Memory

• What is memory?


  mental processes used to cope, share and retrieve information
• what does memory involve?

  coding - creating a memory trace from 5 senses

  duration- how long can memories last for

  capacity- how much information can be stored
• what are flashbulb memories?

  something you vividly remember
• what is the short term memory?

  a memory storage system that briefly holds a limited amount of information in awareness

  capacity between 5 and 9 items on average duration around 18 seconds

  codes acousitcally
• what is the long term memory?

  the permanent memory store

  coding mainly semantic(meaning)

  unlimited capacity can store up to a lifetime
• what was research done into code?

  BAddeley

  Baddeley

  gave different list of words to four groups

  Group 1- acoustically similar (cat cab)

  group 2 - acoustically dissimilar (few, cow)

  group 3 - semantically similar meaning similar (great large)

  group 4 - semantically different (good, huge)

  participants asked to recall in order

  results

  recalling from sum worse acoustically

  after 20 mins really LTM did worse with semantically similar words

  suggest the information is coded acoustically in STM and semantically in LTM
• what research was there into capacity?

  JAcobs and miller

  digit spam

  how much info an STM hold?

  Jacobs (1887)

  researcher read out 4 digits and participant were then asked to recall outloud in order. until person can no longer remember anymore. HE found that the mean span for digits across was 9.3 where's as letters 7.3

  
  

  duration

  Miller 1956

  noted down that things come in 7 miller thought that the span of sum was about 7 items but he also noted that people can recall 5 words easily (chunking)
• What was the research done for Duration?

  P and P and BAhrick

  duration of STM

  Peterson and Peterson

  each student given a consonant syllable to remember and a 3 digit number

  the student then counted backward from the number until told to stop (stop rehearsal)

  each trial they were told to stop after varying periods of Time 3.6.9

  after 3 seconds average recall was about 80 percent after 18 seconds it was 3% suggest STM maybe around 18 seconds unless rehearsal

  
  

  duration LTM

  Bahrick 1975

  American participants ages 17- 74 asked to recall by photo recognition and free recall of names in their graduation class

  results

  participants 15 years of graduation 90% accuracy

  after 48 years recall declined to about 70 % photo

  free recall was less 60% 15 years

  30% 48 years

  shows LTM last up to a lifetime
• how long is STM recall

  18 seconds
• Strength of Baddleys study?

  identified a clear difference between two memory stores

  Later research showed that there are exceptions to BAddleys finding but the idea the STM uses mostly acoustic coding and LTM mostly semantic lasted

  important step led to multi store model
• Weakeness of Baddleys study?

  quite artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material

  eg word lists had no personal meaning to participants

  when processing more meaningful information people may use semantic coding even for STM task

  suggest finding form this study have limited application low validity
• What was Baddleys study?

  study into coding

  Ask to repeat list of words

  semantically similar and different

  acoustically similar and different

  short term - acoustically similar longterm semantically
• What were strength into Jacobs study?

  a valid study

  been replicated

  very old study but made simple so able to be replicated over time

  Other scientist have defended study eg Bopp

  suggesting his study is valid test for digit span of STM
• What is a limitation of millers study? 7

  Overestimated the STM capacity

  Cowan reviewed other research and concluded that the capacity of the STM is only about 4 suggesting that the lower end of millers estimation is more valid
• What is a limitation of Peterson and Petersons experiment?

  stimulus material artificial

  it had no meaning to everyday life therefore lacks external validity
• What is a strength of Bahrick study?

  high external validity as the researchers investigate meaningful memories eg names and faces

  when studies on ltm conducted with meaningless recall lower

  suggest finding reflect a more real estimate on duration of Ltm
• What was the multi store model of memory?

  representation on how memory works

  consists

  sensory register

  short term memory

  long terms memory
• What is the sensory register role?

  - all stimuli from environment pass into

  - compromises 7 registers one for each of the 5 senses

  - duration of material in the SR very brief less then half a second

  - high capacity

  -information then passes into memory if you pay attention
• What is the short term memory role?

  - coded acoustically

  -last 18 seconds unless rehearsed

  - capacity 5-9 words

  - maintenance rehearsal occurs when we repeat material to ourselves over and over again

  - we can keep material in STM as long as we rehearse it

  -if we rehearse it long enough it can go in LTM
• What is the role of the long term memory ?

  -Permanent memory store for information that has been rehearsed for a long time.

  - semantically codes

  -can last up to a lifetime unlimited store

  - when we want to recall information from ltm has to be transferred back into Stm by retrieval
• strength of the MSM?

  MSM has supporting evidence from many lab experiments supporting the differences between STM and LTM eg Baddeley who found that mixing words that sounded similar we use our sim but when we mix word with similar meaning we use of LTM dhows how separate and indeptented memory stores
• What is a limitation of the MSM?

  Evidence for more then one STM

  Warrington studied a client who referred to as K who had amnesia a disorder

  Kf STM for digit very poor when read out lead recall so much better when he read to himself

  evidence suggest that MSM is wrong in claiming there is just one store processing different types of memory
• what are the different types of long term memory?

  episodic, semantic, procedural
• What is the episodic memory?

  LtM for personal events , includes memories of when the personal events occurred and the people , object places and behaviours involved . memories from this store have to be retrieved consciously and with effort
• how does the episodic memory work ?

  First the memories are time stamped

  second your memory of a single episode with include several elements eg places, objects al these memories are interwoven produce a single memory

  third

  you have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories done quickly but api are still aware your searching for memory of what happened
• What is semantic memory?

  A long term memory store for our knowledge of the world this includes facts and our knowlegde of what words and concepts mean . these memories usually also need to be recalled deliberately
• how does the semantic memory work?


  not time stamped
• What is procedural memory?

  A long term memory store for our knowledge of how to do things this includes our memories of how to do things eg our memories of learned skills . We usually recall these memories without making a conscious of deliberate effort

  eg driving a car

  these sort of skills we might even find quite hard to explain to someone
• one strength of the evidence of the different long term memory?

  case study of Clive wearing

  episodic memory was severely impaired due to brain damage but semantic memory was relatively unaffected

  they still understood meaning of words

  procedural memory intact could still play piano

  evidence supports tulvings view that their are different memory stores in LTm as one can be damaged and not affect the other
• One weakness of the different long term memory?

  conflicting research finding linking types of LTM to areas of brain

  Buckner and Petersent reviwed evidence regarding the location of semantic and episodic memory. They concluded that semantic memory is located in the left side of the prefrontal cortex and episodic memory on the right .However other research links the left prefrontal cortex with episodic memories and the right prefrontal cortex with semantic memories this challenges any neurophysiological evidence to support types of memory as there is poor agreement on where each type might be located
• What is the working memory model?

  Baddley and Hitch 1974

  explanation of how the short term memory

  consist of 4 main components

  central executive

  phonological loop

  viso spatial sketchpad

  episodic buffer
• What is the role of the central executive?

  supervisory role

  monitors incoming data focuses and divides our limited attention and allocates it to one of the slave systems
• What is the role of the phonological loop?

  processes auditory information

  phonolgical store stores what you hear

  articulatory process which allows maintenance rehearsal words in a loop
• What is the role of the visa-spatial sketchpad?

  Second slave system

  stores visual and spatial information

  eg asked how many windows in your house you visualise it

  visual cache stores vis data

  inner scribe records arrangement
• What is the role of the episodic buffer?

  third slave systerm

  temporary store for information, intergrating the visual and spatial and verbal information processed by other stores and maintain sense of time and sequencing
• What are the reasons for forgetting?

  interference and forgetting
• What is the interference theory?

  proposes that people forget information because of competition from other material

  Mainly LTM
• what are the types of interference?

  proactive - occurs when older memory interferes with new memory

  retroactive- newer memory interferes with old memory
• What is an explanation for effect of similarity?

  reason similarity effect recall may be for one of two reason. it could be due to p1 previously stored information makes new similar information more difficult to store of could be due to RI new information overrates previous similar memories because of similarity
• What is a strength of interference idea?

  evidence of interference effect in more everyday situations

  Baddley and Hitch asked rugby player to recall names of the teach played against. Players all played equal amounrs

  Players who played the most had the poorest recall

  shows how that interference can operate in at least some real world situation increasing validity