Duration of LTM - Bahrick (1975)

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

To examine how long information can remain in the LTM.

Question 2

Procedure

Answer 2

• Sample of 392 American university students ranging from 17-74 years.
• Participants were asked to either bring in their yearbooks or their yearbooks were taken directly from their school.
• Participants were then placed into 2 conditions:
  1) Free recall - name every student you went to school with.
  2) Photo recognition - name the students in 50 pictures.

Question 3

Findings

Answer 3

Free recall
1) If graduated within 15 years - 60% accuracy
2) If graduated within 48 years - 30% accuracy

Photo recognition
1) If graduated within 15 years - 90% accurate recall
2) If graduated within 48 years - 70% accurate recall

Question 4

Conclusion

Answer 4

Memories remain in the LTM for at least 48 years, perhaps a lifetime.

Question 5

Strength

Answer 5

• High levels of ecological validity as the study used real life memories.
• Can be applied to everyday human memory.

Question 6

Weakness

Answer 6

• Difficult to determine whether LTM becomes less accurate overtime due to a limited duration or age.
• This is important because psychologists are unable to determine whether our LTM has an unlimited duration (like the multi-store model suggests), which is affected by other factors, such as getting old, or whether our LTM has a limited duration.

Question 7

Weakness

Answer 7

• Sample of 392 American university students.
• Good sample size but inapplicable to other aspects of the population, such as Europeans.