Coding,capacity And Duration Flashcards
What is meant by duration of memory
The length of time information can be stored in memory
What is meant by capacity of memory
The amount of information that can be stored in memory
What is meant by coding of memory
Memory encoding is a process by which the sensory information is modified and stored in the brain. The most common forms are visual,acoustic and semantic
What are the differant types of memory store
Sensory register: initial contact with the stimuli
Short term memory: the information we are currently aware of or thinking about
Long term memory: continual storage of information which is largely outside our awareness
What is the capacity of sensory memory
Very large capacity
What is the capacity of STM
Limited between 7 plus or minus 2
What is the capacity of the LTM
Potentially unlimited
How is STM assessed
Digit span task- when someone says numbers and the other person has to recite them back as the order increases
What did Jacob’s research find of capacity
He found the average span for numbers is 9.3 items
Fir letters the average decreased to 7.3 items
What did Millers research find on capacity
We are good at remembering 5-9 items (7+/-2) he also found that people could recall 7 dots, 7 letters and 7 musical notes
What did Miller suggest about chunking
Our ability to remeber things can be increased if we chunk items together.
If we find links between things and group them together we are more likely to remember them more
Limitations to millers study
-He may have o ver-estimated the capacity of the STM
He didn’t specify the size of the chunk
Limitations of research into capacity
-there are individual differances which affect the capacity of the STM
-findings lack ecological validity as research is often carried out in an artificial setting
What is the duration of memory in the sensory store
Less than one second
What is the duration of the STM
Aprox. 18-30 seconds (this comes from the Bahrick study)
What is the duration of the LTM
Potentially infinite
What was the procedure of Peterson and Peterson study
On each of the 8 trials p’s were given a consonant trigrams and a three digit number. They were asked to recall the consonant syllable after intervals of 3,6,9,12,15 or 18 second. To prevent rehearsal p’s were asked to count back from their 3 digit number
Findings of Peterson and Peterson
3 seconds- 80% successful recall
9 seconds- 20% recall
18 seconds- less than 10% successful recall
Procedure of Bahrick et al
Tested photo recognition of free name recall from the participants high school year book
Findings of Bahrick et al - photo recognition
photo recognition-revision
Participants tested within 15 years were 90% accurate and after 48 yearsrecall declined to 70%
Findings of Bahrick et al - free recall
After 15 years - 60% accurate
After 48 years - 38% accurate
Limitations of P&P study
- it may not have been measuring trace decay and instead displacement lowering construct validity
-lacks ecological validity
Strengths of Bahricks study
Higher ecological validity than P&Ps research into duration
How is information encoded in the SS
Modality specific (encoded in the same way it goes in)
What is coding
The language the brain uses to take in information
How is information encoded in the STM
Acoustically
How is information encoded in the LTM
Semantically- meaning
What is modality
Type of information e.g. auditory
What was the procedure of Baddeley (1966)
Participants were shown a list of words and asked to recall them in the correct order
Findings of Baddeley (1966)
Participants had difficulty remembering acoustically similar words when tested immediately but after 20 mins they had no difficulty
Participants had difficulty remembering semantically similar words after 20 mins but no difficulty when tested immediately
Strengths of Baddeleys study
Shows there are separate and distinct memory stores
Limitations of Baddleys studys findings on encoding
There is contradictory research evidence - Brandimote et al (1992) and Nelson and Rothbart (1972)
Limitations of Baddleys research
-lack ecological validity as 5he research was carried out in a lab setting therefore cannot be generalised to the real world
