can have on eyewitness testimony

Answer 16

Aim: To investigate the effect of anxiety on recall Procedure: Ps were asked to wait in a room before experiment. Condition 1: A low-key discussion in a near-by lab about equipment failure. A person then emerged from the lab holding a pen with grease on his hands and left the room Condition 2: A heated & hostile exchange from the lab. After the sound of breaking glass & crashing chairs, a man emerged from the lab holding a paper knife covered in blood. P’s were then given 50 photos & asked to identify the man. Findings: Participants in the pen group were 49% accurate but the knife group was only 33% accurate in identifying the man. Conclusion: This suggests that Ps were less accurate in the second condition as they were focussing on the weapon (the paper knife) which would also have heightened their anxiety levels.