PSYCHOLOGY

What is the aim of Baddely’s study of encoding?

Baddely aimed to see if there was a difference in the type of encoding used in STM and LTM.

What is the method of Baddely’s study of encoding?

4 groups were given different lists of words. They were asked to recall the words in order. Different groups were asked to recall the words at different times.

What is the results of Baddely’s study of encoding?

The groups who recalled the list later did worse than the groups who did it earlier.

What is the conclusion of Baddely’s study of encoding?

Words are encoded acoustically due to the STM. Words are encoded semantically due to the LTM.

What is the evaluation of Baddely’s study of encoding?

STRENGTH: Extraneous variables were controlled well. The type of words used was the factor that affected participants’ recall. WEAKNESS: LTM may not have been tested in the study. Waiting 20 minutes before recall doesn’t mean the words are in LTM.

What is the Multi-Store Model and what does it demonstrate?

• Memory is moved from the sensory register to our STM with attention.

• Memories are moved from STM to LTM with rehearsal.

• Our STM is limited.

• Our LTM is potentially unlimited.

What is the evaluation for the Multi-Store Model?

STRENGTH: There is support for the existence of different memory stores. This shows that the 2 types of memory have qualitative differences. WEAKNESS: The model is too simple as it suggests we only have 1 STM and 1 LTM. Memory is more complex.

What is the Theory of Reconstructive Memory?

• We can’t recall everything perfectly so we fill in the gaps.

• Social and cultural expectations have an influence on our memory.

• Expectations affect the way we store and recall memories.

• Memory is an ‘active process’, meaning that we are constantly engaging with our memories.

What is the evaluation for the Theory of Reconstructive Memory?

STRENGTH: It reflects how we use memory in our everyday lives. This makes the results more relevant to real life memory processes. WEAKNESS: Not all memories are reconstructed.

What is the aim of Bartlett’s War of Ghosts Study?

Bartlett investigated how memory is reconstructed when people are asked to recall an unfamiliar story from a different culture.

What is the method of Bartlett’s War of Ghosts Study?

Bartlett gave a group of people an unusual story, asking them to recall after some time.

What is the results of Bartlett’s War of Ghosts Study?

Participants changed the story to fit their culture. E.g: Seal → Fish.

What is the conculsion of Bartlett’s War of Ghosts Study?

We use our knowledge of social situations to reconstruct memory.

What is the evaluation of Bartlett’s War of Ghosts Study?

WEAKNESS: The results were biased, Bartlett’s own beliefs affected the results. Therefore, the conclusion isn’t trusted. WEAKNESS:The story was unusual. Recall of the story may not reflect everyday life.

What is the aim of Murdock’s Serial Position Curve Study?

Murdock wanted to see if the words remembered were affected by how many words you have to remember.

What is the method of Murdock’s Serial Position Curve Study?

He created a list of common words. Students were asked to recall different amounts of words.

What is the results of Murdock’s Serial Position Curve Study?

The most remembered words are from the start and end of the list - the primacy and recency effect.

What is the conclusion of Murdock’s Serial Position Curve Study?

The results demonstrate a serial position effect: The tendency to recall the first and last words in a list of words.

What is the evaluation of Murdock’s Serial Position Curve Study?

STRENGTH: The study has controlled conditions, meaning that we can trust them. There is little room for extraneous variables. WEAKNESS: The study used a list of words. It does not reflect real life as it is artificial.

What is the aim for the study of Interference?

They aimed to see whether accuracy of recalling a list of words would be affected by a competing list of words.

What is the method for the study of Interference?

Participants learned a list of words and were shown a new list.

What is the results for the study of Interference?

When participants recalled the initial list of words, their memory was affected by the new list. Proactive: Old info interferes with new info. Retroactive: New info interferes with old info.

What is the conclusion for the study of Interference?

Interference from a second set of information reduces the accuracy of memory.

What is the evaluation for the study of Interference?

STRENGTH: There was high control - less biased. WEAKNESS: It doesn’t reflect real life memory. The effect is limited because of its artificiality.

What is the aim for the study of Context?

Godden and Baddely aimed to see if context improved recall.

What is the method for the study of Context?

Participants listened to and recalled words in the same or different settings.

What is the results for the study of Context?

Recall was highest when the conditions of recall were in the same setting.

What is the conclusion for the study of Context?

Context of learning acts as a cue when trying to remember information. This improves the accuracy of memory.

What is the evaluation for the study of Context?

STRENGTH: The study has some real life applications. This means that the study is accurate. WEAKNESS: They used word lists - This is artificial and does not reflect real life.

What is the aim for the study of False Memories?

They aimed to see if false memories could be created in participants through suggestion.

What is the method for the study of False Memories?

Participants were given stories about childhood events, most were true stories about childhood events, most were true and one was false. The story was created with a relative to make it more realistic. Participants read each story and wrote about what they remembered.

What is the results for the study of False Memories?

¼ recalled the false story fully or partially.

What is the conclusion for the study of False Memories?

Imagining an event can implant a false memory in a person, reducing the accuracy of memory.

What is the evaluation for the study of False Memories?

STRENGTH: Implications for EWT. Police questioning could accidentally implant false memories - EWT are unreliable. WEAKNESS: Raises ethical issues. Participants may be left with false memories, causing psychological harm.

What is Gibson’s Theory of Perception?

• Perception is innate.

• We do not need past experience to fill in the gaps.

• We need to make affordances as to what an object could be.

• Sensation and perception are the same thing.

What is the evaluation for Gibson’s Theory of Perception?

STRENGTH: The research to support this idea supports all key points. WEAKNESS: Visual illusions show that our brain makes ‘percuptual errors’.

What is Gregory’s Theory of Perception?

• Our understanding of visual cues are learned from experiences.

• Perception develops from nurture.

• We have reconstructive memory.

• Our perception becomes more sophisticated as we grow.

What is the evaluation for Gregory’s Theory of Perception?

STRENGTH: There is supported research. The Muller-Lyer illusion shows that people who did not grow up in the same environment all had the correct responses. WEAKNESS: Gibson’s supported research contradicts Gregory’s.

What is the aim for the study of Expectation?

They aimed to find out whether an ambigious figure was seen differently if the context of the figure was changed.

What is the method for the study of Expectation?

Participants were either presented with a sequence of letters or a sequence of numbers. Participants had to report and also draw what they saw.

What is the results for the study of Expectation?

Those who saw a sequence of letters wrote the letter, not the number, and vice versa.

What is the conclusion for the study of Expectation?

Expectation of what the figure represented was affected by the context.

What is the evaluation for the study of Expectation?

STRENGTH: It has a real life application. It helps to explain why people sometimes make serious mistakes on tasks in the real world. WEAKNESS: It is artificial. An ambigious figure is designed to trick perception. This makes the results lack validity.

What is the aim for the study of Culture?

He aimed to find out whether people from different cultural/educational backgrounds perceived depth cues differently.

What is the method for the study of Culture?

Drawings were shown to participants with different ethnic/educational backgrounds.

What is the results for the study of Culture?

Educated participants did better than the non educated participants. White educated participants did better than the black educated participants.

What is the conclusion for the study of Culture?

People from different cultural/educational backgrounds use depth cues differently.

What is the evaluation for the study of Culture?

WEAKNESS: There may have been a language barrier. WEAKNESS: The research is very outdated. Now, there may be less of a difference between educational/ethnic cues.

What is the aim for the study of Emotion?

McGinnie wanted to see whether things that cause anxiety are less likely to be noticed than things that are emotionally neutral.

What is the method for the study of Emotion?

Male and female participants were asked to say neutral and ‘taboo’. Emotional arousal was measured through Galvanic Skin Response.

What is the results for the study of Emotion?

Participants took longer to say ‘taboo’ words.

What is the conclusion for the study of Emotion?

Emotion affects perceptual set.

What is the evaluation for the study of Emotion?

STRENGTH: A scientific method was used (GSR). It was less biased. WEAKNESS: A delayed recognition may be more to do with embarrassment. Participants may hesitate due to being uncomfortable.

What is the aim for the study of Motivation?

To find out what affect food deprivation would have on the perception of food related pictures.

What is the method for the study of Motivation?

Students volunteered to go without food for 20 hours. Participants were randomly assigned conditions and were asked to readjust the brightness of a dulled picture of food.

What is the results for the study of Motivation?

When participants were food deprived, they brightened the image more than the participants who were not food deprived.

What is the conclusion for the study of Motivation?

Hunger is a motivating factor that affects perception.

What is the evaluation for the study of Motivation?

STRENGTH: The work is supported. Similar studies have found similar results. WEAKNESS: Depriving people of food and water may be unethical. It can cause physical harm.

What is encoding?

The process in which one form is changed to another in terms of information so that it can be stored for later recall.

What are the 3 main types of encoding?

• Visual → Eyes

• Acoustic → Ears

• Semantic → Memory

What is recognition?

Seeing something may trigger you to remember the memory.

What is cued recall?

You try to remember something bur can’t; you need a hint as to what the memory is.

What is free recall?

You retrieve information without any hints.

What is Episodic memory?

Memory of events in your past life. E.g: Your 18th birthday party.

What is Semantic memory?

Memorised facts/knowledge. E.g: Paris is the Capital of France.

What is Procedural memory?

Muscle memory. E.g: Riding a bike.

What is Serial Reproduction?

A piece of information is passed from one participant to the next. Differences between each version are measured.

What is Retrieval?

The process of accessing information that has been stored.

What is the Serial Position Effect?

The tendency to recall the first and last words in a list of words.

What is Reconstructive memory?

Fragments of stored information reassembled during recall. The gaps are filled by expectations.

What is Interference?

2 similar memories compete with each other and prevent us from accessing it, reducing accuracy.

What is Context?

The situation in which something happens. It can act as a cue to recall information, increasing accuracy.

What is False memory?

A memory that did not happen but feels as if were true.

What is a Schema?

A pattern of thought or behaviour that organises information and the relationships between them.

What is the Primacy Effect?

The tendency to remember the first fee words from a list.

What is the Recency Effect?

The tendency to remember the last few words from a list.

What is Proactive Interference?

Old information interferes with new information that you are trying to store.

What is Retroactive Interference?

New information interferes with old information that you are trying to recall.

What is Sensation?

The physical stimulation from a sense receptor.

What is Perception?

The interpretation of sensory information.

What is a Visual Constancy?

Our ability to see an object as the same even if the actual image received by the idea has changed.

What is a Visual Illusion?

The unconscious ‘mistakes’ of perception.

What is the Direct Theory?

Perception is the same as sensation.

What is the Constructivist Theory?

The argument that we make sense of the world around us by building our perceptions from what we know about the world.

What is Perceptual Set?

The tendency to notice certain aspects of the sensory environment whilst ignoring others.

What is the Ponzo Illusion?

• Misinterpreted depth cue.

• Horizontal line is higher up in the image, appearing longer than the lower horizontal line.

• Both lines are the same size.

What is the Muller-Lyer Illusion?

• Misinterpreted depth cue.

• Distortion of line length.

• Line of left arrow is perceived longer than the right.

• Both lines are the same size.

What is Rubin's Vase?

• Ambigious figure.

• You should see 2 faces or a vase.

• Both perspectives are correct.

• The brain doesn’t know which to focus on.

What is Ames Room?

• Misinterpreted depth cue.

• One person appears larger than the other across the room.

• The shape of the room is a trapezoid.

What is a Monocular depth cue?

• Perceptual cues that are detected with 1 eye.

• Help us know how far away things are.

• Not perfectly accurate.

What are the Monocular depth cues?

• Hight in Plane.

• Relative Size.

• Occlusion.

• Linear Perspective.

What is Height in Plane?

Objects higher up in a visual field appear to be further away.

What is Relative Size?

Smaller objects in the visual field appear to be further away.

What is Occlusion?

Objects that obscure or are in front of others appear to be closer in the image.

What is Linear Perspective?

Parallel lines converge at some point on the horizon at a vanishing point.

What is Size Constancy?

Keeping original perception of the size of the object the same even when the information received by the eye changes.

What is a Misinterpreted Depth Cue?

Sometimes our brain perceives distance when it is not actually there.

What is a Binocular Depth Cue?

• Cues detected using both eyes.

• Comparing differences between both eyes.

• More accurate.

What are the Binocular Depth Cues?

• Retinal Desparity.

• Convergence.

What is Retinal Desparity?

When close to us:

• A differnece in what the 2 eyes see.

• Left/Right is slightly different from each other.

When further away:

• Less of a difference between the 2 eyes.

• The closer something is, the bigger the difference.