Memory Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is the sensory register?
- Temporarily stores information from our senses and constantly receiving information around us
- Unless we pay attention to it, the information disappears quickly through SPONTAENOUS decay.
- Limited capacity and duration
- Information we receive is coded depending on the sense that picked it up: visual, auditory, tactile.
What is STM?
- Limited capacity and duration
- Coding is from sounds
What is LTM and name the 3 types
- Unlimited capacity and theoretically permanent
EPISODIC: information about events through experience such as feelings and details on what happened at this event and CAN be CONSCIOUSLY recalled.
SEMANTIC: it is facts and knowledge that we have learnt and that CAN be CONSCIOUSLY recalled. (capital cities for example)
PROCEDURAL: stores information about how to do things like swimming, it CAN’T BE CONSCIOUSLY recalled.
What is episodic memory
Information about events through experience such as feelings and details about what happened at this event and CAN BE CONSCIOUSLY RECALLED
What is semantic memory
It is facts and knowledge that we have learnt and CAN BE CONSCIOUSLY RECALLED. (capital cities for example).
What is procedural memory
Information about how to do things like swimming and it CAN’T BE CONSCIOUSLY RECALLED.
What was Sperling’s study about and evaluate
- Study was about the SENSORY REGISTER
- Lab experiment and showed PPs a grid of letters for less than a second and had to recall the entire grid or a random chosen row
FINDINGS:
- PPs could only recall 4-5 letters out of 12
EVALUATION
- Scientific method: high reliability, controlled variables
- Lacks ecological validity: can’t relate to real life scenarios
What was Peterson and Peterson’s study and evaluate
- STM study
- PPs were shown 3 letters combined (e.g. KJV).
- Asked to recall them after 3 seconds and sometimes up to 18 seconds.
- During the pause they were asked to count backwards in threes, this is the ‘INTERFERENCE TASK’ to prevent them repeating the letters in their heads.
- At 3 seconds, they could recall most of the letters
- However at 18, only about 10% was recalled correctly
SHOWS THAT when rehearsal is prevented, the STM can’t hold much past 18 seconds and can’t enter the LTM
EVALUATION
- Lab experiment: high reliability, controlled variables
- Lacks ecological validity: recalling 3 letters combined isn’t related to real life scenarios.
What was Bahrick’s study and evaluate? (think of ex-classmates).
- LTM study
- PPs were asked to list the names of their ex-classmates (FREE-RECALL TEST)
- After, they were given photos of them and asked to recall again and also gave the name and asked to match it to a photo (PHOTO-RECOGNITION + NAME TEST)
FINDINGS
- Within 15 years of leaving school, PPs could recognise the majority of students names and faces
- Free recall had higher accuracy with 15 years old compared to 30 years old.
- Name-recognition was the same.
SHOWS THAT the LTM needs help to gain access of the information (prompts).
EVALUATION
- Field experiment, high ecological validity
- Doesn’t show WHY the information was recalled well because of many cofounding variables
- This information could have been rehearsed because you may talk to your classmates or the memories and therefore cannot be generalised to the other LTMs stores.
What is Baddeley’s study and evaluate
- Given 4 sets of words that were:
ACOUSTICALLY SIMILAR (man,mad,mat) e.g.
ACOUSTICALLY DISSIMILIAR (pit,cow,bar) e.g.
SEMNATICALLY SIMILAR (big, large, huge) e.g.
SEMATICALLY DISSIMILAR (good, hot, pig) e.g.
Used an INDEPENDENT GROUPS design and PPs were asked to recall the words immediately or after doing a 20 minute task
FOUND THAT: The PPs that recalled immediately had problems with ACOUSTICALLY SIMILAR words (STM) whilst PPs who did a 20 minute after struggled with SEMANTICALLLY SIMILAR WORDS (LTM).
Shows that: STM is acoustic coding and LTM is semantic coding.
EVALUATION
- High internal validity as the variables were controlled (LAB)
- Small sample size and therefore lacks generalisability
How do the STM and LTM code?
STM codes acoustically
LTM codes semantically
What is the multi-store model? evaluate
- The MULTISTORE MODEL has 3 stores:
the SENSORY REGISTER
the SHORT-TERM STORE
the LONG-TERM STORE
Information has to move through these stores to become a memory.
The environment initially goes into the sensory register and if you pay attention, it goes into the short-term memory. This has a FINITE capacity and duration.
If the information is then REHARSED, it can be transferred to the long-term memory.
EVALUATION
- It doesn’t factor smells, which you don’t need to rehearse for it to enter the LTM
- Oversimplified, brain damaged patient studies suggests that they’re a load of STM stores and LTM.
What is the working memory model? evaluate
- This is a model of the STM
The CENTRAL EXECUTIVE is a key component and can be described as attention, it has limited capacity and is the controller of the ‘slave systems’
The PHONOLOGICAL LOOP holds speech-based information, its made up of external sounds and your inner voice which helps to REHEARSE information by repeating it.
The VISUO-SPAITAL SKETCHPAD deals with visual and language information
The EPISODIC BUFFER briefly stores information from others and combines them together, with the help of the LTM it completes scenes.
This then gets sent to the LTM.
This is shown through results from studies where:
PPs were struggling to speak and read the same time, because both use the PHONOLOGICAL LOOP and it has a limited capacity.
EVALUATION
- Baddeley supported the working memory model by using both systems and found that PPs were struggling compared to different systems.
- Can be a better explanation towards why smells are in the LTM when we don’t rehearse them.
- Central executive is seen as simplistic and vague, it’s hard to design tasks to test the central executive
- Doesn’t explain how information is transferred to the LTM
What is the central executive and what model is it associated with?
The CENTRAL EXECUTIVE is a key component and can be described as attention, it has limited capacity and is the controller of the ‘slave systems’
WORKING MEMORY MODEL
What is the phonological loop and what model is it associated with?
The PHONOLOGICAL LOOP holds speech-based information, its made up of external sounds and your inner voice which helps to REHEARSE information by repeating it.
WORKING MEMORY MODEL
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad and what model is it associated with?
The VISUO-SPAITAL SKETCHPAD deals with visual and language information
WORKING MEMORY MODEL
What is the episodic buffer and what model is it associated with?
The EPISODIC BUFFER briefly stores information from others and combines them together, with the help of the LTM it completes scenes.
WORKING MEMORY MODEL
What are the 2 types of interference for remembering information in the LTM
RETROACTIVE: New information interferes with the ability to recall older information.
PROACTIVE: Old information interferes with the ability to recall new information
REMEMBER THE OPPOSITE to get it right.
RETRO = NEW INTERFERES
PRO = OLD INTERFERES
Can be applicable to real life settings: French vocab might be a struggle if you later start learning German.
What was Tulving’s study on cues? evaluate.
- PPs were presented with a list of words to learn
- The words were organised into categories by the experimenter but the PPs didn’t know.
2 conditions were:
- Free recall: recalled as many words as they could with no cues
- Cued recall: given categories names as cues
FINDINGS:
Cued recall had a higher retrieval rate compared to free recall.
Shows that information becomes accessible with a cue.
EVALUATION
- Lab experiment, high control of variables
- It only tested memory of words so it can’t be generalised to other LTM stores.
What is cue-dependent learning?
Cues can be internal (mood)
External (environment)
We remember more if we are in the same environment or mood as this was the state we was in when the information was coded.
What is eyewitness testimony?
- Information about a crime from recall on memory
- Includes description of criminals (hair,height,race) and crime scenes (time,date,location)
- These however can be inaccurate by other influences like weapon focus effect
Why does misleading questions affect eyewitness testimony? Give a study that proves this too and evaluate
- Leading question can be interpreted differently giving FALSE information
LOFTUS AND PALMER
- PPs were shown a car crash and then asked questions but changed the verb of the question.
E.G How fast do you think the cars were going when they HIT?
When presented with different words like smashed, collided, bumped and contacted, they found that PPs would give the average of MPH higher for the word
‘Smashed’ compared to ‘contacted’.
Furthermore, the study followed them up after asking if there was any ‘broken glass’? (there wasn’t).
SMASHED condition said yes more than the other conditions.
SO: shows that leading questions can affect the accuracy of people’s memories.
EVALUATION
- Real life application: interviewing witnesses has to avoid leading questions
- Demand characteristics: PPs could have changed their answers to fit expectations
- Answers were given from university students and can’t be generalisable to more seasoned drivers who may have given more accurate measurements.
What was Shaw’s study on post-event discussion about?
- Paired a confederate with a PP to watch videos of a staged robbery.
- They would be interviewed and asked questions after
- When PPs answered first, the recall was lower than when the confederate did and said the right things.
- When the confederate said wrong things, it was even lower.
SUGGESTS that misleading post-event information can affect RECALL.
What factors affect eyewitness testimony?
- Leading questions
- Post event discussion
- Age
- Anxiety (weapon focus effect)
