Memory Flashcards

Question

Who proposed the Working memory model?

Answer 1

Baddeley and Hitch

Answer 2

A theoretical cognitive model of information processing Made to replace the STM in the MSM An active processor made of multiple stores, whereas the STM is a passive unitary store

Answer 3

Central Executive Phonological loop Episodic buffer visuo-spatial sketchpad

Answer 4

Interference is more likely to occur when the two pieces of information are similar due to response competition (Similarity) Interference is less likely to occur when there is a large gap between learning (time intensity)

Answer 5

Information is in the LTM, but forgetting occurs due to the absence of appropriate cues/prompts encoded at the same time (encoding specificity principle)

Answer 6

Aspects of our external environment work as cues to memory

Answer 7

Aspects of our internal environment work as cues to memory

Answer 8

Providing cues that relate to the organisation/category of memories aid recall

Answer 9

The effects of leading questions on the accuracy of EWT was investigated by Loftus and Palmer (1974) where participants watched a film clip of a car crash and then gave speed estimates of the cars based on the leading question of “About how fast were the cars going when they x into each other?”, with each group being exposed to a different critical verb. Those exposed to the verb “smashed” gave a speed estimate 8.7 mph greater than those who’d heard “contacted”. Therefore, this shows that leading questions, because of the way they are phrased, suggest that there is a correct answer

Answer 10

More likely to report a high speed and smashed glass, even when there was no smashed glass

Answer 11

Gabbert et al (2003), using a matched-pairs design, showed participants a film clip of the same crime scene, but with different details for each member. After engaging in post-event discussions with the other member of each pair and individually completing a test of recall, the researchers found 71% inaccuracy rates of information gained through such discussions, compared to a 0% control group rate who had worked alone throughout.

Answer 12

Eyewitness testimony refers to the information recalled about a crime by an eyewitness. The accuracy of such an account can be reduced through the influence of misleading (incorrect) information in the form of leading questions and post-event discussions.

Answer 13

Positive and negative

Answer 14

1. Report everything = Even seemingly insignificant details may be important or trigger the recall of larger events, by acting as a ‘cue’ (think back to retrieval failure!). * 2. Reinstate the context = Recalling the weather, location and mood of the day prevents context dependent forgetting by reminding the eyewitness of their external cues at the time. * 3. Change the perspective = Recalling events from the perspective of the victim or persecutor prevents the eyewitness’ account from being affected by their own schemas or pre-conceived perceptions of how the crime, in their opinion, happened. * 4. Reverse the order = Recalling events in a different order, other than chronological, reduces the ability of the eyewitness to lie (as it is simply difficult) and also reduces the impact of schemas on their perception of events.

Answer 15

The enhanced cognitive interview was developed by Fisher et al (1987) and focuses on the social dynamics of the interactions between the eyewitness and the interviewer e.g. knowing when to make eyecontact and when to diminish it (increases the likelihood that the eyewitness will be calm and comfortable) as well as increasing rapport with the eyewitness (increases the likelihood that they will answer truthfully about personal or sensitive topics).

Answer 16

+ A particular strength of Bahrick et al’s 1975 study is the use of meaningful stimuli, and a methodology which is high in mundane realism. This suggests that the findings have high ecological validity because they can be easily generalised to real-life, due to the stimuli reflecting those which we would often try to learn and recall in our day to day lives: information with personal and meaningful value!

Answer 17

— Conversely, the key issues with the Petersen et al and Miller et al studies is that they feature methodologies with low mundane realism, thus producing findings with little ecological validity. This is due to the use of artificial stimuli which has little personal meaning to the participants, and so does not accurately reflect everyday learning experiences. This therefore limits the generalisability of such findings

Answer 18

— More recent research has suggested that Miller may have over-exaggerated the capacity of STM, and that the capacity is more similar to 4 chunks as opposed to the original 5-9 limit. This may reflect the outdated methodologies adopted by Miller and specifically, the lack of control over confounding variables which may have contributed to this inaccurate estimate

Answer 19

Patient KF - Poor STM for verbal information - Intact visual information — The MSM incorrectly represents STM as a single, unitary store. For example, patient KF had poor STM recall for auditory stimuli, but increasingly accurate recall for visual stimuli. This, alongside KF being able to differentiate and recall both verbal and non-verbal sounds, suggests that there may be multiple types of STM.

Answer 20

— There are different types of LTM, as proposed by Tuvling et al i.e. procedural, semantic and episodic. The MSM does not represent this because it sees LTM as a single, unitary store. This also does not represent that some types of LTM can be retrieved unconsciously (e.g. procedural) whilst others must be retrieved consciously (e.g. semantic), which is not reflected in the universal process of information being consciously transferred to the STM during the process of retrieval.

Answer 21

+ The MSM acknowledges the qualitative differences between STM and LTM by representing them as separate stores. For example, STM is encoded acoustically, whilst LTM is encoded semantically and has a much longer duration. Therefore, the MSM portrays an accurate view of the differences between the two types of memory, as supported by Baddeley and Miller.

Answer 22

+ Petersen et al. demonstrated that semantic memories were recalled from the left prefrontal cortex, whilst episodic memories were recalled from the right prefrontal cortex. This supports not only the idea that there are different types of LTM, but shows that they each have a different neurological basis because they are recalled from different parts of the brain. + The cases of HM and Clive Wearing show how one type of LTM may be impaired (episodic in their cases), but the other types of LTM will be unaffected (i.e. procedural and semantic). For example, Clive Wearing was still able to skillfully play the piano and understand the concept of music (procedural and semantic) but was unable to remember his wife visiting him 5 minutes previously (episodic). This gives strong support to the idea that different areas of the brain are involved in the different types of LTM, and confirms the classification of different types of LTM as separate.

Answer 23

+ Shallice and Warrington’s study of KF provides support for the WMM because their findings show that KF had very poor STM recall for auditory stimuli, but increased STM recall for visual stimuli. This suggests that the components of memory which process auditory and visual stimuli are separate (as described in the WMM through the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad). + Studies of dual-task performance, where each participant must undertake a visual and verbal task simultaneously, shows decreased performance for such tasks and so supports the idea that the central executive has a very limited processing capacity (as predicted by the WMM) and that the slave systems are in competition with each other for these tasks and resources - As this a lab study it lacks mundane realism and ecological validity due to an artificial task that is not usually replicated in a regular person's life. - This study also relies on inference as it is impossible to directly observe the different stores working during each task, this could mean that the assumptions made based on the study are inaccurate.

Answer 24

— The central executive has not been precisely defined. For example, the term ‘process’ is vague, and the central executive may be made up of several sub-components or even be part of a larger component itself in working memory. This lack of a comprehensive explanation for each component of WMM draws doubts about the accuracy of its depiction of working memory.

Memory Flashcards

(49 cards)