Memory 1 Flashcards
Free recall tests
Reproducing material from memory in an unconstrained way
Cued recall tests
Reproducing a specific item from memory when provided with a specific cue
Recognition tests
Deciding whether you have seen something previously when it is presented to you again
What is an implicit memory test?
Participant doesn’t know their memory is being tested
What is an explicit memory test?
Participant knows their memory is being testes
Assume that standard laboratory tests vs real world are …. cognitive processes
Broadly the same
Conclusion from William James’ (1890) types of memory study
Primary and secondary memory exists
Primary memory
Sensations last for a short amount of time after the stimulus is removed
eg. closing eyes and recalling a screen
Secondary memory
The knoledge of a former state of mind once it had dropped from consciousness
eg. what you had for breakfast yesterday
Duration of sensory memory
Milliseconds
Duration of short term memory
Seconds
Duration of long term memory
Hours/ months
Duration of semantic memory
Years
Duration of episodic memory
Milliseconds to months
Modal multistore model of memory
Describes a clear split between 3 memory systems
Modal multistore model of memory- sensory registers
Brief sensory stored
eg. iconic memory, echoic memory
Modal multistore model of memory-short term store
Primary memory
Held for seconds
Maintained by rehearsal
Limited capacity and duration
Modal multistore model of memory-long term store
Secondary memory
Unlimited capacity and duration
Jevons (1871) power of numerical discrimination
throw a handful of beads onto a black tray containing a white box
Count the number of beans in the white box
Accurate up to 8/9 then only right half the tie
Averbach (1963)
Uses a tachistoscope to display patterns of dots at brief intervals masked by an erasing pattern
Estimated dots as a function of total number and variable interval
Estimation span of apprehension
Averback found that with extra viewing time the number of dots that could be counted increased
When more than 8 dots were presented, extra viewing time makes relatively little difference
Suggests limiting factor is the size of visual memory
Sperling (1960) partial report procedure
When asked to recall grid of 12 items maximum recall was 4 or 5
If there is an immediate cue to remember one row, performance is close to 100%
If recall is deletes by 1 second after stimulus performance is back down to 30%
Sperling- interpretation & issues
Taken to support the idea of a brief sensory store
But…
Results could be interpreted with output interference (happens when participant starts saying other items)
Sperling estimated capacity as 9 items but can be more if cued
Duration may be longer than Sperling’s estimates
Does the memory space need a separate store or could it be the same as traditional short term memory?
