Memory

Describe Baddeley's study on the effects of acoustic and semantic coding in STM and LTM. Include an issue with it.

Participants were split into 2 groups. One was given acoustically similar words and the other semantically similar words. Both groups had to recall the list of words after a short period of time and a long period of time.
Showed STM is coded acoustically - participants were confused by acoustically similar words. LTM is coded semantically - participants were confused by semantically similar words.
Issue - lacks ecological validity as stimuli were artificial.

State an issue with the working memory model

It does not explain how information is transferred between memory stores and only focuses on STM.

State an issue with the multi store model of memory

It doesnt show details of different parts of Short term memory and long term memory.

define/describe leading questions

questions which increase the likelihood that an individuals schemas will influence them to give a desired answer.

define/describe procedural memory

memory for actions/skills. eventually we can recall them without conscious awareness or effort.
Becomes automatic without practice. Hard to explain to somebody else.
eg. walking, riding a bike.

define/describe semantic memory

shared knowledge of the world
contains concepts and meanings
not time stamped
constantly being added to
have to be consciously recalled
eg. facts, dates, places

define/describe episodic memory

a diary of life episodes
time stamped
complex- each memory includes several elements
you must consciously recall them
eg. memories, events

define coding

The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.

define capacity

The amount of information that can be held in a memory store

define duration

The length of time information can be held in memory

describe the difference between explicit (declarative) and implicit (non declarative) memories.

explicit memories must be consciously recalled whereas implicit memories dont have to be consciously recalled.
procedural - implicit
episodic and semantic - explicit

describe the coding, capacity and duration of LTM

coding - semantic
capacity - unlimited
duration - minutes to a life time

describe the coding, capacity and duration of STM

coding - acoustic
capacity - 7 plus or minus 2 pieces of information
duration - 18-30 seconds

give evidence for semantic memory

collins and quillian : hierarchial network model of semantic network memory.
demonstrates our understanding of how/why we know a fact.
shows semantic memories are different to episodic and procedural

give evidence for episodic memory

evidence from brain scans
shows different areas of the brain are active when different kinds of LTM are active
Episodic memory is associated with the hippocampus and other parts of the frontal lobe.

give evidence for procedural memory

HM's brain damage.
showed procedural memories were still intact after the procedure
had episodic and semantic memories from before the procedure but couldnt form new ones.
However, he had procedural memories from before and was still able to produce more.

state an issue with using case studies as evidence

you cannot generalise the information and therefore it lacks population validity.

state differences between the WMM and MSM

The MSM only shows STM encoded acoustically. The WMM shows STM is encoded in different ways.

MSM shows how information is transferred between memory stores and how its stored or capacity ect, WMM doesnt.

who created the memory store model of memory

Atkinson and Shiffrin

describe the coding, capacity and duration of the sensory register

Coding - Modality specific
Capacity - unknown but supposedly unlimited
Duration - very limited, less than one second

How does information enter the sensory register

Absorbed from the environment via our senses

Describe the sections of the sensory register

2 main stores - iconic (sights) and echoic (sounds)
other sensory stores for taste touch and smell

In the MSM model how is information transferred between the memory stores

stimulus from environment enters the sensory register via our senses. Information that is given attention gets transferred into stm. With prolonged maintenance rehearsal information is transferred from stm to ltm. retrieval causes information in ltm to go back to stm to be used.

describe millers study on the capacity of stm

aim- investigate the capacity of stm
method - literature review of published investigations into perception and stm.
results - existing research suggested that organising stimulus input into a series of chunks enabled stm to cope with about 7 chunks.
conclusion - organisation/encoding can extend the capacity of stm and enabled more information to be stored . (7 plus or minus 2)

name and describe a study that backs up millers theory

Jacobs digit span test.
aim - examine capacity of stm for numbers and letters
participants were to repeat back a string of numbers or letters in the same order. number of digits/letters gradually increased until participant could no longer recall the sequence.
results - students had an average span of 7.3 letters and 9.3 words.
supports millers 7 plus or minus 2 theory.

what is an issue with millers research

he did not specify how large each chunk of information could be so we are unable to conclude the exact capacity of stm.

what didnt miller take into account in his study

other factors that affect the capacity, eg. age

describe peterson and petersons study on the duration of stm with prevention of rehearsal

participants had to recall trigrams (three nonsense syllables) after a period of time between 3 and 18 seconds in which they had to count down from a three digit number in 3's/4's. this prevented rehearsal.
results - the longer the interval the less accurate the recall.
conclusion - stm has a limited duration of approximatley 18 seconds.
if we are unable to rehearse information it wont be passed to ltm, further supporting the msm.

state three issues with this study

the study used 24 psychology students :
- demand characteristics if they have encountered msm before and changed their behaviour to assist the researcher.
-memory of psychology students may be different especially if they have previously studied strategies for memory improvement.
-low levels of ecological validity, stimuli were artificial. unlike anything people would want to memorise in everyday life.

describe bahricks study on the duration of ltm

aim - to investigate the duration of ltm
392 american university graduates were shown phots from their high school yearbook. for each photo participants were given a group of names and asked to select the names that matched the photos.
results - 90% correctly matched names and faces 14 years after graduating. 60% correctly matched names and faces 47 years after graduating.
conclusion - people could remember certain types of information for almost a life time. this supports the msm and the idea that ltm has a lifetime duration and is semantically coded.

what is an issue with bahricks study

used 392 american university graduates so lacks population validity. we are unable to generalise bahricks research and results to other populations.

state one strength of bahricks study

there are high levels of ecological validity because the study used real life memories.

describe clive wearings case and how it supports the msm

wearing contracted a virus that caused severe amnesia. he could only remember information for 20-30 seconds. he was able to recall information from his past but unable to transfer information from his stm to ltm. he was able to retrieve information successfully. this case supports the idea that memories are formed by passing information from one store to the next in a linear fashion and that damage to any part of the msm can cause memory impairment.

what is a criticism of the multi store memory model

it is too simplisitc. they provided no detail of the memory processing within each store.

name the three main types of LTM

Semantic, episodic and procedural

what three specific elements does episodic memory include

details of the event, the context, emotions

what determines the strength of episodic memory

the strength of the emotions experienced when the memory is encoded

what part of the brain is episodic memory associated with

the hippocampus

what memory types are procedural, semantic and episodic

procedural - implicit
semantic - explicit
episodic - explicit

what determines the strength of semantic memories

the strength of the emotions experienced when the memory is encoded

where is the semantic memory located/associated with in the brain

the temporal lobe

How are procedural memories acquired?

through repetition and practice

when are many procedural memories formed

early in life

where are procedural memories associated with in the brain

the cerebellum and motor cortex

how do brain scans provide evidence for different types of LTM

research has shown that different parts of the brain are active when accessing episodic, semantic and procedural memory. this suggests that different brain regions are responsible for the different types of LTM supporting the idea that our LTM is made up of at least three distinct categories.

describe the case study of HM and how it supports the distinction between implict and explicit memories

(milner) HM suffered from severe epilepsy and went through surgery involving the removal of his hippocampus. His STM remained intact but he was unable to transfer certain types of info to his LTM. HM could learn procedural (implicit) tasks but not episodic or semantic (explicit) information. EG. hm could retain the skill of a mirror tracing task but had no knowledge of ever completing the task before. able to demonstrate his procedural memory through implicit behaviour depite being unable to recall his experience explicitly.

describe the case study of PM and how it supports the distinction between implict and explicit memories

(finke et al) pm was a cellist who suffered from amnesia as a result of a virus. his implicit memory was affected but his procedural memory for reading and performing music remained intact. demonstrates a clear distinction between different types of LTM.

what is the issue with using the case studies of HM and PM as evidence of different types of memory

it is difficult to establish exactly which brain regions are affected in patients with brain damage and damage to a particular region does not necissarily mean that region is associated with a particular type of memory.

why is understanding different types of memory important

it allows for the development of helpful real world applications.

describe belleville et al's study on cognitive impairment

compared performance of older people suffering with cognitive impairment who received memory training with that of a control group who did not. found participants in the experimental group performed better on a test of episodic memory. suggests that being able to identify different types of LTM can provide psychologists with the opportunity to improve peoples lives through devising appropriate treatments.

who was the working memory model created by and why?

Baddeley and hitch. Created as a way of explaining some of the research findings that could not be accounted for by the multi store model.

what does the working memory model focus on

short term memory as a multi component system.

name the parts of the working memory model as a multi component system.

central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad

describe the central executive

the 'boss' of the working memory model. it controls attention and directs information to the two slave systems.

name the 2 slave systems in the wmm

the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad

what type of information can the central executive process

information from any sensory modality

describe the phonological loop

a temporary storage system for verbal information (held in a speech-based form) .

what are the 2 components of the phonological loop

the articulatory control process (the 'inner voice' and the phonological store (the 'inner ear')

what is the articulatory control process

a process that allows for subvocal repetition of acoustic information

what is the phonological store

a temporary storage space for coding acoustic information

what is the capacity of the phonological store like?

limited

describe the visuo-spatial sketchpad

a temporary storage system for visual and spatial information

what are the 2 components of the visuo-spatial sketchpad

the inner scribe and the visual cache

what does the inner scribe do

deals with the manipulation of mental images

what does the visual cache do

has a limited capacity for coding visual and spatial information.

describe the episodic buffer

binds and integrates information from all of the components and passes the information to long-term memory.

what information does the episodic buffer encode

both visual and acoustic information

what is the capacity of the episodic buffer like

limited

describe the case study of KF and how does it support the working memory model

KF was injured in a motorcycle accident. following the accident he was able to recall stored information from his ltm but had issues with his stm. he was able to remember visual images but unable to remember sounds (acoustic information). this suggests that there are at least two components within stm, one for visual info and one for acoustic info. this supports the idea of 2 slave systems within the wmm.

describe the dual task studies by baddeley and hitch and how they support the working memory model

require participants to complete two tasks at the same time. in one condition participants had to complete two acoustic based tasks and in the other condition participants had to complete one acoustic based task and one visual based task. when tasks both required use of the phonological loop simultaneously the ability to perform the tasks was impaired. however when one task required the use of the phonological loop but the other required the use of the the visuo-spatial sketchpad then their performance was not impaired. provides evidence for the existence of multiple components.

state three explanations for forgetting

proactive interference, retroactive interference and retrieval failure

what do interference theories suggest

forgetting is caused by competing memories either because existing memories interfere with the learning of new information or because new information interferes with previously learnt information.

describe proactive interference

when old information stored in long term memory interferes with the learning of new information. this usually occurs when the new information is similar to the old information.

describe keppel and underwoods study on the effect of proactive interference on long term memory

aimed to investigate the effect of proactive interference on long term memory. participants were presented with meaningless 3 letter diagrams at different intervals. to prevent rehearsal participants had to count backwards in 3's before recall.
results- participants typically remembered triagrams that were presented first.
conclusion- results suggest that proactive interference occurred because memory for the earlier consonants interfered with the memory for new consonants due to the similarity of the information presented.

describe retroactive interference

when the learning of new information interferes with the recall of old information from long term memory.

describe retroactive interference in everyday memory according to baddeley and hitch's study

aimed to investigate retroactive interference in everyday memory.
sample comprised rugby union players who had played every match in the season and players who missed games due to injury. the length of the season was the same for all players. players were asked to recall names of teams they played earlier in the season.
results- players who had played the most games forgot more games than those who played fewer games due to injury.
conclusion-this was the result of retroactive interference as the learning of new information interfered with the memory of old information.

what is an issue with the interference theory

it only explains a specific type of forgetting, memory for similar information.

why is interference research often criticised

it is artificial and lacks ecological validity, as most of the research is carried out in a labatory

What is the encoding specificity principle proposed by Tulving and Thomson

recall is better if the retrieval context is similar to the encoding context

what are environmental cues

eg. the room in which you learn information

what are mental cues

eg. your emotional state

what are the two types of retrieval faliure

context dependent failure and state dependent failure

when does context dependent failure occur

when environmental cues are missing

when does state dependent failure occur

when an individual's emotional state is different when trying to recall information

describe the study godden and baddeley carried out on context dependent forgetting

aimed to investigate the effect of contextual cues on recall. 18 participants from a university diving club divided into 4 conditions, learning on land and recalling underwater, learnt on land recalled on land, learnt underwater recalled on land and learnt underwater recalled underwater. the experiment was repeated measures so each participant took part in all 4 conditions over 4 separate days. participants had to recall words. words learnt underwater were recalled better underwater and words learnt on lnd were learnt better on land.

evaluate godden and baddeleys study on cdf

- use of repeated measures design may mean divers may display demand characteristics
-context examined in the study is extreme and provides little insight into context dependent forgetting in everyday life.
- g+b didn't control many other variables, divers took part at different times of the day and at different diving locations. each diver will have experienced different contextual cues which may have affected their memory.

describe carter and cassadays study on state dependent cues

aimed to examin state dependent forgetting using anti-histamine drugs . participants had to learn a list of words and excepts from a text and asked to recall the information later. there were 4 conditions, learnt after anti histamine and recalled after anti histamine, learnt before ah and recalled before ah, learnt before ah and recalled after ah and learnt after ah and recalled before ah.
results-conditions where the learning and recalling state matched memory was improved.
conclusion- when the emotional cues that are present at the time of encoding are missing at the time of retrieval, state dependent forgetting is likely to occur.

evaluate carter and cassadays study on state dependent cues

there is research to support the effect of state dependent retrieval failure. eg, goodwin et al's study on ability to recall words when drunk/sober.
-there are issues with determining a cause and effect relationship with retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting.

what is an eye witness testimony

the evidence given in court or a police investigation by someone who has witnessed a crime or accident

what factors have an effect on the accuracy of eye witness reports

-misleading information through leading questions or post event discussion
-anxiety

Describe Loftus and Palmer's study into leading questions

aimed to investigate the effect of leading questions on the accuracy of eye witness testimony. 45 American students were divided into groups of 9. independent measures design. students were shown a video of a car crash and then asked the speed the cars were going. Loftus and palmer manipulated the verb, eg. how fast were the cars going when they (smashed/collided/bumped/contacted) with each other.
results - estimated speed was affected by the verb. participants given the verb smashed thought the cars were going faster than those given the verb contacted.
shows the accuracy of eye witness testimony is affected by leading questions. a single words can significantly affect the accuracy of our judgement.

Evaluate Loftus and palmers study into leading questions

-questionable ecological validity, the witnesses saw the whole car crash from start to finish. in real life witnesses rarely see the whole event. therefore we are unable to conclude if eyewitnesses to real accidents who would have a stronger emotional connection to the event would be susceptible to leading questions in the same way.
-lacks population validity. participants were all university students, less experienced drivers who may be less accurate at estimating speeds. unable to generalise results to other populations.
- research took place in a laboratory so in a highly controlled environment reducing the chance of extraneous variables increasing the validity. it is also easy to replicate the study and see if the same results are achieved with a different population.

what is post event discussion

A conversation between co-witnesses or an interviewer and an eyewitness after a crime has taken place which may contaminate a witness' memory for the event

describe gabbet et al's study on the effect of post event discussion on the accuracy of eye witness testimony

aimed to investigate the effect of post event discussion on the accuracy of eye witness testimony. participants watched a video of a girl stealing money from a wallet. participants were either tested individually or in pairs. patrticipants in the co-witness group were told they were shown the same video but they actually saw different perspectives, only one of them saw the girl physically steal. the co-witness groups discussed the crime together then all participants completed a questionaire testing their memory of the event. 71% of witnesses in the co-witness groups recalled information they had not seen. 60% said the girl was guilty despite not actually seeing the crime. results highloght the issue of post event discussion and the powerful effect this can have on the accuracy of eye witness testimony.

evaluate gabbet et al's study on post event discussion/eye witness testimony

`-questionable ecological validity. witnesses knew that they were taking part in an experiment and were more likely to have paid close attention to the details of the video clip. therefore these results do not reflect everyday examples of a crime where witnesses may be exposed to less information.
-2 populations were tested so it provides good population validity.

describe the study of Loftus and Johnson and Scott about the effect of anxiety on eye witness testimony

aimed to investigate whether anxiety affects the accuracy of eye witness testimony. participants were invited to a labatory and told to wait in the reception. the receptionist excused herself leaving the participant alone. independent groups. participants experienced one of 2 conditions. one was a 'no weapon condition' participants overheard convo about equiptment failure and the target left the lab and walked past the participant with a pen and grease on his hands. condition 2 participants overheard a heated exchange with breaking glass and crashing chairs and the target then came out holding a bloodied knife. both groups were shown 50 photographs and asked to identify the target who left the lab. they were informed the suspect may or may not be in the photos. participants exposed to the knife had higher levels of anxiety and focused more on the weapon not the individual. people exposed to the pen identified the correct man 49% of the time whereas people exposed to the knife identified the correct man 33% of the time. Anxiety reduces the accuracy of eye witness testimony.

what is weapon focus

Attention is limited, so if a weapon is involved in a crime you are more likely to focus on the weapon (out of fear) than the face. This means the victim would be less likely to be able to pick them out of a line up or provide a description.

evaluate weapon focus and anxiety as a factor affecting eye witness testimony

a real life case study by Yuille and Cutshall contradicts the results of loftus and the weapon focus effect. they investigated the effect of anxiety in a real life shooting in which one person was killed and another seriously injured. 13 witnesses who took part in the follow up interview were accurate in their eye witness accounts five months later and little change was found in their testimonies. major details of their reports remained the same and only minor details like age/height changed. witnesses also avoided responding in a biased way to leading questions and the anxiety experienced at the time had no effect on their subsequent memory of the event. these results show that the weapon focus theory was not in action and in real life cases of extreme anxiety the accuracy of eye witness testimony is not effected.
-loftus johnson and scotts research has been criticised for breaking ethical guidelines by deliberatley causing people anxiety.
-loftus johnson and scotts research lacks ecological validity as they may have anticipated something was about to happen affecting the accuracy of their judgement.

who developed the cognitive interview

Geiselman et al (1984)

what are th 4 key principles they believed would enhance recall (cognitive interview)

context reinstatement
report everything
recall from changed perspective
recall in reverse order