coding capacity and duration of memory and the multi-store memory model

define coding

the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores

define capacity

the amount of information that can be held in a memory store

define duration

the length of time information can be held in memory

short term memory : coding, capacity, duration

limited capacity memory store, coding mainly acoustic (sounds), capacity of 5-9 items, duration about 18 secs

long term memory : coding, capacity, duration

permanent memory store, coding mainly semantic (meaning), capacity is unlimited, storing memories up to a lifetime

explain the digit span experiment conducted by joseph jacobs (1887)

joseph jacobs (1887) conducted the experiment to find STMs capacity: the researcher reads out four digits and the participant recalls these out loud in the correct order, if this is correct the researcher reads out five digits and so on until the participant cannot recall the order correctly, this indicates the individuals digit span

what was joseph jacobs (1887) findings from the digit span experiment

he found that the mean span for digits was 9.3 items, the mean span for letters 7.3

what was george miller (1956) observations with span of memory and chunking

Miller thought that the capacity of STM is about 7 items, plus or minus 2, he also noted that people can recall digits or letters through grouping them into units or chunks

evaluate joseph jacobs (1887) digit span experiment

one strength of jacob’s study is that it has been replicated, although the study was first performed a long time ago so could have lacked adequate controls, the study has then been repeated with better controlled studies

evaluate george miller (1956) span of memory and chunking study

one limitation is that chunking is a vague concept and so he may of overestimated the amount of units in a chunk, it was then concluded that 4 plus or minus 2 chunks was more accurate

explain what richard atkinson and richard shiffrins multi-store model was

it described how info flows through the memory system and was made up of three stores: the sensory register, short-term memory store and long term memory store

what is the memory store for visual information

iconic memory

what is the memory store for sound (acoustic)

echoic memory

ways that info is lost from memory

sensory register by decay after 0.5 secs if no attention given, STM by exceeding capacity or duration, LTM by forgetting

sensory register : capacity, encoding, duration

capacity is very large, encoding echoic, iconic, touch or smell, duration is 0.5 secs

what does the sensory register require in order to pass info further into the memory system

attention

what does the STM require in order to pass info into the LTM

prolonged rehearsal and maintenance rehearsal (when we repeat info in our head over and over again)

how do we recall info from LTM back into STM

retrieval

what are the limitations of the multi-store model

there is evidence for more than one STM store, prolonged rehearsal is not needed to transfer to LTM instead elaborative rehearsal is needed which is when you link info to existing knowledge