**L2 - Coding, Capacity and Duration

Question 1

how does CODING work in the SENSORY REGISTER?

Answer 1

coding in the sensory register is MODALITY SPECIFIC - this means that EACH SENSORY STORE CODES INFORMATION DIFFERENTLY

Question 2

how does CODING work in STM? BADDELEY STUDY PROCEDURE

Answer 2

BADDELEY investigated coding in STM, he gave pps 4 LISTS OF WORDS TO RECALL.

List A contained words that SOUNDED SIMILAR, list B contained words that sounded DISSIMILAR. And list C contained words that had SIMILAR MEANINGS, list D had words with DISSIMILAR MEANINGS

Question 3

STM CODING - BADDELEY’s RESULTS

Answer 3

BADDELEY argues that STM is coded ACOUSTICALLY because when tested, pps PERFORMED WORSE WITH LIST A THAN B, but there was NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIST C AND D.

BADDELEY claimed that because STM ORGANISES INFORMATION ACCORDING TO HOW IT SOUNDS, similar sounding words can become confused

Question 4

LTM CODING BADDELEY

Answer 4

BADDELEY repeated this experiment to test the CODING OF LTM.

He tested pps RECALL OF THE LISTS AFTER A 20 MINUTE DELAY in order to ensure the information had PASSED INTO THE LTM.

Pps recall of list C WAS WORSE THAN RECALL OF LIST D. There was NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIST A AND B.

BADDELEY concluded that LTM IS CODED SEMANTICALLY. LTM ORGANISES INFORMATION ACCORDING TO ITS MEANING, so words with similar meaning can be confused

Question 5

+ replication (BADDELEY’s study’

Answer 5

+ BADDELEY’s study is a LABORATORY EXPERIMENT and so it is EASY TO REPLICATE as VARIABLES have been CLOSELY CONTROLLED

This means that RELIABILITY CAN BE ASSESSED

Question 6

• ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY (BADDELEY)

Answer 6

• the findings of this study have LOW ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY. The material (LISTS OF UNCONNECTED WORDS) which pps NEEDED TO RECALL, was ARTIFICIAL in the sense that it’s unlike anything we’d have to memorise in everyday life, as was the LABORATORY SETTING

Question 7

what is the capacity of the SENSORY REGISTER?

Answer 7

the capacity of the SENSORY REGISTER IS UNLIMITED

Question 8

what is the capacity of the STM? (JACOBS) - PROCEDURE

Answer 8

JACOBS used a DIGIT SPAN TEST to determine the CAPACITY OF STM.

He gave pps SEVERAL SEQUENCES OF DIGITS OR LETTERS, asking them to REPEAT EACH SEQUENCE IMMEDIATELY AFTER BEING GIVEN IT, in the CORRECT ORDER.

The sequences GOT LONGER BY ONE ITEM EACH TIME.

Question 9

what is the capacity of the STM? (JACOBS) - results + MILLER

Answer 9

JACOBS found that ON AVERAGE we can hold 9.3 DIGITS and 7.3 LETTERS.

MILLER REVIEWED PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH STUDIES and concluded that the span of STM is 7(+-)2.

If we try to recall MORE INFORMATION THAN WE HAVE CAPACITY FOR, then NEW INCOMING INFORMATION DISPLACES OLD INFORMATION.

Question 10

MILLER - how can we remember more, chunking?

Answer 10

He also found that people can RECALL FIVE WORDS AS EASILY AS FIVE LETTERS, and so CHUNKING (grouping large amounts of information into smaller groups) can help us remember more

Question 11

+ age (JACOBS)

Answer 11

+ JACOBS’ research was the first to acknowledge that STM capacity GRADUALLY IMPROVES WITH AGE

Question 12

• temporal validity (JACOBS)

Answer 12

• JACOBS study was conducted a LONG TIME AGO, so it may not have been done to the SAME SCIENTIFICALLY RIGOROUS STANDARD as research today - it may be LACKING TEMPORAL VALIDITY

Question 13

what is the CAPACITY OF THE LTM?

Answer 13

the capacity of the LTM is UNLIMITED

Question 14

what’s the DURATION OF THE SENSORY REGISTER?

Answer 14

The duration of the SENSORY REGISTER is 250 milliseconds

Question 15

what’s the DURATION OF THE STM? (PETERSON AND PETERSON) - procedure

Answer 15

PETERSON AND PETERSON used CONSONANT TRIGRAMS (random 3 consonants) to test STM DURATION.

To prevent pps keeping the information in STM using MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL they were asked to COUNT BACKWARDS FROM 100 IN 3s.

Question 16

PETERSON AND PETERSON STM DURATION - results?

Answer 16

After 3 SECONDS recall was accurate 90% OF THE TIME, after 9 SECONDS they were accurate 20% OF THE TIME, but AFTER 18 SECONDS it was ONLY ACCURATE 2% OF THE TIME

They concluded that information in STM lasts for 18-30 SECONDS WITHOUT REHEARSAL, before it’s LOST DUE TO DECAY

Question 17

+ control of variables (PETERSON AND PETERSON)

Answer 17

+ in this study, the researchers used FIXED TIMINGS for pps to count backwards from. They also ELIMINATED NOISE and OTHER FACTORS that could have had AN INFLUENCE ON MEMORY.

The research can therefore be said to have a HIGH LEVEL OF CONTROL, using STANDARDISED PROCEDURES made sure all the pps experienced the SAME PROCESS

Question 18

• interference (PETERSON AND PETERSON)

Answer 18

• a weakness of PETERSON AND PETERSON’s study is that the FINDINGS MAY HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY INTERFERENCE rather than by STM HAVING A SHORT DURATION.

It’s possible that EARLIER LEARNT TRIGRAMS BECAME CONFUSED WITH LATER ONES

Question 19

LTM DURATION - BAHRICK PROCEDURE

Answer 19

BAHRICK tested 400 PEOPLE OF VARIOUS AGES (17-74) on the MEMORY OF THEIR CLASSMATES. A PHOTO RECOGNITION TEST consisted of pps being shown 50 PHOTOS and deciding if they BELONGED TO THEIR CLASSMATES OR NOT.

In a FREE RECALL TEST, pps were asked to LIST THE NAMES they could REMEMBER from their GRADUATING CLASS WITHOUT ANY CUES.

Question 20

LTM DURATION - BAHRICK RESULTS

Answer 20

They found 90% ACCURACY AT IDENTIFYING FACES OF SCHOOL FRIENDS within 15 YEARS OF LEAVING SCHOOL. AFTER 48 YEARS this DECLINED TO 70%.

FREE RECALL of NAMES OF CLASSMATES was 60% ACCURATE WITHIN 15 YEARS OF LEAVING SCHOOL, DROPPING TO 30% AFTER 48 YEARS.

BAHRICK ET AL concluded that DURATION OF LTM is POTENTIALLY A LIFETIME but sometimes we have RETRIEVAL FAILURE and NEED RETRIEVAL CUES in order to ACCESS THIS INFORMATION

Question 21

+ ecological validity (BAHRICK)

Answer 21

+ this study has HIGHER ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY than PETERSON AND PETERSON’s study as the material used was MORE MEANINGFUL AND RELEVANT TO EVERYDAY LIFE

Question 22

• extraneous variables (BAHRICK)

Answer 22

• the influence of EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES may have had a PROFOUND IMPACT on the results of this study as they were NOT CONTROLLED.

For example some people might have STAYED IN TOUCH AFTER THEY LEFT SCHOOL or some pps may have LOOKED AT THEIR YEARBOOKS SINCE LEAVING and refreshed their memories which would’ve IMRPOVED THEIR RECALL