MEMORY Flashcards
Coding Definition
The way that information is changed so it can be stored in memory
Coding - Baddeley’s Study
Baddeley (1966) - immediate recall worse with acoustically similar words, recall after 20 mins worse with semantically similar words
Evaluation:
Baddeley’s study didn’t use meaningful material
Capacity Definition
The measure of how much information can be held in memory
STM capacity = 7+/-2
LTM capacity = unlimited
Studies for Capacity
Jacobs (1887) - digit span: participants able to repeat back 9.3 numbers and 7.3 letters (short term 7+/-2)
Miller (1959) - span on STM is 7+/2 but can be improved with chunking
Evaluation
- Jacob’s study outdated
- Miller’s research may have overestimated STM
Duration Definition
How long information can be held in memory before it is no longer available
STM duration = 18-30 seconds
LTM duration = lifetime/unlimited
Studies on Duration
Peterson & Peterson (1975) - students recalled 80% of syllables correctly, average recall after 18secs fell to 3%
Bahrick et al (1975) - participants tested 48 years after graduation were 70% accurate in photo recognition
EVALUATION
- Peterson & Peterson’s study is artificial
+ Bahrick’s study high external validity
Chunking
Grouping letters or digits together to remember them more easily
E.g., remember a phone number in chunks
Long Term Memory
Memory store for info that has been stored for a long period of time
Coding: Semantic
Capacity: Unlimited
Duration: Lifetime
Short Term Memory
Limited capacity and duration memory store
Coding: Acoustic
Capacity: 7+/-2
Duration: 18-30 seconds
Sensory Register
The memory stores for each of the 5 senses
Multi-Store Model of Memory (MSMM)
Sensory store —attention—> STM —maintenance rehearsal—> LTM
• Attention needs to be paid to sensory info for it to move to STM
• Maintenance rehearsal for long enough moves it to LTM
• Retrieval - recall information to STM from LTM in order to remember it
The Working Memory Model (WMM)
Baddeley & Hitch
Central Executive - monitors incoming data and allocates slave systems to tasks
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad - Sores visual and spatial information when required, divided into Visual Cache: stores visual data and Inner Scribe: records arrangement of objects in vision
Episodic Buffer: Temporary store for information, integrates visual, spatial, verbal info from other stores, maintains sense of time sequencing so records events happening
Phonological Loop - Deals with auditory info and preserves the order in which the info arrives, divided into Phonological Store: stores words heard, Articulatory Process: Allows maintenance rehearsal
Coding & Capacity of Central Executive in WMM
Coding: Flexible
Capacity: Very Limited
Coding & Capacity of Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad in WMM
Coding: Visuo and Spatial
Capacity: 3-4 objects
Coding & Capacity of Episodic Buffer in WMM
Coding: Flexible
Capacity: 4 ‘chunks’
Coding & Capacity of Phonological Loop in WMM
Coding: Acoustic
Capacity: 2 seconds of acoustic info
Evaluation of The Working Memory Model
+ Dual task performance studies support Visuo-spatial Sketchpad
+ Word length effect supports Phonological Loop
+ Support from brain scan studies
- Lacks clarity over central executive
Evaluation of MSMM
+ Supported by research into coding, capacity and duration
- Evidence suggests STM is not just one store
- Oversimplifies STM
- Research uses artificial tasks
What is the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad divided into?
Visual Cache: stores visual data
Inner Scribe: records arrangement of objects in vision
What is the Phonological Loop divided into?
Phonological Store: stores words heard
Articulatory process: allows maintenance rehearsal
Types of LTM
Episodic - Events/Episodes from our life, time-stamped and have to make conscious effort to recall
E.g., First time driving a car
Semantic - Stores our knowledge of the world, less personal
E.g., What a car is and how it works
Procedural Memory - Stores memories for actions and skills, recall occurs without awareness or effort
E.g., How to drive a car
Evaluation of types of Long Term Memory
+ Support from case of HM - couldn’t make new semantic or episodic memories but visibly improved on procedural task
+ Brain scan studies show there’s different stores for LTM
+ Identifying diff LTM stores has real life applications
— Problems with clinical evidence, lack of control when dealing with people with brain damage
— Tulving has suggested there may only be 2 types
Forgetting: Proactive Interference
When an older memory distrusts a new one
Forgetting: Retroactive Interference
When a new memory disrupts an old one
