Memory Flashcards
(194 cards)
1
Q
What is memory?
A
Your brain’s ability to store and recall information.
2
Q
What’s short term memory?
A
Limited capacity memory store.
3
Q
What’s long term memory?
A
Permanent memory store
4
Q
What’s coding?
A
The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.
5
Q
What’s the coding for STM?
A
mainly acoustic
(sounds)
6
Q
What’s the coding for LTM?
A
mainly semantic
(meaning)
7
Q
What’s capacity?
A
The amount of information that can be held in memory store.
8
Q
What’s the capacity for STM?
A
Between 5 to 9 items
9
Q
What’s the capacity of LTM?
A
Unlimited
10
Q
What’s duration?
A
The length of time information can be held in memory.
11
Q
What’s the duration of STM?
A
About 18 seconds - according to Peterson and Peterson (1959)
12
Q
What’s the duration of LTM?
A
Up to a lifetime
13
Q
Who created the multi-store model?
A
Atkinson and shiffrin (1968)
14
Q
What is the multistore model?
A
A model of short term memory based on computers that that see information flowing through a system of storage.
15
Q
What’s the process of the multi store model?
A
- Information enters sensory register; stored in raw form
- Attention is paid to info in sensory register and moves to STM store.
- Info can be used and changed in STM.
- Info in STM can be kept there by saying it over and over again ( maintenance rehearsal )
- If info is practiced a lot info can be moved to LTM ( elaborative rehearsal )
- When need info again it is retrieved from LTM in STM.
16
Q
What’s the duration of the sensory register?
A
Information only lasts a very short period of time- fractions of a second up to 2 seconds.
17
Q
What’s the coding in the sensory register?
A
Each sense has its own sensory register.
18
Q
What’s the coding for vision in the sensory register?
A
Iconic store
19
Q
What’s the coding for sound in the sensory register?
A
Echoic store
20
Q
What’s the coding of touch in the sensory register?
A
Haptic store
21
Q
What’s the coding for smell in the sensory register?
A
Olfactory store
22
Q
What’s the coding for taste in the sensory register?
A
Gustatory store
23
Q
What happens if a person pays attention to the information in one of the stores of the sensory register?
A
It is moved to the short term memory.
24
Q
What did Sperling (1960) find for the capacity of visual information in the sensory register?
A
Found that visual sensory register can hold a lot of information but decays quickly- within 2 seconds.
25
How did Sperling (1960) conduct his study for the sensory register?
He used visual displays of 12 letters, either all 12 or a row of three each and ppts had to recall each line.
26
Who researched the capacity of the sensory register?
Sperling 1960
27
Who researched the coding in the STM and LTM?
Baddeley (1966)
28
How did Baddeley (1966) conduct his study to investigate the coding in the STM and LTM?
Used 72 ppts.
He tested 4 variables of words.
29
What were the 4 variables of words investigated Baddeley for the coding of STM and LTM?
Acoustically similar
Acoustically dissimilar
Semantically similar
Semantically dissimilar.
30
What did Baddeley (1966) find for how the STM and LTM are stored?
He found that the STM is sored acoustically and semantically in the LTM.
31
What does acoustically mean?
sounds or sense of hearing.
32
What does semantically mean?
Meaning of something.
33
How is the STM coded according to Baddeley?
acoustically (echoic)
34
How is the LTM coded according to Baddeley?
semantically (iconically)
35
What happens to our words when they are either acoustically or semantically similar in the STM and LTM?
They become interfered with. Meaning that they become confused when trying to remember them.
36
What is a weakness of Baddeley's (1966) study into the coding of STM and LTM?
He might not have been testing the LTM as he only waited 20 mins. The long-term memory is meant to last a lifetime.
There are also other studies about how the STM and LTM can be coded differently.
37
What did Posner and Keele (1967) find for a weakness of Baddeley's (1966) study for the coding in the STM?
More than acoustically coding in the STM.
He presented ppts with upper case letters followed by the same letter in either upper or lower case.
Ppts were able to identify the capital letter followed by the capital letter easier, so STM can also be encoded visually.
38
Who contrasts the idea of Baddeley that the STM is only coded acoustically?
Posner and Keele (1967) as they believed that the STM can also be coded visually.
39
What did Jacobs (1887) study for the capacity of STM?
Ppts were given a number of digits/ letters and asked to recall all in order to see the STM capacity. They increased the amount each time by 1 until the ppts had forgotten.
40
What were the results of Jacobs (1887) study for the capacity of STM?
ppts remembered an average of 9.3 number and 7.3 letters.
Therefore, the capacity s 7-9 items.
41
Why were numbers more easier to recall than letters in Jacobs (1887) study for the capacity of the STM?
There are only 10 numbers compared to 26 letters.
42
What did Miller (1956) say for he capacity of the STM?
He took all of the available studies and used the research to find the capacity.
Found that the STM has an average capacity of 7 with a range of plus or minus 2.
43
What is Miller's (1956) magic number for the capacity of STM?
7+-2
A range of 5 to 9 items.
44
Who were the studies for the capacity of the STM?
Jacobs (1887)
Miller's (1956)
45
What is the contrast to Miller's (1956) study for the capacity of the STM?
Cowan (2001)
Couldn't replicate Miller's 5 chunks and found that it was smaller at 4 chunks of information remembered at one time.
46
What did the case of HM say about the LTM and STM?
That the STM and LTM are stored separately.
47
Case of HM:
The hippocampus in both sides of his brain was removed to try and relieve his epilepsy. However, as a result he couldn't form any new long term memories as the hippocampus is key to storing them.
Due to this, he still thought that he was 27 years old which was the age he was when having the surgery.
48
What did Peterson and Peterson (1959) study for the duration of the STM?
They showed 24 ppts trigrams (3 letters that didn't form a word), which then were told to count backwards for different lengths of time.
49
What did ppts counting backwards whilst trying to remember 3 letters prevent in Peterson and Peterson's (1959) study for the duration of the STM?
maintenance rehearsal as the ppts could repeat the letter in their head over again.
50
What did Peterson and Peterson (1959) study find for the duration of the STM?
Found that ppts could recall the trigrams in the STM for up to 18 seconds before forgetting.
51
What is the contrast of Peterson and Peterson's (1959) study for the duration of the STM?
Naire at al.
Replicated it and found that ppts could recall the trigrams for up to 90 seconds.
52
What did Wagenaar (1986) say for he capacity of the LTM?
He suggests that the LTM is high. He tested himself on a diary that he wrote that contains 2,400 events. He was able to remember a lot of the facts.
53
What did Goldman and Seamon (1992) find for the duration of the LTM?
Asked ppts to identify odours from at least 2 years ago or childhood. The identification of recent odours were better than from childhood.
54
Who conducted the study for the smell of odours from either 2 or more years ago, or childhood for the duration of the LTM?
Goldman and Seamon (1992)
55
What did Bahrick et al (1975) procedure for the duration of the LTM?
He showed ppts photos, some from same school and others as strangers.
56
What did Bahrick et al (1975) fndings for the duration of the LTM?
ppts who had left school 15 years ago could identify 90% of pictures of people in the year group correctly, and 70% could remember who left 48 years ago.
57
What are the strengths of the multi-store model of memory?
It explains how memory is separate stores for STM and LTM as indicated by HM case.
It is easy to test in a lab as it's a computer based model.
It allowed for the creation of a testable hypothesis to allow for further research to occur.
58
What are the weaknesses of the multi-store model of memory?
It is too simplistic to explain the full memory system.
Memories can be made long term without elaborative rehearsal, for example frightening situations.
It focuses on structure, not much of the underlying processes so may have missed important parts f the STM.
59
What are the different types of LTM?
Episodic
Semantic
Procedural
60
Who decided that the MSM was too simplistic and that there are different types of LTM?
Tulving (1985)
61
What is episodic memory?
Remembering episodes in life and often in a lot of detail.
'Time-stamped'
62
Examples of the episodic memory:
First day of school
Friends birthday party.
63
What is the semantic memory?
Memory related to facts and meanings.
64
How do you learn semantic knowledge?
Through episodes but then becomes semantic.
65
Examples of semantic memory:
Capital of France is Paris
2+2=4
66
What is procedural memory?
Memory for skills and are typically learnt through repetition and practice.
We often don't have to think when we complete a procedural activity as it becomes automatic.
67
Examples of procedural memory:
Riding a bike
Tying shoe laces
68
Who was Clive Wearing?
An acclaimed composer and musician who specialised in choral and classical music.
69
What happened to Clive Wearing?
He was one of the most severe cases of amnesia ever recorded experiencing both retrograde and anterograde.
70
What is retrograde for amnesia (Clive Wearing)?
Lost all memories of the past.
71
What's anterograde for amnesia (Clive Wearing)?
Unable to form and store new memories.
72
What was the effect of Clive Wearing's hippocampus being damaged?
He struggled to transfer memories from the short term memory to long term.
73
What type of memory is affected in Clive Wearing?
Lacks episodic memory.
BUT procedural memory isn't affected as he knows how to read and write, also able to skillfully play the piano.
74
What is the biological evidence for the types of LTM?
Brainscans have shown that different parts of the brain are active when each type of LTM is used
75
What part of the brain is associated with episodic memory?
associated with the hippocampus and frontal lobe.
76
What part of the brain is associated with semantic memory?
relies on the temporal lobe (hippocampus)
77
What part of the brain is associated with procedural memory?
linked to the cerebellum, motor cortex, basal ganglia and limbic system.
78
What did Hodges and Patterson (2007) find for evidence of the types of LTM?
Found that some Alzheimer's patients were able to form new semantic memories but not episodic.
Suggests that there's a dissociation between episodic and semantic memory.
79
What did Irish et al (2011) find for evidence of the types of LTM?
Also studied Alzheimer's patients abilities, like what Hodges and Patterson (2007) did, and found that in their group some of the patients had intact episodic but poor semantic.
As a result another dissociation between episodic and semantic memories.
80
What is a double dissociation?
When we have evidence that two abilities are separate.
Hodges and Patterson (2007)- patients had semantic not episodic.
Irish et al (2011)- Patients had episodic not semantic.
81
What is the Working memory model?
An explanation for how the short term memory is organised and its functions.
82
Who developed the working memory model?
Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
83
What are the components of the working memory model?
Central executive
Phonological loop
Visuo-spatial sketchpad
Episodic buffer
84
What is the central executive?
A component in the WMM.
It co-ordinates the activities of the three subsystems in memory by monitoring the incoming data.
It has a very limited processing capacity and doesn't store information.
85
What is the phonological loop?
The phonological loop deals with auditory info and has 2 sub-components:
1. Articulatory control process
2. Phonological store
86
What is the articulatory control process?
Inner voice
It allows maintenance rehearsal, and captivity is believed to be 2 seconds worth of what you can say.
87
What is the phonological store?
Inner ear
Stores words that you can hear.
88
What's research to support the separate stores of the Visuo-spatial sketchpad and the Phonological loop?
Trojani and Grossi (1995)
Reported a case study of SC who had brain damage affecting the function of his phonological loop but not the visuo-spatial sketchpad, therefore they are different stores in the WMM.
89
What are the 2 sub components of the phonological loop?
Articulatory control process
Phonological store
90
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
A temporary store that deals with visual and spatial tasks.
It helps the individual navigate around their physical environment.
91
What is the capacity of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
About 3 or 4 objects according to Baddeley (2003)
92
Who said that there are 2 components to the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Logie (1995)
93
What are the two sub-components of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Visual cache
Inner scribe
94
What is the Visual cache as one of the components of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Stores visual data
95
What is the Inner scribe as one of the components of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
Records the arrangement of objects in the visual field.
96
What is a strength of the visuo-spatial sketchpad to do with dual task performance?
When Baddeley et al.'s (1975) ppts carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time, their performance on each was similar to when they carried out the tasks separately. But when both tasks were the same performance declined because they are trying to complete them on the same slave subsystem.
97
What's another study to Baddeley et al.'s (1975) study for dual task performance?
Klauer and Zhao (2004)
Found that ppts struggled more when completing two visual tasks compared to one visual and one spatial.
Suggesting existence of the visual cache and inner scribe.
98
What is the episodic buffer?
It is a temporary store for info, integrating the visual, spatial, and verbal info processed by other stores and maintaining a sense of time sequencing.
99
What's a limitation of the central executive?
There's a lack of clarity over the nature of the central executive.
Baddeley himself said that the central executive is the most important but the least understood component.
100
What is interference?
Forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both to be forgotten.
101
When is interference most likely to occur?
Most likely to happen if the memory is similar, due to response competition.
102
What are the two types of interference?
Proactive
Retroactive
103
What is proactive interference?
When previously learnt info interferes with the new info trying to be stored.
104
What is retroactive interference?
A new memory interfering with an old one.
105
What is time sensitivity?
When interference is less likely to occur when there's a large gap between the instances of learning.
106
Is an individual using an old pin or password by mistake proactive or retro active interference?
Proactive
107
Is an individual finding it difficult to remember an old way of completing a maths problem after learning a new technique proactive or retroactive interference?
Retroactive
108
What did McGeoch and Mcdonald (1931) study for retroactive interference?
They changed the amount of similarity between 2 sets of material as previous research had suggested that interference is worse when the memories are similar.
109
Who studied the similarity of retroactive interference?
McGeoch and Mcdonald (1931)
110
What did ppts have to do in McGeoch and Mcdonald's study for retroactive interference?
Ppts had to learn a list of 10 words until they coul;d remember them with 100% accuracy.
There were 6 groups of ppts who had to learn different types of lists.
111
What were the 6 different types of lists for McGeoch and Mcdonald's (1931) study?
1- Synonyms
2- Antonyms
3- Words unrelated to original ones
4- Constant syllables
5- Three digit numbers
6- No new list -> CONTROL CONDITION
112
What were the results of McGeoch and Mcdonald's (1931) study?
When participants were asked to recall original list of words, the most similar material was the worst recall.
113
What does McGeoch and Mcdonald's (9131) study show?
Interference is the strongest when memories are similar.
114
What is the Encoding Specificity Principle?
The idea that it is easier to recall an event or information if it is learnt in the same place that it was encoded.
115
Who suggested the Encoding Specificity Principle?
Tulving and Pealstone (1966)
116
What theory of forgetting does the encoding specificity principle come under?
Retrieval failure
117
What are the 2 types of cues that are encoded at the time of learning but in a non-meaningful way?
Context-dependent forgetting
State-dependent forgetting
118
What is context dependent forgetting?
The recall depends on an external cue
119
What are examples of context dependent forgetting cues?
weather
place
120
What is state dependent forgetting?
Recall depends on an internal cue
121
What are examples of state dependent forgetting?
feeling upset
feeling drunk
122
What researchers conducted a study into context dependent forgetting?
Godden and Baddeley 1975
123
What did Godden and Baddeley do for the research into context dependent forgetting?
Used deep-sea divers to see if training on land helped or hindered their work underwater.
124
What were the 4 conditions Godden and Baddeley used for their research into context dependent forgetting?
1) Learn on land, Recall on land
2) Learn on land, recall underwater
3) Learn underwater, recall on land
4) Learn underwater, recall underwater
125
What did Godden and Baddeley find from their study into context dependent forgetting?
Accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions than the matching conditions for learning.
126
What researchers conducted a study into state dependent forgetting?
Carter and Cassaday 1998
127
What did Carter and Cassaday do for the research into state dependent forgetting?
They gave antihistamine drugs to their ppts, making them slightly drowsy.
They then had to learn a list of words and recall info.
128
What were the 4 conditions Carter and Cassaday used for their research into state dependent forgetting?
1) Learn on drug, recall when on drug
2) Learn on drug, recall when not on drug
3) Learn not on drug, recall when on drug
4) Learn not on drug, recall when not on drug
129
What did Carter and Cassaday find from their study into state dependent forgetting?
In the conditions when there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall, performance on memory test was significantly worse.
130
What's a strength of retrieval failure?
It has lots of studies to support the statements.
131
What's the weakness of retrieval failure?
It has low ecological validity as the studies are conducted in artificial environments making it difficult to generalise to the population.
132
What is the issue with the encoding specificity principle?
It is impossible to independently establish whether a cue has been encoded or not.
For example if a cue didn't produce recall we assume that it cannot be encoded.
133
What is eye-witness testimony?
The ability of people to remember the details of events, such as crimes, which themselves observed.
134
What is a leading question?
A question which because of the way it's phrased, might suggest a certain answer.
135
Why are leading questions an issue in eye-witness testimony?
Because police for example may direct a witness to give a particular answer.
136
What researchers conducted a study into leading questions in eye-witness testimony?
Loftus and Palmer 1974
137
What was the procedure of Loftus and Palmer's study into leading questions?
arranged for 45 ppts to watch film clips of car accidents and then asked them questions.
There were five groups and each one had a different verb to try to lead them to a different answer.
138
What were the 5 different verbs Loftus and Palmer used in their study for leading questions?
hit
contacted
bumped
collided
smashed
139
What were the findings of Loftus and Palmer's study for leading questions?
The verb 'contacted' had the lowest mean speed of 31.8 mph, with 'smashed' having the highest of 40.5 mph.
140
What was the question that became varied by changing the verb in Loftus and Palmer's study for leading questions?
About how fast were the cars going when they 'hit' each other?
With 'hit' being changed each time.
141
Why do leading questions affect eye witness testimony?
The response bias explanation suggests that the wording of the question has no real effect on the ppts memories but just influences how they decide to answer.
142
How did leading questions affect the eye-witness testimony in Loftus and Palmer's study?
For example 'smashed', encourages someone to choose a higher speed.
143
What was Loftus and Palmer's second study to support the Substitution explanation?
Ppts were shown a short film showing a multi-vehicle car accident and asked questions about it.
144
What were the 3 questions that Loftus and Palmer asked for their second study for misleading information?
How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?
How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?
Then asked nothing about the speed.
145
What were the results of Loftus and Palmer's second study for misleading information?
All groups returned a week later and asked did you see any glass?
The ppts who originally heard smashed were later more likely to report seeing broken glass than those that had hit.
146
What did Loftus and Palmer conclude for their second study?
That the critical verb altered the memory of the incident.
147
What is the strength of eye-witness testimony?
Investigations into eye-witness testimony can be used by the criminal justice system which relies heavily on it.
148
What did Schafter et al. (1991) say for a weakness of eye-witness testimony from Loftus and Palmer's studies?
Elderly people are much more likely to be influenced by misleading information.
149
What is the weakness of eye-witness testimony from Loftus and Palmer's studies?
Ecological validity issues.
150
Who suggested that elderly people are much more likely to be influenced by misleading information?
Schafter et al. (1991)
151
How does eye witness testimony work?
The witness encodes details of events into the LTM which will be retained for a period of time but may forget.
152
Why might an individual forget key details of an event?
This could be due to the events happening really quickly.
153
What does an eye witness refer to?
An account given by people of an event that they've witnessed.
154
What is anxiety?
A state of emotional and physical arousal.
155
What is an example of an emotional arousal for anxiety?
worried thoughts
feelings of tension
156
What are examples of physical arousal for anxiety?
An increased heart rate
sweatiness
157
Who researched the negative effects on recall because of anxiety?
Johnson and Scott (1976)
158
What was the procedure of Johnson and Scott's study for negative effects on recall?
Ppts were sat in a room and hearing an argument in the next room.
A man would then come out either carrying a greasy pen or a bloody knife.
The ppts had to recall what the man was like.
159
What was the percentage of individuals who could recall the man when he was holding a greasy pen for Johnson and Scott's study?
49%
160
What was the percentage of individuals who could recall the man when he was holding a bloody knife for Johnson and Scott's study?
33%
The attention was drawn to the knife not the man himself
161
What is the weapon focus effect?
Where in violent crimes, arousal may focus the witness on the more central details of the attack, than the peripheral details.
You won't be able to recall anything other than the weapon used.
162
What's an example of a central detail of an attack in the weapon focus effect?
weapon
163
What's an example of a peripheral detail of an attack in the weapon focus effect?
The face of the individual who committed the crime.
164
Who suggest the weapon focus effect?
Johnson and Scott
165
What did Christian and Hubinette (1993) do for the evaluation of the weapon focus effect?
They had 58 witnesses to a bank robbery, where different levels of anxiety were experienced.
The interviews occurred 4-15 months after.
166
What were the results of Christian and Hubinette's (1993) study for the evaluation of the weapon focus effect?
All witnesses showed above 75% recall accuracy of details of the event. Those who experienced anxiety had the highest level of accuracy.
167
What did Christian and Hubinette (1993) conclude from their study for the evaluation of the weapon focus effect?
Suggests that the weapon focus effect cannot fully account for the effect of anxiety on memory, as in some cases like this one it helps.
168
What did Pickel (1998) study for the weapon focus effect?
That it might not actually be relevant.
The reason ppts focused on the weapon may be because they were surprised by what they saw rather than scared. .
169
What did Pickel (1998) do to support his point that the weapon focus effect might not be relevant?
Ppts in a hairdressers witnessed someone walking through carrying either scissors, handgun, wallet or raw chicken.
170
What were the results of Pickel's (1998) study to support his point that the weapon focus effect might not be relevant?
The items that the man was carrying that were the most unusual had the lowest levels of eye-witness accuracy. Suggesting that the weapon focus effect is due to unusualness not an anxiety threat.
171
What is the cognitive interview?
A questioning technique used by the police to enhance the retrieval of info about a crime scene from eye-witnesses and a victims memory.
172
What does the cognitive interview help?
Helps to retrieve more accurate memories.
173
What are the 4 main techniques to the cognitive interview?
Report Everything
Reinstate the context
Reverse the order
Change perspective
174
What does report everything mean for the cognitive interview?
Witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event, even if it might not seem relevant.
175
What does Reinstate the context mean for the cognitive interview?
The witness should return to the original crime scene in their mind and imagine the environment and the emotions.
176
What does Reverse the order mean for the cognitive interview?
The events of the incident should be recalled in a different order from the original sequence.
177
Why should ppts reverse the order of recall of info for the cognitive interview?
It id done to try to prevent people from reporting their expectations of how the event must have happened, rather than the actual events.
178
What does change the perspective mean for the cognitive interview?
Witnesses should recall the incident from other people's perspectives.
179
Why should witnesses change the perspective when recalling info for the cognitive interview?
It is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and also give the effect of a schema on recall.
180
Who developed the cognitive interview?
Fisher and Geilesman (1992)
181
Why did Fisher and Geilesman (1992) develop the cognitive interview?
They argued that eye-witness testimony could be improved.
182
What are the benefits of the cognitive interview?
It increases the quantity and accuracy of info that is recalled.
It reduces interviewer bias as sometimes an interviewer might unknowingly influence the response of a witness.
183
How much does the amount of info increase because of the cognitive interview?
Info recalled by cognitive interview increases by 25-40% compared to standard interviewing techniques.
184
What are the weaknesses of the cognitive interview?
It is a time consuming technique.
There's a potential for false memories as they could be altered during the process.
185
What did Mello and Fisher (1996) research to support the cognitive interview?
They used the cognitive interview and normal interviews to test on both older adults and younger adults. The cognitive interview was better for both.
186
What did Kebbel and Wagstaff (1996) research to reject the cognitive interview?
Different police forces use a variety of cognitive interview techniques, so it difficult to compare effectiveness.
It also takes up a lot of police time, so tend to limit the report to only essential info, so no accurate representation.
187
What is the enhanced cognitive interview?
The cognitive interview but with additional elements to focus of the social dynamics of the interaction.
188
Who developed the enhanced cognitive interview?
Fisher et al (1987)
189
What do features of the enhanced cognitive interview include?
No distractions or unnecessary interruptions or questions.
Asking open ended questions.
Getting witnesses to speak slowly.
190
Who conducted a study into post-event discussion?
Loftus (1975)
Gabbert et al. (2003)
191
What did Loftus (1975) do for his study into post-event discussion?
Ppts were shown a video of a lecture being disrupted by 8 demonstrators.
Then later completed a questionnaire containing a critical question in 1 or 2 versions.
A week later questions were asked about how many demonstrators were in the video?
192
What were the results of Loftus's (1975) study into post-event discussion for his question about how many demonstrators were in the video?
The mean number estimated by ppts were the 4 demonstrators were significantly lower than those about the 12.
193
What are the weaknesses of Loftus's (1975) study into post-event discussion?
Low external validity as it's in a lab study.
Lack of realism.
Demand characteristics.
194
