A-Level Psychology: Memory Models, Forgetting, Eyewitness Testimony, and the Cognitive Interview

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the Working Memory Model, theories of forgetting (interference and retrieval failure), eyewitness testimony accuracy factors (misleading information and anxiety), and the cognitive interview.

Elaborative Rehearsal

A concept introduced by Craik and Watkins (1973) involving a deeper level of processing—such as linking new information to prior knowledge or analyzing its meaning—rather than simple rote repetition.

Working Memory Model (WMM)

An explanation of short-term memory proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) arguing that short-term memory is active and consists of multiple qualitatively different components rather than a single unitary store.

Central Executive

The core supervisory component ('boss') of the Working Memory Model that allocates processing resources, controls attention, and directs information to the slave systems, but possesses no storage capacity.

Phonological Loop

The slave system of working memory that deals with auditory information using acoustic coding, preserves the order of verbal information, and assists in language acquisition.

Phonological Store (Inner Ear)

The component of the phonological loop that stores speech-based information (words that you hear) for approximately $1\text{ to }2\text{ seconds}$.

Articulatory Control System (Inner Voice)

The component of the phonological loop that allows for maintenance rehearsal by repeating sounds or words in a continuous loop with a capacity equal to what can be spoken in $2\text{ seconds}$.

Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (VSS)

The slave system of working memory that stores and manipulates visual and spatial information, with a limited capacity of $3\text{ to }4\text{ objects}$.

Visual Cache

A subdivision of the visuo-spatial sketchpad identified by Logie (1995) that stores information about form and colour (what something looks like).

Inner Scribe

A subdivision of the visuo-spatial sketchpad identified by Logie (1995) that records the spatial position of objects in the visual field and rehearses and transfers information to the central executive.

Episodic Buffer

A component added to the WMM by Baddeley (2000) with a capacity of about $4\text{ chunks}$, which integrates visual, spatial, and verbal information from other stores into a coherent sequence of events and links working memory to long-term memory.

Patient KF

A brain-damaged motorcycle accident patient who could recall written visual information normally but had severely impaired recall for auditory digits, providing clinical evidence for separate visual and verbal STM stores.

Dual-Task Performance

An experimental technique showing that completing two tasks using the same slave system causes impaired performance due to competition for resources, whereas completing a visual task and an auditory task simultaneously causes relatively no impairment.

Musical Memory Limitation (Berz, 1995)

Research demonstrating that participants can listen to instrumental music without impairing performance on other acoustic tasks, challenging the WMM's assumption regarding the phonological loop's capacity.

Interference Theory

An explanation of forgetting in long-term memory where one memory disrupts or blocks the recall of another memory, particularly when two pieces of learned material are highly similar.

Proactive Interference (PI)

A type of interference occurring when older memories interfere with the retrieval of newly learned information (moving forward in time).

Keppel and Underwood (1962)

A study demonstrating proactive interference where participants remembered three-letter consonant trigrams presented first significantly better than later trigrams, regardless of the retention interval duration.

Retroactive Interference (RI)

A type of interference occurring when newly learned information interferes with the retrieval of older memories (moving backward in time).

Schmidt et al. (2000)

A natural study of retroactive interference finding that the more times participants had moved house outside of their childhood neighbourhood, the more childhood street names they forgot.

Baddeley and Hitch (1977) Rugby Study

A natural investigation showing that rugby players who played more games recalled fewer opposing team names than players who played fewer games, demonstrating real-world interference.

Retrieval Failure Theory

An explanation of forgetting which states that information is stored in long-term memory (available) but cannot be accessed without the appropriate retrieval cues.

Encoding Specificity Principle

A principle proposed by Tulving (1983) stating that a cue can only aid recall if it was present both at the time of learning (encoding) and at the time of recall (retrieval).

Context-Dependent Forgetting

A form of retrieval failure that occurs when the physical or environmental setting during recall differs from the environment where the original learning took place.

Godden & Baddeley (1975) Deep-Sea Divers Study

An investigation of context-dependent forgetting where divers learned and recalled word lists either on land or underwater; recall was $40\%$ lower when learning and recall environments mismatched.

State-Dependent Forgetting

A form of retrieval failure that occurs when an individual's internal emotional or physiological state at the time of retrieval does not match their internal state at the time of encoding.

Carter & Cassaday (1998)

A study demonstrating state-dependent forgetting using anti-histamines to induce drowsiness; memory performance was significantly worse when participants' internal states at learning and recall mismatched.

Leading Questions

Questions phrased in a specific manner that suggests or implies a particular answer to an eyewitness, potentially causing memory distortion through memory contamination or response bias.

Response-Bias Explanation

An explanation stating that leading questions do not alter the actual memory of an event, but merely influence how a participant chooses to answer the question.

Substitution Explanation

An explanation stating that the specific wording of a leading question actively changes and alters an eyewitness's underlying memory representation of the witnessed event.

Loftus & Palmer (1974)

A study where participants watched car crash clips; speed estimates varied based on critical verbs ('contacted' produced $31.8\,\text{mph}$, while 'smashed' produced $40.5\,\text{mph}$ and increased reports of broken glass a week later).

Post-Event Discussion

The conversation between co-witnesses following an incident, which can contaminate original memories through memory conformity, source monitoring errors, or the introduction of misinformation.

Memory Conformity

The phenomenon where eyewitnesses change their reported recollections to match the accounts of other witnesses, driven by normative or informational social influence.

Gabbert et al. (2003)

A study where pairs watched the same crime from different viewpoints and discussed it; $71\%$ mistakenly recalled details they did not witness compared to $0\%$ in an unprompted control group.

Devlin Report (1976)

A legal reform document recommending that trial judges warn juries about the inherent unreliability of uncorroborated eyewitness testimony.

Weapon Focus Effect (Tunnel Theory)

The narrowing of an eyewitness's attention onto a weapon due to high anxiety or perceived threat, which impairs memory for surrounding peripheral details like the perpetrator's face.

Johnson & Scott (1976)

A laboratory study where participants exposed to a man holding a greasy pen identified him with $49\%$ accuracy, compared to only $33\%$ accuracy when exposed to a man holding a bloody paper knife.

Yuille & Cutshall (1986)

A field study of a real gun shop shooting in Canada showing high recall accuracy $4\text{ to }5\text{ months}$ later, with participants reporting the highest stress being the most accurate ($88\%$ vs. $75\%$).

Yerkes-Dodson Law (applied by Deffenbacher, 1983)

A psychological principle showing an inverted-U relationship between anxiety and EWT accuracy, where recall increases with emotional arousal up to an optimal level before deteriorating sharply.

Pickel (1998) Hairdresser Study

An experiment testing weapon focus in a hair salon using scissors, a handgun, a wallet, or a raw chicken; poorer recall occurred in unusual conditions, suggesting the effect is driven by surprise rather than anxiety.

Valentine and Mesout (2009)

A study conducted in the Horror Labyrinth at the London Dungeon where high-anxiety visitors correctly identified an actor in a line-up only $17\%$ of the time, compared to $75\%$ for low-anxiety visitors.

Standard Police Interview (SI)

A traditional, interviewer-led questioning method criticized by Fisher & Geiselman (1992) for using predetermined questions, frequent interruptions, and leading language that disrupt natural memory retrieval.

Cognitive Interview (CI)

A memory retrieval technique developed by Fisher & Geiselman (1984) utilizing psychological principles of memory associations and multiple retrieval pathways to enhance eyewitness recall.

Report Everything

A cognitive interview technique instructing witnesses to detail every element of an event, regardless of perceived triviality, to trigger context-dependent associations and uncover critical forgotten facts.

Reinstate the Context

A cognitive interview technique where the witness mentally recreates the physical environment and emotional atmosphere of the crime scene to generate contextual retrieval cues.

Reverse the Order

A cognitive interview technique that instructs witnesses to recall events in a non-chronological sequence (e.g., end to beginning) to prevent schema-driven gap-filling and deter fabrication.

Change the Perspective

A cognitive interview technique where witnesses imagine the crime scene from another person's viewpoint (such as a bystander or perpetrator) to disrupt automatic schema-based assumptions.

Enhanced Cognitive Interview (ECI)

A development of the CI by Fisher et al. (1987) incorporating social interaction dynamics, such as establishing and relinquishing eye contact, speaking slowly, asking open-ended questions, and reducing anxiety.

Geiselman et al. (1985)

A study showing participants who watched a filmed violent crime recalled significantly more correct facts with the cognitive interview ($41.2$) than with hypnosis ($38.0$) or a standard interview ($29.4$).

Kohnken et al. (1999)

A meta-analysis of $50\text{ studies}$ demonstrating that the Enhanced Cognitive Interview consistently elicited significantly more correct and detailed information from witnesses compared to standard police interviews.