Paper 1

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Topic 2 
Memory – How does
your memory work?
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Exploring the topic

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Memory is central to being human. Imagine your life without memory: you
would not know who you are, where you came from, who your family is,
what you were doing at any time in the past and what you planned to do
after school.
So memory can be seen as an anchor to the past, allowing us to
understand what is currently happening, and to project ourselves into
the future. Understanding how memory works can help us to remember
better and can also help us support those whose memory does not work
as well as others.
In this topic you will explore the views of different psychologists about
how memory works by looking at the way in which we remember and
forget things. You will learn about the different memory stores, such as
the theory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). You will also learn
about how memory can be reconstructive as we can recall experiences
slightly differently from what actually happened.

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Topic 2: Memory - How does your memory work?

Your learning
In this topic you will learn about:
•• stages of memory and information processing
•• features of short-term and long-term memory
•• two types of amnesia: retrograde and anterograde
•• Bartlett’s (1932) Theory of Reconstructive Memory
•• Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) Multi-store Model of Memory
•• memory studies by Bartlett (1932), and Peterson and Peterson (1959)
•• issues and debates around reductionism and holism.

Getting started

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Get started on this topic by finding out a bit about your own memory. Try to think of the names of Snow White’s
seven dwarfs or the names of Santa’s reindeer. Write them down in a list in the order in which you recall them.
Write down all the names that pop into your mind even if you know that they might be wrong. Once you have
exhausted your memory, find out their real names and compare them to your list. If you have recently heard
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the names, you will probably find that your recall is quite accurate. You may find that some names on your list
are wrong but similar in sound or meaning to the correct names. For example, you may recall Drowsy instead of
Sleepy, Shy instead of Bashful, or Dixen instead of Vixen. Errors in recall occur because we cannot retrieve the
right information.
Try testing the capacity of your short-term memory by playing a memory game such as ‘Kim’s Game’. Collect a
number of items such as a pencil, mug, mobile phone, paper clip and so on. Place the items on a clear space
and set a time limit for reviewing the items, say about 30 seconds. Now turn away from the items and try to
remember them all.
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The number of items you

can recall gives you an idea
of how much information
you can retain in your
short-term memory

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 Memory and information processing

Memory and information an exam. Other memories are just stored for as long as
they are useful, such as remembering what we need to
processing buy from a shop that day.
There are three ways of encoding information to be used by
our memory system:
What you will learn •• acoustic encoding – holding sound information
•• visual encoding – holding images
•• How the human brain receives and processes
information •• semantic encoding – holding the meaning of
information.
•• How we go about encoding information in our memory
•• How we store and retrieve information in our memory Output
Just like a computer, the brain produces an output.
An output for a computer might be the product of a
Stages of memory and information
computer program, such as a printout of a document.
processing

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For humans, an output is a behaviour that is produced.
Information input Specifically for memory, the output is the stored
If you imagine the brain is like a computer, it is easier to information we retrieve (known as retrieval).
understand how the brain processes information. With
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a computer, information is input via a keyboard, camera
or other external device. For humans, information from
the environment around us is input via our five senses:
Key terms
Processing: the operations we perform on sensory
•• sight information in the brain.
•• hearing Input: for human memory, this refers to the sensory
•• touch information we receive from our environment.
•• taste Storage: the retention of information in our memory
•• smell. system.
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Encoding: turning sensory information into a form
Encoding the information
that can be used and stored by the brain.
The brain processes the information we receive from our
Output: for memory, this refers to what information
senses; it pays attention to the important information
we can recall; in a broader sense, output can refer to
and makes decisions based on it.
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the response we give in terms of our behaviour.

We unconsciously or deliberately choose to store some Retrieval: the recall of stored memories.
sensory information. This process requires the encoding
of sensory information. Encoding turns the sensory
input into an electrochemical memory trace that can be
Exam-style question
stored in the brain, similar to the coding of a computer.
Define what is meant by the following terms:
Once encoded, the memory system can store the
memory trace for a few seconds or an entire lifetime. •• encoding
Unlike a computer, we often have no conscious control •• storage.
over how long a memory is stored, but it seems clear (4 marks)
that some memories stay with us longer than others. For
example, personal experiences that are meaningful to
our lives or skills we have learned, such as riding a bike, Exam tip
stay with us for a long time. When asked to ‘define’ a concept, you should give a clear
Sometimes we have to put a lot of effort into and concise answer. It is worth developing a glossary of
remembering information, such as when we revise for key terms and flashcards for testing yourself.

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Topic 2: Memory - How does your memory work?

Short-term and long-term memory Why do we forget things?

Information in our short-term memory can be
What you will learn forgotten through a process known as displacement.
•• The concepts of duration and capacity This is when new incoming information pushes out
older information as we exceed the limited capacity
•• The features of short-term memory
of short-term memory. Forgetting in long-term
•• The features of long-term memory memory is thought to be due to a variety of reasons;
some memories simply decay as the memory trace
is not used, while others may be overwritten by new
Duration and capacity
information (interference). Or it may simply be the
Memory is critical to being human. We can store a large
case that we cannot find the memory because we have
amount and a range of types of information that help us
lost the link, like a broken URL when we are searching
understand and interact with the world around us. It is
for a web page on the internet.
widely understood that we have two main memory stores:
a short-term memory store and a long-term memory

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store. These are characterised by key differences in the Try it
length of time that information is stored (duration) and You can test the capacity of your own short-term
how much information can be stored (capacity). memory by trying to recall increasingly longer lists
of digits.
Short-term memory store
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Sensory information (input) first enters the short-term
memory store. This is a temporary store that lasts for
For each line of digits below, read it once and then
cover it up. Now try to recall the digits in the correct
order. Repeat for the next line.
around 20 seconds and holds about seven items of 692
information. Short-term memory encodes information 7341
acoustically by repeating it to ourselves. If we rehearse
95832
this information (say it over and over to ourselves), we can
865712
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store it in our short-term memory for many minutes and it
can then be transferred to the long-term memory store. 1745398
52973184
Long-term memory store 315275948
Long-term memory can last for minutes up to an entire Compare your recalled lists of digits to the correct
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lifetime, and it can hold a potentially unlimited amount list above. Your short-term memory capacity is the
of information. Encoding in long-term memory is largely number of correctly recalled digits in a line.
semantic, but can be visual and acoustic.

Rehearsal

Incoming Sensory Attention Short-term Encoding Long-term

information memory memory memory
Retrieval

Figure 2.1 The Multi-store Model of Memory

shows three separate memory stores and Unattended Unrehearsed Some
information information information
how memories are transferred between
is lost is lost may be lost
each store over time

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 Short-term and long-term memory

Key terms
Short-term memory: our initial memory store that is
temporary and limited.
Long-term memory: a memory store that holds
potentially limitless amounts of information for up to
a lifetime.
Duration: the length of time information can be
stored in short-term and long-term memory
Capacity: the amount of information that can be stored.
Rehearse: when we repeat information over and over
again to make it stick.
Displacement: when the short-term memory
becomes ‘full’ and new information pushes out older
information.

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Interference: when new information overwrites older
information, for example when a new phone number
Do you ever walk into a room and forget what you were
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looking for?

Capacity Duration Encoding Forgetting

Short-term Around seven bits of Around 20 seconds Acoustic Displacement
memory information without rehearsal
Long-term memory Potentially limitless A few minutes to a Mainly semantic Decay
lifetime Interference
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Retrieval failure
Table 2.1 Summary of the features of short-term and long-term memory
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Apply it
Imogen’s father gives her a shopping list and asks her Imogen reads the list and rushes to the shop. At the
to go to the local shop to buy these items: shop, Imogen realises she has forgotten the list but
•• Bread •• Cheese is confident that she can remember it. She continues
shopping. When she returns home, she has bought
•• Crisps •• Cucumber
tomatoes, cheese, cucumber, cereal, newspaper, squash
•• Milk •• Cereal and soup.
•• Biscuits •• Newspaper Using your knowledge of memory, explain why Imogen
•• Beans •• Squash failed to buy all of the items on the shopping list.
•• Tomatoes •• Soup

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Topic 2: Memory - How does your memory work?

Understanding amnesia
What you will learn
•• The meaning of the terms ‘retrograde amnesia’ and ‘anterograde
amnesia’
•• The symptoms of these two types of amnesia

Although the capacity of long-term memory is potentially limitless and

its duration can be up to a lifetime, we do still forget things. Sometimes
people experience a special type of forgetting, called amnesia. Amnesia
is a condition characterised by forgetting or memory loss, particularly
after a brain trauma. There are two types of amnesia that affect long-
term memory.

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Anterograde amnesia
Anterograde amnesia is the inability to store any new long-term
memories following a brain injury. A patient with anterograde amnesia has
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an intact short-term memory, so can process sensory information in that
moment of time. But they are unable to lay down any new memories that
last beyond a few minutes. It seems their ability to transfer information
from short-term to long-term memory is damaged. As anterograde
amnesia affects memory following a brain injury, it is typical for a patient
to retain their long-term memories from before the incident.
Apply it
Mataius fell off his bike and Retrograde amnesia
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bumped his head. He lost
Retrograde amnesia is where a patient who has suffered a brain injury
consciousness for several
cannot remember information from before the injury. This type of
minutes. When he came around,
amnesia can be specific to one memory, such as the traumatic incident
he could not remember what had
that caused the injury, or it can be limited to a specific time frame. In
happened to him or that he went
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severe cases, patients can forget who they are and where they come from.
out on his bicycle.
It is possible for people with retrograde amnesia to regain some or all of
Explain Mataius’s memory loss. their lost memory.

Key terms Develop it

Anterograde amnesia: a Henry Molaison (often referred to as H.M.) is a famous case of anterograde
memory condition that means and retrograde amnesia in psychology. Henry underwent brain surgery to
new long-term memories cannot relieve him from seizures associated with epilepsy. Unfortunately a brain
be made; this is typically caused structure called the hippocampus was damaged during the operation. This
by injury to the brain. resulted in him suffering from anterograde amnesia, so he could not lay
Retrograde amnesia: a memory down new memories. The surgery also caused retrograde amnesia as he
condition that affects recall of was able to recall childhood events, but lost the ability to recall experiences
memories prior to an injury to a few years before his surgery. Since his death, Henry’s brain has been used
the brain. to research memory and understand the causes of amnesia. His case is
widely documented on the internet for you to read about.

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 Bartlett (1932) Theory of Reconstructive Memory

Bartlett (1932) Theory of Reconstructive Memory

What you will learn
•• The concept of ‘schemas’ in psychology and how they are formed
•• How schemas influence memory
•• The strengths and weaknesses of Bartlett’s (1932) Theory of
Reconstructive Memory

Before we thought of the brain as a computer, psychologist Sir Frederic

Bartlett came up with a theory of how memory worked. His theory is called
the Theory of Reconstructive Memory.

Memory and schemas

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Bartlett proposed that memories are not stored as an exact form as in a
computer. Instead, our memories are notes about what we experience, like
jotting down a brief outline on a notepad. When we come to recall these
memories, we simply retrieve the notes and elaborate on them using our
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general knowledge about similar events. This means that memories are not
exact copies of an event but an interpretation – an active reconstruction.
Bartlett referred to this general knowledge as schemas. They are unique to
us and develop over time through our own experiences.

Schemas are packets of information, a bit like scripts, about events or

situations. For example, we have a schema for going to a restaurant, which
Key term
includes a general understanding of that event: being ushered to a table, Schema: a packet of knowledge
selecting food from a menu, paying the bill, and so on. When we recall going to about an event, person, place that
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a specific restaurant, we draw upon this schema to reconstruct the event itself. influences how we perceive and
This may mean that we recall choosing a meal from a menu when in fact there remember.
was a set menu, which results in a subtle reconstruction of the original event.

How schemas are formed

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According to Bartlett, our schemas are formed throughout our lives through
experiences. Just as we build language through an increasing vocabulary,
we build schemas through personal experiences. This means that although
some schemas are shared within a particular culture, such as what is meant
by going to school, other schemas are unique and personal to us.

Try it
Test reconstructive memory yourself. Using a familiar place, such as a
classroom, place a few unusual objects in the room, such as a hairbrush
or teddy (do not place objects that are too obvious). Ask participants to Link it up
look around the room and, afterwards, list what objects they remember. Piaget explored how schemas
According to the theory of reconstructive memory, they will use their develop in early childhood. Find
schema to remember what they saw, so they should remember objects that out more about Piaget’s ideas in
are typically found in a classroom and not the unusual objects you placed. Topic 1 Development.

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Topic 2: Memory - How does your memory work
How schemas influence memory
Using various pictures and stories, Bartlett tested how schemas influence
memory. He found that, over time, people recall these pictures and stories
differently because they are influenced by their schemas. Schemas influence
our memory and cause us to ignore or change details when we recall them.
In particular, Bartlett found that recall displayed various omissions and
transformations:
•• Omissions are when we leave out unfamiliar, irrelevant or unpleasant details
when remembering something. Our schema simplifies the information.
•• Transformations are when details are changed to make them more
familiar and rational.
•• Familiarisation is when we change unfamiliar details to align our
own schema.
•• Rationalisation is when we add details into our recall to give a reason

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for something that may not have originally fitted with a schema.

Strengths and weaknesses of the theory

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Bartlett’s Theory of Reconstructive Memory has real-world practical
application and helps us understand why memory can become distorted.
An eyewitness to a crime, for example, can misremember certain events,
which may lead to the wrong person being prosecuted for an offence.
To avoid this, the police now use an interviewing technique called the
cognitive interview. This technique encourages an eyewitness to avoid
omissions and transformations in their testimony.
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Develop it
Find out more about the cognitive interview by conducting your own internet
search. Reconstructive memory has also led to further research into the active
nature of memory by one of the world’s most influential cognitive psychologists,
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Elizabeth Loftus. Extend your knowledge by finding out what studies she has
conducted.

Bartlett conducted his research using folk stories and images, often
How could reconstructive memory asking participants to remember them hours, days or even years later.
affect eyewitness accounts? His methods can be viewed as a test of memory in the real world because
remembering stories is a realistic use of memory. In this way, the findings
of his research, and therefore his Theory of Reconstructive Memory, can be
Key term seen to be ecologically valid.
Ecological validity: the extent
Bartlett developed his theory by reading through and interpreting the
to which the findings still explain
pictures and stories reproduced by participants. He analysed each story
the behaviour in different
and picture himself and gave his own interpretation of the material
situations.
participants recalled. Some would argue that Bartlett’s own interpretation

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 Bartlett (1932) Theory of Reconstructive Memory

may differ from another person’s. This would mean that Bartlett’s findings
Key term
could be subjective, which is considered unscientific. If the findings
of his research are seen as unscientific, it would discredit his Theory of Subjective: based on personal
Reconstructive Memory. opinion or feelings.

Link it up
For more information on ecological validity and subjectivity, see Topic 11
Research methods..

Theory summary
Bartlett’s theory is a real explanation of everyday memory that is based
on ecologically valid research. Although his research may not have been
considered scientific by today’s standards, it is still an influential theory

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which has led to current research into how memory works.

Apply it AF Link it up
Ali was loading his shopping into the boot of his car when he heard You need to learn about one of
shouting and a loud bang. The next day he tried to describe the event to Bartlett’s studies, ‘War of the
his friend. Ghosts’, which is described later
Explain what Ali might have remembered about the event. Use your in the Topic. Read ahead and
knowledge of reconstructive memory in your answer. see how participants’ recall of
this story became simplified and
transformed.

Exam-style question
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Explain why two people who experienced the same event may recall the
event differently. You should refer to reconstructive memory (Bartlett,
1932) in your answer. (2 marks)
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Exam tip Key term

When asked to ‘refer to your knowledge of’ a theory or research in your answer, Reconstructive: memory is
it is important to use key terms described in the theory or study. For example, not an exact copy of what we
if you are asked to refer to your knowledge of reconstructive memory, try to experienced, but an active
incorporate the key terms: schema, reconstructive, omission, rationalisation, reconstruction of events that
familiarisation, where you can to enhance your explanation. are influenced by our schema
(expectations).

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Topic 2: Memory - How does your memory work?

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Multi-store Model of Memory
What you will learn
•• The Multi-store Model of Memory
•• The sensory register
•• The capacity and duration of short-term and long-term memory
•• The role of attention and rehearsal in memory
•• The strengths and weaknesses of the theory of separate memory stores

Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968) developed the Multi-store

Try it
Model of Memory by drawing conclusions from memory experiments

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You can test your sensory register conducted by other researchers. By pulling together this research,
by using slides on a computer. they were able to identify three distinctly different stores in our
Write a series of three trigrams memory system:
on a slide and set the timing to
0.5 seconds. Swap with a partner
and run the slideshow. Try to
remember as many letters as
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•• the sensory register (or sensory memory)
•• short-term memory
•• long-term memory.
you can.
Example: Although it is commonplace now to think of our memory having different
stores, at the time there was some disagreement about whether memory
BGW
was one entity or a series of separate ones. Atkinson and Shiffrin proposed
HJE that memory stores differed from each other in the way information was
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PVD encoded, their capacity and duration, and how information was retrieved
You will be able to recall a few of (Figure 2.1, page 4).
the letters and also experience the
sensation of decay as the memory The sensory register and the role of attention
trace is rapidly forgotten. Think about all of the sensory information around you in your environment,
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each image that hits your eyes, every sound detected by your ears. Then
you can understand that we register a lot of information very briefly, but we
Key terms
do not pay attention to all of it. For example, at a party we register noise
Sensory register: our around us as people talking and music, but we do not pay attention to all of
immediate memory of sensory it, just the conversation we are having with a friend.
information.
The sensory register is the store that receives all the sensory information
Attention: focus on certain
around us and holds it very briefly. If we pay attention to some of this
sensory information.
sensory information, it is transferred into our short-term memory where
Trigram: a set of three letters we can process it further. If we do not pay attention to the information, it
such as GPX that makes a quickly decays.
meaningless word.

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 Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) Multi-store Model of Memory

It is believed that we have a separate sensory register for each of our senses.
The sensory registers for vision (known as the iconic memory) and for
sound (known as the echoic memory) have been researched the most.

•• Iconic memory – the sensory register for visual information lasts for
around 1 second before visual information decays.
•• Echoic memory – the sensory register for auditory (sound) information
lasts for a few seconds before sound information decays.

The other sensory registers are:

•• gustatory (taste) sensory register

•• olfactory (smell) sensory register
•• tactile (touch) sensory register.

Short-term memory: capacity and duration

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Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) describe how information that we pay attention
to gets transferred into short-term memory where it can be stored for
around 18 seconds (Peterson and Peterson, 1959). If we rehearse this
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information, we are able to maintain it in short-term memory for much
longer. They describe short-term memory as modality free. This means
that it can store all different types of information from any of our senses,
although in their theory they only describe visual and auditory information.

In 1956, psychologist George Miller found that the average short-term

memory can hold between five and nine chunks of information. A chunk of
information tends to be a grouping, such as the way we group the numbers
of a phone contact.
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Link it up
Peterson and Peterson (1959) researched the duration of short-term
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memory. Read ahead to find out more about their study.

The role of rehearsal

The Multi-store Model of Memory suggests that if information is repeated
over and over, it helps to maintain it in short-term memory. If the
information is rehearsed for long enough, it gets transferred into the long-
term memory store. Rehearsal refers to repeating things out loud or to
ourselves in order to remember it, such as saying a phone number over and
over again.

Long-term memory: capacity and duration

In long-term memory, information can be held indefinitely and it has
potentially limitless capacity. Long-term memories are thought to be
organised semantically, that is according to their meaning.

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Topic 2: Memory - How does your memory work?

Strengths and weaknesses of the theory 100

There is a lot of evidence to support the theory of
separate memory stores. Cases of amnesia show 75 Recency
how brain injury can cause damage to long-term Primacy

Percentage recall
effect (STM)
effect (LTM)
memory, while short-term memory remains intact.
Other evidence from memory experiments have 50
also shown the distinction between short-term and
long-term memory. 25

Ben Murdock (1962) conducted an experiment which

provided evidence for the multi-store theory of 0
memory developed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). He 1 5 10 15 20
discovered something called the serial position effect Position of word in list
(Figure 2.2), which is the tendency to recall more words

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at the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of a word Figure 2.2 The serial position effect (Murdock, 1962) shows
list. Murdock explained that the primacy effect occurs how we recall more information at the beginning and end
because words at the beginning of the list had been of a list
rehearsed and transferred into long-term memory. The
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recency effect is the result of the words still being held
in short-term memory. Words were recalled less in the
middle of the list because they had been displaced
Develop it
Investigate the amnesia patient Clive Wearing using
the internet. See if you can work out what long-term
from short-term memory.
memories were damaged and which remain intact.
The Multi-store Model of Memory (1968) has been This will give you a better understanding of the
criticised for overstating the role of rehearsal as a different types of long-term memories we have.
means of transferring information into long-term
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storage. Clearly we do not need to repeat every
piece of information over and over again in order
Exam-style question
to remember it for a period of time. Sometimes
we remember things just because they are more Explain two differences between short-term and
meaningful to us. long-term memory. You should refer to the Multi-
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store Model in your answer. (4 marks)

It is also unlikely that we have only one type of long-
term memory. Cases of amnesia patients demonstrate
that while some long-term memories are damaged, Exam tip
other types remain intact.
It is important to remember the key differences in the
memory stores suggested by the Multi-store Model of
Theory summary Memory. You might find that you can remember these
better by referring to differences in:
The Multi-store Model of Memory (1968) remains a
useful framework for understanding the memory, •• capacity
which has led to more recent theories being •• duration
developed. However, it is widely regarded as being •• encoding
too simplistic and it cannot explain amnesia of a •• forgetting.
certain type of memory.

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 Studies: Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts

Studies
Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts
What you will learn
•• Memory studies by Bartlett (1932), and Peterson and Peterson (1959)
•• Their main aims, procedures, results and conclusions
•• The strengths and weaknesses of the studies

In his book, Remembering, Bartlett wrote about experiments that he

conducted using pictures and folk stories. One such story was a North
American folk tale called ‘The War of the Ghosts’. Bartlett chose this story
because it would have been unfamiliar to the students and colleagues

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he tested it on at Cambridge University. He hoped the unfamiliarity of
the story would shed light upon the reconstructive nature of memory
because his participants would be more likely to draw upon their schemas
to recall it.

Aim
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To test the nature of reconstructive memory using an unfamiliar story.

Procedure
went down the river to hunt seals,
One night two young men from Egulac
Participants were asked to read ‘The War of the Ghosts’ and while they were there it becam e foggy and calm. Then they heard
a war-party”. They escaped to
twice and remember it later. Bartlett used both serial war-cries, and they thoug ht: “May be
Now
this
canoe
is
s came up, and they heard the
the shore, and hid behin d a log.
reproduction and repeated reproduction to test the up to them. There were five
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canoe comin g
noise of paddles, and saw one
recall of the story. For serial reproduction, participants men in the canoe, and they said:
along. We are going up the
“What do you think? We wish to take you
read the story and then retold the story to another river to make war on the peopl e.”
s”.
One of the young men said: “I have no arrow
participant 15 to 30 minutes later. The second participant “Arrows are in the canoe,” they said.
relatives do not know
then told the story to a third participant, and so on. “I will not go along. I might be killed. My
said, turnin g to the other, “may go with
he
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where I have gone. But you”,

them.”
For repeated reproduction, the same participant was So one of the young men went, but the other
returned home.
a town on the other side of
asked to write out the story after 15 minutes. The same And the warriors went on up the river to
, and they began to fight, and
Kalama. The people came down to the water
participant was then asked to recall the story several many were killed. But presently the young
man heard one of the warriors
has been hit”. Now he thought:
minutes, hours, days, months and years later. say: “Quick, let us go home: that Indian
”. He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot.
“Oh, they are ghosts
to Egula c, and the young man went ashore
So the canoes went back
everybody and said: “Behold I
to his house, and made a fire. And he told
fight. Many of our fellows were
accompanied the ghosts, and we went to
were killed. They said I was
Key terms killed, and many
hit, and I did not
of those
feel
who
sick”.
attack ed us

When the sun rose he

He told it all, and then he became quiet.
Serial reproduction: a technique where participants fell down. Something black came out of
his mouth. His face became
retell something to another participant to form a chain; contorted. The people jumped up and cried.
He was dead.
this is how folk stories are passed down through cultures.
Repeated reproduction: a technique where participants
are asked to recall something again and again. Figure 2.3 Bartlett FC (1932) Remembering: A study
in Experimental and Social Psychology, Cambridge
University Press (original punctuation retained)

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Topic 2: Memory - how does your memory work?

Try it
Test reconstructive memory yourself using ‘The War of the Ghosts’ story or
find a different unfamiliar story. You could ask your participants to recall
it several times themselves (repeated reproduction) or tell it to someone
else (serial reproduction). You should find that the reproductions are
shortened because your participants will omit unfamiliar parts. They
may also change parts to make them more conventional/familiar. Read
through the reproductions and make a note of what changes are made
and consider why this has happened.

Results
Bartlett used qualitative analysis to look for and interpret changes to the
stories that were recalled. He found that repeated reproductions tended
to follow a similar form, which means that the theme or outline of the first

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reproduction tended to stick in later reproductions.
Key terms For both types of recall, participants tried to make sense of the ‘odd’ story
Qualitative: descriptive data. by giving it meaning. This resulted in additions or changes such as making
Rationalisation: trying to make
sense of an event.
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connections or giving reasons for events. This is known as rationalisation. For
example, participants often recalled the original sentence of ‘Something black
came out of his mouth’ as ‘a man’s dying breath’ or ‘foaming at the mouth’.

Participants also tended to leave out unfamiliar or unpleasant parts of

the story, particularly the unfamiliar place names. Lots of details became
familiarised and simplified. For example, ‘canoe’ became ‘boat’ and ‘hunting’
was recalled as ‘fishing’.
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Link it up
Conclusion
Bartlett interpreted the results as evidence for the active and constructive
Find out more about qualitative
nature of memory. Participants did not recall the story fully or accurately.
analysis in Topic 11 Research
Instead, they omitted details that did not fit with their schema and some
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methods.
details were altered by the influence of their schema.

Exam-style question
Explain one way that Bartlett found that 'The War of the Ghosts'
story changed when it was remembered. (2 marks)

Exam tip
You may be asked specific information about key studies mentioned in
the specification, you should be prepared to learn these studies in a good
deal of depth.

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 Studies: Bartlett (1932) War of the Ghosts

Strengths and weaknesses of the study Key term

Bartlett did not always get participants to recall the story at the same time
Standardised procedure: when
intervals and he allowed each participant to read the story at their own normal
the study uses exactly the same
reading pace, so this study can be criticised for lacking good controls. Normally
procedure for all participants.
an experiment follows strict timings and a standardised procedure. This
means that Bartlett’s (1932) study is not as scientific as it could have been.

The results of the study were gathered using qualitative analysis. Some
regard this as unscientific because Bartlett could have interpreted
participants’ recalled stories in light of his own theory and ideas on
reconstructive memory. However, others argue that qualitative analysis
is a strength because the real nature of reconstructive memory can be
understood through its meaning. To be fair to Bartlett, the use of statistical
analysis at the time was not commonplace for psychologists, and it
was probably appropriate for him to use qualitative analysis to see how

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individuals changed their version of the story over time.

A strength of the study is that it used a story as material to recall. This can
be considered to be more naturalistic as a test of everyday memory than
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nonsense trigrams or lists of digits used by other memory researchers. This
gives the study ecological validity. However, the story was not familiar, it was
illogical and contained strange words and concepts. So perhaps it was not an Link it up
everyday task or realistic use of memory after all.
The concepts of control,
Bartlett replicated his procedure using various stories and pictures and standardised procedure,
found participants had the same tendency to omit and transform the statistical analysis, ecological
material when remembering. This gives strength to the study because the validity and reliability are further
same findings have been found across the experiment. This demonstrates explained in Topic 11 Research
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that the findings of the study are reliable. methods.

Study summary
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Bartlett’s (1932) pioneering research has paved the way for modern-
day thinking about the reconstructive nature of memory. Although his
procedures were not necessarily scientific, his work reflected a qualitative
nature that helps us to understand everyday human memory.

Apply it
Malik was given an owl drawing to look at.
At various time intervals, Malik was asked
to redraw the original image without being
allowed to see it again.
Suggest one change that might happen to this
picture and explain why you think the change
would happen.

Figure 2.4 Original drawing

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Topic 2: Memory - how does your memory work?

Peterson and Peterson (1959) Short-term

Retention of Individual Verbal Items
Lloyd and Margaret Peterson conducted a laboratory experiment to
investigate the duration of short-term memory. Since we can hold
information in short-term memory by rehearsing it over and over, they
could only test the true duration of a short-term memory trace by
interfering with this rehearsal process. To prevent participants from
rehearsing, the Petersons got them to count backwards in threes.

Aim
To test the true duration of short-term memory.

Procedure

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Twenty-four students were tested individually. Each student was asked
to repeat out loud a set of letters that they heard. The letters were three
consonants (a trigram). Immediately afterwards, they were asked to say
out loud a three-digit number read to them by the experimenter, and
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then count backwards in threes or fours from that number. For example,
BFP would be repeated and then 709, 706, 703, and so on.

When signalled by a red light, each student had to recall the trigram.
They did this eight times with time delays of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18 seconds.
In total, the procedure was repeated 48 times using different trigrams.
Results
Their results showed that the longer
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each student had to count backwards,
the less well they were able to recall
the trigram accurately (Figure 2.5).
When asked to count backwards for
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3 seconds, they remembered over

Artwork removed for copyright 80 per cent of trigrams correctly, but
after 18 seconds the percentage of
reasons
correct recall was less than
5 per cent.

Conclusion
With the participants unable to
rehearse the trigrams, the Petersons
concluded that information held in
our short-term memory fades rapidly
and is forgotten completely at around
18 seconds.

Figure 2.5 The results of Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) study showing a decline
in recall and the duration of short-term memory (around 18 seconds)

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 Studies: Peterson and Peterson (1959) Short-term Retention of Individual Verbal Items

Strengths and weaknesses of the study

In this study, the researchers used fixed timings for participants to count
backwards from. They also eliminated noise and other factors that could
have had an influence on memory. The research can therefore be said
to have good control, using standardised procedures to make sure all
participants experienced the same process. This means that the study is
scientific because it can be replicated and the reliability of the findings can
be checked to make sure they were not a one-off result.

Lots of memory research tends to use nonsense trigrams for participants

to remember because real words could have personal relevance for some
Key terms
participants but not others, which makes them more or less memorable. Extraneous variable: a variable
This is an extraneous variable which is important to control. However, this that is not controlled, which
part of the procedure can be criticised as it is not how we would typically could affect the results of a study.
use our memory in everyday situations. This means the procedure lacked Mundane realism: a realistic,

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mundane realism. everyday task.
One important practical application of this study is that it demonstrates
how interference in the form of verbal distractions can affect our ability to
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retain information. This implies that when we are revising for an exam or
trying to memorise a shopping list before we pop to the shop, we should
take care to avoid distractions.

Link it up
Find out more about standardised procedures and extraneous variables in
Topic 11 Research methods.
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Study summary
This is a useful study that informs us about the actual duration of our
short-term memory which can be used to help us remember things.
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Although the research can be criticised for not using a procedure that
represented everyday memory use, it is often necessary to do this in order
to measure uncontaminated short-term memory. The scientific credibility
of this research study is high.

Apply it
Elliot gives his new mobile phone number to his friend, Fraser. Fraser
needs to find his phone so that he can save Elliot’s number in his contacts,
so he rushes to the student common room to find it. On the way, Fraser is
stopped by a teacher and asked about a football match that he played in
the day before. When Fraser makes it to the common room a minute later,
he has completely forgotten Elliot’s new mobile number.

Using your knowledge of the Peterson and Peterson (1959) study, explain
why Fraser forgot Elliot’s mobile number.

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Topic 2: Memory - how does your memory work?

Issues and debates For example, in explaining aggression according to

a single gene, we may miss other social factors that
Reductionism and holism debate could contribute to aggression, such as upbringing, or
miss the interaction between the aggression gene and
What you will learn other factors.

•• The reductionism and holism debate, including

key terms
Apply it
•• Research, theories and concepts drawn from During a class debate on the causes of eating
human memory to explain the debate disorders, Portia said that she thought anorexia
was a mental illness caused by a problem in
brain functioning. Reem disagreed and stated
Reductionism that she thought the media was responsible as
it portrayed images of slim models. Nick agreed
Reductionism is the scientific theory of describing
with both of these ideas, but added that he knew
something using the simplest explanation or basic

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that some cultures do not have eating disorders,
parts. Reductionism is based on the belief that any
so there must be something that happens in
human behaviour or cognitive (thought) process can
certain cultures that influences the development
be best explained by looking at the parts that make
of anorexia.
up that behaviour or process to understand how
it works.
AF
Scientists often reduce complex behaviour into
Explain to what extent the students’ ideas about
eating disorders are reductionist.

basic parts because it means that we can be more

certain that one thing causes another. This helps us
investigate what causes a behaviour. For example, if
we explain aggression as a result of a certain gene,
we can test for the gene and see if it is associated
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with someone being more aggressive than a person
without that gene.

Reductionism is associated with scientific methods,

such as the laboratory experiment, where factors
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that may explain a behaviour can be isolated and

tested under controlled conditions. The practice of
reductionism is known as being reductionist. In this
way, a theory or study that describes a behaviour
by a single, simple explanation can be said to be
reductionist.

Reductionism is a desirable scientific practice and

can be appropriate in some circumstances where
there is a clear single explanation. However, the Key terms
problem with reductionism is that it can result in an Reductionism: the theory of explaining something
explanation that is overly simplistic. It may mean according to its basic constituent parts.
that we ignore other causes of that behaviour or we
Reductionist: the practice of reductionism.
ignore interaction effects between multiple causes.

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 Reductionism and holism debate

Holism
Holism is the opposite of reductionism, so can be explained as the
Key terms
theory of trying to understand the whole behaviour rather than its parts.
To be holistic is to try to understand the whole person. This approach Holism: the theory of explaining
takes into account the fact that many different factors work together to something as a whole.
cause a behaviour, and therefore dividing up these factors is not useful Holistic: the practice of holism.
in understanding the behaviour as a whole.

For example, a cake can be described by a list of ingredients that went

into making it. Each ingredient contributed to the taste, texture and
smell of the cake. However, you would need all the ingredients working
together, interacting during the baking, to make the cake, otherwise it
would not work. Holistic psychologists believe that the whole is greater
than the sum of its parts.

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Holistic psychologists tend to use qualitative methods to gain greater
insight into the causes of behaviour and try to understand the whole
person and their beliefs. In practice, holism can be difficult to achieve
because understanding the whole individual means investigating lots
AF
of variables at the same time. It is also regarded as unscientific because
the findings can only apply to a particular individual and the resulting
theories do not apply to everyone else.

How the reductionism/holism debate applies to human

memory research
The area of cognitive psychology concerned with memory, and other
cognitive processes, is generally regarded to be reductionist.
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Atkinson and Shiffrin’s (1968) Multi-store Model of Memory can be seen
as reductionist as it describes our memory in a series of component
memory stores with specific functions, such as rehearsal. Research
using experiments that investigate how memory works can also be
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regarded as reductionist as experiments tend to isolate variables to

investigate without considering other factors, which could also explain
the behaviour.

However, Bartlett’s (1932) work cannot be considered to be too

reductionist because of the way he conducted his research. Bartlett used
qualitative analysis to explore the reconstructive nature of memory by
understanding how each individual’s schemas influenced their recall
of stories and pictures. He spent considerable time establishing the
character and backgrounds of his participants in order to understand
how their schemas were formed. For example, he found out what jobs
they had to see whether their training and employment might have
influenced how they remembered.

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Topic 2: Memory - how does your memory work?

Reductionist Holistic Psychology in action

The information Reconstructive memory Memory research has led to an understanding of
processing approach how and why we remember and forget. This has
been especially important in helping people with
The Multi-store Model of Qualitative analysis
memory problems, such as amnesia. It has also
Memory
been useful to support the elderly and people
Experiments suffering from dementia. Dementia is a disease
that affects memory. It affects short-term memory
Table 2.2 Reductionism/holism applied to memory research
in the beginning, then long-term memory also
starts to deteriorate.
Exam-style question Cognitive Stimulation Therapy involves activities
Cornelius conducted laboratory experiments to that improve memory and other cognitive skills.
investigate how short-term memory is affected by These activities have been developed because of
interference. He played loud music to his participants research into memory conducted by psychologists.

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while they were trying to remember a list of digits. Cognitive Stimulation Therapy involves playing
memory games, such as thinking of childhood
Assess to what extent memory research is
events, word association, categorising objects,
reductionist.
remembering songs, and so on.
In your response you should:
•• demonstrate knowledge and understanding of
psychological ideas
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•• refer to Cornelius
•• consider strengths and limitations of the evidence
you have used.
(9 marks)
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Exam tip
Your knowledge of issues and debates in psychology
will be tested in an essay that uses the command
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word ‘assess’. This means that you will need to give an

answer that describes, applies your knowledge and
forms a judgement. For this particular essay question,
you should:
•• describe to what extent memory research
is reductionist
•• apply your knowledge to the scenario involving
Cornelius’s investigation – identifying what aspects
would be considered reductionist
•• judge the nature of reductionism in memory Cognitive Stimulation Therapy uses our knowledge of
research by giving strengths and weaknesses memory to help people suffering from memory loss caused
•• form a reasoned conclusion. by dementia

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