memory

• who was the multistore model of memory proposed by?

  Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968-1971)
• sensory register

  -coding from environment

  -duration = very short

  -very high high capacity

  -if you pay attention to info in SR then it will pass into STM
• STM (short term memory)

  -coding is mainly acoustic

  -duration = about 18secs unless rehearsed (temporary store)

  -limited capacity (between 5+9 items of info)

  -if you rehearse info for long enough it will pass into LTM
• LTM (long term memory)

  -coding is semantic (in terms of meaning)

  -duration = unlimited

  -unlimited capacity

  -MSM says that recalling info from LTM means it has to be transferred back to STM by retrieval.
• HM case study key points

  -brain surgery to cure epilepsy

  -hippocampus was removed from both sides

  -couldn’t form new long term memories

  -good short term memory
• MSM positives

  :)research support -shows STM and LTM are separate models

  :)influential -generated a lot of interest + research into memory

  :)scientific + objective studies -results have high reliability and internal validity
• MSM limitations

  -oversimplified -suggests LTM and STM operate in a single uniform fashion

  -lab experiments -tell us very little about how memory works in real life

  -case studies may not be generalisable

  -some memories may not require rehearsal like suggested by MSM
• who proposed LTM

  Tulving (1985)
• episodic memory 


  -ability to recall events from our lives (autobiographical record of life like a diary)

  -helps distinguish real and imaginary events

  -remember when it happened as well as what happened

  -have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories
• examples of episodic memories

  first day of school, concerts, friends wedding, first date
• semantic memory 


  -meanings and understandings, knowledge based

  -don’t usually remember time of when you learnt info
• examples of semantic memories

  remembering words to a song, address, meaning of a word, where the eifel tower is
• procedural memory

  -action and skills

  -can recall without conscious awareness

  -allows multitasking

  -van gorp et al (increase of dopamine improves procedural memories)
• examples of procedural memories 


  driving a car, riding a bike
• advantages of LTM

  -supporting case studies -HM and Clive episodic memories both impaired but semantic and procedural both relatively intact in both

  -scientific brain scans Tuliving (1989) PET scans whilst doing memory task

  -improved understanding of different types of LTM helped to provide better treatment for diseases such as dementia
• limitations of LTM

  -research against-Cohen + Squire (1980) only 2 types of ltm (procedural + declarative) so less credible

  -individual cases -can’t be generalised

  -lacks mundane realism and ecological validity-artificial environment, would results be different with more realistic task
• 2 factors affecting EWT (eye witness testimony)

  -misleading information

  -anxiety
• leading questions (misleading information)

  questions that increase likelihood individuals will give a desired answer
• post event discussion (misleading information)

  misleading info added to memory after event has occurred, false memories
• Loftus weapon affect theory

  if a criminal is carrying a weapon a person is more likely to focus on weapon than details of person carrying weapon due to anxiety diverting one’s attention of situation to the weapon
• who proposed cognitive interview

  Fisher and Geiselman (1992)
• what are the 4 components of cognitive interview

  -change of narrative order

  -change of perspective

  -mental reinstatement of context

  -report everything
• change in narrative order

  recall event in different chronological orders to what happened (eg end to beginning)
• change of perspective 


  recall event from different peoples perspectives (eg from offenders POV)
• mental reinstatement of context

  recall both environmental and emotional context of event (weather and personal feelings)
• report everything

  recall all information, even if it isn’t relevant, not fully remembered, incomplete info, or seems inappropriate to interview
• what are the 2 explanations of forgetting

  interference theory and cue dependant forgetting
• interference theory

  memories disrupt and obstruct one another
• cue dependant forgetting

  info in LTM can’t be accessed and recall is dependant on cues
• proactive interference

  old memories interfere new memories
• retroactive interference

  new memories interfere old memories
• what was Schmidt et al (2000) study on interference theory

  memories of street names, he found learning new patterns of street names when moving makes it harder to remember old street names perhaps learnt in childhood
• advantages of interference theory

  -can be used in real life (eg in advertising)

  -research support (Schmidt) increases knowledge and understanding of the role interference plays on forgetting
• limitations of interference theory

  -it tells us very little about cognitive processes involved in forgetting

  -majority lab research so its lacks mundane realism and has a low ecological validity, may not be generalisable to real life
• what are the 2 forms of cue dependant forgetting?

  context dependant failure and state dependant failure
• context dependant failure

  external environment is different at recall from coding
• example of context dependent failure

  getting less marks on a test that you took in a different room to where you learnt the information on the test and getting better marks on a test that you took in the same room you learnt the information
• state dependant failure 


  internal environment is dissimilar at recall to coding
• example of state dependant failure

  trying to recall information in a drunk state that you learnt when in a sober state and vice verca
• what was Godden and Baddeleys (1975) study on context dependant failure ?

  -divers learnt material on either dry land or underwater

  -recall of information was worse when in a different context (dry land or underwater) to coding (when i for was learnt)

  -recalling words underwater that were learnt on dry land was worse than when recalling words on dry land that was learnt on dry land + vice verca