Memory Flashcards
Define short term memory
Memory for events in the present or immediate past
What is long term memory?
Memory for events that have happened in the more distant past
How is LTM and STM distinguished?
Capacity, duration & coding
Define capacity
Capacity concerns how much data can be held in a memory store. STM has limited capacity whereas LTM has potentially infinite capacity
Who researched using digit span to asses the short term memory capacity.
Joseph Jacobs (1887)
What did Joseph Jacobs find the average digit span to be ?
7 for letters
9 for numbers
Who came up with the βmagic numberβ in relation to STM capacity and what is it?
George Miller (1956)
7 + or - 2 items
Who studied the duration of the STM?
Lloyd and Margaret Peterson (1959)
How did the Petersons study the duration of the STM?
24 students given a consonant syllable and a 3 digit number (e.g THX 512). They were asked to recall the consonant syllable after a retention interval during which they had to count backwards from their 3 digit number. The longer the interval the less people were able to remember.
Who studied the duration of the LTM?
Harry Bahrick
What did Bahrick do to investigate the duration of the LTM?
Tested 400 people on their memory of their classmates using a photo recognition test. The longer it was after graduation the more they were able to remember.
Evaluation of the STM?
- STM not as extensive as first thought
- size of the chunks affects how many chunks you can remember
- individual differences (capacity not the same for everyone)
- testing of the STM does not reflect everyday memory activities
- results may be due to displacement
How is information coded in the STM?
Acoustically
How is information coded in the LTM?
Semantically
Who researched coding in both the LTM and the STM?
How did they do it ?
Baddeley (1966)
Used words lists
Evaluation of coding?
- STM may not be exclusively acoustic (visual codes may be used)
- LTM may not be exclusively semantic (may be related to visual categories)
How is information encoded in the sensory register
In its original form
What is the capacity of the sensory register?
At least 12 items
What is the duration of the sensory register?
A few milliseconds
What is the multi-store model and why is it called that?
It is a model of memory that is called βmulti storeβ because it consists of three of 3 memory stores linked to each other by the processes that enable transfer of information from one store to the next
Who first described the multi store model?
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
What is the sensory register?
Place where information is held at each of the senses (eyes, nose etc) and the corresponding areas of the brain
The sensory registers are constantly receiving information
What is the duration of the sensory register?
A few milliseconds
How is information passed from the sensory register to the STM?
If attention is focused on the sensory stores then data is stored in the STM