memory

Question 1

what is coding? (memory)

Answer 1

• the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores

Question 2

what is capacity? (memory)

Answer 2

• the amount of information that can be held in a memory store

Question 3

what is duration? (memory)

Answer 3

• the length of time information can be held in memory

Question 4

outline Baddeley (1966) research into coding (6) (memory)

Answer 4

• four groups of participants were given a different list of words (group 1 = acoustically similar e.g. cat/can/cab, group 2 = acoustically dissimilar e.g. pit/few/cow, group 3 = semantically similar e.g. great/large/big, group 4 = semantically dissimilar e.g. good/huge/hot)
• 75 Ps in each group & were asked to repeat list 4 times
• Ps were shown the words & were asked to recall them immediately in the correct order (test of STM)
• when recalling from STIM, the acoustically similar words were recalled the worst
• when recalling from LTM (20 mins after), the semantically similar words were recalled the worst
• this suggests that coding is acoustic in STM & semantic in LTM

Question 5

evaluate Baddeley’s research into coding (memory)

Answer 5

separate memory stores (S):
- showed a clear difference between STM & LTM:
- later research showed there are some exceptions to his ideas but the idea than STM uses mostly acoustic coding & LTM uses mostly semantic coding is still used/considered to be correct today
- this was an important step in understanding of the memory system & led to the multi store model of memory

artificial stimuli (W):
- used artificial stimuli instead of meaningful material
- e.g. the word lists had no personal meaning to Ps, so Baddeley’s findings may not tell us much about coding in different kinds of memory tasks (especially in everyday life)
- when processing more meaningful info, people may use semantic coding even for STM tasks
- this suggests that the findings from this study have limited application (low ecological validity)

Question 6

outline & give a strength of Jacobs (1887) research on capacity (memory)

Answer 6

study:
- measured digit span
- e.g. researcher reads out 4 digits & P recalls these out loud in the correct order
- if this is correct researcher reads out 5 digits & so on until the P can’t recall the order correctly (indicates individual’s digit span)
- found the mean span for digits across all Ps was 9.3 items & the mean span for letters was 7.3

valid study (S):
- it has been replicated
- study is very old & early psychological research often lacked adequate controls
- e.g. some Ps’ digit spans may have been underestimated because they were distracted during testing (confounding variables)
- despite this, Jacob’s’ findings have been confirmed by other better controlled studies (e.g. Bopp & Verhaeghen 2005)
- this suggests that Jacobs’ study is a valid test of digit span in STM

Question 7

outline & give a weakness for Miller (1956) research into capacity (memory)

Answer 7

study:
- discovered that capacity of STM is 7 +/- 2 items (5-9 items)
- discovered ‘chunking’ (grouping sets of digits or letters into chunks) as people find it easier to remember 5 words than 5 letters

overestimate of STM capacity:
- Cowan (2001) reviewed other research & concluded the capacity of STM is only about 4 +/- 1 chunks
- this suggests that the lower end of Miller’s estimate (4 items) is more appropriate than 7 items

Question 8

outline & state a weakness of Peterson & Peterson (1959) study into duration of STM (6) (memory)

Answer 8

• investigated duration of STM when no rehearsal was allowed
• Ps were read a nonsense trigram & immediately after were given a distractor task of counting back in 3s from a large 3 digit number (e.g. 842) for between 3 & 18 seconds
• at the sound of a tone Ps were asked to recall the trigram
• 80% of trigrams were recalled after 3 seconds, 60% were recalled after 6 seconds, 30% recalled after 9 seconds, 20% after 12 seconds, 10% recalled after 15 seconds & 5% recalled after 18 seconds
• they concluded that without rehearsal the duration of STM is very short (around 18 seconds)

meaningless stimuli (W):
- study was not completely irrelevant as we do sometimes try to remember meaningless material (e.g. phone numbers)
- recalling consonant syllables doesn’t reflect most everyday memory activities where what we are trying to remember is meaningful
- this means that the study lacks external validity

Question 9

outline & state a strength of Bahrick et al (1975) research in duration (memory)

Answer 9

• investigated the duration of very long term memory by identifying whether or not people could still remember their classmates from school after they left
• 392 ex-students of different ages from a high school who had graduated anywhere from 2 weeks to 57 years prior had to identify old classmates
• one group had to match names to faces (recognition group)
• the other had to name people in the photo without names (recall group)
• in the recognition group, Ps were 90% correct after 14 years & 70% correct after 48 years
• in the recall group, Ps were 60% accurate after 7 years & 30% accurate after 48 years
• concluded that people could remember certain types of memories for up to a lifetime & the accuracy of VLTM is better measured be recognition tests

high external validity (S):
- researchers investigated meaningful memories (e.g. people’s names & faces)
- when studies on LTM were conducted with meaningless pictures to be remembered recall rates were lower (Shepard 1967)
- this suggests that Bahrick et al’s findings reflect a more ‘real’ estimate of duration of LTM

Question 10

what is the sensory register? (memory)

Answer 10

• the store for our 5 senses

Question 11

what is short term memory? (2) (memory)

Answer 11

• temporary memory store that stores information
• information receives very little processing

Question 12

what is long term memory? (memory)

Answer 12

• memory store that permanently stores information

Question 13

what is the coding, capacity & duration of the sensory register? (memory)

Answer 13

• coding = modality specific
• capacity = very high
• duration = 0.5 seconds

Question 14

what is the coding, capacity & duration of STM? (memory)

Answer 14

• coding = mostly acoustic
• capacity = 7 +/- 2 items
• duration = 18 seconds

Question 15

what is the coding, capacity & duration of LTM? (memory)

Answer 15

• coding = semantic
• capacity = potentially unlimited
• duration = up to a lifetime

Question 16

what happens to visual & acoustic information in the sensory register? (3) (memory)

Answer 16

• visual info goes into the iconic memory
• acoustic info goes into the echoic memory
• info only passes to STM if you pay attention to it

Question 17

how does information arrive to the STM? (2) (memory)

Answer 17

• in its original form
• this means that it has to be coded so that it can be understood

Question 18

what is maintenance rehearsal & what does it do? (2) (memory)

Answer 18

• repeating info over & over agin to keep it in STM
• if info is rehearsed for long enough, it passes through to LTM

Question 19

what happens when we want to recall information from LTM? (memory)

Answer 19

• it has to be transferred back into STM via retrieval

Question 20

outline Glanzer & Cunitz’s 1968 experiment into the primary & recency effect (5) (memory)

Answer 20

• investigated the differences between LTM & STM to see if they were different units
• gave two different groups of Ps the same list of words to recall but one group had a distractor task before recalling
• words at the beginning of the list were recalled as they has been stored in LTM as they had time for prolonged rehearsal, so it was easier for them to be remembered (primacy effect)
• words at the end of the list were remembered by the immediate recall group as they were still in STM. They were forgotten by the distractor task group as the words had been pushed out of their STM but weren’t in their LTM (recency effect)
• serial position effect demonstrates that we have separate unitary LTM & STM stores

Question 21

summarise the amnesia case study of H.M. (4) (memory)

Answer 21

• had his hippocampus removed on both sides of his brain
• STM was generally normal, but couldn’t form new memories
• supports MSM because outlines MSM as 2 separate stores (LTM was damaged but STM wasn’t)
• contradicts MSM because had perceptual & motor skills (e.g. good procedural LTM but bad episodic LTM - LTM = too simplistic)

Question 22

summarise the amnesia case study of Clive Wearing (5) (memory)

Answer 22

• he developed herpes simplex virus which destroyed his hippocampus & other parts of his cortex
• affected LTM because couldn’t remember earlier life (could only recall people from what they were like before the illness) & capacity for recalling detail was poor
• affected STM because he couldn’t remember things he had just done (couldn’t transfer info from STM to LTM)
• supports MSM because he couldn’t transfer info from STM to LTM, which chows transfer of info between stores is linear
• contradicts MSM because had good procedural LTM but bad episodic LTM & had some semantic memories, which shows LTM is split up into separate stores

Question 23

summarise the amnesia case study of K.F. (5) (memory)

Answer 23

• he suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident
• affected LTM so ability to retain & learn new info & cued recognition seemed normal
• affected STM because digit span reduced (from 5-9 to 2) & had no acoustic confusion but forgot auditory stimuli
• supports MSM as shows STM & LTM as being different & separate stores
• contradicts MSM as only some areas of STM were damaged (visual was good but acoustic was bad)

Question 24

why should we be cautious when using the amnesia case studies as evidence? (2) (memory)

Answer 24

• its is a case study
• there way be issues generalising the findings to other people

Question 25

give 2 strengths for the MSM model of memory (memory)

Answer 25

research support: - studies show STM & LTM are different - e.g. Baddeley (1966) found we tend to mix up words that are acoustically similar when using STM & semantically similar words when using LTM - further support comes from studies of capacity & duration - studies clearly show STM & LTM are separate & independent memory stores, as claimed by MSM amnesia case studies: - e.g. Clive Wearing - developed amnesia after herpes simplex virus destroyed his hippocampus & other parts of his cortex - couldn’t transfer info from STM to LTM & could only remember people by what they were like prior to his illness - shows that STM & LTM are different stores & transfer of info between them is linear - have to be causations using as is a case study so lacks generalisability

Question 26

give 2 weaknesses for the MSM model of memory (memory)

Answer 26

research support CP: - in everyday life we form memories related to useful things (e.g. peoples names/faces, facts, places) - many studies supporting MSM used artificial stimuli (e.g. Jacob’s = letters/digits, Baddeley = words & Peterson & Peterson = consonant syllables) - means that MSM may not be a valid model of how memory works in everyday life where we have to remember more meaningful info elaborative rehearsal: - prolonged rehearsal is not needed for transfer of info into LTM - MSM = amount of rehearsal is important (more you rehearse something the more likely it is to transfer to LTM) - Craik & Watkins (1973) found type of rehearsal is more important - elaborative rehearsal (when you link info to pre-existing knowledge) is needed for transfer into LTM - means info can be transferred into LTM without prolonged rehearsal - suggests MSM doesn’t fully explain how long term storage is achieved

Question 27

outline the concept of episodic LTM (6) (memory)

Answer 27

- e.g. a milestone birthday party - refers to the ability to recall events/episodes (complex memories) from our lives - memories are time stamped so can be remembered as & when they happened - store info about how events relate to each other - memory of a single episode has several elements - conscious effort has to be made in order to recall episodic memories

Question 28

outline the concept of semantic LTM (6) (memory)

Answer 28

- e.g. concepts like animals & love - contains our shared knowledge of the world - memories are not time stamped - semantic knowledge is less personal & more about facts we all share - collection of material that is constantly being added to - according to Tulving, it is less vulnerable to distortion & forgetting than episodic memory

Question 29

outline the concept of procedural LTM (5) (memory)

Answer 29

- e.g. driving a car - memory for actions & skills - can be recalled without conscious awareness or much effort - ability becomes automatic through practice - may find skills hard to explain to others

Question 30

give 2 strengths for types of LTM (memory)

Answer 30

clinical evidence: - amnesia case studies of HM & Clive Wearing - episodic memory in both men was severely impaired due to brain damage, but semantic memories were relatively unaffected (still understood meaning of words) - procedural memory was also intact (e.g. both still knew how to walk & speak) - this evidence supports Tulving (1985) view that there are different memory stores is LTM (ones store can be damages & other stores remain unaffected real world application: - understanding types of LTM allows psychologists to help people with memory problems - as people age the experience memory loss, but research shows this is specific to episodic memory (recall of personal experiences that occurred recently becomes harder but recall of past episodic memory remains intact) - Belleville et al (2006) staged an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people - trained Ps performed better on episodic memory test after training than the control group - shows that distinguishing between types of LTM enables specific treatments to be developed

Question 31

give 2 weaknesses for types of LTM (memory)

Answer 31

clinical evidence CP: - studying people with brain injuries can help researchers understand how memory is supposed to work normally - clinical studies lack control variables - brain injuries experiences by Ps were generally unexpected, so researchers has no way of controlling what happened to P before/during injury - researcher also had no knowledge of Ps memory before damage, so couldn’t judge how much worse injury made it - lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about different types of LTM conflicting neuroimaging evidence: - conflicting research findings linking types of LTM to areas of the brain - Buckner & Peterson (1996) reviewed evidence about location of semantic & episodic memory - concluded semantic memory is located in left side of prefrontal cortex & episodic memory on right side - however other research links left PFC with encoding of episodic memory & right PFC with episodic retrieval (Tulving et al 1994) - this challenges any neurophysical evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type may be located

Question 32

who created MSM & WMM & when? (memory)

Answer 32

- MSM - Atkinson & Shiffrin (1972) - WMM = Baddeley & Hitch (1974)

Question 33

outline the WMM & state why is was created (3) (memory)

Answer 33

- MSM was criticised for saying that STM is a unitary store - WMM suggests STM is made up of several stores - WMM is only concerned with STM (the ‘mental’ space that is active when we are temporarily storing/manipulating information)

Question 34

state the subsystems of the WMM (4) (memory)

Answer 34

- central executive - phonological loop (subunits = phonological store & articulatory process) - episodic buffer - visuo-spatial sketchpad

Question 35

outline the role of the central executive in the WMM & state its capacity (3) (memory)

Answer 35

- directs attention to particular tasks & determines how resources are allocated to tasks/subsystems - does not store information - has a very limited processing capacity so can’t attend to lots of things at once

Question 36

outline the role of the phonological loop in the WMM & state its coding/capacity (5) (memory)

Answer 36

- deals with auditory information - preserves the order in which information arrives - divided into two sub-systems (phonological loop & articulatory process) - coding = acoustic - capacity = limited

Question 37

outline the role of the phonological store (PL) in the WMM (3) (memory)

Answer 37

- subunit of the phonological loop - hold info that you can hear - referred to as the ‘inner ear’

Question 38

outline the role of the articulatory process (PL) in the WMM (5) (memory)

Answer 38

- subsystem of the phonological loop - allows maintenance rehearsal - silently rehearses information that has been heard - referred to as the ‘inner voice’ - capacity of maintenance loop is about 2 seconds worth of info/what you can say

Question 39

outline the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad in the WMM (5) (memory)

Answer 39

- temporarily stores visual and/or spatial information - used when you have to plan a spatial task (e.g. moving from one room to another) - capacity = limited (3-4 objects - Baddeley 2003) - referred to as the ‘inner eye’ - Logie (1995) - data is divided into the visual cache (stores visual data) & the inner scribe (records the arrangement of objects in the visual field) (subsystems not in original model)

Question 40

outline the role of the episodic buffer in the WMM (6) (memory)

Answer 40

- added to the original model by Baddeley in 2000 - temporary store that relates to both visual & auditory info - integrates info from other stores & LTM (visual, spatial & verbal info) - maintains a sense of time sequencing - storage component of CE that has a limited capacity (3-4 chunks) - links working memory to LTM & wider cognitive processes like perception

Question 41

give 2 strengths for the WMM (memory)

Answer 41

clinical evidence: - Shallice & Warrington (1970) case study to amnesia patient KF - after brain injury, KF had poor STM ability for auditory/sound info but could process visual info normally - e.g. immediate recall of letters/digits was better when he read them (visual) than when they were read to him (acoustic) - KF’s phonological loop was damaged but VSS was intact - findings strongly support existence of separate visual & acoustic memory stores dual task performance: - studies of dual task performance support separate existence of VSS - when Baddeley et al’s (1975) Ps carried out a visual & verbal task at the same time, performance was similar to when tasks were carried out separately - when both tasks were wither visual or verbal performance declined - this is because both visual tasks compete for the same subsystems (VSS), whereas there is no competition when performing a verbal & visual task together - shows there must be a separate subsystem (VSS) that processes visual info & another for verbal processing (PL)

Question 42

give 2 weaknesses for the WMM (memory)

Answer 42

clinical evidence CP: - unclear if KF had other cognitive impairments that may have affected performance on memory tasks - e.g. brain injury was caused by motorcycle accident, so trauma from accident may have affected cognitive performance alongside brain injury - challenges evidence that comes from clinical studies of people with brain injuries that may have affected different systems - results are difficult to generalise because they come from a case study nature of central executive: - lack of clarity over nature of central executive - Baddeley (2003) recognised it has least understood part of working memory - CE needs to be more specific than just being ‘attention’ - e.g. some psychologists think the CE may have separate sub components - means that CE is an unsatisfactory component, which challenges integrity of WMM

Question 43

define ‘interference’ (memory)

Answer 43

- forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted/forgotten

Question 44

what is interference an explanation for? (memory)

Answer 44

- proposed as an explanation for forgetting in long term memory as we can’t access the memories even though they are available

Question 45

what is proactive interference? (3) (memory)

Answer 45

- forgetting occurs when older memories (already stored) disrupt the recall of newer memories - e.g. if the rules to a game you play regularly change, you may recall the old rules instead of the new ones - degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar

Question 46

define retroactive interference (3) (memory)

Answer 46

- forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories stored - e.g. forgetting your old address when filling out a job application - degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar

Question 47

outline the McGeoch & McDonald 1931 study into the effects of similarity (memory)

Answer 47

aim: - to investigate retroactive interference by changing the amount of similarity between word lists recalled by Ps procedure: - Ps learnt a list of 10 words until could remember them with 100% accuracy, then learned a new list - 6 groups of Ps who had different types of new lists to learn - group 1 = synonymy’s - group 2 = antonyms - group 3 = words unrelated to original ones - group 4 = consonant syllables - group 5 = 3 digit numbers - group 6 = no new lists/just retested (control group) - found when Ps were asked to recall original list of words, most similar material (synonyms) produced worst recall - shows interference is strongest when memories are similar

Question 48

how do proactive interference & retroactive interference explain how similarity affects recall? (memory)

Answer 48

- proactive interference = previously stored info makes new similar information more difficult to store - retroactive interference by changing= new info overwrites previous similar memories because of the similarity

Question 49

give 2 strengths for interference (memory)

Answer 49

real world interference: - evidence of interference effects in more everyday situations - Baddeley & Hitch (1977) asked rugby players to recall names of teams they had played against during a rugby season (players all played for same teams over same time interval but number of games played varied as some players missed matches due to injury) - players who played most games (most interference for memory) had worst recall - study shows interference can operate in at least some real world situations, increasing external validity of theory support from drug studies: - evidence of retrograde facilitation - Coenen & van Luijtelaar (1997) gave Ps list of words & later asked them to recall the list (assuming intervening experiences would act as interference) - found when word lists was learned under influence of diazepam recall one week later was poor (compared with placebo control group) - when word list was learned before drug was taken, later recall was better than placebo/control group - Wixted (1994) suggests drug prevents new info reaching parts of the brain involved with processing memories, so it can’t interfere retroactively with info already stored - findings who that forgetting can be due to interference - reduce the interference & you reduce the forgetting

Question 50

give 2 weaknesses for interference (memory)

Answer 50

real world interference CP: - interference may cause some forgetting in everyday situations but it is unusual - this is because the conditions necessary for interference to occur are rare - unlike lab studies where high degree of control means researchers can create ideal conditions for interference - 2 memories have to be fairly similar to interfere with each other. This may happen occasionally in everyday life but not often - suggests that most forgetting may be better explained by other theories (e.g. retrieval failure due to lack of cues_=) inference & cues: - interference is temporary & can be overcome by using cues - Tulving & Psotka (1971) gave Ps word lists organised into categories (Ps not told categories) - recall averaged about 70% for first list, but became progressively worse as Ps learned more lists (interference) - at end of procedure Ps were given cued recall test (told names of categories) & recall again rose to about 70% - showed that interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material that is still in LTM (finding not predicted by interference theory)

Question 51

define retrieval failure (2) (memory)

Answer 51

- a form of forgetting that occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access memory - the memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided

Question 52

what does the encoding specifity principle state? (2) (memory)

Answer 52

- is a cue is going to be helpful it must be both present at encoding (when we learn the material) & present at retrieval (when we are recalling it - if cues available at encoding & retrieval are different/if cues are absent at retrieval there will be some forgetting

Question 53

define context dependent forgetting (2) (memory)

Answer 53

- recall depends on external cues - e.g. weather/a place

Question 54

define state dependent forgetting (2) (memory)

Answer 54

- recall depends on internal cues - e.g. feeling upset/being drunk

Question 55

outline the 1975 Godden & Baddeley study into context dependent forgetting (10) (memory)

Answer 55

- investigated if context during encoding & retrieval as impact in recall of information - divers learned a list of words either underwater or on land & then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land - there were four conditions: - 1: learn on land - recall on land - 2: learn on land - recall underwater - 3: learn underwater - recall on land - 4: learn underwater - recall underwater - recall was better when the recall environment matched the learning environment - accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions - when external cues available are not present at recall it can lead to retrieval failure

Question 56

outline the 1998 Carter & Cassaday study into state dependent forgetting (5) (memory)

Answer 56

- investigated if internal state during encoding & retrieval has impact on the recall of info - Ps had to learn a list of words having either taken/not taken antihistamines (has a mild sedative effect that makes people drowsy) - they then recalled the list, either under the influence or not under the influence of the drug - when there was a mismatch between internal state at learning & recall, performance on memory test was worse - when internal state is different, the cues are absent & can lead to more forgetting

Question 57

give 2 strengths for retrieval failure (memory)

Answer 57

real world application: - retrieval cues can help to overcome some forgetting in everyday situations - cues may not have a very strong effect on forgetting, but Baddeley suggests they are worth paying attention to - e.g. needing something from another room, forgetting when you leave the room you were just in, then remembering again when you enter the first room - when we have trouble remembering something it is worth recalling in the environment that you first learned it in - shows how research can remind us of strategies we use in real life to improve recall - has high credibility & ecological validity research support: - range of research supports the retrieval faultier explanation eg. studies by Godden & Baddeley (1975) & Carter & Cassaday (1998) show that a lack of relevant cues at recall can lead to context & state dependent forgetting in everyday life - Eysenck & Keane (2010) argue that retrieval failure is the main reason or forgetting from LTM - evidence shows that retrieval failure occurs in real-world situations as well as in highly controlled lab conditions

Question 58

give 2 weaknesses for retrieval failure (memory)

Answer 58

research support CP: - Baddeley (1997) argues context effects aren’t very strong, especially in everyday life - different contexts have to be very different before an effect is seen - learning something in one room & recalling it in another is unlikely to result in much forgetting because these environments aren’t different enough - means that retrieval failure due to lack of cues may not actually explain much everyday forgetting recall vs. recognition: - context effects may depend on type of memory being testes - Godden & Baddeley (1980) replicated underwater experiment using recognition test instead of recall (Ps had to day if they recognised a word from list read to them rather than retrieving it themselves - when recognition tested there was no context-dependent effect & performance was the same in all 4 conditions - suggests retrieval failure is limited explanation for forgetting because it only applies when a person had to recall info rather than recognise it

Question 59

how can misleading information cause issues in the accuracy of eyewitness testimony? (memory)

Answer 59

- police may direct a witness to government a particular answer

Question 60

outline the Loftus & Palmer (1974) study into leading questions (memory)

Answer 60

- misleading info - aims - to investigate the effect of language (misleading info) on immediate recall - procedures - 45 student Ps were shown a film of the same road traffic accident - after they were given a questionnaire that asked them to describe the accident - critical question = ‘about how fast were the cars going when they (hit) each other?’ - 4 other groups given different verbs (smashed, collided, bumped, contacted) - findings - mean estimated speed was calculated —> ‘smashed’ = 41 mph, ‘collided’ = 39mph, ‘bumped’ = 38 mph, ‘hit’ = 3E mph, ‘contacted’ = 32 mph - conclusions - memory recall can be distorted by language used - Ps have different interpretations of the speed & force from the use of different verbs - leading questions & misleading info affect memory recall

Question 61

what does the response-bias explanation explain about leading questions? (4) (memory)

Answer 61

- the wording of a question has no real effect on Ps memories, but influences how they decide to answer - Loftus & Palmer (1974) conducted second experiment that supported substitution explanation (proposes wording of leading question changes Ps memory of film clip) - shown because Ps who originally heard smashed were more likely to report seeing broken glass (was none) than those who heard hit - critical verb altered memory of incident

Question 62

what is post event discussion & how may it affect EWT? (2) (memory)

Answer 62

- PED is when eyewitnesses to crime discuss their experiences & memories with eachother - it can make EWT less accurate because of memory contamination (memory is changed) & memory conformity (memory stays the same but witnesses go along with each other’s accounts)

Question 63

define ‘memory contamination’ (memory)

Answer 63

- when co-witnesses to a crime discuss it & their EWTs become altered or distorted

Question 64

define ‘memory conformity’ (2) (memory)

Answer 64

- witnesses often go along with eachother (for social approval or because they believe other witnesses are right) - actual memory is changed

Question 65

outline Gabbert et al’s 2003 study into PED (6) (memory)

Answer 65

- Ps studied in pairs - each P watched a video of the same crime but from different angles (this meant that each P could see elements in the event that the other couldn’t) - both Ps then discussed what they had seen before individually completing a recall test, or just did the recall test (control group) - found that 71% of Ps mistakenly recalled aspects of the event they did not see in the video but picked up on in the discussion - in the control group (where no discussion took place) , the corresponding figure was 0% - this is evidence for memory conformity

Question 66

state 2 strengths of misleading info affecting EWT (memory)

Answer 66

real world application: - important practical uses in criminal justice system - consequences of inaccurate EWT can be serious - Loftus (1975) believes leading questions can have such a distorting effect on memory that police officers need to be careful with how they phrase questions when interviewing eyewitnesses - psychologists are sometimes asked to act as expert witnesses in court trials & explain limits of EWT to juries - shows that psychologists can help to improve the way legal system works, especially by protecting innocent people from faulty convictions based on EWT controlled study: - experiment took place in a lab, so extraneous variables are controlled - all Ps saw same clips, therefore any results obtained from the experiment - means study has high internal validity, which in turn gives it high credibility

Question 67

state 2 weaknesses of misleading info affecting accuracy of EWT (memory)

Answer 67

real world application CP: - practical applications of EWT may be affected by issues with research - e.g. Loftus & Palmer’s Ps watched film clips in a lab, which is a very different setting to witnessing a real event (e.g. is less stressful) - Foster et al (1994) pointed out that what eyewitnesses remember has important consequences in the real world, but Ps response in research don’t matter in the same way (so Ps are less motivated to accurate) - suggests researchers like Loftus are too pessimistic about effects of misleading info (EWT may be more dependable than studies suggest) evidence challenging memory conformity: - memory conformity explanation is evidence that PED actually alters EWT - Skagerberg & Wright (2008) shows Ps film clips - were 2 versions (e.g. mugger’s hair was dark brown in one & light brown in another) - Ps discussed clips in pairs, each seeing a different version - often didnt report wheat they had seen in clips to what they heard from co-witnesses, but a combination of the two - suggests that the memory itself is distorted through contamination by misleading PED, rather than as a result of memory conformity explanation is

Question 68

define anxiety (3) (memory)

Answer 68

- state of emotional & physical arousal - emotions include feeling of tension & worries thoughts - physical changes include increased heart rate & sweating

Question 69

how can it be argued that anxiety has a negative affect on recall for EWT? How can it be studied? (3) (memory)

Answer 69

- anxiety creates physiological arousal in the body, which prevents us from paying attention to important cues (makes recall worse) - can be studied by looking at the effect of the presence of a weapon has on anxiety - this leads to the weapon focus effect (a focus on the weapon), reducing a witness recall for other details of the event

Question 70

outline the Johnson & Scott (1976) study into the negative effect anxiety has on recall (4) (memory)

Answer 70

- AIM: to investigate the impact of weapons on the accuracy of recall - PROCEDURE: Ps thought the were part of a lab study. Low anxiety group = heard a casual convo in next room & saw a man walk past carrying a pen with grease on his hands. High anxiety group = overheard a heated argument with the sound of broken glass, then saw a man walk out with a bloodied knife - FINDINGS: set of Ps later picked out the man from a set of 50 photos, LAG = 49% identified, HAG = 33% identified - CONCLUSION: tunnel theory of memory argues that a witnesses attention narrows to focus on a weapon as it is the source of anxiety

Question 71

how can it be argued that anxiety has a positive effect on the recall of EWT? (3) (memory)

Answer 71

- witnessing a stressful event creates anxiety through physiological arousal in the body - the fight or flight response is triggered, increasing alertness - this may improve memory for the event as we become more aware of cues in the situation

Question 72

outline the Yuille & Cutshall (1986) study into the positive effect anxiety has on recall (3) (memory)

Answer 72

- PROCEDURE: conducted a study of a robbery in a gun store where the thief was shot & killed. 13 witnesses were interviewed 4-15 months after the incident & the results were compared to original police interviews. Accuracy was determined by the number of details reported in each account. Ps also reported how stressed they felt at the time & any emotional problems since event - FINDINGS: witnesses were very accurate with their accounts & there was little change in accuracy even after 5 months. Ps who reported higher stress levels were more accurate (88%) than less stressed groups (75%) - this suggests that anxiety does not have a detrimental effect on the accuracy of EW memory in a real-world context & may even enhance it

Question 73

outline the Yerkes-Dodson law (4) (memory)

Answer 73

- the relationship between emotional arousal & performance looks like an inverted U (curvlinear relationship) - lower levels of anxiety produce lower levels of accuracy - memory becomes more accurate as the level of anxiety/arousal increases - there is an optimal level of anxiety, which is the point of maximum accuracy (after this point, is a person experiences any more arousal their recall accuracy declines)

Question 74

outline 2 strengths for the effect of anxiety on recall (memory)

Answer 74

support for negative effects: - evidence supporting the view that anxiety has a negative effect on accuracy of recall - Valentine & Mesout (2009) supports research on weapon focus & found negative effect on recall - visitors to Horror Labyrinth wore wireless heart monitors to confirm Ps experienced anxiety & were divided into 2 groups (high & low anxiety) - Ps had to deceive a person encountered in the labyrinth - found high anxiety Ps recalled fewest correct details of actor & made more mistakes - 17% of high anxiety group correctly identified actor in line up compared to 75% correct in low anxiety group - suggests high level of anxiety does have a negative effect on immediate eyewitness recall of a stressful event support for positive effects: - evidence showing anxiety can have a positive effect on accuracy of recall - Christianson & Huninette (1993) interviewed 58 witnesses to bank robberies in Sweden - some were directly involved (e.g. bank workers) & some were indirectly involved (e.g. bystanders) - researchers assumed those directly involved would experience most anxiety - found recall more than 75% accurate across all witnesses - direct victims (most anxious) were more accuarte - findings from actual crimes confirm anxiety doesn’t reduce accuracy of recall for eyewitnesses & may even enhance it

Question 75

outline 2 weaknesses to the effect of anxiety on recall (memory)

Answer 75

unusualness not anxiety: - Johnson & Scott (1976) may not have tested anxiety - the reason Ps focused on weapon may be because they were surprised they saw it rather than scared - Pickel (1998) conducted an experiment using scissors, handgun, wallet or raw chicken as head held items in a hairdressing salon video (where scissors = high anxiety, low unusualness) - eyewitness anxiety was proportional in high unusualness conditions (chicken & handgun) - suggests weapon focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety/threat & therefore tells us nothing specifically about effects of EWT on anxiety support for positive effects CP: - Christanson & Hubinette interviewed Ps between 4 & 15 months after incident - researchers had no control over what happened to Ps in the time between (e.g. PED) - effects of anxiety may have been overwhelmed by other factors & impossible to assess by the time Ps were interviewed - therefore it is possible that a lack of control over confounding variables may be responsible for findings, which invalidates support

Question 76

state & outline the 4 stages of the cognitive interview. Explain why each is effective (memory)

Answer 76

- (1) recall everything - witnesses are an outraged to recall every single detail if the event, even if it seems irrelevant or the witness doesn’t feel confident about it - works because seemingly trivial details way be useful & may act as triggers/cues for other important details - (2) reinstate context - the witness should imagine the crime scene & imagine the environment (e.g. the weather) & their emotions at the time (e.g. happy, bored) - related to context dependent forgetting, research by Godden & Baddeley has shown that recall is more accurate if info is recalled in the same environment it is learned in - (3) reverse the order - events should be recalled in a different order than the original sequence (e.g. from the final point back to the beginning) - prevents people from reporting their expectations of what must’ve happened instead of what actually happened - prevents dishonesty as it is harder to report an untruthful account if events are recalled in the reverse order) - (4) change the perspective - witnesses should recall the indecent from other people’s perspectives (e.g. other witnesses at different locations in the crime scene/the perpetrator) - disrupts the affect of expectations & schemas on recall - the schema you have for a particular setting generates expectations of what must’ve happened, & it is the schema that is recalled instead of what actually happened

Question 77

who developed the cognitive interview? (memory)

Answer 77

- Fisher & Geiselman (1992)

Question 78

outline the enhanced cognitive interview (memory)

Answer 78

- Fisher et al (1987) developed additional elements to the cognitive interview to focus on the social dynamics of the interaction - e.g. the interviewer needs to know when to establish & relinquish eye contact - also includes ideas like EW anxiety, minimising distractions, getting witnesses to speak slowly & asking open-ended questions

Question 79

outline 1 strength of the cognitive interview (memory)

Answer 79

support for effectiveness of CI: - meta analysis by Kohnken et al (1999) combined data from 55 studies comparing CI (& ECI) with standard police interviews - CI gave an average 41% increase in accurate info compared with standard police interview - only 4 sti dues shows no difference between interview types - shows that CI is an effective technique in helping witnesses to recall information that is stored in memory (available) but not immediately accessible

Question 80

outline 3 weaknesses to the cognitive interview (memory)

Answer 80

support for effectiveness of CI CP: - Kohnken et al also found an increase in amount of inaccurate info recalled by Ps - particular issue with ECI (produced more incorrect details than CI) - CIs may sacrifice quality of EWT (accuracy) in favour of quantity/amount of details - means police officers should treat eyewitness evidence from CI/ECI with caution some elements may be more useful: - Mile & Bull (2002) found each of the 4 techniques used alone produced more info than standard police interviews - also found using combination of report everything & reinstate context produced better recall than any other elements or combination of them - confirmed suspicions that some aspects are more useful than others - casts doubt on credibility on overall CI time consuming: - police may be reluctant to use CI because takes more time & training than SPI - more time is needed to establish rapport & allow witness to relax - also requires special training & most forces don’t have resources to prove more than a few hours (Keble & Wagstaff 1997) - suggests complete CI is not a realistic method for police officers to use & it might be better to focus on a few key elements