Manipulation & Improvement of Memory

1. Manipulation & Improvement of Memory Year 12 Psychology Unit 3 Area of Study 2 (Chapter 8, Page 392)

2. Measures of retention Activity: 7.4 • Ways to test how well you have retained information (or how much you have retained). • Three main measures used: • Recall • Recognition • Relearning

3. Measures of retention:Recall • Reproducing info with the fewest possible cues to assist retrieval: • Use a general cue to retrieve info by searching LTM to find something that best matches cue. • General cues often do not provide enough hints to locate relevant info because the list of possible matches is often quite large. Analogy: Google. • Three types of recall: • Free recall (as much info as possible in any order); • Serial recall (recall info in order); • Cued recall (use more specific cues to aid retrieval).

4. Measures of retention:Recognition • Identify the correct info from several alternatives. • More sensitive/effective measure of memory than recall; • Recognition provides more cues that assist in the location and retrieval of info from LTM. • Recognition vs Recall: • Recognising someone but cannot recall their name. (Face is a cue that aids retrieval); • Multiple choice questions vs. short answer questions (Possible alternatives are the cues that aid retrieval).

5. MEASURES OF RETENTION:RELEARNING (‘METHOD OF SAVINGS’) • Learning info again that has been previously learnt and stored in LTM. • Most sensitive/effective measure of memory; • Info is learned more quickly the second time (there must have been some info retained from the first learning experience). • Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885): pioneering researcher on memory, specifically relearning. • Was his own research participant; • Memorised a list of nonsense syllables (consist of two consonants with a vowel between, e.g. ‘qir’); • Used so retention is not affected by the words having meaning or association with other words already in memory (potential extraneous variables); • Relearn a list much more quickly a second time.

6. MEASURES OF RETENTION:Relative Sensitivity Use table on page 369 for revision • Sensitivity (of a measure of retention): ability to assess the amount of info that has been stored in memory. •  Sensitivity =  detection of info that has been learned and stored in memory. •  Sensitivity =  detection of info that has been learned and stored in memory. •  Relearning  Recognition  Recall • Nelson (1978): experiment consisted of three stages – initial learning stage, a stage of recall and recognition and a relearning stage. • Participants had to learn a series of number-word pairs (e.g. 95-horse). • 4 weeks later, surprise tests: cued recall & recognition. • Participants had to relearn 10 of the original pairs plus 10 new ones. • Results: 48% recall, 69% recognition, 88% relearning (compared to new ones). • Conclusion: Relearning is more sensitive than recognition as a measure of retention.

7. Manipulation & Improvement of Memory • Human memory is prone to errors and distortions. • Details of human memory can change over time: • Can unconsciously add, subtract, exaggerate or downplay details. • Confidence does not guarantee accuracy: • Some researchers believe that strong confidence in memory of small details might actually indicate that the memory is inaccurate or false. • New memories are not recorded, they are actively constructed– when we retrieve them, they are actively reconstructed, which can lead to errors.

8. Manipulation of Memory • Bartlett (1932) questioned Ebbinghaus’ use of nonsense words to test memory. • Used prose (story/essay) instead: • Each time, participants ‘remembered’ the original stimulus slightly differently. • Unusual or unexpected events were often described in more ‘sensible’ ways - revised to match what the participant believed was more likely to be true. • Tend to remember only a few key details of an experience, then we unconsciously draw on personal beliefs and expectations when reconstructing to fill in ‘blanks’ in a logical/plausible way.

9. Manipulation of Memory:Elizabeth Loftus • Leading question: has content or is phrased to suggest the desired answer or lead you towards it. • “How fast was the car going when it ran the stop sign?” presupposes/assumes that there was a stop sign. • Would be more likely to include stop sign in your recall later on (“Did you see the stop sign?”) even if there wasn’t actually one there. • Leading questions can be used to manipulate memory, specifically memory reconstruction.

10. Manipulation of Memory:Loftus & Palmer (1974) • Influence of question wording on memory + how information supplied post-event distorts memory. • 45 volunteer students shown 7 film clips (5-10sec) of car accidents: • Afterwards, asked to describe what they’d seen. • Also answered some specific questions, including estimating speed of cars involved in collisions. • Five conditions, 9 students randomly allocated to each: • “About how fast were the cars going when they _____ each other?” • Smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted. • Clips presented in different order to each group.

11. Manipulation of Memory:Loftus & Palmer (1974) • Wording of question influenced estimated speed: • ‘Smashed’ = fastest, ‘Contacted’ = slowest. • Results possibly due to distortion of memory by verbal label. • Could also be due to response bias (adjusting speed to fit with expectations of researcher). • Second experiment: ‘smashed’, ‘hit’ or nothing: • “Did you see any broken glass?” - more often reported “yes” if were in the ‘smashed’ group. • ‘New’ false information after event had been integrated into memories. • One week later, correctly remember there was no glass.

12. Manipulation of Memory:Loftus & Palmer (1974) Activity: 8.1 • Integration of information from two different sources: the witnessed crash & the leading question. • Source confusion:true source of memory is forgotten or attributed incorrectly. • Relevant for eyewitnesses in court cases: • Prosecutors & barristers are no allowed to use leading questions. • Loftus: any model of memory should include process of reconstruction (see page 396). • VIDEO

13. Improvement of Memory Activity: 8.4 • Context–Dependent and State-Dependent Cues: re-create the conditions under which the required info was originally learned. • This is based on the encoding specificity principle: • The more closely the retrieval cues match the original learning conditions, the more likely the info will be recalled.

14. Enhancing Memory:Context- and State- Dependent Cues • Context-dependent cues: environmental cues in the specific context where a memory was formed, which act as a retrieval cues to help access the memories formed in that context. • Sights, sounds, smells, etc. • Godden and Baddeley (1975): divers standing on the beach vs. under five metres of water. – Page 399 • EG… witnesses remembering more when they return to crime scene. • State-dependent cues: associated with an individual’s state at the time the memory was formed, which act as retrieval cues to help access those memories. • State-dependent retrieval involves better recall of info when the physiological and/or psychological states of learning and retrieval match. • Mood is also a state-dependent cue.

15. Improvement of Memory:Mnemonic Devices Activity: 8.5 • From the Greek ‘Mnemosyne’, goddess of memory. • Make use of info that is already stored in LTM. • Make info more elaborate as they are based on elaboration strategies. • Additional info makes the material easier to locate and retrieve as organisation in LTM is enhanced. • Organise new info into a cohesive whole, so retrieval is easier. • The ease or difficulty with which we learn new info depends on how well it fits with what we already know. The better it fits, the easier it is to retrieve.

16. Mnemonic Devices:Acronyms & Rhymes • Acronyms (words created from first letters of information you are remembering) & Rhymes: • Helps organise information. ‘i’ before ‘e’, except after ‘c’ ANZAC FBI Thirty days hath September… CIA SCATATAW

17. Mnemonic Devices:Acronyms & Rhymes – ACTIVITY! • Make up an acronym or rhyme to remember one of the concepts we have learned. • Some suggestions: • Areas of the brain; • Branches of the nervous system; • Types of brain scans; • Stages of sleep; • Types of brain waves; • Stages/areas of memory; • Duration/capacity of different memory types; • Measures of retention; • Types of amnesia. Use as your example for Activity 8.8, Question 2.

18. Mnemonic Devices:Acrostics (‘first-letter technique’) • Useful when have to remember info in order.

19. Mnemonic Devices:Acrostics – ACTIVITY! • Make up an acrostic to remember one of the concepts we have learned this year. • Some suggestions: • Areas of the brain; • Branches of the nervous system; • Types of brain scans; • Stages of sleep; • Types of brain waves; • Stages/areas of memory; • Duration/capacity of different memory types; • Measures of retention; • Types of amnesia. Use as your example for Activity 8.8, Question 2.

20. Mnemonic Devices:Narrative Chaining • Linking otherwise unrelated items to one another (‘chaining’) to form a meaningful sequence or story (‘narrative’). • Research shows that it adds organisation and meaningfulness. • Useful when you want to remember info in a particular order. • Bower & Clark’s (1969) results – page 406.

21. Page 405

22. Bower and Clark (1969) Page 406

23. Mnemonic Devices:Narrative Chaining – ACTIVITY! • Make up a story that links the following words: • Bee • Tooth • Teddy • Tuna • Nut • Mafia • Lime • Chat • Kiss • Can Use as your example for Activity 8.8, Question 2.