memory

• what is memory?


  memory is the process in which information is encoded, stored and retrieved
• what are the 3 types of memory?

  sensor, short term, long term
• what is sensory memory ?


  ?immediate information comming in from the environment
• what is short term memory?


  a temporary store where small amounts of information can be kept for a brief period
• what is long term memory?


  permanent store where limitless amounts of information can be stored
• what is capacity?


  how much can be stored
• what is encoding?


  how it is transferred from storage
• what is duration?

  how long the memory lasts
• what is encoding ?


  changing information so that it can be stored
• what is storage?


  holding information in the memory system
• what is retrieval?


  recovering information from storage
• what is capacity?


  the amount of information that can be held in a memory store
• what is duration?


  the length of time information can be held in memory
• what is short term memory?

  a limited capacity memory store
• what is long term memory?


  a permanent memory store
• what is the capacity of sensory memory?


  large
• what is the capacity of short term memory?


  limited
• what is the capacity of long term memory?


  unlimited
• what is chunking?

  grouping information together to help with memory
• What is the duration for which short-term memory (STM) can retain information without rehearsal?


  Very short time, typically 18-30 seconds
• What happens to information in STM if it is not rehearsed?


  It fades or decays within a few seconds
• What was the aim of the Peterson & Peterson (1959) study?


  To see if rehearsal was necessary to hold information in STM
• What was the procedure used in the Peterson & Peterson (1959) study?


  • Participants were given a consonant syllable (trigram) and a 3-digit number to remember.
  • immediately after they have to count backwards in 3s for 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 seconds to prevent rehearsal.
  • Participants recalled the letters in the correct order
• What were the findings of the Peterson & Peterson (1959) study regarding recall at different time intervals?


  At 3 seconds, recall was about 90%; at 18 seconds, it dropped to 3%
• What conclusion can be drawn from the Peterson & Peterson (1959) study about STM?


  Information cannot be held in STM without rehearsal
• What is meant by displacement in the context of STM?


  The first piece of information stored is the first to be replaced when maximum capacity is reached
• How can displacement in STM be illustrated?


  • Similar to a conveyor belt.
  • The first item in is the first item out when capacity is full.
• What is the duration of short-term memory (STM)?


  Less than 30 seconds
• What is a limitation of using university students for investigations?


  They may not represent the population as a whole
• Why did Peterson & Peterson use a distraction task in their study?


  To prevent participants from rehearsing the information
• What effect does assigning meaning to consonant syllables have?


  It may make them easier to remember
• What percentage of participants recalled correctly after 3 seconds?


  50%
• What percentage of participants recalled correctly after 18 seconds?


  27%
• What does the data suggest about the duration of STM?


  STM has a very short duration, less than 30 seconds
• what evaluation can we make about the Peterson and Peterson experiment?


  lack ecological validity (not valid in other settings)
• What did Bahrick et al (1975) investigate?


  the duration of LTM
• What was Bahrick's procedure?


  -He got 392 US high school graduates.

  -He made them do recall tests. He made them remember their classmate's names without pictures and then with

  pictures.
• what were the findings of the Bahrick experiment?


  photo recognition: 15 years after graduation recalled showed 90% but then dropped to 70% after 48 years.

  
  

  list of names (free recall): 15 years after graduation recalled showed 60% but then dropped to 30% after 48 years.
• what was the evaluation of the Bahrick experiment?


  has good ecological validity
• what are the 3 main ways of encoding information?

  acoustic (sound of stimulus)

  visual (physical appearance)

  semantic (meaning of the stimulus)