memory! Flashcards
improve my long term memory
define coding
the format or ‘type’ of info which is being stored in each memory store
which type of coding is used in STM?
acoustic
which coding is used in LTM?
semantic
acoustic and semantic
what two results did Baddeley find from his study?
- MORE mistakes are made when recalling ACOUSTICALLY similar words straight after learning them
- MORE mistakes are made when recalling SEMANTICALLY- similar words 20 mins after learning them
define capacity
the volume of info/ data which can be kept in any memory store at any one time
what is the capacity for our STM?
and our LTM?
STM= 7+/-2 items (Miller)
LTM= unlimited
what study did jacobs conduct?
digit span
what did miller conclude?
the capacity of STM is thought to be 7 +/- 2 items (Miller)
-Miller’s idea that things come in groups of 7 (e.g. 7 days of the week)
MAGIC NUMBER 7
how can we increase our memory?
chunking- grouping sets of letters and digits into chunks
what were the findings of Jacobs’?
Jacobs also demonstrated that the mean letter span was 7.3 and the mean digit span was 9.3(i.e. the number of letters or digits we can recall after increasing intervals)
define duration
the amount of time that info can be stored in each memory store
what is the duration in our STM? and our LTM?
STM= 18-30 secs
LTM= unlimited
who conducted a study on duration? and describe the process?
Peterson & Peterson (1959)
- used a repeated measures design
- got students to recall combinations of 3 letters
- but distracted them with a 3 digit number and asked them to say them aloud backwards in 3 e.g. 456, 453, 450 to prevent rehearsing
- after intervals of 3,6,9,12,15 and 18 secs they were asked to recall the 3 letter combination
what were the findings of the Peterson & Peterson (1959) study?
- after 3 secs, recall was over 80%
- after 18 secs, recall was about 3%
- Therefore, STM duration without rehearsal is up to 18 secs
what are the drawbacks of having the intervals longer than 18 secs?
-INCREASE in demand characteristics (practise effect)
- repeating it 6 times= ORDER EFFECTS
- COUNTER-POINT= counterbalancing wouldn’t work in this experiment
what is the case study for LTM?
Bahrick & Al (1975)
describe the study of Bahrick
- 392 US graduates aged between 17 and 74
- 1) Recognition test- 50 photos from High School yearbooks
- 2) Free recall test- ppl listed names from their class
- Field experiment= high ecological validity
LTM
what are the results from Bahrick’s study?
Recognition test=
- 90% accuracy after 15 yrs
- 70% after the age of 48
Free recall=
- 60% recall after 15 yrs
- 30% after the age of 48
what are the three components of the MSM?
- sensory register
- STM
- LTM
what is the evidence from Sperlings (1960) sensory store
3 x 3 grid
-high tone= top row
-medium tone= middle row
-low tone= bottom row
- Whole thing 5 items recalled= 42%
- One row= 3 items recalled 75%
= ppts should have been able to remember 4 items from a row, but only 3 items were remembered -> info DECAYS rapidly in the sensory store