Coding, Capacity And Duration Of Memory Flashcards
1
Q
What is Coding?
A
- Format which information is stored in various memory stores.
2
Q
Baddeley’s Research on Coding Procedure
A
- Gave different lists of words to four groups of participants to remember.
- Group 1: acoustically similar
- Group 2: acoustically similar
- Group 3: semantically similar (meanings)
- Group 4: semantically dissimilar
3
Q
Baddeley’s Research on Coding Findings for short term memory
A
- When asked to recall straight away, group 1 had worst recall. Suggests that information is coded acoustically in the Short Term Memory Store.
4
Q
Baddeley’s Research on Coding Findings for Long Term Memory
A
- When asked to recall after 20 minutes , group 3 had worst recall. This suggests that encoded semantically in the Long Term Memory.
5
Q
Evaluation of Research into Coding - evidence from lab studies
A
- Research is often conducted in controlled lab conditions.
- Baddeley’s study allowed for manipulation of the type of words presented to participants and allowed for control of extraneous variables such as noise level and distance sat from screen.
- Strength - can be confident that coding in STM is acoustic and semantic in LTM. High internal validity as we can ensure that IV caused DV.
6
Q
Evaluation of Research into Coding - may not have tested LTM
A
- Not clear how long we need to wait to test the LTM.
- Baddeley tested STM by asking participants to recall a word list immediately and LTM was tested by waiting 20 minutes.
- Should have waited longer to measure long term memory as there are much longer gaps between learning and recall in real life.
- Weakness - questions whether the coding of the LTM is actually semantic.
7
Q
What is Capacity?
A
- Amount of information that can be held in a memory store.
8
Q
Jacobs Research into capacity procedure
A
- Measure digit span.
- Research gives for example 4 digits and then the participants are asked to recall these in the correct order.
- If correct then the researcher reads out 5 digits and so on until the participants can not recall the order correctly.
- Determines the individuals digit span.
9
Q
Jacobs Research into Capacity Findings
A
- Found average digit span of 9.3 for numbers and 7.3 for letters.
- Found that 8 year olds could recall an average of 7 digits whereas by the age of 19 had increased to 9 digits. Study provided evidence that the capacity of the STM is between 5-9 items.
10
Q
Wagenaars study into the capacity of LTM
A
- Created a diary of 2,400 events over 6 years and tested himself on recall of events rather than dates.
- Found he had excellent recall, suggesting capacity of LTM is extremely large.
11
Q
Evaluation of research into capacity - individual differences
A
- Effects of age are acknowledged.
- Jacobs tested individuals of ranging ages and found that digit span increases with age as memory becomes more complex.
- Strength- suggests that the estimate of the capacity of the STM accounts for people of all ages.
12
Q
Evaluation of research into capacity - case studies
A
- Results are often based on case studies.
- Wagenaar used his own memories in order to measure his long term memory.
- Not only are the memories not representative of the general population but also subjective.
- Weakness - lacks population validity and may be difficult to apply to others.
13
Q
What is Duration?
A
- Length of time information can be held in memory.
14
Q
Peterson and Peterson’s research into duration of short term memory
A
- Tested 24 students who took part in 8 trials.
- On each trial students was given a nonsense trigram to remember and was also given a 3 digit number.
- Student had to count backwards from the 3 digit number until told to stop. - prevent mental rehearsal.
- On each trial there were told to stop after a different amount of time. - retention interval.
- As time increased participants found it harder to remember the trigrams.
- STM may have a very short duration unless there is verbal rehearsal.
15
Q
Bahrick et al’s research into duration of LTM
A
- Investigated very long term memory.
- Studied 392 participants from Ohio aged between 17 and 74.
- Participants high school year books were obtained from the participants or from their school.
1 . Photo recognition test - name as many of the individuals as you can from 50 year book photos.
2. Free recall test - recall all names in yearbook without any clues. - Found that photo recognition was 90% after 15 years and 70% accurate after 48 years.
- Free recall was 60% accurate after 15 years and 30% accurate after 48 years.
- Suggests that LTM has long duration, even longer with appropriate cues.
