memory

what is memory?

process in which we retain and recall information about events that have happened in the past.

what is the order of the multi store memory model?

environmental stimulus which is registered by the sensory memory

if you don't pay attention it will decay and if you do the information will be passed onto the STM

here there will be a maintenance rehearsal loop where you forget information if you don't pay attention

elaborative rehearsal to go to LTM

to use the information now you will have to retrieve it and recall through STM

what is the serial position effect (glazer and Cunitz)

when people asked to remember a list of words greater than the capacity of STM they have a tendency to remember words from the beginning and end of the list.

what is the primacy effect?

tendency to remember first 5 or so words- first words are rehearsed and transferred to the LTM

what is the recency effect?

tendency to remember the last 5 or so word- fresh and in STM at start of recall

what is the case of HM?

he had a lobotomy to correct epileptic seizures, and his hippocampus was removed so he could no longer form LTM

how does HM support the MSM?

shows we have 3 separate stores and the hippocampus functions as a memory gateway.

what are the 3 types of LTM?

episodic, semantic, procedural

what is episodic memory?

events reported from a person's life.

timestamped

consciously (declarative)

what is semantic memory?

general world knowledge

not time stamped

consciously (declaritve)

what is the working memory model?

how STM was not just a unitary store, LTM is a more passive store that holds previously unlearned material by the STM.

what is procedural memory?

actions or skills

not time stamped

unconsciously (implicit)

what is the central executive?

drives the system and allocates resources, it also decided how the attention is directed. Baddely uses the metaphor of a company boss.

limited capacity

reasoning and decision making

what is the phonological loop?

deals with auditory information and order

Phonological store: stores words in speech based form for 1-2 secs

articulatory process: maintenance rehearsal, capacity of loop is 2 secs.

What is the visuospatial sketchpad?

visual- what things look like.

spatial- relationship between things.

Logie split it into

visual cache: stores visual info

inner scribe: records arrangement

what is the episodic buffer?

Baddely added it for a more general store.

temporary storage for acoustic and visual infra

limited capacity of 4 chunks

what is the study to support the phonological loop?

Baddely- word length effect

one condition: 5 one syllable

two condition: 5 polysyllabic

People cope better remembering shorter words in the STM, the loop has a limited capacity and a duration of 1-2 secs. Inhibits rehearsal of longer words.

what is the study to support the visuospatial sketchpad?

Baddeley- visual tracking task

tracking a line with a pointer whilst either describing the letter F or doing a verbal task

Task 1 is more difficult because both are competing for the same slave trade. Supports idea of a separate system- visual and auditory.

what is the case of KF?

he was in a motorbike accident and damaged his left occipiatal lobe.

His STM was damaged and he remembered words better if they were presented visually rather than auditorallay.

what does the KF case tell you about the MSM and WMM?

MSM: 3 tyypesof memory in different places

WMM: various stores of STM phonological loop may be more damaged.

what is interference?

where one memory disturbs the ability to recall the other. results in forgetting or distorting the other or both- more likely if memories are similar.

what is proactive inference?

when an older memory interferes with a new one

what is retroactive interference?

when a newer memory interferes with an older one

what is underwood and postman's experiment?

a paired associate learning task to test the effect of interference.

1 list- presented first word (stimulus word) and recall paired word (response word)

2nd list- same stimulus word and different response word

list B- proactive list C- retroactive

control group recall with no interference

what were the results

control group will perform best. recall of response words is poorer by both learnings. only present when same stimulus words are used in both lists

does this apply to real life?

no information is too artificial

what is the effect of similarity?

in retroactive and proactive interference, interference is worse when memories are similar

what do Mcgeoh and Mcdonald do?

studied retroactive interference by changing amount of similarity between 2 sets of materials.

learn one list 100% and then second list had different conditions (6)like synonyms to no new list

what were the results?

synonyms produced the worst recall: too similar so interference

no new list produced best recall: no new memories that are similar too old, no interference

what is the retrieval failure?

forgetting in the long term memory due to insufficient cues.

what is the encoding specificity principle?

the greater the similarity between the encoding event and the retrieval event, the greater the likelihood of recalling the original memory

what are the 2 types of cues?

external cues- context dependent learning

internal cues- state dependent learning

what is the context dependent forgetting study?

Abernethy- tested prior to a certain course with the same instructor and room. This was the best result because familiar things and surroundings acted as memory cues.

Godden and Badly- deep divers learned information on land and underwater with recall. The recall was 40% lower in non- matching conditions because of ESP

what is the state dependent forgetting study?

we could remember this information again when we are in the same mental state.

Carter and Cassady looked at the effect of anti histamines of learning on the drug and recalling with or without. Creating an internal physiological state and normal.

Goodwin- people who are drunk recall when drunk

Miles and Hardman- learning on excursive bike, recall on exercise bike.

what is an eyewitness?

someone who has seen or witnessed a crime, usually present at the time of the incident

what is eyewitness testimony?

the evidence provided by a person in court who witnessed a crime, with a view to identifying the perpetrator

what are the 3 stages of eyewitness testimony?

witness encodes info into the LTM (partial as event could be quick, dark, violent etc)

witness retains info for a time, memories may be lost or modified during retention, other activities may interfere with it

witness retrieves memory from storage, presence or absence of info that may affect accuracy of memory

what are the factors affect EWT?

witness factors: age, race, gender and individual response to anxiety or stress

event factors: duration of event and level of violence witnessed

what are leading questions?

question that either by its form or content, suggests to the witness what answer is desired or leads him to the desired answer. Retroactive interfering

what were the aims of lofters and palmers experiment?

To investigate in general how accurate or inaccurate memory was. Specifically, they wanted to see the effect of leading questions upon estimates of speed. Using independent measures.

what was experiment 1? Aim and procedure

To see if the speed estimates were influenced by the wording of the question asked

45 students in lab experiment

7 films with accident watched for 5-30 secs, in a different order

Questionnaire, first to give an account

Second, specific questions, critical question about speed

How fast cars going when they… each other?

The blank filled with smashed, hit, collided, bumped or contacted

What was the conclusion of experiment 1?

Response bias explanation- wording of question has no effect on memory but influences how they answer the question. Like the word smashed encourages them to choose a higher speed.

what was the aim and procedure of experiment 2?

if the leading questions changed the responses or if memories were actually altered.

150 participants in lab experiment watched a video of a crash

questionnaire

critical question of speed (smashed/hit)

week later asked if the glass broke

smashed= yes

what was the conclusion of experiment 2?

substitution explanation- wording of the question actually changes the memory, critical verb altered the memory.

what was Gabberts experiment of post event discussion?

studies in pairs

each one watch video of same crime from different points of views

both then discuss what they saw before individually taking a test