memory 1.1 Flashcards
The multi-store model of memory: sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. Features of each store: coding, capacity and duration.
who founded the MSM?
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
what is the MSM?
a linear model consisting of unitary stores
the model depicts how memory flows from the first instance of seeing something to permanently remembering it
what does the flow of the MSM suggest?
it suggests that stimuli enters through the sensory register (sensory memory)
if we pay attention to this stimulus, it will be placed in short term memory
if we rehearse information, it will enter our long term memory
how do we describe each store?
encoding
capacity
duration
encoding
how sensory input is represented by the memory system
capacity
how much information can be stored
duration
how long the information can be held in storage
how can we forget information?
displacement
decay
interference
displacement
other memories taking the original memories place due to limited capacity
decay
losing a memory because it is not used
interference
other memories being recalled instead of the desired memory
capacity of the sensory memory
large
duration of the sensory memory
0.5-2 seconds
encoding of the sensory memory
iconic
echoic
haptic
forgetting of the sensory memory
unknown
research into the sensory memory
Sperling (1960)
capacity of stm
7 + or - 2 items
can be referred to as chunks of information
we use chunking to remember more info in our stm
Jacobs (1887)
can investigate capacity using digit span test
duration of stm
up to 30 seconds without rehearsal
Peterson and Peterson (1959)
who researched into duration of stm?
Peterson and Peterson (1959)
what was Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) aim?
to investigate duration of stm
what was Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) procedure?
asked participants to remember nonsense trigram
gave a distractor task (count back in 3s from 100)
tested p’s recall after 3,6,9,12,15 or 18 seconds for perfect recall
was were Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) results?
after 3 seconds, participants could recall about 80% of trigrams correctly
after about 18 seconds only about 10% were recalled correctly
what was Peterson and Peterson’s (1959) conclusion?
when rehearsal is prevented, very little can stay in stm for approximately 18 seconds
encoding of stm
mainly acoustic
easier to rehearse in your head as a sound rather than a picture
Baddeley (1956) - participants confused acoustically similar words as they sound the same in your head
forgetting of stm
displacement
who researched into capacity of stm?
Jacobs (1887)
what was Jacob’s (1887) aim?
to find out capacity of stm
what was Jacob’s (1887) procedure?
participants were given a series of words, digits, etc.
they were instructed to recall immediately and accurately in the correct order
list gets progressively longer as the test goes on
what were Jacob’s (1887) results?
participants could remember lists up to the limit of 9 items with the average being 7 and the lower bound being 5
what was Jacob’s (1887) conclusion?
stm capacity is 7 + or - 2 items
who researched into encoding of stm?
Baddeley (1956)
what was Baddeley’s (1956) aim?
investigate encoding style of stm
what was Baddeley’s (1956) procedure?
participants shown a random sequence of 5 words from one of four categories:
- acoustically similar words (cap/can)
- acoustically dissimilar words (mud/computer)
- semantically similar words (made/created)
- semantically dissimilar words (poster/mouse)
participants were asked to write the lists down 20 seconds after
what were Baddeley’s (1956) results?
participants confused acoustically similar words compared to other words
this suggests because they are similar and easily confused, they must be represented acoustically as part of our processing
10% AS words
80% AD words
64% SS words
71% SD words
what was Baddeley’s (1959) conclusion?
in the stm we convert visual material into an acoustic code and find it difficult to distinguish between information that sounds the same
capacity of ltm
unlimited
no research study
duration of ltm
limitless but subject to decay or interference
Bahrick (1975)
who researched into duration of ltm?
Bahrick et al (1975)
what was Bahrick et al (1975)’s aim?
establish duration of ltm
what was Bahrick et al (1975)’s procedure?
investigators tracked down the graduates from a high school in America over a 5o year period
392 graduates were shown photographs from their high school year book
2 groups
one group was asked to select name which matched the person in the photo and were given a list of names to choose from
other group was asked to name the people in the photos without a list of names
what were Bahrick et al (1975)’s results?
in the name matching condition:
14 years after 90% correct
25 years after 80% correct
34 years after 75% correct
47 years after 60% correct
in the identification condition:
7 years after 60% correct
47 years after 20% correct
what was Bahrick et al (1975)’s conclusion?
people can remember certain types of info for almost a lifetime
accuracy can diminish over time due to decay and may be affected by the task
encoding of ltm
mainly semantic
baddeley (1966)
we have greater recall of memories after a long period of time that have meaning to them
who researched into encoding of ltm?
baddeley (1966)
what was baddeley (1966)’s aim?
investigate encoding style of ltm
what was baddeley (1966)’s procedure?
participants were shown a random sequence of 5 words from one of four categories:
acoustically similar (cap/can)
acoustically dissimilar (mud/computer)
semantically similar (made/created)
semantically dissimilar (poster/mouse)
what were Baddeley (1966)’s results?
acoustically similar and dissimilar words were equally poor in recall
85% semantically similar word were recalled
55% semantically dissimilar words were recalled
participants were better at recalling semantically similar words
what was baddeley (1966)’s conclusion?
when storing info in ltm, it is better recalled if encoded semantically
forgetting of ltm
decay and interference
how does information get from sensory memory to stm?
paying attention
how does information get from stm to ltm?
rehearsal
explain how the primacy and regency effects support the msm
researchers found that when p’s are presented with a lists of items to recall in order, p’s often begin by recalling items at the end of the list (regency effect) because these items are still in stm
then people recall items at the beginning of the list (primacy effect) because these are thought to have been transferred to ltm with some rehearsal,
however items in middle have been forgotten (displaced) because stm has limited capacity and new, more recent items push out middle items from stm
primacy and regency effect demonstrate idea of separate stores for short term and long term memory
therefore supports the msm
explain how patient HM supports the msm
HM was in a bicycle accident which resulted in development of epilepsy
his seizures worsened and medication had little impact so he needed surgery
HM had hippocampus removed and couldn’t form new long term memories but could remember things from before surgery
his stm was fine, couldn’t transfer info to ltm
therefore HM’s case demonstrates there are separate stores for stm and ltm
explain how problems with research question the ecological validity of the msm
artificial tasks in lab experiments are different from how our memory typically functions
e.g Peterson and Peterson (1959) stm duration study using nonsense trigrams and counting back in 3s from a 3 digit number isn’t a task done on a day-to-day basis
this limits the extent that findings from research can be generalised to beyond lab setting
therefore the msm can be questioned as it is based on research which lacks ecological validity
explain how the oversimplified ltm questions the msm
the msm presents ltm as a unitary store
further research has demonstrated that there are separate parts to ltm:
- procedural memories (actions and motor skills)
- episodic memories (personal events)
semantic memories (fact based and not personal)
therefore because msm lacks detail about ltm its ability to fully explain memory can be questioned
explain how the oversimplified stm questions the msm
case study of KF, invovled in motorcycle accident, resulted in damage in stm (verbal recall)
when tested, he could only recall 2 items verbally from stm (e.g being read shopping list)
however when visually tested his recall was normal
research suggests that the stm has more components to it, unlike the msm shows
therefore the msm’s ability to explain memory is questioned
