coding, capacity and duration

Question 1

who researched coding?

Answer 1

Baddeley (1966)

Question 2

outline Baddeley’s procedure

Answer 2

acoustically similar words ( cat, can, cab) or dissimilar (pit, few cow)
semantically similar words (big, large, huge) or dissimilar (good, huge, hot)

Question 3

what were Baddeley’s findings

Answer 3

immediate recall was worse with acoustically similar words - STM is acoustic
recall after 20 mins was worse with semantically similar words - LTM is semantic

Question 4

one strength of Baddeley’s research (coding)

Answer 4

-identified 2 memory stores
-led to the development of the multistore model

Question 5

one limitation of Baddeley’s research (coding)

Answer 5

-artificial stimuli
-words had no personal meaning to the PPs so has limited application to everyday

Question 6

who researched capacity? - digit span

Answer 6

Jacobs (1887)

Question 7

outline Jacobs research

Answer 7

researcher reads 4 words and increases until the PP cant recall the order correctly final number= digit span

Question 8

what were Jacobs findings?

Answer 8

mean span for numbers = 9.3
mean span for letters is = 7.3

Question 9

one strength of Jacobs research

Answer 9

-replicated
- findings consistent with later studies

Question 10

one limitation of Jacobs research

Answer 10

lacked adequate control of confounding variables ( pps getting distracted)

Question 11

who researched capacity? (magic number)

Answer 11

Miller (1956)

Question 12

outline Miller’s procedure

Answer 12

observed everyday practice and found things come in 7s

Question 13

what were Miller’s findings?

Answer 13

span of STM is 7 items (+-2) but can be increased by chunking

Question 14

one limitation of Miller’s study

Answer 14

-overestimates STM capacity
- Cowen (2001) - capacity is only 4 chunks

Question 15

who researched the duration of STM

Answer 15

Peterson and Peterson (1959)

Question 16

outline the Peterson’s procedure

Answer 16

24 students given a consonant syllable to recall and a 3 digit number to count back from to stop rehearsal - retention interval was varied

Question 17

what were the Peterson’s findings

Answer 17

3 secs = 80%
18 secs = 3%
duration of STM is 18 secs with no rehearsal

Question 18

one limitation of The Peterson’s study (duration)

Answer 18

-meaningless stimuli
recall of consonant syllables doesn’t reflect everyday tasks
-lacks external validity

Question 19

who researched the duration of LTM ?

Answer 19

Bahrick et al (1975)

Question 20

outline Bahrick’s procedure

Answer 20

• 392 americans aged 17-74
• 1) recognition test from 50 photos from yearbook
• 2) free recall test list names of their graduation clas

Question 21

what were Bahrick’s findings?

Answer 21

• recognition test
  15 years = 90%
  48 years = 70%
• free recall test
  15 years = 60%
  48 years = 30%

Question 22

one strength of Bahrick’s study (duration)

Answer 22

-high external validity
- used meaningful memories