Memory Flashcards
(117 cards)
Who was the multi-store model of memory (MSM) proposed by + draw it
Atkinson & Shiffrin
What are the 3 stores of the MSM
- Sensory registor
- STM
- LTM
~ distinct, separate, unitary stores
What is the sensory register
where all sensory information from environment passes into or is held, body detects:
Eyes for sight -> Iconic
Ears for sounds -> Echoic
Nose for smell -> Olfactory
Tongue for taste -> Gustatory
Skin for touch/pressure -> Haptic
Define capacity
how much information can be held in a memory store
Define duration
a measure of how long memory lasts before it is no longer available
Define coding
the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores
Define chunking
grouping info into smaller units/chunks to aid recall + increase capacity of STM
What is the capacity, coding and duration for Sensory Memory
CAPACITY = very high
CODING = modality specific
DURATION = >millisecond
What is the capacity, coding and duration for STM
CAPACITY = 7 +/- 2
CODING = Acoustic (sound of word)
DURATION = 18-30 sec
What is the capacity, coding and duration for LTM
CAPACITY = Semantic (meaning of word)
CODING = unlimited ∞
DURATION = unlimited ∞
name the experimenters that found duration for STM + LTM
STM = Peterson + Peterson
LTM = Bahrick et al
STM experiment for duration (SAMPLE + PROCEDURE)
Peterson + Peterson
* Lab exp. * 24 pps (psych undergrad students)
~ presented 1 at a time, trigrams recalled after intervals of 3,6,9,12,15,18 secs (no 2 successive trigrams contained any of the same letters)
~ After hearing trigram, pps was asked to count backwards in 3’s outloud from a specified digit number until they saw a red light, then recalled trigram
~ aimed to prevent rehearsal
STM experiment for duration (RESULTS)
~ Longer the interval, the less they were able to recall trigrams accurately
3 seconds = 80%
6 seconds = 50%
18 seconds = 10%
… of trigrams recalled correctly
Weakness of STM duration Peterson exp (3)
- sample too small, culture, age bias
- sample bias as students where psych undergrads so demand charscteristics
- artificial task, lacks mundane realism, ecological valitdity
HOWEVER: we do remember irrelevant meaningless stimuli e.g. phone number
LTM experiment for duration (PROCEDURE)
Bahrick
* studied 392 pps from Ohio US. * 17-74 age
1. Photo recognition -> 50 photos some from pps school yr book
2. Free recall -> pps recalled names of their graduating yr book
LTM experiment for duration (RESULTS)
tested within 15 years after graduation
- photo recognition: 90% accurate
- free recall: 60%
48 years after graduation
- photo recognition: 70%
- free recall: 30%
Coding of memory experiment (Procedure)
Baddely (Lab study)
Gave pps diff lists of words to 4 groups to remember
- Group 1: acoustically similar list = cab, can, cat
- Group 2: acoustically dissimilar = pit, cow, tie
- Group 3: semantically similar = huge, vast, big
- Group 4: semantically dissimilar = good, hot, large
recall immediately after, and again after 20 minutes.
Coding of memory experiment (Results)
immediate recall - difficulty remembering/ poor recall with acoustically similar words, sounded similar so confused/distorted in the STM
therefore STM is coded acoustically
delayed recall - difficulty remembering semantically similar words, have similar meaning were competing for space in LT, became distorted
therefore LTM is coded semantically
information that uses the same coding method as a memory store becomes muddled in our brain!
STM capacity experiment (Procedure)
Jacobs *digit span test
~ pps given sequence of numbers/letters, asked to recall immediately, additional digit added onto each sequence
e.g. 0879, 79589, 673543,…
STM capacity experiment (Results)
- average span for digits: 9.3 items
- average span for letters: 7.3 items
What is Millers magic number
7 +/- 2
STM holds between 5-9 pieces of info
Evaluation of research into STM (3)
- lack mundane realism, used artificial stimuli e.g. Baddely -> pps given random world list, processing memory is more complex cant generalise findings
- lacks validity digit span test conducted many yrs ago before there were robust experimental procedures, so not all variables properly controlled
- Confounding variables, inteligance, personality, tiredness level can effect results
limitation of Miller’s research
- overestimated capacity of STM:
Cowan -> reviewed other research + concluded that capacity of STM was only 4 chunks, contradictory as lower end of Millers estimate (5 items) more appropriate than 7 items
Strength of Bahrick
+ high external validity, studied real life meaningful memories in natural environment (no researcher controls/manipulation) ~ conclusions are valid + strengthens acceptance of findings