memory - research studies on coding, capacity and duration

Question 1

define coding

Answer 1

• how we process information to a suitable form so it can be stored
• e.g. STM = codes acoustically

Question 2

define capacity

Answer 2

• how much information can be held in memory
• e.g. STM = 5-9 items

Question 3

define duration

Answer 3

• how long information can be held in memory
• e.g. STM = 18-30 seconds

Question 4

sensory register coding

Answer 4

• modality specific
• depends on sense used e.g. iconic, visual

Question 5

sensory register capacity

Answer 5

unlimited

Question 6

sensory register duration

Answer 6

limited (less than 0.5 seconds)

Question 7

STM coding

Answer 7

acoustic

Question 8

STM capacity

Answer 8

limited 5-9 items

Question 9

STM duration

Answer 9

limited 18-30 seconds

Question 10

LTM coding

Answer 10

semantic

Question 11

LTM capacity

Answer 11

unlimited

Question 12

LTM duration

Answer 12

potentially a lifetime

Question 13

baddeley - AO1
coding in STM
AIM

Answer 13

to investigate how we code information in STM

Question 14

baddeley - AO1
coding in STM
PROCEDURE

Answer 14

• showed ppts words from 4 categories
  1) acoustically similar e.g. sat, cat, hat, rat
  2) acoustically dissimilar e.g. tree, house, flour
  3) semantically similar e.g. sleep, snooze, rest
  4) semantically dissimilar e.g. cake, book, plane
• asked ppts to recall lists iIMMEDIATELY AFTER
• in the correct order

Question 15

baddeley - AO1
coding in STM
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

Answer 15

findings: most mistakes made in acoustically similar list

conclusion: STM codes acoustically

Question 16

baddeley - AO1
coding in LTM
AIM

Answer 16

to investigate how we code information in LTM

Question 17

baddeley - AO1
coding in LTM
PROCEDURE

Answer 17

• showed ppts words from 4 categories
  1) acoustically similar e.g. sat, cat, hat, rat
  2) acoustically dissimilar e.g. tree, house, flour
  3) semantically similar e.g. sleep, snooze, rest
  4) semantically dissimilar e.g. cake, book, plane
• asked ppts to recall lists 20 MINUTES AFTER
• in the correct order

Question 18

baddeley - AO1
coding in LTM
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

Answer 18

findings: more mistakes made on semantically similar list

conclusion: LTM codes semantically

Question 19

miller - AO1
capacity of STM
AIM

Answer 19

to investigate capacity of STM

Question 20

miller - AO1
capacity of STM
PROCEDURE

Answer 20

• digit span technique
• shown a string of unrelated digits
• increased by 1 every time
• had to recall in correct order
• digit span measured until no longer could recall in correct sequence

Question 21

miller - AO1
capacity of STM
FINDINGS/CONCLUSION

Answer 21

• STM capacity limited
• 5-9 items
• increased capacity if placed into meaningful chunks

Question 22

Peterson and Peterson - AO1
duration of STM
AIM

Answer 22

to investigate duration of STM

Question 23

Peterson and Peterson - AO1
duration of STM
SAMPLE

Answer 23

24 undergraduate students

Question 24

Peterson and Peterson - AO1
duration of STM
PROCEDURE

Answer 24

• ppts presented with consent trigram to learn e.g. HDF
• given 3 digit number and asked to count backwards (prevents rehearsal)
• stopped at different intervals e.g. 3,6,9,12,15,18
• asked to recall consonant trigram

Question 25

Peterson and Peterson - AO1 duration of STM FINDINGS

Answer 25

- when stopped at 3 seconds less only 80% correctly recalled trigram - when stopped at 18 seconds less than 10% recalled correctly

Question 26

Peterson and Peterson - AO1 duration of STM CONCLUSION

Answer 26

- STM duration is limited - 18-30 seconds - unless rehearsed

Question 27

bahrick - AO1 duration of LTM AIM

Answer 27

to investigate duration of LTM

Question 28

bahrick - AO1 duration of LTM SAMPLE

Answer 28

394 American high school graduates aged 17-74

Question 29

bahrick - AO1 duration of LTM PROCEDURE

Answer 29

- placed ppts in 2 conditions - condition 1 = recall memory of former classmates with photobook - condition 2 = recall names of former classmates with no photobook

Question 30

bahrick - AO1 duration of LTM FINDINGS

Answer 30

- condition 1 = 70% recall after 48 years - condition 2 = 30% recall after 48 years

Question 31

bahrick - AO1 duration of LTM CONCLUSION

Answer 31

- certain types of information can potentially last a lifetime - especially with correct cues

Question 32

weakness - AO3 lacks mundane realism THINK FURTHER

Answer 32

P - research into (duration of STM) - lacks mundane realism E - artificial task - (recalling consonant trigrams) E - difficult to generalise findings (STM duration = 18-30 secs) - to real life (duration of STM) - research does not reflect most real life memory activities - meaningful information L - lowers external validity of (STM duration) THINK FURTHER - sometimes we do remember meaningless info - e.g. groups of digits/letters (phone numbers/postcodes) - has some relevance to everyday life

Question 33

strength - AO3 high control over extraneous variables

Answer 33

P - strength (coding LTM) - high control over extraneous variables - lab experiment - controlled setting e.g. E - lists matched on task difficulty - shown lists for same amount of time E - cause and effect between IV (list of words) and DV (accurate recall) can be established L - increases IV

Question 34

strength - AO3 high reliability

Answer 34

P - strength - high reliability (STM capacity) E - controlled setting (lab) E - can be repeated in same conditions (e.g. same standardised procedure, shown for same amount of time) L - to check for consistent results (STM capacity)

Question 35

strength - AO3 BAHRICK ONLY high mundane realism

Answer 35

P - strength - high mundane realism - assessing real life memories of individuals classmates E - real life task - may do something similar in everyday life - e.g. finding old friend on social media E - easy to generalise to real life - findings on duration on LTM L - increases external validity

Question 36

criticism - AO3 BAHRICK ONLY low control over extraneous variables

Answer 36

P - criticism - low control over extraneous variables E - no controlled environment - e.g. how much contact ppts had with classmates after leaving school E - cause and effect cannot be established between IV (amount of time passed) and DV (accurate recall of classmates) L - so firm conclusions cannot be drawn on duration of LTM - reducing internal validity