A level Psychology - Memory

Who created the Multi Store Model?

Who created the Multi Store Model?

Atkinson and Shiffrin

What did Atkinson and Shiffrin propose about the Multi Store Model?

Proposed 3 stores: Sensory Register, Short-Term Memory (STM), and Long Term Memory (LTM). Information passes through the stores in a linear way. STM and LTM are unitary stores. Unimportant information disappears or decays. Information in STM can be rehearsed and some can pass into LTM.

How do you retain information in the STM?

Rehearsal

How does information go from the LTM to the STM?

Retrieval

What is Sensory Memory?

Information you get from your senses e.g. sight, smell, taste etc. When attention is paid to something in the environment it is converted to STM.

What happens when you encode information?

It is transformed into a form that can be stored in memory

What are the four types of encoding?

Iconic, echoic, semantic and acoustic.

How are the three types of encoding different?

acoustic is memory with words whereas semantic is memory through meaning.

Who researched the encoding of STM and what did he do?

Baddeley showed RPs two lists of words one which sounded similar, and one which sounded different. the similar sounding list were easier to remember, so therefore STM=acoustic

Who researched the encoding of LTM and what did he do?

Baddeley showed RPs two lists of words one with similar meanings, and one with different meanings. the lists of words with different meanings were easier to remember, so therefore LTM=semanitc

How is LTM encoded?

Semantically

How is STM encoded?

Acoustically

How is Sensory Register encoded?

Sense specific (e.g. different stores for each sense). Raw and unprocessed information.

What is Capacity?

Capacity concerns how much information can be stored.

Who researched the capacity of STM and what did he do?

Miller showed RPs some digits briefly which they had to recall in the same order.

What was the technique used in the study of the capacity of STM?

The digit span technique

What is a trigram?

a sequence of three letters e.g. QHD, FHE, DJW

Who researched the capacity of LTM and what did he do?

Peterson presented RPs with trigrams briefly and gave them a distraction task to prevent rehearsal.

What was the technique used in the study of the capacity of LTM?

The Brown-Peterson technique

What is the capacity of LTM?

Unlimited (but hard to prove)

What is the capacity of STM?

7 +/- 2 items. Chunking increases capacity.

What is the capacity of Sensory Register?

All sensory experience (v. larger capacity). Very detailed.

What is Duration?

refers to the period of time information can last in the memory stores.

Who researched the duration of LTM and what did he do?

Bahrick showed RPs a photo of their school friends and he found that 70% of people could remember them 48 years later.

What is the duration of LTM?

From a fee minutes to a lifetime

What is the duration of STM?

0-18 seconds. Rehearsal increases duration.

What is the duration of Sensory Register?

¼ to ½ second. Varies with sense and age

What are the strengths of the Multi Store Model?

-Good understanding of the structure and process of the STM which allows researchers to expand on this model. -Researchers can do experiments to improve this model and make it more valid and they can prove what the stores actually do.

What is the 'T' in the acronym for the problems with the multistore model?

Too simple. Both LTM and STM are more complicated than the multi store model suggests

What is the 'S' in the acronym for the problems with the multistore model?

Serial position effect.

What is the research on both STM and LTM?

Glanzer and Cunitz presented participants with a list of words, they remember the first and last few words and forget the ones in the middle i.e. the serial position effect. Participants showed evidence of both primary effect and recovery effect.

What is the primary effect?

You remember more information at the beginning of a list of words, as it has gone into LTM.

What is the recency effect?

You remember more information at the end of a list of words, as it is still in STM.

What are the Strengths on the Research of both STM and LTM?

Supports existence of separate LTM and STM stores because they observed a primacy and recency effect.

How does the KF case (Shallice & Warrington, 1970) support the distinction between STM and LTM?

He was in a motorcycle crash and had sustained brain damage. LTM unaffected, STM impaired (only able to recall last bit of information heard.

What are the types of LTM?

Tulving (1972) proposed that a distinction between episodic, semantic and procedural memory.

What is Procedural Memory?

Part of the LTM is responsible for knowing how to do things, i.e. memory of motor skills. Its not conscious (automatic) thought and not declarative. E.g. No knowledge needed for learning to ride a bike.

What is Semantic Memory?

Part of the LTM responsible for storing information about the world. Includes knowledge about the meaning of words, as well as general knowledge. For example, London is the capital of England. Conscious thought and is declarative.

What is Episodic Memory?

Part of the LTM responsible for storing information about events (i.e. episodes) that we have experienced in our lives. Involves conscious thought and is declarative. An example would be a memory of our 1st day at school.

What research did Cohen and Squire (1980) do for types of LTM?

Drew a distinction between declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge. Procedural knowledge is 'knowing how' to do skills e.g. playing the piano. However, declarative (factual) knowledge involves 'knowing that' e.g. capital of UK, Mums Birthday etc. Semantic and episodic memory involves 'knowing that' something is the case.

What is the evidence on the types of LTM?

Distinction between procedural and declarative memory through amnesia patients as they have difficulty in retaining episodic and semantic memory. Memory for past events and knowledge before the condition is onset is intact whereas their ability to retain declarative information is impaired.

Who and when created the Working Memory Model?

Baddeley and Hitch, 1974

What is the Working Memory Model?

It represents the STM and suggests it's a system involving active processing and short term storage of information. Key features are the central executive, the phonological loop, and the visuo-spatial sketch pad.

What is the Central Executive (CE)?

Acts like a filter and determines which information will be sent to the three subsystems in memory. It allocates resources to those processing activities. However, it has a limited capacity as it can only deal with one piece of information at a time.

What is the Phonological Loop (PL)?

A temporary storage system and stores information in terms of sound. This information could be stored either in the phonological store (inner ear) or the articulatory process (inner voice) which allows maintenance rehearsal. This is key for the development of reading.

What is the Visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS)?

A temporary memory system for holding visual and spatial memory. 2 stores in the VSS, visual cache (stores visual information about form and colour) and the inner scribe (arrangement of objects form vision, rehearses and transfers information from visual cache to central executive)

What is the Episodic Buffer (EB)?

Acts as a backup and is a temporary store for information which communicates both the LTM and the three slave components (PL, VSS and EB).

What are the strengths of the Working Memory Model?

Supported by dual task studies as it's easier to do 2 tasks at the same time is they use different processing systems (e.g. visual and verbal). This is shown as participants find it harder to do 2 visual tasks at the same time because they have limited resources of the VSS.

How does the KF study support evidence for the Working Memory Model?

His verbal information was impaired but visual information was largely unaffected.Shows separate stores in STM.

What are the limitations for the evidence of the Working Memory Model?

Evidence for brain-damaged patients are not reliable as they're unique cases with traumatic experiences. Little information on how central executive works. The model doesn't link between the WMM and LTM.

What research did Baddeley and Hitch do study of the WMM?

Participants asked to do 2 tasks at the same time (dual task technique). Digit span task required them to repeat a list of numbers, and verbal reasaoning task got them to answer try or false questions.

What results did Baddeley and Hitch on the study of the WMM?

As numbers of digits increased in the digit span task, participants took a little longer to answer the questions. Didn't make any more errors as the number of digits increased.

What is the conclusion Baddeley and Hitch made on the study of the WMM?

The verbal reasoning task made use of the central executive and the digit span task made use of the phonological loop

What does interference mean?

Explanation for forgetting from LTM.

What is Proactive Interference?

(pro=forward) Old information prevents recall of new information. Old memories disrupt with new memories.

What is Retroactive Interference?

(retro=backward) New information prevents recall of old information. New memories disrupt with old memories.

When are proactive and retroactive interference more likely to occur?

When the memories are similar e.g. confusing new and old phone numbers.

What did Chandler find with students taking similar subjects at the same time in 1989?

That they are likely to experience interfernece more often e.g. French and Spanish.

Who and when did evidence to support the theory of forgetting?

Postman 1960

What was the lab experiment Postman did?

The participants were split into two groups. both had to remember a list of paired words e.g. cat-tree, jelly-moss etc. Only experimental group had to learn another list of paired words e.g. cat-glass, jelly-time etc.

What was found in the Postman experiment when all the participants recalled the first list?

The control group were able to recall the list better than the experimental group. Suggests that learning the second list for the experimental group interfered with their recalling. Example of retroactive interference.

What are the problems with retroactive and proactive interference for explaining forgetting?

Little information about the cognitive processes involved. Not generalisable. Low ecological validity.

What does Baddeley state about Interference in real life situations compared to lab experiments?

That the tasks given to subjects are too close to each other and in real life these kinds of events are more spaced out

What type of LTM has the most resistance on interference?

Semantic Memory

What is retrieval failure?

Information is available in LTM but cannot be recalled because of the absence of appropriate cues.

What are the types of cues?

Context, state and organisation.

What are retrieval cues?

When we store a new memory we also store information about the situation.

What are the 3 retrieval cues?

Context, state and organisation.

What is a Context Retrieval Cue?

External cues in the environment, e.g. smell, place etc. Evidence shows that retrieving information will happen more likely if the context at encoding matches the context at retrieval.

What is State Dependent Retrieval?

Bodily cues inside of us, e.g. physical, emotional, mood, drunk etc. Memory will be best when a person's physical or psychological state is similar at encoding and retrieval.

What is Organisation Retrieval Cue?

Recall is improved if the organisation gives a structure which provides triggers, eg categories

What does retrieval-failure theory state about forgetting?

It occurs when information is available in LTM but is not accessible. Accessibility depends in large part on retrieval cues.

When is forgetting most likely to happen and why?

When context and state are very different at encoding and retrieval because retrieval cues are absent and the likely result is cue-dependent forgetting.

What did Baddeley try to find in his experiment in 1975?

The importance of context setting for retrieval.

What experiment did Baddeley conduct in 1975?

Got 2 groups of sea-divers to learn a list. 1 group learnt underwater and other on the beach. Then half of the groups recalled on beach and some underwater,. IT

What were the results that Baddeley found in his experiment in 1975?

Those who had recalled in same environment (i.e. context) and had learned recalled 40% more words than those recalling in a different environment. Showing that retrieval is improved if it occurs in the context which it was learned.

What did Goodwin investigate for State-Dependent Retrieval?

He investigated the effect of alcohol on state-dependent (internal) retrieval. They found that when people encoded information when drunk, they were more likely to recall it in the same state.

What were the tests that the participants got from Goodwin?

Hid money and alcohol when drunk, unlikely to find them when sober. However, when drunk, found them again.

What other cases have they done for state-dependent retrieval?

Participants were given drugs such as marijuana.

When do people tend to remember material better?

There is a match between their mood at learning and at retrieval.

What are the effects for people remembering material better?

Participants are in a positive mood than a negative mood. People try to remember events having personal relevance.

What are the limitations of Baddeley's experiment and Goodwin's experiment?

Ecological validity of these experiments can be questioned. Also, Goodwins experiment isn't ethical.

What are the strengths of Baddeley's experiment and Goodwin's experiment?

Its supported by evidence from outside the laboratory.

What did Loftus and Palmer investigate about misleading information?

How it could distort eyewitness testimony accounts.

What was the procedure that Loftus and Palmer do for testing misleading information?

45 American students formed an opportunity sample. Lab experiment with 5 conditions but each participant only experience one (independent measure). Participants showed slides of car accident and were asked to describe what happened. Then they were asked "About how fast were the cars going when they (hit/ smashed/ collided/ bumped/ contacted ) each other?"

What were the findings that Loftus and Palmer do for testing misleading information?

Estimated speed was affected by the verb used. The verb implied the speed, which systematically affected their memory of the accident. "smashed" was thought to be fastest followed by "collided", "bumped", "hit", and "contacted" in descending order.

What does the research of Loftus and Palmer test for misleading information lack?

Lacks mundane realism (doesn't have the same emotional impact to real-life eye-witness). Another problem, was the use of the students. Not generalisable. may be less experienced drivers.

What are the strengths of the Loftus and Palmer test for misleading information?

Easy to replicate as it was a lab experiment which followed a standardised procedure.

What do we tend to focus on when we are in a state of anxiety?

Tend to focus on whatever is making us feel anxious or fearful, and we exclude other information about the situation. E.g. when threatened, the victim will focus on the weapon and not the surrounding making it hard to recall.

What did Clifford and Scott find in 1975 about anxiety in violent attacks?

People who saw a film of a violent attack remembered fewer of the 40 items of information about the event than a control group who saw a less stressful version.

What is the comparison between the experiment of Clifford ad Scott to real life situation?

Witnessing a real crime is probably more stressful than taking part in an experiment, memory accuracy may well be even more affected in real life.

What did Yuille and Cutshall find out in 1986 about eye witnessing memory?

They contradicted the importance of stress in eye witnessing memory.

What was the experiment Yuille and Cutshall do to contradict about stress in eye witnessing memory?

21 witnesses observing a shooting in Canada, 1 killed, 1 injured. Took place on a major thoroughfare in mid-afternoon. All witnesses interviews by police. 13 witnesses (aged 15-32) agreed to a research interview 4-5 months after the event. The witnesses were asked how stressed they were at the incident on a 7 point scale.

What were the results of the Yuille and Cutshall experiment on eye witnessing memory?

Witnesses highly accurate on their accounts, little change in accuracy after 5 months. Stress levels did not affect memory, contrary to lab findings. Very high anxiety linked to better accuracy. Participants with highest levels of stress, most accurate (about 88% accurate compared to 75% less-stressed group).

What is a strength of Yuille & Cutshall and Clifford & Scott's study on eye witnessing memory?

High ecological validity compared to lab studies which control their variables.

What is a weakness of Yuille & Cutshall and Clifford & Scott's study on eye witnessing memory?

There was an extraneous variable. Witness with higher stress levels were closer to the event which may of helped their accuracy of recall.

What is the cognitive interview?

A procedure for police questioning of witnesses that promotes accurate and detailed recall of events.

What is context reinstatement in the cognitive interview?

Trying to mentally recreate an image of the situation, including details of the environment, e.g. the weather conditions, individual's emotional state including their feelings at the time of the incident.

How is psychology linked to context reinstatement in the cognitive interview?

It relates to Tulving's Encoding Specificity Principle (ESP).

What is recall from a changed perspective in the cognitive interview?

Trying to mentally recreate the situation from different points of view e.g. describing what another witness present at the scene would have seen.