Features of STM (Coding, Capacity, Duration)

Question 1

What is coding?

Answer 1

Converting memory between different stores.

Question 2

Name the researcher who studied coding in STM.

Answer 2

Alan Baddeley

Question 3

What did PPTs in Baddeley’s study have to do?

Answer 3

They had to remember the list of words they were given and recall them in order either immediately or after 20 minutes.

Question 4

State the 4 types of words the PPTs in Baddeley’s may have had to remember.

Answer 4

1. Acoustically similar - Words sound similar.
2. Acoustically dissimilar - Words sound different.
3. Semantically similar - Words mean similar.
4. Semantically dissimilar - Words mean different.

Question 5

State the times after memorisation that PPTs were asked to recall their list of words they were shown.

Answer 5

They recalled immediately (STM)
They then recalled again after 20 minutes (LTM)

Question 6

When recalling the words from STM in Baddeley’s experiment, which group performed the worst?

Answer 6

Semantically similar.

Question 7

How is information coded in STM?

Answer 7

Acoustically

Question 8

What is capacity?

Answer 8

The volume of information stored at a time.

Question 9

Who researched digit span of STM?

Answer 9

Joseph Jacobs

Question 10

What is digit span?

Answer 10

How much information remembered at a time.

Question 11

Explain how digit span was measured.

Answer 11

The researcher read out 4 digits and the PPT recalled them out loud, in order.
The researcher then read out the same 4 digits, and an extra digit (5 in total). The PPT then had to recall these 5 digits in order.
He added digits until the PPT could no longer recall all of them in order.

Question 12

What did Jacobs find was the mean digit span and mean letter span?

Answer 12

Mean Digit span - 9.3
Mean letter span - 7.3

Question 13

Name the researcher who said capacity of STM was 7+-2 things.
Why did he say this?

Answer 13

George Miller
He said this because he noticed that things come in 7s, such as days of the week.

Question 14

Name the technique we use when trying to store a large amount of information in our STM.

Answer 14

Chunking.

Question 15

What is chunking?

Answer 15

Remembering information in blocks, such as words etc.

Question 16

What is duration?

Answer 16

The length of time that memories are stored for until they decay.

Question 17

Name the researchers who studied duration of STM.

Answer 17

Petersen and Petersen

Question 18

How many PPTs were used in Petersen and Petersen’s study and for how many trials?
What was the occupation of the PPTs?

Answer 18

24 students tested in 8 trials.

Question 19

What 2 things were PPTs in Petersen and Petersen’s research asked to remember?

Answer 19

Consonant syllable
3 digit number

Question 20

How was rehearsal of the consonant syllable prevented in Petersen and Petersen’s study?

Answer 20

They were asked to count backwards in 3s from the 3 digit number they received.

Question 21

How long was rehearsal prevented in Petersen and Petersen’s study?

Answer 21

For various periods of time with 3 second intervals (3s, 6s, 9s, 12s, 15s, 18s)

Question 22

What percentage of PPTs were able to recall of the consonant syllable after 3s?

Answer 22

80%

Question 23

What percentage of PPTs were able to recall the consonant syllable after 18s?
What does this suggest about duration?

Answer 23

3%
This suggests duration is limited to 18s.

Question 24

Explain the strength that Jacobs research is replicable.
Consider the counterpoint that some PPTs digit span could have been underestimated.

Answer 24

His study is very old and may have lacked control. For example, some PPTs digit span may have been underestimated because they could have been distracted during testing. Despite this, Jacobs findings have been confirmed by other researchers. This therefore means that Jacobs study is valid when explaining digit span.

Question 25

Explain the limitation of Petersen and Petersen’s research lacking mundane realism.
Use the example that consonant syllables are meaningless, and compare this to how meaningful things, such as names are more likely to be remembered.’
What type of validity does this research lack?

Answer 25

In their research, PPTs had to recall consonant syllables, which are meaningless in everyday life, compared to things such as names. Because they are meaningless, PPTs may not have felt a need to try and remember them as they hold no value, therefore they are more easily forgotten. On the other hand, as names are more important in real life, we may still be able to remember them even if rehearsal isn’t prevented. This means the research may not be applicable to real life and therefore lacks external validity

Question 26

Explain the limitation that Baddeley’s study uses artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material.
Use the example that the words used were meaningless to the PPTs, and how this may not tell us about coding in everyday life.
Consider that some people may actually use semantic coding for STM tasks when processing more meaningful information.

Answer 26

For example, the words PPTs were asked to remember had no meaning to the PPTs, therefore his findings may not tell us about coding in different types of memory tasks, especially in everyday life. When processing more meaningful information, people might use semantic coding for STM tasks. This means that the findings from the study have limited application.

Question 27

Explain the limitation that Petersen and Petersen’s study uses a small sample size of 24 students.
Use the example of sample size and age of PPTs.
Think about how individual differences between people could affect results.
What type of validity is lacked?

Answer 27

The PPTs are all young students, whose memory behaves different to older people. The sample size is also too small, meaning that we cant be sure whether findings are down to individual differences (such as good/bad memory) or genuine findings. This means that research cannot be generalised to wider populations, so population validity is lacked.