memory

Question 1

coding definition

Answer 1

the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores

Question 2

capacity definition

Answer 2

the amount of information that can be held in a memory store

Question 3

duration definition

Answer 3

how long the memory is stored- short term memory and long term memory

Question 4

coding research

Answer 4

Baddeley (1966)- looking at how information is coded in different stores
pps had one list of words to remember
group 1- acoustically similar words
group 2- acoustically dissimilar words
group 3- semantically similar words
group 4- semantically dissimilar words

Question 5

coding findings

Answer 5

when pps did immediate recall (relying on STM) they tended to do worse with acoustically similar words- suggests that STM relies on acoustic encoding
when pps recalled the words after 20 minutes (LTM) pps had difficulty semantically similar words (words with similar meanings)- suggests that LTM relied on semantic encoding

Question 6

capacity research- Jacobs (1887)

Answer 6

developed a technique to measure digit span. the researcher gives,for example 4 digits and then the pps are asked to recall these in the correct order out loud. if correct the researcher then reads out 5 digits and so on until the pps cannot recall the order correctly. this determines the individual diget span.

Question 7

capacity- Jacobs (1887) findings

Answer 7

Jacobs found that the mean span for digits across all pps was 9.3 items. the mean span for letters was 7.3.

Question 8

duration research STM

Answer 8

Margaret and Lloyd Peterson (1959) tested 24 undergraduate students each one took part in eight trials. on each trial the students was given a consonant syllable ( trigram eg. YCG) to remember and was also given a three digit number. The student was then asked to count backwards from that 3 digit number until told to stop. the counting backwards was to prevent any mental rehearsal of the consonant syllable. on each trial they were told to stop after a different amount of time- 3,6,9,12,15 or 18 seconds. this is called the retention interval.

Question 9

duration research STM findings

Answer 9

findings suggest that short term memory may have a very short duration indeed unless you are repeating something over and over again (verbal rehearsal)

Question 10

duration ltm

Answer 10

memory that involves the storage and recall of information over a long period of time