b) Outline one explanation for forgetting in short term memory.
The displacement theory is a good explanation for why forgetting occurs in short term memory, this is because Jacobs found that the capacity of short term memory is on average 7 but can hold a maximum of 9 units at any one time. If this limit is exceeded one of the earliest units stored in the short term will have to be replaced or forced out, in order to make room for the new unit, therefore causing it to be displaced.
- Outline one explanation for forgetting in Long term Memory.
An explanation for forgetting in long term memory is due to interference, this means that there is something in the way of one being able to retrieve or access the memory and this could be because of proactive learning (something you learn no which affects what you have learnt before) or retroactive learning (something you learnt before which affects what u learn now.) such as, when you open a draw to get a spoon and your mum has changed it to another draw, every time you want a spoon you will go to the original draw, after sometime your mum decides to return the spoons to the original draw and when you get a spoon you will now go to the new draw instead of the original draw. This occurs because your memory of where the spoons are has been altered.
- Outline and evaluate research into eyewitness testimony.
Loftus carried out an eyewitness testimony study into the affects that leading question can have on ones memory and predicted that if questions were asked in a certain way they would be able to evoke a certain response. She had five groups of people which were asked to watch 7 different video tapes on car accidents and then complete a questionnaire which contained one leading question about the speed at which the vehicles where travelling at the time they collided, but the word collided was substituted with synonyms such as crashed, contacted, smashed and hit. When the questionnaires were evaluated Loftus found that in the cases where the word was substituted with smashed or crashed, the participants reported a higher speed when compared with the words contacted or bumped. This was an indication that the words used in a question can affect the memory one has and therefore the answer will be different from the memory itself therefore in criminal investigations can lead to innocent persons being charged for crimes not committed. Criticisms for Loftus’ study is that this may not occur in everyday life and may lack man-day realism because individuals will not be focusing on the cars naturally before an accident occurs and also their emotional state at the time of the accident and after may cause them to forget or remember the incident. For instance people who highly emotional are likely to remember incidents in great detail , this was also studied by Loftus, where a situations was created where some participants were made to over hear an argument and fight and a person would enter the room with a bloody knife, the experiment was then carried out again on a different group but this time a man emerged caring a pen, the results show that those who where in the incident where a man entered with a bloody knife remembered the incident compared to those in the other group because they where experiencing higher stress levels. But this does not mean that leading questions are affective all the time, this too was studied using the significant vs. insignificant test where a group of participants witnessed a purse being stolen and then had to report the crime. The interviewer would ask the witness if they witnessed the brown purse being stole, but the witness would reassure the interviewer that the purse was red, when the interview said they were wrong and the purse was brown it caused the witness distress and they angrily reassured them it was red, when in fact the purse was red. This is a true indication that sometimes memories are not affected by leading questions. Therefore it would be accurate in saying that leading questions can affect eye witness memory but it does not always alter or change the memory.