Memory

• Multi-store model


  Explanation of memory that sees information flowing through a series of storage systems

  Atkinson and Shiffrin
• Sensory Register (SR)


  short duration store holding impressions of information received by the senses

  - automatic response to the sense organs
• Coding of the SR

  Information is stored in a raw, unprocessed form. Information that is paid attention to passes onto the STM and the remainder fades / decays

  - different sensory stores (echoic , visual)
• Research for coding in the SR

  Crowder found only retains info in the iconic form for a few milliseconds

  - echoic stores for 2-3 seconds
• Capacity of SR


  Sperling flashed 3x4 grid of letters for 1/20 of a second and asked to recall one line signalled by different pitch noises for each row

  - quite large as all info was recalled back off of indicated row showing all info was originally there
• Duration of SR


  limited duration (different stores have different capacities)
• Short term memory


  a temporary store holding small amounts of information for brief periods
• Coding of STM


  Baddeley...

  - Aim, to see whether coding in stm is acoustic or semantic

  - Procedure, 4 groups, each group heard a different set of words. A, acoustically similar. B, acoustically dissimilar. C, semantically similar. D, semantically dissimilar.

  - Findings, A = 10% accuracy. B, C & D = 60%-80% accuracy.

  - Conclusion, STM is primarily acoustic, A recall is significantly lower.

  - Evaluation, stm is mainly acoustic, some semantic coding, some visual coding.
• Capacity of STM


  Miller - between 5 to 9 items due to chunking information (magic number 7 - 7+-2)

  Jacobs - list of numbers and letters showing it to be limited
• Duration of STM


  0-18 seconds with 30 max

  Peterson and Peterson - nonsense trigrams as well as counting back from large number

  90% recalled after 3 seconds

  only 5% after 18 seconds (limited duration)
• Long term memory


  a permanent store of memory holding limitless amounts of information for long periods
• Coding of LTM


  mainly semantic (Baddeley)
• Capacity of LTM


  Unlimited Capacity

  -memories may be lost because of decay but are NOT lost due to lack of capacity
• Duration of LTM


  Bahrick showed 400 p's aged 17-74 set of photos and names from old high schools

  those who left 15 years ago identified 90%

  those left 48 years identified 80% names and 70% faces

  (duration semantically and unlimited)
• Evaluation of the MSM

  + influential and inspiring model

  + case studies of amnesia patients support existence for separate stores (Clive Wearing)

  + highly scientific

  + considerable evidence for support of stores

  - does not look into different types of rehearsal

  - low in ecological validity (difficult to generalise findings to explain memory in real life)

  - over simplistic to assume STM & LTM single stores
• Working memory model


  sees short term memory as an active store holding several pieces of information simultaneously
• Central executive


  part of working memory that directs attention and processing received by the sense organs

  - coordinates a response

  - modality free

  - limited capacity attends to particular types of information (only focus on one task in hand)
• Phonological Loop


  the part of working memory that holds and processes verbal and auditory information

  - slave system

  - temporary storage for verbal info (written/spoken)

  sub categories

  inner voice - verbal rehearsal (how long to say something)

  inner ear - limited capacity of auditory rehearsal from the environment
• Baddeley (pl)


  reported on the word length effect where ps recalled more short words in serial order than longer words supporting that the phonological loop is set by how long it takes to say words rather than actual number
• Visuo-spatial sketchpad (VSS)


  The component of the WMM that processes visual and spatial information in a mental space often called our 'inner eye'

  - slave system

  - temporary storage for visual and spatial (shape, colour, location and movement)
• Gathercole and Baddeley (VSS)


  found ps had difficulty simultaneously tracking a moving point and describing the angles of a letter F both involved the VSS

  - others had less difficulty in tracking the light and a verbal task as that uses the VSS and the PL (showing the VSS to be a separate store)
• Case study - KF

  Supports WMM.

  - had LTM damage from a motorcycle accident. However STM had almost normal performance for visual information, but verylimitedforauditorystimuli. Only phonological loop was damaged, not just all of STM (as the MSM would state)
• Episodic buffer


  A component of working memory where information in working memory interacts with information in long term memory (eg. relating information you are processing to a previous memory)

  - information combined by all the stores (VSS, CE and PL)
• Evaluation of the WMW

  + practical applications as brain scans can show how there is a different areas related to visual and verbal tasks highlighting they are separate stores as they do not light up when not in use

  + lab experiment - controlled environment - replicable

  + evidence and research to support - Baddeley dual tasks and KF case study (overcomes MSM simplicity)

  - little knowledge of the CE (limited in explanation for all the stores - weakens the reliability of the store)

  - low ecological validity as the dual tasks do not reflect everyday for the ps to complete - weakens the support for the tasks and the stores being separate

  - simplistic as incomplete explanation of the models as they are not fully explored and supported
• Episodic LTM


  A form of LTM for events occurring in an individuals life an autobiographical record of personal experiences (conscious)

  e.g remembering a birthday

  (high emotional content)
• Episodic LTM research


  Aim - investigate possible differences in processing of episodic and semantic memory tasks

  Procedure - 6 volunteers injected with radioactive gold to be detected by gamma ray detector

  - 8 successive trials lasting 80 seconds involving 4 semantic and 4 episodic topics

  - 2 minute rest in between

  Findings - episodic and semantic LTMs appear to involve different brain areas and separate forms of LTM

  (suggest a biological basis to differences)
• Semantic LTM

  Type of LTM for meanings, understandings and other concept based on knowledge - conscious

  eg - capital of France

  (knowledge from info learnt from somewhere)
• Procedural LTM


  Type of LTM for the performance of particular types of action

  - how to do something (unconscious)

  eg - riding a bike, swimming
• Evaluation of types of LTM

  + evidence to support different types of LTM (Endel Tulving)

  + practical applications benefit society

  + research is scientific (gamma ray detector)

  - case study evidence is limited by small sample size and reliability of conclusions

  - unclear distinction between episodic and semantic memories reducing accuracy of the model

  - use of artificial setting in research lacks ecological validity (difficult to generalise to real life)
• interference theory


  sees forgetting as due to information in LTM becoming confused with or disrupted by other information during coding

  (forgetting due to different memories)
• Proactive interference


  information stored previously interferes with an attempt to recall something new (forward)

  eg - old number affects the new one
• Retroactive interference


  works backwards in time new information disrupts information stored previously (backwards)

  eg - new phone number affects old one)
• Schmidt research (retroactive)


  700 names selected at random ranging from the ages 11-79 years old

  given an area of the map they knew and asked to remember the 48 street names

  then asked how many times they moved house (number of times affected how many they remembered) = learning of new street names affected old ones
• Evaluation of interference


  + there is research to support interference as a theory of forgetting (Schmidt)

  + controlled and scientific research as many done in lab experiments

  + practical applications (sleep strengthens memory making it less vulnerable to interference at recall = strategy to remember)

  - there is more research to support cue-dependent forgetting than IT

  - lacks mundane realism as its controlled in a lab (ecological validity)

  - only really explains forgetting when two sets of information are similar = may not apply to real life settings
• Cue dependent forgetting


  the inability to retrieve information stored in memory because of insufficient cues for recall (CDF sees recall as dependent upon retrieval cues)
• Context dependent failure


  form of CDF

  occurs with external retrieval cues with forgetting occurring when the external environment is different at recall from coding

  (water or on land)
• Research supporting context dependent failure

  Godden and Baddeley - got divers to learn material either on dry land or while underwater

  - recall was worse when it occurred in different context

  (the same environment was better)
• State dependent failure


  form of CDF

  occurs with internal retrieval cues with forgetting occurring with an individuals internal environment is dissimilar to recall

  (learning sober but recalling drunk)
• Research for State dependent failure

  Overton - learned material when either drunk or sober and found recall was worse when p's were in different internal state at recall than the coding
• Evaluation of cue dependent forgetting


  +There is research to support

  cue-dependency (retrieval failure) as a

  theory of forgetting.

  forgetting tends to use lab

  experiments, so is scientific

  (controlled, reliable, objective). = however can lack ecological validity

  +Some practical applications to reduce

  forgetting, eg learning at a deeper

  level of processing to create links with

  LTM; practising for the

  internal/external conditions of an

  exam to revise exam content before

  recalling in the exam (eg silent space);

  EWT interviews using context

  -Research doesn't explain all forms of

  forgetting as cue-dependency not

  always demonstrated (eg In G&B,

  when p's were given a recognition test,

  context-based effect was not seen).