MEMORY
aqa a-level psychology paper 1
, Coding, Capacity And Duration Of Memory
Coding: This refers to the format or type of information stored in memory
(e.g., visually, acoustically, semantically). It’s how the brain changes
information so it can be stored.
Capacity: This refers to the amount of information that can be held in
memory.
Duration: This refers to how long information can be stored in memory.
Baddeley (1966) - Research on Coding in STM and LTM:
● Aim: To investigate how information is coded in short-term memory
(STM) and long-term memory (LTM).
● Procedure: Participants were divided into groups and given four lists of
words to remember:
■ Acoustically similar (cat, cab, can)
■ Acoustically dissimilar (pit, few, cow)
■ Semantically similar (big, large, huge)
■ Semantically dissimilar (good, hot, thin)
○ Participants were tested on immediate recall (STM) and delayed
recall (LTM).
● Findings:
○ STM: Participants struggled to recall acoustically similar words,
suggesting that STM codes information acoustically.
○ LTM: Participants struggled to recall semantically similar words
after a delay, suggesting that LTM codes information
semantically.
● Conclusion:
○ STM mainly codes information based on sound (acoustic coding).
○ LTM mainly codes information based on meaning (semantic
coding).
, Jacobs (1887) - Digit Span Test (Capacity of STM):
● Aim:
○ To investigate the capacity of short-term memory (STM) using
a digit span technique.
● Procedure:
○ Participants were presented with a string of digits or letters (e.g.,
7, 4, 3) one at a time.
○ They were asked to recall the sequence in the correct order
immediately.
○ The number of items increased until participants could no longer
recall them in the correct order.
● Findings:
○ The average digit span was 9.3 items.
○ The average letter span was 7.3 items.
● Conclusion:
○ The capacity of STM is limited, supporting the idea that it holds
about 7 ± 2 items, consistent with Miller’s magic number.
○ Digits may be easier to recall than letters because there are
fewer digits and they may be more familiar.
Miller (1956) – The Magical Number 7 ± 2 (Capacity of
STM):
● Aim:
○ To investigate the capacity of short-term memory (STM).
● Procedure:
○ Miller reviewed existing research (meta-analysis style) on
memory span tasks like digit span, letters, words, and everyday
tasks.
○ He looked at how many pieces of information people could recall
in order.
● Findings:
○ People can hold about 7 ± 2 chunks of information in STM
(between 5 and 9 items).
○ Miller suggested people use “chunking”, grouping separate
pieces of information into larger, meaningful units, to increase
STM capacity.
aqa a-level psychology paper 1
, Coding, Capacity And Duration Of Memory
Coding: This refers to the format or type of information stored in memory
(e.g., visually, acoustically, semantically). It’s how the brain changes
information so it can be stored.
Capacity: This refers to the amount of information that can be held in
memory.
Duration: This refers to how long information can be stored in memory.
Baddeley (1966) - Research on Coding in STM and LTM:
● Aim: To investigate how information is coded in short-term memory
(STM) and long-term memory (LTM).
● Procedure: Participants were divided into groups and given four lists of
words to remember:
■ Acoustically similar (cat, cab, can)
■ Acoustically dissimilar (pit, few, cow)
■ Semantically similar (big, large, huge)
■ Semantically dissimilar (good, hot, thin)
○ Participants were tested on immediate recall (STM) and delayed
recall (LTM).
● Findings:
○ STM: Participants struggled to recall acoustically similar words,
suggesting that STM codes information acoustically.
○ LTM: Participants struggled to recall semantically similar words
after a delay, suggesting that LTM codes information
semantically.
● Conclusion:
○ STM mainly codes information based on sound (acoustic coding).
○ LTM mainly codes information based on meaning (semantic
coding).
, Jacobs (1887) - Digit Span Test (Capacity of STM):
● Aim:
○ To investigate the capacity of short-term memory (STM) using
a digit span technique.
● Procedure:
○ Participants were presented with a string of digits or letters (e.g.,
7, 4, 3) one at a time.
○ They were asked to recall the sequence in the correct order
immediately.
○ The number of items increased until participants could no longer
recall them in the correct order.
● Findings:
○ The average digit span was 9.3 items.
○ The average letter span was 7.3 items.
● Conclusion:
○ The capacity of STM is limited, supporting the idea that it holds
about 7 ± 2 items, consistent with Miller’s magic number.
○ Digits may be easier to recall than letters because there are
fewer digits and they may be more familiar.
Miller (1956) – The Magical Number 7 ± 2 (Capacity of
STM):
● Aim:
○ To investigate the capacity of short-term memory (STM).
● Procedure:
○ Miller reviewed existing research (meta-analysis style) on
memory span tasks like digit span, letters, words, and everyday
tasks.
○ He looked at how many pieces of information people could recall
in order.
● Findings:
○ People can hold about 7 ± 2 chunks of information in STM
(between 5 and 9 items).
○ Miller suggested people use “chunking”, grouping separate
pieces of information into larger, meaningful units, to increase
STM capacity.
