Mem & crim

• Memory: information processing, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM), memory store model (MSM), Peterson & Peterson study, Barlett’s reconstruction theory, Barlett’s war of the ghost study.
• Criminology: operant theory, social learning theory, Bandura’s BoBo study, genetic’s and personality traits, personality theory, prison, community sentencing, restorative justice.
• Operant theory: reinforcement, punishment, primary and secondary reinforcer, identification.
• Social learning theory: modelling process, attention, retention, reproduction, motivation, identification.
• Memory is an imagination reconstruction of experience.
• Bandura’s BoBo study: an experiment was executed via a team of researchers who physically and verbally abuse an inflatable doll in front of preschoolers, which lead the children to latter mimic the behaviour of the adults by attacking the doll in the same way.
• Deman characteristics: participants try to make sense of the research and act accordingly to support the aim of the research (making it invalid).
• Key words: observation, imitation, role model.
• Strengths of social learning theory: a lot of research to support it, it can help us to explain why some people become criminals and others don’t, it is not as reductionist as other theories, the evidence to support looks as short-term aggression.
• Weaknesses of social learning theory: not all behaviour can explained by social learning theory, the theory doesn’t look at genes or criminality.
• In a separate experiment, the same participants were split into two groups: one group engaged in 'vocal conditioning' where they repeated the trigram out loud before counting, while the other group was not instructed to repeat the stimulus trigram aloud.
• Rationalisation is the process where we add to our recall to give a reason for something that may not have originally fitted with a schema.
• In an experiment, 24 students were tested on their ability to recall a trigram after various interference intervals.
• Barlett used a Native American ghost story, war of the ghosts, to test the influence of cultural background and unfamiliarity on memory recall.
• The length of the story became shorter with each reproduction to around 180 words after six/seven reproductions.
• Barlett used a method known as 'serial reproduction' where participants read the story twice at their own pace and then reproduced it to another participant.
• Familiarisation is the process where we change unfamiliar details to align with our own schema.
• Barlett’s reconstruction theory tells the story of war of the ghosts.
• Barlett concluded that participant’s schema affected what they remember from the story.
• Transformation is the process where details are changed to make them more rational.
• One reason for distorted recollection of a story is that people associate new experiences with old ones, preferring the 'conventional' route which is more comfortable for them that learning new unfamiliar concepts.
• Omission is the process where we leave out unfamiliar, irrelevant or unpleasant details when remembering something.
• The more complex the story, the more distorted the recollection of the story.
• The Peterson & Peterson study in memory & criminology involved 16 participants and tested their memory and recall of a sequence of numbers.
• Barlett also used 'repeated reproduction' where participants were asked to read the story twice at their own pace and then recall the story at different time intervals.
• Barlett’s proposed memory is not like a tape recorder; it doesn’t faithfully play back our experiences, instead our memories are brief notes, not an exact copy of an event, but an interpretation (or reconstruction).
• Crime can run in families, for example, personality disorder can lead to criminal actions and can be passed down genetically.
• People with the gene MAON have more of an aggressive way about them.
• Community sentencing is viewed as a safe option.
• Genetics provides a biological explanation for criminal behaviour.
• Prison categories include Category A (high security prison), Category B (training and providing prisoners with the opportunity to develop skills), and Category C (low risk).
• Most people re-offend, with 25% re-offending in their first year of release.
• Unstable neuroticism is a personality trait associated with being reactive in stressful situations, over- emotional and anxious.
• Hans Eysenck proposed in 1964 that certain people's characteristics could be more prone to criminality.
• Personality is defined as the characteristic and qualities that make someone's individuality.
• Stable neuroticism is a personality trait associated with being unreactive in stressful situations and emotionally unaffected.
• Recidivism is another issue in prisons.
• Monozygotic twins, developed from one fertile egg, are genetically identical and are more likely to have the same MAON gene.
• Extraversion is behaviour that is out going, sensation-seeking, sociable.
• Ensures that the law is respected and upheld (vindication).