Class notes
Memory - A-Level Psychology notes
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Memory - A-Level Psychology notes
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
A* A-level AQA Psychology: Aggression essay plans
-
A* A-level AQA Psychology: Schizophrenia essay plans
-
A* A-level AQA Psychology: Gender essay plans
Seller
Follow
polinalobacheva
Reviews received
Content preview
MemoryCapacity A measure of how much can be held in memory
STM: limited, less than 7 chunks LTM: possibly limitless
Key study: Capacity of STM by Jacobs 1887
He found the average span for digits was 9.3 items and 7.3 for letters. He says that more digits were recalled as
there’s only 9 of them and there was less remembrance for the letters as there are 26 of them.
Evaluation:
+ Miller 1956 concluded that span of STM is 7 +- 2 items, to enhance STM letter&digits can be grouped into chunks
+ Simon 1974 found a shorter memory span for 8 word phrases (large chunks) than 1-syllable words (small chunks)
- Cowan’s 2011 review of STM capacity studies that capacity may be limited to 4 chunks rather than 7+-2.
- Individual differences. Jacobs found digit span increases with age: 8 year olds can recall an average of 6.6 digits,
and 19 year olds can recall 8.6 digits
Duration A measure of how long memory lasts in the brain
STM: few seconds to a minute LTM: 2 minutes to 100 years
Key study: Peterson and Peterson 1959
Aim: investigate duration of STM
Procedure: Conducted a lab experiment to test 24 students over 8 trials. Each trial gave a consonant syllable and a 3-
digit number (ex. THX 512). Participants recalled the consonant syllable after a retention interval (3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18
seconds) during which they counted backwards from the 3-digit number presented.
Findings: On average, recall within 3sec. was 90%, within 9sec. 20% and within 18sec. only 2%
Conclusion: When verbal rehearsal of the consonant syllable is prevented duration of STM is very short
Key study: Bahrick et al 1975 Years after Free Photo- Name-
Aim: investigate duration of LTM graduating recall recognition recognition
Procedure: He tested over 400 people, aged 17-74, for their memory (50 pics)
of high school classmates. A photo-recognition test they identified 15 60% 90% 90%
high school yearbook images of their classmates from 50 photos. In a 48 30% 70% 80%
free-recall test they listed names of classmates in their graduating
class.
Conclusion: Duration of LTM is much longer than STM however if the information is not used it will disappear.
Evaluation:
- Artificial task: people don’t usually need to remember meaningless consonants.
- STM results may be due to displacement not decay: the counting task may have displaced the memory of the
syllable. Reitman 1974 used auditory tones instead of counting and found duration of STM was longer.
- Participants may have kept in contact and seen their classmates after graduating = rehearsal (Bahrick’s)
Coding The way information is changed so that memory can be stored as visual, acoustic (hearing), semantic (meaning)
STM: acoustically LTM: semantically
Key study: Baddeley 1966
Aim: to investigate coding in STM and LTM
Procedure: In a lab experiment, he gave participants lists of words that were acoustically similar (sounded alike) or
dissimilar and lists of words that were semantically similar (synonyms) or dissimilar.
Results: STM codes acoustically and LTM codes semantically.
Conclusion: STM uses acoustic coding whereas LTM uses semantic coding.
Evaluation:
- Participants recalled words after 20min; it’s debatable whether this was a sufficient amount of time to test LTM.
- Brandimonte 1992 found that participants did well on a visual task, even though verbal rehearsal was prevented.
STM translates images into verbal code, but verbal code wasn’t available, meaning STM uses visual codes too.
- LTM may not be exclusively semantic: Research proved that LTM can also be visual and acoustic.
Key study: Frost 1972: In a free recall task he found that recognition uses visual cues to provide faster access and
recall uses verbal cues – this demonstrate that separate coding occurs.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller polinalobacheva. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $9.13. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
75323 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now