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Glanzer & Cunitz's (1966) study of the primacy and recency effect
Aim: To investigate whether the position of words in a list affects memory recall (primacy and recency effect).
(Method)
Type: Laboratory experiment.
Participants: Randomly selected individuals.
Design: Independent measures.
(Procedure)
Participants were shown a list of words (one at a time).
Group 1: Asked to recall the words immediately.
Group 2: Delayed recall after a 30-second distraction task (to prevent rehearsal).
(Results)
Group 1:Recalled words from the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of the list.
Group 2:Only showed the primacy effect, as the distraction task disrupted the recency effect.
(Evaluation)
Strengths: Supports the multi-store model of memory (STM and LTM as separate stores).High control in a lab setting ensures reliability.
Limitations:Artificial task (lacks ecological validity).Participants may have individual differences in memory capacity.
This shows that early words are remembered due to transfer to LTM (primacy), while recent words rely on STM (recency).
Baddeley & Hitch's (1976) - the working memory model (study)
What Were They Trying to Find Out? (Aim)
Baddeley and Hitch wanted to see if people could use different parts of their brain's memory at the same time. They believed the brain has separate sections for handling different types of information.
What Did They Do? (Method/Procedure)
👩🏫 Who? – They asked 92 university students to help.
📝 What? – Students had to do two things at once:
1⃣ Remember a list of numbers and say them out loud.
2⃣ Answer true or false to easy questions like "Does D come after C in the alphabet?"
What Did They Find? (Results)
🕒 People took slightly longer to answer the questions when they had to remember more numbers, but only by a tiny bit.
✅ The most important finding – People still answered correctly, even when remembering lots of numbers!
What Does This Mean? (Conclusion)
💡 The brain can use different parts of working memory at the same time!
🧠 The central executive helped with the true/false questions, while the phonological loop helped with repeating numbers.
Was This a Good Experiment? (Evaluation)
✅ Strengths – It was a lab experiment, meaning scientists controlled everything to make sure the results were fair.
❌ Weaknesses –
Only 92 students were tested, so we don’t know if everyone’s brain works the same way.
Doing two tasks at once might have been stressful for some people.
The Multi-Store Model of Memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968)
What Is It? (Key Idea)
Memory is like a factory with three sections:
1⃣ Sensory memory – Takes in everything around you (what you see, hear, touch, etc.).
2⃣ Short-term memory (STM) – Holds a few things for a short time.
3⃣ Long-term memory (LTM) – Stores things forever (if they’re important).
Information moves through these stages in order like a conveyor belt. If you don’t focus on it or rehearse it, it disappears!
How Does It Work? Sensory Memory (The Entry Gate 🚪)
👀 Encoding – Your brain takes in info through sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell.
📦 Capacity – Can take in a lot of info, but most of it gets thrown away.
⏳ Duration – Only lasts 1-2 seconds, except sound (which can last 3-4 seconds).
🔹 Example: When someone says your name in a loud room, you don’t remember all the noise, just their voice!
Short-Term Memory (The Work Desk 💻)
🔡 Encoding – Info comes in its original form (as you saw or heard it).
📏 Capacity – Holds 5 to 9 pieces of info (Miller’s 7±2 rule).
⏳ Duration – Lasts about 30 seconds unless you repeat it.
🔹 Example: Trying to remember a phone number before writing it down.
Long-Term Memory (The Storage Room 📦)
💡 Encoding – Stores things based on meaning (semantic encoding).
📏 Capacity – Unlimited (we don’t know the limit).
⏳ Duration – Can last a lifetime!
🔹 Example: You can remember your childhood best friend’s name but might forget what you ate last Tuesday.
Does This Model Work? (Evaluation)
✅ Strengths:
Supported by scientific studies.
Case studies (e.g., Clive Wearing) show that STM and LTM are separate.
❌ Weaknesses:
Doesn’t explain why we remember emotional events better than others.
Too simple – Memory is not just a straight line; LTM can influence what we focus on in STM.
Some things (like smells) can be remembered without rehearsal, which MSM doesn’t explain.
Baddeley & Hitch’s (1976) - the working memory model
A long time ago, some people thought our memory worked in a simple way, like a storage cupboard (this is the Multi-Store Model). But later, some scientists, Baddeley and Hitch, said, "Hey, it’s more complicated!" They said that short-term memory (STM) isn’t just a place where memories go to sit quietly; it’s a busy workspace! This is the Working Memory Model (WMM).
In the WMM, your brain has a big boss called the Central Executive, who tells the memory helpers (the "slave systems") what to do. There are two helpers: one for sounds (the Phonological Loop) and one for pictures and spaces (the Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad). Later, they added another helper called the Episodic Buffer to help mix the sounds and pictures together.
Parts of the WMM
Central Executive (Big Boss):
This is the main part of the brain. It decides what to do with the information. It’s like the boss of a busy office, telling everyone what to focus on and where to put things. It doesn’t hold lots of information, but it decides what happens with the info that comes in.
What it does: Receives info from all senses and decides what to do with it.
How much can it handle: It can only focus on a little bit of info at once.
Phonological Loop (The Sound Helper):
This part helps you remember things you hear or read, like when you hear a phone number or someone’s name.
What it does: It repeats things you hear, like saying "mum" over and over in your head.
How much can it handle: It can only hold information for about 2 seconds.
Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad (The Picture Helper):
This part helps you remember what things look like and where they are. It’s like imagining your home and remembering how many windows are there.
What it does: Keeps track of pictures and spaces in your mind.
How much can it handle: Not much at once – it’s like looking at a picture and remembering one thing at a time.
Episodic Buffer (The Mixing Helper):
This is the newest helper in the brain. It mixes up sounds and pictures together to make memories that we can remember later.
What it does: Combines sounds and pictures to make memories (like remembering a fun trip).
How much can it handle: It’s not very clear, but it holds a bit more than the other helpers.
Evaluation
What’s Good About This Model?
It helps explain how we do everyday things, like solving problems, driving, or remembering stuff.
Scientists have shown with brain scans that different parts of our brain work when we do different tasks (like remembering pictures or words).
What’s Not So Great?
This model only explains short-term memory, not all memory.
Some parts of the model are too simple. For example, the brain’s picture part (Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad) doesn't work the same way for everyone. Blind people can remember space really well, so the parts might be separate.
The Big Boss (Central Executive) isn’t something you can see or measure. It’s just an idea, so we don’t have real proof of it.
