Psychology- memory

What is coding?

this refers to the way in which information is changed and stored in memory

what is capacity?

the maximum amount of information that can be retained in memory

what is duration?

how long a memory can be held for before it is forgotten

what is the sensory register?

the memory store for each of our five senses

what is the coding capacity and duration of the sensory register?

coding- modal specific e.g, echoic, iconic etc.

capacity- high capacity

duration- less than half a second

what did crowder 1993 find about coding in the sensory register?

he found that the sensory register only retain information in the iconic store for a few milliseconds but for two to three seconds in the echoic store. this supports the idea that sensory information is encoded in different sensory stores.

what is short term memory?

the limited capacity memory store

what is the coding capacity and duration of short term memory?

coding- acoustically encoded

capacity- 7± 2 items

duration- less than 30 secs unless rehearsed

what did Baddeley 1966 find about the coding of STM and LTM?

Baddeley gave ppts 4 sets of words to recall in order; words that sounded similar, words that sounded different, words of similar meaning, words of different meaning. For the STM task they had to recall them immediately following presentation and for the LTM task they had to be recalled following a longer time. it was then recorded how many mistakes were made during recall. Baddeley found that STM is acoustically encoded whereas LTM was semantically encoded.

What did Peterson and Peterson 1959 find about the duration of STM?

ppts were presented with a trigram consisting of three random consonants, which they were then asked to recall in the correct order after a delay of 3,6,9 and so on seconds. during this time ppts were asked to count backwards in threes to avoid rehearsal. after 3 secs 80% of trigrams were recalled, after 6 secs 50% were recalled and after 18 secs fewer than 10% were recalled suggesting that the duration of stm is less than 30 secs.

What did Jacobs find about the capacity of STM?

Jacobs measured digit span by giving 4 digits for ppts to recall correctly in order out loud. If this was correct the researcher then read out 5 digits and so on until the ppt could not recall the order correctly. Jacobs found that the mean span for digits across all ppts was 9.3 items whilst the mean span for letters was 7.3 this supports millers magic number of 7±2.

what is LTM?

The permanent memory store.

What is the coding capacity and duration of LTM?

Coding- semantic

capacity- unlimited

duration- unlimited.

What did Bahrick 1975 find about the duration of LTM?

ex high school students aged 17-74 had their memory tested on free recall of names, photo recognition, name recognition and name and photo matching. it was found that those who had left high school 34 years previously scored 90% accurately on face and name recognition. After 48 years, name recognition declined to 80%, face recognition to 40%. Free recall was 60% accurate after 15 years and 30% accurate after 48 years. This supports the theory that the duration of LTM can potentially last a lifetime.

what are the weaknesses of research into coding capacity and duration?

• baddeley used artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material e.g. the word lists used had no personal meaning to ppts so we should be cautious about generalising findings to different kinds of memory tasks. therefore the study has limited application.

• jacobs’ research was conducted a long time ago. early psych research didn’t have the same levels of control over studies so there could have been confounding variables like ppts becoming distracted. however, other research studies have confirmed the findings of Jacobs work.

  • peterson+petersons study used artificial stimuli. memorising consonant syllables does not reflect how we use our memory in everyday life as everyday memories are usually meaningful. therefore, the study lacks external validity. however, we sometimes remember meaningful info such as telephone numbers so the study is not totally irrelevant.wh

what is a strength of research into coding capacity and duration

bahrick’s et al study has high external validity as real life meaningful memories were studied. therefore, the study had high ecological validity. however, in this research confounding variables were not controlled, bahrciks ppts may have looked at their yearbook pictures over the years effectively rehearsing their memories.

Who introduced the Multi store memory model?

Atkinson and Shiffrin 1968W

What is the multi store model of memory?

The model describes how information flows through a series of storage systems in a fixed sequence from one store to another: sensory register, STM and the LTM.This was the first model to suggest that STM and LTM are two separate stores.

1. First, information is detected by the sense organs and enters the sensory register. If attended to this information, it enters the STM.

2. Information from the STM is transferred to the LTM only if that information is rehearsed.

3. If maintenance rehearsal does not occur then information is forgotten and lost from STM through the processes of displacement or decay.

Each store has its own capacity, duration and coding characteristics.

What are the weaknesses of the multi store model of memory?

• the MSM states that STM is one single store however some case studies contradict this. For example, Patient KF suffered amnesia after a motorcycle accident. His verbal information was impaired however his visual information was largely unaffected. This suggests that at the very least there must be a separate STM store for visual and verbal info which MSM fails to explain.

  • There is a lot of research evidence that LTM is not a single store such as brain scanning studies carried out by Tulving. we have one ltm store four our memories about the world (semantic) and we have a different one for our memories of how to ride a bike - procedural. This means MSM is simplistic as these different types of LTM are not explained

What are the strengths of the Multi store model of memory?

• Research shows that STM and LTM are differe4nt stores agreeing with the MSM. Baddeley found that encoding in STM is acoustic whilst LTM is semantic which supports the MSM model of two separate memory stores.

  • the MSM has case study support. Clive Wearing could still use his STM to remember things for about 20 secs but then he would forget everything he could not make new memories. The MSM can be applied to this as it suggests an inability to rehearse information into LTM. However, his procedural memory seemed to be intact as he could still play piano which further suggests more than one LTM store. This is a problem for the MSM.

Who introduced the working memory model?

Baddeley and Hitch 1974

What is the working memory model?

this is a representation of the short term memory which according to the model is a processor of different information using smaller units which are coordinated by a central decision making system. the model consists of 4 main components (each known as a slave system) with each having a different coding and capacity.

what are the different parts of the working memory model.

The central executive

Phonological loop

visuo-spatial sketch pad

episodic buffer

what is the central executive in the WMM

the head of the STM as it makes decisions and allocates the slave system to tasks. it can process info from any sensory system so its modality specific but it has a very limited capacity. it also has many other responsibilities like retrieving info from LTM or deciding what to pay attention to.

what is the phonological loop?

the slave system that deals with auditory information and so it is acoustically encoded. its capacity is a bout 2 secs of spoken words. it is divided into 2 sub systems: the phonological store/ inner ear which stores words recently heard and the articulatory process/ inner voice which keeps info linked to speech production.

what is the visuo-spatial sketchpad?

the slave system that stores visual and spatial info e.g. being asked how many windows you house has so you visualise it. it is often called the inner eye and it has a capacity of 3-4 objects. it is also divided into 2 sub systems: the visual cache which stores visual data and the inner scribe which records arrangement of objects in the visual field.

what is the episodic buffer?

this slave system is where all the separate parts i.e. visual, verbal and spacial information are held together to make sense of it and where LTM can be brought back into STM to be used. it is modality specific and has a capacity of 4 chunks. it is a temporary information store as the CE has no storage.

What are the strengths of the WMM?

• WMM is supported by Patient KF. Patient KF had a motorcycle accident and his verbal information was impaired but his visual information stayed intact. since patient kf struggled to recall two separate types of sensory info which supports the idEa for separate stores of memory and increases the validity of the WMM

• PET scans show that different brain areas are activated when ppts are doing verbal and visual tasks. this would suggest that there are different stores within STM for verbal and visual tasks. This supports the existence of the working memory model and its slave systems.

What are the weaknesses of the WMM?

• There is a lack of clarity over the central executive. baddeley himself recognises that the ce is the most important but the least understood. this means the ce needs to be more clearly specified and explained. Furthermore, the ce is untestable meaning there is no empirical evidence of the the ce despite it being the most important part of the WMM. this reduced the credibility of the theory.

  • Lieberman 1980 criticises the WMM as the visuospatial sketchpad implies that all spatial information was first visual. However this cannot be true as blind people have spatial awareness although they have never had any visual information. Therefore, Lieberman argues that the VSS should be separated into two different components one for visual and one for spatial info.

What are the three types of long term memory?

episodic memory, semantic memory and procedural memory.

What is episodic memory?

this memory allows us to recall events from our lives. it stores personal events including memories of when the event happened and of the people object places behaviours and emotions involved. episodic memory is declarative and also explicit so a conscious effort is needed to recall the memories. it is also time stamped. usually the pre-frontal cortex brain area and the neocortex are associated with the episodic memory

what is semantic memory?

a long term memory store for our knowledge of the world including facts and our knowledge of what words and concepts mean. These memories are explicit so need to be recalled deliberately. it is also declarative. The semantic memory is found in the frontal and temporal lobes.

what is procedural memory?

a long term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things. this includes our memory of learned skills e.g. riding a bike. These memories are usually acquired through repetition and practice. procedural memory is non declarative and implicit so no conscious effort is needed to perform these actions. mainly found in the neocortex, cerebellum and prefrontal cortex.

What are some strengths of the different types of long term memory?

• evidence from brain scan studies show that there are different LTM stores for example, Tulving directed ppts to perform various memory tasks while their brains were scanned by a PET scan. They found that semantic and episodic memories were both recalled from the prefrontal cortex yet procedural were located elsewhere showing that different types of LTM were stored in physically different areas of the brain.

  • supported by case study evidence for example Clive wearing had difficulty recalling past events but his procedural memory was intact. Therefore, this supports Tulvings theory that there are different memory stores in LTM.

What are some weaknesses of the different types of long term memory?

• there are problems with clinical evidence. for example, case studies like Clive wearing are often based on clinical evidence about memory damage but have a serious lack of control of variables in the study, for example, researchers do not know what their memory was like before they developed amnesia. Therefore, it is difficult to generalise from case studies to determine exact nature of LTM.

• There may actually only be two type of LTM. Cohen & Squire (1980) argued episodic and semantic memories are stored together in one LTM store that can consciously be recalled, but agree procedural is separate and does not have to be consciously recalled. It is important to have An accurate theory of how memory works as we can apply this knowledge practically to help people who suffer from amnesia.

What is proactive interference?

it is when previously stored information interferes with new information, disrupting the new info from being stored properly.

What is retroactive interference?

it is when new information ‘overwrites’ or interferes with old previously stored information, disrupting the old memories.

Explain Postman’s 1960 study of retroactive interference.

aim: to investigate how retroactive interference affects learning.

method: ppts were split into two groups. both groups had to remember a list of paired words e.g. cat-tree, jelly-moss etc. however the experimental group had to also learn another additional list of words where the second paired word was different. all ppts were asked to recall words on the first list.

results: the recall of the control group was more accurate than that of the experimental

conclusion: this suggests that learning items on the second list interfered with ppts ability to recall the list- retroactive interference.

What are the strengths of the interference throw of forgetting?

• the theory stems from research studies carried out in lab setting e.g. Postman 1960 conducted his research in a lab. This a strength because conducting research in these environments ensures there is a control over extraneous variables, increasing the internal validity of the findings. Aldo, reliability is high as the studies followed standardised procedures that can be replicated and checked for consistency.

  • the theory also contains real life research support. for example, Baddeley and Hitch conducted research whereby rugby players were asked to name the teams they had played that season. They found that those who had played more games were not able to recall the names as easily. This suggests that the greater number of intervening games had caused interference. This is a strength as it provides support to the theory suggesting it is ecologically valid

What are the weaknesses of the interference theory of forgetting?

• artificial materials are used in interference studies. for example, stimulus materials are usually a list of words that the ppts must learn. This is different from the things we remember everyday e.g. birthdays, peoples faces etc. This is a limitation because using artificial tasks make interference more likely in the lab.

• interference as an explanation only really explains forgetting information that is similar. for example, learning French and Spanish at school, or telephone numbers; this does not happen very often. This is a weakness because this theory does not explain all types of forgetting, therefore, it is not a full explanation.

what is retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting?

this is where information is in the LTM but cannot be accessed due to the absence of cues which act as a trigger.

what are the two types of cue dependant forgetting and explain them.

context dependant forgetting- occurs when the external environment is different at recall from how it was at coding e.g. Godden and Baddeley’s 1975 deep sea diver study words learned underwater were better recalled underwater and vice versa.

state dependant forgetting- occurs when and individuals internal environment so psychological state is different at recall from how it was at coding e.g. Overton 1972 got ppts to learn material when either drunk or sober recall was much worse when ppts were in a different internal state. if ppts learned material when drunk then they recalled it better when drunk and vice versa.

What is the encoding specificity principle?

tulving argued that the greater the similarity between the encoding event and the retrieval event the greater the likelihood of recalling the original memory.

What are the strengths of the retrieval failure theory of forgetting?

• many research studies support retrieval failure as an explanation. for example Godden and Baddeley’s 1975 deep sea diver study. they gave ppts words to learn either on land or underwater and then they were asked to recall it. it was found that when the words were learned underwater they were better recalled underwater and vice versa. This is a strength as supporting evidence increases the validity of the theory especially when research shows retrieval failure in real life situations.

  • this explanation has real life applications. for example, the theory forms the basic principle of the cognitive interviews which is used as a method of getting eyewitnesses to crimes to recall more info. Furthermore, we can use this for dementia patients by making sure they are surrounded by cues such as old photos which help them access old memories. Therefore, this is a strength because it benefits society as a whole but also individuals within society by keeping them safe and well.

What are the weaknesses of the retrieval failure theory?

• Many studies that support retrieval failure are lab based. The tasks/stimulus materials are very different from how we use our memory in everyday life e.g. with Godden and Baddeley deep sea diver study memorising lists of words. Therefore, retrieval failure may not be as likely to explain forgetting in everyday life as research support is lab based, lacking external validity.

  • Baddeley argues that context effects are not very strong. In real life contexts would have to be very different before an effect is seen, for example it is hard to find an environment as different from land as underwater. Learning something in one room and recalling it in another isn’t different enough. This is a limitation because real life application of retrieval failure due to context cues don’t actually explain much of forgetting.

What is eyewitness testimony?

it is the ability of people to remember the details of an event such as accidents observed and crimes

What is a leading question?

a question which because of the way its phrased suggests a certain answer.

explain Loftus and Palmer 1974 study.

aim: to assess whether ppts estimates of the speed of cars involved in accidents could be influenced by misleading information.

method: 45 uni students were each shown 7 clips of cars crashing and after each video answered specific questions about what they could recall with the key question being to estimate the speed of the vehicles. There were five conditions with each condition varying through which verb was used in the key question e.g. contacted, smashed, hit etc. their estimations of speed were then recorded.

findings: the estimated speed was affected by the verb used e.g. when the verb smashed was used the mean speed estimated was significantly higher (40.8) than when the verb contacted was used (31.8)

Conclusion: eyewitness testimony might be biased by the way questions are asked after a crime is committed.

What is a strength of the research into leading questions?

All the research has hugely important practical application used in the real world. E.g. the cognitive interview was created to improve police techniques when interviewing eye witnesses. The aim of the CI is to improve the accuracy of EWT and ultimately improve conviction rates meaning justice is done in society and the public are kept safe.

What are the weaknesses of research into leading questions?

• it lacks ecological validity. this is because ppts viewed video clips rather than being present at a real life accident. As this video clip does not have the same emotional impact as witnessing a real life accident the ppts would be less likely to pay attention and less motivated to be accurate in their judgements.

• a further weakness of using lab studies is that demand characteristics may play a part in influencing a ppts response or behaviour. ppts may have behaved in a way which could support the research hypothesis. this lowers the validity of results

  • a further problem with the study was the use of students as ppts. students are not representative of the general population in a number of ways. importantly they may be less experienced drivers and therefore less confident in their ability to estimate speed. this may have influenced them to be more swayed by the verb in the question reducing validity of findings.

What is post event discussion?

when co- witnesses to a crime discuss it with each other, their EWT may become contaminated because they combine misinformation from other witnesses to their own.

Explain Gabbert et al. (2003) study.

aim: to investigate the effects of post event discussion

method: ppts were placed in pairs. all ppts watched a video of the same crime but filmed from different points of view. Therefore, each ppt could see elements in the event that the other could not. the ppts then discussed what they had seen before they individually completed a recall test.

findings: 71% of ppts recalled aspects of the event mistakenly that they did not see for themselves in the video but had learned during discussion

conclusion: witnesses often go along with each other either to win social approval or because they believe the other witnesses are right and they are wrong; memory conformity.

What are the strengths of research into post event discussion?

• it has hugely important practical applications used in the real world. for example, the cognitive interview was created to improve police techniques when interviewing eye witnesses. the aim of the CI is to improve the accuracy of EWT and ultimately improve conviction rates. This protects society and ensures justice is done as it prevents miscarriages of justice.

What are the weaknesses of research into post event discussion?

• it could be argued that the study suffered from demand characteristics. Zaragosa and McCloskey 1989 argue that the answers ppts give in lab studies of EWT are the result of demand characteristics. Ppts usually don’t want to let the researcher down and want to appear helpful and attentive. This is a weakness as it means that the validity of the findings of lab research in EWT may be questioned.

• research findings into EWT differ across ages. For example, Anastasi and Rhodes 2006 found that people in age groups 18-25 and 35-45 were more accurate than people aged 55-78. This is a weakness as research into EWT often uses younger people and so the results may not be generalisable to older groups. However, all age groups were more accurate when identifying people of their own age - age bias suggesting this may not be accurate.

• in lab research into EWT the consequences in a lab study are not the same as those in real life EWT experiences. e.g. Foster et al 1994 argues that what you remember as an eye witness in the real world can have very serious consequences and so leading questions won’t have as much of an impact. This again is a weakness as it means the findings may not be applicable to real life and so lack ecological validity.

explain how anxiety can have a negative effect on recall.

anxiety creates physiological arousal in the body which prevents us from paying attention to important cues, so recall is worse. one way in which this is studied is by looking at the effects of weapon anxiety on recall which Johnson and Scott 1976 did:

method: ppts were led to believe they were taking part in a lab study. whilst waiting in a waiting room ppts heard an argument in the next room. in the low anxiety condition a man walked through the waiting area carrying a pen with grease on his hands whilst the other ppts heard the same argument but with the sound of glass and then saw a man walking out of the room holding a blood covered paper knife.

findings: 49% who saw the pen were able to identify him later on whereas only 33% who saw the knife could identify him. This shows that anxiety can have a negative effect on recall

explain how anxiety can have a positive effect on recall.

when we experience anxiety the fight or flight response is triggered which increases our alertness and improves our memory for the event because we become more aware of cues in the situation.

for example, Yuille and Cutshall 1986:

method: interviewed 13 wintesses to a real life shooting in which a storeowner in Vancouver Canada was injured and the thief was shot dead. Some witnesses had been very close to the incident whilst others had viewed it from further away. The interviews were held 4-5 months after the incident and they were compared with the original police interviews. accuracy was determined by the number of details reported in each account. the witnesses were also asked to rate how stressed they had felt at the time of the incident using a 7 point scale.

findings: witnesses accounts were accurate. there was little change after 5 months. ppts who reported high levels of stress were most accurate (88% compared to 75% of less stressed group).

What did Yerkes-Dodson conclude about the relationship between anxiety and performance?

he concluded that the relationship between the two looks like an inverted U. Lower levels of anxiety produce lower levels of recall accuracy but memory becomes more accurate as the levels of anxiety increase. However, there comes a point where the optimal level of anxiety is reached. this is the point of maximum accuracy. If more stress is experiences then accuracy decreases dramatically.

What is a strength of the research into effects of anxiety on EWT?

It had hugely important practical applications used in the real world. the cognitive interview was created to improve police techniques when interviewing eyewitnesses. the aim of CI is to improve accuracy of EWT and ultimately improve conviction rates, protecting society and preventing miscarriages of justice.

What are the weaknesses of research into the effects of anxiety on EWT?

• The studies suffer from demand characteristics. most lab studies show ppts a filmed or staged crime e.g. Johnson and Scott 1976. Most of these ppts are aware they are watching a filmed crime or a staged crime for a reason to do with the study. This is a weakness as it is highly likely that ppts will work out that they will be asked questions about what they have seen and so may pay attention affecting recall and the validity of findings.

• there are potential ethical issues with creating anxiety in ppts such as protection from harm. this is a weakness because ppts in research should not come to any psychological harm. However, this is why real life studies are so important as psychologists interview people who have already witnesses a real life event and so do not need to create this anxiety.

  • the inverted U explanation is too simplistic. anxiety is very difficult to define and measure accurately. there are many elements including cognitive behavioural emotional and physical. however, the inverted U explanation assumes that only the physical elements are linked to poor performance. This is a weakness as it is not a full explanation. the way we think (cognition) about the stressful situation may also be important.

What is the cognitive interview?

It is a questioning technique used by the police to enhance retrieval of information about a crime scene from the eyewitnesses as victim’s memory.

What are the four retrieval strategies used in the cognitive interview?

• reinstatement of context- returning to the original scene of crime in their mind and imagining the environment and emotions.

• report everything- witnesses are asked to recall every detail even. the trivial details as they could be important and trigger other important memories.

• reverse the order- recalling events in a different chronological order which prevents people reporting expectations of what they think must have happened rather than what they actually saw happen

  • change perspective- recall incident from another persons perspective to disrupt the effect of schemes on recall.

Explain the supporting research for the cognitive interview.

aim- gieselman 1985 set out to investigate the effectiveness of the cognitive interview

method- ppts viewed a film of a violent crime and after 48 hours were interviewed by a policeman using either the cognitive interview, the standard interview or an interview using hypnosis. the number of facts accurately recalled and the number of errors made were recorded

findings- the average number if correctly recalled facts for the cognitive interview was 41.2 for hypnosis it was 38 and for the standard interview it was 29.4. there was no significant difference in the number of errors in each condition

conclusion- the cognitive interview leads to better memory for events.

What is a strength of the cognitive interview?

Research suggests that CI offers benefits. e.g. Kohneken et al 1999 conducted a meta analysis of 50 studies and found that CI provided more correct information than the standard police interview. This is a strength because this indicates the real practical benefits to the police of using CI. This gives police a better chance of catching and charging criminals which benefits the whole of society.

What are the weaknesses of the cognitive interview?

• CI takes more time than a standard police interview so police maybe reluctant to use it. More time is needed to build a rapport with the witness and for them to relax. CI also needs special training which is time consuming and many police forces can only provide minimal hours training. Therefore, it is unlikely that a proper CI is used which explains why the police may be unhappy with its effectiveness

• Studies of the effectiveness of the CI inevitably use slightly different CI techniques or use the enhanced CI. This questions how far the true effectiveness of the CI can be assessed given that different police station shave adapted the CI to suit their needs. This reduces the validity of CI.

• The cognitive interview may create an increase in inaccurate information. CI techniques aim to increase the amount of correct information remembered but recall if incorrect information may also be increased. research found an 81% increase of correct info recall but also a 61% increase of incorrect info when compared to a standard police interview. This questions the effectiveness of the CI.