coding, capacity, duration Flashcards
(29 cards)
What is meant by ‘coding’ in memory research?
The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.
Who conducted a key study on coding in STM and LTM?
Baddeley
What type of coding does STM primarily use according to Baddeley?
Acoustic coding (sound-based).
What type of coding does LTM primarily use according to Baddeley?
Semantic coding (meaning-based).
What did Baddeley’s study involve?
Giving participants lists of acoustically or semantically similar/dissimilar words to recall.
What was a key finding of Baddeley’s study?
STM information is coded acoustically; LTM information is coded semantically.
What is one strength of Baddeley’s research?
It identified a clear difference between STM and LTM memory stores.
What is a limitation of Baddeley’s study?
It used artificial stimuli, so findings may not apply to everyday memory tasks.
What does ‘capacity’ refer to in memory research?
The amount of information that can be held in memory at one time.
What is ‘digit span’?
A measure of STM capacity, based on how many digits a person can recall in the correct order.
What was the mean digit span found by Jacobs?
9.3 items for digits, 7.3 for letters.
What did George Miller suggest about STM capacity?
It is about 7 items (plus or minus 2).
What is ‘chunking’?
Grouping sets of digits or letters into units or chunks to aid memory.
What is one limitation of Miller’s research?
He may have overestimated STM capacity.
What did Nelson Cowan (2001) conclude about STM capacity?
STM capacity is about 4 chunks, not 7.
What is ‘duration’ in memory research?
How long information can be held in memory.
Who studied the duration of STM?
Peterson + Peterson
What method did Peterson & Peterson use?
Participant was given a consonant syllable (e.g. YSG) to remember, and a number from which they had to count back from (in order to prevent maintenance rehearsal)
What did Peterson & Peterson find about STM duration?
STM duration is very short—about 18 seconds unless rehearsed.
What is a limitation of Peterson & Peterson’s study?
It used meaningless stimuli, so it may lack external validity.
Who studied the duration of LTM?
Bahrick et al.
What method did Bahrick et al. use?
Recall of high school classmates’ names and faces after many years.
What did Bahrick et al. find about LTM duration?
LTM can last a very long time—up to 48 years with good recall.
What is a strength of Bahrick et al.’s study?
It has high external validity due to real-life meaningful memories.
