Coding, capacity and duration of memory

Question 1

Coding

definition

Answer 1

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

Question 2

Research on coding

People

Answer 2

Baddeley (1966a, 1966b)

Question 3

Research on coding

Procedure and findings

Answer 3

P: lists of words to remember: acoustically/semantically similar/dissimilar
F: └STM recall (immediately) = worse with acoustically similar words
└LTM recall (after 20 minutes) =worse with semantically similar words

Question 4

Evaluation on research on coding

Answer 4

Artificial stimuli
└lists had no personal meanings to participants
└can’t generalise
└limited application

Question 5

Capacity

Definition

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Research on capacity

People

Answer 6

└Jacobs (1887)= technique to measure digit span

└Miller (1956)- observations of everyday practice/ chunking

Question 7

Research on capacity
Jacobs (1887)
Procedure and findings

Answer 7

└Jacobs (1887)= technique to measure digit span
└how many digits a person can recall correctly in order
└numbers= 9.3
└letters= 7.3

Question 8

Research on capacity
Miller (1956)
Procedure and findings

Answer 8

└Miller (1956)- observations of everyday practice
└things come in 7s- days of week, deadly sins
└capacity= 7+/-2
└people can recall 5 words as well as 5 letters- by chunking
└grouping sets of digits of letters into units or chunks

Question 9

Evaluation on research on capacity

jacobs

Answer 9

Lacking validity
Jacobs (1887)
└conducted a long time ago – less control
└confounding variables
└however has supporting research= increases validity

Question 10

Evaluation on research on capacity

miller

Answer 10

Not so many chunks 
Miller (1956)
└Miller overestimated capacity of STM
└Cowan (2001)- capacity about 4 chunks 
└=lower end of Millers estimate is more appropriate

Question 11

Duration

definition

Answer 11

The length of time information can be held in memory

Question 12

Research on duration

People

Answer 12

Petersons (1959)- duration of STM

Bahrick et al (1975)- duration of LTM

Question 13

Research on duration
duration of STM
Procedure and findings

Answer 13

Petersons (1959)
└ tested 24 undergraduate students - 8 trials
└consonant syllable/trigram to remember
└count back from random 3 digit number (to prevent rehearsal)
└stop after 3,6,9,12,15 seconds (retention interval)
└STM has short duration unless we have verbal rehearsal

Question 14

Research on duration
duration of LTM
Procedure and findings

Answer 14

Bahrick et al (1975)
└392 participants from American state of Ohio aged 17-74
└high school yearbooks- recall tested 
└photo-recognition (50 photos)
└free recall (names of graduating class)
└photo recognition
  └within 15 years of grad= 90%
  └after 48 years grad= 70%
└free recall 
  └within 15 years of grad= 60%
  └after 48 years grad= 30%
└LTM can last a long time

Question 15

Evaluation on research on duration

Petersons (1959)- duration of STM

Answer 15

Artificial stimuli
└ Petersons (1959)
└not meaningful= low external validity
└however phone numbers fairly meaningless so OK study

Question 16

Evaluation on research on duration

Bahrick et al (1975)- duration of LTM

Answer 16

Higher external validity
└ Bahrick et al (1975)
└high external validity- real life meaningful memories