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MEMORY - Coggle Diagram

- - - - The rapid loss of information from memory when rehearsal is prevented is taken as an indication of short term memory having a limited duration. Baddeley and Hitch (1974) have developed an alternative model of short-term memory which they call working memory.
      - Duration refers to how long a memory 'trace' (i.e. information about the past) can be held for, before it is forgotten. According to Atkinson and Shiffrin's multi-store model of memory, the duration of the Sensory Register (holding information taken directly from the senses) has a brief duration of just half a second
      - Peterson and Peterson 1959
        
        Procedure
        
        A lab experiment was conducted in which 24 participants (psychology students) had to recall trigrams (meaningless three-consonant syllables), such as TGH, CLS.
        
        The trigrams were presented one at a time and had to be recalled after intervals of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds respectively for each trial. No two successive trigrams contained any of the same letters.
        
        After hearing a trigram participants were asked to count backwards in threes or fours from a specified random number until they saw a red light appear (then they recalled the trigram). This is known as the brown peterson technique, and the purpose was to prevent rehearsal.
        
        The independent variable was the time interval between hearing the experimenter say the trigram and the participant recalling the trigram (after seeing a red light), e.g. 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 or 18 seconds.
        
        Findings
        
        Their results showed that the longer each student had to count backwards, the less well they were able to recall the trigram accurately.
        
        After 3 seconds 80% of the trigrams were recalled correctly.
        
        After 6 seconds this fell to 50%.
        
        After 18 seconds less than 10% of the trigrams were recalled correctly.
        
        Aim
        
        Lloyd and Margaret Peterson aimed to test the hypothesis that information which is not rehearsed is lost quickly from short-term memory
    - - When it comes to psychology, the term “encoding” describes how information enters our memory system from sensory input. This crucial first step in creating a new memory involves perceiving something through our senses and having the brain process it into memorable information.
      - For example, most people probably can recall where they ate lunch yesterday, even though they didn't try to remember this information.
      - Three factors at the encoding phase have been already shown to modulate CE: Congruency between target and context, Exposure time, and the differential Attention allocated to the target versus the context stimuli.
      - According to Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store model of memory, information from the senses (sight, taste, etc.) must be encoded to enable transfer from the initial Sensory Register to Short-Term Memory (STM), and in turn onto Long-Term Memory (LTM).
    - - When new information is encountered, older information is either relegated to long-term memory or eliminated, providing the resources to retain the newer data.
      - Capacity means the ability to use and understand information to make a decision, and communicate any decision made. A person lacks capacity if their mind is impaired or disturbed in some way, which means they're unable to make a decision at that time.
      - Only about 7 items can be stored at a time
        
        Miller (1956) published a famous article entitled ‘The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two’ in which he reviewed existing research into short-term memory. He said that we can hold seven 'items' in short-term memory, plus or minus two. Miller believed that our short-term memory stores ‘chunks’ of information rather than individual numbers or letters.
        
        Miller’s (1956) theory is supported by psychological research. For example, Jacobs (1887) conducted an experiment using a digit span test, to examine the capacity of short-term memory for numbers and letters. Jacobs used a sample of 443 female students (aged from 8-19) from the North London Collegiate School. Participants had to repeat back a string of numbers or letters in the same order and the number of digits/letters was gradually increased, until the participants could no longer recall the sequence. Jacobs found that the student had an average span of 7.3 letters and 9.3 words, which supports Miller’s notion of 7+/-2.
        
        Although Miller’s (1956) theory is supported by psychological research, he did not specify how large each ‘chunk’ of information could be and therefore we are unable to conclude the exact capacity of short-term memory. Consequently, further research is required to determine the each size of information ‘chunks’ to understand the exact capacity of short-term memory.
        
        Finally, Miller’s (1956) research into short-term memory did not take into account other factors that affect capacity. For example, age could also affect short-term memory and Jacobs (1887) research acknowledged that short-term memory gradually improved with age.
  - - - Contains our knowledge of the world. This includes facts, but in a broad sense. This knowledge includes things such as the taste of an orange, what zombies like for dinner, and the meaning of words.
      - These memories aren't 'time stamped'. Semantic knowledge is less personal and more about facts. It contains an immense collection of material which is constantly being adapted.
    - - Your ability to recall events/episodes from our lives. this is like a diary, a record of daily happenings. E.G. your most recent visit to the dentist, a gig you went to last week, or the psychology class you had yesterday.
      - These memories are much more complex because: they are time stamped which means you can remember when they happened.
      - Secondly, your memory of a single episode will include several elements, such as people and places, objects and behaviours. All of them are interwoven to create one single memory.
      - Thirdly, you have to make a conscious effort to recall episodic memories. you may be able to do so quickly but you are still aware that you are searching for your memory.
    - - This is our memory for actions or skills and basically how we do things. We can recall these memories without conscious awareness. E.g driving a car and riding a bike.
      - These are the sort of skills we might find quite hard to explain to someone else. If you try to describe what you are doing while you're driving a car, the task may become more difficult.
- - - - Witnesses are encouraged to include every single detail of the event even if it has no relevance or the witnesses don't seem confident about it. Trivial details may be important and they may trigger other memories regarding the accident.
    - - Witnesses should return to the crime scene in their mind and try to recall all the details they can such as the weather and what they could see along with their memories and emotions. This is related to context dependent forgetting.
    - - Events are to be recalled from a different chronological order rather than its original sequence. This prevents the expectations of how the accident could have happened and instead what they recall from different points. It also helps prevent untruthful accounts as it is harder to recall a dishonest account when it is reversed.
    - - Witnesses are encouraged to recall the event from different perspectives such as how it would have appeared to other witnesses or the perpetrator. This is done to disrupt the effect of expectations and the schema on recall. The schema could be used on recall as it recalls the expectations of the accident rather than what actually happened.
- - - - There is a good chance that the results are reliable (can be replicated) as variables can be closely controlled in a laboratory environment.
      - However, the results possess low ecological validity (might not apply to real life), as nonsense trigrams are arguably unrealistic examples of the kind of information people learn on an everyday basis.