memory Flashcards
what are the 3 types of memory stores?
- sensory
- short term memory
- long term memory
what is the sensory memory?
- sensory information is stored in the sensory memory just long enough to go into our short-term memory
- it is responsible for getting information from the 5 main senses to our brain
- it allows environmental info to be retained sometimes for as little as a fraction of a second as it goes into our consciousness
what is the coding, duration and capacity of the sensory memory?
coding- modality (specific), depends on the senses
duration- very brief, less than half a second
capacity- very high e.g. over one hundred million cells in one eye each storing data
what is short term memory and what is its coding, duration and capacity?
- short term memory is a limited capacity store of temporary duration
coding- acoustic
( based on sound )
duration- about 18 seconds unless the information is rehearsed
capacity- between 5 and 9
( 7 + - 2 ) items before some forgetting occurs
what is long term memory and what is its coding, duration and capacity?
- long term memory is the permanent memory store
coding- semantic ( in terms of meaning )
duration- potentially up to a lifetime
capacity- can hold memories for potentially up to a lifetime
what is meant by the term coding?
- how information is stored in various memory stores
- information enters the brain via senses and then changes to another form so it can be stored in your memory
- it can be stored in the form of sounds
( acoustic ), images ( visual ) and meaning
( semantic )
what is meant by the term capacity?
- the amount of information that can be held in the memory
what is meant by the term duration?
- the length of time that information can be held in our memory
who studied the coding of short term and long term memory?
- Baddeley ( 1966 ), he wanted to investigate if we code acoustically ( sound ) or semantically ( meaning )
what is coding?
- coding is the process of changing information into a format e.g. acoustic, semantic and visual
how did Baddeley carry out his study?
- 72 opportunity sampled participants were randomised into 4 different groups
( acoustically similar or dissimilar and semantically similar / dissimilar ) - each group then received a different 10-word list before being tested on their knowledge, this procedure was then repeated 4 times
what were the findings of his study?
- ppts had to recall the words in the correct order they were given
- short term memory
( STM ) recall was immediate, and it showed they did worse with acoustically similar words - long term memory
( LTM ) recall was after 20 minutes, and they did worse with semantically similar words
what were the positives to Baddeley’s study?
- later research showed that there are expectations to Baddeley’s findings, STM being mostly acoustic and LTM being mostly semantic
- this led to the development of the multi-store model
what were the negatives of Baddeley’s study?
- the words used had no personal meaning to the ppts so tells us little about coding for everyday memory tasks
- so when processing more meaningful information, people use semantic coding even for STM, this means the findings of this study have limited application
who studied the capacity of short-term memory using digit spans?
Jacobs ( 1887 ), he tested and measured digit spans
how did Jacob carry out his study and what were his findings?
- he read out a 4 digit code, which the ppts has to recall out loud or in writing in the same order
- if they got this correct, the researcher would go on to read out a 5-digit code and onward until the ppts are unable to recall the sequence
- he found that the mean span for digits across all ppts was 9.3 items, but the span for letters was only 7.3 and that the average capacity of STM is 7 items
what was the positives of Jacobs study?
P= one strength is that his study has been replicated
E= Jacobs study is very old and lacked adequate controls e.g. some ppts may have been distracted during testing which would mean that their digit spans were underestimated
E= despite this, Jacobs findings have been confirmed by other, better controlled studies since
L= this suggests that Jacob’s study is a valid test of digit span in STM
what are the limitations of Jacobs study?
P= one limitation is that Jacobs research lacks ecological validity
E= the task of recalling digits in a specific order may represent how we use STM in real-life situations, where the information we need to retain is often more complex and meaningful
E= this makes Jacob’s findings less generalisable to everyday memory processes
L= this suggests that the study is low in mundane realism and external validity
who studied the capacity of short-term memory using the ‘magic number 7’?
- Miller ( 1956 ), studied capacity of STM, using chunking
how did Miller carry out his study and what were his findings?
- miller observed everyday activities and found that everything comes in 7’s
- this then influenced his theory which was that the capacity of the STM is 7 items plus or minus 2 pieces of information and we remember through chunking since it improves our recall
what is meant by chunking?
- grouping sets of information into sections / chunks
what are the positives of millers study?
P- millers work emphasised the importance of chunking as a strategy to improve our active recall, by grouping information into larger, more meaningful units, individuals can effectively increase their memory capacity
E= this concept is applicable to academic contexts and in everyday life, such as remembering phone numbers, or shopping lists making it both accessible to researchers and the general public
E= therefore, millers STM study is positively evaluated for it’s contribution to psychology as well as it’s use of practical applications
what are the limitations of millers study?
P= one limitation is that miller overestimated short-term memory capacity
E= nelson Cowan ( 2001 ) reviewed other research and concluded that the capacity of short-term memory is only about 4
( plus or minus 1 ) chunks of information
E= this suggests that the lower end of Millers estimate of five items is more appropriated than seven items
who studied the duration of short term memory using consonant syllables?
- Peterson and Peterson
( 1959 ), studied STM with consonant syllables, his hypothesis was that information that isn’t rehearsed is lost quickly from the STM - IV = time intervals between ppt being given their consonant syllable and having to recite it
- DV = number of letters that were recalled correctly after every trial