Coding, Capacity And Duration

Question 1

Definition of Coding

Answer 1

The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores

Question 2

Research on coding- Baddeley groups

Answer 2

• group 1 (acoustically similar)
• group 2 (acoustically dissimilar)
• group 3 (semantically similar)
• group 4 (semantically dissimilar)

Question 3

How is the STM encoded

Answer 3

Acoustically

Question 4

How is the LTM encoded

Answer 4

Semantically

Question 5

Evaluation points for coding- Separate memory stores

Answer 5

STRENGTH

Identified STM and LTM, supporting multi-store model

Question 6

Evaluation points for coding- Artificial stimuli

Answer 6

LIMITATION

Word lists had no personal meaning

Question 7

Definition of Capacity

Answer 7

The amount of information that can be held in a memory store

Question 8

Research on capacity (digit span)- Jacobs

Answer 8

• researcher reads out 4 digits and the participants recalls these out loud in the correct order
• if this is correct the researcher reads out 5 digits and so on until the participant cant recall the order correctly
• individuals digit span
• digits= 9.3
• letters= 7.3

Question 9

Chunking

Answer 9

Grouping sets of digits or letters into units or chunks

Question 10

Research on capacity (span of memory and chunking)- Miller

Answer 10

• Observations of everyday practice
• He noted things come in 7s
• Capacity of STM is 7 items +/- 2
• Chunking

Question 11

Evaluation points for capacity- Valid study

Answer 11

STRENGTH

Later studies replicated findings (Bopp and Verhaeghen), so valid test of digit span

Question 12

Evaluation points for capacity- Not so many chunks

Answer 12

LIMITATION

Miller overestimated STM, only 4 chunks (Cowan)

Question 13

Definition of Duration

Answer 13

The length of time information can be held in memory

Question 14

Research on duration (STM)- Peterson and Peterson

Answer 14

• 24 students in 8 trials each
• on each trial the student was given a consonant syllable
• also given a 3 digit number
• counted backwards from 3 digit number until told to stop to prevent mental rehearsal
• on each trial they were told top stop after varying periods of time 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 seconds
• after 3 sec average recall was 80%
• after 18 sec it was 3%

Question 15

What is the duration of STM

Answer 15

18 seconds

Question 16

Research on duration (LTM)- Bahrick

Answer 16

• 392 american participants aged 17-74
• used high school yearbooks
• recall was tested in various ways
  1) photo-recognition test consisting of 50 photos, some from participants high school yearbooks
  2) free recall test- participants recalled all the names of their graduating class
• participants tested within 15 years of graduation were about 90% accurate in photo recognition
• after 48 years recall declined to about 70% for photo recognition
• free recall was less accurate
• about 60% after 15 years
• dropping to 30% after 48 years

Question 17

What is the duration for LTM

Answer 17

Lifetime

Question 18

Evaluation points for duration- High external validity

Answer 18

STRENGTH

Bahrick used meaningful materials, better recall than studies with meaningless stimuli (Sheard)

Question 19

Evaluation points for duration- Meaningless stimuli in STM study

Answer 19

LIMITATION

Petersons used constant syllables = lack external validity