Coding, Capacity And Duration - Evaluation

Question 1

What are the limitations of coding?

Specifically Baddeley’s study

Answer 1

Artificial stimuli; findings not generalizable to different kinds of memory tasks

The words used lacked personal meaning for participants
- Processing meaningful info = people may use semantic coding even for STM tasks

Question 2

What else is there to add onto limitations of baddeley’s coding study?

Answer 2

Shephard found recalling meaningless pictures meant a lower recall rate

findings have limited application

Question 3

What are limitations of capacity?

Specifically Jacobs and Miller’s study?

Answer 3

Jacobs:
- study conducted a long time ago
- Early research lacked adequate control
- Paticipants may have been distracted while being tested
- Means results may not be valid
- Confounding variables (distraction) not controlled

Miller:
- may of overestimated the capacity of STM

Question 4

What did Cowan’s review suggest about the capacity of short-term memory?

As proof for the limitations of capacity

Answer 4

About 4 chunks

Cowan’s findings suggest a lower end of Miller’s original estimate.

Question 5

What are the limitations of duration?

Specifically Peterson and Peterson’s study and bahrick et al

Answer 5

Peterson and Peterson:
- Artifical stimulus material
- Memorising consonant syllabes doesnt reflect real life memory activities
- Lacks external validity

Bahrick et al:
- didnt control confounding variables such as participants looking at their yearbook regularly = memorise photos

Question 6

What was a strength of Bahrick et al.’s study?

Answer 6

High external validity

focused on meaningful memories giving higher recall rates and reflecting a more ‘real’ estimate of the duration of LTM