Psychology a level - PART 2 memory

ao1 and ao3

define interference

when two memories disrupt each other, resulting in the forgetting of one or both, or a distorted memory

what is proactive interference

when an old memory interferes with a new one

what is retroactive interference

when a new memory interferes with an old one

does similarity increase or decrease interference

increase

summarise McGeoch and McDonald’s procedure in investing the effects of similarity on interference

studied retroactive interference. p’s learnt a list of 10 words until they could recall them with 100% accuracy, they then learnt one of five new lists or the control group rested

summarise McGeoch and McDonald’s findings and conclusions in investing the effects of similarity on interference

the most similar lists (synonyms) produced the worst recall

interference is strongest when memories are similar

two strengths of interference theory

real world evidence from study on rugby players where those who had played the most matches found it the most difficult to recall who they have played

support for retrograde facilitation from drug studies

what is retrograde facilitation

observation of memory enhancement

2 limitations of interference theory

does not explain forgetting in natural non-controlled environments so lack of cues may be a better explanation

interference can be overcome using cues

what is retrieval failure

forgetting occurring because of a lack of cues making the memory inaccessible

what is a cue

a “trigger” of information that allows a memory to be accessed. may be meaningful, or may have been encoded alongside the memory when it was made

who proposed the encoding specificity principle and what is it

Tulving. the theory that a cue had to be present and encoding and retrieval to be helpful in memory retrieval. there are external cues and internal cues

summarise Godden and Baddeley’s procedure, findings and conclusions when researching context-dependent forgetting

deep sea divers asked to either learn a list of words underwater or on land, and recall them either underwater or on land

accurate recall was 40% lower in non-matching conditions

lack of external cues results in retrieval failure

when does context-dependent forgetting occur

when there is a lack of external cues

when does state-dependent forgetting occur

when there is a lack of internal cues

summarise Carter and Cassaday’s procedure, findings and conclusions when researching state-dependent forgetting

either gave p’s antihistamine to make them feel drowsy or no antihistamine. p’s learnt passages of prose and lists of words. then asked to recall either with or without antihistamine

performance on memory test was significantly worse for p’s with non-matching internal state

lack of internal cues causes forgetting

2 strengths of retrieval failure theory

research support

real world application

2 limitations of retrieval failure theory

Baddeley argues that context effects are not that strong in everyday life

Godden and Baddeley did the same test (deep sea divers) with word recognition instead of recall and found no difference between conditions

define eyewitness testimony

the ability of people to recall details of events that they have observed. can be affected by factors like misleading information and anxiety

two types of misleading information that lower the accuracy of EWT

leading questions, post event discussion

describe Loftus and Palmer’s procedure in investigating leading questions

45 students watched film clips of car accidents and were then asked questions about them. in the critical question, they were asked how fast the cars were going when they … each other. the … was varied between hit, smashed, contacted etc

describe Loftus and Palmer’s findings and conclusions when investigating leading questions

“contacted” resulted in mean speed of 31.8mph, while “smashed” resulted in 40.5mph

leading questions result in bias in EWT

what do Loftus and Palmer suggest as an explanation for why leading questions bias EWT. use evidence

the substitution explanation: the wording of the leading question actually changed the p’s memory

p’s who were later asked if they saw glass were more likely to say yes if they were in the “smashed” condition than the “hit” condition

Describe Gabbert et al’s procedure in investigating post event discussion

p’s studied in pairs and watched the same event but from different perspectives, so they could see something their partner could not. they discussed what they saw before doing individual recall tests

Describe Gabbert et al’s findings and conclusions in investigating post event discussion

71% p’s recalled aspects that they did not see but had discussed, while the control group had 0% of this. post event discussion causes memory conformity

what are the two explanations for why post event discussion biases EWT

memory contamination (distorted memory), memory conformity (seeking social approval)

1 strength of research into misleading information and a counterpoint

real world application in justice systems

HOWEVER lab studies do not reflect real life

1 limitation of the substitutional explanation for leading questions

central details survive leading questions better than less relevant peripheral details

1 limitation of the memory conformity explanation for post event discussion

evidence suggests memory itself is distorted with post event discussion so this supports contamination, not conformity

define anxiety in terms of EWT

a state of emotional and physical arousal. include people having worried thoughts, feelings of tension, and a higher heart rate

summarise Johnson and Scott’s procedure investigating weapon focus in EWT

p’s believed they were doing a lab study, but were actually covertly observed in the waiting room. one condition saw a man walk out of the lab with a pen with grease on it, while the other saw a man walk out with a knife with blood on it

summarise Johnson and Scott’s findings and conclusions investigating weapon focus in EWT

when picking the man they saw out of 50 photos, recall was 49% accurate in low-anxiety condition, and 33% accurate in high-anxiety condition

supports the tunnel theory of memory and the weapon-focus effect, and suggests anxiety worsens EWT

what is the tunnel theory of memory

people have enhanced memories for central events. this can lead to the weapon-focus effect

summarise Yuille and Cutshall’s procedure investigating the effects of anxiety on memory

study of an actual shooting in a gun shop in Vancouver when the shop owner shot a thief dead. 13/21 witnesses 4-5 months after event and these were compared to original interviews with the police. witnesses asked to recall what they saw, rate their anxiety on a 7-point scale, and whether they had any emotional problems since

summarise Yuille and Cutshall’s findings and conclusions when investigating the effects of anxiety on memory

little change in accuracy after 4-5 months, although less-central details, e.g. height and weight estimates, were more inaccurate

high-anxiety p’s were 88% accurate while low-anxiety p’s were 75% accurate

anxiety enhances the accuracy of memory

why did the Vancouver study and the pen-grease knife-blood study have contradictory findings?

the Yerkes-Dodson law: medium levels of anxiety lead to the best possible memory

1 limitation of Johnson and Scott’s study on anxiety in memory

may have tested unusualness not anxiety

1 strength of Johnson and Scott’s study on anxiety in memory

support from study using horror maze, which found the most anxious people had the worst recall of what they saw in the maze

1 strengths of Yuille and Cutshall’s study on anxiety in memory

research support from study on EWT in Sweden: average accuracy of witnesses to a bank robbery was 75%, and even higher for those directly involved

what is the inverted-U theory

the Yerkes-Dodson law, which suggests that performance improves with stress until a point, and then gets worse again

what technique is used to improve EWT

cognitive interview

4 features of the cognitive interview

reinstate the context, change perspective, change the order, report everything

3 techniques added in the enhanced cognitive interview

open ended questions, minimising distractions, better trained interviewers

2 strengths of the cognitive interview

flexible application e.g. police can choose which elements to use

meta-analysis showed 41% improvement in accuracy comparing CI to regular interview

2 limitations of cognitive interview

not all qualities equal as report everything and reinstate the context produce the best recall

takes time and training of interviewers

research support for interference theory showing evidence of retrograde facilitation

when p’s had to recall a list of words one week after learning them on diazepam, recall was poor. when p’s had to learn the list, take diazepam, and then recall a week later, recall was even better than a placebo group

this is because the drug prevented new memories being formed and retroactively interfering with the list of words

research by Kohnken et al (1999) providing a strength and counterpoint for cognitive interview

meta-analysed 55 studies comparing the cognitive interview with standard police interviews

41% increase in accurate information from CI and only 4 studies showed no difference

HOWEVER also found an increase in inaccurate information with CI