Memory revision 26/02/2025

Covert operation → require the researcher to undertake their research without permission from those who are being observed.

- This is an ethical issue as the participant has not given their consent to take part in the research.

+ natural behaviour (reduce the impact of demand characteristics), increase validity.

Overt operation → when the researcher is not part of the group being researched and may also share the aim of their research with the participants to gain permission.

- Participants can change their behaviour in order to perform ‘better’ for the research (demand characteristics).

+ Receives consent from the participants.

Peterson and Peterson (1959)

Aim → to test the true duration of short-term memory

Procedure → 24 students were tested individually. Each student was asked to repeat aloud a trigram (three letters) that they heard. Immediately afterwards, they were asked to say aloud a 3 digit number read to them and then count backwards in threes or fours from that number. When signalled by a red light, each student had to recall the trigram. They had to repeat this experiment 8 times with time delays of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 seconds. In total, the procedure was repeated 48 times using different trigrams. A second experiment asked participants to do the same tasks, but some were given time to repeat the trigrams before counting backwards.

Results → Showed that the longer each student had to count backwards, the less able they were to accurately recall the trigram. 3 seconds → remembered over 80% 18 seconds → remembered less than 10%

Conclusion → with the participants unable to rehearse the trigrams, the Peterson concluded that information held in our short-term memory fades rapidly and only 10% could be recalled after 18 seconds.

+ The researchers used fixed timings for participants to count backwards from + Eliminated noise and other factors that could have an influence on memory (distractions). + Good control, standardised procedures

- Nonsense trigrams can tend to be more or less memorable to certain participants who could have a personal relevance. Extraneous variables such as these are important to control. - It is not something we do everyday, therefore it lacks mundane realism.

Bartlett’s Theory of Reconstructive Memory

Memory and schemas → Bartlett proposed that memories are not stored as an exact form. Instead, our memories are notes about what we experience, like jotting down brief outlines on a notepad. This means that memories are an interpretation of what really happened - an active reconstruction. Bartlett referred to this general knowledge as schemas. They are unique to us and develop over time through our own experiences.

Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts

Aim → to test the nature of reconstructive memory using an unfamiliar story, looking at whether or not personal schemas influence what is remembered from the story.

Procedures → participants were asked to read ‘The War of the Ghosts’ twice and then were later asked to recall it. Bartlett used both serial reproduction and repeated reproduction to test the recall of the story. For serial reproduction, participants were asked to read the story and then retell the story to another participant 15 to 30 minutes later. The second participant then told the story to the third participant, and so on. For repeated reproduction, the same participant was asked to write out the story after 15 minutes. They were then asked to recall the story several minutes, hours, days, months, and years later.

Results → Bartlett used qualitative analysis to look for and interpret changes to the stories that were recalled. He found that repeated reproductions tended to follow a similar form. For both types of recall, participants tried to make sense of the ‘odd’ story by giving it meaning. This resulted in additions or changes such as making connections or giving reasons for events. This is known as rationalisation. Participants also tended to leave out unfamiliar or unpleasant parts of the story, particularly the unfamiliar place names.

Conclusion → Bartlett interpreted the results as evidence for the active and constructive nature of memory. Participants did not recall the story fully or accurately. Instead, they omitted details that did not fit with their schema and some details were altered by the influence of their schema.

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) Multi-store Model of Memory

Input → Attention → Encoding → Storage → Retrieval (Memory processing)

Encoding

1. Acoustic encoding → storing sounds

2. Visual encoding → storing things you see

3. Semantic encoding → storing the meaning of information

• Primacy-recency effect

• Short-term memory (STM)

• Long-term memory (LTM)