Memory Flashcards

Question

What were the findings of Peterson and Petersons study?

Answer 1

As the time between presentation and recall increased, successful recall decreased. After 3 seconds Ps recalled 80% of trigrams. After 6 seconds Ps recalled 40% of trigrams. After 18 seconds Ps recalled 10% of trigrams. Suggests that if rehearsal is prevented, information can be retained in STM for only a short period of time. Memory trace has more or less disappeared after 18 seconds

Answer 2

Recall of trigrams is not representative of everyday memory demands and so the research lacks external validity. The trigrams are not meaningful information and so may be remembered less well than more meaningful information. This, the duration of STM may be longer for everyday memories

Answer 3

Lab - highly controlled, IV is under the direct manipulation of the experimenter. Consequently, cause and effect can be inferred- the time delay causes recall to decline

Answer 4

Conrad (1964)

Answer 5

Were investigating the main form of encoding by identifying errors in the recall of similar sounding letters and similar looking letters. Ps were shown lists of 6 printed letters for 0.75 seconds (chosen from B, C, F, M, N, P, S, T, V, X) and asked to write down as many as they could remember as they appeared. Presentation was too fast for participants to keep up so information had to be help in the short term memory

Answer 6

Found that Ps tended to make mistakes as a result of mixing up the sounds of the letters rather than mixing up their appearance (more acoustic errors were found) Ps tended to mix up B and V because they sound similar but not F and E, even though they look similar. Concluded that Ps made more errors with acoustically similar letters because they said them to themselves, rather than just looking at them. When letters are sounded out, similar sounding ones are likely to get confused. Main form of encoding = acoustic

Answer 7

Artificial. Done under controlled condition using a task which Ps are unlikely to encounter in everyday like and therefore lacks external and ecological validity

Answer 8

Well controlled as IV under control of the experimenter. It provides good evidence that encoding in STM is acoustic, high internal validity. Established cause and effect

Answer 9

Bahrick (1975)

Answer 10

Cross-section study using 392 American ex-high school students of various ages. They had graduated from their high school anywhere from 2 weeks ago to 57 years ago. They were asked to free recall the names of their classmates. They were also shown a set of photos of their classmates and had to match the faces or select a classmate from a set of 5 photos (4 decoys)

Answer 11

90% of faces were successfully recognised up to 35 years after Ps had left school. When recognising names, 90% were successful up to 15 years after leaving and then the figure dropped. When matching names to faces, there was a 90% success rate until about 48 years later and then there was a decline in memory. This suggests memories can be held in LTM without distortion for a very long time. However, after a period of time, there may be some degeneration, possibly as a result of old age rather than the age of the memory itself. VLTM

Answer 12

Only one type of LT memory was being investigated (recognition of classmates faces rather than recall). Classmates faces are a very particular type of information that might have emotional significance and there will have been opportunity for a great deal of rehearsal given the daily contact classmates will have experienced. The same is not true of other types of information and so the findings cannot be generalised to other types of information - the study tells us nothing about the duration of semantic memories

Answer 13

High external validity. Asking Ps to recall their classmates tests real-life memory. (Although there was less control than in a lab study e.g. Ps may have looked at the yearbook or even met up with their classmates)

Answer 14

Baddeley (1966)

Answer 15

Aim of the experiment was to investigate the main form of encoding in LTM by identifying errors in the recall of semantically similar and dissimilar words and errors in the recall of acoustically similar and dissimilar words. Ps were presented with 4 sets of words and asked to recall them • acoustically similar words e.g. Man, mad, cap, can, cat, map • acoustically dissimilar words e.g. pit, few, cow, pen, bar, day • semantically similar words e.g. great, large, big, huge, wide • semantically dissimilar words e.g. good, huge, hot, safe, thin

Answer 16

When Ps asked to recall the word lists after a time interval (so recall would be in LTM rather than STM) performance was the same for lists 1 and 2, the acoustically similar and dissimilar words. However, they were marked differences in lists 3 and 4, the semantically similar and dissimilar words. Ps were more likely to make errors in list 3. Suggests the information in LTM is encoded semantically. Words with similar meanings cause confusion as opposed to words with distinct meanings. The fact that there were no difference in the recall of acoustically similar and dissimilar words from LTM implies that they were not encoded acoustically but rather semantically

Answer 17

Lacks external validity as it doesn't resemble the way memory is used in everyday life. Small sample of 72

Answer 18

Good control over IV - words that are similar or dissimilar in sound or meaning - in this experiment and therefore it is easier to suggest a cause and effect relationship. This study provides good evidence that encoding in LTM is semantic

Answer 19

Baddeley and Hitch

Answer 20

The Central Executive - directs attention to particular tasks. V.limited capacity and so can attend to a limited number of things at any time Phonological Loop - v. Limited capacity. It stores a limited number of speech based sounds for brief periods. This component is subdivided into the phonological store (holds the words you hear, inner ear) and an articulatory process (silently repeating the words you hear, inner voice) Visuo- Spatial Sketch pad - used to plan a spatial task. Involves holding visual and spatial information (inner eye)

Answer 21

``` Phonological Loop (phonological store, articulatory process) ⬇️⬆️ Central Executive ⬇️⬆️ Visuo-spatial sketchpad ```

Answer 22

Episodic Buffer - enables the central executive to access information in the LTM and integrate it with information in the other systems

Answer 23

The model predicts that it will harder to do 2 things at the same time if they are both visual task or both verbal tasks, because both will be using the same store at the same time. However if you are doing 2 things at the same time but one is visual and one is verbal you should be able to do them as well simultaneously as you would separately, because they use different stores.

Answer 24

Support for this came from Baddeleys experiment. All Ps were given a visual task (tracking to a moving light with a pointer). They were given another task to do at the same time. i) imagining a hollow letter F and going round saying whether each of the angles was inside or outside the shape ii) repeating words Task i impaired performance on the pointer task, but task ii) did not. Because both tasks involve the VSS and so are difficult to do. If the VSS didn't exist as a separate component we wouldn't struggle with this task (which placed 2 demands on the same store)

Answer 25

Cohen (1997) put Ps in a brain scanner and asked them to carry out different tasks. When the central executive was working, there was activity in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. The occipital lobe of the brain was active when the task was visual. Higher activity was found in the Wernickes area (speech perception) and Brocas area (speech production) when the phonological loop was in use. If different areas on the brain respond to different tasks in the STM, this suggests there are several components in the STM and that it is not unitary as the MSMM suggested

Answer 26

1- the CE is a very important part of the model, but the model doesn't give enough information on how it allocates resources. Some psychologists feel it's too vague to suggest it is attention, and don't think this actually explains it's role adequately 2- suggests there is a single CE but there is evidence for several components. EVR had a cerebral tumour removed. He performed well on tests requiring reasoning with suggested that his CE was still intact, but he had poor decision making skills which suggests that his CE was not wholly intact 3- in comparison to the MSMM it only focuses on STM not other stores and process in memory

Answer 27

Anxiety, Age of the witness and misleading information

Answer 28

Loftus Loftus and Burns Christianson and Hubinette

Answer 29

2 conditions i) Ps overheard a low key discussion in a laboratory about an equipment failure. A person then emerged from the lab holding a pen and grease on his hands ii) Ps overheard a heated and hostile exchange between people in the lab. After the sound of breaking glass and crashing chairs, a man emerged from the lab holding a paper knife covered in blood Ps were then shown 50 photos and asked to identify the person who had come out of the lab (Lab based, independent groups)

Answer 30

Found that Ps who had witnessed the man holding the pen accurately identified the person 49% of the time. The Ps who had witnessed the man with the bloodstained paper knife were successful only 33% of the time as they focussed on the weapon and forgot peripheral details (Increased arousal = increased heart rate, sweating, fast breathing)

Answer 31

Showed Ps a violent or non-violent short film. Those who saw the violent film, in which a boy was short in the face, were less accurate in recalling information about the crime than those who saw the non-violent film. This funding from Loftus' research is known as weapon focus. Loftus concluded that the fear or anxiety brought about by the sight of the weapon narrows the focus of attention and gives rise to very accurate recall of the central details of the scene, but less accurate details of peripheral details. Supports Loftus' conclusion that high anxiety and weapon focus reduced the accuracy of EWT

Answer 32

Questioned (non experimental method- imterview) 58 real witnesses of bank robberies (high ecological validity). Witnesses were either onlookers present at the time, or bank staff who were actually threatened by the robbers. Witnesses who had been threatened in some way (increased anxiety) were more accurate in their recall, and remembered more details than those who had been onlookers and less emotionally aroused. This superior recall continued to be evident, even after a 15 month interval (high reliability as it's consistent, however rehearsal may have affected their results in the experiment as they may have rehearsed the scene multiple times by telling people) It has been suggested that the relationship between anxiety and accuracy of EWT is like an inverted U. This means that medium arousal improved accuracy of EWT, but high arousal makes it worse

Answer 33

``` Supports = Loftus and burns Contradicts = Christianson and Hubinette ```

Answer 34

Parker and Carranza | Anastasi and Rhodes

Answer 35

Ps asked to identify a target individual following a slide sequence of a mock crime. In the photo identification task, child witnesses had a higher rate of choosing 'somebody', and they were also more likely to make errors of identification that the college students. Found primary school children were less likely to correctly identify a criminal that college students IV= age, DV= correct identification

Answer 36

- low ecological validity (lab) | + ethical considerations mean to protect the children from harm as they haven't been shown a real crime

Answer 37

Used individuals from 3 age groups (18-25, 35-45, 55-78 = more representative) who were shown 24 photos (representing the 3 different age groups) which they had to rate for attractiveness. After a short filler activity, they were then presented with 48 photos, 24 of which had been seen previously, and 24 acted as distracters. They had to select the 24 which they'd seen previously

Answer 38

Corrected recognition rates (hits minus false) showed that the young and middle-aged Ps were significantly more accurate than older Ps, but all age groups were more accurate in identifying photos from their own age group = own age bias YP. MP. OP. YP. 90%. 87%. 85% MP. 85%. 93%. 87% OP. 56%. 62%. 66%

Answer 39

Loftus and Palmer (1974) | Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

Answer 40

Ps (45 students = unrepresentative) were shown a 30 second video of 2 cars colliding. They were then asked a question about the speed that the cars were travelling. All Ps were asked the same question, but with a different verbs ending the sentence..... 'About how fast were the cars going when they hit/smashed/collided/bumped/contacted?' In addition a week later Ps were asked if they had seen any broken glass on the road (actually no broken glass)

Answer 41

``` The average estimated speed was found to increase as the strength of the verb increased. Smashed = 41mph Collided = 39mph Bumped = 38mph Hit = 34mph Contacted = 32mph ``` Also when asked a week later about broken glass 32% said yes if they were in the 'smashed' condition, completed to 14% in the 'hit' condition

Answer 42

Interviewed 13 witnesses (small) to an attempted theft from a gun shop in Vancouver, Canada, during which the shopkeeper shot and killed the thief. 4 months later, witness accounts remained highly accurate and were not affected by misleading information. Supports C&H

Answer 43

1. L&P experiment focused on memories of peripheral details. Fruzetti (1992) suggested it is much harder to distort eyewitness testimony by misleading post-event information for key details (e.g. The murder weapon) than it is for minor details such as the presence of broken glass. 2. lab experiments lack external validity 3. Ethical issues - Harm

Answer 44

1. Controlled lab experiments allow conclusions about cause and effect 2. Research has practical implications for real life situations such as police interviews and court cases

Answer 45

Fisher and Geiselman

Answer 46

1. Report everything - the interviewer encourages the reporting of every single detail even those details which may seem irrelevant 2. Mental Reinstatement of the original context - the interviewer encourages the interviewee to mentally recreate the environment e.g. Sounds, smells, weather etc 3. Changing the order when recalling - the interviewer may try alternative ways through the timeline of the incident e.g reversing the order of recall so starting at the end of the incident 4. Changing the perspective - the interviewee is asked to recall the incident from different perspectives

Answer 47

* a meta analysis of 53 studies found on average an increase of 34% in the amount of correct information recalled when using the cognitive interview. However most of these studies tested volunteer witnesses (normally college students) in a lab (volunteer samples tend to attract a certain personality type which lowers the population validity) * Stein and Memon (2006) in Brazil - recruited women from the cleaning staff of a large university and asked them to watch a video of an abduction. The Ps who had the CI provided better data with rich detail

Answer 48

1. Chunking 2. Verbal Mnemonics 3. Visual Imagery Mnemonics 4. Organisation 5. Cognitive Interview

Answer 49

STM has a capacity of 7+/- 2 however, chunking increases the amount of information stored. E.g it is easier to remember 100 1000 10 10000 than 10010001010000

Answer 50

* an acronym is forming words from initial letters e.g. ROYGBIV for remembering the colours of the rainbow * an acrostic is making up a sentence using the initial letters e.g Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain to remember the colours of the rainbow

Answer 51

* Method of Loci - involves imagining a journey through a familiar route, e.g. Your house. Each item to be remembered is imagined in one place on the route. To recall the items imagine walking round the same route and recall each item on the way. * Key word method - associating two pieces of information e.g a Spanish word for horse is Caballo. You could visualise a horse with a large eye riding on it's back. Thinking of the horse should trigger recall of the Spanish word. Can also be used for names.

Answer 52

Mindmaps, spider diagrams • Bower (1969) found organising words into a conceptual hierarchy helped recall. 65% of words were recalled correctly in the hierarchy group compared to 19% in the random group

Memory Flashcards

(77 cards)