Memory - Different Types Of Memory And The Different Models Flashcards
Who made the Multi store model of memory?
Atkinson and Shiffinn (1968)
What is the sensory register/memory?
Initial contact for stimuli. SM is only capable of retaining info for a short time.
What is the short term memory?
The info we are currently aware of or thinking about. The info comes from paying attention to sensory memories (saying info over and over in your head).
What is long term memory?
Continual storage of info largely outside our awareness, but can be called into working memory to be used when needed.
What is the Multi-store memory model
(Maintenance rehearsal)
Environmental stimuli —> SM —> attention —> STM —> elaborative rehearsal —> LTM
I I
Decay Decay
What happens in the brain when new info is learnt?
New neural pathways are formed.
What happens in our brain when we rehearse info?
The neural pathways become stronger the more we use them.
What is the duration of the SM?
1-2 seconds
What is the capacity of the SM?
Said to be unlimited/large but info doesn’t stay there long enough to confirm.
How is the SM encoded?
Through the 5 senses
What is the duration of STM?
Up to 30 seconds without rehearsal.
What is the capacity of the STM?
About 5-9 items.
How is the STM encoded?
Acoustically (through sound).
What is the duration of the LTM?
Said to be a Lifetime
What is the capacity of the LTM?
Unlimited
How is the LTM encoded?
Semantically (through meaning, must understand info you are trying to remember).
Define capacity.
How much info this store can hold.
Define duration.
How long this store can hold info for.
Define coding.
The form in which the memory is processed.
What was Miller’s magic seven?
- Capacity of human memory = 7 +/- 2 or 5-9.
- We can recall 5 words as easily as 5 letters - this is called chunking.
What is chunking?
Miller found that the capacity of the STM could be considerably increased by combining/organising separate bits of info. E.g. you tell your phone number 3 numbers at a time.
Describe Peterson and Peterson experiment, 1959.
Aim = investigate the duration of STM. Method = showed people trigram of letters and asked them to count backwards from a random number in 3’s for different amounts of time each trigram. Results = 80% remembered after 3 secs, 50% after 6, after 18 less than 10%.
Describe Baddeley’s experiment in coding STM and LTM.
Gave a different list of words to four groups of participants to remember.
Group 1 = acoustically similar words.
Group 2 = acoustically dissimilar words.
Group 3 = semantically similar words.
Group 4 = semantically dissimilar words.
Participants tended to worse with acoustically similar words in the STM but not in the LTM, whereas semantically similar words posed little problem for STM but led to muddled LTM’s. This suggests STM is encoded acoustically and LTM is encoded semantically.
(For LTM Baddeley let the P’s listen to the words for 20 mins)
Describe Bahrick’s study (1975).
He investigated the duration of LTM using 392 US Uni graduates. Group 1 participants were shown photographs from there high school year book and for each photo the participants needed to match a name to a face.
- > 90% were able to correctly match names and faces 15 years after graduating.
- > 70% were able to correctly match names and faces 48 years after graduating.
Group 2 participants ha d to free recall the names of fellow students.
- > 60% accurate after 15 years.
- > 30% accurate after 48 years.
People remember LTM info better with a prompt.