capacity Flashcards
what is meant by capacity in memory?
the amount of information that can be held in a memory store
what is the capacity of STM?
7 +/- 2 digits
what is the capacity of LTM?
unlimited
Jacobs - digit span technique
reveal 4 numbers to ppt and asked them to recall. everytime they were correct another number was added until they recalled incorrectly, which was their digit span. mean number capacity 9.3, mean letter capacity 7.3
Miller - magic number
noticed many things are presented in 7s, e.g. days of the week, concluded that STM was likely to have a capacity of 7 +/- 2 digits
what is chunking?
grouping sets of digits or letters into chunks in an attempt to remember them better
+AO3 - high validity
jacobs study has been replicated, even though his findings are outdated more recent studies (higher control) have supported his findings and conclusions.
-Ao3 - overestimated (Cowan)
Cowan reviewed other research and concluded that the capacity of STM is only 4+/- 1 chunks
-AO3 - outdated
Jacobs study is very outdated, early studies had very low levels of control, confounding variables could have affected the results of the study.