strengths and weaknesses

Question 1

capacity S/W

Answer 1

s - the result of Jacobs test has been supported by other research and so the findings are likely to be somewhat correct
w - Jacobs study was conducted a long time ago and so lacked control, which meant the study wasn’t internally valid and so could have incorrect results

Question 2

duration S/W

Answer 2

s - Peterson and Petersons experiment was a lab experiment so E/CV are controlled
w - P+P is not externally valid as random letters are not something you would normally have to memorise - may have underestimated the duration of STM with regards to meaningful information
s - Bahricks experiment had a high external validity as it was using real life memories
w - however if the subject is still in touch with some classmates it will be easier for them to name and recognise them

Question 3

coding S/W

Answer 3

w - the results cant be generalised as the study used artificial materials (the word list had no meaning to the participants)

Question 4

MSM S/W

Answer 4

s - supporting evidence from P+P and Bahrick et al
s - HM supports the LTM and STM being unitary (separate)
s - supported by Baddeley (coding)
w - the studies that support it lack mundane realism and external validity
w - HM could also suggest that there is more than one type of LTM
w - KF could prove there is more than one type of STM

Question 5

WMM S/W

Answer 5

s - the case of KF supports the existence of different types of STM
s - Baddeley et al (1975) found that participants had more trouble doing two visual tasks than doing a visual and verbal task at the same time. this is to do with using two slave systems simultaneously rather than overloading one and supports the different SS having limited capacity. (dual-task)
w - the Central executive is the least explained component but arguably the most important. it is thought there may be more than one component within it so the WMM isnt fully explained.

Question 5

types of LTM S/W

Answer 5

s - Clive wearing and HM support the fact that there are multiple types as some things work and others dont in their cases
rwa - being able to identify different aspects of LTM allows psychologists to target and improve certain types of memory
w - some people believe that procedural memories (non-declarative) are separate but episodic and semantic memories are stored together as one part of LTM that they call declarative memory (memories that can be consciously recalled).

Question 6

interference theory S/W

Answer 6

s - McGeoch and McDonalds study supports retroactive interference and the fact that memories are more likely forgotten when they are similar
s - baddeley and hitchs rugby player study supports retroactive interference (new memories of games disrupt older memories of games)
s - tulving and psotka supports proactive interference as the old memory of the first list disrupts the new memory of the last list
w - interference theory states that the loss of memory is only temporary and can be retrieved by using cues (tulving a psotka told participants the names of list categories and retrieval rose to 70%) and so is not a true explanation of forgetting

Question 6

retrieval failure theory S/W

Answer 6

s - supports validity of the theory with lots of different studies (godden and baddeley land vs sea saw a 40% decrease in accuracy for the non-matching cues categories)
rwa - cognitive interviews involve RFT and supports the theories external validity (kohnken et al findings)
w - the loss of information is only temporary and so is not an explanation of forgetting

Question 7

misleading information S/W

Answer 7

s - loftus and palmer (car crash) and gabbert et al (matched pairs)
w - loftus and palmer used clips of incidents which is very different to actually witnessing an incident - less mundane realism
w - the results of experiments on EWT may be the result of demand characteristics as they may be inclined to guess a question that they dont know in an attempt to be helpful to police

Question 8

anxiety S/W

Answer 8

w - in field and natural experiments researchers usually interview real-life eyewitnesses after the event, and could lead to things happening in between the incident and interview that could affect the accuracy of the participants recall
w - creating anxiety in participants can be unethical
w - most experiments show a staged crime and so participants can guess they will be asked about it and pay closer attention than they usually would in real life

Question 9

cognitive interview S/W

Answer 9

w - the CI may not work as effectively if performed incorrectly as a result of officers thinking it takes too much time
s - milne and bull found that a combination of report everything and reinstate the context produced better recall than any other conditions which suggests it works better than a normal interview
s - kohnken et al. meta analysis of 55 studies shows that the CI is more effective by an average of 41% (increase in accurate information)