Individual differences of memory

Question 1

processing speed

Answer 1

the speed at which different individuals can process info

encoding info into the STM takes longer in some people

Question 2

Miller’s chunking method

Answer 2

we can hold 5-9 items in our STM
we can group together connected items so they can be stored together which increases capacity of STM

Question 3

why doesn’t chunking always work

Answer 3

if processing speed is reduced you can’t increase capacity

Question 4

Alloway

Answer 4

children with dyslexia struggle to process and remember speech sounds due to poor working memory
46 children aged 6-11 with reading disability had STM deficits that caused poor processing

Question 5

McDougall

Answer 5

90 children divided into 3 groups from poor readers to good readers
poor readers had lower memory spans and slower reading rate
good readers had quicker articulation so more words presented phonologically in STM

Question 6

Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil

Answer 6

younger children have a shorter digit span than older children

digit span increased from 3.76 at age 5 to 5.91 at age 17

Question 7

individual schemas

Answer 7

• stereotypes depend on socialisation
• experiences are completely unique due to perception
• we remember what is most interesting to us
• we confabulate what is most familiar to us
• we simplify memories to make processing easier

Question 8

Palombo

Answer 8

• males use the right side of their brains more, this is where spatial memory is found - supported by Palombo as males scored higher on spatial memory
• females are most likely to use brain symmetrically

shows gender differences in how we use our brains

Question 9

Wang

Answer 9

females better than males at recognising female faces they had seen before from photographs

there was no significant difference in recognising male faces though

Question 10

alzheimers

Answer 10

• more likely after the age of 65
• causes dementia
• degenerative and causes deterioration of brain structure e.g. hippocampus is first to be damaged
• cortex becomes thinner so old memories are lost and the brain gradually shrinks

Sebastian and Hernandez-Gil found elderly with dementia had digit span of 4.20, healthy elderly had digit span of 4.44 - both lower than digit span at age 17