coding,capacity,duration in LTM Flashcards
How is information coded in LTM?
Semantically
What is the capacity of LTM?
Unlimited
What is the duration of LTM?
A lifetime
Who studied coding in LTM?
Baddeley
What aspect of LTM did Baddeley (1966) study?
Coding in LTM
What was the procedure of Baddelely (1966)’s study of LTM?
4 groups of participants were given different word lists to remember
-Group 1: acoustically similar
-Group 2: acoustically dissimilar
-Group 3: semantically similar
-Group 4: semantically dissimilar
-The groups were then asked to recall the words from the list in the correct order after a 20 minute interval
How many groups were there in Baddeley (1966)’s study of LTM?
4
What were the findings of Baddeley (1966)’s study? What did this suggest about LTM?
-On average, they did worse with the semantically similar words, suggesting that LTM codes semantically.
How long did Baddeley wait before asking his participants to recall their word lists when testing LTM? Why?
-20 minutes
-so that info would defo be recalled from LTM
Who studied duration in LTM?
Bahrick et al (1975)
What aspect of LTM did Bahrick et al (1975) study?
Duration of LTM
Who studied the duration of LTM?
Bahrick et al (1975)
What was the procedure of Bahrick et al (1975)’s study
+392 American participants age 17-74 were studied
-High school yearbooks obtained and used to test recall of participants in various ways:
-A Photo recognition test using 50 photos
-A free recall test where participants recalled all names of their graduating class
What were the findings of Bahrick et al (1975)’s study?
-Overall performance was better in photo recognition than free recall
-Accuracy for those tested within 15 years of graduating- 60% free recall, 90% photo recognition
-Accuracy for those tested 48+ years after graduating- 30% free recall, 70% photo recognition
-Suggests that LTM can have the duration of a lifetime for some material
What is a strength for Coding,Capacity and Duration in LTM?
-Bahrick et al’s study has high external validity
Explain the strength that Bahrick et al’s study has high internal validity?
-This is because the research is investigated, meaningful memories such as the names and faces of people from the past or went to high school with
-when studies on LTM were conducted with meaningless pictures to remembered, the recall rates were lower
-This suggests that Bahrick et al’s findings reflect a more accurate estimate for the duration of LTM
What is a limitation of coding, capacity and duration in LTM?
-Baddeley’s study used artificial rather than meaningful material
Explain the limitation that Baddeley’s study used artificial rather than meaningful material?
-For example, the word lists had no personal meaning to participants.
-This means that Baddeley’s findings may not tell us as much about coding in different kinds of memory tasks, especially in every day life
-when processing more meaningful information, people may use semantic code in even for STM tasks
-This suggests that the findings from the study have a limited application.
