Effective encoding

Question 1

what are the 4 types of memory reserch?

Answer 1

1) Pragmatic
2) Experimental
3) Atheoretical
4) Theoretical

Question 2

what is pragmatic memory research?

Answer 2

Seeking ways to improve people’s abilities to learn and remember

Question 3

what is experimental memory research?

Answer 3

Documenting the existence and nature of memory phenomena with observations that are systematically collected

Question 4

what is atheoretical memory research?

Answer 4

Characterising memory in an intuitive and informal manner; focusing on phenomena rather than explanations

Question 5

what is theoretical memory research?

Answer 5

Explaining the mechanisms of memory with theories, models, or metaphors that capture part of a phenomenon

Question 6

what did Plato discover about memory?

Answer 6

describe memory metaphors: Wax tablet, aviary, scribe

Question 7

what did Aristotle believe about memory?

Answer 7

believed that things that are encoded together are remembered together (Laws of Association)

Question 8

what did Ebbunghaus believe about memory?

Answer 8

• believed that the scientific study of memory was possible
• his fundamental unit of memory was the ‘nonsense syllable’
• he measured how long it took hum to learn a list well enough that he could repeat it perfectly on two occasion (method of complete mastery)

Question 9

what is Ebbinghaus’ method of saving?

Answer 9

• it’s a key measure of retention
• how long it takes to relearn the nonsense syllable list

Question 10

what did Ebbinghaus find about encoding long lists?

Answer 10

• encoding up to 7 items was effective
• after 7 items, longer to learn
• but after that the rate if increase in difficulty may reduce
• no evidence of any “maxiumum” list length

Question 11

what is better massed or distributed learning?

Answer 11

• massed conditions show show and steady improvements over time
• distributed learning shows crossed-day forgetting

Question 12

what did Baddely and Longman (1978) find when training postmen to type postcodes?

Answer 12

• training for one hour per day is most effective, 4 hrs per day least effective
• long term retention was also poorer in the 4hr group (2x2)
• but the 1x1 group were the least satisfied with the training

Question 13

why does distributed encoding work?

Answer 13

• because its hard you have to do more so its more likely to remember it
• Encoding variability: Multiple learning in slightly different contexts produces more available cues
• you don’t pay as much attention to things you encounter commonly, s if you revisit once a week then you will pay more attention
• with distributed learning, you tend to retrieve the previous episode of learning each time you re-learn and retrieval itself benefits memory

Question 14

Brewer and Treyens (1981) study on memory

Answer 14

• ppts told to sit in office before the study begins
• confederate comes and takes them out the office and asks them to recall as many things they can remember about the office
• out of 30 ppts, most recalled chair, desk, wall, poster, door
• 9 recalled books, 3 cabinet , 2 pens and 2 windows
• but books were a false memory
  the study looked at schema expectancy (did they expect ti see it in an office), and saliency (how noticeable the object is)

Question 15

what does schema expectancy and saliency predict?

Answer 15

• they predict recall

Question 16

what is memory for schema typical and schema atypical information like after 3 weeks?

Answer 16

• 17 % schema typical items were recalled
• 1% schema atypical information recalled

Question 17

how do you enhance encoding information?

Answer 17

• relate new information to existing knowledge important in improving encoding
• e.g. creating mind maps during revision

Question 18

what is the generation effect?

Answer 18

• memory for self-generated items is much better than items you have been presented with

Question 19

Space Learning Strategically

Answer 19

• very short intervals are inefficient
• Best ISI depends on RI (Retention Intervals)
• Optimal ISIs are be approximately 10-20% of RI