AQA A Level

Psychology

Topic Companion
Memory

Joseph Sparks & Helen Lakin

AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY Page 2

Contents
Memory
The multi-store model 3

Types of long-term memory 9

The working memory model 13

Explanations for forgetting 17

Eyewitness testimony 23

The cognitive interview 29

Notes 32

Revision checklist 35

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THE MULTI‐STORE MODEL

Specification: The multi‐store model of memory: sensory register, short‐term memory and
long‐term memory. Features of each store: coding, capacity and duration.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Outline Atkinson & Shiffrin’s (1968) multi‐store model of memory.
Outline and evaluate the key features of the model, including the sensory register, short‐term memory
and long‐term memory store, in relation to:
 Coding
 Capacity
 Duration
Evaluate the multi‐store model of memory.

Multi‐Store Model
Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968) proposed one of the earliest models of memory – the Multi‐Store Model
(MSM). They suggested that memory is made up of three components: sensory register (SR), short‐term
memory (STM) and long‐term memory (LTM). According to the model, memories are formed sequentially
and information passes from one component to the next, in a linear fashion.

Each of the three components has a specific type of coding, capacity and duration. Coding refers to the
way in which information is changed and stored in memory. Duration refers to the length of time that
information is held in the memory store and capacity refers to the amount of information that can be
stored.

Information enters the sensory register via our senses. Our sensory register has an unknown (but
supposedly unlimited) capacity and a very limited duration of less than one second (approximately 250
milliseconds). As information enters from all five senses the coding is modality specific and said to be raw,
or unprocessed, information.

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Information that is attended to is passed to STM, which has a limited capacity of 7+/‐2 ‘chunks’ of
information and a limited duration of approximately 20 seconds. Information in our STM is coded in an
acoustic format. For example, if you were trying to remember a phone number, you might repeat the
number over and over in your head.

Thereafter, rehearsed information is transferred to LTM, which has an unlimited capacity and a lifetime’s
duration. Information in LTM is coded semantically (by meaning) and can be retrieved from LTM to STM
when required.

SENSORY REGISTER SHORT‐TERM MEMORY LONG‐TERM MEMORY

Limited (7+/‐2 ‘chunks’ of
CAPACITY

information)
Unknown, but very large Unlimited
Jacobs (1887)
Miller (1956)
DURATION

Lifetime/Years
Very limited Limited (20 seconds)
Bahrick (1975)
(approximately 250 ms) Peterson & Peterson (1959)
CODING

Raw/unprocessed information Acoustic (Sound) Semantic (Meaning)

(from ALL 5 senses) Baddeley (1966) Baddeley (1966)

Research Investigating the MSM

The MSM of memory has been investigated extensively, and research has provided support for the
different components of the model. For example, research by Miller (1956) supports the idea that our STM
has a capacity of 7+/‐2 ‘chunks’ of information; Baddeley (1966) supports the notion of different types of
encoding in STM and LTM; Peterson & Peterson (1959) support the idea of a limited duration in STM and
Bahrick (1975) supports the idea of an unlimited duration in LTM.

Key Study: Miller (1956) ‘The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two’
Capacity of STM
Aim: To investigate the capacity of STM.

Method: Literature review of published investigations into perception and STM, from the 1930s to 1950s.

Results: This existing research suggested that organising stimulus input into a series of chunks enabled
STM to cope with about seven ‘chunks’, and this was why more than seven digits, words or even musical
notes could be remembered successfully. When we try to remember a phone number, which has 11 digits,
we chunk the information into groups, for example: 0767…819…45…34, so we only need to remember
four chunks of information and not 11 individual digits.

Conclusion: Organisation (or ‘encoding’) can extend the capacity of STM and enable more information to
be stored there, albeit briefly.

Evaluating Miller (1956)

 Miller’s (1956) theory is supported by psychological research. For example, Jacobs (1887) conducted an

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experiment using a digit span test, to examine the capacity of STM for numbers and letters. Jacobs
used a sample of 443 female students (aged from 8–19) from the North London Collegiate School.
Participants had to repeat back a string of numbers or letters in the same order and the number of
digits/letters was gradually increased, until the participants could no longer recall the sequence. Jacobs
found that the students had an average span of 7.3 letters and 9.3 words, which supports Miller’s
notion of 7+/‐2.

 Although Miller’s (1956) theory is support by psychological research, he did not specify how large each
‘chunk’ of information could be and therefore we are unable to conclude the exact capacity of STM.
Consequently, further research is required to determine the size of information ‘chunks’ to understand
the exact capacity of STM.

 Finally, Miller’s (1956) research into STM did not take into account other factors that affect capacity.
For example, age could also affect STM and Jacobs’ (1887) research acknowledged that STM gradually
improved with age.

Key Study: Peterson & Peterson (1959) Duration of STM

Aim: To investigate how different short intervals containing an interference task affect the recall of items
presented verbally, and to infer the duration of STM.

Method: The participants were 24 male and female university students. The verbal items tested for recall
were 48 three‐consonant nonsense syllables (such as JBW or PDX) spelled out letter by letter. These have
since been named ‘trigrams’. There were also cards containing three‐digit numbers (such as 360 or 294).
The researcher spelled the syllable out and then immediately said a three‐digit number. The participant
had to count down backwards in either 3s or 4s (as instructed) from that number. This was to prevent
repetition of the trigram by the participant. At the end of a preset interval of between 3 and 18 seconds a
red light went on and the participant had to recall the trigram.

Results: Peterson & Peterson found that the longer the

interval the less accurate the recall. At 3 seconds,
around 80% of the trigrams were correctly recalled,
whereas at 18 seconds only 10% were correctly
recalled.

Conclusion: STM has a limited duration of

approximately 18 seconds. Furthermore, if we are
unable to rehearse information it will not be passed to
LTM, providing further support for the MSM and the
idea of discrete components.

Evaluating Peterson & Peterson (1959)

 Peterson & Peterson used a sample of 24 psychology students, which is an issue for two reasons.
Firstly, the psychology students may have encountered the MSM of memory previously and therefore
may have demonstrated demand characteristics by changing their behaviour to assist the
experimenter. Secondly, the memory of psychology students may be different from that of other
people, especially if they had previously studied strategies for memory improvement. As a result we
are unable to generalise the results of this study to non‐psychology students.

 Furthermore, it could be argued that Peterson & Peterson’s study has low levels of ecological validity.
In this study participants were asked to recall three‐letter trigrams, which is unlike anything people

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would want to memorise in their everyday lives. As a result we are unable to apply these results to
everyday examples of memory and are unable to conclude if the duration of STM may be longer for
more important information, such as a vital phone number.

 However, Peterson & Peterson’s study was highly controlled and took place in a laboratory of Indiana
University. As a result Peterson & Peterson had a high degree of control for extraneous variables, which
makes their procedure easy to replicate to test reliability.

Key Study: Bahrick (1975) Duration of LTM

Aim: To investigate the duration of LTM.

Method: 392 American university graduates were shown photographs from their high school yearbook and
for each photograph participants were given a group of names and asked to select the name that matched
the photographs.

Results: 90% of the participants were able to correctly match the names and faces 14 years after
graduating and 60% of the participants were able to correctly match the names and faces 47 years after
graduation.

Conclusion: Bahrick concluded that people could remember certain types of information, such as names
and faces, for almost a lifetime. These results support the MSM and the idea that our LTM has a lifetime
duration (at least 47 years), and is semantically encoded.

Evaluating Bahrick (1975)

 Bahrick’s research used a sample of 392 American university graduates and therefore lacks population
validity. Psychologists are unable to generalise the results of Bahrick’s research to other populations,
for example students from the UK or Europe. As a result, we are unable to conclude whether other
populations would demonstrate the same ability to recall names and faces after 47 years.

 Furthermore, Bahrick found that the accuracy of LTM was 90% after 14 years and 60% after 47 years.
His research is unable to explain whether LTM becomes less accurate over time because of a limited
duration, or whether LTM simply gets worse with age. This is important because psychologists are
unable to determine whether our LTM has an unlimited duration (like the MSM suggests), which is
affected by other factors such as getting old, or whether our LTM has a limited duration.

 Finally, it could be argued that Bahrick’s study has high levels of ecological validity as the study used
real‐life memories. In this study participants recalled real‐life information by matching pictures of
classmates with their names. Therefore, these results reflect our memory for real‐life events and can
be applied to everyday human memory.

Overall Evaluation of the MSM

 Support for the MSM comes from the case study of Clive Wearing, who contracted a virus that caused
severe amnesia (memory loss). Following the virus, Wearing could only remember information for 20‐
30 seconds; however, he was able to recall information from his past, for example his wife’s name.
Wearing was unable to transfer information from his STM to his LTM, but was able to retrieve
information successfully. Wearing’s case supports the idea that memories are formed by passing
information from one store to the next in a linear fashion and that damage to any part of the MSM can
cause memory impairment.

 Further support for the MSM comes from psychological studies. For example, Miller (1959) supports

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the idea of a limited capacity of 7+/‐2 chunks of information in STM; Peterson & Peterson (1959)
support the idea of a limited duration in STM, of approximately 20 seconds and Bahrick (1975) supports
the idea of a lifetime duration in LTM. All of these studies support the different elements of the MSM
and therefore suggest that the model is an accurate representation of human memory.

 Baddeley and Hitch (1974) developed the working memory model (WMM) as an explanation of the
complexity of STM and a way of explaining some of the research findings that could not be accounted
for by the MSM, for example parallel processing (multi‐tasking). [These will be covered in a later
section.]

 Finally, evidence from brain scans has shown that different areas of the brain are active when
performing STM tasks (hippocampus and subiculum) and LTM tasks (motor cortex). The hippocampus
is also involved in transferring short‐term memories into long‐term memories. This suggests that
different brain regions are responsible for the different components of the MSM, supporting the idea
that our memory is made up of discrete stores.

Extension Evaluation: Issues and Debates

 The MSM takes a nomothetic approach, trying to create a universal model to explain the process of
human memory. An idiographic, individual approach that used examples of real‐life remembering may
result in a more complex (and arguably more accurate) picture of memory.

 Research examining the MSM is a clear example of experimental reductionism, as it attempts to

explain a complex behaviour by relying on isolated variables operationalised in laboratory experiments
(e.g. the capacity of STM or the duration of STM). However, as memory is a complex phenomenon,
many psychologists argue that reducing memory to isolated variables undermines the complexity of
human memory.

Possible Exam Questions

1. Define what is meant by the term coding. (2 marks)

2. Define what is meant by the term capacity. (2 marks)

3. Define what is meant by the term duration. (2 marks)

Exam Hint: While students are often able to define these key terms accurately, many students fail to pick
up a second mark as they struggle with the elaboration of their definition. An easy way to ensure that
students secure the full marks is to provide an example related to the sensory register, STM or LTM. For
example, coding refers to the way in which information is changed and stored in memory. Information in
STM is coded in an acoustic format.

4. Complete the following table, adding the missing information (A, B, C and D) in relation to the features
of the multi‐store model.
SENSORY REGISTER SHORT‐TERM MEMORY LONG‐TERM MEMORY
CAPACITY A 7 +/‐ 2 Unlimited
DURATION B C Lifetime
Raw (Unprocessed) /
CODING Acoustic D
Modality Specific

5. Describe how psychologists have investigated the duration of STM. (4 marks)

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Exam Hint: The key word to note in this question is ‘how’. Students are expected to describe how
researchers have conducted their research – the method – in detail. Therefore, students might outline the
method of Peterson & Peterson by explaining what the participants were required to do and how
duration was measured in this study.

6. Outline two differences between the STM and LTM. (4 marks)

7. According to Atkinson and Shiffrin the STM and LTM are very different. Outline how research has
demonstrated the difference between STM and LTM. (4 marks)
Exam Hint: For this question students need to link the research (e.g. Peterson & Peterson and Bahrick) to
the question and say how the results from these two studies show that the STM and LTM are different.

8. Laura still uses an old‐fashioned phone book and wanted to phone her colleague Joseph. She looked up
his number but, before she dialled the number, she got distracted by her husband and had a short
conversation with him. When she looked at her phone she had completely forgotten Joseph’s number.

Use your knowledge of the multi‐store model to explain why Laura forgot Joseph’s number. (4 marks)
Exam Hint: Sometimes students get confused with application questions such as this and focus on SR,
attention and STM, when in fact the answer requires students to focus on STM, rehearsal and LTM.
Furthermore, some students mention the concepts of maintenance and elaborative rehearsal that are
not part of the original MSM. These were introduced by Craik & Lockhart (1972) as a criticism of the
MSM, which simply relied on rehearsal.

9. Many cognitive psychologists have criticised the multi‐store model, as it fails to explain memory in
everyday life. For example, students often spend hours and hours reading through their revision notes,
but struggle to retain the information. However, these same students can remember information
found on social media even though they have only seen it once. Explain why this information presents a
criticism of the multi‐store model of memory. (4 marks)
Exam Hint: To answer this question effectively, students are required to focus on the two types of
information (revision notes and social media) and link these to a criticism of the MSM.

10. Outline and evaluate the multi‐store model of memory. Refer to research evidence in your answer.
(12/16 marks)
Exam Hint: With this question, students need to be careful when evaluating the model. For example,
when using case studies (HM, KF or Clive Wearing), students need to ensure that they explain whether or
not these support the MSM.

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TYPES OF LONG‐TERM MEMORY

Specification: Types of long‐term memory: episodic, semantic and procedural.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Outline and evaluate the different types of long‐term memory, including:
 Episodic
 Semantic
 Procedural

Introduction to Types of Long‐Term Memory

Atkinson & Shiffrin’s (1968) multi‐store model is often criticised for being too simplistic. Although they
made a distinction between a sensory register (SR), short‐term memory (STM) and long‐term memory
(LTM), they provided no detail of the memory processing within each store. The Working Memory Model
(WMM) proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) divided STM into two separate subcomponents: the
phonological loop and the visuo‐spatial sketchpad [see next section]. In addition, psychologists have
suggested that there are multiple types of LTM, including: episodic, sematic and procedural.

Although there are at least three types of LTM (episodic, semantic and procedural), all long‐term memories
are categorised as either explicit (declarative) or implicit (non‐declarative). Explicit memories include
knowledge for events and facts (knowing that), whereas implicit memories are skilled behaviours (knowing
how), which are largely unconscious.

Episodic memory
Episodic memory is a type of explicit memory, which includes memories of personal experiences
(episodes), such as your first day at school or when you last visited the doctor. These memories are more
complex than you might consider and have three specific elements including: details of the event; the
context; and emotions, which are all interwoven to provide a single memory.

The strength of episodic memories is determined by the strength of the emotions experienced when the
memory is coded, and a conscious effort is required to retrieve them. Episodic memories are associated
with the hippocampus, although other areas of the brain regions are associated with coding (prefrontal
cortex).

Semantic memory
Semantic memory is also a type of explicit memory, which includes memory for knowledge, facts, concepts
and meaning about the world around us. For example, knowing that London is the capital of England is an
example of a semantic memory and so too is knowing that the legal age to drive in the UK is 17 years old.

Semantic memories often start as episodic memories, as we acquire knowledge based on our personal
experiences, but they are not ‘time‐stamped’ in the same way nor do they remain closely associated with
a particular event (episode). Like episodic memories, the strength of semantic memories is determined by
the strength of the emotions experienced when the memory is coded, although semantic knowledge is
often less personal in its nature and can relate to abstract concepts such as language and maths. However,
semantic memories are generally stronger in comparison to episodic and are associated with the temporal
lobe.

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Procedural memory
Procedural memory is a type of implicit memory, which includes memory of how to perform certain tasks,
actions or skills, such as swimming, reading and writing which have become ‘automatic’.

Procedural memories are implicit and therefore difficult to explain in words to someone else. They are
often acquired through repetition and practice, for example, when we learn to ride a bike or drive a car.
Many procedural memories are formed early in life, for example, walking. It is important that these
become like second nature to us so that we can focus our direct attention onto other everyday tasks we
perform at the same time. (Imagine walking with a friend, and having to stop every time you wanted to say
something!) Procedural memories are associated with the cerebellum and motor cortex.

EPISODIC SEMANTIC PROCEDURAL

EXPLICIT/IMPLICIT Explicit Explicit Implicit

TYPE Personal experiences Knowledge Performed tasks or skills

Cerebellum and motor

BRAIN REGION Hippocampus Temporal lobe
cortex

Evaluating LTM
 Brain scans provide support for the different types of LTM. Research has shown that different parts of
the brain are active when accessing episodic, semantic and procedural memory. Episodic memory has
been associated with the hippocampus and temporal lobe; semantic memory is also associated with
the temporal lobe; and procedural memory is associated with the cerebellum and motor cortex. Brain
scan research suggests that different brain regions are responsible for the different types of LTM,
supporting the idea that our LTM is made up of at least three distinct categories.

 Support for the distinction between implicit and explicit LTM comes from the case study of patient HM
(Milner, 1962). Patient HM suffered from severe epilepsy and underwent surgery, which involved the
removal of his hippocampus, to alleviate the symptoms. His STM remained intact; however, he was
unable to transfer certain types of information to his LTM. Milner discovered that HM was able to learn
procedural (implicit) tasks, but not episodic or semantic (explicit) information. HM was able to learn a
mirror‐tracing task, where you copy an image while looking in a mirror, and retain the skill without
forgetting. However, he had no knowledge of ever previously completing the mirror‐tracing task.
Therefore, HM was able to demonstrate his procedural memory through implicit behaviour, despite
being unable to recall his experience explicitly.

 Further support for the distinction of implicit and explicit memory comes from a separate case study of
Patient PM (Finke et al. 2012), a cellist who suffered from amnesia as a result of a virus. Like patient
HM, his implicit memory (episodic and semantic) memory was affected, but his procedural memory for
reading and performing music remained intact. PM demonstrates a clear distinction between different
types of LTM. Although both HM and PM provide support for the distinction of separate types of LTM,
evidence from case studies must be treated with caution. It is difficult to establish exactly which brain
regions are affected in patients with brain damage and damage to a particular region (for example, the
hippocampus) does not necessarily mean that region is associated with a particular type of memory.

 Understanding different types of memory allows for the development of helpful real world

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applications. Belleville et al. (2006) compared the performance of older people suffering with a mild
cognitive impairment who received memory training with that of a control group who did not. It was
found that participants in the experimental group performed better on a test of episodic memory. This
suggests that being able to identify different types of LTM can provide psychologists with the
opportunity to improve peoples’ lives though devising appropriate treatments.

Extension Evaluation: Issues and Debates

 The study of LTM adopts both a nomothetic and an idiographic approach since it attempts to
generate universal laws of cognitive processes including our different types of long‐term memories
(episodic, semantic and procedural), but also uses case studies, such as in the case of Patient HM
and Clive Wearing.

 The case studies are examples of socially sensitive research, which is why HM’s identity was hidden
from all but the researchers until his death in 2008. It could be argued that the same protection
should have been extended to Clive Wearing.

 The scientific principles are adopted to a large extent, with the investigation of different types of
long‐term memories when conducted in a laboratory, but case studies often lack control due to
their nature.

Exam Hint: Remember if asked in the exam to compare different types of memory to use conjunctives
such as ‘however’, ‘alternatively’, ‘in contrast’ or ‘on the other hand’ to illustrate a clear comparison
between your two definitions.

Possible Exam Questions

1. Identify which of the following is not a type of long‐term memory. (1 mark)
A) Episodic
B) Sensory
C) Semantic
D) Procedural

2. Identify and explain one difference between episodic and procedural memory. (3 marks)

3. Define what is meant by the terms semantic and episodic memory. Outline one difference between
these types of long‐term memory. (3 marks)
Exam Hint: When providing examples of episodic memory, students need to make sure their examples
are specific yet personal. Global or national events like 9/11 or the Queen’s Jubilee, while good
examples, need to be personalised, for example ‘my memory of…’.

4. Distinguish between procedural and semantic memory. (3 marks)

Exam Hint: Students need to ensure that they do not confuse semantic memory with semantic
processing. Students often struggle to achieve three marks on questions like this. An easy way to pick up
the third mark is to distinguish between these types of memory by referring to declarative and non‐
declarative memory.

5. Many studies of brain damaged patients follow a case study methodology. Outline one strength and
one limitation of the case study method. (4 marks)

6. Sarah suffered brain damage following a car accident a few years ago. Sarah was, and still is, a very
talented artist specialising in intricate watercolour paintings. Though she can still create the same

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masterpiece over and over again within minutes, she does not recall ever learning this artistic skill.

Using your knowledge and understanding of different types of long‐term memory, explain how the car
accident has affected Sarah’s memory. (4 marks)

7. Briefly outline what is meant by episodic, semantic and procedural memory. (6 marks)

8. Outline and evaluate different types of long‐term memory. (12/16 marks)

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THE WORKING MEMORY MODEL

Specification: The working memory model: central executive, phonological loop, visuo‐
spatial sketchpad and episodic buffer. Features of the model: coding and capacity.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Outline and evaluate Baddeley and Hitch’s (1974) Working Memory Model.
Outline the key features of the model, including the central executive, phonological loop, visuo‐spatial
sketchpad and episodic buffer, in relation to:
 Coding
 Capacity
Outline and evaluate research investigating the working memory model.

Introduction to the Working Memory Model

The Working Memory Model (WMM) was proposed by Baddeley & Hitch (1974) as a way of explaining
some of the research findings that could not be accounted for by the multi‐store model (MSM), for
example dual‐task studies.

The WMM focuses on short‐term memory (STM) and Baddeley and Hitch put forward a multi‐component
system, which consists of a central executive, phonological loop and visuo‐spatial sketchpad.

The central executive is the ‘boss’ of the WMM. It controls attention and directs information to the two
slave systems, the phonological loop and visuo‐spatial sketchpad. The central executive can process
information from any sensory modality.

The phonological loop is a temporary storage system for verbal information (held in a speech‐based form)
which has two components, the articulatory control process (the ‘inner voice’) and the phonological store
(the ‘inner ear’). The articulatory control process allows for subvocal repetition of acoustic information
and the phonological store is a temporary storage space for coding acoustic information, which has a
limited capacity.

The visuo‐spatial sketchpad is a temporary storage system for visual and spatial information which also has
two components, the inner scribe and the visual cache. The inner scribe deals with the manipulation of
mental images and the visual cache has a limited capacity for coding visual and spatial information.

The episodic buffer binds and integrates information from all of the components and passes the

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information to long‐term memory (LTM). It therefore codes both visual and acoustic information, but also
has a limited capacity.

CENTRAL EXECUTIVE PHONOLOGICAL LOOP VISUO‐SPATIAL SKETCHPAD

FUNCTION

Control centre (boss) of the Temporary storage system for

Temporary storage system for
WMM; supervisory function verbal information, held in
visual and spatial information
and controls the slave systems speech‐based form
CAPACITY

Limited capacity Limited capacity Limited capacity

CODING

Any sensory modality Acoustic information Visual and spatial information

Evaluating the Working Memory Model

 Support for the WMM comes from the case study of Patient KF, who was injured in a motorcycle
accident. Following his accident, KF was able to recall stored information from his LTM; however, he
had issues with his STM. He was able to remember visual images, including faces, but was unable to
remember sounds (acoustic information). This suggests that there are at least two components within
STM, one component for visual information and one for acoustic information. The research into KF
supports the WMM and the idea of two slave systems, the phonological loop and the visuo‐spatial
sketchpad, therefore providing support to the WMM and the idea of a multi‐component STM system.

 Further support for the WMM comes from dual‐task studies by Baddeley and Hitch (1976). Dual‐task
studies require participants to complete two tasks at the same time. In one condition, participants may
be required to complete two acoustic‐based tasks, such as simultaneously remembering a series of
digits and completing a verbal reasoning task. In another condition, participants may be required to
complete one acoustic based task and one visual based task, for example, remember a series of digits
and copying a drawing. When both tasks require the participants to use their phonological loop, their
ability to perform the tasks is impaired. However, when one task requires the participant to
simultaneously use their phonological loop (remembering a series of numbers) and the other requires
their visuo‐spatial sketchpad (copying a drawing) then their performance is not impaired. Dual‐task
studies provide evidence for the existence of multiple components within our STM and support the
idea of a separate phonological loop and visuo‐spatial sketchpad.

 However, one issue with the WMM is that it only focuses on STM, and the link between the WMM and
LTM is not fully explained. The WMM provides a detailed description of our STM, but no information on
how information is processed and transferred from STM to LTM and back again. Therefore, the WMM
is an incomplete model of memory and other theories/models are required to gain a complete picture
of this complex cognitive phenomenon.

Extension Evaluation: Issues and Debates

 Research examining the WMM often demonstrates experimental reductionism, as it attempts to
examine complex behaviour by relying on isolated variables operationalised in laboratory experiments.

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 Furthermore, the WMM adopts a nomothetic approach since it attempts to generate universal laws
regarding how STM processes information, based on dual‐task studies conducted under laboratory
conditions. Using an idiographic approach, such as was used by Oliver Sacks with Clive Wearing (Sacks,
2007) and Brenda Milner with HM (Milner, 1957), can shed light on how STM loss can vary between
people, with HM’s STM severely affected, but still not as badly as Wearing’s, despite the almost total
removal of his hippocampus and surrounding tissue.

Possible Exam Questions

1. Select one study of the working memory model and outline what the participants were required to do.
(2 marks)
Exam Hint: Students should mention what participants are required to do in both conditions of an
experiment (e.g. dual‐task studies by Baddeley and Hitch) in order to achieve both marks available.

2. Dual‐task studies often find that when participants are required to carry out two visual tasks at the
same time they perform less well than participants who carry out one visual task and one verbal task.
Use your knowledge of the working memory model to explain this finding. (3 marks)
Exam Hint: Students can often spend too much time and write too much for a three‐mark question.
Student should aim to write 50–75 words for a question such as this. Furthermore, students are required
to explain why participants who complete two visual tasks perform less well and not provide a detailed
description of dual‐task studies. They key to answering this question is to refer to information competing
for limited resources in the visuo‐spatial sketchpad.

3. Briefly outline the working memory model. (4 marks)

Exam Hint: Students are often inclined to describe the WMM in far too much detail. Students should aim
to write approximately 75–100 words maximum on a four‐mark question. Furthermore, answers that
only name the components and do not describe the processes of the model will fail to access the higher
mark band. While it is possible for students to present their answer in the form of a diagram, which is
accurately labelled, students should ensure that they outline the processes involved in the model as well.

4. Abdul is an experienced taxi driver and can drive safely and with little difficulty whilst holding engaging
conversations with his passengers. Shafia is a new driver and has only had five lessons; she finds driving
difficult. While concentrating on the pedals and steering, Shafia often misses the instructions her
driving instructor provides. With reference to the working memory model, explain the difference
displayed between Abdul and Shafia. (4 marks)

5. Joseph can listen to music while writing this course companion chapter. However, he finds it difficult to
write this chapter while talking to his boss Jim on the phone. Use your knowledge of the working
memory model to explain why Joseph is able to perform the first two tasks easily but struggles to
perform the second two tasks. (4 marks)

6. Outline one strength and one limitation of the working memory model. (4 marks)
Exam Hint: Students are not credited for stating that the WMM does not explain LTM or that it is based
on case studies (it is not – a lot of the research is laboratory based). However, students can gain credit
for stating that the link between the working memory model and LTM is not fully explained.

7. The working memory model consists of the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuo‐
spatial sketchpad. Briefly outline each of these components. (6 marks)
o Central Executive
o Phonological Loop
o Visuo‐Spatial Sketchpad

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Exam Hint: Some students simply name the subcomponents of the phonological loop and visuo‐spatial
sketchpad and this is not enough to achieve top marks. Furthermore, students often struggle with
outlining the function of the central executive, even for two marks. The central executive is the boss of
the WMM and has a supervisory function and controls the two slave systems, has a limited capacity and
can process information from any sensory modality.

8. Outline and evaluate the working model of memory. (12/16 marks)

Exam Hint: Students are required to outline the processes involved in the WMM rather than limiting their
descriptions to the components of the model. For example, it is not enough to say that the phonological
loop consists of two subsystems. Instead, students should say that the phonological loop is a temporary
storage system for verbal information (held in a speech‐based form) which has two components, the
articulatory control process (the ‘inner voice’) and the phonological store (the ‘inner ear’). The
articulatory control process allows for subvocal repetition of acoustic information and the phonological
store is a temporary storage space for coding acoustic information, which has a limited capacity.
Furthermore, for the evaluation element of this question, students have a tendency to outline research
support (e.g. dual‐task studies) but fail to explain how/why these provide support for the WMM.

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EXPLANATIONS FOR FORGETTING

Specification: Explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive interference and
retrieval failure due to absence of cues.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Outline and evaluate different explanations for forgetting, including:
 Proactive interference
 Retroactive interference
 Retrieval failure due to absence of cues
Outline and evaluate research examining different explanations for forgetting.

Introduction to Forgetting
Long‐term memories are not always remembered, and forgetting can occur for different reasons.
Psychologists have suggested different explanations for forgetting: proactive interference, retroactive
interference and retrieval failure due to the absence of cues.

Interference theories suggest that forgetting is caused by competing memories, either because existing
memories interfere with the learning of new information (proactive interference) or because new
information interferes with previously learnt information (retroactive interference). Furthermore,
forgetting can also occur because information cannot be retrieved, due to insufficient cues to trigger
memory.

Proactive Interference
Proactive interference occurs when old information stored in long‐term memory (LTM), interferes with the
learning of new information. This usually occurs when the new information is similar to the old
information. An everyday example of proactive interference is when you get a new mobile phone number:
your memory for your old number will disrupt your attempts to remember your new number.

Key Study: Keppel & Underwood (1962)

Aim: To investigate the effect of proactive interference on LTM.

Method: In an experiment that is very similar to that conducted by Peterson & Peterson (1959),
participants were presented with meaningless three‐letter consonant trigrams (for example, THG) at
different intervals (3, 6, 9 seconds, etc.) To prevent rehearsal the participants had to count backwards in
threes before recalling.

Results: Participants typically remembered the trigrams that were presented first, irrespective of the
interval length.

Conclusion: The results suggest proactive interference occurred, as memory for the earlier consonants
(which had transferred to LTM) interfered with the memory for new consonants, due to the similarity of
the information presented.

Retroactive Interference
Retroactive interference occurs when the learning of new information interferes with the recall of old
information from LTM. For example, once you have learned your new mobile number, it is often very
difficult to recall your old number.

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Key Study: Baddeley & Hitch (1977)
Aim: To investigate retroactive interference in everyday memory.

Method: The sample comprised rugby union players who had played every match in the season and
players who had missed some games due to injury. The length of time from the start to the end of the
season was the same for all players, and players were asked to recall the names of the teams they had
played against earlier in the season.

Results: The players who had played the most games forgot proportionately more games than those who
had played fewer games due to injury.

Conclusion: Baddeley and Hitch concluded that this was the result of retroactive inference, as the learning
of new information (new team names) interfered with the memory of old information (earlier team
names).

Evaluating Interference Theories

 The results of Baddeley and Hitch are support by other researchers, for example McGeoch and
McDonald (1931). In their experiment, participants were given a list of ten adjectives to learn (list A).
Once these adjectives were learnt, participants were then given one of six other lists (list B) to learn,
which varied in terms of its similarity to the original. McGeoch and McDonald found recall was worse
when lists A and B were closest in similarity. This supports the idea of retroactive interference because
the more similar the new material is to the previously learnt material, the greater the interference.

 Although interference research (proactive and retroactive) provides an insight into one type of
forgetting, it only explains a specific type of forgetting – memory for similar information. For example,
the results of Baddeley and Hitch demonstrate retroactive interference in rugby union players trying to
recall team names from earlier in the season and Keppel and Underwood demonstrate proactive
interference when trying to learn three‐letter consonant trigrams. Both of these examples highlight
interference effects of very similar information and therefore this research is limited in its real world
application and are unable to explain forgetting in other situations.

 Furthermore, interference research is often criticised for being artificial and lacking ecological validity.
Most of the research examining interference is carried out in a laboratory, for example Keppel and
Underwood (1962) and McGeoch and McDonald (1931), while using particularly meaningless stimuli,
such as three‐letter consonant trigrams or simple word lists. As a result these findings do not represent
everyday examples of interference and are limited in their application to everyday human memory.

Retrieval Failure Due to Absence of Cues

Another type of forgetting occurs when information cannot be retrieved because of insufficient cues to
trigger memory. Tulving and Thomson (1973) proposed the encoding specificity principle and argued that
memory is most effective when information that was present at the time of coding is also present at the
time of retrieval. Furthermore, they suggested that environmental cues and mental cues aid recall.
Environmental cues include the room in which you learn information, and mental cues include your
emotional state.

Consequently there are two types of retrieval failure due to the absence of cues: 1) context‐dependent
failure and 2) state‐dependent failure. Context‐dependent failure occurs when environmental cues are
missing and state‐dependent failure occurs when an individual’s emotional state is different when trying to
recall information.

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Context‐Dependent Forgetting
Key Study: Godden & Baddeley (1975)
Aim: To investigate the effect of contextual cues on recall (i.e. would memory for words learned and
recalled in the same environment be better than memory for words learned and recalled in different
environments?)

Method: Their sample comprised 18 participants (13 males and 5 females) from a university diving club,
who were divided into four conditions: 1) learning words on land and recalling on land; 2) learning words
on land and recalling underwater; 3) learning underwater and recalling underwater; and 4) learning
underwater and recalling on land. The experiment was a repeated measures design with each participant
taking part in all four conditions, over four separate days. In all four conditions participants were presented
with 38 words, which they heard twice. After hearing all 38 words the participants were instructed to write
all the words they could remember, in any order.

Results: The words learned underwater were better recalled underwater and words learned on land were
better recalled on land.

MEAN NUMBER OF WORDS RECALLED AS A FUNCTION OF LEARNING AND RECALL ENVIRONMENT

LAND UNDERWATER Total
Learning Environment Mean Recall Score SD Mean Recall Score SD
Land 13.5 5.8 8.6 3.0 22.1
Underwater 8.4 3.3 11.4 5.0 19.8
Total 21.9 ‐ 20.0 ‐ ‐

Conclusion: It is, therefore, reasonable to conclude that the environmental cues (context) improve recall.

Evaluating Context‐Depending Forgetting

 Although the results suggest that environment cues aid memory recall, Godden & Baddeley didn’t
control many other variables. The divers took part in the experiment at different times of the day and
at different diving locations. Therefore, each diver would have experienced other contextual cues,
which may have affected their memory. Therefore, we are unable to conclude whether the results of
Godden & Baddeley’s research is due to the on land/underwater contextual cues, or another
contextual cue provided by the different time of day or diving location.

 Godden & Baddeley used a repeated measures design, as each diver took part in all four conditions. It
is possible that the divers worked out the aim of the experiment and displayed demand characteristics
or order effects. By the fourth trial the participants may have demonstrated practice effects where
their recall improved as a result of completing the experiment multiple times, or even fatigue effects
where their results declined as a result of boredom. A more suitable experimental design would have
been independent measures. However, this would have required significantly more participants, which
would be difficult to achieve when recruiting trained divers. Furthermore, with a sample of just 18
divers the conclusions drawn should be treated with caution. Additionally, the context examined in
their study is extreme and provides little insight into context‐dependent forgetting in everyday life.

 Godden & Baddeley could also be criticised for breaking ethical guidelines, in particular protection
from harm. In their report, they said: ‘One diver was nearly run over during an underwater
experimental session by an ex‐army, amphibious DUKW’, and therefore more precautions should have
been taken to ensure the safety of their participants.

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State‐Dependent Forgetting
When the emotional state that an individual is in serves as an aid to memory recall, there is a risk that
state‐dependent forgetting will occur when the same psychological state is not experienced. This is often
the case with alcohol intoxication and the absence of accurate memories when sober.

Key Study: Carter & Cassaday (1998)

Aim: Carter & Cassaday (1998) examined state‐dependent forgetting using anti‐histamine drugs. These are
typically administered as hay fever relief to sufferers but are also known for their sedating effect. This can
make the individual feel drowsy, and therefore not as alert as they would normally be, providing a
comparison to everyday non‐drug‐induced behaviour.

Procedure: Participants were tasked with learning a list of words and excerpts from a text and then asked
to recall the information at a later point. There were four conditions in their experiment:
1) learn the words/text after taking anti‐histamine and recall after taking anti‐histamine
2) learn the words/text without anti‐histamine and recall without anti‐histamine
3) learn the words/text after talking anti‐histamine and recall without anti‐histamine drugs
4) learn the words/text without anti‐histamine and recall after taking the anti‐histamine drugs

Findings: In the conditions where the learning and recalling state matched (i.e. after taking the drugs on
both occasions or not taking the drugs both occasions) memory was improved. Consequently, when the
physiological state of the participants was different recall was significantly poorer.

Conclusion: When the physiological/emotional cues that are present at the time of encoding are missing at
the time of retrieval (recall), state‐dependent forgetting is likely to occur.

Evaluating State‐Depending Forgetting

 There is research support for the effect of state‐dependent retrieval failure, which occurs when an
individual’s emotional state at the time of learning is different to their emotional state at the time of
recall. For example, Goodwin et al. (1969), asked male volunteers to remember lists of words when
they were either drunk or sober. The participants were then asked to recall the words 24 hours later, in
either a drunk or sober state. The results of Goodwin et al. support Godden and Baddeley, as words
learned when drunk were better recalled when drunk, and words learnt when sober were better
recalled when sober. These results support the idea of state‐dependent retrieval failure and
demonstrate the power of ‘state’ on recalling information.

 There is research support for state‐dependent forgetting using a range of different substances to
create an alternative state of consciousness. Darley et al., (1973) researched the impact of marijuana
on an individual’s recollection. It was found that individuals who were under the influence of marijuana
when they put money in a ‘safe place’ were less able to recall where this location was once they were
no longer under the influence of the drug. This evidence adds weight to the argument that the
emotional and physiological state that a person is in at the time of encoding is important at the time of
retrieval.

 There are issues with determining a cause and effect relationship with retrieval failure as an
explanation of forgetting. Nairne (2002) criticised research in this area suggesting that there is merely a
correlation between cues present at the time of encoding and cues present at the time of later
retrieval. He goes further and suggests that the cues present do not in themselves cause the retrieval
failure (or success), but are simply associated with it. This would mean that the cue‐dependent (context
and state) explanations of forgetting due to retrieval failure, and in fact circular in nature rather than

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linear and psychologists are unable to conclude whether a lack of cues actually causes retrieval failure.

Extension Evaluation: Issues and Debates

 The theories of forgetting use a nomothetic approach to establish general laws regarding forgetting,
but often by generalising from small studies with homogeneous samples. An idiographic approach
investigating forgetting using participants of difference ages and cultures may give more insight into
this complex phenomenon.

 Baddeley & Hitch’s (1977) research showed gender bias. They investigated retroactive interference
using an all‐male sample of rugby players and then applied their findings outside of this target
population to include females. This is an example of a beta‐bias, which occurs when researchers
minimise possible differences between females and males and assume that research carried out on one
gender may be universally applied to the other.

Possible Exam Questions

1. Explain what is meant by the term interference. (2 marks)
Exam Hint: Students need to be careful with their use of terminology for this question. Phrases like ‘old
memories get mixed up with new’ are not explicit enough and students should be encouraged to write
clear and concise definitions. For example, interference is where new memories disrupt and replace old
memories that have been made (retroactive).

2. Select one study in which interference was investigated. Briefly explain what the participants had to do.
(2 marks)
Exam Hint: Many students fail to achieve the full two marks because they do not provide clear details in
relation to the two separate conditions of the experiment. When explaining what participants had to do,
students need to make it clear what distinguishes the two conditions investigating interference.

3. Select one study in which retrieval failure was investigated. Briefly explain what the participants had to
do. (2 marks)

4. Briefly outline one strength of interference theory as an explanation for forgetting. (3 marks)

5. Briefly outline one limitation of interference theory as an explanation for forgetting. (3 marks)
Exam Hint: A common response for limitations of interference theory is to focus on ecological validity.
However, students often struggle to develop this point beyond a single statement like ‘studies lack
ecological validity’. Students need to explicitly state how/why such studies do not apply to everyday
examples of human memory for full credit to be awarded.

6. Explain what is meant by the terms proactive and retroactive interference. (4 marks)

7. Outline one study that demonstrates interference. (6 marks)

8. Outline one study that demonstrates how the absence of cues may lead to retrieval failure. (6 marks)

9. Marcus is studying for his upcoming A Level language examinations. He revises Spanish followed by
Italian one evening and then gets mixed up. For example, he recalled the Spanish words for ‘dog’
instead of the Italian word for ‘dog’. Marcus’s father helps him with learning his key vocabulary and
when Marcus is unable to remember a word, his father gives him the first letter which helps him to
recall the word correctly. Discuss two explanations for forgetting and refer to Marcus in your answer.
(12/16 marks)

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10. Outline and evaluate one or more explanations for forgetting. (12/16 marks)

11. Outline and evaluate how retrieval failure due to the absence of cues leads to forgetting. (12/16 marks)

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EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY
Specification: Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: misleading
information, including leading questions and post‐event discussion; anxiety.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Explain what is meant by the term eyewitness testimony.
Outline and evaluate research examining the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including:
 Misleading information
o Leading questions
o Post‐event discussion
 Anxiety

Introduction to Eyewitness Testimony

An eyewitness testimony is the evidence given in court or a police investigation by someone who has
witnessed a crime or accident. For many years psychologists have investigated the factors that can affect
the accuracy of eyewitness reports, in order to ensure that the evidence provided during investigations is
reliable and accurate. Psychologists have identified several factors that can have a detrimental effect on
the accuracy of eyewitness reports, including misleading information, through leading questions or post‐
event discussion, and anxiety.

Misleading Information – Leading Questions

Loftus & Palmer (1974) – Experiment 1
Aim: To investigate the effect of leading questions on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Method: The sample was 45 American students, who were divided into five groups of nine. In an
independent measures design, all of the participants watched a video of a car crash and were then asked a
specific question about the speed of the cars. Loftus & Palmer manipulated the verb used in the question,
for example: “How fast were they cards going when they smashed/ collided/ bumped/ hit/ contacted with
each other?”

They found that the estimated speed was

affected by the verb used. For example,
participants who were given the verb
‘smashed’ reported an average speed of
40.5 mph, whereas participants who
were given the word ‘contacted’
reported an average speed of 31.8 mph,
an overall difference of 8.7 mph.

Conclusion: The results show clearly that

the accuracy of eyewitness testimony is
affected by leading questions and that a
single word in a question can significantly
affect the accuracy of our judgements.

Loftus & Palmer (1974) – Experiment 2

Aim: To investigate further how leading questions can affect eyewitness testimony.

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Method: Loftus & Palmer used a different sample of 150 American students, who were divided into three
evenly‐sized groups. All of the students watched a one‐minute video depicting a car accident and were
then given a questionnaire to complete. One group was asked: “How fast were the cars going when they
smashed into each other?” Another group was asked: “How fast were the cars going when they hit each
other?” The final group (control) was not asked about the speed of the vehicles. One week later the
participants returned and were asked a series of questions about the accident. The critical question was:
“Did you see any broken glass?” There was no broken glass in the video clip.

Results: 32% of the participants who were previously

questioned using the verb smashed reported seeing
broken glass; 14% of the participants who were
previously questioned using the verb hit reported
seeing broken glass; and 12% of the control group
reported seeing broken glass.

Conclusion: The participants who were questioned

previously using the verb smashed were significantly
more likely to report seeing the broken glass, as a result of the earlier leading question. The verb smashed
has connotation of faster speeds and broken glass and this question led the participants to report seeing
something that was not actually present. Their memory for the original event was distorted by the
question used one week earlier, demonstrating the power of leading questions.

Evaluating Loftus & Palmer

 Loftus & Palmer’s research has questionable ecological validity. On the one hand, questioning
participants about everyday events like a car crash appears to be a genuine measure of eyewitness
testimony. However, the participants watched a video of a car crash and witnessed the events unfold
from start to finish. In everyday reports of car accidents, witnesses rarely see the whole event; they are
either involved in the event directly, or see a small part of the event happen in their peripheral vision.
Therefore, their results do not reflect everyday car accidents and we are unable to conclude if
eyewitnesses to real accidents, who would have a stronger emotional connection to the event, would
be susceptible to leading questions in the same way.

 A second weakness of Loftus & Palmer’s research is that their study lacks population validity. Their two
experiments consisted of 45 and 150 students from the University of Washington. It is reasonable to
argue that the students in their experiment were less experienced drivers, who may be less accurate at
estimating speeds. Consequently, we are unable to generalise the results to other populations, for
example, older and more experienced drivers, who may be more accurate in their judgement of speeds
and therefore not as susceptible to leading questions.

 However, Loftus & Palmer’s research took place in a university laboratory and was therefore highly
controlled. This high degree of control reduces the chance of extraneous variables, increasing the
validity of the results. Furthermore, it is easy for psychologists to replicate their research, to see if the
same results are achieved with a different population.

Misleading Information – Post‐Event Discussion

One source of misleading information comes from leading questions, as detailed above. However,
misleading information in the real world can come from other sources, for example other witnesses (co‐
witnesses), when they discuss the details of a crime or accident, following an incident. This is known as
post‐event discussion.

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Gabbert et al. (2003)

Aim: To investigate the effect of post‐event discussion on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Method: The sample comprised 60 students from the University of Aberdeen and 60 older adults recruited
from a local community.

Participants watched a video of a girl stealing money from a wallet. The participants were either tested
individually (control group) or in pairs (co‐witness group). The participants in the co‐witness group were
told that they had watched the same video; however, they had in fact seen different perspectives of the
same crime and only one person had actually witnessed the girl stealing. Participants in the co‐witness
group discussed the crime together. All of the participants then completed a questionnaire, testing their
memory of the event.

Results: 71% of the witnesses in the co‐witness group recalled information they had not actually seen and
60% said that the girl was guilty, despite the fact that they had not seen her commit a crime.

Conclusion: These results highlight the issue of post‐event discussion and the powerful effect this can have
on the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Evaluating Gabbert et al. (2003)

 The results of Gabbert et al. also have questionable ecological validity. The participants in the co‐
witness condition witnessed different perspectives of the same crime, as would typically be the case in
real‐life crimes. However, as in Loftus and Palmer’s research, these witnesses knew they were taking
part in an experiment and were more likely to have paid close attention to the details of the video clip.
Therefore, these results do not reflect everyday examples of crime, where witnesses may be exposed
to less information.

 Gabbert et al. tested two different populations, university students and older adults, and found little
difference between these two conditions. Therefore, her results provide good population validity and
allow us to conclude that post‐event discussion affects younger and older adults in a similar way.

 Although Gabbert et al.’s results provide an insight into the effect of post‐event discussion on the
accuracy of eyewitness testimony, we are unable to conclude why the distortion occurs. The distortion
could be the result of poor memory, where people assimilate new information into their own accounts
of the event and are unable to distinguish between what they have seen and what they have heard. On
the other hand, it could be that the distortion occurs due to conformity and the social pressure from
the co‐witness. Further research is required to answer this question.

Anxiety
Loftus (1979) [not to be confused with Loftus & Palmer (1974)] reported the findings of Johnson & Scott
(1976) who conducted an experiment to see if anxiety affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony and
facial recognition.

Loftus (1979) / Johnson & Scott (1976)

Aim: To investigate whether anxiety affects the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Method: Participants were invited to a laboratory where they were told to wait in the reception area. A
receptionist who was seated nearby excused herself to run an errand, leaving the participant alone. The
experiment used an independent groups design, as participants were then exposed to one of two

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conditions: 1) In the ‘no‐weapon’ condition, participants overheard a conversation in the laboratory about
equipment failure. Thereafter, an individual (the target) left the laboratory and walked past the participant
holding a pen, with his hands covered in grease. 2) In the ‘weapon’ condition, participants overheard a
heated exchange and the sound of breaking glass and crashing chairs. This was followed by an individual
(the target) running into the reception area, holding a bloodied letter‐opening knife.

Both groups were then shown 50 photographs and ask to identify the person who had left the laboratory.
The participants were informed that the suspect may, or may not, be present in the photographs.

Results: Those who had witnessed the man holding a pen correctly identified the target 49% of the time,
compared to those who had witnessed the man holding a knife, who correctly identified the target 33% of
the time.

Conclusion: Loftus claimed that the participants who were exposed to the knife had higher levels of
anxiety and were more likely to focus their attention on the weapon and not the face of the target, a
phenomenon known as the weapon focus effect. Therefore, the anxiety associated with seeing a knife
reduces the accuracy of eyewitness testimony.

Evaluation of Anxiety as a Factor Affecting EWT

 A real‐life case study by Yuille & Cutshall (1986) contradicts the results of Loftus (1979) and the
weapon focus effect. Yuille & Cutshall investigated the effect of anxiety in a real‐life shooting, in which
one person was killed and another person seriously wounded. 21 witnesses were originally interviewed
by investigating police and 13 witnesses, aged between 15 and 32, agreed to take part in Yuille and
Cutshall’s follow‐up research interview, 4–5 months later. Yuille and Cutshall found that the 13
witnesses who took part in the follow‐up interview were accurate in their eyewitness accounts five
months later, and little change was found in their testimonies. All of the major details of their reports
remained the same and only minor details, including estimates of age, height and weight, changed.
Furthermore, the witnesses avoided responding in a biased way to leading questions and the anxiety
experienced at the time of the event had little or no effect on their subsequent memory for the event.
These results refute the weapon focus effect and the results of Loftus (1979), and show that in real‐life
cases of extreme anxiety, the accuracy of eyewitness testimony is not affected.

 Loftus’ (Johnson & Scott’s) research has been criticised for lacking ecological validity. Although the
participants were waiting in the reception area outside the laboratory, they may have anticipated that
something was going to happen, which could have affected the accuracy of their judgements.
Furthermore, the results from real‐life case studies (see above) refute the findings of Loftus and
suggest that her results do not represent real‐life cases of extreme anxiety.

 A final criticism of Loftus (Johnson & Scott) is that numerous ethical guidelines were broken. The
participants were deceived about the nature of the experiment and not protected from harm. Loftus
(Johnson & Scott) exposed some of the participants to a man holding a bloodied knife, which could
have caused extreme feelings of anxiety. This is an issue, as these participants may have left the
experiment feeling exceptionally stressed and anxious, especially if they, or someone they knew, had
been involved in a knife crime.

Extension Evaluation: Issues and Debates

 Loftus & Palmer’s (1974) research is, like much research into memory, an example of experimental
reductionism: the complex process of memory after a film of what would in real‐life be a traumatic
event is reduced to the effect of the wording of a leading question (IV) on the eyewitness memory (DV).
The research also suffers from cultural bias, as samples of participants were from either Britain or the

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America.

 Loftus & Palmer, Yuille & Cutshall and Johnson & Scott all use a nomothetic approach to try to
establish universal laws regarding eyewitness testimony, but their claims are based on small, non‐
representative samples.

Possible Exam Questions

1. Outline what is meant by the term leading questions. Provide an example to support your answer. (3
marks)

2. Explain how leading questions might affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (3 marks)

3. Explain how post‐event discussion could lead to an inaccurate eyewitness report. (3 marks)

4. Explain how anxiety might affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (3 marks)

5. Some psychologists argue that it is better to conduct research into eyewitness testimony in the real
world, rather than a laboratory. Explain this view. (3 marks)
Exam Hint: While many students can refer to the notion of ecological validity, they fail to elaborate their
answer enough to achieve all three marks. Sound answers to this question will draw on research to
support their knowledge.

6. Outline what research has found in relation to the effect of misleading information on eyewitness
testimony. (4 marks)
Exam Hint: Students need to ensure that they focus their answer on the question. Many students provide
a full outline of research (e.g. Loftus & Palmer) and don’t shape their answer to the results and
conclusion/s of the research. This question explicitly states: ‘what research has found’ and therefore
answers should not include the aim and procedure.

7. Outline one study that has investigated the effect of anxiety on eyewitness testimony. (4 marks)
Exam Hint: Students who fail to score full marks on these questions often omit the IV/DV in their
answers. As a general rule, when students outline a study within a short‐answer question they should
provide clear and concise details in relation to the key aspects of the methodology.

8. Outline how one study has investigated the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (4 marks)
Exam Hint: Students often fail to pick up on the word ‘how’ in questions such as this and therefore
provide a detailed summary of research which does not answer the question. Students need to ensure
that they provide details of the methodology specifically.

9. A young man is being questioned by police about an incident he witnessed in his local area. An
argument took place outside the pub, followed by a violent attack. The police later discovered a knife
at the scene.

Police man: “Did you see the knife the perpetrator was holding?”.

Young man: “I don’t remember; there was probably a knife, yes. I was so shocked and scared it’s hard
to remember exactly what happened. It’s all my friends have been talking about for the past couple of
days so I’m not sure exactly what I remember seeing”.

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Page 28 AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY
Discuss factors that affect the reliability of eyewitness testimony. Refer to the scenario in your answer.
(12/16 marks)

10. Outline and evaluate research into the effect of misleading information on eyewitness testimony.
(12/16 marks)

11. Outline and evaluate research into the effect of anxiety on eyewitness testimony. (12/16 marks)

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 AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY Page 29

THE COGNITIVE INTERVIEW

Specification: Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including the use of the
cognitive interview.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

 Describe the cognitive interview process and outline how the cognitive interview differs from
traditional police interviews.
 Outline and evaluate research examining the effectiveness of the cognitive interview, in comparison
to traditional police interviews.

Introduction to the Cognitive Interview

The cognitive interview was developed in 1985, in response to criticisms of the traditional police interview.
Fisher et al. (1987) studied police interviews in Florida and found that witnesses were often presented
with a series of short, closed questions, which attempted to elicit facts. Furthermore, the police would
often ask questions in a sequence that was not synchronised with the events that had taken place.

As a result, Geiselman et al. (1985) developed the cognitive interview, identifying four key principles that
they believed would enhance recall, including:
 Context reinstatement (CR)
 Report everything (RE)
 Recall from changed perspective (CP)
 Recall in reverse order (RO).

CR is when a person mentally recalls the context of the event. For example, a person might recall the time
of day, the weather, who they were with, or even their feelings. These details can then act as a trigger, to
help the person recall more information. There are clear links here between this and context‐dependent
and state‐dependent remembering.

RE is when a person recalls every detail they can remember, even those that may seem trivial.

CP is when a person considers the event from someone else’s point of view. For example, they might
consider what the offender saw.

Finally, RO is where a person recalls the events in reverse chronological order.

Key Study: Geiselman (1985)

Aim: To examine the effectiveness of the cognitive interview.

Method: A sample of 89 students watched a video of a simulated crime. Two days later the students were
interviewed using the standard police interview or the cognitive interview.

Results: The students who were interviewed using the cognitive interview recalled significantly more
correct information than those interviewed using the standard interview. In addition, the number of errors
(incorrect items recalled) by both groups was similar.
COGNITIVE INTERVIEW STANDARD INTERVIEW
Average number of correct items
41.5 29.3
recalled
Average number of incorrect items
7.3 6.1
recalled

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Page 30 AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY
Conclusion: The cognitive interview is effective in improving the quantity of information recalled and does
not lead to an increase in incorrect information.

Evaluating the Cognitive Interview

 The results of Geiselman have been support by other research, including Fisher et al. (1989). These
researchers examined the effectiveness of the cognitive interview in real police interviews. 16
experienced detectives recorded a selection of their interviews, using a standard interviewing
technique. The detectives were then divided into two groups. One group was trained to use the
cognitive interview, while the other (control) group continued using the standard interview. After
training, their subsequent interviews were recorded and analysed. The trained detectives elicited 46%
more information after their cognitive interview training, in comparison to the control group. Where it
was possible to confirm the information, over 90% of it was found to be accurate. These results support
the findings of Geiselman, using real police interviews, and provide support for the effectiveness of the
cognitive interview.

 Although the cognitive interview increases the quantity of information recalled, research has found
that the cognitive interview is still susceptible to misleading information. Centofanti & Reece (2006)
showed participants a video of a bank robbery and then provided participants with a misleading or
neutral post‐event summary. On average the participants who were questioned using a cognitive
interview, recalled 35% more information. However, the participants in both conditions were equally
susceptible to misleading information. Therefore, although the cognitive interview enhances the
quantity of information recalled, interviewers need to be careful that participants are not exposed to
misleading information in the form of leading questions or post‐event discussion.

 Although research supports the effectiveness of the cognitive interview, Kebbell & Wagstaff (1996)
have found that police typically use interviewing techniques that limit the quantity of information
provided, rather than those that improve accuracy. Furthermore, the cognitive interview requires
special training and many police forces have not provided more than rudimentary training, which
explains why the cognitive interview is not readily used.

Extension Evaluation: Issues and Debates

 In common with much of the research into memory, research into police interview procedures, and the
subsequent development and testing of the cognitive interview technique, suffers from experimental
reductionism: there could be many explanations for difficulties that victims and eyewitnesses
experience in recalling an event, apart from the technique that is actually used to interview them. For
example, the research does not address a possible culture bias, in that the researchers and the
participants are from a Western culture but the results are taken to apply to all cultures.

Possible Exam Questions

1. Identify and explain two techniques used in the cognitive interview. (4 marks)

2. Outline how the cognitive interview differs from a standard interview. (4 marks)

3. Outline how the cognitive interview can be used to improve the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. (4
marks)

4. Molly was waiting for her bus home one night when she witnessed a violent attack involving a stabbing.
A man came out of the pub across the road, followed by another man who pulled a knife out of his
pocket and stabbed the first man in the back before running across the road towards Molly. When he
noticed that she had seen him, he turned left and ran off down an alleyway. The police officer who

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 AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY Page 31
questioned Molly about the incident used the cognitive interview techniques. Explain how the officer
could use the cognitive interview to improve the accuracy of Molly’s account. (6 marks)
Exam Hint: This question requires students to go beyond the scenario outlined in the stem and use their
knowledge of the cognitive interview to explain how the police could use these techniques. Responses
which explain how the police could use the different techniques, such as context reinstatement by
forming an example question that the police could use, will be more likely to gain access to the higher
mark boundaries.

5. Criminal psychologists argue that eyewitnesses have access to more information than they recall in
traditional police interviews. Outline and evaluate at least one way of improving the accuracy of
eyewitness recall. Refer to evidence in your answer. (12/16 marks)

6. Discuss the use of the cognitive interview as a means of improving the accuracy of eyewitness
testimony. (12/16 marks)

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Page 32 AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY

NOTES

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 AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY Page 33

NOTES

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Page 34 AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY

NOTES

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 AQA A LEVEL Psychology topic companion: MEMORY Page 35

Checklist
Specification Content
The multi-store The multi-store model of memory: sensory register,
short-term memory and long-term memory. Features
model of each store: coding, capacity and duration.

Types of long-term Types of long-term memory: episodic, semantic, pro-

cedural.
memory

The working The working memory model: central executive, pho-

nological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and episodic
memory model buffer. Features of the model: coding and capacity.

Explanations for Explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive

interference and retrieval failure due to absence of
forgetting cues.

Eyewitness Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testi-

mony: misleading information, including leading ques-
testimony tions and post-event discussion; anxiety.

The cognitive Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony,

including the use of the cognitive interview.
interview

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