Over the years, several models have been proposed to explain the nature of memory processes (e.g., Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968; Craik & Lockhart, 1972; Estes & Maddox, 1995; Raajimakers & Shiffrin, 1981). One of those models, level of processing, proposed that the duration that information can be held in the memory depends on the depth at which it is processed, not the stage of memory in which it is held. A study by Smith, Theodore, and Franklin (1983) examined this hypothesis by investigating how depth of processing affect the amount of processing obtained in the processing of a target item in a lexical detection task (LDT) by college students. The study asked 100 college students to make lexical decisions about target after making decision about prime. The result of the unexpected post-session recall test indicated that superior recall for words was dependent on the way in which the prime was processed, with semantic decision (deep processing) resulting in greater facilitation over words whose processing focused on visual or phonemic features (shallow processing).
Other studies (e.g., Gordon & Debus, 2002; Irwin & Lupker, 1983; Kearian, 1986) have also found that the deeper the coding of information, the more durable the memory. For example, Gordon and Debus have demonstrated that contextual modification in teaching, task requirements, and assessment processes can increase college students’ use of deep processing approaches to learning. They argued that deep processing approach help students’ problem solving abilities, while the use of shallow processing approaches results in study behaviours that led to low quality learning outcomes. This was in support of earlier findings by Craik & Lockhart (1972) which posits that deep proc...
... middle of paper ...
... Bulletin, 104, 53-69.
Irwin, D., & Lupker, S. (1983). Semantic priming of pictures and words: A level of processing approach. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behaviour, 245-260.
Kearians, J. (1986). Visual spatial memory in aboriginal and white Australian children. Australian Journal of Psychology, 38, 203-214.
Raajimakers, J., & Shiffrin, R. (1981). Search of associative memory. Psychological Review, 88, 93-134.
Smith, S., Glenberg, A., & Bjork, R. (1978). Environmental context and human memory. Memory & Cognition, 6, 342-353.
Smith, M., Theodore, L., & Franklin, P. (1983). The relationship between contextual facilitation and depth of processing. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, 9 (4), 697-712.
Schulman, A. I. (1971). Recognition memory for targets from a scanned word list. British Journal of Psychology, 62, 335-346.
Over the years, memory have been researched and debated, however there are two theories that have explained extensively and are highly recognised by psychologist in the cognitive field of psychology and scientist alike, on how we process experiences and turn them into memories. These theories include the Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) Multi-store Model of Memory and Baddeley and Hitch (1974) Phonological Loop Model of Memory. This essay aims to compare, contrast and evaluate these models of memory, with supporting evidence and empirical research.
Marsh, R. L., Cook, G. I., & Hicks, J. L. (2006). The effect of context variability on source memory. Memory & Cognition (Pre-2011), 34(8), 1578-86.
Harvey et al (2000) also used the word list learning and delayed recall, pranix drawing, modified Boston Naming test and CERAD to assess cognitive function of both their control and experimental populations. The word list learning and delayed recall is a ten item list of words that is presented to the subject during three separate trials. After each trial the subject is asked to freely recall the words from the list. After a delay, which is filled with the pranix drawing task, the participants are asked to recall the list of words once again. The dependent variable in this task is the number of words recalled over the three trials and the number of words that were recalled after the delay. The scores ranged from 0 to 20 based the...
Human memory is flexible and prone to suggestion. “Human memory, while remarkable in many ways, does not operate like a video camera” (Walker, 2013). In fact, human memory is quite the opposite of a video camera; it can be greatly influenced and even often distorted by interactions with its surroundings (Walker, 2013). Memory is separated into three different phases. The first phase is acquisition, which is when information is first entered into memory or the perception of an event (Samaha, 2011). The next phase is retention. Retention is the process of storing information during the period of time between the event and the recollection of a piece of information from that event (Samaha, 2011). The last stage is retrieval. Retrieval is recalling stored information about an event with the purpose of making an identification of a person in that event (Samaha, 2011).
Atkinson, R.C. & Shiffrin, R.M. (1968). Human memory: A proposed system and its control process.
In the field of cognitive neuroscience a memory study usually involves a combination of behavioral tasks and a machine that permits t...
Young, R. K. (1985). Ebbinghaus: Some consequences. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 11, 491-495. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.11.3.491
The Effects of Levels of Processing on Memory PB1: Identify the aim of the research and state the experimental/alternative hypothesis/es. (credited in the report mark scheme) To show how different levels of processing affects the memory. “People who process information deeply (i.e. semantic processing) tend to remember more than those who process information shallowly (i.e. visual processing). ” PB2: Explain why a directional or non-directional experimental/alternative hypothesis/es has been selected. (I mark) I have used a directional experimental hypothesis because past research, such as that by Craik and Tulving (1975) has proved this. PB3:
McNamara, T. P. and Holbrook, J. B. 2003. Semantic Memory and Priming. Handbook of Psychology. 445–474.
Furthermore this article expands upon this subcategory of memory by describing the two types of tasks involved with it: verbal-production ta...
Murdock (1962) conducted another experiment in order to analyze free recall. Six groups of participants had different combinations of list lengths...
Roediger, H. L. III, & McDermott, K. B. (1995). Creating false memories: Remembering words not presented in lists. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21, 803-814
In 2013, The Journal of Memory and Language published a research-backed cognitive psychology article titled “How many words can we read at once? More intervenor effects in masked priming” by Kenneth I. Forster. Forster, a professor of Psychology at the University of Arizona, assesses that “when a masked word intervenes between the prime (L1 (native language)) and the target (L2 (second language), three words must be processed simultaneously, and that under these conditions, form priming is eliminated altogether and identity priming is reduced, suggesting that the capacity of the lexical processor does not extend to three words”. It is argued that the differential effect of the intervenor on identity and form priming can be explained using the assumption that priming takes place at the level of form as well as the level of meaning. Forster, through this research, generalizes the information collected from all the higher degree seeking individuals as if to say that since this is true for college freshman it must be true for all grade levels. Even though I understand his questions and his motives in not only the questions he asks but also his experiments and the objectives he was trying to achieve by stating that “each time we read a word, we must recover the stored information about the phonology, syntax, and semantics of that word. Moreover, this information must be retrieved extremely rapidly and because so much processing has to be done, it seems obvious that the processing of one word must overlap to some degree with the processing of the next word” (1). Though Forster offers many valid points pertaining to the amount of words we can read at once, he fails to acknowledge those who do not fall into this category by only testing U...
Sternberg, R. J. (1999). Cognitive psychology (2nd ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers
McClelland, J. L., & Rumelhart, D. E. (1981). An interactive activation model of context effects in letter perception: I. An account of basic findings. Psychological review, 88(5), 375.