Psychology: Memory

• what is coding?


  the format in which info is stored in different memory stores
• how is info encoded in STM?

  acoustically
• how is info encoded in the LTM?

  semantically
• who reaserched coding?


  Alan Baddeley
• What was Baddeley's (1966) research and what did he conclude?

  Procedure: He read 4 different groups 4 different sets of words (acoustically similar/dissimilar and semantically similar/dissimilar) He asked them to recall the words immediately and acoustically similar words had the worst recall rate. (a.d. best) He also asked them to recall the words after 20 minutes and this time semantically similar words were the worst. (s.d. best)

  Conclusion: He concluded that we store information acoustically in out STM but semantically in our LTM
• what is a strength and a weakness of the theory and its different types of coding?

  + supporting evidence (Baddeley's)

  - Baddeley used artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material (the words nor the procedures) → lack ecologial validity
• what is capacity?


  the amount of info taht can be held in the memory stores
• who researched it?


  Joseph Jackobs (1887)
• What was Jacob's (1887) research?

  Procedure: The researcher read out four digits and the participants have to recall these in the corrects order with the amount of digits increasing with each time they do it correctly. Their digit span is the max number of digits recalled correctly before fumbling.

  The mean digit span was 9.3 for numbers and 7.3 for letters.

  Conclusion: This research helped in determining STM capacity
• What was Miller's (1956) "research" and what did he conclude?

  *research on capacity; span of memory and chunking)

  Procedure: Miller observed everyday practice and noted that things come in 7s (days of the week, deadly sins etc.)

  Conclusion: He concluded that the capacity of the STM was 7 (± 2)
• how can we increase the capacity of info we can retain?

  by chunking (grouping sets of info into meaingful units)
• What are some evaluation points to studies about capacity?

  Strength- Jacob's (1887) has temporal and concurrent validity as although it is an old study (limited control back then) it has been replicated many times to the same result

  Limitation- Miller's (1956) research may have been an overestimate of STM capacity as Cowan (2001) reviewed other research and concluded that the capacity is more likely 4 (± 1)
• what is meant by 'duration'?

  the length of time formation can be held in memory
• who studied duration in STM?

  Peterson and Peterson's (1959)
• What was Peterson & Peterson's (1959) research and their conclusion?

  Procedure: 24 students were given a consonant syllable (e.g. YCG) to recall and a 3 digit number to count backwards from (to stop mental rehearsal) for a different length of time for each time. After 3 seconds, the average recall was about 80% and after 18 seconds about 3%.

  Conclusion: They concluded that the STM has a duration of about 18 seconds without rehearsal
• who did research on LTM?

  Harry Bahrick
• What was Bahrick et al.'s (1975) research and his conclusion?


  Procedure: 392 American participants aged between 17 and 74 were studied. They were first asked to (1) do a photo recognition test of 50 photos (some from their yearbook) and (2) a free recall test were they had to recall the names of their graduation class.

  Recognition test- 90% accurate within 15 years of graduation, 70% after 48 years Free recall- 60% recall after 15 years, 30% after 48 years

  Conclusion: This shows that LTM may have a duration of up to a lifetime for some material.
• what is a strength and a weakness of the duration bits?

  + Bahrick's research had high external validity (→ high overall validity)

  - P&P's study was using artificial stimulus (consonant syllables) which led to lacking external validity, but not completely irrelevant
• there's the table
• who suggested the multi store model?

  Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
• how does the multi-store model work?

  Everything enters the SS

  We pay attention to 7 (± 2) stimuli which go to STM

  Interesting things are rehearsed

  Everything else is forgotten (information decayed)

  Meaningful/ useful thing are transferred to the LTM

  To remember material we retrieve it from the LTM to the STM
• Draw the multi-store model of memory
• What does SCOAR stand for?

  Supporting evidence

  Criticise supporting evidence

  Opposing theory

  Application to real world

  Reductionistic or holistic
• What are some evaluation points of the MSM?

  [S] Baddeley (1966) proved there are different stores (supporting MSM) (semantic and acoustic)

  [S] HM struggled with LTM but performed well on STM tests suggesting there are separate stores

  [C] Baddeley (1966) used artificial stimuli
• who proposed the working memory model?

  Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
• What are the different parts of the working memory model and what do they do?

  Central executive- supervisory role, allocates processing capacity to the different subsystems

  Visuospatial sketchpad- processes visual cache and spatial arrangement (inner scribe) information

  Phonological loop- processes auditory information

  Phonological store- the words you hear

  Articulacy Control System- allows for maintenance rehearsal (repeating sounds/ words on an internal loop)

  Episodic buffer- integrates visual, spatial and acoustic information and ensure time sequences
• Draw the working memory model
• What was Baddeley et al.'s experiment supporting the WMM?

  Procedure: His participants carried out a visual and verbal task at the same time (dual task) and their performance was roughly similar to when they carried them out separately. However when he gave them two visual (or verbal) tasks, performance declined substantially

  Conclusion: This supported the WMM theory as it proves there are separate subsystems
• What are the SCOAR evaluation points for the Working Memory Model?

  DIFFERENT POINTS

  
  

  
  

  [S] Baddeley et al.'s dual performance task that prove separate subsystems

  [C] Baddeley's stimuli was artificial so the participants may not engage thoroughly [O] ???

  [A] It could help efficiency in exam revision and better grades are better for the economy

  [R] Reductionistic because it may not be applicable to everyone- especially neurodivergent people
• who proposed the different types of long term memory?

  Endel Tulving (1985)
• What are the types of LTM?

  Episodic- personal to the individual (time stamped)

  Semantic- knowledge generally (don't necessarily remember when learnt it)

  Procedural- skill learnt once now natural (not active recall)
• what do episodic memories refer to?

  to our ability to recall events (episodes) fom our lives
• what do semantic memories contain?

  all of our share knowledge of the world (a combination of encyclopedia and a dictionary)
• what is procedural memoy?


  the store for skills and actions
• what are episodic memeories?

  complex (incluse people, objects, places, etc) + time stamped (we now when they happened)
• what are semantic memories what do they contain?

  not time-stamped abut contain an immense collectin of material
• do procedural memories need much effort to be recalled?

  no, it's more conscious awareness
• what are the SCOAR points of LTM stores?

  - [S] HM & CW couldn't recall what happened at the past, but semantic memories were a unaffected (HM didn't need to have 'dog' explained to him) & procedural memories were still intact (could still play the piono)

  - [C] it's unethical and not really relevant to the rest of the world to study people with severe brain damage (consent?)

  lack of control. Rs didn't know what their memory was like before the damage, therefore clinical studies are limited on what they can ted us about general diff types of LTM

  - [O] the MSM does not recognise the diff. stores of long-term memory; baddeley found that people mix of semantically similar word, meaning that all words get encoded in the long-term memory semantically

  - [A] Belleville et al (2006) devised, an interim intervention for older people, targeting episodic memory,(what is affected by old age), which improved their memory, which led to distinguishing between types of long-term memory, enables specific treatments to be developed

  - [R] memory does not work the same way for everyone; Tulving's Siri is very holistic and ignores people's differences
• Who was Aurelian Hayman?


  A young man who has hyperthmesia which means he has an autobiographical memory- what they remember they don't forget
• Who was Clive Wearing?

  Someone who has a rare neurological condition that caused irreparable damage to his hippocampus meaning he has antergrade amnesia and retrograde amnesia. He constantly feels like he has just awoken from a coma as his consciousness is 'rebooted' every 7-30 seconds.

  He was a successful musician and though he can't remember that, he still remembers the procedural skill of how to play his piano perfectly.