Memory Models
What are the three components of Atkinson & Shiffrin’s (1968) Multi-Store Model of Memory?
Sensory register, short-term memory (STM), and long-term memory (LTM).
What are the three types of long-term memory identified by Tulving (1985)?
Episodic, semantic, and procedural memory.
What are the two types of interference that cause forgetting?
Proactive interference and retroactive interference.
What is meant by a leading question in the context of eyewitness testimony?
A question that suggests a particular answer or influences recall.
Who conducted a study using high school yearbook photos to investigate the duration of long-term memory?
Bahrick et al. (1975).
According to the Working Memory Model, what is the role of the phonological loop?
It processes and stores verbal and auditory information.
Which type of long-term memory is responsible for remembering how to ride a bike?
Procedural memory.
How did Peterson & Peterson (1959) investigate the duration of short-term memory?
By making participants recall trigrams after intervals with a counting task to prevent rehearsal.
What effect did Loftus & Palmer (1974) find when participants were asked about car speeds in different wording conditions?
The verb used (e.g., 'smashed' vs. 'hit') influenced speed estimates and memory distortion.
What was the main finding of Peterson & Peterson’s study on short-term memory duration?
STM duration is about 18-30 seconds without rehearsal
What evidence supports the idea that short-term memory has a capacity of 7±2 items?
Miller (1956) proposed the 'Magic Number 7' theory based on digit span experiments.
What is the key difference between semantic and episodic memory?
Semantic memory is general knowledge (facts), while episodic memory involves personal experiences.
What is Tulving’s Encoding Specificity Principle?
Retrieval is more effective when cues present at encoding are also present at recall.
How does post-event discussion affect eyewitness recall?
Witnesses may conform to others’ accounts, leading to memory contamination.
How did McGeoch & McDonald (1931) show the effects of interference on memory?
Participants recalled lists of words; similarity between lists increased forgetting.
What function does the episodic buffer serve in the Working Memory Model?
It integrates information from different sources and links working memory to long-term memory.
Which brain structures are associated with episodic and procedural memory?
Episodic memory - hippocampus and prefrontal cortex; Procedural memory - cerebellum and motor cortex.
How did Baddeley & Hitch (1977) demonstrate retroactive interference using rugby players?
Players who played more games forgot earlier matches due to interference from new memories.
Explain the Yerkes-Dodson Law in relation to anxiety and eyewitness testimony.
Moderate anxiety improves recall, but too much or too little anxiety reduces accuracy.
What methodological issue is commonly raised about the cognitive interview technique?
It is time-consuming and requires extensive training for interviewers
Why does the case study of patient KF challenge the Multi-Store Model of Memory?
KF had impaired verbal STM but intact visual STM, suggesting multiple STM components.
How does the case study of patient HM support the distinction between different types of long-term memory?
HM could form new procedural memories but not episodic or semantic ones, showing separate memory types.
What is one limitation of the interference theory of forgetting?
It mostly explains forgetting in artificial lab settings, not real-world scenarios.
Why might laboratory studies of eyewitness testimony lack ecological validity?
They lack real-life stress and consequences, making findings less generalizable.
How do dual-task studies support the Working Memory Model?
They show that different STM components process different types of information independently.