Memory

Question 1

Coding

Answer 1

The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.

Question 2

Capacity

Answer 2

The amount of information that can be held in a memory store.

Question 3

Duration

Answer 3

The length of time information can be held in memory.

Question 4

Short term memory (STM)

Answer 4

The limited capacity memory store.

Coding is mainly acoustic (sounds).

Capacity is between 5 and 9 items on average.

Duration is between 18 and 30 seconds.

Question 5

Long term memory

Answer 5

The permanent memory store.

Coding is mainly semantic (meaning).

Unlimited capacity.

Can store memories up to a lifetime.

Question 6

Research on coding

Answer 6

Alan Baddeley gave different lists of words to four groups of pps to remember: acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar, semantically dissimilar.

Pps were shown original words and asked to recall them in correct order.

When recalling immediately after hearing (STM recall), they tended to do worse with acoustically similar words.

When asked to recall word listen after 20 seconds (LTM recall), did worse with semantically similar words. Suggest information is coded semantically in LTM.

Question 7

Limitation of Baddeley’s study

Answer 7

Artificial stimuli - used artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material - word lists had no meaning to participants - so should be cautious about generalising findings to different memory tasks. Suggests findings from study had limited application.

Question 8

Research on capacity (digit span)

Answer 8

Researcher gives for example, for example, 4 digits and then pp is asked to recall these in the correct order out loud. If this is correct researcher reads out 5 digits and so on until pp cannot recall order correctly - determines person’s digit spam.

Jacobs found that mean span for digits across all pps was 9.3 intense and mean span for letter was 7.3.

Question 9

Strengths and limitations of Jacobs’s study (research on capacity)(evaluation)

Answer 9

• was conducted a long time ago - early research often lacked control, e.g. pps may have been distracted while being tested so didn’t perform to best ability.

Means results might not be valid because confounding variables were not controlled.

+ results of study have been confirmed in other research - supports validity.

Question 10

Research on capacity (span of memory and chunking)

Answer 10

George Miller made observations of every practice. E.g. 7 notes on musical scale, 7 days of the week, etc.

Suggests that capacity of STM is about 7 items (+/- 2).

However miller also noted people can recall 5 words as well as they recall 5 letters. Do this by chunking - grouping sets of digits or letters into units or chunks.

Question 11

Limitations of millers study (memory and chunking) (evaluation)

Answer 11

May have overestimated capacity of STM.

E.g. Cowan reviewed other research and concluded that capacity of STM was only about 4 chunks.

Suggest lower end of Miller’s estimate (5 items) is more appropriate than 7.

Question 12

Research on duration (STM)

Answer 12

Petersons tested 24 undergraduate students. Each student took part in eight trials.

On each trial student was given trigram (e.g. YCG) to remember and 3 digit number. Were then asked to count backwards from the 3 digit number until told to stop.

On each trial were told to stop after different amount of time - 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds - called retention interval.

Results showed that as retention interval increased, % of correct answers decreased.

Suggests STM has short duration.

Question 13

Strengths and limitations of Peterson and peterson’s study

Answer 13

+ Stimulus material was artificial.

Memorising trigrams does not reflect real life memory activities where we remember meaningful things.

So, could say study lacked external validity.

+ however sometimes try to remember fairly meaningless things such as phone numbers so study is not totally irrelevant.

Question 14

Research on duration (LTM)

Answer 14

Bahrick and colleagues studies 392 pps from American state of Ohio ages between 17 and 74.

Participants’ high school yearbooks were used. Recall was tested in 2 ways:

1. photo recognition test - 50 photos from pps yearbook.
2. free recall test - pps recalled all names of graduating class.

Pps tested within 15 years of graduation were about 90% accurate in photo recognition.
After 48 years recall declines to about 70%.

Free recall - within 15 years about 60% accurate, after 48 years - dropped to 30.

Shows LTM lasts a very long time.

Question 15

Strengths and limitations of research on duration (LTM)

Answer 15

+ high external validity - real life meaningful memories were studied. When studies on LTM have been conducted with meaningless pictures recall rates were lower (Shepard).

• real life research means confounding variables are not controlled, e.g. pps may have looked at their yearbook and rehearsed memory over years.

Question 16

Multi-store model

Answer 16

A representation of how memory works in terms of three stores called sensory register, short term memory and long term memory.

Also describes how information is transferred from one store to another, how it is remembered and how it’s forgotten.

Question 17

Sensory register

Answer 17

The memory stores for each of our five senses, e.g. vision (iconic store) and hearing (echoic store).

Coding in iconic sensory register is visual and in echoic it is acoustic.

Capacity of sensory register is huge and information lasts for a very short time.

Question 18

Process of MSM

Answer 18

Stimulus from the environment —-> sensory register —-> stm store —-> ltm store.

Question 19

Maintenance rehearsal

Answer 19

Occurs when we repeat material to ourselves over and over again.

Can keep the information in STMs as long as we rehearse it. If rehearsed long enough - it passes into ltm.

Question 20

Retrieval

Answer 20

If material is stored in LTM, when we want to recall it - has to be transferred back into STM by retrieval.

Question 21

Strengths and limitations of MSM (evaluation)

Answer 21

+ supporting research evidence

• There is more than one type of STM
• There is more than one type of rehearsal
• artificial materials
• more than one type of LTM

Question 22

Strength of MSM (evaluation)

Answer 22

Supported by research studies - e.g. Baddeley found we tend to mix up words that sound similar when using STM. But we mix up words that have similar meaning in LTM.

Strength because shows that coding in STM is acoustic and semantic in LTM. Supports MSM because shows MSM view that two memory stores are separate and independent.

Question 23

Limitations of MSM (evaluation)

Answer 23

1. MSM states there is only one type of short term memory. However evidence from people suffering amnesia shows this can’t be true.

E.g. patient KF’s stm for digits was poor when read out loud to him. But recall was much better when he read digits to himself.

Shows that there could be another short term store for non verbal sounds.

2. MSM states the more you rehearse info the more likely you are to transfer it to LTM and remember it for a long time.

However Craik and Watkins found this is wrong. Discovered that there were two types of rehearsal - maintenance and elaborative.

Limitation because research finding can’t be explained by model.

Question 24

What are the three types of ltm?

Answer 24

Episodic memory

Semantic memory

Procedural memory

Question 26

Episodic memory

Answer 26

A long term memory store for personal events. It includes memories of when the events occurred and of the people, objects, places and behaviours involved. Memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort.

Question 27

Semantic memory

Answer 27

A long term memory for our knowledge of the world. This includes facts and out knowledge of what words and concepts mean. These memories usually also need to be recalled deliberately.

Question 28

Strengths and limitations of types of long term memory

Answer 28

+ clinical evidence + neuroimaging evidence + real life applications - problems with clinical evidence - three types of ltm or two?

Question 29

Strengths and limitations of clinical evidence in types of ltm (evaluation)

Answer 29

+ 1. HM and Clive Wearing’s episodic memory was severely impaired due to amnesia. 2. Both had great difficulty recalling events that happened to them in their pasts. 3. But semantic memories were relatively unaffected, e.g. still understood meaning of words. 4. Procedural memories were also intact, both knew how to tie shoelaces, how to walk and speak. 5. Evidence supports Tulvig’s view that there are different memory stores in LTM. 6. One store can be damaged but others are unaffected. Evidence that types of memory are different and are stored in different parts of the brain. - 1. Clinical studies are not perfect - serious lack of control in them.

Question 30

Neuroimaging evidence in types of long term memories (Evaluation)

Answer 30

1. Tulvig et al got participants to perform various memory tasks while brains were scanned using PET scanner. 2. Found that episodic and semantic memories were both recalled from prefrontal cortex in brain - semantic memories was recalled from left prefrontal cortex and episodic memories were recalled from right prefrontal cortex. 3. Strength because supports view that there is different types of LTM within brain. - has been confirmed in later research studies - supporting validity.

Question 31

Three types of LTM or two? (Evaluation)

Answer 31

1. Cohen and Squire disagree with Tulvig’s division of ltm into three types. 2. Accept that procedural memories represent one type of ltm but argue that episodic and semantic memories are stored together in one LTM store called declarative memory. 3. Declarative memory - memories that can be consciously recalled. Procedural memories are non-declarative.

Question 32

Procedural memory

Answer 32

A long term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things. This includes our memories of learned skills. We usually recall these memories without making a conscious of deliberate effort.

Question 33

Working memory model

Answer 33

A representation of short term memory. It suggests that STM is a dynamic processor of different types of information using sub-units coordinated by a central design-making system.

Question 34

Central executive

Answer 34

Components of the WMM that coordinates activities of the three subsystems in the memory. Also allocates processing resources to those activities.

Question 35

Phonological loop

Answer 35

Component of WMM that processes information in terms of sound. Includes both written and spoken material. Divided into the phonological store and articulatory process.

Question 36

Visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 36

Component of WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called our ‘inner eye’.

Question 37

Episodic buffer

Answer 37

Component of WMM that brings together material from other subsystems into a single memory rather than separate strands. Also provides a bridge between working memory and long term memory.

Question 38

Phonological store

Answer 38

Stores words you hear

Question 39

Articulatory process

Answer 39

Allows maintenance rehearsal (repeated sounds or words in a ‘loop’ to keep them in the working memory while they’re needed. Capacity of this loop is 2 seconds worth of what you can say.

Question 40

What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad divided into?

Answer 40

The visual cache The inner scribe

Question 41

Visual cache

Answer 41

Stores visual data

Question 42

Inner scribe

Answer 42

Records arrangement of objects in the visual field

Question 43

What is key about the WMM?

Answer 43

Performing two tasks that use different stores can be performed simultaneously, but if 2 tasks involve the same store it will affect performance.

Question 44

What are the explanations for forgetting?

Answer 44

Interference and retrieval failure

Question 45

Interference

Answer 45

Forgetting because one memory blocks another, causing one or both memories to be distorted or forgotten.

Question 46

Proactive interference

Answer 46

Forgetting occurs when old memories, already stored, disrupt the recall of newer memories. The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar.

Question 47

Retroactive interference

Answer 47

Forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of old memories already stored. The degree of forgetting is again greater when the memories are similar.

Question 48

Who discovered interference is worse when memories are similar?

Answer 48

McGeoch and McDonald

Question 49

McGeoch and McDonald’s study

Answer 49

1. Studied retroactive interference by changing amount of similarity between two sets of materials. 2. Pps had to learn a list of words until they could recall them with 100% accuracy. 3. Then learned a new list. 4. Were 6 groups of pps who had to learn different types of lists. 5. Lists were: synonyms, antonyms, words unrelated to original ones, nonsense syllables, three digit numbers and one did not have a new list. 6. When pps recalled original list of words, performance depended on nature of second list - synonyms produced worst recall - shows interference is best when memories are similar.

Question 50

Strength and limitations of interference

Answer 50

+ evidence from lab studies - artificial material + interference effects

Question 51

Strengths of interference (evaluation)

Answer 51

1. Evidence from lab studies Thousands of Lebanese experiments have been carried out to explain forgetting. E.g. McGeoch and McDonald. Strength because lab experiments control effects of irrelevant influences and give us confidence that interference is a valid explanation for at least some forgetting. 2. Real life studies Some research studies have considered interference in more everyday situations. E.g. Baddeley and Hitch with the rugby players. Study shows interference can apply to at least some everyday situations.

Question 52

Limitation of interference

Answer 52

1. Artificial materials Most interference studies take place in lab. Things asked to learn in experiments are not meaningful and are not realistic. Limitation because use of artificial tasks makes interference much more likely in the lab. Interference may not be as likely an explanation for forgetting in everyday life as it is the lab.

Question 53

Retrieval failure

Answer 53

A form of forgetting. Occurs when we don’t have the necessary cues to access memory. The memory is available but not accessible unless a suitable cue is provided.

Question 54

Cue

Answer 54

A trigger if information that allows us to access a memory. Such cues may be meaningful or maybe be indirectly linked by being encoded at the time of learning. For example, cues may be external or internal.

Question 55

Who carried out the context-dependent forgetting study?

Answer 55

Godden and Baddeley

Question 56

Godden and Baddeley’s study

Answer 56

1. Carried out study of deep sea divers working underwater. 2. Divers learned a list of words either underwater or on land and then were asked to recall the words either underwater or on land. ``` 3. This created four conditions: • learn on land - recall on land • learn on land - recall underwater • learn underwater - recall on land • learn underwater - recall underwater ``` 4. Findings - accurate recall was 40% lower in the non matching conditions. The external cues available at learning were different from the ones at recall and this led to retrieval failure.

Question 57

Who carried out the state-dependent forgetting study?

Answer 57

Carter and Cassaday

Question 58

Carter and Cassady’s study

Answer 58

1. Gave antihistamines to participants. 2. Antihistamines had mild sedative effect making participants slightly drowsy. 3. This changes their state from being awake and alert. 4. Participants had to learn list of words and recall information - this created 4 conditions: • learn on drug - recall on drug • learn on drug - recall when not on it. • learn not on drug - recall on drug • learn not on drug - recall when not on it Findings - when there was mismatch between state of learning and recall, performance on memory was significantly worse - cues not present so more forgetting.

Question 59

Strengths and limitations of retrieval failure

Answer 59

+ supporting evidence - questioning context effects - recall versus recognition

Question 60

Supporting evidence in retrieval failure (evaluation)

Answer 60

Range of research supports retrieval failure for forgetting. E.g. Godden and Baddeley, Carter and Cassaday Strength because supporting evidence increases validity of the explanation - especially when evidence shows that retrieval failure happens in real life situations as well as in highly controlled conditions of lab.

Question 61

Limitations of retrieval failure (evaluation)

Answer 61

- questioning context effects Baddeley argues context effects are not very strong - especially in real life. The 2 environments have to be very different for effect to be seen. Hard to find environment as different as land and water. Limitation because means that real life applications of retrieval failure due to contextual cues don’t actually explain much forgetting. - recall vs recognition Context effect may be related to kind of memory being tested. What Godden and Baddeley replicated underwater experiment but used recognition test instead of recall - pps had to say whether they recognised word from the list or not. When recognition was tested - was no context dependent effect - performance was same in all four conditions. Limitation of context effects because - means presence or absence of cues only affects memory when you test it a particular way.

Question 62

What are factors affecting eyewitness testimony?

Answer 62

Misleading information | Anxiety

Question 63

Eyewitness testimony

Answer 63

The ability of people to remember the details of event, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves have observed.

Question 64

Misleading information

Answer 64

Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event. Can take many forms such as leading questions and post event discussions between co witnesses and/or other people.

Question 65

Leading question

Answer 65

A question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer. E.g. was the knife the the accused’s left hand? Suggests answer is left hand.

Question 66

Post event discussion

Answer 66

Occurs when there is more than one witness to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or with other people. This may influence the accuracy of each witness’s recall of the event.

Question 67

Who did a study on leading questions?

Answer 67

Loftus and Palmer

Question 68

Loftus and Palmer’s study

Answer 68

1. Arranged for pps to watch film clips of car accidents - then have them questions about accident. 2. In leading question pps were asked to describe how fast cars were travelling (about how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?) 3. Leading question because the verb ‘hit’ suggests speed the car was going. - 5 groups of pps, each were given different verb in critical question - hit, contacted, bumped, collided, smashed. 4. Findings - mean estimated speed was calculated for each pp group. Word contacted - 31.8mph, smashed - 40.5mph - leading question biased eyewitness recall of event.

Question 69

Why do leading questions affect EWT?

Answer 69

1. Response bias explanation suggests wording of question had no real effect on participants’ memories - just influences how they decide to answer. 2. When pp gets leading question using word ‘smashed’ - encourages them to choose higher speed estimate. 3. Loftus and Palmer conducted second experiment - supported substitution explanation - wording of leading question changed participant’s memory of film clip. 4. Demonstrated because pps originally bead ‘smashed’ later were more likely to report seeing broken glass than those who heard ‘hit’. - critical verb altered memory of incident.

Question 70

Examples of misleading information

Answer 70

Leading questions Post event discussion

Question 71

Who studied post-event discussion?

Answer 71

Fiona Gabbert and colleagues

Question 72

Fiona Gabbert’s study

Answer 72

1. Studied pps in pairs - each of watched video of the same crime, but filmed from different points of view - each pp could see elements in event that other could not. 2. Both pps then discussed what they had seen before individually completing a test of recall. 3. Findings - researchers found 71% of pps mistakenly recalled aspects of event that they did not see in the video but had picked up in the discussion. 4. Corresponding figure in control group, where there was no discussion, 0%. 5. Gabbert concluded - witnesses often go along w each other - either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong - called this memory conformity.

Question 73

Strengths and limitations of misleading questions in ewt (evaluation)

Answer 73

+ useful real life applications - tasks are artificial +/- individual differences - demand characteristics

Question 74

Strengths of leading questions in ewt (evaluation)

Answer 74

+ useful real life applications All research into misleading information is that it ha a hugely important practical uses in the real world, where consequences of inaccurate EWT can be very serious. E.g. Loftus believe - leading questions can have a distorting effect on memory that police officers need to be v careful about how they phrase their questions when interviewing eyewitnesses. Strength - research into EWT can make important positive difference to life’s of real people - e.g. by improving way legal systems work.

Question 75

Artificial tasks ewt- misleading info(evaluation)

Answer 75

- tasks are artificial Limitation in Loftus and Palmer’s study - pps watched FILM CLIPS of car accidents - very different from witnessing real accident - mainly because clips lack stress of real accident. Emotions can have influence on memory. Limitation because studied that use artificial tasks may tell us very little about how leading questions affect EWT in cases of real accidents or crimes.

Question 76

Anxiety

Answer 76

A state of emotional and physical arousal. Emotions include have weird thoughts and feelings of tension. Physical changes include an increased heart rate and sweatiness. Anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations, but can affect the accuracy and detail of eyewitness testimony.

Question 77

Who showed that anxiety has a negative effect on recall?

Answer 77

Johnson and Scott

Question 78

Johnson and Scott’s research

Answer 78

1. Led pps to believe they were going to take part in lab study. 2. While seated in waiting room pps heard argument in next room. 3. In ‘low anxiety’ condition - man walked through waiting area carrying pen with grease in hands. 4. In ‘high anxiety’ condition - other pps heard same argument but this time also with sound of breaking glass. Man walked out of room with paper knife covered in blood. 5. Findings - pps laters picker out man from set of 50 photos, 49% pps who’d seen man carrying pen were able to identify him. For high anxiety condition only 33% were able to identify man correctly. 6. Tunnel theory of memory argues - witness’ attention narrows to focus on weapon - because it’s source of anxiety.

Question 79

Who showed that anxiety has a positive effect on recall?

Answer 79

Yuille and Cutshall

Question 80

Yuille and Cutshall’s study

Answer 80

1. Conducted study of real life shooting in gun shop in Vancouver. 2. Shop owner shot thief dead. 3. Were 21 witnesses- 13 agreed to take part in study. 4. Interviews were held 4-5 months after incident and these were compared with original police interviews made at time of shooting. 5. Accuracy was determined by number of details reported in each account. 6. Witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they felt at time of incident, using 7 point scale, and asked if they had any emotional problems since event such as sleeplessness. 7. Findings - witnesses were v accurate in accounts and there was little change in amount of accuracy after 5 months. Those pps who reported to the highest levels of stress were most accurate.

Question 81

Explanation of the contradictory findings of effects of anxiety

Answer 81

Yerkes Dodson law - low levels of anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy. But memory becomes more accurate as level of anxiety experienced increases. However - There comes a point where the optimal level of anxiety is reached. - point of maximum accuracy. If eyewitness experiences more stress than this - their recall of event suffers drastic decline.

Question 82

Limitations of effects of anxiety

Answer 82

- weapon focus may not be relevant - field studies sometimes lack control - ethical issues - yerkes dodson law is too simplistic - demand characteristics

Question 83

Why may weapon focus not be relevant in effects of anxiety?

Answer 83

Study by Johnson and Scott on weapon focus effect may test surprise rather than anxiety. Reason pps focus on weapon may be because they are more surprised than scared. E.g. Pickel conducted experiment using scissors, handgun, wallet or raw chicken as hand held item in hairdressing salon video. Eyewitness accuracy was significantly poorer in high unusualness conditions (chicken and handgun) Suggests weapon focus effect is due to unusualness rather than anxiety and tells us nothing about effects of anxiety in EWT.

Question 84

Why do field studies sometimes lack control? (Effects of anxiety)

Answer 84

Researchers usually interview real life eyewitnesses after the event. All sorts of things will have happened to pps in the meantime that researchers have no control over (e.g. post event discussion). Limitation of field research because - possible that extraneous variables may be responsible for accuracy of recall. Effects of anxiety may be overwhelmed by these other factors - impossible to asses by the time pps are interviewed.

Question 85

Ethical issues with the effects of anxiety

Answer 85

Treating anxiety in pps is risky - potentially unethical because may subject people to psychological harm purely for research purposes. Questions the need for such research such as Johnson and Scott.

Question 86

Why is the yerkes dodson law too simplistic?

Answer 86

Doesn’t consider other elements, e.g. cognitive, behavioural, emotional and physical. Only linked to physiological arousal.

Question 87

Cognitive interview

Answer 87

A method of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories. It uses four main techniques, all based on well-established psychological knowledge of human memory: report everything, reinstate the context, reverse the order and change perspective.

Question 88

1. Report everything

Answer 88

Witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of event, even if it may seem irrelevant or witness doesn’t feel confident about it. May end up being important or trigger other important memories.

Question 89

2. Reinstate the context

Answer 89

Witness should return to original crime scene in mind and imagine environment and emotions.

Question 90

3. Reverse order

Answer 90

Events should be recalled in different chronological order to original sequence (e.g. from final point to beginning). To prevent people reporting expectations of how the event happened rather than what actually happened. Also prevents dishonesty - harder to be untruthful if they have to reverse it.

Question 91

4. Change perspective

Answer 91

Witnesses should recall incident from other people’s perspectives. Done to disrupt the effect expectations and schema. Schema you have for particular setting may generate expectations of what would have happened rather than what actually happened.

Question 92

Who came up up cognitive interview?

Answer 92

Fisher and Geiselman

Question 93

1. Elements of CI | 2. Elements of ECI

Answer 93

1. Interviewer must know when to establish eye contact and when to relinquish it. 2. Reducing eyewitness anxiety, minimising distractions, getting witness to speak slowly and open ended questions.

Question 94

Strengths and limitations of cognitive interview

Answer 94

- CI is time consuming + some elements may be more valuable than others + support for effectiveness of CI - variations of CI are used - CI creates an increase in inaccurate information

Question 95

Strengths of CI (evaluation)

Answer 95

+ some elements may be more valuable than others 1. Milne and Bull found each individual element was equally valuable - each technique singly produced more information than standard police interview. 2. However Milne and Bull found that using combination of report everything and context reinstatement produced better recall than any of other conditions. 3. Finding is strength because suggests at least two people elements should be used to improve police interviewing of eyewitnesses even if full CI isn’t used. + support for effectiveness of CI 1. Research suggests enhanced cognitive interview may offer special benefits. 2. E.g. Köhnken combined data from 50 studies. ECI consistently provided more correct info than standard interview used by police. 3. Strength because studies indicate there are real practical benefits to police of using ECI - research shows gives police greater chance of catching and charging criminals - beneficial to society as whole.

Question 96

Limitations of CI

Answer 96

- CI is time consuming 1. Police may be reluctant to use CI because takes more time than standard police interview. 2. E.g. more time is needed to establish relationship with witness and allow them to relax. Also requires special training and many forced have not been able to provide more than a few hours. 3. Limitation - means unlikely that ‘proper’ version of CI is actually used. - CI creates an increase in inaccurate information 1. While CI increases amount of correct info - also increases amount of incorrect information. 2. Köhnken found 81% increase of correct info but also 61% of incorrect info when ECI was compared to standard interview.