what are the three stages of memory ?
encoding
storage
retrieval
in that order
what is encoding ?
changing incoming info (new memory) so that it can be stored
what is storage
holding information in the memory system
what is retrieval ?
recovering remembering information from storage
What is coding ?
the format in which info is stored in the various memory stores
what is memory ?
this is the process of storing and retrieving information
not just a store of facts but everything we need to know how to interact with the world
central to all cognitive activities
what do cognitive scientist use to compare mental processes to
they have developed computer programs to mimic human cognitive function to explain memory
what is a model
this is a representation of something rather than an exact copy
it helps us understand understand how something works
what is short term memory ?
the limited capacity memory store
in the STM coding is mainly acoustic (sounds), capacity is between 5 and 9 items on average, duration is about 18 seconds
what is long term memory ?
the permanent memory store. in the LTM, coding is mainly semantic (meaning), it has unlimited capacity and can store memories for up to a life time
what is capacity ?
the amount of information that can be held in a memory store
what is duration
the length of time information can be held in memory
what research has there been on coding ?
baddley
gave different lists of words to 4 groups of participant to remember
describe what baddley’s research
gave different lists of words to 4 groups of participant to remember
group 1 acoustically similar words i.e. cat cab can
group 2 acoustically dissimilar words i.e. pit few cow
group 3 semantically similar words i.e. great large big
group 4 semantically dissimilar words i.e. good huge hot
participants were shown the original words and asked to recall them in order
when they did the task immediately - recording from short term memory they tended to do worse with acoustically similar words
when they recalled the word list after a time interval of 20 min recalling from long term memory, they did worse with semantically different words
theses findings show that information is coded acoustically in the STM and semantically in the LTM
what did baddley find out ?
when they did the task immediately - recording from short term memory they tended to do worse with acoustically similar words
when they recalled the word list after a time interval of 20 min recalling from long term memory, they did worse with semantically different words
theses findings show that information is coded acoustically in the STM and semantically in the LTM
what research support capacity of digits
Joseph Jacobs
describe what joseph jacobs research
the researcher reads out 4 digits and the Ps recalls them out loud in the correct order
if this was correct the researcher reads out 5 digits and so on until the Ps cannot recall the order correctly
Jacobs found that mean span for digits across all participants was 9.3 items the mean span for letter was 7.3
What did Jacobs find
Jacobs found that mean span for digits across all participants was 9.3 items the mean span for letter was 7.3
what research supports span of memory and chunking
Miller made observation of everyday practice
he noted things come in seven ; seven notes on a music scale 7 deadly sins
Miller thought that the span i.e. capacity of STM is about 7 items plus of minus 2
But he also noted that people can recall 5 words as easily as they can recall 5 letters
we do this by chunking grouping sets of digits or letters into units or chunks
who researched the duration of STM memory ?
Margaret and Lloyd Peterson