Psychology MEMORY

• Cognitive Psychology 


  The study of internal mental processes (inside the brain). EG: memory, language, attention.
• Short term memory (STM)


  Stores information that we are currently aware of but only for a shot period of time.
• Long term memory (LTM)


  Permanent storage of information which is largely outside of our awareness but it can be recalled when needed.
• Capacity


  The amount of information stored in a memory store.
• George Miller (1957)


  Conducted experiments and argued that most things come in 7s. (how many things people can remember in their STM). For example days of the week, musical scales. He concluded the average we can recall is 7 however it ranges from 5-9.
• George Miller (chunking)


  Miller discovered that we can’t ember 5 words as easily aas we can remember 5 numbers through chucking. This is where we can remember more if we crunch things into groups.
• The digit span test- Jacob’s (1887)


  Participant is given a set of digits and immediately has to recite them in order, each time a new digit is added on and when the participant is unable to recite the numbers correctly, this determines their digit span. (letters remembered is around 7.3 whereas numbers were around 9.3)
• What is the capacity of long term memory?


  Trick question! There is potentially no limit to the capacity of your LTM.
• What is the capacity of your STM?


  5-9 items.
• Strengths of the experiments of STM

  • Results have been replicated in other studies that support the reliability (repeated and results are the same). EG: Miller and Jacobs.
• Weakness of experiments on STM

  • Jacob’s was a long time ago (1887) and therefore locked adequate control of confounding variables.
  • They may of overestimated the average capacity as Cowen in 2001 estimated STM capacity averages around 4.
• What are confounding variables?


  Confounding variables are factors that could effect the results of an experiment eg: tiredness, hydration, caffeine.
• Coding 


  The format in which our brain stores information.
• STM and coding

  STM is acoustically coded (via sound)
• LTM and coding

  LTM is semantically coded (via its meaning)
• Baddely and coding experiment 


  He aimed to see how many words participants could successfully remember accurately. He did this by giving different groups different types of words and then asking them to recite them either immediately or after 20 mins. He found that participants could remember more semantic words in their STM and struggles with acoustic words. He found that participants could remember acoustic words in their LTM but struggled with semantic words. He then concluded that our STM is acoustically coded and out LTM is semantically coded .
• Strengths of Baddleys experiment 


  It was conducted in a lab (controlled setting) so therefore high reliability.
• Weakness of Baddleys experiment

  • Different groups of people so each person may of had a better/worse memory due to age gender etc. therefore was a confounding variable due to independent group design
  • Not very efficient as it’s not realistic (you don’t have to recall lists of words on a daily basis) lacks ecological validity.
• Duration of LTM- Bahrick experiment (1959)


  Got American high school graduates to match names (given to them) to faces (also given to them) of people from high school years after graduating. After 14 years 90% of names were matched correctly however after 47 years only 60% were accurately matched. He then concluded that there is no known limit to the duration of long term memory.
• Duration of short-term memory, Peterson and Peterson. 


  They got 24 psychology students to memorise a three letter trigram (random letters) they counted backwards in 3s to stop, thinking about the letters and stop rehearsing. They then had to recite the letters again. After 3 seconds 80% of trigrams were recited whereas after 18 seconds only 10% was accurately recalled, they thefore concluded that the duration of short-term memory was 18 seconds.
• Evaluation of Bahricks LTM experiment 


  Strengths: had high, ecological validity as the study was used with real life memories.

  weakeness: lack population validity as only American participants took place so therefore psychologist are unable to generalise his results.
• Evaluation of Petersons STM experiment.

  Strengths: experimental place in a controlled lab, therefore reliable results. The experiment had a high degree of control of extraneous variables.

  Weakness: they used psychology students, so therefore the participants may know, better ways to memorise things due to studying it. may have demonstrated demand characteristics.

  may have demonstrated demand characteristics.

  lacked ecological validity as we are unlikely to have to remember trigrams daily.

  May have demonstrated demand characteristics.
• Duration of sensory register -Sperling 


  The sensory register has a very short duration of what information can be stored as it decays rapidly participants were shown a 3 x 3 grid of letters for 50 ms. He then asked them to record all the letters they remembered immediately to test the duration of your sensory register Results 4.3 letters.
• Glanzer and Curtis (1966) Testing sensory register.


  Showed participants 20 words presented one at a time and then asked them to recall this is called the serial position effect.

  Primacy effect: participants remember the first five or so words from the start of the list as it had entered their long-term memory.

  recency effect: participants remembered five or so words from the end of the list as it was in the short term memory.
• Who proposed the Multi-store Model of Memory?


  Atkinson & Shiffrin
• In what year was the Multi-store Model of Memory proposed?


  1968
• What are the three main stores in the Multi-store Model of Memory?

  • Sensory Memory
  • Short-term Memory
  • Long-term Memory
• What is the duration of sensory memory?


  Very short, typically a fraction of a second
• What is the capacity of sensory memory?


  Large capacity
• How is information lost from sensory memory?


  Through decay
• What happens to information in short-term memory when it is not maintained?


  It is lost through displacement
• How is information coded in long-term memory?

  Semantically
• What is the role of attention in the Multi-store Model of Memory?


  Attention is necessary for information to move from sensory memory to short-term memory
• What is the process of maintaining information in short-term memory called?


  Maintenance rehearsal
• What are the key features of the Multi-store Model of Memory?


  • Three stores: Sensory, Short-term, Long-term
  • Sensory memory has a large capacity but very short duration
  • Short-term memory has limited capacity and duration
  • Information can be lost through decay or displacement
  • Long-term memory codes information semantically
• What does AQA stand for in the context of this study material?


  AQA is an examination board in the UK.
• What does PS stand for in the context of this study material?


  PS stands for Psychology.
• What does PE stand for in the context of this study material?


  PE stands for Physical Education.
• Who is Panna Jarvis Liddie?


  Panna Jarvis Liddie is likely a reference to a person relevant to the study material.
• What is the assumption made by the behaviorist approach regarding behavior?


  All behavior is learned and can be measured.