Memory

Question 1

how did atkinson and shiffrin initially envisage memory flowing

Answer 1

linearly and passively, with little effort involved

Question 2

how is the multi-store model of memory divided up

Answer 2

3 discrete stores (sensory, short term, long term)

Question 3

what does capacity refer to

Answer 3

The amount of information the memory store can hold

Question 4

what does duration refer to

Answer 4

the length of time the memory store can hold info

Question 5

what does coding refer to

Answer 5

The way in which information is stored/put into/processed into memory (acoustic, visual, semantic)

Question 6

what is the capacity of info that the sensory register can hold

Answer 6

limited by the amount of information that can be received, but it potentially could be very large

Question 7

what is the capacity of info that the short term memory store can hold

Answer 7

7 (+ or - 2) digits or chunks

Question 8

what is the capacity of info that the long term memory store can hold

Answer 8

unlimited

Question 9

what is the duration of info that the sensory register can hold

Answer 9

2 seconds max

Question 10

what is the duration of info that the short term memory store can hold

Answer 10

18-30 seconds without rehearsal

Question 11

what is the duration of info that the long term memory store can hold

Answer 11

potentially a lifetime

Question 12

what is the coding used in the sensory register store

Answer 12

multi-modal (haptic, iconic, echoic)

Question 13

what is the coding used in the short term memory store

Answer 13

acoustic

Question 14

what is the coding used in the long term memory store

Answer 14

semantic (attached to info that’s already held in the long term memory)

Question 15

what is the most common mode of forgetting in the sensory register

Answer 15

decay

Question 16

what is the most common mode of forgetting in the short term memory register

Answer 16

displacement

Question 17

what is the most common mode of forgetting in the long term memory register

Answer 17

mostly interference and cue/context-dependent forgetting

Question 18

what kind of information is stored in the haptic store

Answer 18

touch

Question 19

what kind of information is stored in the iconic store

Answer 19

sight

Question 20

what kind of information is stored in the echoic store

Answer 20

sound

Question 21

what is essential for information to transfer from the short term memory to the long term memory

Answer 21

attention and rehearsal

Question 22

explain the process of the multi-store model for memory

Answer 22

sensory input -> sensory memory store -> attention -> short term memory (rehearsal then transfers info to…) -> long term memory

(info is then retrieved from the long-term memory store when needed)

Question 23

Give supporting evidence for the sensory register store

Answer 23

sperling - ppts were presented with a 4x3 letter matrix for 1/20th of a second (before visuo-decay begins).

in condition A, ppts heard a low, medium or high dial tone, and how to remember the letters in the matching row.
in condition B, ppts had to recall as many as possible

ppts in condition A usually got 3/4. ppts in condition B usually got 4/12. this supports the idea that we can potentialy hold lots of info if your vision is adequate, and also supports the idea that vision is only stored for a short time

Question 24

give a weakness of using supporting evidence to give credibility to the multi-store model theory

Answer 24

the nature of the tasks are artificial and do not represent everyday life, meaning there is low mundane realism which lowers the task validity (also low EV because tasks are carried out in artificial labs)

Question 25

when are stimuli transferred to the short term memory

Answer 25

when a person is focused on one of the sensory registers

Question 26

What evidence is there to support the idea that info in the short-term memory store has a duration of 18-30 seconds (and must be rehearsed in order for this 0to be transferred to the LTM

Answer 26

Peterson and Peterson - PPTs had to listen to a trigram and then take part in a task that interfered with their memory (had to count backwards in 3s or 4s before recalling the trigram). as the duration of the interference task increase, the accuracy of recall decreased - this supports this idea that the duration of STM is approximately 18-30 seconds because recall was especially poor when the interference task happened for over 15 seconds

Question 27

give a weakness of using supporting evidence to give credibility to the short-term memory

Answer 27

the nature of the tasks are artificial and do not represent everyday life, meaning there is low mundane realism which lowers the task validity (also low EV because tasks are carried out in artificial labs)

Question 28

What evidence is there to support the idea that info in the long-term memory store has unlimited capacity and duration

Answer 28

bahrick - ppts were school graduates between the ages of 17-74 and when asked to recall names from a yearbook, those who had left school 15 years previously had recall of 90%, and recall was 70-80% accurate 48 years after school. this shows how info stored in the LTM is fairly resilient and supports the idea that duration is potentially unlimited (and capacity since it has been able to maintain this information alongside new info)

Question 29

what evidence is there to support the idea that info in the long-term memory store is coded semantically

Answer 29

baddeley - ppts had to learn and recall a list of 10 words in order and they were placed in 1 of 4 conditions: 1. acoustically similiar words 2. acoustically dissimiliar words (control) 3. semantically similar words 4. semantically dissimilar words (control) ppts were presented with the word list 4 times, and then had to do a 20 minute interference task. recall was 85% accurate for acoustically similar words but only 55% accurate for semantically similiar words. this supports this idea that LTM must rely on semantic coding since ppts with similar words struggled to recall them due to confusion.

Question 30

give a weakness of using supporting evidence to give credibility to the short-term memory

Answer 30

the nature of the tasks are artificial and do not represent everyday life, meaning there is low mundane realism which lowers the task validity (also low EV because tasks are carried out in artificial labs)

Question 31

What evidence is there to support the idea that info in the short-term memory store has a capacity of 7 (+ or - 2) chunks of capacity

Answer 31

Miller - found that ppts could hold between 5 and 9 items in their short term memory before deterioration begins

Question 32

What evidence is there to support the idea that info in the short-term memory store is coded acoustically

Answer 32

Conrad - ppts either had to recall semantically similar or acoustically similar words after being shown a word list. acoustically similar lists were harder to recall even though presented visually (proving that memory is encoded acoustically in the STM)

Question 33

what is the working memory model

Answer 33

a more detailed version of the short-term memory which explains that the system is only able to deal with a restricted amount of info, but can be manipulated or worked with (in problem solving tasks, for example)

Question 34

what are the 4 main components of the WMM

Answer 34

1. central executive 2. visuo-spatial sketchpad 3. phonologial loop 4. episodic buffer

Question 35

what is the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad's role

Answer 35

to deal with visual material

Question 36

what is the role of the phonological loop

Answer 36

to deal with verbal material

Question 37

how does information flow through the WMM

Answer 37

Information enters the system (like hearing or seeing something). 1. The central executive directs attention to this info. 2. If it’s sound-based, it goes to the phonological loop where it’s briefly stored and rehearsed (silently repeating it). 3. Visual info goes to the visuospatial sketchpad instead. 4. The episodic buffer then combines info from both loops and links it to long-term memory if needed.

Question 38

What is the role of the central executive

Answer 38

controls attention and coordinates actions of other components (can only deal with one task at a time)

Question 39

What is the role of the phonological loop

Answer 39

holds auditory and verbal information - 2 components: primary acoustic store and articulatory loop

Question 40

how does the primary acoustic store (inner ear) work

Answer 40

stores info acoustically, but information decays after about 2 seconds unless it is rehearsed

Question 41

how does the articulatory loop (inner voice) work

Answer 41

rehearses info from the primary-acoustic store over and over again

Question 42

What is the role of the visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 42

stores and manipulates visual and spatial information from the eyes

Question 43

What engages and uses the VSSP

Answer 43

maintaining an image (engages) and imagining it rotating (using)

Question 44

What did Logie suggest the VSSP is divided into

Answer 44

1. inner scribe (responsible for spatial 3d tasks) 2. visual cache (responsible for shape and colour identification)

Question 45

What is the role of the episodic buffer

Answer 45

provides temporary storage for components to help combine information

Question 46

what 2 pieces of supporting evidence is there for the WMM

Answer 46

Baddeley found that ppts struggled to perform 2 visual tasks (describing F and tracking a light), compared to doing a visual and verbal task at the same time. this shows that STM has limited capacity and each store can only hold a certain amount of info at 1 time shallice and warrington reported on a case study who suffered from brain damage after a motorcycle accident which damaged his short term memory. his verbal info was severely impaired, but visual info was in-tact. That suggests that the phonological loop was damaged, but there are seperate components to the model which deals with different types of info (but this is a c ase study...)