Capacity Flashcards
what is capacity?
the amount of information that can be held in a memory store.
who investigated capacity?
George miller, Joseph jacobs
what was the aim of Jacobs study?
to find the capacity go memory through digit span
what was the procedure of Jacobs study?
the researcher read out 4 digits and the ppt recalled these out loud in the correct order. If it was correct, the researcher read out 5 digits and so on until the ppt can’t recall the order correctly. this indicated the individuals digit span
what were the findings of jacob’s study?
the mean span for digits across pps was 9.3. The mean span for letters was 7.3
what is a strength of jacobs study?
jacob’s study has been successfully replicated. As the study is old, research lacked adequate control. However the findings have been confirmed by newer, better controlled studies. The study is a valid test of digit span in STM
what was the aim of Millers study?
to find the capacity of memory
what was the procedure of millers study?
miller made observations of everyday practice. He noted that things come in sevens, days of the week, 7 deadly sins etc.
what were the findings of millers study?
thought the span of STM is around 7 items, plus or minus 2. He also noted that people can recall 5 words as easily as they can recall 5 letters. We do this by chunking- grouping sets of digits or letters into units
what is a limitation of millers study?
miller may have overestimated STM capacity. Other studies have concluded that the STM capacity only has 4 chunks (plus or minus one). this suggests that the lower end of millers estimate (5) is more appropriate than 7
