memory Flashcards
define encoding
how information is stored
define capacity
the amount of information you can remember
define duration
how long you can remember information for
what are the two models of memory
multi store model
working memory
what is the main idea behind the multi store model
it is made up of separate and unitary (singular) stores such as long term and short term
according to the multistore model, how does information process from environmental stimuli to the long term memory ( basically what are the stages for the MSM)
environmental stimuli enters the sensory memory, if attention is payed it reaches the short term memory. here maintenance rehearsal is used to maintain the memory in this store. elaborate rehearsal allows information to reach long term memory. retrieval is the process of restoring long term into short term
what is the duration, encoding and capacity of sensory memory
duration - 1/2 a second
encoding - sensory registers such as iconic register, echoic register and haptic register
capacity - unlimited
what research evidence is there to test the duration of sensory memory
Sperling
he asked participants to remember as many letters as they could from a four by three grid he displayed for half a second. they could only recall around 4 letters.
what is the duration, encoding and capacity of short term memory
duration - 18-30 seconds
encoding - acoustically
capacity - 7+/- 2
what research evidence is there to test the duration of short term memory
Peterson and Peterson
participants read nonsense trigrams to participants and then got them to count backwards in threes from a random 3 digit number. they found that after a 3 second, 80% of participants could recall the trigram. but after 18 seconds only 10% could
what research evidence is there to test the capacity of short term memory
Jacobs
used a digit span, where participants were showed a sequence of letters and had to recall the correct order, started with three items up until they couldn’t recall the whole sequence - found that participants averagely recalled between 5 and nine items
Miller - confirmed it was 7+/-2 and that capacity could be increased by chunking.
What research is there that tests the encoding of short term memory
Baddeley
Participants learnt a list of words with two conditions for STM
- they learnt words that sounded the same and were asked to recall immediately - words were forgotten
- they learnt words that meant the same and were asked to recall immediately- memory is fine
What is the duration, encoding and capacity of LTM
Duration - unlimited
Encoding - semantically
Capacity - unlimited
What research is there that tested the duration of long term memory
Bahrick
- used a sample of ex high school students between ages 17 and 74
- participants were tested by doing a photo recognition test, asked to identify their former classmates from 50 photos
- found that 90% of participants were from a different able to correctly match names and faces 14 years after graduation and 60% after 47 years
What research is there that tested the encoding of long term memory
Baddeley
- given two more conditions
- participants learnt words that sounded the same and asked to recall after 20 minutes - memory is fine
- participants asked to learn words that meant the same thing and asked to r call after 20 - gets forgotten
What research is there that tested the capacity of LTM
wagenaar
- created a diary of 2400 events over 6 years and tested himself on the recall of the events. He did really well
Give a strength of the multi store model
- There is a lot of evidence to suggest the existence of separate memory stores
- researchers showed participants a slideshow of words one at a time and then asked them to write down as many as they would. Participants were more likely to remember words from the beginning ( in LTM) and then end ( STM) and not the middle
- suggesting MSM is made of multiple stores as participants couldn’t recall information that wasn’t in long term or short term
Give a weakness of the MSM
-oversimplified especially about stores being singular
-this can be seen through further research into HM. It was found that HM lost any semantic and episodic memories in his long term memory however he still has procedural memories as he was able to learn to use a walking stick.
- This can suggest that the multi store model is reductionist as it simplifies down the idea that we may have more than one type of long term store and therefore they aren’t singular
Give another strength of the MSM
- there is real life application to provide evidence of there being separate stores through the case of HM.
- This is where a man’s hippocampus was removed and he could make any new or recall any old long term memories however he did have short term memory.
- This suggests how the short term and long term store must be separate as information could be stored and retrieved in one and not the other, increasing the reliability of the model as it can be applied to a real life scenario.
Give another weakness of the MSM
- there is a lot of the research into the duration, capacity and encoding of each of the stores is flawed.
- In the study into the duration of short term memory, Peterson and Peterson completed their research in a lab by having people recall nonsense trigrams after a specific period of time whilst counting backwards in threes.
-Due to this researching being completed in a lab, it lacks ecological validity as well as mundane realism as the task of remembering a trigram isn’t something that would be done in everyday life meaning it isn’t an accurate measure of duration and can’t be generalised outside a lab. This therefore impacts the generalisability of the model as a whole as the research cant be used to back up the theory.
What are the four sections of the Working memory model
Central executive
Phonological loop
Visuo-spatial sketch pad
Episodic buffer
what is the main idea behind the working memory model and what case study highlights this
focuses on the short term memory
- it was clear from the multi store model short term memory isn’t one singular separate store
- case study of KF - he had a digit span of two when the numbers were read out to him but it was normal when he saw them visually - suggesting how there must be multiple stores.
Give a description of the phonological loop and what two things it contains
- It is the “inner voice”
- is a temporary storage system for holding verbal information in a speech base form
- contains the phonological store and a he articulatory loop
What is the phonological store
Hold / stores spoken words - it is passive storage