Memory (copy)

memory definition

the process of taking in information from the world around us, processing it, storing it and later recalling that information, sometimes many years later.

what are the types of memory

- sensory register/memory (SR)
- short term memory (STM)
- long term memory (LTM)

what is the sensory register

A short duration store that holds information we have gained through the 5 senses.

what is short term memory

the limited-capacity memory store

what is long term memory

the permanent memory store

what was the original view of memory

memory was a unistore - one big 'cupboard' for all memories

what caused the view of memory to change from the unistore model

the multistore model

how is information kept in the STM

- its kept in the memory for more than a few seconds fdue to maintenance rehearsal

coding definition

the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores

capacity definition

The amount of information that can be held in a memory store

duration definition

The length of time information can be held in memory store

how is encoding used in the sensory register

- information is picked up by our sense organs in whatever form they are specialised for - visual, sound, touch, smell and taste

what is visual coding called

iconic

what is sound coding called

echoic

what is the capacity in the sensory register

unlimited as each of our sense organs contains milluins of cells

what is the capacity in the LTM

unlimited as our brains create new connections in response to new long term learning, so it doesnt get 'full up'

what are the three LTM stores Tulving suggested

- episodic = memories of events from the past
- semantic = knowledge
- procedural = actions

characteristics of episodic memories

- memories of events of episodes
- times stamped
- people, places and things are woven together to create one memory
- memories may be easily and quickly accessed but only with conscious effort

characteristics of semantic memory

- contains our knowledge of the world; facts; things and their meanings
- not timed stamped
- memories may be quickly and easily accessed but only with conscious effort (declarative)

characteristics of procedural memory

- memory for actions and skills
- we dont have to use conscious or effortful reacall; we do the tasks without necessarily being aware of what we're doing (non-declarative)
- not timed stamped

what are the two forms LTM can come in

declarative and non-declarative

definition of forgetting

the apparent loss or modification of information already encoded and stored in an individual's short or long-term memory

what are the two explanations for forgetting in the LTM

- interference
- retrieval failure

what is interference

- two types of interference: a memory an e interfered with by information that has come before or information which comes later
- interference is more likely when the material is similar
- memories are not lost but just temporarily unavailable due to interference

what are the two types of interference

proactive and retroactive

proactive interference definition

Forgetting occurs when older memories, already stored, disrupt the recall of newer memories. The degree of forgetting is greater when the memories are similar.

retroactive interference definition

Forgetting occurs when newer memories disrupt the recall of older memories already stored. The degree of forgetting is again greater when the memories are similar.

Why does retrieval failure occur?

forgetting due to an absence of cues; the information isnt lost but inaccessible

cue definition

a 'trigger' of information that allows us to access a memory. Such cues may be meaningful or may be indirectly linked by encoded at the time of learning indirect cues may be external or internal

what format can cues come in

any format

how can cues be learnt

- deliberately learnt - e.g. mnemonic
- accidentally learnt - e.g. smells
- meaningful - e.g. something that just happens to have been encoded at the time

eye witness testimony definition (EWT)

the ability of people to remember the details of events, such as accidents and crimes, which they themselves have observed. Accuracy of EWT can be affected by factors such as misleading information and anxiety

misleading information definition

Incorrect information given to the eyewitness usually after the event. It can take many forms, such as leading questions and post-event discussion between co-witnesses and/or other people.

what are the two types of misleading information

- leading questions
- post event discussion

leading question definition

a question which, because of the way it is phrased, suggests a certain answer. For example, 'was the knife in his left hand?' leads a person to think that's where the knife was

definition of response bias explantation

several factors that can lead someone to respond falsely or inaccurately to a question

definition of altered memory

partial or complete loss of memory caused by a physical or psychological condition.

how can post event discussion take place

- with other witnesses
- with interviews

post event discussion definition (PED)

occurs when there is more than on witness to an event. Witnesses may discuss what they have seen with co-witnesses or with other people. This may influence the accuracy of each witness's recall of the even

what is the research on capacity by Joseph Jacobs

- digit span

how did Jacobs study research on capacity (digit span)

- how much information can STM hold at one time
- the researcher reads out four digits and the participant recalls these out loud in the correct order. If this is correct the researcher reads out five digits ect

what were the findings of Jacobs study on capacity (digit span)

the mean span of digits across all participants was 9.3 items - the span for letters was 7.3

what did George Miller do in his research in the span of memory and chunking

- made observation of everyday practice
- e.g. he noticed that things come in sevens: seven notes on music scale, seven days
- Miller thought that the span of STM is about 7 items plus or minus 2
- he also noted that people can recall five words as easily as they can recall five letters (done through chunking)

what is chunking

Grouping sets of digits or letters into units or chunks

how did Margaret and Lloyed Peterson research duration in STM

- tested 24 students in 8 trials each
- on each trial the student was given a consonant syllable to remember
- they were given a 3 digit number and were told to count back from this number until told to stop - to prevent any maintenance rehearsal
- the varying time periods were 3,6,9,12,15, or 18

findings of Margaret and Lloyed Peterson research on duration in the STM

- after 3 seconds the average recall was about 80%
- after 18 seconds it was about 3%
- this suggested that STM duration may be about 18 seconds, unless we perform maintenance rehearsal

how did Harry Bahrick et al study duration in LTM

- 392 American participants aged between 17 and 74
- school yearbooks were obtained and recall was tested through:
1) photo recognition test consisting of 50 photos
2) free recall test where participants recalled all the names of their graduating class

findings of Harry Bahrick et al study duration in LTM

- participants tested within 15 years of graduation were about 90% accurate in photo recognition and 60% accurate on free recall
- participants tested within 48 years had a recall of 70% photo recognition and 30% free recall
- showing LTM may last up to a lifetime for some material

strength and weakness of research into coding

strength = separate memory stores
limitation = artificial stimuli

how is separate memory stores a strength for research into coding

- it identified a clear difference between two memory stores
- later research shows that there are some exceptions to Baddeley's findings but the idea that STM is mostly acoustic and LTM is mostly semantic stood
- this is important to understanding memory - which led to the multi-store model

how is artificial stimuli a limitation for research into coding

- Baddeley's study used artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material
- e.g. the word lists had no personal meaning to participants so his findings may not tell us much about coding in different memory tasks
- this suggests limited aplication

strength and limitation of research on capacity

strength = valid study
limitation = not so many chunks

how is valid study a strength for research on capacity

- it has been replicated in controlled studies since, even though the study is old and could have resulted in confounding variables
- this suggests its a valid test for digit span in STM

how is not many chunks a limitation for research on capacity

- he may have overestimated STM capacity
- Cowan (2001) reviewed other research and concluded that the capacity in STM is only about 4 plus of minus 1
- suggesting a lower end of Miller's estimate may be more appropriate

strengths and limitations of research on duration

strength - high external validity
limitation - meaningless stimuli in STM study

how is high external validity a strength for research on duration

- the researchers investigated meaningful memories
- when studies on LTM were conducted with meaningless pictures to be remembered recall rates were lower
- suggesting his finding reflect a more 'real' estimate of duration on LTM

how is meaningless stimuli in SM a limitation for research on duration

- stimulus material was artificial
- study isnt completely irrelevant as we do sometimes try to remember fairly meaningless material. Even so, recalling consonant syllables doesnt reflect most eveyday memory activities where what we are trying to remember is meaningful
- this means it lacked external validity

who came up with the multi-store mode

richard atkinson and richard shiffrin

case study explaining the multi-store model

HM

what happened to HM

- he underwent brain surgery to relieve his epilepsy
- his hippocampus was removed
- when his memory was assessed in 1955 he thought it was 1953
- he couldnt form new long term memories but performed well on tests of immediate memory span

strengths and limitations for the MSM

strength = research support
limitation = - more than one STM store
- elaborative rehearsal

how is research support a strength for the MSM

- Alan Baddely found we tend to mix up words that sound similar when we are using our STMs, but we mix up words that have similar meanings when using out LTMs
- these studies show that STM and LTM are separate and independent memory stores as claimed in MSM

how is more than one STM store a limitation for the MSM

- Shallice and Warrington studied KF who had amnesia - his STM for digits was very poor when they were read out loud, but his recall was better when he read the digits
- KF showed there could be another STM store, showing MSM is wrong in claiming theres only one STM store

how is elaborative rehearsal a limitation for MSM

- prolonged rehearsal isnt needed for transfer to the LTM
- according to the MSM it matters about the amount of rehearsal as the more rehearsal makes it likelier more is transferred to the LTM
- elaborative rehearsal is needed for long term storage, this occurs when you link the information to existing knowledge - meaning information can be transferred to LTM without prolonged rehearsal
- this suggests the MSM doesnt fully explain how long term storage is occured

strengths and limitations for the types of long term memory

strength = - clinical evidence
- real world application
limitation = conflicting neuroimaging evidence

how is clinical evidence a strength for long term memory

- case studies on HM and Clive Wearing showed episodic memory in both men were severely impaired due to brain damage, but their semantic memory was relatively unaffected
- their procedural memory was intact - Clive Wearing could play the piano
- this supports Tulving's view that there are different memory stores in LTM - one can be damaged but others can be unaffected

how is real world application a strength for the types of long term memory

- understanding types of LTM helps psychologists to help people with memory problems
- as people age they have memory lost, but research shows this is specific to episodic memory
- Belleville devised an intervention to improve episodic memories in older people - the trained participant performed better on a test of episodic memory after training than a control group
- this shows the distinguishing between LTM types enables the development of specific treatments

how is conflicting neuroimaging evidence a limitation for types of LTM

- Buckner and Peterson reviewed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory
- they concluded that semantic memory is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic memory is on the right
- other research links the left prefrontal cortex with encoding of episodic memory and the right with episodic retrieval
- this challenges the neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type may be located

who came up with the WMM

Baddeley and Hitch

what does the central executive do

- it has a 'supervisory role'
- monitors incoming data, focuses and divides our limited attention and allocates subsystems to tasks
- it had very limited capacity and doesnt store information

What does the phonological loop do?

- it deals with the auditory information and preserves the order in which the information arrives

what is the phonological loop divided into

phonological store and articulatory process

what is the phonological store

Stores the words you hear

what is the articulatory process

- Allows for maintainence rehearsal
- the capacity of this loop is believed to be 2 seconds worth of what you can say

What does the visuo-spatial sketchpad do?

- stores visual and/or spatial information when required
- it has limited capacity (about 3/4 objects)

What does the visuo-spatial sketchpad consist of?

inner scribe and visual cache

what is the visual cache

Stores visual data

what is the inner scribe

Records the arrangement of objects in the visual field

what does the episodic buffer do

- this was added by Baddely in 2000
- it is a temporary store of information, integrating the visual, spatial and verbal information processed by other stores and maintaining a sense of time sequencing (records events)
- it links working memory to long term memory and wider cognitive processes such as perception

strengths for WMM

- clinical evidence
- dual task performance

how is clinical evidence a strength for WMM

- case study on KF showed he had poor STM ability for auditory information but could process visual information normally
- KF's phonological loop was damaged but his visuo-spatial sketchpad was inact
- this supports the existence of sepahow is drate visual and acoustic memory stores

how is dual task performance a strength for WMM

- supports the separate existence of visuo-spatial sketchpad
- when Baddely's patients carried out a visual and verbal tasks at the same time their performance on each was similar to when tasks were separate
- when both tasks were visual performance on both declined as both visual tasks compete for the same subsystem
- this shows there is a seperate subsystem (VSS) that processes visual input

limitations of WMM

nature of the central executive

how is nature of the central executive a limitation of the WMM

- Baddely recognised this as he said the central executive was the most important but least understood
- the CE needs to be clearly specified than just being 'attention'
- meaning the CE is an unsatisfactory component, which challenges the integrity of the WMM

in what type of memory does interference occur in

LTM as we cant access the memories even though they're available

when do proactive interference and retroactive interference get worse

when memories are similar

how was the effects of similar memories studied

- McGeoch and McDonald changed the amount of similarity between two sets of materials. Participants had to learn a list of 10 words until 100% accuracy
- they then had to learn a new list
- there were 6 groups of participants who had to learn different lists

findings of the research effects on similarity in memory

- when participants were asked to recall the original list, the most similar material produced the worst recall
- this shows that interference is strongest in similar memories

explanation for effects of similarity in memory

the reason similarity affects recall could be due to:
- previously stored information that makes new information hard to store (proactive interference)
- new information overwrites previous similar memories (retroactive interference)

case study example of interference and what happened and their findings

- Burke and Skrull
- presented a series of magazine adverts to participants who had to recall the details of what they'd seen
- in some cases they had more difficulty recalling earlier adverts, in some they had problems with later adverts

strengths and weaknesses for interference

strength = - real world interference
- support from drug studies
limitations - interference and cues

how is real world interference a strength for interference in memory

- evidence for interference in everyday situations
- Baddely and Hitch asked rugby players to recall the names of teams they played in the season
- the players all played for the same time interval, but the number of intervening games varied due to missed games
- players who played the most games had the poorest recall
- this shows interference in some real world situations - increasing validity

how is support for drug studies a strength of interference in memory

- evidence of retrograde faciliation
- they gave participants a list of words and later asked them to recall the list, assuming the intervening experiences would act as interference
- when the list was learnt under the influence of the drug diazepam recall a week later was poor, compared to the placebo group
- when list was learnt before the drug recall was better suggesting the drug prevents new information reaching the brain, so it cant interfere retroactively
- this shows that forgetting can be due to interference - reduce interference and reduce forgetting

how is interference and cues a limitation for interference in memory

- interference is temporary as it can be overcome by cues
- researchers gave participants a list of words organised into 2 categories, one at a time
- recall averaged about 70% for first list but became worse on the next
- at the end of the study participants were given a cued recall test causing recall to raise to 70% again
- showing interference causes a temporary loss of accessibility to material

What does the encoding specificity principle state?

- that a cue has to be both 1) present in encoding and 2) present at retrieval

examples of bib meaningful cues

- context- dependent forgetting = recall depends on external cue
- state-dependent forgetting = recall depends on internal cue

how was context dependent forgetting studied

- deep sea divers who work underwater were studied to see if training on land helped or hindered their work underwater
- the divers learnt a list of words either underwater and on land and were asked to recall the words underwater or on land

findings of the context depended study on forgetting

- the environmental contexts of learning and recall matched, whereas the others didnt
- accurate recall was 40% lower in the non-matching conditions
- they concluded that the external cues available at learnung were different ones at recall explaining retrieval failure

how was state-dependent research on forgetting conducted

- they gave participants an antihistamine drug as they had a mild sedative effect, making the participants slightly drowsy
- this creates a different physiological state to the 'normal' one
- participants the learnt list of words, passages and prose and then recall them

findings of the state-dependent research on forgetting

- there was a mismatch between internal state at learning and recall performance on the memory test was significantly worse.
- when cues are absent there is more forgetting