Memory

• capacity

  how much information a store can retain
• coding

  the form in which the memory is retained
• duration

  how long this store can retain information for
• Episodic memory

  A LTM store for personal events . Memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort.
• Semantic memory

  A LTM store for our knowledge of the world which includes facts . these memories usually also need to be recalled deliberately.
• procedural memory

  A LTM store for our knowledge of how to do things . it’s an action , muscle or skills based memory . we usually recall these memories without making conscious or deliberate attempt .
• Sensory register

  Includes iconic and echoic memory stores
• rehearsal

  process of transferring material from STM to LTM
• retrieval

  process of recalling material from LTM into STM
• sensory register

  where all sensory information from the environment passes into or held
• STM : coding

  typically acoustic
• STM: capacity

  is limited , only certain number of items can be remembered
• STM : duration 


  has limited duration , only 18 seconds
• The multi store model of memory - strength

  • controlled lab experiments support the theory of having separate memory stores . - Baddley found out that similar sounding words get mixed up in the STM whilst similar meaning words get mixed up in the LTM
• The MSM - strength

  • the case study of HM - he could remember some events from before the surgery (LTM) but he could not form new memories (STM cannot be transferred to the LTM)
• The MSM - limitation

  • lots of research used artificial tasks - Baddley used an artificial stimuli instead of a meaningful one - suggests there is limited application to the real world .
• LTM - strength 


  • Clinical studies - Clive Wearing and HM - their episodic memory was affected but their semantic and procedural memories were not affected - supports Tulvings' view that there are different memory stores
• LTM - limitation 


  • conflicting neuroimaging evidence - Buckner and Petersen reviwed evidence regarding the location of semantic episodic memory - they concluded semantic is on the left of the prefrotal cortex and episodic on the right . however , other research conclude that semantic is on the right and episodic is on the left
• central executive 


  to focus attention on the most important tasks that need attending to in the current moment
• phonological loop 


  a slave system responsible for coordinating auditory information .

  • Phonological store = stores spoken words
  • Articulatory process = stores written words.
• visuo - spatial sketchpad

  a slave system which is responsible for visual or spatial information.

  • visual cache = stores visual data
  • inner scribe = stores arrangement of objects within the visual field of view
• episodic buffer


  receives information from the CE , PL , VSS and integrates this information into episodes
• The WMM - strength

  Clinical evidence - KF suffered brain injury which affected his STM - struggled to process verbal / auditory information but his ability to recall visual information was unaffected - supports the view that there are different slave systems in the working memory
• The WMM - strength

  dual task performance (Baddley) - particpants were asked to perform a digit task and verbal reasoning task at the same time - as digits increased , participants took longer to answer - concluded that verbal task used the CE and the digit task used the phonological loop.
• The WMM - limitation

  lack of detail on the CE - Baddley stated that the CE is the most important but least understood - needs to be more specified than just attention - some psychologists believe that there are subcomponents - challenges integrity of the WMM
• proactive interference 


  occurs when old memory interferes with the new one
• retroactive interference 


  occurs when new memory interferes with an old memory
• Interference - Strength

  real-world interference - rugby players were asked to recall names of players they had played over the season - players who had played in more games had the worst recall - later found that recent games had interfered with older ones - concluded that interference had occurred to prevent accurate recall - gives it ecological validity
• Interference - limitation

  Interference and cues - Tulving and Pstoka gave participants a list of words - recall was 70% for the first list but became worse when additional lists were added - a cued recall test happened at the end of the procedure - recall rose to 70%. - shows that interference causes temporary loss of accessibility to material in the LTM.
• retrieval failure 


  when there is not enough cues , a person may forget certain memories
• Tulvings encoding principle

  suggests that forgetting occurs if cues at encoding and retrieval are different or absent.
• type of cues

  context - external cues e.g environment

  state - internal cues e.g feeling upset
• Godden & Baddley study - contextual cues

  aim: investigated whether memory improves when learning and recall occurred in the same environment

  method: Participants learned words on land or water and recalled in the same or opposite environment

  results: recall was better when learning and recall environment matched.
• Carter & Cassaday - state dependant study

  Conditions:

  Drowsy/drowsy.

  Alert/drowsy.

  Drowsy/alert.

  Alert/alert.

  Results: Recall was worse in mismatched states (alert/drowsy, drowsy/alert).

  Conclusion: Retrieval failure happens when internal state cues differ between learning and recall.
• retrieval failure - strength

  research support - studies by Godden & Baddley and Carter & Cassaday are examples as they show that a lack of cues at recall can lead to forgetting - memory researchers argue that retrieval failure may be the main reason for forgetting in the LTM .
• retrieval failure - limitation

  recall vs recognition - Godden & Baddley replicated their study using a recognition test - when recognition was tested there was no context - dependant effect - performance was the same for all conditions - suggests retrieval failure is a limited explanation for forgetting as it oly applies when a person has to recall and not recognise.
• eyewitness testimony


  the evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed a crime, with a view to identifying the perpetrator.
• leading question


  point to a certain answer because of how they are phrased.
• Loftus & Palmer study

  Loftus & Palmer (1974) showed 45 student participants film clips of car accidents and then asked them questions about speed.

  Five groups of participants were each given a different verb in the critical question: hit, contacted, bumped, collided or smashed.
• response bias 


  wording of leading questions do not affect memory, they just influence how participants choose answer.