Memory Flashcards
(52 cards)
Memory is the process of… and a memory is…
Memory is the process of retaining information over time and a memory is a piece of information we retain and remember
What is coding?
Coding is the format a memory is stored in the memory stores
What is capacity?
Capacity is the amount of information that can be held in the memory stores
What is duration?
Duration is the length of time information can be held in the memory stores
What is memory encoding?
Memory encoding is the process of transforming information to put into memory
What is memory storage?
The process of maintaining information in our minds
What is memory retrieval?
The process of taking information out of a memory store
Memory recall is when…
Memory recall is, a type of retrieval, when we re-access a memory without being reminded of it first
Memory recognition is when…
Memory recognition, is a type of retrieval, when we re-access a memory after being reminded of it
What is sensory coding? Give examples.
Sensory coding is information that is stored in the format of one of the five senses, such as acoustic or iconic stores
What is semantic coding?
Semantic coding is information that is stored in a format based on its meaning or facts
What is the sensory register?
The sensory register stores all sensory information while we process it. It uses a sensory code, duration is 1-2 sec and it’s capacity is very large
What is evidence for the existence of the sensory register?
Sperling conducted a laboratory experiment investigating the capacity of the sensory register. He had two conditions; One saw a 4x3 grid flat on a screen for 50 milliseconds and had to recall as many letters as possible, the other saw the same grid but only had to recall one row depending on a sound that played after the grid appeared
What did Sperling’s experiment find?
Sperling found evidence that the sensory register has a very large capacity and a very short duration, as his participants could only recall 4-5 letters from the whole grid yet around 3 when asked to just recall one row. This is because condition1 would forget the letters before they finished recalling them, and condition 2 only had to recall 4 letters total
What is short-term memory?
Short term memory retains information we need for an ongoing task. The coding is mainly acoustic, it has a limited duration of 18-30 seconds and a limited capacity of 7 (+/- 2) pieces of information
What evidence is there on the capacity short-term memory?
Both Jacobs’ and Miller’s studies provide evidence on the capacity of short term memory
What did Jacobs find in his study?
Jacobs’ study found that the capacity of short term memory is limited, as his participants were shown strings of letters/numbers, and then asked to repeat them back in order, on average they could only recall 7 (+/- 2)
What did Miller find in his study?
Miller’s study found that the capacity of short term memory was in fact around 7 (+/- 2) chunks of information, as if we group certain letters/digits together Into something more meaningful it is easier to recall
What is long-term memory?
Long term memory is a permanent memory store. It uses a semantic code, and has as very large capacity and a duration which could potentially last a lifetime.
What evidence is there on the duration of long-term memory?
Bahrick studied students once they left school, testing their memory recall by having them list classmates names and recognition by giving them pictures as cues at 15 years and then 48 years later
What did Bahrick’s study find?
Bahrick found that memory recall after 15 years was 60% and memory recognition was 90% then after 48 years, recall was at 30% and recognition at 80% From this we can conclude that the duration of long term memory is very long and that are ability to retrieve information is better when we recognise it rather than recall it
What are some evaluation of Bahrick’s study?
A strength is that his study has high ecological validity, because the participants were recalling more meaningful information it can generalise to wider society.
A weakness is that Bahrick was unable to control all extraneous variables, such as how often the students saw certain classmates over the years.
What study provided evidence for the coding of different memory stores?
Baddeley Had four separate conditions each given a list of words, which tested both long and short term memory.
Condition 1- acoustically similar
Condition 2- acoustically dissimilar
Condition 3- semantically similar
Condition4 semantically dissimilar
What did Baddeley’s study find?
STM recall tended to do worse with acoustically similar words, suggesting its coding is mainly acoustic.
LTM recall tended to do worse with semantically similar words, suggesting its coding is semantic.
