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Cognitive Psychology:

Memory

Topic Learning Objectives Self-evaluation (tick)

/ Describe (AO1) the processes of encoding, storage and retrieval.

Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) (1) the Multistore explanation of memory and (2) the studies investigating it and compare the explanation with other theories.

Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) (1) the levels of processing explanation of memory and (2) the studies investigating it and compare the explanation with other theories.

Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) (1) the constructive explanation of memory and (2) the studies investigating it and compare the explanation with other theories.

Discuss (AO2) the practical applications derived from the explanations of memory.

Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) explanations of forgetting.

Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) studies of forgetting.

Describe (AO1) the ways in which information can be encoded in memory to improve retention of information (organisation, elaboration and context).Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) studies of factors which affect the reliability of eyewitnesses’ accounts of people and incidents; for example, the contributions of Loftus. Discuss (AO2) practical applications of studies of eyewitness testimony.

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Additional Resources• This topic area is covered in your text book on pages 130-144.

• Sample exam questions relating to the topic content can be found on page 145 (make sure that you look at the higher tier questions) as well as throughout this

workbook. • If you want to read about this topic in more detail, visit

www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

PROCESSES OF ENCODING, STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL

Memory involves ______ main Processes: ____________ is the process of ________ information so that it can be stored. __________ involves creating a _______ of the information so that we can use it in the future. _________ is when information that has been stored is ____________.All 3 processes depend upon one another; they are _____________________: Items can be retrieved only if they have been stored; how they are retrieved is dependent on how they have been stored.

• www.simplypsychology.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

THE MULTISTORE EXPLANATION OF MEMORY

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The following section named ‘Processes of Encoding, Storage and Retrieval’ relates to the learning objective: “Describe (AO1) the processes of encoding, storage and retrieval”.

Task 1: You have 1 minute to study the flow diagram on the Power Point. You will then be required to complete the missing words.

Task 2: Following the ‘map from memory’ thinking skills activity, write a description (AO1) of the MSM using all of the key words in the diagram on the following page.

The following section named ‘The Multistore Explanation of Memory” relates to the learning objective: “Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) (1) the Multistore explanation of memory and (2) the studies investigating it and compare the explanation with other theories”.

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AO1 Description: _______________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

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_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

_______________________

Description and Evaluation of Research S upporting the MSM

Research carried out on Amnesiac patients supports the proposal made by the MSM that STM and LTM are separate stores. ______________ amnesia is the inability to learn and store new memories after a brain injury. This suggests that damage to _________ has occurred. ______________ amnesia refers to the loss of memory for events before the injury. This would be consistent with damage to __________.

The primacy-recency effectThe main research study supporting the MSM’s distinction between STM and LTM was carried out by Murdock (1962).

PRACTICALWrite down as many words as you can remember from the list in any order:

Task 3: In pairs, study the picture below. What do you know about it?

Task 4: Following the discussion, complete the missing words.

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Aim: ________________________________________________________

Method: _____________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Results: Murdoch found that the likelihood of recalling any word depends on its position in the list: More words were recalled from the beginning and end of the list than from the middle.

Conclusion: Better recall of the words early in the list results from a primacy effect, whilst better recall at the end of the list results from the recency effect. The primacy effect occurs due to the first words in the list being rehearsed more frequently and transferred to LTM. This is because at the time they are presented they do not have to compete with other words for the limited capacity of STM. The recency effect occurs because the last few words in the list displace the middle words and are therefore still present in STM and because they are the last words on the list there is no other information to displace them.

• Evaluation: This study was a laboratory experiment which provides evidence based on memory for word lists. This is not how we use memory in everyday life. As such, Murdoch’s findings lack ecological validity.

Evaluation of the MSM (strengths and weaknesses)

Task 5: Following the practical demonstration of the primacy-recency effect, write down the aim and method of Murdoch’s study.

Task 7:Write down one strength of the Multistore model (see page 132 of the text book. 7

_________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• The MSM’s emphasis on rehearsal has been criticised because rehearsal is not a complete explanation of transfer to LTM. In real-life we have very little time for rehearsal but are constantly storing things away in LTM. Therefore, the MSM cannot explain many of our everyday experiences of memory, for example, why we can recall information that we did not

rehearse.

THE LEVELS OF PROCESSING EXPLANATION OF MEMORY

The way incoming information is encoded and processed affects how well it is remembered. Information can be encoded and processed at 3 different levels:

1. Structural (by ___________________)

2. Phonetic (by ___________________)

3. Semantic (by_________________)

The deeper the level of processing, the easier information is to recall.

The following section named ‘The Levels of Processing Explanation’ relates to the learning objective: “Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) (1) the levels of processing explanation of memory and (2) the studies investigating it and compare the explanation with other theories”.

Task 8: Watch and listen to the Power Point presentation and complete the mossing words.

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Levels of processing1. Structural Shallow

2. Phonetic

3. Semantic Deep

Therefore, information that is encoded and processed at a ______ _______________ level should be recalled better than information that is encoded and processed at ________ _____________________ level.

Description and Evaluation of Research Supporting the LOP Explanation

PRACICAL

YES/NO 1 Is the word in capital letters? chair2 Does this word rhyme with GREEN? BEAN

3 Does the word fit this sentence? ‘The soldier picked up his _____.’

rifle

4 Is this word in lower-case letters? FLOWER5 Does the word fit this sentence? ‘The

woman _________ on the train.’slept

6 Does the word rhyme with MEND? pool7 Is the word in capital letters? MEANING

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8 Does the word fit this sentence? ‘Yesterday we saw a _______.’

fence

9 Does the word rhyme with HOUSE?

MOUSE

10 Does the word fit into this sentence? ‘There are _______ growing in my garden.’

DOORS

11 Is the word in lower-case letters? spend

12 Does the word rhyme with TABLE? GENERAL13 Is this word in capital letters? article14 Does this word fit this sentence? ‘The

_____ should not be more than 1000 words.’

castle

15 Does this word rhyme with STOOL? POND

Now CIRCLE the words that were in the right-hand column.

You have 90 seconds…

computer

chair

wall

star

general

article

castle

screen

bean

rifle

bag

calendar

light

flower

table

fan

mouse

cable

window

boat

deer

shelter

candle

doors

road

leopard

spend

mug

bubble

pond

boxbedcarpetbearpantreesleptgunpaperjacketpoolcarpetpencilmeaningfence

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QUESTION ASKED WORD WORDS RECOGNISED ()

TOTAL % OF WORDS RECALLED

Is the word in capital letters?

ChairFlowerMeaning SpendArticle

Does the word rhyme with…?

BeanPoolMouseGeneralPond

Does the word fit this sentence?

RifleSleptFenceDoorsCastle

QUESTION ASKED

GROUP MEAN

RANGE LEVEL OF PROCESSING REQUIRED

Is the word in capital letters?

__________

SHALLOW

DEEP11

Does the word rhyme with…?

____________Does the word fit this sentence?

_________

Verbal summary of results

More words were recalled if participant’s had to think about their ________, than if participants had to look at their ______________.

Craik and Tulving (1975)

Aim: Craik and Tulving conducted an experiment to investigate whether the level at which information is processed affects how well it is recalled.

Method: They presented participants with a series of 60 words asking them one of three questions about each word. These questions related to a level of processing. Structural processing: ‘Is the words in capital letters or small letters?’ Phonemic processing: Does the word rhyme with…?’ Semantic processing: ‘Does the word go in this sentence…?’. Participants were then given a list of 180 words, into which the original 60 had been mixed, and asked to pick out the original words.

Results: Participants correctly recognised 15% of the structurally processed words, 35% of the phonemically processed words and 70% of the semantically processed words.

Conclusion: Deep semantic processing leads too much better retention than shallow structural processing.

• Evaluation: Craik and Tulving’s study lacked ecological validity because the task they used to investigate memory was artificial and did not represent the way memory is used in everyday life.

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Evaluation of th e LOP Model (strengths and weaknesses)

_________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

THE CONSTRUCTIVE EXPLANATION OF MEMORY

AO1 Description

The Constructive Explanation of memory was proposed by Bartlett (1932).

Bartlett proposed that: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Description and Evaluation of Research Supporting the Constructive Explanation

PRACTICAL

Task 9:Write down one strength and two weaknesses of the Levels of Processing Explanation of memory. (see page 134 of the text book).

The following section named ‘The Constructive Explanation of Memory’ relates to the learning objective: “Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) (1) the constructive explanation of memory and (2) the studies investigating it and compare the explanation with other theories”.

Task 10: Describe Bartlett’s theory. Use page 134 to help you.

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Aim: In a quest for a naturalistic study of memory, Bartlett wanted to examine how subjects remembered pictures and stories.

Method: Bartlett gave participants a North American folk story to read. Over varying periods, from a few hours to several months, participants were asked to recall everything they could about the story.

Evaluation of the Constructive Explanation (strengths and weaknesses)

HOMEWORKResults: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion:___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Evaluation: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The War of the Ghosts

One night two young men from Egulacwent down to the river to hunt seals, and while they were there it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war-cries, and they thought: "Maybe this is a war-party". They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles, and saw one canoe coming up to them. There were five men m the canoe, and they said: "What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people". One of the young men said: "I have no arrows". "Arrows are in the canoe", they said. "I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you", he said, turning to the other, "may go with them." So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water, and they began to fight, and manywere killed. But presently the young man heard one of the warriors say: "Quick, let us go home:that Indian has been hit". Now he thought: "Oh, they are ghosts". He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot. So the canoes went back to Egulac, and the young man went ashore to his house, and made a fire. And he told everybody and said: " Behold I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our fellows were killed, and many of those who attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, and I did not feel sick". He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose he fell down. Something black came out of his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried. He was dead.

Task 11: Describe the results, conclusion and one criticism of Bartlett’s study using page 135 of the text book.

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Evaluation of th e Constructive Approach (strengths and weaknesses)

_________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Multistore Model

Levels of Processing

Constructive

Is memory explained/described?

Task 13:Complete the table using page 136 of the text book.

As outlined in the above three learning objectives, you need to be able to compare and contrast the different explanations for memory. The following section named ‘Comparisons of Explanations For Memory’ covers this.

Task 12:Write down one strength and two weaknesses of the Constructive Explanation of memory. (see pages 135-6 of the text book).

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Long term storage of information is due

to:

How is memory studied?

Are studies objective?

How much of everyday memory does it explain?

THEORIES OF FORGETTING

INTERFERENCE THEORY

Describe the theory (AO1)• Interference occurs when information in LTM becomes confused or

combined with other information during encoding resulting in the information being distorted.

• There are two types of interference: Retroactive and proactive.

The following section named ‘Theories of forgetting’ relates to the learning objectives “Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) explanations of forgetting and describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) studies of forgetting”.

Task 13: Describe the terms retroactive interference and proactive interference (see pages 139-140 of the text book).

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• Retroactive interference: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Proactive interference: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Interference is more likely to occur with two similar types of information (i.e. if the pre-existing and new memories are alike).

Describe (AO1)and evaluate (AO2) research investigating the theory The interference theory of forgetting is supported by research conducted by Postman (1960).

Aim: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Method: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Results:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion: ___________________________________________________

Task 14: Describe Postman’s research investigating retroactive interference. (see page 140 of the text book).

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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Evaluation: Postman’s research into the role of interference in forgetting was a laboratory experiment which used lists of words. It was therefore an artificial measure of forgetting since he made use of a task which is likely to occur fairly infrequently in everyday life (i.e. research lacks ecological validity). Therefore, the results of experiments investigating interference should not be generalised to real life.

Evaluate the theory (AO2)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Interference theory tells us little about the cognitive processes involved in forgetting.

EMOTION

Describe the theory (AO1)

Repression: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Task 15: Outline one strength of the interference theory of forgetting. (see page 140 of the text book).

Task 16: Describe what is meant by the term repression. (See page 140 of the text book).

Task 17: How can repressed memories be accessed and what is the problem with doing so? (See page 140 of the text book).

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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Evaluate (AO2) the theory• _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________AMNESIA

Describe the theory (AO1)• Amnesia refers to the loss of memory due to brain damage. • This can occur due to infection, a stroke or a head injury. • There are two types of memory loss:

• 1)____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• 2)

Task 18: Outline an alternative explanation for failure to remember unpleasant experiences referring to research evidence in your answer and evaluate this research. (See page 140 of the text book).

Task 19: Describe the two types of amnesia (we did this earlier in the topic when looking at evidence for the Multistore model).

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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Describe (AO1)and evaluate (AO2) research investigating the theory Retrograde amnesia was investigated by Yarnell and Lynch (1973):

Aim: Studied American football players who had been concussed on the field.

Method: Immediately following their unconsciousness and 3-20 minutes afterwards they were asked about the details of play at the time of the incident.

Results: Immediately after the concussion they were able to accurately recount the information. However, when asked the same question 20 minutes after the period of unconsciousness they were unable to give any details about play.

Conclusion: This study shows that failure to recall events taking place prior to concussion cannot be due to a failure to take in the information in the first place as it was available for recall immediately after regaining consciousness. Therefore, information

cannot have been transferred from STM to LTM.

• ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Evaluate the theory ( AO2)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Task 21: Outline one strength and one weakness of amnesia as an explanation of forgetting. (see page 141 of the text book).

Task 20: Evaluate the study using your knowledge of research methods.

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• ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

TRACE DECAY THEORY

Describe the theory (AO1)

•______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Describe (AO1)and evaluate (AO2) research investigating the theory

Aim: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Method: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Results:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Task 22: Describe the trace decay theory of forgetting. (see page 141 of the text book).

Task 14: Describe and evaluate Jenkins and Dallenbach’s (1924) research investigating the trace decay theory of forgetting (see page 141).

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Conclusion: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• Evaluation: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Evaluate the theory ( AO2)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

• ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Task 21: Outline one strength and one weakness of the trace decay theory of forgetting. (see page 142 of the text book).

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The following section named ‘How to use encoding to improve recall and practical applications derived from explanations of memory’ relates to the learning objectives “(1) describe (AO1) the ways in which information can be encoded in memory to improve retention of information (organisation, elaboration and context) and (2) discuss (AO2) the practical applications derived from the explanations of memory”.

How to use encoding to improve recall and practical applications derived from

explanations of memory Task 21: Complete the worksheet using

pages 136-139 of the text book.

Four ideas for improving memory-pg 138:(1)

(2)

(3)

(4) Encoding information to aid storage and transfer. Possible ways of doing this include:

(1) Encoding information through ORGANISATION: How can Organisation help improve memory?

Evidence: Bower (1969);

Practical Applications (how can this strategy be used in everyday life?):

(2) Encoding through ELABORATION: How can Elaboration help improve memory?

Evidence: Raugh & Atkinson (1975);

Practical Applications (how can this strategy be used in everyday life?):

(3) Encoding information about contextHow can Context help improve memory?

Evidence: Godden & Baddeley (1975);

Practical Applications (how can this strategy be used in everyday life?):

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FACTORS AFFECTING THE RELIABILITY OF EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY

Eyewitness testimony (EWT) is a legal term. It refers to an account given by people of an event they have witnessed. For example they may be required to give a description at a trail of a robbery or a road accident someone has seen. This includes identification of perpetrators, details of the crime scene etc.

Eyewitness testimony is an important area of research in cognitive psychology and memory.

Jury’s tend to pay close attention to EWT and generally find it a reliable source of information. However, research into this area has found that EWT can be affected by many psychological factors:

o Leading Questions (Loftus and Palmer, 1974)oo Stereotyping

o Emotion

o Context

PLEASE NOTE: YOU MUST INCLUDE LEADING QUESTIONS AS ONE OF YOUR FACTORS AND BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE (AIM, METHOD, RESULTS AND CONCLUSION) AND EVALUATE (STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES) LOFTUS’S RESEARCH- SHOWN IN THE VIDEO CLIP.

The following section named ‘Factors Affecting the Reliability of Eye Witness Testimony” relates to the learning objectives “Describe (AO1) and evaluate (AO2) studies of factors which affect the reliability of eyewitnesses’ accounts of people and incidents; for example, the contributions of Loftus and discuss (AO2) practical applications of studies of eyewitness testimony”.

Task 22: On the following A3 sheet, describe and evaluate at least two factors which affect the reliability of eyewitness testimony and the practical applications of these factors.

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A3 Sheet

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