Flow of information
Encoding: Changing information into a language or a code we understand so that it can be stored for example visual or acoustic encoding
Storage
Holding information in the memory system until we need it. This is based on the capacity of the system (eg 7+/-2 in the STM)
Retrieval
Recovering information from storage
The multi store model
The idea that memory passes through a series of stores
The Sensory Store
Information arrives through our senses just for a few seconds but only flows through if we do something with it. Info is in its original form eg speech is sound, visual is images. It will only last for up to a second.
Short term store (STM)
Sensory info that we have paid attention to / done something with flows into the short term memory which has a small capacity 7+/-2. If we rehearse this information it can flow into the long term store. Otherwise it will decay in less than a minute.
Long term store (LTM)
Information that flows into the long term memory can potentially last a life time and has an unlimited capacity
Memory store
Duration
Capacity
Sensory
Less than 1 sec
V limited
S Term
Less than 1 min
7+/- chunks
L Term
Up to a lifetime
unlimited
Multi store: Peterson
Aim
To see if REHEARSAL was necessary to hold information in the SHORT TERM STORE
Method
• Participants -given sets of 3 letters to remember (eg PFJ, AFJ, EHD)
• IMMEDIATELY asked to count backwards in 3s for different lengths of time This was done to prevent rehearsal
• Asked to recall the letters in correct order
Results
Participants had forgotten almost all of the info after 18 seconds
Conclusion
P concluded that we cant hold info in the short-term store unless we can rehearse it
Evaluation peterson
Weakness
This study used nonsense syllables that are not the type of memories we have in the real world
Therefore the study lacks ecological validity
Strength
This study has helped us to understand why it’s so difficult to remember information that is fleeting like someone’s telephone number
Murdock back up
Aim
To provide evidence to support the multi store model of memory
Method
Participants – memorise lists of words (presented one at a time for 2 seconds) and then recall them in any order
Results
The words at the end were recalled the quickest
The words at the beginning were recalled quite well
The words in the middle were recalled the least
Conclusion
Murdock concluded = evidence that we have
separate S term + L term stores
Because the words at the END were still in the short term store – the recency effect
The words at the BEGINNING were rehearsed and had flowed into the long term store
And the words in the middle had decayed
Levels of processing explanation
Craik and Lockhart found that it is THE WAY we process and think about information that allows us to recall it later or forget it. They said we process at different levels Deep and Shallow
Structural processing
Thinking about the physical appearance of the words to be learnt
Eg upper or lower case letters; colour; shape
[Least brain activity]
Phonetic Processing
Thinking about the sound of the words to be learned
[Medium brain activity]
Semantic processing
Thinking about what the word MEANS
[Highest levels of brain activity]
Levels of processing craic and Lockhart
Aim
To see if the type of question asked about words will have an effect on the number of words recalled.
Method
Participants given list of words, one at a time and asked questions about each word. They had to answer yes or no
The questions either required, structural, phonetic or semantic processing
They were then given a longer list of words and asked which ones were in the original list
Results
Participants were right about 70% of the words that needed semantic processing
35% phonetic
And 15% structural
Conclusion
The more deeply we process information the more likely we are to remember it
Evaluation
Craik and Lockhart
Weakness
This study was lab based and is arguably low in ecological validity:
In everyday life memory tests are not about learning lists of words. Memory may be far more complex than these studies show (eg in real life there is distractions, different types of information, words that might be more meaningful to us, such as those with emotional power etc)
Strength
There is a lot of support for the levels of processing theory though. It shows the importance of taking into account the way we process information
Reconstructive explanation
We change our recollection of things so that it makes more sense to us and fits in with what we know. Even if we think we’re remembering accurately we are really using our existing schemas to understand and give meaning to our recollections. Memory is not a stored copy of facts.
Reconstructive memory Bartlett
Aim
To see if people when given something UNFAMILIAR to recall would alter the information
Method
Participants were read a story called War of the Ghosts (a Native American Legend)
Later they were asked to retell the story accurately
This was repeated several times over weeks
Results
Each time Ps retold the story they changed it to make more sense to them.
They changed parts of the story that didn’t make sense to them (eg parts about spirits)
Conclusion
Bartlett concluded that our memory is influenced by our beliefs. We use schemas to help us fill in the gaps of our memories.
Wyn and Logie
Aim
To see if participants would get the same results as in Bartlett’s study (of p's recall of unfamiliar events) when participants were asked to recall FAMILIAR events.
Method
Uni students were asked to recall the first week of uni
They were asked several times throughout the year.
Results
Their recall remained mainly the same regardless of how many times they were asked.
This was unlike Bartlett’s study where they changed their recall of the story
Conclusion
Wynn and Logie concluded that memories of familiar events over time won’t change
Evaluation reconstructive
Weakness Bartlett
Bartlett’s story is confusing and not similar to our everyday experiences
Wynn and Logie found that when Ps were asked to recall a familiar event (in everyday life) that their recall DIDN’T change very much at all
Weakness Wynn and Logie
What w and Logie didn’t know was how accurate the students’ recollection of the events was to begin with.
Strength
The Reconstructive theory is important to helping us understand the importance of people’s previous knowledge and background on the way they remember things. It does seem to have intuitive appeal – i.e. we do emphasise some things and play down others when we’re using our memories in everyday life.
Forgetting
Interference
When things that we have learnt make it difficult to recall other information that has been learnt
Retroactive interference
Information that you have recently learnt stops you from being able to recall information you’d learnt before
(WORKS BACKWARDS new info interferes with old)
Proactive interference
Information that you have already learnt stops you from being able to recall new information.
(WORKS FORWARD old information interferes with new)
Underwoood and postman
Aim
to see if new learning interferes with old learning
Method
Two groups of participants.
Grp 1 learned a list of words (eg cat-tree, candle-tap, apple-lake) and then were asked to learn a 2nd list.
Grp 2 learned the first list only (control grp)
Results
Group 2s recall was more accurate than group1
Conclusion
Underwood and Postman concluded that new learning will cause people to recall old learning less accurately as learning the items in the 2nd list interfered with participants’ ability to recall the first list.
(Retroactive interference)
Evaluation Underwood and postman
The research is highly replicable because it took place in a controlled lab setting. This is strength as it shows the impact of retroactive interference without extraneous variables such as a lack of rehearsal, difficult of words or lack of attention.
However the lab setting may have induced demand characteristics in the participants. I.e. they would change their behaviour as they knew they were being monitored, and so the results cannot be applied to a real scenario.
Godden and Badley context
Aim
To see if recall is affected by being tested in the same environment in which you learned the information
Method
Deep sea divers were divided into 4 groups and given the same list of words to learn Group 1 Learned and recalled underwater
Group 2 learned underwater and recalled on shore
Group 3 learned on shore and recalled on shore
Group 4 Learned on shore and recalled underwater
Results
Group 1 and 3 recalled 40% more than group 2 and 4
Conclusion
Recall of information is improved when it happens in the same context as when the information was learned.
Anterograde Amnesia
Brain damage causes a patient to have difficulty learning NEW information AFTER the damage
Retrograde Amnesia
Brain damage causes the patient to have difficulty remembering PAST information from BEFORE the damage
Milner
A patient suffering from epilepsy had an operation in which two 3rds of his hippocampus was removed
He suffered brain damage after the operation and he was unable to learn new information
This shows that the hippocampus is crucial for recording new memories
This is an example of Anterograde Amnesia
Russel and Nathan
A 22 year old patient fell from his motorcycle, banged his head and suffered severe concussion.
Although x-rays showed no fracture of the skull he could not recall any events that had happened for the 2 years prior to the accident
This is an example of Retrograde Amnesia
Why is Eye witness testimony problematic? [Practical implication/ explanation]
When several people describe an event their accounts can be very different from each other. This is worrying because witnesses to accidents or crime, even when they feel confident in their recall can be inaccurate. People can be proven guilty when they’re innocent
Interestingly research suggests that Eye Witness accounts are only 60% accurate and lie detectors 80% accurate. Yet Eye witness accounts are admissible in court and lie detectors aren’t’
Factors that affect eye witness testimony
There are several factors that affect Eye Witness accounts including
[Mnemonic S.E.L.F Created]
Stereotypes [Cohen]
Ethnicity
Leading questions [Loftus and Palmer]
Familiarity with the person [Bruce and Young]
Context [Gieselman]
Loftus leading questions
Aim
To see if vocabulary in a question changes the recall of an event
Method
Participants were shown a video of a car crash.
Group 1 was asked how fast the car HIT the other car
Group 2 were asked how fast did the car SMASH the other car
Results
Group 2 guessed higher speed estimates than group 1
Conclusion
Leading questions do effect the accuracy of recall. The word smashed led the
participants to believe the car was going faster
Evaluation loftus
This is a very convincing study for the importance of using neutral rather than leading questions. However it could be argued that other factors could have influenced the results, such as the tone of voice of the questioner.
However videos are not real life. When we watch a video in a safe and comfortable environment it might be different to the surprise and danger of a real life accident/ crime.
Bruce and young familiarity with the person
Aim
To see if familiarity with someone’s face helps you to identify them
Method
Psychology lecturers were shown on cameras outside a building. Participants were given high quality images and asked if they could identify them
Results
The lecturers’ students (i.e. that were familiar with them) made more correct identifications than other students and experience police officers
Conclusion
Previous familiarity helps when identifying faces
Evaluation Bruce and young
This study does demonstrate how useful security cameras can be in capturing / reducing crime. It also has intuitive appeal. It makes sense to us that we would be able to identify people we are familiar with.
However in real life, other factors, such as context and stereotypes might also affect how we recall. Further our emotional state at the time of an incident particulary a harrowing one may result in a differnt level of recall than the study suggests.
Gieselman (back up )
Aim To see if being given context for an event helps witnesses’ recollection of it
Method
Participants were shown a police training film of a violent crime
and then interviewed about it 2 days later.
Half had the context recreated
Other half were not given the context but had a standard police interview
Results
Those with context recreated recalled more accurate facts of the crime
Than those who had no context recreated (the standard police interview)
Conclusion
Recreating the context of a crime will improves the accuracy of recall.
This is called a cognitive interview
Evaluation gieselman
Studies on context illustrate how worthwhile it is for Law enforcers being trained on the importance of context on accuracy of recall. Ideally taking witnesses back to the scene of the crime or if not by recreating before they give their statement eg by using a cognitive interview rather than standard police interview techniques.
However the participants were shown a video of an event, videos are not real life. When we watch a video in a safe and comfortable environment it might be different to the surprise and danger of a real life accident/ crime. This brings into question the ecological validity of the study.
Cohen (back up)
Aim
To see if stereotypes can affect memory
Method
Participants were show a video of a man and a woman eating in a restaurant
Half were told that she was a waitress
Half were told that she was a librarian
They were then asked to describe her behaviour and personality
Results
The 2 groups gave entirely different descriptions which matched the stereotypes in society
Conclusion
Stereotypes will reduce the accuracy of accounts of witnesses.
All practical applications
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Multi-store model
Car registration plates should never be longer than 7 characters, so that people can remember them quickly. This is because the MSM has taught us that we can only hold 7+/-2 chunks of information at a time.
Levels of Processing
One obvious application would be to improve study skills. Just Reading notes is shallow processing, copying notes is mid processing and applying notes to things like exam questions or putting things in your own words requires deeper processing.
Reconstructive model
We must be very careful giving or listening to Eye Witness account of events (e.g. crimes0. Even when witnesses think they’re accurate they may alter the facts of what they saw to fit their own schemas
Forgetting:
- Interference
Students should employ careful study habit such as separating out similar subjects and taking adequate breaks between them, to make sure that they don’t forget information learned in one revision session / class due to interference of the old/ new information.
- Context
Tell educators to do exams where students studied. Or at the very least try to replicate how the exam would be when you’re learning. E.g. sit at a desk, have a particular smell with you
- Brain damage
Brain Surgery should only be used as a last resort given the complexity of the brain and how damage can be caused that could result in severe repercussions for the patient (such as documented in Milner’s study in which a patient suffered Anterograde amnesia after on operation to treat his epilepsy removed 2/3rds of his hippocampus)
Eye Witness Testimony:
- Leading questions can change memory. Loftus study illustrates this. Therefore when talking to witnesses police and lawyers should avoid asking leading questions and instead adopt a neutral style of questioning.
- Familiarity
From the Bruce and young study we know that memory for faces can be unreliable in certain situations (the police were less accurate in their identification that the students who knew the tutors). Law enforcers should not rely on identity parades alone as they may have limited use when trying to find a suspected criminal especially when witnesses are asked to identify a stranger. Students were less accurate in identifying when they didn’t know the person.
- Context
Law enforcers need to be trained on the importance of context on accuracy of recall. It’s important to take witnesses back to the scene of the crime literally, or if this isn’t possible by recreating details of the scene by using a cognitive interview rather than standard police interview techniques.
All definitions
Encoding
Changing information into a language or a code we understand so that it can be stored
Storage
Holding information in the memory system until we need it.
Retrieval
Recovering information from storage
Multi-store
The idea that memory passes through a series of stores
The Sensory Store
Holds info received through the senses for a very short time (less than a second)
Short term store (STM)
Holds approx 7+-2 chunks of info for a limited time (less than 1 minute)
Long term store (LTM)
Information that flows into the long term memory can potentially last a life time and has an unlimited capacity
Levels of processing
The depth at which info is thought about when trying to learn it
Structural processing
Processing by Thinking about the physical appearance of the words to be learnt
Phonetic Processing
Processing by Thinking about the sound of the words to be learned
Semantic processing
Processing by Thinking about the meaning of the words to be learned
Reconstructive memory
Altering our recollection of things so that they make more sense to us and fit in with our beliefs
interference
When things that we have learnt make it difficult to recall other information that has been learnt
Retroactive interference
Information that you have recently learnt stops you from being able to recall information you’d learnt before
(WORKS BACKWARDS new info interferes with old)
Proactive interference
Information that you have already learnt stops you from being able to recall new information.
(WORKS FORWARD old information interferes with new)
Context
The general setting or environment in which activities happen
Context dependent memory
Information can be recalled easier if it is recalled in the same general setting or environment in which it was learned.
Anterograde Amnesia
Brain damage causes a patient to have difficulty learning NEW information AFTER the damage
Retrograde Amnesia
Brain damage causes the patient to have difficulty remembering PAST information from BEFORE the damage
Hippocampus
A crucial part of the brain associated with memory – damage to this will cause significant damage to memory
Reliability in EWT
The extent to which it can be regarded as accurate
Leading questions
A question that hints that a particular type of answer is required
Cognitive interview
A method of questioning witnesses that involves recreating the context of an event
Stereotype
An oversimplified generalised set of ideas that we have about others
All evaluations
Multi-store
Peterson
This study has helped us to understand why it’s so difficult to remember information that is fleeting like someone’s telephone number
Used nonsense syllables that are not the type of memories we have in the real world
Therefore the study lacks ecological validity
Levels of processing
Craik and Lockhart
There is a lot of support for the levels of processing theory. It shows the importance of taking into account the way we process information
This study was lab based and is arguably low in ecological validity:
In everyday life memory tests are not about learning lists of words. Memory may be far more complex than these studies show (e.g. in real life there is distractions, different types of information, words that might be more meaningful to us, such as those with emotional power etc)
Reconstructive
Bartlett
Wynn + Logie
The Reconstructive theory is important to helping us understand the importance of people’s previous background on the way they remember things.
It does seem to have intuitive appeal – i.e. we do emphasise some things and play down others when we’re using our memories in everyday life knowledge and
Bartlett’s story is confusing and not similar to our everyday experiences. Wynn and Logie found that when Ps were asked to recall a familiar event (in everyday life) that their recall DIDN’T change very much at all
What Wynn and Logie didn’t know was how accurate the students’ recollection of the events was to begin with.
Forgetting
Underwood and postman
The research is highly replicable because it took place in a controlled lab setting. This is strength as it shows the impact of retroactive interference without extraneous variables such as a lack of rehearsal, difficult of words or lack of attention.
However the lab setting may have induced demand characteristics in the participants. I.e. they would change their behaviour as they knew they were being monitored, and so the results cannot be applied to a real scenario.
Context
Godden and Badley
Scientific, good control over the variables (times of learning and recall intervals between conditions). All Ps experienced the same controls therefore it is reliable and can be replicated
Natural setting, so higher in ecological validity than in a lab
but learning/ recalling words under water is an unrealistic task so in this sense it lacks ecological validity there may have been demand characteristics given the conditions of the experiment
Brain damage
Milner and Russel and Nathan
These case studies provide convincing research on the effect of brain damage on forgetting. They are a good starting point for wider research and are high in Ecological validity
Case studies are difficult to generalise
Eyewitness testimony
Loftus and palmer evaluation
This is a very convincing study for the importance of using neutral rather than leading questions.
However it could be argued that other factors could have influenced the results, such as the tone of voice of the questioner.
However videos are not real life. When we watch a video in a safe and comfortable environment it might be different to the surprise and danger of a real life accident/ crime.
Familiarity
Bruce and young
This study does demonstrate how useful security cameras can be in capturing / reducing crime. It also has intuitive appeal. It makes sense to us that we would be able to identify people we are familiar with.
However in real life, other factors, such as context and stereotypes might also affect how we recall. Further our emotional state at the time of an incident particularly a harrowing one may result in a different level of recall than the study suggests.
Context
Gieselman
Studies on context illustrate how worthwhile it is for Law enforcers being trained on the importance of context on accuracy of recall. Ideally taking witnesses back to the scene of the crime or if not by recreating before they give their statement e.g. by using a cognitive interview rather than standard police interview techniques.
However the participants were shown a video of an event, videos are not real life. When we watch a video in a safe and comfortable environment it might be different to the surprise and danger of a real life accident/ crime. This brings into question the ecological validity of the study.
