LTM research Flashcards
What did Wagendar (1986) create to study LTM capacity?
A diary of 2400 events over 6 years to test recall of events.
What aspects did Wagendar use to record events?
What was it, who was involved, where and when it happened.
What was the finding of Wagendar’s study on LTM capacity?
He found he had an excellent recall of the events, proving LTM capacity is very large.
What was the focus of Bahrick’s study on LTM?
The duration of LTM, tested on nearly 400 participants aged 17-74 regarding their memory of school.
What types of tests were included in Bahrick’s study?
1) A photo recognition test 2) Free recall test naming ex-classmates without a photo.
What were the findings of the photo recognition test in Bahrick’s study?
Participants tested within 15 years of graduation were about 90% accurate; after 48 years, this declined to 70%.
How accurate was the free recall test in Bahrick’s study?
After 15 years, it was about 60% accurate, which declined to 30% after 48 years.
What is a final weakness of research into capacity?
Results are often based on case studies.
For example, Wagenaar used his own memories in order to measure his long-term memory.
Why is the use of case studies considered a weakness?
Memories are not representative of the general population and are subjective.
This lack of population validity makes it difficult to apply findings to others.
What is a strength of research into duration?
Some studies use meaningful memories as stimuli.
What did Bahrick ask participants to recall?
Yearbook photos of people they saw and went to school with.
Why is using meaningful memories considered a strength?
It suggests the study has high ecological validity., can be generalised.
