Short term memory

Question 1

What is meant by the term Short term memory?

Answer 1

A system for storing information for brief period of time.

Question 2

How did Atkinson and Shriffrin (1968) see STM as?

Answer 2

A temporary storage depot for incoming informatin

Question 3

How did Baddeley (1986) see STM as?

Answer 3

Preferred to used the term working memory to show its dynamic and flexible aspects

Question 4

What is the capacity?

Answer 4

Limited capacity

Question 5

What does it mean by limited capacity

Answer 5

Only holds small amounts of information before it’s forgotten

Question 6

What study shows the capacity of STM

Answer 6

Serial digit span studies

Question 7

Explain what serial digit span studies are?

Answer 7

PP’s are given incresingly long sequences of digits in which they have to recall back in serial order.

Question 8

When do participants reach their digit span capacity?

Answer 8

When they fail on 50% if the trials

Question 9

Which two researchers used digit span studies?

Answer 9

Baddeley (1975)

Jacobs (1887)

Question 10

Explain Jacob’s study of immediate digit span?

Answer 10

Used to investigate the STM capacity.
Procedure:
He read aloud a list of either letters or numbers then gradually increased the length until it was impossible for them to recall back in serial order
Findings:
STM capacity for digits was 9 and letters was 7
STM increased with age- 8 y/o recalled 7 digits but 19 y/o recalled 9 digits.
Conclusions:
STM capacity is between 5 and 9 and age does affect it bcos people increase recall strategies with ages and practice.
Also numbers are easier to recall than letters bcos there are fewer of them (9) than letters (25)

Question 11

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Jacobs (1887) study?

Answer 11

Strengths:
Replicated research
- replicated by Miller (1956)
-Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)- argued STM store had a small number of ‘slots’ where information could e help and that the limited capacity was bcos of small number of slots.

Weaknesses:
There are other factors such as age and practice which influence STM.

Question 12

Who suggested that most people have a digit span of seven plus or two?

Answer 12

Miller (1956)

Question 13

What did Miller believe?

Answer 13

Our immediate memory span is determined by the number if chunks of information we can hold instead of the individual letters or numbers

Question 14

What did simon (1974) find about STM capacity?

Answer 14

The spam measured in chunks depends in the amount of information in the chunk.
He experimented with serial recall
He found that people have shorter span for longer chunks than smaller chunks

Question 15

What were Glanzer and Razels (1974) findings on STM capacity?

Answer 15

Used recency effect as a measure of STM capacity.
Findings:
Recency effect was 2.2 items when the stimulus material had single unrelated words but increased to 1.5 sentences when unfamiliar sentences were given and to 2.2 proverbs when familiar proverbs were used.

Question 16

Who is the researcher that studied word length effect of immediate memory span to see if people could recall more short words than long words in a serial recall test?

Answer 16

Baddeley et al (1975)

Question 17

Explain Baddeley et al (1975) research study?

Answer 17

Procedure:
-Measured the reading speed of the participants then were given sets if five words.
-The words were either one syllable words or a set of polysyllable words
- Then they were asked to recall the words back in serial order
Findings:
-PPs recalled more short words than long words
-They could recall as many words as they could articulate in about 2 secs
-Strong positive correlation between memory span and reading speed
Conclusion:
Immediate memory span shows the number of items of any length that could be articulated in about 2 seconds

Question 18

What are the evaluative points (strengths and weaknesses) of Baddeley et al (1975) study?

Answer 18

Weaknesses:
Might just be bcos short words are easier to remember than long words bcos they are familiar to us
Miller hadn’t been able to account for findings of research which showed that immediate memory span depends on nature of stimulus ( i.e the kind of words and the nature in which they are spoken)

Question 19

What are the factors that affect STM capacity?

Answer 19

• Influence of LTM
• Reading aloud
• Pronunciation time
• Rhythmic grouping
• Individual differences

Question 20

Explain the influence of LTM

Answer 20

A problem with using immediate digit span as measure of STM capacity is it’s difficult to exclude the influence of LTM.

Question 21

In terms of influence of LTM what did Cowan (2000) believe?

Answer 21

Miller may have overestimated the number of chunks held in STM
The performance on span tasks is usually affected by rehearsal to LTM but doesn’t show STM capacity .
Estimated that STM capacity is 4 chunks when factors are controlled.

Question 22

In terms of influence of LTM what did Bower and Winzenz (1969) find?

Answer 22

Digit strings that are repeated witan series of immediate memory spans trails became easier for PPs to recall
W

Question 23

What did Bower and Winzenz (1969) findings suggest?

Answer 23

The strings have been gradually rehearsed and stored in the LTM which helps increase STM capacity

Question 24

Explain reading aloud

Answer 24

Digit span increases if PPs read the digits aloud instead of reading them sub vocally

Question 25

What did Baddeley (1999) suggest about reading aloud?

Answer 25

Its because digits are stored briefly in the echoic store which strengthens the memory store

Question 26

Explain pronunciation time

Answer 26

Researchers have found that pronunciation time may be a more important indictor of STM capacity than millers digit span.

Question 27

Who are those researchers?

Answer 27

Naveh-Benjamin and Ayres (1986)
Hitch,Halliday and Littler (1984)
Schweikert and Boruff (1986)

Question 28

What did Naveh-Benjamin and Ayres (1986) do and find?

Answer 28

They compared memory spans for speakers of various world languages.
He found a direct correlation between size of digit span and pronunciation time
EG: Digits span were less for Arabic speakers compared to english speakers perhaps bcos Arabic digits take longer to pronounce than english digits

Question 29

What did Hitch,Halliday and Littler (1984) find?

Answer 29

The immediate memory span of young children were related to the length of time it took to articulate words

Question 30

What did Schweickert and Boruff (1986) do and find?

Answer 30

They tested immediate span for various stimulus such as colours and shapes.
They found that people could recall the number of items that can be articulated (pronounced) in 1.5 seconds

Question 31

Explain rhythmic grouping?

Answer 31

Performance improves if numbers are grouped together rhymically.

Question 32

Explain individual differences

Answer 32

Individual differences affect STM capacity.
Macleod and Donnellan (1993)
People who are highly anxious tend to have shorter spans

Question 33

What type of duration does STM have?

Answer 33

Brief duration

Question 34

According to Atkinson and Schifftin How do we transfer information from STM to LTM?

Answer 34

By rehearsal or repetition

Question 35

How does rehearsal transfer info?

Answer 35

Strengthens the memory trace so that it can be permanently kept in LTM

Question 36

How does repetition transfer info?

Answer 36

Keeps material in STM by continuously reinserting it into STM loop

Question 37

What is the technique used to measure STM duration

Answer 37

Brown-Peterson technique

Question 38

What researcher studied STM duration?

Answer 38

Peterson and Peterson (1959)