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paper 1,introduction topic in psychology, AQA Psychology
Coding
The format in which information is stored. (How)
Who Did Research On Coding?
Baddely
Baddely's Procedure
Four groups were given lists to remember
a) acoustically similar words
b) acoustically dissimilar words
c) semantically similar words
d) semantically dissimilar words
-They were asked to recall the words some had to immediately (STM) others had to wait 20 minutes (LTM)
Result of Baddley's Experiment For STM
Confusion between acoustically similar words
Result of Baddley's Experiment for LTM
Confusion between semantially similar words
Conclusions for Baddley's Experiment
STM - Acoustic confusion, coded acoustically
LTM - Semantic confusion, coded semantically
Negative Evaluation of Baddley's Experiment
The words used had no personal meaning to the the participants so the stimuli was artificial
What is Capacity?
Amount of information that can be held.
Explain how research has been conducted into the Capacity of STM
Jacobs (1887), developed a technique to measure digits span. He used a sample of 443 female students (aged from 8-19); a series of digits was read out and they were required to recall them in the correct order. This began with 4 digits, then 5 and continued until the participant could no longer recall the digits in the correct order. —>this suggests that the capacity of the STM is not fixed and individual differences may play a role
Method for Jacob's Study
Aim - See how much info STM can hold at one time (digit span)
Procedure- Research gave a certain number of digits then the PP recalled in correct order. If recalled correctly, amount of digits increased. Determines individuals digit span.
Findings-
participants had a mean score of 7.3 letters in order
participants had a mean score of 9.3 numbers in order
Negative AO3 points of Jacob's Study
Artificial stimuli —> low ecological validity and generalisability
What did Miller discover about the capacity of the STM
the STM can hold up to 7 +/- 2 (5-9 ‘chunks’) of info at a time
What is Duration?
Length of time information can be held
Who Conducted STM Duration Research?
Peterson and Peterson
Method for Peterson and Peterson's Study
24 students were given a trigram, as well as a 3 digit number to remember. The student had to count backwards from this number (prevents mental rehearsal) told to stop counting at different seconds (e.g. 3, 9, 18).
Results for Peterson and Peterson's Study
Amount recalled correctly:
3 seconds - 90%
18 seconds - 5%
(Significant difference between them suggest that STM duration is around 18 seconds)
Conclusion for Peterson and Peterson's Study
STM has a very short duration unless it is repeated over and over again(verbal rehearsal)
Negative AO3 points of Peterson and Peterson's Study
low ecological validity : artificial task
Oversimplification: does not take into account for more complex bits of information
Who Did a Study on Long Term Duration?
Bahrick et al.
what was ahrick's Method
Studied nearly 400 participants between 17-74. Recall was tested either by
photo recognition where they name people in the photos from their year book
free recall where they list names they remember from their high school class
what were Bahrick's Study Findings
Free recall after 48 years - 30%
Free recall after 15 years - 60%
Photo recognition after 48 years - 70%
what where the Conclusions from Bahrick's Study
the duration of the LTM can last a very long time, potentially a lifetime.
Positive AO3 points of Bahrick's Study
High external validity real life meaningful memories were studied
Negative AO3 points of Bahrick's Study
Confounding Variables are not controlled for - People could have looked at the year book. (rehearsal)
Who Devised the Multi-Store Model?
Atkinson and Shiffrin
What is the Multi-Store Model?
An explanation of how the memory works in terms of 3 stores:
Sensory Register
STM
LTM
Through flowing Storage systems
Outline the multi-store model (MSM)
The multi-store model was proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin and consists of three stores: sensory register, short term memory and long-term memory. Information from the environment is initially received by the sensory register. If it is attended to, it is passed from SR (sensory register) to STM, which has a limited capacity of 7 (plus or minus 2 chunks), a very limited duration (around 18 seconds) and is mainly coded acoustically. Rehearsal is the way that information is transferred from STM to LTM. It can also be used to extend the duration of STM. LTM has unlimited capacity, indefinite duration and is mainly coded semantically. Information has to be passed through STM to get to LTM and can only be retrieved from LTM by entering STM.
What is the Sensory Register?
the sensory register (also known as sensory memory) is where all sensory information from the environment passes into or is held
How is the Sensory Register Mainly Coded?
Via all 5 senses, Mainly iconic (visual) and echoic (acoustic)
only the sense the are paid attention to will make it to the STM
what are the features of the sensory register (coding, capacity & duration)
Capacity- very large
Coding- sense specific (echoic- acoustic, ionic-visual )
Duration- limited (milliseconds)
What is the Capacity of the Sensory Register
Very High
What is the Key Process for Attention?
Little of what goes into the sensory register goes into the STM
How is STM Coded?
Acoustic
Capacity of STM?
7 +/- 2 (5-9) ‘chuncks’
Duration of STM?
18 seconds
How is the LTM Coded
Semantically (meaning)
Capacity of LTM?
unlimited
Duration of LTM
lifetime/years
Was Case Study Supports the MSM?
Case of HM:Man underwent surgery, his hippocampus was removed. When his memory was assessed, he thought it was 4 years ago. LTM was damaged but STM performed well. (Indicates seperate stores)
Negative Evaluation(s) of MSM
1.Tulving- said the model was too simplistic and inflexible
The multi-store model sees STM and LTM as being unitary stores, however, there is evidence to show this is not the case —> patient KF
Who Devised the Working Memory Model?
Baddley and Hitch
What is the Working Memory Model?
An explanation of STM as an active store that holds several different types of info in different sub-units
Structure of Working Memory Model
what does the central executive do
Controls attention and directs information to the two slave systems, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. The central executive can process information from any sensory modality.
What is the Phonological Loop?
Phonological loop = Is a temporary storage system for auditory information (this preserves the order in which the info arrives in the working memory), which has two components: the articulatory control process (the ‘inner voice’) and the phonological store (the ‘inner ear’).
The articulatory control process allows for subvocal repetition of acoustic information
The phonological store is a temporary storage space for coding acoustic information.
What is the Phonological Store? (inner ear)
a temporary storage space for coding acoustic information.
What is the Articulatory Process? (inner voice)
allows for subvocal repetition of acoustic information
What is the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad?
a temporary storage system for visual and spatial information which also has two components, the inner scribe and the visual cache.
what does the Visual Cache do
codes visual and spatial information.
What does the Inner Scribe do?
deals with the manipulation of mental images
What is the Episodic Buffer?
a temporary store for information which binds and integrates information from all of the components and passes the information to long-term memory (LTM). It also maintains a sense of time sequencing, recording events (episodes) as they happen.
What did Tulving Propose about LTM?
Made of 3 Parts:
episodic memory
semantic memory
procedural memory
What is Episodic Memory?
type of explicit memory (knowing that), which includes memories of personal experiences (episodes)
Episodic memories have three specific elements: details of the event, the context, and emotions; these are all interwoven to provide a single memory.
What is Semantic memory?
a type of explicit memory (knowing that) which includes memory for knowledge, facts, concepts and meaning about the world around us. For example, knowing that London is the capital of England. Semantic memories are not ‘timestamped’ and do not remain closely associated with a particular event (episode).
What is Procedural Memory?
a type of implicit memory (knowing how) which includes memory of how to perform certain tasks, actions or skills, such as swimming or reading, which have become ‘automatic’. This means procedural memories are difficult to explain in words to someone else. They are often acquired through repetition and practice.
Which case study shows that LTM has different stores?
P- One strength is evidence from the famous case studies of HM (Henry Molaison) and Clive Wearing.
E- Episodic memory in both men was severely impaired due to brain damage (caused by an operation and infection respectively). But their semantic memories were relatively unaffected. They still understood the meaning of words.
E- For example, HM could not recall stroking a dog half an hour earlier but he did not need to have the concept of dog explained to him. Their procedural memories were also intact. They both still knew how to walk and speak, and Clive Wearing (a professional musician) knew how to read music, sing and play the piano.
L: This evidence supports Tulving's view that there are different memory stores in LTM as shown above, one store can be damaged but other stores are unaffected
Negative Evaluation Points for LTM?
P- Researchers have a lack of control over variables when studying people with brain injuries, the brain injuries experienced by participants were usually unexpected.
E- The researcher had no way of controlling what happened to the participant before or during the injury.
E- The researcher has no knowledge of the individual's memory before the damage.Without this, it is difficult to judge exactly how much worse it is afterwards.
L:This lack of control limits what clinical studies can tell us about different types of LTM.
What are the two explanations for forgetting?
Interfernece Theory + Retreival Faliure Theory
What is Interferene Theory?
forgetting occurs from long-term memory because two memories compete with each other due to them being similar in some way (creates response copetition)
What is Proactive Interference?
where an older memory affects (interferes with) the recall of a newer memory.
What is Retroactice Interference?
where a newer memory affects (interferes with) the recall of an older memory
When is Interference worse?
When the memories or learning is similar
what research supports proactive interference
Keppel & Underwood (1962) who presented participants with meaningless three-letter consonant trigrams (for example, THG) at different intervals (3, 6, 9 seconds, etc.) To prevent rehearsal, the participants had to count backwards in threes before recalling. They found that participants typically remembered the trigrams that were presented first, irrespective of the interval length.
what is research support for retroactive interference
supported by research on rugby union players presented by Baddeley and Hitch (1977). They found that, although the length of the season was the same for all the players, those who had played the most games forgot proportionately more games than those who had played fewer games due to injury.
What is Retreival Theory? (retrieval failure due to absence of cue’s)
where forgetting occurs from long-term memory because, although the material is available, it is not accessible due to there not being a suitable cue.
What is Context-dependent forgetting?
Where recall occurs in an external setting or code?
What was the divers study to explain context-dependent faliure? (Godden and Baddeley)
This study looked at how external cues present at the time of encoding affected memory recall.
Divers learnt a list of words either underwater or on land- then asked to recall the words either on land or water.
Four groups-
Land- Land
Land- Water
Water- Land
Water-Water
What was the findings for the divers study? (Godden and Baddeley)
Recall 40% lower in non-matching conditions
Describe Tulving's research
Tulving reviewed research into retrieval failure and concluded that cues can help us recall information if the cue was present at encoded and at retrieval. The closer the retrieval cue is to the original cue, the better the cue works.
What is Eyewitness testimony?
the evidence given in court or a police investigation by someone who has witnessed a crime or accident.
What can factors affect Eyewitness Testimony?
Leading questions,post-event dicussion, misleading info
What are leading Questions?
questions that are phrased in such a way that they suggest a possible answer.
What was the procedure for Loftus and Palmer's Study?
studied 45 American students
divided into five groups of nine.
All of the participants watched filmed clips of car accidents and were then questioned about them.
The critical question was about the speed of the cars.
The researchers manipulated the verb used in the question, asking: "How fast were they cars going when they smashed/collided/bumped/hit/contacted each other?"
What were the findings for the Loftus and Palmer Study?
Smashed produced the highest estimate (40.5 mph) and contacted was the lowest (31.8 mph).
What are the Positive Evaluation Points for Loftus and Palmer?
Replicable- Standardised Procedure, high controls
What are the Negative Evaluation Points for Loftus and Palmer?
Artificial Situation- Lacks EV
—> Videos- affect the results as lack real-life relevance more of an emotional impact
Why do Leading Questions affect EWT?
A response-bias explanation- wording of the question doesn't effect the memory but influences how they decide to answer.
What is Post-event Discussion?
discussion about what has been witnessed. This occurs after the incident and can be with other eyewitnesses or with other people; it can affect the accuracy of recall.
What study shows Post-event Discussion?
Gabbert et al
What was the procedure for Gabbert et al's study of Post-event Discussion?
PPs in pairs. Each watched a video of the same crime, but from different POVs.
Both pps then discussed what they had seen on the video before individually completing a test of recall.
60 students + 60 older adults used
What were the results for Gabbert et al's study of Post-event Discussion?
71% mistakenly recalled aspects of the event. This is what they picked up in post-event discussion.
0% error in control group
Positive Evaluation Points for EWT?
Useful real-life applications- Police Officers being more careful in their questioning
Negative Evaluation Points for EWT?
The research used are artifcial
What is Anxiety?
a mental and physical state of negative expectation.
What is Weapon's Focus?
Where the witness focuses more on the weapon than on the culprits face. This then negatively affects the ability to recall the event.
What is Repression?
Anxiety hinders others the recall of memory. Access of memories is barred, so to protect the individual from emotional distress.
What is Loftus et al's study on Anxiety?
He found that if a person is carrying a weapon, then witnesses focus on the weapon rather than the persons face, negatively affecting their ability to recall facial details of the armed criminals. This supports the idea of Anxiety.
What positive effects can Anxiety have on Recall?
Fight or flight response is triggered which increases our alertness and improves our memory for the event because we become aware of cues in the situation
What Positive Evaluation points of Anxiety affecting EWT?
Many research to support- Johnson and Scott, Loftus
What Negative Evaluation points of Anxiety affecting EWT?
Weapon Focus may not be relevant- May be due to surprise than just on focus
Field Studies can lack control- Possibly couldn't control post-event discussion
What is a cognitive Interview?
Interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories. Contains four main techniques.
What are the Four main Techniques for Cognitive Interview?
reinstatement of original context
Report everything
Change order
Change perspective
What is Enhanced Cognitive Interview?
(Fisher et al) An advanced method of questioning witnessws that overcomes problems caused by inappropriate sequecing of questions.
What are the Enhanced Cognitive Interview Techniques?
-Interviewer doesn't distract with open ended questions
-Witness controlling the flow of conversation
--Asking Open-Ended Questions
What are the Positive Evaluation Points of a cognitive Interview?
The cognitive interview is supported by evidence to show it improves the accuracy of EWT. Fisher et al 1989) examined the effectiveness of the cognitive interview in real police interviews. 16 experienced detectives recorded a selection of their interviews using a standard interviewing technique. The detectives were then divided into two groups. One group was trained to use the cognitive interview, while the other (control) group continued using the standard interview. After training, their subsequent interviews were recorded and analysed. The trained detectives elicited 46% more information after their cognitive interview training, in comparison to the control group. Where it was possible to confirm the
What are the Negative Evaluation Points of a cognitive Interview?
Some techniques used in the CI may be more valuable than others. Although Milne and Bull (2002) found that each technique singly produced more information than the standard police interview. They also found that a combination of reporting everything and reinstating the context produced better recall than any of the other techniques. This suggests that police should at least be encouraged to use these techniques in order to improve the accuracy of EWT.
