Memory research
Much of the traditional laboratory research on memory conducted in the past century has followed Ebbinghaus (1895) in using tightly controlled experiments that facilitate the quantification of memory (see Baddeley, 1990; Schacter, 1989). This tradition has been strongly criticized in the past two decades, however, most notably by Neisser (1978), who provocatively dismissed the laboratory research of the past 100 years as largely worthless for answering "the important questions about memory," and called for a shift to the "realistic" study of memory. Since Neisser's call, there has been a growing number of studies on such varied topics as autobiographical memory, eyewitness testimony, prospective memory, "flashbulb" memory, memory for action, memory for faces, memory for places, etc. (see, e.g., Cohen, 1989; This new wave of everyday memory research has resulted in a proliferation of research methods that are quite removed from those traditionally employed in the laboratory. The rift between proponents of naturalistic and laboratory memory research, as well as efforts at reconciliation, may be seen in the lively debate) sparked by Banaji and Crowder's (1989) paper. It is apparent from the commentaries that "everyday memory" is an ill-defined category (Klatzky, 1991), and that the dimensions of the controversy are not simple to specify. In general, the battles appear to be
Outline the multi-store model of memory and consider its strengths and limitations
Outline the multi-store model of memory and consider its strengths and limitations (18marks) The multi store model of memory is an explanation of the flow of information through a series of stages. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) believed that memory involved three different stores. These being sensory memory, short term memory and long term memory. They believed that to transfer information into the short-term memory it needs to be attended to (attention is focused on the information in sensory memory) and to transfer information from short-term memory into long-term memory the information needs to be rehearsed. Atkinson and Shiffrin found that when information passes through these stores it can be lost by forgetting. Their findings were that in sensory memory information is lost through decay, in short-term memory information is lost through displacement and in long-term memory information is lost as an affect of interference. Atkinson and Shiffrin also believed that rehearsal is needed for information to be transferred to long-term memory and how well it is rehearsed will determine how effective recall is. There are many strengths to consider in terms of the multi store model of memory. Previous studies such as Milner (1966 study of HM) and Baddeley (1997 Clive Wearing) support the theory that long-term memory and short-term memory are very different and separate systems.
Psychology Revision Notes - list of major experiments
Sub-sections Characteristics of STM and LTM Summary of a study on encoding in STM and LTM Baddeley- Participants were divided into four groups which were acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar and semantically dissimilar. Participants were presented with the list a total of 4 times and each time was interrupted to try to prevent rehearsing. They were then presented with a 20-minute interval task and afterwards were asked to recall their list. Semantically dissimilar words were recalled the most telling us that encoding in LTM is semantic. Summary of study on capacity of STM and LTM Summary of study on duration of STM Peterson & Peterson- Showed PPs a list of nonsense trigrams and asked them to count back from 400 in 3 second intervals for a duration ranging from 3 to 18 seconds. Found that duration of STM was 18-30 seconds maximum. Summary of study on duration of LTM Bahrick- 400 participants aged between 17 and 74 were tested using different methods including free-recall tests, photo-recognition test, name recognition tests and photo-name matching test. PPs performed less well on free recall tests (30% after 48 years) but were much better in the photo-name test (90% after 60 years). Models of memory Description of the multi-store model of memory, plus evaluation inc. research Atkinson & Shiffrin- Multi-Store Model which
Describe and evaluate the humanistic approach in psychology.
Humanism is a psychological approach that incorporates Holism this is seeing the whole person rather than only certain aspects. Like behaviour cognitive processes. Humanism is unscientific because it rejects scientific methods as useful for psychology and thus evidences' credibility is questionable e.g. self-actualization is difficult to measure objectively. Humanism rejects the behaviorist approach of the world via stimulus-response links, rejects the view of determinism, and instead states than humans do possess free will. Humanism totally ignores biological factors e.g. Genetics Humanism assumes that for the main part, people are good and they strive to try to achieve self-actualization. Humanism ignores the unconscious mind, which does have part, as humans do not focus on all things at all times. Humanism has rejected scientific approaches claiming that science is unsuitable in the field of psychology as humans are not predictable animals, and their environmental style of learning cannot be reflected in a lab. Free will is contrary to the laws of science, which are in fact deterministic. Humanism also assumes that humans are fundamentally different from animals due to the ability to consciously think and overcome primal instincts. Humanism is biased towards the western culture and is difficult to generalize into other societies. Humanistic Psychology
Consider what psychological research has told us about the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.
(c) "Eye witness testimony differs from many other aspects of memory in that accuracy is of much greater importance." Consider what psychological research has told us about the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (18 marks) L and P = Loftus and Palmer Pps = Participants EWT = Eyewitness testimony Despite the considerable importance juror's place on EWT, psychological research has shown that EWT tends to be unreliable. This unreliability can be explained in terms of the reconstructive nature of memory (schema theory). Introduced by Bartlett (1932), reconstructive memory refers to the extent to which memory is distorted or otherwise modified (reconstructed) by experience. In practice this means that instead of storing an exact replica of the episode they are witnessing, eyewitnesses may combine the initial stimulus with elements of their existing knowledge and experience (or schema) to form a reconstructed memory resulting in an inaccurate EWT account. Reconstruction is not the only source of distortion in EWT as the language used in leading questions and post-event information may further distort reconstructive memory and so lead to memory blending and confabulation. Research that has provided us with an insight into the effects of language and leading questions on the accuracy of EWT includes that of Loftus and her colleagues. For example, L & P (1974) found that
Describe and evaluate one alternative to the multistore model of memory
Describe and evaluate one alternative to the multistore model of memory The working memory model was proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) as a way to represent short-term memory in terms of further subdivisions. It suggests that working memory consists of three components. These are the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuo-spatial sketchpad. The central executive is the component of working memory which is modality free (i.e. not visual or auditory). It is the most important component in the model and is responsible for monitoring and coordinating the operation of the slave systems. It is flexible, in that it can process information from any modality and also has some storage capacity, although this is very limited. It seems to play a major role in attention, planning and in synthesising information, not only from the slave systems but also from LTM. The phonological loop stores a limited number of sounds for brief periods and can be thought of as an inner ear. It is now thought to be made up of two components (Gathercole and Baddeley 1993). One component is the phonological store, which allows acoustically coded items to be stored for a brief period. The other component is the articulatory control system, which allows subvocal repetition of the items stored in the phonological store. The visuo-spatial scratch pad stores visual and spatial information and
Majority Influence
Outline and evaluate research (theories and/or studies) into majority influence (conformity) Conformity can be described as a major type of social influence and it means to follow a particular group or society. Deutsch and Gerard identified two main reasons that encourage people to conform. These are: . Informational Social Influence (ISI) - when we seek answers from others in the belief that they are more informed or have superior knowledge when unsure what to do in a situation. This is demonstrated in a study by Sherif. Sherif's study involved using a visual illusion whereby a spot of light seen in an otherwise dark room appears to move, this is known as the autokinetic effect. Sherif told participants that the light was going to move and they had to estimate how far they thought the light had moved. This can be criticised as being ambiguous as it is very difficult to distinguish exactly how far a light has been moved and there was no right or wrong answer. The participants were first tested individually, in which the results varied dramatically, they then heard the estimates of others. When the participants had heard the estimates of others, their estimates converged to that of others, they became more alike and a group norm developed. This demonstrates informational social influence as participants probably felt that other participants had better knowledge
"Discuss two theories of forgetting in LTM"
"Discuss two theories of forgetting in LTM" (18 Marks) Interference is when similar memories interfere and confuse each other. There are two types of Interference; Pro-active and Retro-active, Pro-active is when old memories interferes with or affects new memories, for example calling a new boyfriend by an old boyfriend's name. Retro-active is when new memories interferes or affects with old memories, for example you have to fill in a form and it asks you for your old phone number but you can only remember your new one. Interference does make cognitive sense because most people would agree that it is more difficult to recall similar material than dissimilar material, face validity. There are studies to show interference in the lab like the paired associate technique, were P's had to learn two lists, with the first word the same e.g. List A: Desk-Boy, List B: Desk-Tree. Then P's are given the first word in the pair and asked to recall the word in List A. The study found that Interference does cause forgetting but only when similar information is paired together, these conditions are rare in everyday life and this means that interference does not really explain most of forgetting in LTM. A criticism of the study is that Interference does not seem to occur with Experts, if you are an expert in a field then learning new information does not cause any interference in the old
Outline & Evaluate the psychodynamic model of abnormality
Outline & Evaluate the Psychodynamic Model of Abnormality. Freud and others developed the psychodynamic model. It is the idea that conscious thoughts, feelings and behaviours are determined by unconscious processes, and that being mentally healthy requires a good balance between the id (desires), the superego (morality) and the ego (reality). This is reflected in the Theory of Personality explanation. The second explanation put forward for this approach is Psychosexual Development. It has five stages and these are Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genitals and are based on the idea that repressed problems often go back to childhood. Repressed desires or traumatic memories in the unconscious can upset the imbalance of the personality. The person develops psychological symptoms as a way of dealing with imbalances in the personality. Freud thought that childhood was very important for the development of personality and that all abnormal behaviours are linked to childhood. He developed five stages of Psychosexual Development. At each stage, Freud thought that the child's libido (lust) was focused on a particular body area. The libido refers to a type of life force energy. There are different ages associated with each stage. The Oral stage usually happens between the ages of zero and eighteen months. The focus of pleasure is the mouth e.g. eating and sucking on a dummy. Some
The Memory Process. This paper will describe a memory test using numbers, letters, and words and analyze results of the test, as well as explain the concepts of working memory, short term memory, and long term memory.
The Memory Process Encoding data into the mind is the general process of memory. In other words, memory is the capability to program, accumulate and remember things. The three central methods of memory are to encode, store, and recall. Three kinds of encoding are used to process information for storage. The first is to hear the information, which is called acoustic. The second is imagery or what is seen and the third is information that is meaningful known as semantic. Memory is ultimately held in storage until such time the information is needed and then it is recalled. This paper will describe a memory test using numbers, letters, and words and analyze results of the test, as well as explain the concepts of working memory, short term memory, and long term memory. It will also offer an explanation of encoding and retrieval in the memory process and how they relate to this memory test and the results. Lastly, this paper will evaluate variables connected to encoding information and ease of retrieval as they relate to this test and the results. Concepts of Working Memory The concept of working memory was developed as a progression and expansion of the former theory of short-term memory. In particular, the working-memory model suggests four elements. The short-term storage of data happens in the visuospatial or the phonological memory, both a storage barrier in a diverse
