lesson 2: duration and coding of memory

Question 1

duration of memory definition

Answer 1

how long memory stores hold information for

Question 2

Brown,1958: Peterson & Peterson,1959
PROCEDURE

Answer 2

aim, duration of STM and effects of preventing rehearsal
shown triagrams of consonants
count backwards in 3s from given number
after intervals of 3,6,9,12,15,18 seconds asked to recall original triagram

Question 3

Brown,1958: Peterson & Peterson,1959
FINDINGS

Answer 3

after 3 seconds 80% trigrams recalled
after 6 seconds 50% recalled
after 18 seconds under 10% recalled
Brown Peterson effect= information is lost quickly without rehearsal
duration of STM = 18-30 seconds

Question 4

Brown,1958: Peterson & Peterson,1959
EVALUATION

Answer 4

+practical applications, methods to improve memory, improve lives
+highly controlled, in laboratories extraneous variables are controlled, reliable/ valid findings
+ supports theory of 2 memory stores, counting backwards stops rehearsal and passing to LTM, important contributions to memory understanding
- ecological validity and mundane realism, not realistic task, hard to generalise findings to apply to other situations

Question 5

Bahrick et al, Year book photos, 1975
PROCEDURE

Answer 5

aim, measure duration of LTM with real life information
400 Pp, different ages, asked to:
free recall names of class mates
photo recognition
name recognition
name and photo matching

Question 6

Bahrick et al, Year book photos, 1975
FINDINGS

Answer 6

after 34 years Pp could remember up to 90% of their classmates
after 48 years, 70%
free recall, less accurate 60% after 15 years
30% after 48 years
LTM= potential to last a life time
people have very long accurate long term memories

Question 7

Bahrick et al, Year book photos, 1975
EVALUATION

Answer 7

+ mundane realism, name recall is an everyday task, possible to generalise and apply to other situations
+ highly controlled, lab= controlled variables, reliable findings
+ support two memory store theory, recalling names from LTM has a very long duration, good understanding of how human memory works

Question 8

duration and research of memory stores

Answer 8

STM:
d= 18-30 seconds, Brown’s, Peterson & Peterson trigrams
LTM:
d= potential to last a lifetime, Bahrick year book

Question 9

En/coding memory definition

Answer 9

the way information i changed from entering from sense so it can be stored in memory as visual, acoustic, semantic codes

Question 10

Baddeley, Acoustic us semantic encoding, 1966
PROCEDURE

Answer 10

aim, effect of acoustic and semantic coding in STM and LTM
immediately recall list of five words in serial order from group of words that are:
acoustically similar= man, map, mad
acoustically dissimilar= pen, day, few
semantically similar= great, big, large
semantically dissimilar= hot, old, late
in LTM list extended to 10 words and tested after 20 minutes

Question 11

Baddeley, Acoustic us semantic encoding, 1966
FINDINGS

Answer 11

words sounding similar are harder to recall
meaning had little effect on STM
LTM recall of semantically similar words was much worse than dissimilar ones
recall was the same for acoustically similar and dissimilar words
STM= acoustic encoding
LTM= semantic encoding

Question 12

Baddeley, Acoustic us semantic encoding, 1966
EVALUATION

Answer 12

• may not have been testing LTM after 20 minutes
• STM not exclusively acoustic, Pp had a visual task and verbal rehearsal prevented, could use visual codes to recall

Question 13

types of encoding and research for different memory stores

Answer 13

STM= acoustic, Baddeley
LTM= semantic, Baddeley