Memory Flashcards
Name the 3 stores in the Multistore Model
Sensory memory
Short term
Long term
How is information coded in sensory memory?
Through the 5 senses
What is the capacity and duration of sensory memory?
Capacity: very large
Duration: less than half a second
How is information transferred from Sensory memory to STM?
Attention
How is information coded in STM?
Acoustically
What is the capacity and duration of STM?
Capacity: 7+/-2
Duration: 18-30 seconds
How is information transferred from STM to LTM?
Prolonged rehearsal
How is information coded in LTM?
Semantically (giving it meaning)
What is the capacity and duration of LTM?
Capacity: vast
Duration: up to a lifetime
How did Peterson and Peterson measure the duration of STM?
Students recalled meaningless three-letter trigrams at different intervals. To prevent rehearsal students had to count backwards in threes or fours from a specific number until they were asked to recall the letters
What were the key findings of P & P’s research?
The larger the interval, the less accurate the recall. At 3 seconds, around 80% of the trigrams were correctly recalled, whereas at 18 seconds, only 10% were correctly recalled
How do the findings of P & P’s study support the MSM?
The results show that if we are unable to rehearse information, it will not be passed to long-term memory, providing further support for the MSM and the idea of discrete memory stores
Why did the P & P study get criticised for lacking external validity?
The use of a lab experiment and psychology students
How did Jacobs measure the capacity of STM?
The researcher gave 4 digits and participant recalls them in the correct order
What were the key findings of Jacob’s research?
The mean number of letters in STM is 7.3
The mean number of numbers in STM is 9.3
How do the findings of Jacob’s study support the MSM?
The capacity of STM is 7+/-2
How does Miller’s research support Jacob’s study?
He wrote an article calles ‘The magic number 7 plus or minus 2’
Lots of research supports the idea that we can remember approximately 7 items in STM
How did Baddeley’s study measure coding in STM and LTM?
Participants were shown one of 4 lists that were either acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar and semantically dissimilar
Participants had to learn amd recall the lists either immediately or after 20 minutes
What were the key findings of Baddeley’s research?
Immediate: worst remembered list was the acoustically similar
20 minutes: worst remembered list was the semantically similar
How did Bahrick’s study measure the duration of LTM?
Participants were tested on their recall of:
1. Photo recognition of 50 photos from their highschool yearbook
2. Free recall where participants recalled any names from their highschool class
What were the results of Bahricks research?
15 years after: 90% accuracy photo recognition and 60% accuracy free recall
48 years after: 70% accuracy photo recognition and 30% accuracy free recall
Why has some of the research into the MSM been criticised for lacking external validity?
Use of artificial materials and problem of rehearsal
What is the problem of maintenance rehearsal?
Model says information is transferred from STM to LTM through maintenance rehearsal. Elaborative rehearsal is more effective as it gives it meaning as you’re makming associations between the new information and info you already know
What is the evidence that STM is not a unitary model?
KF damages his STM in a motorbike accident. After the accident he had problems remembering lists of digits when they were read to him, but he could remember them when he read them.
What is the evidence that LTM is not a unitary store?
Clive Wearing’s procedural LTM was intact but his semantic and episodic memories were affected by his brain damage
