Long Term Memory Pt 1 Flashcards
(24 cards)
Differentiation Between LTM and STM
- LTM has unlimited capacity & permanent duration
- STM has a smaller capacity and limited duration
Conway et al (1991)
- A longitudinal study where a psych class was tested on their ability to recall names and general concepts taught in class over 3 to 125 months
- The questions were fill-in-the-blank with the first letter provided (recall type)
Results of Conway et al (1991)
- Names were forgotten more rapidly than concepts over the initial 3 years
- Between 3 and 10 years, recall leveled off at about the same level for both kinds of knowledge
- After 10 years people were stil recalling more than 25% of the material
Implications of Conway et al (1991)
- We can infer that LTM is long lasting
- Just bc something is forgotten one day does not mean it is permanently forgotten
- Different types of info can be treated differently in LTM
Atkinson & Shifrin on the interactive relationship between STM and LTM
- Everything that goes through LTM has to go through STM and vice versa
- What is stored in STM is an important barrier to what enters LTM
- What info STM stores is heavily influenced by LTM (top down)
Example of Interactive Relationship Between STM & LTM
- LTM of Pepe’s exam style will help you determine what is important for your STM to study for the next exam
- STM now knows what to store and will the brain to store certain stuff, which goes into LTM
What are control processes?
Strategies that a person uses to facilitate the acquisition of knowledge in STM
What are the 3 Control Processes in STM?
(1) Rehearsal (2) Coding (3) Imaging
What is Rehearsal?
Rehearsal is the repetition of information over and over until it is learned
- A very shallow processing
What is Coding?
Coding encrypts the information in the context of additional, easily retrievable information
- Making more connections allows us to organize information nicely
- Ex: PEMDAS
What is Imaging?
Imaging involves creating visual images to remember verbal information
Atkinson & Shiffrin Experiment (1968)
- Participants tried to learn associations between a 2 digit number and a letter (Ex: 31-Q)
- Each pair was shown for 3 seconds
- Interspersed were test trials where one half was presented, and the goal was to reproduce the other half
- The # of trials prior to test trials was manipulated
Results of Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)
- Assumed people maintained a fixed number of items (7 +/- 2) in STM and that these items were rehearsed whenever not viewing a new item or responding during a test trial
- Extent of learning depended on how long a particular pair was maintained in the rehearsal set
- The longer rehearsed the item is, the better it should be at transferring into LTM
Implications of Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)
When it comes to location in the memory system there are 3 possibilities:
1. The item has been rehearsed but is no longer in STM but is in LTM
2. The item is rehearsed and is still active in STM
3. The item is not rehearsed at all (due to interference)
Rundus’ Experiment (1971)
Presented students lists of 20 nouns to remember
- Instructed to study by repeating aloud; they can rehearse any word
- Students tried to recall the words in any order
Free Recall vs Serial Recall
In Free Recall –> order doesn’t matter
In Serial Recall –> what you recall has to be in the right order
Results of Rundus (1971)
- The recall probability depended on its position in the list
- Words at the beginning and words at the end were easier to recall
- The better recall of words at the beginning is called Primacy Effect, and the better recall of words at the end is called Recency Effect
What is Mean # of Rehearsals (Rundus)
How many times the word in the specific serial input position was said aloud
- in the beginning this number was high bc there were few words to rehearse
- in the end, this number was low because the earlier words are said more in rehearsal than later words
What is Recall Probability (Rundus)
How likely they are to recall the word
- Number was high at the beginning and end
- Number was high at the end NOT BC of rehearsal but bc it’s still in your STM
Fischler et al (1970) – Primacy
- The relation between the rehearsal and recall curves reveals that the primacy effect can be explained by Atkinson and Shiffrin’s model
- Bc early words were rehearsed more often than the other words, they should have a higher probability of being retrieved from LTM
What does Fischler imply about the elimination of the primacy effect?
The primacy effect should be eliminated if all the words on the list are rehearsed equally often
Postman & Phillips (1965) – Recency Effect
The recency effect occurs bc the words at the end of the list are still in STM when the recall test begins
- Found that info is rapidly lost from STM if people perform another task
What do Postman & Phillips say about the elimination of the recency effect?
To eliminate the recency effect, do different tasks so the info at the end of the list isn’t the only memorized thing
- Doing something different will prevent you from actively rehearsing the items in your STM due to interference
Baddeley & Warrington (1970)
Found that amnesiac people have difficulty in retrieving info from LTM but often have a normal STM
- Demonstrated that patients exhibited a RECENCY EFFECT (bc their STM system works properly) BUT do not exhibit a primacy effect (bc their LTM system is damaged)
