Memory Studies

Memory Studies

1. The Multi-store memory model

   • Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
     • 1. The researchers thought that information passes through a series of memory stores and each of these stores has different characteristics when you learn words.
     • 2. Sensory store: starts as a visual image of the words.
     • 3. Short-term store: Here you might repeat them to yourself (rehearsal).
     • 4. Long-term store: Once the words have been repeated in your short-term store they should then pass onto your long-term store where you can recall them later.
   • Peterson and Peterson (1959)
     • A: To see if rehearsal was necessary to hold information in the short-term store.
     • M: Pps. were asked to learn sets of 3 letters (such as GYK, MTW), but were immediately asked to count back in 3's out loud for different lengths of time. This was done to prevent rehearsal. Pps were then asked to recall the letters in the correct order.
     • R: Pps. had forgotten virtually all the information after 18 seconds.
     • C: We can't hold information in the short-term store unless we rehearse it
   • Murdock (1962)
     • A: To provide evidence to support the multi-store explanation of memory.
     • M: Pps. had to learn a list of words presented one at a time, for 2 seconds per word, and then recall the words in any order.
     • R: The words at the end of the list were recalled first (known as the recency effect). Words from the beginning of the list were also recalled quite well (known as the primary effect), but the middle words were not recalled very well.
     • C: This provides evidence for separate short-term and long-term stores.

2. Levels of Processing

   • Craik and Lockhart (1972)
     • A: To see if the type of question asked about the words will have an effect on the number of words recalled
     • M: Pps. were presented with a list of words, one at a time, and asked questions about each word, to which they had to answer "yes" or "no". Some questions required structural processing some phonetic and some semantic. They were then given a longer list of words and ahd to identify the words they had answered questions on.
     • R: Pp identified 70% of the words that required semantic processing, 35% of the phonetic and 15% of the structural
     • C: The more deeply information is processed; the more likely it is to be remembered.

3. Eye-Witness Testimony

   • Bruce and Young (1998)
     • A: To see if familiarity affects the accuracy of identifying faces.
     • M: Psychology lecturers were caught on security cameras at the entrance of a building. Pps. were asked to identify the faces seen on the security camera tape from a series of high-quality photographs.
     • R: The lecturers' students made more correct identifications than other students and experienced police officers.
     • C: Previous familiarity helps when identifying faces.
   • Loftus and Palmer (1974)
     • A: To see if asking leading questions affects the accuracy of recall.
     • M: Pps were shown films of car accidents. Some were asked, "How fast was the car going when it hit the other car ?". Others were asked, "How fast was the car going when the car smashed the other car ? "
     • R: Those who heard the word "smashed" gave a higher speed estimate than those who heard "hit".
     • C: Leading questions will affect accuracy of recall. The word "smashed" led Pps to believe the car was going faster.
   • Geiselman et al (1985)
     • A: To see if reinstating the context of an event will affect the accuracy of witnesses' account.
     • M: Pps were shown a police training film of a violent crime. 2 days later they were interviewed about what they had seen. For half of the Pps, the context of the event was recreated during the interview. For the other half of the Pps, standard police interview techniques were used.
     • R: The Pps. who had the context recreated recalled more accurate facts about the violent crime than the other Pps.
     • C: Recreatimg the context during interviews will increase the accuracy of recall. This method is known as cognitive interview.