Memory L5 - 9

Question 1

Forgetting:

Answer 1

Inability to access/recover info previously stored in the memory (inaccessible at time of attempted retrieval)

Question 2

Interference theory:

Answer 2

One or both memories are forgotten/distorted because two memories are in conflict

Question 3

When is forgetting (according to interference theory) more likely to happen and why does it happen at this point (refer to types of interference)?

Answer 3

• If memories are similar
• PI –> Previously stored info makes new info more difficult to store
• RI –> New info overwrites previous similar memories

Question 4

Types of interference:

Answer 4

1) Proactive –> Old memory interferes w/ recall of new memory (forward)
2) Retroactive –> New memory interferes w/ recall of old memory (backwards)

Question 5

What research support is there for interference and what was its aim?

Answer 5

• McGeoch and McDonald (1931)
• Aim: Does interference have an impact on forgetting?

Question 6

Procedure of McGeoch and McDonald’s study:

Answer 6

Task 1: 6 grps of participants learning word list until 100% accurate
Task 2: 5 of these grps learn another list, each under varying degrees of similarity (interference task)
Task 3: All pps required to recall first list

Question 7

List the conditions of all 6 grps:

Answer 7

1) No new list (control condition)
2) Synonyms
3) Antonyms
4) Unrelated words
5) Nonsense syllables
5) 3 digit numbers

Question 8

Results and conclusion of McGeoch and McDonald study (+why?):

Answer 8

• Control grp had best recall score as they had no interference task
• Out of those given another task, those who had numbers recalled best as numbers do not interfere with words
• Group given list of synonyms had lowest recall score as both lists had similar meaning
• Interference is most likely when 2 pieces of info are similar

Question 9

What was the aim of Baddeley and Hitch (1977) study?

Answer 9

Investigate interference in everyday life

Question 10

Procedure of Baddeley and Hitch (1977):

Answer 10

• Players asked to recall names of teams they had played against in the season
• Sample included rugby union players, some of whom had missed some games due to injury whereas others had played every match in the season
• Length of season same for all players

Question 11

Results of Baddeley and Hitch (1977) study:

Answer 11

• Players who had played most games forgot proportionately more games more than those who had played less games
• Equally accurate recalling the last team played regardless of whether it was 3 days or 3 weeks ago

Question 12

Conclusion of Baddeley and Hitch (1977) study:

Answer 12

Result of retroactive interference

Question 13

Evaluation of interference theory:

Answer 13

+ Supported by many controlled lab studies eg. McGeoch and McDonald’s study was standardised and matched on levels of difficulty
+ Some realistic studies have been conducted eg. Baddeley and Hitch (1977) –> shows it occurs in everyday life
- Most supporting evidence lacks ecological validity (mundane realism)
- Time period between learning and recall usually short in lab study (lacks mundane realism)
- Effects of interference can be overcome w/ cues

Question 14

Which study supports the fact that interference can be overcome w/ cues?

Answer 14

Tulving and Psotka (1971)

Question 15

Procedure of Tulving and Psotka (1971) study:

Answer 15

Gave pps 5 lists of 24 words organised into categories

Question 16

Results of Tulving and Psotka (1971) study(+ why?):

Answer 16

• Recall was about 70% for first list w/ decreasing accuracy (due to interference)
• After reminder of category (cue) of word list, recall increased back to 70%

Question 17

Conclusion of Tulving and Psotka (1971) study:

Answer 17

Cues needed to access some memories in LTM, showing interference is not a strong theory of forgetting

Question 18

What does the retrieval failure theory argue and why?

Answer 18

• Info in LTM cannot be retrieved due to lack of cues
• Associated cues are stored when info is placed in memory, which are then needed to trigger the memory

Question 19

What is the encoding specificity principle and when and who was it designed by?

Answer 19

• Suggests that cues will help retrieval if the same ones are present at coding and retrieval
• Closer the cue is to og cue, the more effective it is in triggering the memory
• Tulving (1983)

Question 20

Types of cues supporting ESP:

Answer 20

• Cues linked meaningfully to info remembered
• Cues that are not linked meaningfully but may relate to the context in which learning occurs (external cues)

Question 21

What research supports the role of ESP in improving recall?

Answer 21

Tulving and Pearlstone (1966)

Question 22

Procedure of Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) study:

Answer 22

• Recall 48 words belonging to one of 12 categories
• Each word was preceded by its category (cue) eg. Gem: ruby

Question 23

Results of Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) study:

Answer 23

• If cue is present, overall recall is 60%
• If cue is not present, recall falls to 40%

Question 24

Conclusion of Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) study:

Answer 24

Retrieval is much better when there are cues to trigger the memory

Question 25

Context-dependent forgetting:

Answer 25

This can occur when the environment during recall is different from the environment during learning (absence of correct cue)

Question 26

Which studies supports context-dependent forgetting?

Answer 26

- Abenerthy (1940) - Godden and Baddeley (1975)

Question 27

Procedure of Abenerthy (1940) study:

Answer 27

- Arranged students into 4 diff grps to be tested weekly before a certain course began. Conditions: 1) Same teaching room, same instructor 2) Same teaching room, diff instructor 3) Diff teaching room, same instructor 4) Diff teaching room, diff instructor

Question 28

Results of Abenerthy (1940) study:

Answer 28

- Grp 1 performed the best because the familiar things acted as memory cues - 'Able' students were least affected by changes and vice versa

Question 29

Procedure of Godden and Baddeley (1975) study:

Answer 29

18 divers from diving club asked to learn lists of 36 unrelated words w/ 2 or 3 syllables + recall. Conditions were: 1) Learn + recall on beach 2) Learn on beach, recall under water 3) Learn under water, recall on beach 4) Learn + recall under water

Question 30

Results of Godden and Baddeley (1975) study (mean scores):

Answer 30

- Recall is much better when environment of learning and recall matched 1) Learn + recall on beach --> 13.5 2) Learn on beach, recall under water --> 8.6 3) Learn under water, recall on beach --> 8.5 4) Learn + recall under water --> 11.4

Question 31

Conclusion of Godden and Baddeley (1975) study:

Answer 31

- Shows context dependent forgetting as info was forgotten when context at recall did not match that at learning - Caused retrieval failure due to lack of cues

Question 32

Evaluation of context-dependent forgetting:

Answer 32

+ Proved normal real life contexts are important cues for remembering info - Effect may not be very strong in real life as contexts must be very different for this to be seen. In real life, differences in context are only small - May depend on type of memory being tested

Question 33

How might context-dependent forgetting depend on the type of memory being tested?

Answer 33

- When Godden and Baddeley repeated the same experiment but asked pps if they recognised the words rather than free recall, performance was same in all conditions - No context-dependent effect - Shows retrieval failure due to absence of cues only occurs for recall of info not recognition

Question 34

State-dependent forgetting:

Answer 34

Retrieval failure is due to the absence of the same state of mind at learning and recall

Question 35

Which studies support state-dependent forgetting?

Answer 35

- Carter and Cassaday (1998) - Goodwin et al (1969)

Question 36

Procedure of Carter and Cassaday (1998) study:

Answer 36

- Gave pps anti-histamines (drug) to control their hay fever --> made them feel slightly drowsy Groups were: 1) under the influence, under the influence 2) sane, under the influence 3) sane, sane 4) sane, under the influence

Question 37

Results of Carter and Cassaday (1998) study:

Answer 37

- Recall was best when internal states matched eg. grp 1 + 3 vice versa

Question 38

Conclusion of Carter and Cassaday (1998) study:

Answer 38

- When internal cues are absent, forgetting is more likely

Question 39

Procedure of Goodwin et al (1969) study:

Answer 39

- Male volunteers asked to remember a word list when either drunk (3x above UK drink driving limit) or sober - Recall after 24 hrs when some were sober and others were drunk again

Question 40

Results of Goodwin et al (1969) study:

Answer 40

Those who had learnt the words under the influence were more likely to remember the words in that same state

Question 41

Overall evaluation of retrieval failure explanation:

Answer 41

+ Range of research including lab studies + real life situations + Real life applications --> both principles of state and context dependent forgetting used in the Cognitive interview, where witnesses add asked to recall context of scene (context reinstatement) to help memory recall - Do not always work as learning is related to a lot more than cues - Lacks mundane realism as there is are word list tasks - Difficult to test ESP, as it is unknown what cues are meaningful to individuals and are responsible for enhancing learning

Question 42

Eyewitness testimony:

Answer 42

The ability of people to remember the detail of events which they themselves have observed

Question 43

What affects the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 43

Misleading info such as leading questions and post-event discussions

Question 44

Leading question:

Answer 44

Question that suggests to the witness what answer is desired or them to give a certain answer due to the way it was phrased

Question 45

Which study supports the impact of misleading questions on EWT?

Answer 45

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Question 46

Procedure of Loftus and Palmer study:

Answer 46

- 45 students shown vid of car accident - 1 group was asked 'How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?' - For other pps, the verb changed to collided, smashed, bumped or contacted

Question 47

Results of Loftus and Palmer study:

Answer 47

Verb 'contacted' lead to lowest estimated speed (mean of 31.8 mph) whereas 'smashed' had the highest (mean of 40.5mph)

Question 48

Conclusion of Loftus and Palmer:

Answer 48

Some of the verbs used in the experiment were misleading and encouraged pps to believe the cars were going faster than they were

Question 49

What was the second experiment conducted in 1974 and by who?

Answer 49

- Loftus and Palmer (1974) - See if wording of a leading question actually changes pps' memory of the film clip - Those who heard 'smashed' were more likely to report seeing broken glass compared to those who heard 'hit'

Question 50

Procedure and results of Loftus and Zanni (1975):

Answer 50

- Pps shown vid of car accident - Asked if they had seen 'a' broken headlight, 7% said yes - Asked if they had seen 'the' broken headlight, 17% said yes

Question 51

Post-event discussion:

Answer 51

When witnesses to an event discuss what they have experienced after the event

Question 52

In what two ways is post-event discussion argued to affect accuracy of EWT and what are these?

Answer 52

1) Memory contamination --> Witnesses mix info from other witnesses into their own memories 2) Memory conformity --> Witnesses pick up details from EWT due to social approval (NSI) or the belief that the others are right and they are wrong (ISI)

Question 53

Which research was carried out to test the effects of post-event discussion on the accuracy of EWT?

Answer 53

Gabbert et al (2003)

Question 54

Procedure of Gabbert et al (2003) study:

Answer 54

- Sample consisted of 60 students from University of Aberdeen + 60 older adults recruited from a local community - Watched vid of girl stealing money from wallet - Tested individually (control grp) or in pairs (co-witness grp) - Pps in co-witness grp were told they had watched the same vid, however they had actually seen different perspectives of it and only one saw the girl stealing - Pps in co-witness grp discussed the crime - All pps had to complete questionnaire testing their memory of the event

Question 55

Results of Gabbert et al (2003) study:

Answer 55

- 71% of witnesses in co-witness grp recalled info they had not seen (compared to 0% in control grp) - 60% said girl was guilty, even tho they had not seen her commit a crime

Question 56

Strengths and weaknesses of effects of misleading info on EWT:

Answer 56

+ Mostly well-controlled lab studies eg. Loftus and Zanni used standardised procedure + Important real life applications --> shows police must be careful with wording + importance of no post-event discussion - Watching a vid of an event is very different to it happening in real time - Watching a staged event does not cause anxiety, where a small amount has been shown to increase accuracy - In real life, EWT may have serious consequences - Risk of demand characteristics in lab studies - Many of Loftus' experiments involved students --> lacks population validity

Question 57

Procedure and results of Yuille and Cutshall (1986) study:

Answer 57

- 13 witnesses of armed robbery interviewed 5 months after event - Asked 2 leading questions to see if accuracy would be affected - Recall was accurate + 2 leading questions had no effect on accuracy

Question 58

Conclusion of Yuille and Cutshall (1986) study:

Answer 58

EWT is less influenced by leading questions in real life

Question 59

What possibilities does research support in terms of effects of anxiety?

Answer 59

Research supports the fact that anxiety makes eyewitness recall better/worse

Question 60

What did Yerkes and Dodson propose, when and what is this?

Answer 60

- 1908 - Inverted U theory - Performance can increase w/ stress only up to a certain point before it decreases drastically

Question 61

Who applied the Yerkes-Dodson law to EWT and what did they suggest?

Answer 61

Deffenbacher (1983): - Lower levels of anxiety --> lower recall accuracy - As anxiety increases, memory becomes more accurate - Optimal level of anxiety --> max accuracy - Any further anxiety --> drastic decline in recall - Medium amount of anxiety--> most accurate recall

Question 62

Give an example of high anxiety producing negative effects in EWT:

Answer 62

- Weapon focus effect - Anxiety levels rise after witnessing a weapon - Causing focus to shift from crime to weapon

Question 63

What study supports the weapon focus effect?

Answer 63

- Johnson and Scott (1976)

Question 64

Procedure of Johnson and Scott (1976) study:

Answer 64

Pps sat outside lab and heard 1 of 2 convos: 1) Friendly convo followed by man emerging carrying pen w/ grease (low anxiety condition) 2) Argument w/ smashing glass + overturned furniture followed by man emerging w/ blood-stained paper knife (high anxiety condition) Man had to be identified on basis of 50 photos

Question 65

Results of Johnson and Scott (1976) study:

Answer 65

- 49% accurate identifying man w/ pen - 33% accurate w/ knife

Question 66

Conclusion of Johnson and Scott (1976) study:

Answer 66

Anxiety generated by weapon diverted attention away from man's face

Question 67

Give research support showing weapon focus effect

Answer 67

Steblay (1992) found in meta-analysis that presence of weapon significantly reduces chances of pp accurately identifying the person holding it

Question 68

Give a study showing high anxiety to produce positive effects in EWT:

Answer 68

Christianson and Hubinette (1993)

Question 69

Procedure of Christianson and Hubinette (1993) study:

Answer 69

Questioned 58 real witnesses (either victim/bystander) to bank robbery in Sweden 4-5 months after event

Question 70

Results of Christianson and Hubinette (1993) study:

Answer 70

- 75% or more accuracy for all witnesses - Most anxious (victims) had most accurate recall

Question 71

What did Christianson conclude and in what year?

Answer 71

- Memory for negative emotional events is better than neutral events - 1992

Question 72

Give further support showing high anxiety to produce positive effects in EWT:

Answer 72

- Yuille and Cutshall (1986) - Found most distressed witnesses at time of irl shooting in Canada gave most accurate results after 5 months

Question 73

Weaknesses of anxiety as factor of EWT:

Answer 73

- Weapon focus may not be caused by anxiety - Field studies lack control - Ethical issues - Yerkes-Dodson Law is too simplistic - Individual differences

Question 74

What study shows weapon focus may not be caused by anxiety and what was the hypothesis?

Answer 74

- Pickel (1998) - Hypothesis: Reduced accuracy could be due to surprise rather than anxiety

Question 75

Procedure of Pickel (1998) study:

Answer 75

4 conditions of thief walking into hairdressing salon carrying: - Scissors (high threat, low surprise) - Handgun (high threat, high surprise) - Wallet (low threat, low surprise) - Chicken (low threat, high surprise)

Question 76

Results and conclusion of Pickel (1998) study:

Answer 76

- Identification least accurate in high surprise conditions rather than high threat - Suggests weapon focus effect is related to surprise rather than anxiety

Question 77

In what ways do field studies sometimes lack control (also give a strength) and which studies have this weakness?

Answer 77

- Yuille and Cutshall - Christianson and Hubinette - Strength: Naturalistic studies - Weakness: Confounding variables may have affected eg. those w/ highest level of anxiety may have been closer to incident so would've been able to see more clearly, post-event discussion + info read about event

Question 78

What are the ethical issues with these studies?

Answer 78

- Subjects pps to psychological harm eg. bloody knife, hearing an argument they couldn't see - Deception as argument + bloody pen was staged

Question 79

How is the Yerkes-Dodson Law too simplistic?

Answer 79

- Anxiety is difficult to define + measure accurately - Many elements eg. cognitive, behavioural, emotional, physical - This law only links it to physiological arousal which is not accurate, as it could be linked to worry (eg), which is cognitive

Question 80

Which study shows the impact of individual differences on the effects of anxiety on a person's accuracy and how?

Answer 80

- Bothwell et al (1987) - Found neurotic (high anxiety) individuals were less accurate w/ increased stress levels compared to stable ones

Question 81

Who developed the cognitive interview, when and what does it aim to do?

Answer 81

- Gieselman et al - 1984 - Aims to increase accuracy of witness' recall by providing them w/ cues to help retrieval

Question 82

What features of a standard police interview have been criticised?

Answer 82

- Use of brief, direct and closed qs - Witnesses often interrupted - Use of leading qs

Question 83

Why did Gieselman criticise this and in what situation does he believe recall would be better?

Answer 83

- Interruption can break concentration + short answers generate less detail - Recall is better when witnesses are provided w/ retrieval cue and rapport is built w/ witness

Question 84

4 principles of cognitive interview:

Answer 84

1) Context/Mental reinstatement of original context 2) Report everything 3) Recall in changed order 4) Recall from changed perspective

Question 85

What is context reinstatement and how does it improve recall?

Answer 85

- When interviewer encourages interviewee to mentally recreate both physical and psychological environment of incidents - Offers appropriate contextual and emotional cues to trigger memory

Question 86

How does reporting everything improve recall?

Answer 86

- Recalling everything means interruption is avoided - Trivial info mentioned that witness may think is irrelevant may aid recall - This is because memories are interconnected so small details could help to piece together a clearer pic of event

Question 87

How does recalling in a changed order improve recall?

Answer 87

- Prevents pre-existing schema influencing what the person recalls - Often triggers extra memories - Prevents dishonesty (harder to lie in reverse)

Question 88

How does recall from a changed perspective improve recall?

Answer 88

Disrupts effect schemas have on recall

Question 89

Who developed the enhanced cognitive interview and what 8 principles does it include?

Answer 89

Fisher 1987 (AOPILJD): 1) Actively listen 2) Open-ended qs 3) Pause after each response 4) Interruption (avoid it!) 5) Imagery (encourage it!) 6) Language adapted to suit witness 7) Judgemental comments (avoid it!) 8) Distractions to be minimised

Question 90

Which study shows CI generates more info?

Answer 90

Gieselman et al (1985)

Question 91

Procedure of Gieselman et al (1985) study:

Answer 91

- Showed pps vids of staged crime - Tested diff grps w/ CI, standard police interview & interview under influence of hypnosis

Question 92

What research support shows CI generates more accurate info?

Answer 92

- Gieselman et al (1986) - Milne and Bull (2002) - Meta-analysis

Question 93

Procedure of Gieselman et al (1986) study:

Answer 93

- Intruder wearing blue rucksack enters Classroom 2 and steals a slide projector (staged) - 2 days later, pps either questioned w/ CI or standard interview - Early in questioning, pps asked misleading q 'was the guy w/ green backpack nervous?' - Later on in interview, pps asked to recall colour of rucksack

Question 94

Results and conclusion of Gieselman et al (1986) study:

Answer 94

- Those in CI condition less likely to recall the rucksack as being green - CI reduces effect of leading qs

Question 95

What did the meta-analysis find?

Answer 95

Meta-analysis of 53 studies found on avg there was 34% increase in amount of correct info generated in CI compared to standard interview (Kohnken et al (1999))

Question 96

Procedure of Milne and Bull (2002) study:

Answer 96

- Interviewed pps using combo of 'report everything' and 'context reinstatement' from CI

Question 97

Conclusion and results of Milne and Bull (2002) study:

Answer 97

Found recall was significantly higher compared to just using one technique

Question 98

Strengths and weaknesses of CI:

Answer 98

+ Research suggests CI is effective, as it generates more info that is also more accurate - Time-consuming - Interviewer requires a lot of training - Many studies tested EWT in lab (staged) --> lacks ecological validity - Less successful in improving recall w/ children

Question 99

Which study shows that interviewers require a lot of training to see results in CI?

Answer 99

- Memon et al (1994) - Reported experienced detectives w/ little training of 4 hrs in CI did not produce any significant increases in amount of info generated

Question 100

Which study shows CI to be less successful in improving recall w/ children and how did it show this(+ evaluation)?

Answer 100

- Gieselman (1999) - Children under 6 reported less accurately w/ CI techniques (possibly due to lack of understanding) - Effective w/ children above 8

Question 101

Which study shows the success of CI in older pps compared to younger pps and how did it show this (+evaluation)?

Answer 101

- Mello and Fisher (1996) - More successful in older pps w/ mean age of 72 than younger pps w/ mean age of 22 - Difficult to test its effectiveness in real life as police use it selectively --> use some principles and not others

Question 102

Give one study showing the difference of impact of leading questions in real life compared to lab studies

Answer 102

Yuille and Cutshall (1986)