Memory - coding capacity and duration Flashcards
coding
the format in which information is stored
capacity
the amount of information that can be stored
duration
how long information can be stored for
who studied coding and when?
Baddeley in 1966
what was the method of Baddeley’s research?
asked participants to recall words from word list in the correct order, immediately after (STM) and then 20 minutes after (LTM)
what did Baddeley’s research show?
immediate recall was worse with acoustically similar words. after 20 minutes, recall was worse with semantically similar words. STM is coded acoustically and LTM is coded semantically
evaluation points of Baddeley’s research?
+ shows a clear difference between STM and LTM
+ important for understanding memory systems
- artificial stimuli so low ecological validity
who researched capacity?
Jacobs and Miller
what was Jacobs research and findings on capacity?
he asked pts to recall list of digits/numbers in correct order, if they got it right, the amount of digits/numbers increased. average scores between 7.3 and 9.3 so STM has capacity of 7-9 items
what was Miller’s research on capacity?
he noticed things come in 7s, capacity of brain is 7+/-2 ‘chunks’.
evaluation of capacity research?
+ Jacobs study has been repeated many times = valid study
- Miller overestimated the capacity?
- ‘chunks’ is not specific to how large they could be
- Cowan reviewed research and found that capacity of STM is 4 chunks +/- 1
how can you make memory studies realistic?
use environments that are natural for pts, everyday tasks that use realistic stimuli. also use different data collection techniques
who researched STM duration and when?
Peterson (1959)
what was Peterson’s research?
remembering constant syllable while counting backwards from random 3 digit number for varying amount of time. duration of STM is up to 18 seconds without verbal rehearsal.
who research LTM duration and when?
Bahrick et al (1975)
