2. Coding, Capacity And Duration AO3 Flashcards
Name a limitation of Baddeley’s research
- Used artificial stimulus not meaningful information
- Study had no personal meaning to participants
- Limited application
- Caution when generalising to different memory tasks
Explain the effect of meaningful information on coding
When processing more meaningful info people may used semantic coding even for STM tasks
Name a limitation of Jacobs study
- The research was conducted a very long time ago
- Early research often lacks adequate control of extraneous variables
- Results may not be valid if variables weren’t controlled
Give an example of a potential extraneous variable in Jacobs’ study
If participant was distracted they may not have performed as well
Name a strength of Jacobs research
Results have been confirmed by other studies supporting its validity
Name a limitation of Miller’s research
- He may have overestimated the capacity of STM
Explain a study that challenges Miller’s research
Researcher reviewed other research - concluded capacity of STM was about 4 chunks - suggests lower end of Miller’s estimate is more appropriate than 7 items
Name a limitation of Peterson and Peterson’s research
- Artificial stimulus
- Memorising consonant syllables doesn’t reflect real life memory activities
- Not meaningful
- Study could lack external validity
Explain a counter argument for Peterson and Peterson’s research being meaningless
We do sometimes remember meaningless things such as phone numbers - study isn’t totally irrelevant
Name a strength of Bahrick’s study
- High externals validity
- Real life, meaningful memories (e.g. People’s faces)
- When lab studies were done with meaningless pictures - recall rates were lower.
Name a counter argument for Bahrick’s study having high external validity
Downside of real life research:
- Confounding variables aren’t controlled
- E.g. Bahrick’s participants may have looked at yearbook over the years - rehearsed memories
