Memory - AQA A level Psychology

Definition of Capacity
Click the card to flip 👆
1 / 47
Terms in this set (47)
Definition of Capacity
The amount of information that can be held in a memory store
Definition of Duration
The length of time information can be held in memory before it decays
Definition of Coding
The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores
The capacity of STM can be assessed using Joseph Jacob's digit span test (1887) He found that the average span for digits was _______ items and _______ letters
9.3 items and 7.3 letters
What is the magic number developed by George Miller (1956)
7 +/- 2
The capacity of STM may be more limited. Cowan suggested that STM might be limited to ____ chunks.
4 chunks
Peterson and Peterson (1959) investigated the duration of STM. ____ students were tested over ____ trials, using trigrams.
24 students were tested over 8 trials.
During the retention interval, students were asked to count backwards. Counting prevented any _____________ of the consonant syllables.
Rehearsal
______ % of students were accurate after 3 seconds, __________% correct after 9 seconds and only ___________% correct after 18 seconds.
90% correct after 3 seconds, 20% correct after 9 seconds and 2% correct after 18 seconds.
Bahrick (1975) investigated the duration of LTM using a high school yearbook. ________ people aged ____ to _____ were given a photo recognition test of ______ photos.
400 people aged 17 to 74 were given a photo recognition test of 50 photos.
Participants tested within 15 years of graduation were ____% accurate in identifying faces. After 48 years, this declined to _____% for photo recognition. Free recall was _____% accurate after 15 years, dropping to ______% after 48 years.Participants tested within 15 years of graduation were 90% accurate in identifying faces. After 48 years, this declined to 70% for photo recognition. Free recall was 60% accurate after 15 years, dropping to 30% after 48 years.What does Peterson and Peterson's study lack?Ecological validityBahrick's study is higher in ecological validity as he used real life memories. However, this means there is less control over _____________ _____________.Extraneous variablesBaddeley (1966) found that participants had difficulty in remembering acoustically similar words in STM but not LTM, whereas semantically similar words in LTM but not STM. This suggests STM is encoded _______ whereas LTM is encoded ___________.This suggests STM is encoded acoustically whereas LTM is encoded semanticallyBaddeley's study has been criticised for lacking _________ validity. This is because __________ stimuli was used.Baddeley's study has been criticised for lacking ecological validity. This is because meaningless stimuli was used.Contradictory evidence from _______________ showed that LTM recall was related to visual as well as semantic categories and other researchers have found evidence of acoustic coding in LTM too.Frost (1972)What is the multi-store model of memory?It is a structural model stating that the Sensory register, Short Term Memory and Long Term Memory are separate unitary stores where information flows through the system in a linear way.What is the mechanism of transfer?The mechanism of transfer is rehearsal.Describe and explain the first part to the multi-store model.The first part to the multi-store model is the sensory register. An environmental stimulus will enter the sensory store either echoically (acoustic coding) or iconically (visual coding). The sensory register has a very large capacity but has a very small duration.Most environmental stimuli are lost through _________ if it is not attended to. If attended to, this information enters STM. If _______________ ______________ occurs, it can increase the length of time the information is held in STM. STM codes ________________, has a capacity of ___ to ___ items and has a ____________ of 18 seconds.Most environmental stimuli are lost through decay if it is not attended to. If attended to, this information enters STM. If maintenance rehearsal occurs, it can increase the length of time the information is held in STM. STM codes acoustically, has a capacity of 5 to 9 items and has a duration of 18 seconds.If ______________ __________ occurs, the information will transfer into the LTM. LTM codes __________________, has an unlimited capacity and duration can last up to a lifetime.If elaborative rehearsal occurs, the information will transfer into the LTM. LTM codes semantically, has an unlimited capacity and duration can last up to a lifetime.Evidence to support the MSMClive Wearing Primacy and recency effect Baddeley (WMM) Semantic, episodic and procedural memoriesRole of Central ExecutiveDirects attention to particular tasks and controls the 2 slave systems (phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad)Role of phonological loopProcesses and retains the order of heard information and can be divided into 2 substores (the phonological store and the articulatory loop). Deals with auditory information.Role of visuo-spatial sketchpadPlans spatial tasks and stores visual or spatial information, visual data is temporarily stored in a visual cacheEpisodic bufferThe third slave system and integrates information from all other STM storesEvidence for WMM / evaluationKF case study Baddeley (1975) - supports both visuo-spatial sketchpad and phonological loop Lacks clarity on role of central executiveEpisodic memory'Time-stamped' memories of when events occur, they have happened in our personal livesSemantic memoryThe memories start off as episodic and gradually lose their association to particular events, they are knowledge / meaning basedProcedural memoryA non declarative memory for how to carry out skilled movementEvidence / evaluation for different types of memoryTulvig (1994) Clive Wearing Lacks ecological validity Cohen (1980)Outline the two ways interference can explain forgettingProactive interference - This is where old information interferes with trying to learn new information. Retroactive interference - This is where new information has interfered with old information.Definition of interferenceAn explanation of forgetting in terms of one memory disrupting the ability to recall another making it harder to rememberSimilarity for interferenceIn both types of interference, forgetting is worse if the memories are similarEvidence / evaluation for interferenceLab experiments Hitch (1977) Kane (2000) Tulvig (1971)Define retrieval failureRetrieval failure occurs when there is an absence of cues. This is an explanation for forgetting based on the idea that cues are needed in order to recall information. Cues are things that serve as a reminder as they have a meaningful link or an environmental cue to a memory.Evidence / evaluation of retrieval failure definitionTulving (1983) with the encoding specificity principle Godden and Baddeley (1975) scuba divers Abernethy (1940) Smith (1979) Baddeley (1980) replication fo underwater experiment Tulving (1971)ESP definitionIf cues present in learning are present during retrieval, it is easier to remember the information.Context-dependent forgettingResults of underwater experiment showed that recall was 40% lower when learning context did not match the retrieval context.State-dependent forgettingGoodwin (1969) found that information learnt when drunk is less available when in a sober state. This means that the different mental state cues result in retrieval failure.Misleading information factor affecting EWTLeading questions are questions that because of the phrasing, suggest a certain answer Loftus and Palmer (1974) Response bias explanation Substitution explanation Post-event discussion occurs when there is more than one witness to an event and they discuss what happened, it may influence the accuracy of each eye-witnesses recall of an event Gabbert (2003) Memory contamination occurs when the comments from the interviewer may be incorporated into the recall fo an eventEvaluation of misleading informationReal world practical application Loftus and Palmer lacked ecological validity Demand characteristics Individual differencesAnxiety as a factor affecting EWTAnxiety creates physiological arousal which prevents us from paying attention to important cues Weapon focus Johnson and Scott (1976) High anxiety can also create more accurate memories because it triggers the fight or flight response Christianson and Hubinette (1993) Deffenbacher (1983)Evaluation of anxiety as a factor affecting EWTPickel (1998) Christianson and Hubinette's study has high ecological validity Field experiments lack control over extraneous variables Yerkes Dodson explanation is too simplistic, suggested the catastrophe theoryCognitive interview as a factor affecting EWTFisher and Geiselman (1992) developed it as a way of interviewing eyewitnesses to help them retrieve more accurate memories Standard interview (Fisher 1992), questions were short, direct and closed. Order and sequences often did not match the witnesses own image of eventFour techniques of cognitive interviewReport everything - Recall everything even if it seems irrelevant Reinstate the context - Place yourself back at the scene of the event, linked to context dependent forgetting Recall in reverse order - Helps to prevent pre-existing expectations which would influence memory. Change perspective - put yourself in the shoes of someone else at the scene to further disrupt pre-existing expectations.Evaluation of cognitive interviewWagstaff (1996), requires more time, money and specialised training Kohnken (1999) meta-analysis of 53 studies and Bull (2002) both found that techniques of cognitive interview found more accurate recall when techniques were used together Kohnken (1999) found more increase in correct information but also incorrect information. Cognitive information increases quantity but not quality More useful when interviewing older eye-witnesses