memory - studies

Question 1

bartlett memory study (name and year)

Answer 1

Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts

Question 2

bartlett war of the ghosts participants

Answer 2

20 participants from the University of Cambridge (students and colleagues)
British
7 Female, 13 Male

Question 3

bartlett war of the ghosts aims

Answer 3

> Test nature of reconstructive memory using an unfamiliar story
See whether personal schemas influence what is remembered

Question 4

bartlett war of the ghosts procedure

Answer 4

> Asked to read story twice then asked to recall it
Bartlett used serial reproduction and repeated reproduction to test the recall of the story
serial reproduction: participants were asked to read the story then retell to other participants 15-30 mins later. Then second told third etc
repeated reproduction: read the story then write down what they could remember 15 minutes later (1st interval)
-after which there were no set intervals
-asked again several days months and years after

Question 5

serial reproduction

Answer 5

a technique where participants retell something to another participant to form a chain; this is how folk stories are passed down through cultures

Question 6

repeated reproduction

Answer 6

a technique where participants are asked to recall something again and again

Question 7

bartlett war of the ghosts results

Answer 7

> Used qualitative analysis to look for and interpret changes to story
Repeated reproduction followed a similar form - theme or outline of the first reproduction tended to remain in later reproductions
both types of recall: participants tended to make sense of the story by giving it meaning
- reproductions were usually transformed
- 7/20 omitted the title and 10/20 transformed the title
-omission of place name
- transformations like: Canoes to boats or changing name of characters
- content was rationalised by most participants so that it was more acceptable
-details were familiarised and simplified

Question 8

bartlett war of the ghosts conclusion

Answer 8

> Bartlett interpreted results as evidence for the active and constructive nature of memory
Participants did not recall the story fully or accurately
- omitted details that did not fit with the schema
- or details were altered due to the schema

Question 9

bartlett war of the ghosts strengths

Answer 9

> ecological validity: Used a story which is more realistic than lists of numbers or trigrams
he replicated it with various stories and pictures and found the same results
qualitative analysis: can reveal the real nature of reconstructive memory and shows its change over time

Question 10

bartlett war of the ghosts weaknesses

Answer 10

> no standardised procedure (no good controls so not very scientific)
qualitative analysis might be unscientific (could be interpreted in a favourable way(
story was illogical and unfamiliar: not naturalistic or realistic

Question 11

peterson and peterson study (name and year)

Answer 11

Peterson and Peterson (1959) Short-term Retention of Individual Verbal Items

Question 12

peterson and peterson aims

Answer 12

To test the duration of short term memory

Question 13

peterson and peterson procedure parts

Answer 13

two parts, 1 where there was no rehearsal, other where there was

Question 14

peterson and peterson participants

Answer 14

• no rehearsal: 24
• rehearsal: 48
  from introductory psychology course at Indiana University, USA

Question 15

peterson and peterson procedure for interference group

Answer 15

> given standardised instructions
black box:
- green light=trial is ready to begin
- red light=stop counting and recall the trigram

> each participant was asked to repat a trigram that they were given by the experimenter
immediately afterwards they had to count backwards in 3s/4s (50% chance) from a number given by the experimenter (no rehearsal and interference)- done to the metronome
had to recall the trigram 8 times at each time : 3s, 6s, 9s, 12s, 15s, 18s
15s gap between each trial to recall the trigram

Question 16

peterson and peterson procedure for rehearsal group

Answer 16

> half of the group were instructed to repeat the stimulus of a trigram aloud in time with a metronome (vocal)
- then stopped by the experimented and asked to count backwards
other half were given time to repeat the trigram in their head before being asked to count backwards from a number

• tested for immediate, 1s, 3s rehearsal interval period
• interference of counting for 3s, 9s and 18s

Question 17

peterson and peterson results

Answer 17

> longer counting->more unlikely to be able to recall the trigram
After 3 secs over 50% of trigrams were correctly recalled but after 15 secs only 10%
2nd experiment: extra rehearsal time increased the recall, however there was still a decline over time
vocal group improved with repetition
silent group did not improve with repetition

Question 18

peterson and peterson conclusion

Answer 18

> without rehearsal, STM deteriorates rapidly with only 10% recalled after 18s
Only in conditions where the repetition was vocal and controlled did accuracy of recall improve

Question 19

peterson and peterson strengths

Answer 19

> good controls: eliminated noise, distractions and there were fixed timings
used standardised procedures (replicable and reliable)
has practical applications (for tests: avoid distraction)
controlled extraneous variables by using trigrams instead of words which could have personal relevance

Question 20

peterson and peterson weaknesses

Answer 20

> lacks mundane realism as we would never have recall trigrams in everyday life
the trigrams may have personal relevance e.g. someone’s initials or initials of something they know