Memory- Capacity, coding and duration Flashcards
What is the capacity for the sensory register?
Large
What is the duration for the sensory register?
Milliseconds
What is the coding for the sensory register?
By store
What is the capacity for short term memory?
7+/-2
What is the duration for short term memory?
Up to 18 seconds
What is the coding for short term memory?
Acoustictically
What is the capacity for long term memory ?
Large
What is the duration for long term memory?
Life long
What is the coding for long term memory?
Semantically
What are the 3 main aspects of memory?
- ) Coding information (register/aquire)
- )Retaining information (storing info over time)
- )Retrieving (recover info when required)
What is capacity?
How much out memory can hold
What is duration?
How long our memories last
What is coding?
The way information is changed so that it can be stored in memory
Describe the supporting study of the sensory registers capacity
SPERLING:
- flashed a 3x4 grid in front of pps for 120th of a second
- pps asked to recall either a specific row or the whole grid
- recall of letters was high no matter which role was selected (suggests that all info was in the sensory register)
- suggests sensory register has a very large capacity
- HOWEVER hard to test with high ecological validity
Describe the supporting study of STM’s capacity
JACOBS:
- participants were presented with either a string of numbers or letters
- they had to repeat them back in the same order
- the numbers of letters/numbers increases until the paps cannot repeat them
- majority of pps recalled 9.3 numbers and 7.3 letters
Describe the supporting study of the sensory registers duration
WALSH AND THOMPSON:
-sensory store has an average duration of 500 milliseconds
Describe the supporting study of STM’s duration
PETERSON AND PETERSON
-students shown a nonsense trigram
-pps asked to count back in 3 seconds
-procedure repeated several times using different trigrams and after different intervals e.g 3,6,9,12,15 and 18 seconds in 8 trials
-more letters (80-90%)recalled after 3 second intervals, less than 10% after 18 seconds
Conclusion: STM= very short duration, less than 18 seconds
Describe the supporting study of STM’S coding
BADDELY:
-gave paps 4 sets of words that were either
1.) acoustically similar
2.) acoustically similar
3.) similar in meaning
4.) dissimilar in meaning (semantically )
-pps had to recall the words immediately (STM) or after 20 minutes (long term memory)
RESULTS:
STM is affected by acoustically similar words
-when pps had to recall words immediately they had problems recalling the words which sounded the same
LTM is affected by semantically similar words
-when pps had a group of 20 minutes between seeing the words and recalling them, they struggled with semantically similar words e.g huge, great
Describe the supporting study of LTM’s capacity
WAGENAAR:
- created a diary of 2,400 events of over 6 years
- tested himself on recall of these events rather than dates
- he had good recall of these events
- concluded that LTM must be extremely large
Describe the supporting study of LTM’s duration
BAHRICK ET AL
-researchers tracked down graduates from high school over a 50 year period
-400 pps aged 17-74
-Independant groups: names to select from and match (recognition) OR asked to simply name people in photos (recall)
RESULTS:
-recognition condition: 90% correct (even 15 years after graduating)
After 48 years 70-80% accurate
-recall condition: recalling 60% after 15 years
Accuracy only 30% after 48 years
Describe the supporting study of LTM’s duration
BADDELY:
-gave paps 4 sets of words that were either
1.) acoustically similar
2.) acoustically similar
3.) similar in meaning
4.) dissimilar in meaning (semantically )
-pps had to recall the words immediately (STM) or after 20 minutes (long term memory)
RESULTS:
STM is affected by acoustically similar words
-when pps had to recall words immediately they had problems recalling the words which sounded the same
LTM is affected by semantically similar words
-when pps had a group of 20 minutes between seeing the words and recalling them, they struggled with semantically similar words e.g huge, great
