Memory
sychologist names =Red
P
Statistics =Purple
Examples =Green
Important terminology/ information =Orange
,Memory
Discuss the multi-store model of memory. Refer to research evidence in your answer (16)
Discuss research on duration (8)
Discuss research on coding (8)
Discuss research on capacity (8)
Describe and evaluate types of long‐term memory. (16)
iscuss what psychological research has shown about working memory. In your answer, refer to theory and/or
D
evidence. (16)
Describe and evaluate how interference leads to forgetting. (16)
Describe and evaluate how retrieval failure due to the absence of cues leads to forgetting. (16)
iscuss research into the effects of misleading information on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (16
D
marks)
Outline and evaluate research into the effects of anxiety on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (16)
Discuss the use of the cognitive interview as a means of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (16)
,Discuss the multi-store model of memory. Refer to research evidence in your answer (16)
A01 ulti store
M - tkinson and Shiffrinproposed the multi-store model
A
model - The model describes how information flows through the memory system
Sensory register - ll stimuli from the environment pass through the sensory register
A
- It recieves information from all our senses, the sensory register has a huge capacity
- Information will only pass from the sensory register to the short-term memory store if
we pay attention
S hort term - as acapacity of 7+/-2(Miller)
H
memory - STM isacoustically encoded(Baddeley)
- Duration of 18-30 seconds(Peterson & Peterson)
- Limited capacity store as it can only contain a certain number of things before forgetting
- Maintenance rehearsaloccurs when we repeat new informationto ourselves
- Prolonged maintenance rehearsalallows informationto pass into LTM
L ong term - escribed assemantically encoded
D
memory - Theoretically unlimited capacity
- Very long duration (48 years, shown byBahrick)
- In order to remember, retrieval must occur - information is transferred back into STM
- Continue to pass throughmaintenance loopafterwards
A03 S upporting - SM acknowledges the qualitative differences between STM and LTM by representing
M
studies separate stores.
- STM is stored acoustically whereas LTM is encoded semantically.
- MSM portrays an accurate view of the differences between the two types of memory
and is supported byBaddeley, Bahrick and Miller.
L acks ecological - espite the research support fromBaddeley and Peterson,much of its use in
D
validity generalising to everyday life is questionable.
- Baddeley and Peterson & Petersonuse letters/ listsof words, some of which had no
meaning.
- In real life we use all sorts of things to aid our memory so MSM a might not be valid
model of how memory working our everyday life
esearch
R - enry Molaisonunderwent surgery for epilepsy.
H
supporting - A part of his brain called the hippocampus was removed from both sides of his brain, we
differences understand that this is critical for memory function.
between STM - He could not form any long-term memories but could perform well on tests in
and LTM -Henry immediate memory.
Molaison - Thus demonstrating there are 2 qualitatively different areas of STM and LTM and
supports MSM.
SM is an
M - ccording to MSM, the more you rehearse something, the more likely it is to transfer to
A
inadequate LTM (prolonged rehearsal).
explanation for - However,Craik and Watkinsfound that the type ofrehearsal is more important than
how LTM works the amount.
-Craik and - They suggestelaborative rehearsal(linking informationto your existing knowledge),
Watkins instead ofprolonged rehearsal, is needed to transferSTM into LTM.
- This means the model fails to adequately explain how long term storage works and it
might be a complete explanation of memory.
, Discuss research on duration (8)
A01 eterson and
P - 4 undergraduates
2
Peterson- STM - Found that the increasing retention intervals(from3-18 seconds)decreased the
accuracy of recall of consonants
- They were given nonsense triagrams and told to count backwards to prevent mental
rehearsal
- After 3 seconds, recall was 80%, after 18 seconds about 3%Peterson and Peterson's
- Findings suggest thatSTM duration may be 18 secondsunless we repeat the
information over and over (verbal rehearsal)
A03 High control - eterson & Peterson's study of artificial trigrams can be standardised to establish a
P
comparison between the groups and therefore cause and effect.
eaningless
M - ecalling consonant syllables does not reflect most everyday memory activities.
R
stimuli - Therefore, the study lacks external validity.
- However, we sometimes remember meaningless material such as phone numbers.
A01 Bahrick- LTM - S tudied 392 American ppts
- Using high school yearbooks, recall of names were tested
- There were two conditions:
- Photo-recognition test of photos using the high school year book
- Free call test where ppts recalled all the names of their graduating class
- Ppts tested within15 years of graduation were 90%accurate in photo recognition
- After45 years, recall declined to about 70% for photorecognition
- Free recall was less accurate than recognition,60%after 15 years dropping to 30% after
48 years
- This shows that LTM may last up to a lifetime for some material
A03 High external - T hey investigated meaningful memories (e.g. names and faces).
validity - This suggests thatBahrick'sfindings reflect a morereal estimate of duration of LTM.
oorly
P - T he study was poorly controlled, researchers assumed that the last contact with their
controlled classmates would have been when they left school.
- Little consideration had been made that ppts may see classmates in the intervening
years or had looked through the yearbook recently.
Discuss research on coding (8)
A01 Baddeley - e gave different lists of words to four groups (lists were semantically similiar/
H
dissimiliar and acoustically similiar/ dissimiliar)
- Ppts were asked to recall them in the correct order
- When they did this immediately, recalling from STM, they tended to do worse with
acoustically similiar words because it causes acoustic confusion
- When they recalled the word list after a time interval of20 minutes, recalling from LTM,
they did worse with semantically similiar words because it causes semantic confusion
A03 ifferences
D - Identifies that there is a clear difference between two memory stores.
between two - This was an important step in our understanding of the memory system, which led to
memory stores the multi-store model of memory
eaningless
M - T he study uses quite artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material.
material - low - For example, word lists have no personal meaning to ppts soBaddeley'sfindings may
ecological not tell us much about coding in different memory tasks - especially in everyday life.
validity - The findings have limited application to everyday life - low ecological validity.
sychologist names =Red
P
Statistics =Purple
Examples =Green
Important terminology/ information =Orange
,Memory
Discuss the multi-store model of memory. Refer to research evidence in your answer (16)
Discuss research on duration (8)
Discuss research on coding (8)
Discuss research on capacity (8)
Describe and evaluate types of long‐term memory. (16)
iscuss what psychological research has shown about working memory. In your answer, refer to theory and/or
D
evidence. (16)
Describe and evaluate how interference leads to forgetting. (16)
Describe and evaluate how retrieval failure due to the absence of cues leads to forgetting. (16)
iscuss research into the effects of misleading information on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (16
D
marks)
Outline and evaluate research into the effects of anxiety on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (16)
Discuss the use of the cognitive interview as a means of improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (16)
,Discuss the multi-store model of memory. Refer to research evidence in your answer (16)
A01 ulti store
M - tkinson and Shiffrinproposed the multi-store model
A
model - The model describes how information flows through the memory system
Sensory register - ll stimuli from the environment pass through the sensory register
A
- It recieves information from all our senses, the sensory register has a huge capacity
- Information will only pass from the sensory register to the short-term memory store if
we pay attention
S hort term - as acapacity of 7+/-2(Miller)
H
memory - STM isacoustically encoded(Baddeley)
- Duration of 18-30 seconds(Peterson & Peterson)
- Limited capacity store as it can only contain a certain number of things before forgetting
- Maintenance rehearsaloccurs when we repeat new informationto ourselves
- Prolonged maintenance rehearsalallows informationto pass into LTM
L ong term - escribed assemantically encoded
D
memory - Theoretically unlimited capacity
- Very long duration (48 years, shown byBahrick)
- In order to remember, retrieval must occur - information is transferred back into STM
- Continue to pass throughmaintenance loopafterwards
A03 S upporting - SM acknowledges the qualitative differences between STM and LTM by representing
M
studies separate stores.
- STM is stored acoustically whereas LTM is encoded semantically.
- MSM portrays an accurate view of the differences between the two types of memory
and is supported byBaddeley, Bahrick and Miller.
L acks ecological - espite the research support fromBaddeley and Peterson,much of its use in
D
validity generalising to everyday life is questionable.
- Baddeley and Peterson & Petersonuse letters/ listsof words, some of which had no
meaning.
- In real life we use all sorts of things to aid our memory so MSM a might not be valid
model of how memory working our everyday life
esearch
R - enry Molaisonunderwent surgery for epilepsy.
H
supporting - A part of his brain called the hippocampus was removed from both sides of his brain, we
differences understand that this is critical for memory function.
between STM - He could not form any long-term memories but could perform well on tests in
and LTM -Henry immediate memory.
Molaison - Thus demonstrating there are 2 qualitatively different areas of STM and LTM and
supports MSM.
SM is an
M - ccording to MSM, the more you rehearse something, the more likely it is to transfer to
A
inadequate LTM (prolonged rehearsal).
explanation for - However,Craik and Watkinsfound that the type ofrehearsal is more important than
how LTM works the amount.
-Craik and - They suggestelaborative rehearsal(linking informationto your existing knowledge),
Watkins instead ofprolonged rehearsal, is needed to transferSTM into LTM.
- This means the model fails to adequately explain how long term storage works and it
might be a complete explanation of memory.
, Discuss research on duration (8)
A01 eterson and
P - 4 undergraduates
2
Peterson- STM - Found that the increasing retention intervals(from3-18 seconds)decreased the
accuracy of recall of consonants
- They were given nonsense triagrams and told to count backwards to prevent mental
rehearsal
- After 3 seconds, recall was 80%, after 18 seconds about 3%Peterson and Peterson's
- Findings suggest thatSTM duration may be 18 secondsunless we repeat the
information over and over (verbal rehearsal)
A03 High control - eterson & Peterson's study of artificial trigrams can be standardised to establish a
P
comparison between the groups and therefore cause and effect.
eaningless
M - ecalling consonant syllables does not reflect most everyday memory activities.
R
stimuli - Therefore, the study lacks external validity.
- However, we sometimes remember meaningless material such as phone numbers.
A01 Bahrick- LTM - S tudied 392 American ppts
- Using high school yearbooks, recall of names were tested
- There were two conditions:
- Photo-recognition test of photos using the high school year book
- Free call test where ppts recalled all the names of their graduating class
- Ppts tested within15 years of graduation were 90%accurate in photo recognition
- After45 years, recall declined to about 70% for photorecognition
- Free recall was less accurate than recognition,60%after 15 years dropping to 30% after
48 years
- This shows that LTM may last up to a lifetime for some material
A03 High external - T hey investigated meaningful memories (e.g. names and faces).
validity - This suggests thatBahrick'sfindings reflect a morereal estimate of duration of LTM.
oorly
P - T he study was poorly controlled, researchers assumed that the last contact with their
controlled classmates would have been when they left school.
- Little consideration had been made that ppts may see classmates in the intervening
years or had looked through the yearbook recently.
Discuss research on coding (8)
A01 Baddeley - e gave different lists of words to four groups (lists were semantically similiar/
H
dissimiliar and acoustically similiar/ dissimiliar)
- Ppts were asked to recall them in the correct order
- When they did this immediately, recalling from STM, they tended to do worse with
acoustically similiar words because it causes acoustic confusion
- When they recalled the word list after a time interval of20 minutes, recalling from LTM,
they did worse with semantically similiar words because it causes semantic confusion
A03 ifferences
D - Identifies that there is a clear difference between two memory stores.
between two - This was an important step in our understanding of the memory system, which led to
memory stores the multi-store model of memory
eaningless
M - T he study uses quite artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material.
material - low - For example, word lists have no personal meaning to ppts soBaddeley'sfindings may
ecological not tell us much about coding in different memory tasks - especially in everyday life.
validity - The findings have limited application to everyday life - low ecological validity.
