memory

• coding = the format in which information is stored in the memory stores
• capacity = the amount of information that can be held in the memory store
• duration = the length of time information can be held in memory
• Baddeley's research on coding

  • gave 4 different groups of pps to remember
  • 1 = acoustically similar words
  • 2 = acoustically dissimilar words
  • 3 = semantically similar words
  • 4 = semantically dissimilar words
• Baddeley's coding study results

  • pps were shown the original words and asked to recall in correct order
  • when doing the recall task immediately after they tended to do worse on acoustically similar words (STM recall)
  • if pps were asked to recall after 20mins they did worse on semantically similar words (LTM recall)
  • suggests information is coded semantically in LTM
• research on capacity = digital span

  • Jacobs, gave 4 digits and then the participant is asked to recall them in the correct order out loud
  • if they get this correct the researcher adds one digit each time until they cannot correctly record it
  • he found that the mean span of digits across participants was 9.3 items
  • the mean span for letters was 7.3
• research on capacity = span of memory and chunking

  • Miller made observations of everyday practice
  • e.g he noted that things come in 7s such as the days of the week
  • he also noted that people can recall 5 numbers and letters which is done by chunking