Memory

Question 1

what is coding?

Answer 1

the way in which information is stored/put into/processed into memory

Question 2

what is capacity?

Answer 2

a measure of how much can be held in memory, in terms of bits or chunks of information

Question 3

what is duration?

Answer 3

a measure of how long a memory is available in a store before it is no longer available for recall

Question 4

what experiment is used to explain coding in short term memory?

Answer 4

Baddeley’s (1966) cat/mat study

Question 5

explain Baddeley’s cat/mat study

Answer 5

Using a table of word 4 word lists, pps are asked to read the first column of five words words from list A, then cover the list and try to write them down, then move on to the next column and repeat the procedure for each of the five columns per list. Then they would check and count up how many words they got right in each list, they must be written in the correct sequence to count as correct. The total number of words is then multiplied by four to get a percentage figure for each list.

Question 6

what do the results for the cat/mat experiment show

Answer 6

STM is coded acoustically. This is because pps had difficulty accurately recalling the acoustically similar lists

Question 7

explain acoustic confusion

Answer 7

The effect caused when a person’s verbal memory mishears or misremembers and then only recalls the similar sounding substitute words

Question 8

what experiment is used to explain the capacity of short term memory?

Answer 8

Jacobs (1887) Serial Digit Span

Question 9

outline Jacobs Serial Digit Span experiment

Answer 9

pps were asked to read out a list of digits (one at a time) that gradually increase in length down the list. The pps were asked to recall it immediately after hearing and recall the correct digits. The digit span they reach before consistently making errors is a measure of their STM capacity

Question 10

what where the finding of Jacobs Serial Digit Span experiment?

Answer 10

Jacobs found that pps could recall digit spans between 5-9 in length.
Millers magic number = 7+/- two items

Question 11

what is chuncking

Answer 11

Chunking can help increase the number of items we can hold in STM. This is where we group items into larger units or chunks (often 3)

Question 12

what experiment is used to explain duration in STM?