Section 2: Memory Flashcards
What does ‘coding’ mean?
-The format in which information is stored to the various memory stores
-The process of converting information from one form to another
What did Baddeley research?
Baddeley researched coding in STM
What did Baddeley find from his research?
- Found that information was coded semantically in LTM
- Found that words were coded acoustically in STM
What did Baddeley use to investigate coding?
He used word lists such as cat, mat, chat, in research on memory
What does capacity mean?
The amount of information that can be held in a memory store
Who investigated research in the capacity of the STM?
Miller
Jacobs
What did Jacobs research?
Capacity of STM
He read a list of 4 numbers and asked participants to recall in the correct order. He increased the length each time until the participant couldn’t recall in the correct order- this determined their digit span. He then repeated the same take with letters instead.
What did Miller research?
Capacity of STM
He reviewed STM research and suggested the capacity for STM was 7 (+ or - 2). He also put forward the idea that people can remember more and increase the capacity by chunking information together. Then they can hold the capacity of 7 chunks.
What is duration?
The length of time information can be held in memory.
Who investigated the duration of LTM?
Bahrick et al
What did Bahrick et al investigate?
duration of LTM
He studied 392 participants aged 17 to 74. He tested recall of their year book in 2 ways:
-photo recognition of 50 photos from the yearbook
-free recall test where participants recalled name of people they graduated with
Participants tested within 15 years of graduation had 90% accuracy with photo recognition and 60% free recall. Participants tested within 48 years had 70% photo recognition and 30% free recall. This shows that LTM duration is potentially a lifetime.
Who tested the duration of STM?
Peterson and Peterson
How did Peterson and Peterson do their investigations?
They tested 24 undergraduate students, each student took part in 8 trials. In each trial the student was given a trigam (e.g. YVC) to remember- they were then given a 3 digit number and asked to count backwards to prevent rehearsal. On each trial they were told to stop counting after either 3,6,9,12,15 or 18 seconds. Results suggest STM may have a very short duration unless we rehearse information of 18-30 seconds.
One strength of Baddeley’s research
The study was standardised, high reliability, easily replicable.
One strength of Jacob’s research
Results have been confirmed by other research, supporting validity.
One strength of Bahrick et al’s research
It has high external validity- real life memories were studied
One strength of Peterson and Peterson’s research
We can remember meaningless information e.g. phone numbers, so study not totally irrelevant
One weakness of Baddeley’s research
Artificial stimuli, stimuli had no personal link to patients so be careful about generalising findings
One weakness of Jacobs’ research
Conducted a long time ago, so lacks validity. Early psych research often lacked adequate control e.g. participants may have been distracted and not performed as well.
One weakness of Bahrick et al’s research
Cofounding variables are not controlled, e.g. Bahricks patients may have looked at the yearbooks and rehearsed their memory over the years.
One weakness of Peterson and Peterson’s research
The stimulus material was artificial and had no meaning, so the study lacks external validity
Who proposed the multi store model?
Atkinson and Shiffrin [1968]
