Unit 1 - Memory Flashcards
What is encoding?
Transforming sensory input into a form which allows it to be entered in the memory.
What is storage?
Retaining information in the memory
What is retrieval?
Information stored in the memory which can retrieved and used
Describe the multi store model of memory
Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed that memory consists of 3 stores: Sensory, ST and LT. Sensory memory is the info you get from your senses. When attention is paid to something in the environment it is then converted to short-term memory.
If any information is not important then it decays or disappears. Once in the short term memory, info can be rehearsed and passed into long term memory.
Describe the capacity, duration and encoding of short term memory.
Capacity: 5-9 items
Duration: 18-30 seconds
Encoding: Acoustically
Describe the capacity, duration and encoding of long term memory.
Capacity: unlimited
Duration: up to a lifetime
Encoding: Semantically
Introduction for WMM
A system involving active processing and short-term storage of information.
Key features include the central executive, the phonological loop and the Visuo-spatial sketch pad.
Describe the central executive (WMM)
Has a supervisory function and acts as a filter, determining which information is attended to. It can process information in all sensory forms, directs information to other slave systems and collects responses.
Describe the phonological loop (WMM)
One of the slave systems is the phonological loop which is a temporary storage system for holding auditory information in a speech based form. It has 2 parts: the phonological store (inner ear) which stores words you hear, and the articulatory process (inner voice) which allows rehearsal.
Describe the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
The 2nd slave system which is a temporary memory system for holding visual and spatial information. It has 2 parts: 1) the visual cache (which stores visual data about form and colour) and 2) the inner scribe (which records the arrangement of objects in the visual field, and rehearses and transfers info in the visual cache to the central executive).
Describe the episodic buffer (WMM)
Acts as a ‘backup’ store for information which communicates with both long term memory and the slave system components of working memory.
2 strengths of the WMM
1) supported by dual task studies. It is easier to do two tasks at the same time if they use different processing systems (verbal and visual) than if they use the same slave system. For example, participants would find it hard to do two visual tasks at the same time because they would be competing for the same limited resources of the visuo-spatial sketchpad.
2) KF case study. He suffered brain damage which damaged his STM . His impairment was mainly for verbal information and his memory for visual information was largely unaffected. This shows that there are separate STM components.
2 limitations of the WMM
1) little is known about how the central executive works. It is an important part of the model but it’s exact role is unclear.
2) the model does not explain the link between working memory and LTM.
Describe the Loftus and Palmer procedure (EWT)
45 American students formed an opportunity sample which involved a lab experiment with 5 conditions using an independent groups design.
Participants were shown slides of a car accident involving a number of cars and were asked to describe what happened. They were then asked how fast the car was going when they (hit/smashed/bumped) each other.
Describe the Loftus and Palmer findings (EWT)
The estimated speed was affected by the verb used. The verb implied information about the speed, which systematically affected the participants memory of the accident.
Smashed - 41mph
Hit - 34mph
Evaluate the Loftus and Palmer study (EWT)
1) the research lacks mundane realism as the video clip does not have the same emotional impact as witnessing a real-life accident and therefore also lacks ecological validity due to the lab conditions.
2) the use of students as participants. They are not representative of the general population, and may be less experienced drivers so therefore less confident to estimate speeds.
3) it’s easy to replicate. This is because the method was a lab experiment which followed a standardised procedure.
Describe Age (EWT)
Young children are more likely to yield to social pressure, and as their cognitive abilities are not well developed, they tend to believe in their distorted information and have a greater imagination.
In experimental settings, children tend to change their answer if asked the same question twice. If this happens in real life setting too then this will have important implications for the accuracy of child witnesses.
Describe Age study (EWT)
Dodson and Krueger asked college students and older participants to watch a video of a burglary and police chase, and to answer 24 yes/no questions about what they saw. 8 of the questions referred to details not in the video.
Both young and older participants made a similar rate of errors, but the older participants were more confident that their answers were correct.
Give one strength of the Dodson and Krueger study.
It has important real life applications. Juries tend to be more influenced by confident eyewitnesses than an uncertain one. This means juries may be more influenced by an older witness than a younger one.
Describe the Yuille and Cutshall study (Anxiety)
Loftus set up an artificial scenario where one group of participants witnessed a crime scene involving a knife. The knife was remembered in great detail, but not the face or clothes.
In the control condition, witnessed the same person in a peaceful scene and were able to recognise him when given 50 photos.
Describe context reinstatement.
Trying to mentally recreate an image of the situation, including details of the environment, such as the weather, and the individuals emotional state including their feelings at the time of the incident.
Describe recall from a changed perspective.
Trying to mentally recreate the situation from different points of view, e.g describing what another witness present at the scene would have saw.
Describe recall in reverse order.
The witness is asked to describe the scene in a different chronological order, e.g. From the end to the beginning.
Describe report everything.
The interviewer encourages the witness to report all details about the event, even though these details may seem unimportant.
