Memory Flashcards

Question

What is interference theory in memory?

Answer 1

Forgetting occurs when similar memories compete, causing confusion.

Answer 2

Old memories interfere with new ones.

Answer 3

New memories interfere with old ones.

Answer 4

Recall was worse when new material was similar to old material.

Answer 5

It is supported by lab studies that show cause and effect.

Answer 6

Most supporting studies use artificial word lists, which lack ecological validity.

Answer 7

Forgetting occurs when we don't have the necessary cues to access a memory.

Answer 8

Memory is most effective when information present at encoding is also present at retrieval.

Answer 9

When the environment at recall is different from the environment at learning.

Answer 10

Godden and Baddeley’s underwater diver study.

Answer 11

Forgetting occurs when internal states at learning and recall differ.

Answer 12

Carter and Cassaday using anti-histamines.

Answer 13

A question that suggests a particular answer and may distort memory.

Answer 14

The verb used (e.g. 'smashed') affected speed estimates.

Answer 15

When witnesses discuss the event and their memories become contaminated.

Answer 16

71% of participants recalled information they didn’t actually see.

Answer 17

Moderate anxiety improves recall, but too much reduces accuracy.

Answer 18

Witnesses were less accurate when a weapon was present.

Answer 19

High anxiety can lead to accurate recall in real-life situations.

Answer 20

A method of interviewing witnesses to improve accuracy of EWT.

Answer 21

Report everything, reinstate context, reverse order, change perspective.

Answer 22

It increases accurate recall compared to standard interviews.

Answer 23

It can also increase the number of incorrect items recalled.

Answer 24

To investigate how information is coded in STM and LTM.

Answer 25

Participants learned word lists that were acoustically or semantically similar/dissimilar and recalled them immediately or after a delay.

Answer 26

STM recall was worse with acoustically similar words; LTM recall was worse with semantically similar words.

Answer 27

STM is coded acoustically and LTM is coded semantically.

Answer 28

To measure digit span and assess STM capacity.

Answer 29

Participants were given sequences of digits/letters increasing in length and asked to recall them in the correct order.

Answer 30

Average digit span: 9.3 digits; 7.3 letters.

Answer 31

STM has limited capacity which varies depending on content.

Answer 32

To investigate the capacity of STM.

Answer 33

Reviewed existing research including digit span tasks.

Answer 34

STM holds 7 ± 2 items; chunking increases capacity.

Answer 35

STM has a limited capacity, but chunking improves memory.

Answer 36

To test the duration of STM.

Answer 37

Participants were given trigrams and asked to count backwards before recalling after intervals.

Answer 38

Recall fell significantly after 18 seconds.

Answer 39

STM duration is about 18–30 seconds without rehearsal.

Answer 40

To investigate the duration of long-term memory for real-life information.

Answer 41

Tested participants' recall of high school classmates' names and faces using photos and name lists.

Answer 42

After 15 years: 90% accuracy; After 48 years: 70% accuracy.

Answer 43

LTM can last a lifetime, especially for meaningful information.

Answer 44

To test if leading questions affect EWT.

Answer 45

Participants watched car crash clips and were asked about the speed using different verbs like 'smashed' or 'hit'.

Answer 46

'Smashed' led to higher speed estimates than 'hit'.

Answer 47

Leading questions can distort eyewitness memory.

Answer 48

To study the effects of post-event discussion on EWT.

Answer 49

Participants watched the same crime from different angles and then discussed it.

Answer 50

71% recalled information they hadn’t actually seen.

Answer 51

Memory conformity occurs when witnesses discuss events.

Answer 52

To examine the effect of anxiety on eyewitness memory.

Answer 53

Participants witnessed a man with a pen (low-anxiety) or bloody knife (high-anxiety).

Answer 54

49% correctly identified the man in low-anxiety; 33% in high-anxiety.

Answer 55

High anxiety (e.g. weapon focus) reduces accuracy.

Answer 56

To investigate the effect of real-life anxiety on recall.

Answer 57

Interviewed real eyewitnesses to a robbery 4–5 months later.

Answer 58

High-anxiety witnesses had 88% accuracy.

Answer 59

High anxiety can enhance real-life memory accuracy.

Answer 60

To test if recall is better when learning and recall environments match.

Answer 61

Divers learned and recalled word lists on land or underwater.

Answer 62

Recall was 40% worse when contexts did not match.

Answer 63

Context acts as a cue; mismatch reduces recall.

Answer 64

To test state-dependent forgetting.

Answer 65

Participants learned and recalled words either on antihistamines or not.

Answer 66

Recall was worse when internal states did not match.

Answer 67

Internal states act as retrieval cues; mismatch leads to forgetting.

Answer 68

Dual-task performance studies support it. People can do a visual and verbal task at the same time, showing separate systems.

Answer 69

Brain scan studies show different brain areas active for visual and verbal tasks, supporting separate components like the VSS and PL.

Answer 70

The Central Executive is not well explained. It's too vague and may consist of separate components itself.

Answer 71

There is little direct evidence about the exact capacity of each component, especially the CE.

Answer 72

Participants struggled to do two visual tasks at once but could do a visual and verbal task together, supporting separate systems in WMM.

Answer 73

WMM suggests STM is an active processor with multiple components, while MSM sees STM as a single store.

Answer 74

It explains more complex tasks like multitasking and is supported by more recent evidence like brain imaging.

Answer 75

- Directs attention - Allocates tasks to slave systems - Has very limited storage capacity

Answer 76

- Too vague and poorly understood - Difficult to define its exact processes - Hard to test scientifically

Answer 77

- Evidence suggests it might include multiple components - The WMM may oversimplify it as a single controller

Answer 78

- Processes auditory (sound) information - Preserves the order of spoken words - Vital for speech perception and production

Answer 79

1. Phonological Store – inner ear, stores words heard 2. Articulatory Process – inner voice, allows maintenance rehearsal

Answer 80

- Brain imaging shows left hemisphere activation during verbal tasks - Supports its role in processing auditory/verbal information

Answer 81

- Limited capacity (approx. 2 seconds) - May not fully explain complex verbal or linguistic tasks

Answer 82

- Visual and spatial information (what things look like and where they are) - Temporary storage of visual patterns and spatial movement

Answer 83

1. Visual Cache – stores visual data (e.g. colour, shape) 2. Inner Scribe – records spatial arrangement and movement

Answer 84

- Dual-task studies show that doing two visual tasks causes interference - Supports the idea of separate visual and verbal processing systems

Answer 85

- Hard to distinguish between visual cache and inner scribe - Their interaction is poorly explained

Answer 86

- Combines information from visual, spatial, verbal stores, and LTM - Maintains time sequencing of events - Acts as a temporary 'backup' store

Answer 87

- Integrates visual, auditory, and LTM information - Maintains time sequencing of events

Answer 88

- Was only added in 2000, after original WMM - Suggests earlier model was incomplete - Still lacks detailed scientific explanation

Answer 89

- Forgetting occurs because different memories interfere with one another - Common when memories are similar

Answer 90

- Older memories disrupt the recall of newer ones - Example: You keep writing your old postcode instead of your new one

Answer 91

- Newer memories disrupt the recall of older ones - Example: You can’t remember your old phone number after learning your new one

Answer 92

- Participants who learned similar word lists had worse recall - Supports interference theory, especially when information is similar

Answer 93

- Supported by many lab studies (e.g., McGeoch & McDonald) - Lab studies control variables and use scientific methods

Answer 94

- Artificial materials (e.g., word lists) may not reflect real-life memory use - Lacks ecological validity

Answer 95

- Memory is available but cannot be accessed - Often caused by a lack of cues

Answer 96

- Tulving (1983): If a cue is present during encoding, it must also be present at retrieval - If not, forgetting is more likely

Answer 97

- Occurs when external environment at recall is different from learning - Example: Learning on land and recalling underwater

Answer 98

- Divers recalled better when learning and recall took place in the same environment - Supports context-dependent forgetting

Answer 99

- Forgetting due to internal states being different at encoding and recall - Example: Drunk vs sober

Answer 100

- Recall was better when participants were in the same internal state at learning and recall (e.g., both on antihistamines) - Supports state-dependent forgetting

Answer 101

- A question that suggests a certain answer - Can distort eyewitness memory - Example: “How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?”

Answer 102

- Participants estimated higher speeds with stronger verbs (e.g., “smashed”) - Demonstrated that leading questions can distort memory

Answer 103

- Lacks ecological validity – watching a video is not as emotionally arousing as witnessing a real crime - Real EWTs may be influenced by anxiety, not tested here

Answer 104

- When witnesses discuss the event with others - May combine (mis)information, leading to distorted memories

Answer 105

- 71% of participants mistakenly recalled information picked up from others - Compared to 0% in a control group - Shows memory conformity

Answer 106

- Participants knew they were taking part in a study, so may have paid more attention than in real life (demand characteristics) - May not generalise to real-world eyewitness memory

Answer 107

- Anxiety can have both positive and negative effects on recall - Explained using the Yerkes-Dodson Law (inverted U) - Moderate anxiety improves recall, high anxiety worsens it

Answer 108

- Knife condition: 33% recall accuracy - Pen condition: 49% recall accuracy - Weapon focus effect reduces attention to other details

Answer 109

- May measure surprise, not anxiety - Participants could focus on the weapon because it's unusual

Answer 110

- Witnesses to a real robbery had high recall accuracy - Most anxious participants recalled 88% accurately vs 75% for less anxious

Answer 111

- High ecological validity – real crime - Suggests anxiety can improve memory

Answer 112

- Mixed findings across studies - Yerkes-Dodson curve may be oversimplified - Ignores individual and contextual differences

Answer 113

- A method of interviewing eyewitnesses to improve accuracy - Developed by Fisher and Geiselman (1992) - Based on psychological principles of memory

Answer 114

1. Report everything – even trivial details 2. Reinstate context – recall environment and emotions 3. Reverse order – disrupt expectations and schemas 4. Change perspective – recall from different viewpoints

Answer 115

- CI produced more accurate recall than standard interviews - Participants recalled more correct information

Answer 116

- Time-consuming and requires specialist training - Police may not use all techniques, reducing effectiveness

Answer 117

- May increase incorrect information - Especially true with enhanced CI, which includes social dynamics

Memory Flashcards

(141 cards)