MEMORY COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES By

MEMORY COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 1

LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of the session you will be able to: 1. Describe what memory is 2. Describe the coding, capacity and durationnnnnnnnnn of the sensory register

I will also • Introduce the Multi-Store Memory Model (Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968) 1968 • And we will learn about the Sperling’s study into Sensory Memory

WHAT IS A “MODEL”? • Not an exact copy, but a representation of something • Helps us understand how something works

WHAT IS A MODEL? • Research is conducted to test the assumptions of a model • The model is then either supported, updated or refuted • Testing models uses a scientific method. Models are ‘empirically’ tested. • The Cognitive Approach in Psychology is associated with Laboratory Experiments • There are 4 different types of experiments: Can you remember what they are?

THE FIRST MODEL OF MEMORY WE ARE GOING TO LEARN ABOUT IS Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Multi-store model of memory (MSM) pages 48 -49

So what is memory?

WHAT IS MEMORY • It is remembering the places you have been? • It is remembering how to ride your bike? • It is recognising the faces of people you know? • It is learning and recalling information? • It is remembering important events? • Is memory accurate?

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS IT? ? !! Memory has been defined as the ability to retain knowledge and information, as well as the ability to retrieve the information and knowledge which has been stored. Extension Activity 10 facts about memory Whilst you watch the clip, make a note of a few things that you didn’t know about memory

Definition • Memory is the term given to the structures and processes involved in the storage and subsequent retrieval of information • This information can include facts, experiences, skills or habits “Memory is the means by which we draw on our past experiences in order to use this information in the present’

Why is memory important? • Clive Wearing As part of your half term prep you will be asked to find out more about case studies in psychology. In the area of memory research, certain individuals have provided lots of useful information about how memory works. HM; KF and Clive Wearing for example. This has helped researchers build better models of memory. Case study: Clive Wearing Think about it. What are the Strengths? Weaknesses? of using case studies?

Memory is broken down into 4 key processes • Attention • Encoding • Storage • Retrieval

• Attention – is what we pay attention to • Encoding –is how we input sensory information so that we can make sense of it • Storage- this is how information is stored in your memory to be used at a later time • Retrieval – refers to the ability to recover information from storage Recall The ability to retrieve stored information. Recognition: When you know something is familiar Reintegration: When you construct a memory using cues

Multi-Store Model Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968 • This is one of the first models of memory Remember • As memory is intangible, a model is used to help us understand how the memory works • Research is conducted and evidence used to test the assumptions of the model • The model is then either supported, updated or refuted

According to the MSM there are 3 main types of memory • Short Term Memory (STM) • Long Term Memory (LTM) and Sensory Memory known as the Sensory Register (SR)

Basic structure to the Multi-Store Model Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)

Sensory register a brief store for sensory information If attended to, it will pass onto the STM If not attended to, it will fade quickly leaving no lasting impression

Sensory register - encoding • Information is gathered by the senses and enters the sensory register • All information must go through this stage “ICONIC MEMORY”: visual info from the eyes –things you SEE. Stored as images. “ECHOIC MEMORY”: auditory input from the ears – things you HEAR. Stored as sounds. “HAPTIC MEMORY”: tactile input from the body – things you’ve TOUCHED. Stored as feelings. Information is stored in raw, unprocessed form with separate sensory stores for different sensory inputs How its stored according to the sensory inputs

SENSORY MEMORY – CODING, CAPACITY & DURATION P 46 -47 Sensory memory (SM) is the shortest memory store, it is memory for information which has reached the senses, but has not yet entered the Short Term Memory

Sensory register - capacity • The capacity for the sensory register is very large – we take in massive amounts of information through all our senses all the time. We don’t pay attention to most of it. • The Information is unprocessed and highly detailed

Sensory register - capacity • The next slide demonstrates your iconic sensory memory at work • Keep your eyes fixed on the slide and concentrate • It will flash on and off quickly – try to remember everything on it. • When you see the smiley face write everything down

7 1 V F X L 5 3 B 4 W 7

How many items were you able to recall?

Sperling (1960) Presented participants with a grid for less than 1 second and then asked how many letters they could remember (Iconic)

Findings: Participants were able to recall 4 letters from the whole grid The short duration of the sensory register makes it difficult to test, as soon as a person starts writing, the memory trace has faded away.

SENSORY STORE – DURATION Usually lasts just 0. 5 to 2 seconds Iconic 0. 5 s Echoic 2. 0 s

EXAMPLE • Imagine someone spoke to you but you were thinking of something else. If you focus within a second or so, you can hear a sensory ‘echo’ in your mind of what they said. • The sensory register is the brief store of sensory information before it is ‘attended to’.

So to recap Sensory memory (register) In one ear and out the other The capacity of sensory memory is very large – we takes in masses of information all the time. Different sensory stores have different capacities, and there is some evidence that duration decreases with age

SPERLING’S – ND 2 EXPERIMENT Sperling then tried using tones to ‘cue’ participants to recall a particular row: A G L N M H K C S Z Y T P B R D (* e. g. High pitched tone) Participants were able to recall 3 out of 4 items on the row indicated. So recall was found to be 75%+

CHECK OUT THE FILM CLIP Here is the Sperling study as a film clip with tones Watch as an extension activity

DESCRIBING A STUDY When we describe a piece of research we usually include the • Aim – What was the researcher trying to find out? • Procedure – What did the researcher do? What did the participants do? • Results – What were the scores? What did the data look like? • Conclusion - What has the researcher found out? • “APRC” = Always Proceed Really Carefully

EVALUATING A STUDY To help us EVALUATE a study we add some GRAVEE. Generalisability Reliability Application to the real world – are the findings useful? Validity Ethical issues Economic value to the economy These are the specific criteria we use to evaluate a study

I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO EVALUATE SPERLING’S EXPERIMENTS First I will make an EVALUATIVE COMMENT. This means I use terms like STRENGTH, WEAKNESS, ADVANTAGE, DISADVANTAGE, PROBLEM etc. Then I EXPLAIN why this is a problem. I use specific study……. . criteria when I evaluate a

Evaluation of Sperling (1960) One weakness of this experiment is that because it was conducted in a laboratory environment the research is artificial, so the results may lack ecological validity. This means it is difficult to generalize the findings to a real life setting. This reduces the USEFULNESS of the findings

Evaluation of Sperling (1960) On the other hand, the artificial nature of the study allows the study to be replicated easily. This means we can test to see if the findings are RELIABLE In addition to this, the use of a laboratory environment allows for extraneous and independent variables to be controlled for. This allows for a cause and effect relationship to be established between the IV and the DV. This means we can be sure the findings are VALID

Evaluation of Sperling (1960) One strength of the study was the use of a repeated measures design. This means each participant took part in each condition. This eliminates participant characteristics from influencing the results. So we assume the only thing effecting the DV was the IV. This means we can be sure the findings are VALID

Evaluation of Sperling (1960) However, on the other hand, a problem with a repeated measures design is order effects. This is where the participants may become tired, bored or fed up by the secondition. This may have worsened their performance. Additionally, this may have led to practice effects where the participants performance is enhanced as they know what to expect. If there were order effects then we cannot be sure that the DV was only effected by the IV. This would mean we may not be able to state confidently that the results were VALID after all!

Evaluation of Sperling (1960) Finally, another weakness of this experiment is that it uses a random set of letters and numbers to test memory. The use of a random set of letters in a task like this is uncommon in everyday life. It lacks meaning to the participants. This is called mundane realism. So we can say a further weakness of Sperling’s experiment is that because the task is artificial and unnatural the task lacks mundane realism. Once again this reduces the USEFULNESS of the findings

CRASH COURSE How we make memories Another extension activity

FOLLOW UP TASKS Read about the SENSORY REGISTER on page 48 >>> Consolidation reading: pgs. P 46 -47 GHG Read about Coding; Capacity and Duration of memory Watch Robert Winston do the digit span test with an audience. Try the ‘apply it’ questions. Check out the capacity of your Short Term Memory http: //www. gocognitive. net/demo/working-memory-