Memory: Models Of Memory (L1-6) Flashcards
1
Q
What is memory?
A
- the process of retaining learned info and accessing this info when it is needed
- memory is an important factor in how human beings process info
2
Q
What are the processes in memory? (3)
A
- coding
- storage
- retrieval
3
Q
What is coding?
A
- the way info is changed so that it can be stored in memory
4
Q
What is storage?
A
- keeping info within the memory system until it is needed
5
Q
What is retrieval?
A
- recovering info stored in the memory system when it is needed
6
Q
What are the memory stores? (3)
A
- sensory register
- Short term memory
- long term memory
7
Q
Function of the sensory register:
A
- contains unprocessed impressions of info recieved through the senses
- has a separate sensory store for each sensory input
- there is an iconic store for visual info and the echoic store for auditory info
8
Q
Function of the STM:
A
- a temporary store for info received from the SR
9
Q
Function of the LTM:
A
- permanent store holding limitless amounts of info for long periods of time, potentially a lifetime
10
Q
STM differs from LTM in terms of: (4)
A
- coding
- capacity
- duration
- how information is lost
11
Q
What is capacity?
A
- amount of info that can be held in memory before new incoming info displaces it
- means the info is ‘pushed out’
12
Q
What is duration?
A
- amount of time info can be held in a memory store before it is lost due to decay
- means info ‘fades away’
13
Q
Coding in the SR
A
- coding in the SR is modality specific
- this means that each sesnory store (like iconic for visual info) codes info differently
14
Q
Coding in the STM investigation + conclusion
A
- Baddeley (1966) investigated coding in STM
- he gave participants 4 lists of words to recall
- list A contained many words that sounded similar
- list B had words that sounded dissimilar
- list C contained words with similar meanings
- list D contained words with dissimilar meanings
- argued that STM is coded acoustically as participants performed worse with list A than B, no difference between C and D
- theorised that because STM organises info according to how it sounds as similar sounding words can be muddled
15
Q
Coding in the LTM investigation + conclusion:
A
- Baddeley (1966) repeated his experiment to tests coding of LTM
- tested Ps recall of the lists after a 20 minute delay in order to ensure the info had passed into LTM
- Ps recall of list C was worse than D, no difference between A and B
- cocnluded that LTM is coded semantically
- LTM organises info based on its meaning, so words with similar meanings can become confused
16
Q
Evaluation of Baddeley (1966) coding in STM and LTM
A
+ study is a labratory experiment so easy to replicate as variables have veen closely controlled, means reliability can also be assessed
- findings of this study have low ecological validity, material which needed to be recalled was artificial (unlike info people need to recall in their daily lives) as was the lab setting
17
Q
Capacity in the SR
A
- the capacity of the SR is unlimited
18
Q
Capacity in the STM investigation + conclusion
A
- Jacobs (1887) used a didgit span test tp determine the capacity of STM
- gave participants several sequences of digits or letters, asking them to repeat each sequence immediately after he had given it, in the correct order
- sequences got lonfer by one item each time
- he found that on average we can hold 9.3 digits and 7.3 letters
- Miller (1956) reviewed research and concluded that the span of STM is 7 (+/-2) units of info
- if we try recall more info than we have the capacity for then new info displaces old info
- he also found that people can recall 5 words as easily as 5 letters
- so chunking (grouping large amounts of info into smaller groups) can help us remember more
19
Q
Capacity in the STM evaluation Jacobs (1887)
A
+ first to acknowledge that STM capacity gradually improves with age
- study was conducted a long time ago so may not have been done to the same scientifically rigorous standard as research today, so validity of the findings is in question
20
Q
Capacity of the LTM
A
- capacity of the LTM is unlimited
21
Q
Duration of the SR
A
- 250 milliseconds
22
Q
Duration on the STM investigation + conclusion
A
- Peterson and peterson (1959) used nonsense trigrams (random 3 consonants) to test STM duration
- to prevent Ps keeping the info in STM using maintenance rehearsal they were asked to count backwards from 100 in 3s
- after 3 seconds recall was accurate 90% of the time
- after 9 seconds they were accurate 20% of the time
- after 18 seconds they were accurate 2% of the time
- they concluded that info in the STM lasts for 18-30 seconds without rehearsal before it is lost due to decay
23
Q
Duration of the STM evaluation P+P
A
+ researchers used fixed timings for Ps to count back from, also eliminated noise and other factors which could have had an influence on memory
+ research can be said to have high level of control, using standardised procedures to ensure all particpants experienced the same process
- findings of this study may have been caused by intereferenc rather than by STM having a short duration, possible that earlier learnt trigrams became confused with later ones
24
Q
Duration of the LTM investigation + conclusion
A
- Bahrick (1979) tested 400 people of various ages (17-74) on their memory of their classmates
- photo recognition test consisted of Ps being shown 50 photos and deciding if they belonged to their classmates or not
- in a free recall test Ps were asked to list the names the could remember from thier graduating class
- found 90% accuracy at identifying faces of school friends within 15 years of leaving school
- after 48 years this declined to 70%
- free recall of names of classmates was 60% accurate within 15 years of leaving school, dropping to 30% after 48 years
- Bahrick et al (1979) concluded that the duration of LTM is potentially a lifetime but sometimes we have retrieval failure and need retrieval cues in order to access this info
25
Duration of LTM evaluation Bahrick (1979)
+ study has higher ecological validity than Peterson and Peterson (1959) as material used was more meaningful and relevant to everyday life
- problematic to control for extraneous variables such as people staying in touch after leaving school or how many Ps have looked in their yearbook since leaving school
26
What is the Multi-Store of Memory?
- developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
- attempts to explain how info flows from one memory store to another
- there are 3 permanent structures in the memory system: SR, STM, LTM
- each memory store differ in terms of their capacity, duration, coding and how info is lost
27
What is the SR?
- a short duration store retaining unprocessed impressions of info received through the senses
- has a separate sensory store for each sensory input
- such as iconic store for visual info and echoic store for auditory info
28
Info in the SR is ... or ...
- attended to and selected for further processing in STM
- if not attended to, sensory info is lost due to decay
29
If info in the SR is attended to it is...
- acoustically coded into STM
- so similar sounding material can be confused
30
How info is lost from STM?
- limited capacity of 7(+/-2) units of info so info can be displaced by new incoming info
- also has short duration of 18-30secs meaning that w/o rehearsal info will decay very quickly
31
How can info be kept in the STM?
- using maintenance rehearsal, repeatedly verbalising or thinking about the info
- known as a rehearsal loop
32
How can info go from STM to LTM?
- if there is sufficient rehearsal, or elaborative rehearsal, where info is organised in a meaningful way
- then info may be transferred and semantically coded into LTM for more permanent storage
33
What happens when info is needed from the LTM?
- it is retrieved by STM and then recalled
- sometimes we cannot access info from LTM due to retrieval failure so we may need retrieval cues to help us access it
34
MSM
environmental stimuli>SR>attention>STM>elaborative rehearsal>LTM
STM>maintenance rehearsal>STM
LTM>retrieval>STM>info retrieval
35
What is decay?
- theory that proposes memory fades due to the mere passage of time
36
What is displacement?
- when old info is replaced by new info in the STM due to the total amount of info exceeding the capacity of 7(+/-2) units
37
Evaluation of MSM, neurological evidence
- (+ve) Scoville (1957) tried to treat a patient he referred to as HM's epilepsy by removing several brain areas, including his hippocampus
- resulted in the patient being unable to code new long-term memories although his STM unaffected
- this supports the idea of separate and distinct STM and LTM
= (+ve) Shallice and Warrington (1970) reported case of KF who had motorbike accident
= resulted in reduced STM capacity by 1 or 2 sigits
= but LTM still normal so supports that STM and LTM separate
= (-ve) however, KF had poor STM for verbal tasks but not visual tasks which suggests there is more than one type of STM
= according to MSM, LTM are retrieved by STM so if STM damaged should be difficult to retrieve LTM but KM able to retrieve LTM w/o difficulty
38
Evaluation of MSM, laboratory experiments +ve
- Murdock (1962) gave P a long list of words to recall in any order
- referred to as free recall experiment
- words at beginning recalled better than those in middle, called serial position effect
- words at start recalled as they have be constantly rehearsed and transferred to LTM (the primacy effect)
- words at end recalled as they still in STM (the recency effect)
- supports idea of distinct STM and LTM
39
Gen evaluation of MSM -ve
- MSM is oversimplified, assumes only one type of STM and LTM
- research studies suggest several types of STM, like for verbal + non verbal info
- also suggest several types of LTM: episodic, semantic & procedural
= Baddeley & Hitch (1974) claimed MSM cannot explain ability to multi task
= if only one type of STM then multitasking would not be possible
= people multi task all the time so cannot be the case
40
How did the working memory model come about?
- Baddeley & Hitch (1974) questioned MSM which only had 1 type of STM
- argued STM is more complex than just being a temp store for info before transfer to LTM
- they saw STM as active store holding several pieces of info while being worked on
- argued that LTM is the passive store that only holds previously learned material to be used in STM when needed
41
What is the working memory model?
- devised by Baddeley & Hitch in 1974
- proposes that short-term memory (STM) is a collection of multiple stores that actively process different types of STM
- consists of 3 components; the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad
42
What is the central executive?
- component which drives the whole working mem system
- allocates data to the other components, aka slave systems
- also deals with cognitive tasks such as decision making, reasoning and problem solving
43
Central executive + attentional capacity
- attentional capacity is the amount of information learners can attend to at any one time
- we have a limited attentional capacity, meaning we can only handle so many things at one time
- tasks that are automated make less attentional demands on the CE
- leaving us free to perform other tasks simultaneously
e.g. person who has been driving for 10yrs finds driving has become an automated task that does not make as many attentional demands as it did when they were learning, so they can now listen to the radio and talk more easily than a learner driver
44
What is the phonological loop?
- component of the WMM that deals with spoken and written material
- has 2 subcomponents, phonological store + articulatory loop
45
What are the 2 subcomponents of the phonological loop?
- phonological store (inner ear): holds words we hear, linked to speech perception and holds info in speech based form (e.g. spoken words) for 1-2 secs
- articulatory loop (inner voice): allows us to repeat words in a loop, linked to speech production and is used to rehearse and store verbal info from the phonological loop, allows for maintenance rehearsal
46
What is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
- component of WMM that stores and processes info in a visual or spatial form (inner eye)
- used for navigation
- has 2 subcomponents, visual cache + inner scribe
47
What are the 2 subcomponents of the visuo-spatial sketchpad?
- visual cache: stores visual material about form and colour
- inner scribe: handles spatial relationships
48
What component was later added to the WMM?
- Baddeley (2000) added a component called the episodic buffer
- he realised the model needed a general storage component to operate properly
- as slave systems only deal with processing + temp storage of specific types of info
- and central executive has no storage capacity at all
- episodic buffer is a limited capacity store, integrating info from the CE, PL and VSS, as well as from LTM
49
Evaluation of the WMM, neurobiological evidence +ve
- Shallice & Warrington (1970) reported case study of KF
- due to motorbike accident, KF had poor STM for words presented verbally but not visually
- suggests there is more than one type of STM as WMM suggests
- shows we have a type of STM for verbal (phonological loop) and visual (visuo-spatial sketchpad) tasks
50
Evaluation of the WMM, laboratory experiments +ve
- Baddeley & Hitch (1974) gave P a dual task
- asked to complete a reasoning tasks, which uses central executive, at the same time as a reading aloud task, which uses the phonological loop
- P could do both tasks simultaneously very well, supporting the idea of separate components in STM
= Baddeley et al (1975) gave P brief visual presentations of lists of words
= these lists were made up of either short or long words
= P were asked to recall list immediately in the correct order
= was found that P could recall more short words than long ones
= Baddeley (1975) called this the word length effect
= concluded that it supports the idea that the phonological loop can hold as many items as can be said in 1.5-2 secs rather than limited by 7(+/-2) items as the MSM argues
51
Gen evaluation of the WMM
+ WMM has practical implications, has improved understanding of how people learn to read
+ so helped psychologists to assist those with dyslexia who can struggle with reading
- several psychologists have criticised the WMM as they think the idea of a central executive is vague and untestable
- Damasio (1985) presented the case of EVR who had a cerebral tumour removed
- he had good reasoning skills, which suggested his CE was intact
- but he could not make decisions, which suggests his CE was damaged
- this case study strongly indicates that the CE is more complicated than the WMM claims
