Memory

Question 1

What is meant by coding?

Answer 1

The format, or type of information which is stored in a memory store

Question 2

what is meant by duration

Answer 2

the length of time information can be held in a certain memory store

Question 3

what is meant by capacity

Answer 3

the amount of information able to be held in a memory store

Question 4

What is the coding in STM

Answer 4

acoustic

Question 5

What is the coding in LTM

Answer 5

semantic

Question 6

What is the duration of the LTM

Answer 6

unlimited

Question 7

What is the duration of the STM

Answer 7

18-30 seconds

Question 8

What is the capacity of the LTM

Answer 8

up to a lifetime

Question 9

What is the capacity of the STM

Answer 9

5-9 items

Question 10

What research is supporting coding of stm and ltm

Answer 10

Baddeley
(1966), who found that more mistakes are made when recalling acoustically-similar words straight
after learning them, whilst more mistakes are made when recalling semantically-similar words 20
minutes after learning them (LTM recall).

Question 11

What research is supporting capacity of stm and ltm

Answer 11

Miller, things come in 7s
Jacobs demonstrated that the mean letter span was 7.3
and the mean digit span was 9.3 (i.e. the number of letters or digits we can recall after increasing
intervals).

Question 12

What research supports the duration of stm and ltm

Answer 12

Petersen et al (1959), who found that
increasing retention intervals decreased the accuracy of recall of consonant syllables in 24
undergraduates, when counting down from a 3 digit number (preventing mental rehearsal).

Petersen et al (1959), who found that
increasing retention intervals decreased the accuracy of recall of consonant syllables in 24
undergraduates, when counting down from a 3 digit number (preventing mental rehearsal).

Question 13

weakness of memory studies?

Answer 13

Artificial tasks
lab studys
cofounding variables/ Jacobs

Question 14

Strength of memory studies

Answer 14

High ecological validity, can be generalised to a wider population/ Bahrick

Question 15

Outline the Multi store model of memory

Answer 15

Made up of 3 stores
sensory register
stores sub stores for each sense
unlimited capacity, duration of less than half a second, passes into the STM by attentiveness
Short term store
Long term store

Question 16

Weakness of the MSM

Answer 16

Different types of LTM as said by tulving
sees ltm as unitary
The MSM suggests that the amount of maintenance rehearsal determines the likelihood that the
information will pass into the LTM, whereas Craik and Watkins (1973) suggest that it is the type of
rehearsal which is more important. They suggest that elaborative rehearsal, instead of prolonged
rehearsal,

Question 17

Strength of MSM

Answer 17

Inspired further research, deepened understanding of the memory Understands qualitative differences between the stm and ltm

Question 18

What are the types of long term memory

Answer 18

Procedural
episodic
semantic

Question 19

What is procedural memory

Answer 19

Procedural memories describe our memories of ‘learned skills’, such as swimming or driving.

Question 19

What is episodic memory

Answer 19

Episodic memory describes those memories which have some kind of personal meaning to us,
alongside details as to when and how these events occurred, as well as the associated people and
places.

Question 20

what is semantic memory

Answer 20

Semantic memories describe our memories of the world and the associated knowledge e.g. an
understanding of what words, themes and concepts mean. An example would be the ability to use
information related to one concept to help us understand another.

Question 21

strengths of types of LTM

Answer 21

HM and Clive Wearing
Semantic memories describe our memories of the world and the associated knowledge e.g. an
understanding of what words, themes and concepts mean. An example would be the ability to use
information related to one concept to help us understand another.

Question 22

What is the working memory model

Answer 22

STM is made up of the central executive, the phonological loop, the visuo
spatial sketchpad and the episodic buffer.

Question 23

What is the central executive

Answer 23

‘attentional process’ with a very limited processing
capacity, and whose role is to allocate tasks to the 3 slave systems

Question 24

What is the phonological loop

Answer 24

processes auditory information and allows for maintenance rehearsal by being made up of the articulatory process (stores the words you hear) and the phonological loop.

Question 25

What is the visuo spatial sketchpad

Answer 25

combines the visual and spatial information processed by other stores, giving us a ‘complete picture’ e.g. when recalling the architecture of a famous landmark. The VSS us divided into the inner scribe and visual cache. The capacity of the VSS is around 4-5 chunks (Baddeley).

Question 26

What is the episodic buffer

Answer 26

The episodic buffer integrates all types of data processed by the other stores (e.g. auditory, visual, spatial) and so is described as the storage component of the central executive, as well as being crucial for linking STM to LTM.

Question 27

AO3 central executive

Answer 27

The central executive has not been precisely defined. For example, the term ‘process’ is vague, and the central executive may be made up of several sub-components or even be part of a larger component itself in working memory. This lack of a comprehensive explanation for each component of WMM draws doubts about the accuracy of its depiction of working memory.

Question 28

AO3 of the working memory model +

Answer 28

+Shallice and Warrington’s study of KF provides support for the WMM because their findings show that KF had very poor STM recall for auditory stimuli, but increased STM recall for visual stimuli. This suggests that the components of memory which process auditory and visual stimuli are separate (as described in the WMM through the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad).

Question 29

AO3 of the working memory model ++

Answer 29

Studies of dual-task performance, where each participant must undertake a visual and verbal task simultaneously, shows decreased performance for such tasks and so supports the idea that the central executive has a very limited processing capacity (as predicted by the WMM) and that the slave systems are in competition with each other for these tasks and resources. +Neuroscanning evidence, such as that provided by Braver et al, has demonstrated a positive correlation between an increasing cognitive load processed by the central executive (as marked by increasing task difficulty) and increasing levels of activation in the prefrontal cortex. This supports the idea that the central executive has the role of allocating tasks to slave systems and has a limited processing capacity, as reflected by the increased brain activation levels, thus suggesting that the WMM is accurate in its mechanism of the central executive.

Question 30

Explanations for forgetting

Answer 30

Interference occurs when the recall of one memory blocks the recall of another, causing forgetting or distorted perceptions of these memories. Pro Old interferes with new Retro New interferes with old

Question 31

Outline retroactive interference and proactive interference as an explanation for forgetting

Answer 31

Interference can be retroactive (new memories block the recollection of old memories) proactive (old memories block the recollection of new memories).

Question 32

Research support for interference

Answer 32

Retroactive interference was demonstrated by McGeoch and McDonald (1931), who found that when participants were divided into 6 groups to recall different lists of words (synonyms, antonyms, words unrelated to the original list, 3 digit numbers, consonant syllables) or no new list (control group), those who’d learnt the synonyms list experienced an average of 3.1 fewer correct items recalled, compared to the control group.

Question 33

Two types of retrieval failure

Answer 33

Context and state dependant forgetting Context-dependent forgetting occurs when our external cues at the time of encoding do not match those present at recall. Baddeley deep sea diver study State-dependent forgetting occurs when our internal cues at the time of encoding do not match those present at recall. This was demonstrated by Carter and Cassaday (1998) Antihistamines

Question 34

strength of retrieval failure

Answer 34

Eysenck has suggested that retrieval failure may be one of the main reasons that we forget information from the LTM. This, alongside the strictly-controlled conditions of a lab experiment (reducing the biasing effects of extraneous and confounding variables), increases the validity of retrieval failure as an explanation for forgetting, due to more confidence being placed in these conclusions on the basis of such experimental designs. research support from eysenck

Question 35

weakness of retrieval failure

Answer 35

research support may lack ecological validity and lab study has demand characteristics

Question 36

Factors affecting eye witness testimony's

Answer 36

misleading information in the form of leading questions and post event discussions

Question 37

research support for EWT

Answer 37

Loftus and Palmer (1974) where participants watched a film clip of a car crash and then gave speed estimates of the cars based on the leading question of “About how fast were the cars going when they x into each other?”, with each group being exposed to a different critical verb. Those exposed to the verb “smashed” gave a speed estimate 8.7 mph greater than those who’d heard “contacted”. Therefore, this shows that leading questions, because of the way they are phrased, suggest that there is a correct answer.

Question 38

Methodological Criticisms of Eyewitness Testimony (EWT) Studies

Answer 38

Own Age Bias: Young targets are often used in studies, leading to potential own age bias (Anastasi and Rhodes). Older participants may show lower accuracy due to frequently identifying younger targets. Demand Characteristics: Participants might give responses they think are expected by researchers, influenced by social desirability bias and the ‘Please-U’ effect (Zaragoza and McCloskey). Artificial Tasks and Stimuli: Studies like Loftus and Palmer use artificial stimuli (e.g., film clips) that lack the anxiety of real-life scenarios, which may affect findings (Johnson and Scott, Yuille and Cutshall).

Question 39

Factors Affecting the Accuracy of EWT: Anxiety

Answer 39

Johnson and Scott (1976): High-anxiety condition led to lower recall accuracy (16% lower) due to weapon focus effect. Yuille and Cutshall (1986): Real-life shooting witnesses with high anxiety showed high recall accuracy even after 5 months. Yerkes-Dodson Law: Describes an ‘inverted-U’ relationship between arousal and performance, suggesting moderate arousal leads to optimal performance.

Question 40

Ethical Issues and Extraneous Variables

Answer 40

Ethical Concerns: Studies like Johnson and Scott's expose participants to distressing images, potentially causing psychological harm. Extraneous Variables: Real-life studies may have uncontrolled variables such as post-event discussions (

Question 40

Improving the Accuracy of EWT: Cognitive Interviews

Answer 40

Cognitive interview techniques Report everything encourages recall of all details which can trigger larger events and memories Reinstate the content Prevents context dependant forgetting by recalling the environment and emotions Change the perspective Reduces schema effects by recalling events non chrono-logically

Question 41

Practical Challenges of Cognitive Interviews

Answer 41

Training and Time: Effective implementation requires extensive training (Kebbel and Wagstaff). Recall of Incorrect Information: While increasing correct recall by 81%, it also increases incorrect recall by 61% (Kohnken et al., 1999). Partial Use: Some techniques like context reinstatement and report everything can still improve accuracy even if not all steps are used (Milne and Bull, 2002).