Memory AQA A level Psychology

• Coding?


  The format in which information is stored in the memory store.
• What study is for coding?


  Baddeley- Word Lists - Semantically similar or dissimilar- Acoustically similar or dissimilar.
• PEEL + Evaluation of Baddeleys work?


  P- Proved their is a difference between the stores- E brief overview of what he asked the participants to do , Recall was either immediate (STM) or after 20 mins (LTM)- E- Found STM struggled with acoustically similar words, LTM struggled with Semantically Similar words.- WHY?- Semantically/acoustically similar words conflicted with each other -L-Thus baddeley provides research evidence which suggests the memory stores are qualitatively different in terms of coding- STM(acoustic) and LTM is (semantic)
• What is a - PEEL paragraph of Baddeleys work?

  P- Baddeleys research into coding used artificial tasks in the form of word lists. E-The word lists contained semantically or acoustically similar/dissimilar words that had no personal meaning to the participants. E-In everyday life we process meaningful info such as the people we care about faces and names, and research has proven we may even use semantic coding for the STM. L- Results lack mundane realism - Limited application - Not truly representative of how coding works in real life due to use of artificial word lists.
• Define Capacity?


  Refers to how much information can be stored in a memory store.
• What was Jacobs role into study about capacity?

  Jacob- 1887- Digit span. He asked participants to recall digits after him in correct order until they could no longer do it. Started of with 4 and kept increasing till failure.
• What did Jacob's Results show?

  Mean digit span was 9.3 and mean letter span was 7.3
• What is the name of the second researcher involved in research about capacity of the STM?

  Miller - Humans roughly absorb 7 new pieces of information into the STM.
• What did Miller estimate the capacity of the STM to be?


  7 plus or minus 2 so 7+-2 chunks. Lower end to be 5 chunks and the upper end to be 9 chunks.
• He discovered something called chunking what do we mean by this?

  Chunking- Is when large pieces of information is grouped into smaller groups of information so they take up less capacity (space) in the memory store.
• What is the Capacity of the LTM thought to be?

  LTM capacity is thought to be Unlimited.
• What is an - evaluation into research about capacity on JACOBS?

  P- Supporting research for Capacity (jacobs) was conducted a long time ago in 1887. E- Studies conducted a long time ago may lack adequate control and so it is likely that co founding variables, such as being distracted during the task, have had an effect on the DV rather then the IV. L- Thus this affects the internal validity of the experiment and affects it's credibility as we can not be sure that the mean digit span and letter span is true.
• How do we evaluate Millers work?


  P- Miller has been criticised for overestimating the capacity of the STM. E- Cowan has conducted a Meta Analysis and found out that the capacity of the STM is in fact 4 chunks. L - This suggests that Millers estimate may not be entirely accurate as the lower end of his estimate 5 is the only closest to cowan's value of 4 chunks. Also the idea of the STM being fixed is possibly incorrect as certain factors can enhance a person's capacity such as rehearsal and certain factors can decrease it such as illnesses that come with age (dementia).
• What is the name, and procedure for the study that investigated STM duration?

  Peterson and peterson: Participants given a nonsense trigram (combination of 3 letters or digits) they then had to retain info for a delay period going up in 3 seconds (3,6,9,12,15,18 s) then during delay interval they had to count backwards to prevent rehearsal.
• What were the results from the peterson and peterson study?

  As the delay interval so how long they had to retain the information for(3,6,9,12,15,18 seconds) increased accurate recall decreased.
• What did peterson and peterson say the duration of the STM was?

  Duration of the STM was 18-30 seconds.
• What was the name of the research used to investigate duration in LTM and procedure?

  Bahrick et al- He gathered 392 american students - Aged 17-74 and tested their ability to recall people from their graduating class by looking at their yearbook photo (hint) or without hint which was free recall.
• What did the results show?


  For the yearbook photo recall - Graduation after 15 years were 90% accurate, graduation after 48 years were 70%accurate. For the free recall: After 15 years they were 60% accurate- After 48 years they were 30 % accurate.
• How can we - EVALUATE the peterson and peterson research?


  P- Peterson and peterson study used retention intervals to prevent rehearsal E- retention intervals although they prevent rehearsal they also cause information to be displaced- Reitman thus used auditory notes to prevent rehearsal and they also prevent displacement from occurring. He found that the duration of the STM was >18-30seconds Suggests that in their experiment the Duration of the LTM is limited due to displacement rather than forgetting. Thus such research cannot truly reflect the duration of the STM.
• How do we evaluate Bahrick et al study into duration of the LTM?

  P- Research into duration of the LTM cannot control all extraneous variables. E- In Bahrick et als study extraneous variables such as how many times people looked at the year book photo was not controlled. E- This suggests that we cannot be sure if it is length of time or how many times people looked at the year book that determines the duration of the LTM- reduces internal validity. Thus such research looses credibility as it isn't assessing the duration of the LTM.
• What is a generic point for all research into coding, capacity, duration?

  They were all done in a Laboratory setting. The high degree of control is unlike the environment in which participants memorise information and thus they might behave differently- demand characteristics. If they do not act naturally this affects their Capacity/coding/duration. As a result such research due to high degree of control, causing ppl to act differently to real life- lacks ecological validity.
• What are the 3 types of long term memory?

  Semantic, Episodic, Procedural.
• Define episodic memory, if it is declarative or non declarative, and it's location?

  Episodic memory is our memory for events that occurred in our lives. It is declarative as it required conscious recall. Located in the Right prefrontal cortex.
• Define procedural memory, location and an example?

  Procedural memory is our memory for how to do things, for example how to ride a bike. These memories are non declarative- They require no conscious effort to recall. Located in the Motor cortex.
• Define Semantic memory, Location and example?

  Semantic memory is our memory for knowledge, knowledge such as facts for instance the capital cities of countries around the world. It is located in the left prefrontal cortex.
• What is a + EVALUATION for different types of LTM?

  P- There is research that supports the idea of their being different types of LTM. E- Case study of Clive Wearing, developed amnesia and so his episodic memory was damaged, he couldn't remember when his daughter was married, but his procedural memory was fine, he knew how to play a piano.This suggests that if there was only one type of LTM they would all be damaged, however as only one part is damaged it supports the idea of 3 separate types of LTM. Thus Clive wearing enhance the credibility of there being different types of LTM.
• What is a second + PEEL paragraph into research about 3 different types of LTM?

  P- Research into different types of LTM is useful as it helps improve cognition in participants with cognitive impairment. E- We talk about beleville et al study. E- iLLUSTRATES importance of studying about different types of LTM as some types can improve quality of life. L- Therefore, research into different types of LTM has real life application as it can help people get better who suffer from memory problems.
• What is a negative PEEL paragraph for Different types of LTM?

  P- There is conflicting opinions as to whether or not we have 2 or 3 types of LTM. Researchers argue that the episodic memory and semantic memory should be classed as one type of LTM as they are located in the prefrontal cortex. As they are located in the same area it suggests that they are sub types of the same type of LTM rather than separate stores of LTM. This suggests that there is only 2 types of LTM ; Declarative (conscious awareness required for recall) and non declarative( opposite of declarative)
• Who proposed the working memory model?

  The working memory model was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch.
• What is the role of the central executive?

  Monitors information from the senses and allocates it to the slave systems.
• What are 3 other things about the central executive?

  Directs attentions to tasks. Limited Capacity- Can only hold one piece of information at a time. Baddeley (2003) has described the central executive as the most important but least clear part of the WMM.
• Define phonological loop?


  Phonological loop is the slave system that deals with auditory information.
• What is the capacity and the duration of the phonological loop?


  Limited capacity and limited duration of 2 seconds.
• What are the 2 divisions of the phonological loop and state their function?

  Primary acoustic store- Keeps recently heard sounds in your STM. Articulatory processes- keeps information in your mind subvocally
• What is the role of the visuo spatial sketchpad?

  Deals with visual and spatial information.
• What are the 2 divisions of the Visuo spatial sketchpad an state them?

  Visual cache- Deals with the colour and shape of objects. A passive store Inner scribe - Forms relationships between what we have seen. An active store.
• What is the role of the episodic buffer?

  The role of the episodic buffer is that it combines all the information from all the slave systems.
• What is a + PEEL evaluation of the WMM?

  P- There is experimental research support that supports the phonological loop. E- Baddeley et al found out about the word length effect- People struggle to remember a list fill with longer words than a list with shorter words. This supports the phonological loop as it shows that there is limited space for rehearsal in the articulatory store (2 seconds) Thus this increases the credibility of the WMM as it supports the idea of the phonological loops duration being 2 seconds.
• Write another + PEEL paragraph for the WMM?

  P- There is support from studies on people with learning difficulties such as dyslexia stems from WMM deficits. e- Jeffries and Everatt Found that individuals who had dyslexia struggled with tasks assesing their phonological awareness but VSSP tasks were fine. E- Results suggest that a key intervention to improving dyslexia stems from improving phonological skills. Thus WMM has useful real life application as it can improve the educational outcomes for people with learning difficulties.
• Write a PEEL - Eval of the WMM?


  p - A limitation of the WMM is that it is criticised for being too vague. E- Case study of 'EVR' Some of his CE was intact and so he could do reasoning tasks well, other parts were damaged and so he had poor decision making skills. E- Suggests that there is more than 1 component of the CE and so WMM is outdated. L- In conclusion all elements of the WMM has not been explained and further research needs to be conducted due to the possibility of the CE having more than 1 component.