MEMORY - research on duration - Peterson and Peterson + Bahrick Flashcards
1
Q
Outline Peterson and Petersons research on duration.
A
- presented Ps with trigrams ( GROUP OF 3 SYLLABLES,WORDS,LETTERS)
- trigrams presented one at a time
- made them count backwards before recalling
- counted for 2s, 3s and so on
- after 3s recall rate = 80%
- after 18s recall rate = 3%
so duration of STM = very short = 2-18 seconds
2
Q
Outline Bahrick (1975) study on duration.
A
- focused on LTM
- 392 US ps (17-74) recall class mates using high school year books
3
Q
Findings of Bahrick?
A
15 years after grad = recall = 90%
recognition had better accuracy
48 years after grad = recall = 70%
This shows that LTM may last up to a lifetime for some material
4
Q
Evaluate research on duration?
A
- PETERSON AND PETERSON STUDY = material is artificial, recalling consonant syllables does not reflect every day life = low external validity
+ bahrick et al = high external validity because researchers investigated meaningful memories. eg names and faces = this study reflects a more real estimate of the duration of LTM.
