Memory (easy) Flashcards
(62 cards)
Name all the sub topics in this topic
Coding, capacity, duration of memory
The MSM of memory
Types of long-term memory
The WMM
Explanations for forgetting:
1)Interference
2)Retrieval failure
Factors affecting accuracy of EWT:
1)Misleading information
2)Anxiety
Improving the accuracy of EWT:
1)Cognitive interviews
What does Coding mean?
The format in which info is stored in the various memory stores
What does Capacity mean?
The amount of info that can be held in a memory store at a given time
What does Duration mean?
How much time information can be held in a memory store
What is Short Term Memory (STM) and what are it’s properties?
The limited capacity memory store
Coding is mainly acoustic
Capacity is between 5-9 items
Duration is between 18-30 seconds
What is Long Term Memory (LTM)?
The permanent memory store
Coding is mainly semantic
Unlimited Capacity
Unlimited store of memories
What are the Research Studies for Short Term Memory?
Baddeley- Coding
Jacob/Miller - Capacity
Peterson and Peterson - Duration
What are the Research Studies for Long Term Memory?
Baddeley - Coding
Duration - Bahrick
Describe Baddeley’s study. (Aims, Procedure, Findings, Conclusions)
Aims- Assess whether coding in STM was mainly semantic or acoustic
Procedure - word lists like cat, mat. 4 sets of word lists - acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar, semantically dissimilar.
Participants had to recall order of word lists. Done immediately to assess STM, 20 min after to assess LTM
Findings - Ppts given list of acoustically similar words had worst recall. Confused similar sounds word. Ppts given list of semantically similar words had worst recall.
Conclusion - Poor recall showed words were confused.
immediate recall -> acoustically sounding words weren’t remembered well.
Suggests STM is acoustically coded, people remembered other lists fine. For delayed recall, semantically sound words weren’t remembered well. LTM is semantically coded
Describe Jacobs (1887) Study
Aims- Research capacity of STM
Procedure - Developed technique to measure digit span - how many items an individual can remember in sequence and repeat in order
Findings - Found mean span for digit was 9.3 items. For letters it was 7.3
Conclusion - Memory can hold 7-9 items
Describe Miller (1956) study.
Aim - Research capacity of STM
Procedure - Saw things came in sevens (days of week). Chunked items into groups
Findings - Found people could recall 5 words, and 5 letters
Conclusion - Used term ‘magical number 7’ to describe capacity
Describe Peterson and Peterson (1956) study.
Aim - Research duration of STM
Procedure - 24 students did 8 trials and were given consonant syllable (BNT) and a three-digit number and asked to count back down to stop rehearsal
Findings - STM lasts 18s after this hard to recall
Conclusion - STM has a very short duration, unless rehearsed
Describe Bahrick (1975) study.
Aim - Research duration of LTM
Procedure - Tested recall of people participants had gone to school with using photo recognition and free recall
Findings - 90% accuracy for photo recog with people who graduated in 15 years and 60% accuracy for free recall. After 48 years, photo recog = 70% and free recall 30%
Conclusion - LTM lasts a long time
Baddeley AO3
What is a strength and limitation into coding research?
-ve
Baddeley’s study didn’t have any meaningful material
Words had no personal meaning
When info is meaningful people will use semantic coding even in STM
+ve
clear diff between 2 memory stores
STM acoustic, LTM semantic. Led to MSM
What is a strength and limitation of capacity?
-ve Miller (oversimplified)
Cowan (2001) reviewed other research and said that capacity of STM was only 4 chunks lower than 5-9 itms
Accepted capacity of STM = inaccurate
+ve
Jacobs study has been replicated. Better controlled studies with no confounding variables confirmed findings
What is a Limitation of research on duration?(STM)
Peterson (artificial)
artificial stimuli
YCG doesn’t represent real life
Lacks external validity
What is a Limitation and Strength of LTM duration research?
Bahrick = high external validity
Used memories of real life
Real life is more accurately representative
Confounding var not controlled - may have looked at photos before experiment
Who proposed the MSM of Memory?
Atkinson and Shiffrin
What three stores make up MSM?
SR, STM, LTM
What is the Multi Store Model of Memory?
A representation of how memory works in terms of three stores; sensory register, STM and LTM.
Describes how info is transferred from one store to another, how it’s remembered and how its forgotten.
What does Sensory Register mean (SR)?
stimuli from surroundings -> SR
compromises several registers, one for each 5 senses.
Coding = modality specific
visual info= iconic memory
acoustically = echoic
duration= brief, less than 1/2 second.
SR has high capacity
info passes further when there is attention.
Draw the MSM of memory
look in book for answer
What does iconic store mean?
Vision
What does echoic store mean?
Hearing