Psychology A Level Essay Plans/Notes – Memory
Outline and evaluate research related to the
features of memory (coding, capacity and duration)
AO1
coding - converting information into different forms, Baddely word
lists, STM acoustic vs LTM semantic
capacity - Jacobs, digit span, STM numbers 9.3 letters 7.3, Miller,
chunking, STM 7 items +/- 2, LTM infinite
duration - STM, Peterson, consonant syllable and count backwards
(prevent mental rehearsal), 18 secs without verbal rehearsal VS
LTM, Bahrick, yearbook photo recognition test, free recall, may last
for up to a lifetime
AO3
strength (coding) - seperate memory stores, acoustic v semantic,
understanding of MSM
limitation (coding) - artificial stimuli, no meaningful information,
limited application
strength (capacity) - replicated, better controlled studies, valid test
limitation (capacity) - overestimated, Cowan, 4+/-1 chunks, lower
estimate more appropriate
strength (duration) - LTM high external validity, meaningful
information, good estimate
limitation (duration) - STM meaningless stimuli, artificial, lack
external validity
Discuss the multi store model of memory
AO1
Atkinson + Shiffrin, sensory registor, coding modality specific, iconic
and echoic sensory stores, other stores eg smell, brief duration, high
capacity, attention
STM, acoustic coding, 18 secs duration, 7+/-2 capacity,
maintenance rehearsal → LTM, semantic coding, lifetime duration,
unlimited capacity, retrieval
AO3
strength - research support, Baddely (1966), STM and LTM
difference in coding (+capacity and duration), seperate independent
memory stores
limitation - more than 1 STM store, KF, amnesia, better recall when
read digits to himself vs read aloud to him, multiple STM stores
(visual, auditory etc?)
limitation - elaborative rehearsal, type of rehearsal more important
than amount, making information meaningful, no full explanation of
how LT storage achieved
Discuss different types of long term memory
, AO1
Tulving (1985), episodic - personal events, complex, time stamped,
people, places, objects, behaviours, concious effort to recall ;
semantic - knowledge of the world, facts, words, concepts, not time
stamped, less personal, less vulnerable to distortion/forgetting ;
procedural - how to do things, learned skills, recall without concious
effort
A03
strength - clinical evidence, HM and Clive Wearing, episodic impared
due to brain injury, semantic unaffected, procedural also intact,
supports different memory stores
limitation - conflicting neuroimaging evidence, Buckner and
Peterson (1996), semantic left side of prefrontal cortex and episodic
on right, yet research links left side with encoding episodic and right
side with retrieving episodic, challenges neurophysiological
evidence
strength - real world application, people with memory problems, age
and deterioration of episodic memory - new memories affected, old
memories intact, specific treatements and training developed
Describe and evaluate the working memory model
AO1
Baddely and Hitch (1974), STM, central exectutive - supervisory
role, allocates subsystems to tasks, limited capacity, does not store
information
phonological loop (auditory information , acoustic coding,
phonological store - stores words heard, articulatory process - allows
maintenance rehearsal + loop caapcity of 2 seconds)
visuospatial sketchpad (visual + spatial information, 3/4 capacity,
visual cache - stores visual data, inner scribe - records arrangement
of objects in visual field)
episodic buffer (added in 2000, temporary store, integrates
information processed by other stores, maintains a sense of time
sequencing, links to LTM)
AO3
strength - clinical evidence, KF, poor STM for auditory but normal
visual processing, phonological loop damaged but visuospatial
sketchpad intact, seperate stores
strength - dual task performance, Baddely, visual and verbal tasks
same time similar performace to if tasks carried out seperately, but
2 visual/verbal tasks performance declined, due to competing for
same subsystem, shows seperate subsystems (VS and PL)
limitation - nature of central executive, lack of clarity, least
understood, some believe it may consist of seperate components,
challenges integrity of WMM
Describe and evaluate interference as an
explanation for forgetting
AO1
Outline and evaluate research related to the
features of memory (coding, capacity and duration)
AO1
coding - converting information into different forms, Baddely word
lists, STM acoustic vs LTM semantic
capacity - Jacobs, digit span, STM numbers 9.3 letters 7.3, Miller,
chunking, STM 7 items +/- 2, LTM infinite
duration - STM, Peterson, consonant syllable and count backwards
(prevent mental rehearsal), 18 secs without verbal rehearsal VS
LTM, Bahrick, yearbook photo recognition test, free recall, may last
for up to a lifetime
AO3
strength (coding) - seperate memory stores, acoustic v semantic,
understanding of MSM
limitation (coding) - artificial stimuli, no meaningful information,
limited application
strength (capacity) - replicated, better controlled studies, valid test
limitation (capacity) - overestimated, Cowan, 4+/-1 chunks, lower
estimate more appropriate
strength (duration) - LTM high external validity, meaningful
information, good estimate
limitation (duration) - STM meaningless stimuli, artificial, lack
external validity
Discuss the multi store model of memory
AO1
Atkinson + Shiffrin, sensory registor, coding modality specific, iconic
and echoic sensory stores, other stores eg smell, brief duration, high
capacity, attention
STM, acoustic coding, 18 secs duration, 7+/-2 capacity,
maintenance rehearsal → LTM, semantic coding, lifetime duration,
unlimited capacity, retrieval
AO3
strength - research support, Baddely (1966), STM and LTM
difference in coding (+capacity and duration), seperate independent
memory stores
limitation - more than 1 STM store, KF, amnesia, better recall when
read digits to himself vs read aloud to him, multiple STM stores
(visual, auditory etc?)
limitation - elaborative rehearsal, type of rehearsal more important
than amount, making information meaningful, no full explanation of
how LT storage achieved
Discuss different types of long term memory
, AO1
Tulving (1985), episodic - personal events, complex, time stamped,
people, places, objects, behaviours, concious effort to recall ;
semantic - knowledge of the world, facts, words, concepts, not time
stamped, less personal, less vulnerable to distortion/forgetting ;
procedural - how to do things, learned skills, recall without concious
effort
A03
strength - clinical evidence, HM and Clive Wearing, episodic impared
due to brain injury, semantic unaffected, procedural also intact,
supports different memory stores
limitation - conflicting neuroimaging evidence, Buckner and
Peterson (1996), semantic left side of prefrontal cortex and episodic
on right, yet research links left side with encoding episodic and right
side with retrieving episodic, challenges neurophysiological
evidence
strength - real world application, people with memory problems, age
and deterioration of episodic memory - new memories affected, old
memories intact, specific treatements and training developed
Describe and evaluate the working memory model
AO1
Baddely and Hitch (1974), STM, central exectutive - supervisory
role, allocates subsystems to tasks, limited capacity, does not store
information
phonological loop (auditory information , acoustic coding,
phonological store - stores words heard, articulatory process - allows
maintenance rehearsal + loop caapcity of 2 seconds)
visuospatial sketchpad (visual + spatial information, 3/4 capacity,
visual cache - stores visual data, inner scribe - records arrangement
of objects in visual field)
episodic buffer (added in 2000, temporary store, integrates
information processed by other stores, maintains a sense of time
sequencing, links to LTM)
AO3
strength - clinical evidence, KF, poor STM for auditory but normal
visual processing, phonological loop damaged but visuospatial
sketchpad intact, seperate stores
strength - dual task performance, Baddely, visual and verbal tasks
same time similar performace to if tasks carried out seperately, but
2 visual/verbal tasks performance declined, due to competing for
same subsystem, shows seperate subsystems (VS and PL)
limitation - nature of central executive, lack of clarity, least
understood, some believe it may consist of seperate components,
challenges integrity of WMM
Describe and evaluate interference as an
explanation for forgetting
AO1
