Memory Flashcards
Multi Store Model of Memory
Walsh & Thompson
- Sensory register; capacity- unlimited, duration- 0.5s, coding- modality specific
- Short term memory; capacity- 7 items (+/- 2), duration- 18-30s, coding- acoustically
- Long term memory; capacity- unlimited, duration- potentially permanent, coding- semantically
Sensory Register
- capacity- unlimited
- duration- 0.5s
- coding- modality specific
STM
- capacity- 7 items (+/- 2)
- duration- 18-30s
- coding- acoustically
LTM
- capacity- unlimited
- duration- potentially permanent
- coding- semantically
Capacity (SR)
Sperling
- showed a grid of 12 elements to pts for 5ms. pts recall 4 items but state they remember seeing more
Duration (STM)
Peterson and Peterson
- asked pts to view nonsense trigrams and then count down in 3s from a random 3 digit number for varying amount of time
- 3 second delay; 80%
- 18 second delay; 10%
Capacity (STM)
Jacobs
- showed pts increasingly longer lists of numbers/words and asked pts to recall the list immediately
- numbers; 9.3
- letters; 7.3
Encoding (STM)
Baddeley
- gave pts four different lists of words; similar sound/ different sound, similar meaning/ different meaning
- on recall immediately pts struggle to recall (more mistakes) list 1 of similar sounding words
Duration (LTM)
Bahrick et al
- gave pts a yearbook of 50 photos, asked for names 14-48 years after
- 14 years later; 90% accurate
- 48 years later; 60% accurate
Capacity (LTM)
Wagenaar
- recorded a diary of 2400 events of 6 years, recalled on events rather than years
Encoding (LTM)
Baddeley
- gave pts four different lists of words; similar sound/ different sound, similar meaning/ different meaning
- on recall (20 mins delay) pts struggle to recall (more mistakes) list 3 of similar meaning words
Research support for MSM
- HM case study; severe epilepsy meant cutting of the temporal lobes, meaning he struggled to form new long term memories, but STM was relatively normal (couldn’t extend)
- Glanzer and Cunitz (1966); primacy and recency effect
Criticisms of MSM
- alternative theories (WMM considers different elements of WM)
- case of KF; motorbike accident meant he could not record short term information acoustically but could if presented visually
Working Memory Model
Baddeley and Hitch
- central executive- limited capacity
- visuospatial sketchpad –> inner scribe, visual cache; limited capacity (3-4)
- phonological loop–> phonological store, articulatory control process; limited capacity (2s)
- episodic buffer
Central executive (+ research)
- responsible for attentional processing, making decisions and allocating slave systems to tasks
- BUNGE; MRIs in performance for one/ two tasks- greater activity in two tasks
- BRAVER ET AL; brain scans show activity in prefrontal cortex when doing a task- greater difficulty= greater activity
Visuospatial sketchpad ( + research)
- inner scribe; arrangement of objects in the visual field
- visual cache; stores visual data
- BROOKES; visualise a letter and asked questions abt it- speak aloud, tap or point to yes/no- faster response in tapping/ speak condition
- BADDELEY; visual tracking task (laser) and one of two tasks; 1- angles on a letter, 2- perform verbal task– pts report task 1 more difficult as task 2 requires two different components
Phonological loop ( + research)
- phonological store; stores words you hear (1.5-2s spoken)
- articulatory control process; maintenance rehearsal ( preserves information)
- BADDELEY ET AL; short/ long list words- recalled more short than long words- shorter time to speak short words so fits with 2s capacity
Episodic buffer ( + research)
- stores information (visual, spatial and verbal) from other stores in patterns of time sequencing (episodes) and links working memory to LTM & wider cognitive processes
- ALKHALIFA; patient with impaired LTM STM capacity of up to 25 prose items (excess capacity of PL and VSS)
- BUNGE: in MRIs scans, greater activity for tasks with combines stores (right frontal area), single sources of information (posterior)
Research to support WMM
- Cocktail party effect; name calling in a busy environment
- study of KF; motorbike accident (parietal and occipital damaged) so could not record STm acoustically but could visually - phonological loop impaired, but intact VSS
- Park et al; SZ have issues with working memory on dual tasks, diagnosis with WMM (practical applications)
Research to contradict WMM
- Lieberman; blind people with excellent spatial awareness despite no visual ability, VSS should be separated
Criticisms for WMM
- theoretical flaws- central executive may be oversimplified, having other purposes
- research evidence is based on artificial tasks
