MEMORY

MEMORY

1. Models of Memory

   • Short Term Memory
     • CAPACITY: 7+/-2 method by Miller
     • DURATION: Doesn't last very long. Constant recall test in three second intervals.
     • ENCODING: Acoustic
   • Long Term Memory
     • CAPACITY: Infinite
     • DURATION: Potentially forever, photo recognition test
     • ENCODING: Semantic
   • Multi-Store Model of Memory by Atkinson and Shiffrin
     • ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI
       • SENSORY MEMORY/REGISTER
         • ATTENTION
           • STM
             • MAINTENANCE REHERSAL AND RETIREVAL
               • LTM

2. Eyewitness Testimony

   • The evidence provided in court by a person who witnessed a crime
   • Misleading Information
     • Supplying information that may lead a witness' memory for a crime to be altered
   • Leading Questions
     • A question that suggests to the witness what answer is expected or leads them to the desired answer.
   • Post-event discussion
     • A conversation that has taken place after the crime which may contaminate a witness's memory for the event
   • Cognitive Interview
     • Context Reinstatement: Mentally reinstate the context of the incident. Recall your thoughts and feelings.
     • Report Everything: Report every detail, even if you think it's trivial.
     • Recall from a changed perspective: Imagine the incident from someone else's perspective.
     • Recall in reverse order: Reporting the incident in a different order moving backwards and forwards each time
     • Enhanced Cognitive Interview
       • An amended version of CI designed to improve quality of communication like minimising distractions

3. Case Studies

   • KF
     • Brain damaged, unable to process new STM but could retrieve older LTMs. STM was poor when words were read aloud.
       • Supports WMM
   • HM
     • Hippocampus removed, LTM affected but STM was left in tact
       • Supports MSM and different LTM stores
   • Clive Wearing
     • Had brain damage and amnesia left unable to transfer STMs into LTMs and some LTM affected.
       • Supports MSM and different LTM stores

4. Interference and Forgetting

   • Research into cues
     • External/context cues were researched by Abernethy
       • She found groups of students tested in the same room with the same instructor did better than those in a different room with a different instructor.
   • Interference
     • Types of Interference
       • Retroactive
         • Where new learning interferes with old learning
           • Muller investigated this
       • Proactive
         • Where old learning interferes with new learning
           • Underwood investigated this
     • An explanation for forgetting where one memory disrupts the ability to recall another. Most likely to occur with similar memories.
   • Forgetting
     • Refers to a person's loss of ability to recall or recognise something that they have previously learnt.