Coding, Capacity, Duration

• What does memory Coding mean?

  the processes as to how the brain stores information from the senses
• What types of coding are there?

  1. acoustically (sounds/words)
  2. visually (images)
  3. semantically (meaning)
• How does the brain store information?

  initially via the sensory register then STM then LTM
• What does memory Capacity mean?


  refers to how much information can be stored by the brain
• What does memory Duration mean?


  refers to how long the brain can store information
• How long does the sensory register store information?


  1/4 second
• How long does STM store memory for?

  18-30 seconds
• How long does LTM store memory for?

  potentially a lifetime
• How have researchers investigated memory coding of STM?

  Baddeley's research, diff levels of IV (independent variable) were presented with either 10 acoustically similar or dissimilar words, then asked to immediately recall the original word list in order
• How have researches investigated the capacity of STM?

  Jacob's research, participants were presented with string of digits/letters then asked to immediately recall them in order, the string increased until participant failed to recall string.
• How have researchers investigated the duration of STM?

  Peterson and Peterson's research, participants were shown nonsense trigrams one at a time, then asked to recall the trigram after 3..6..9...etc seconds, during the wait participants were asked to count backwards in 3's from a given number.
• `What were the conclusions from Baddeley's research (coding)?

  1. information is stored acoustically for STM
  2. information is stored semantically for LTM
  3. similar words are harder to encode because they get muddled
• What were the conclusions from Jacob's research (capacity)?

  1. digits may be easier to recall than letters (only 9 single digit numbers whereas there are 26 letters)
  2. capacity of STM overestimated (now believed to be 4 - Cowan,2001)
• What were the conclusions from Peterson and Peterson's research (duration)?

  1. when rehearsal is prevented, very little can stay in STM for longer than 18 secs.