Memory 16 markers
✏️Coding, capacity and duration of memory
Baddeley carried out a study on acoustic and semantic words. The procedure involved having some
participants memorise acoustically similar words such as cat, cab and can, or dissimilar words such
as pit, few and cow. Other participants memorised semantically similar words, such as great, large
and big, or dissimilar words such as good, huge and hot. Baddeley found that immediate recall was
worse with acoustically similar words, which means that short-term memory must be acoustic.
Recall of the words after 20 minutes was worse with semantically similar words, which means that
the long-term memory must be semantic.
Jacobs and Miller both carried out different studies on capacity. Jacobs got researchers to read 4
digits and increased the number of digits until the participants couldn't recall the order correctly.
The participants could recall 9.3 numbers and 7.3 letters in the correct order immediately after they
were presented. Miller noticed that everyday items come in sevens, such as days of the week, notes
of the musical scale, etc. The span of short-term memory is about 7 items, plus or minus 2, but can
be increased when items are chunked together into meaningful units.
Studies into the duration of short-term memory have been carried out by Peterson and Peterson, as
well as another study into long-term memory by Bahrick. Peterson and Peterson's study involved
students given a consonant syllable such as YCG to recall, as well as a 3-digit number to count back
from. The retention interval varied from 3 to 18 seconds. Bahrick's study into duration in long-term
memory involved participants recalling information from their yearbooks. The participants were
American and between the ages of 17 and 74. They were first given photos from their yearbook and
asked whether they remembered the names which was called a recognition test.
Then they were asked to name the people whom they graduated from memory, which was called a
free-recall test. In the recognition test, participants got 90% correct after 15 years, and 70% after 48
years. However, in the free-recall test participants got 60% recall after 15 years and only 30% after
48 years.
A strength of Baddeley's study is that it identified 2 memory stores. Some exceptions have been
found later, but short-term memory is mostly acoustic and long-term memory is mostly semantic.
This research led to the development of the multi-store model.
A limitation of Baddeley's research is that it used artificial stimuli. These words had no personal
meaning to the participants who were remembering them, so this study doesn't tell us much about
memory for everyday tasks. When more meaningful information is stored, people use semantic
coding, even for their short-term memory. This means that the findings have limited application.
A strength of Jacob's study is that it has been replicated by other researchers. The study was carried
out in the 1800s and so it might have confounding variables that don't apply anymore. However
other studies have confirmed that the information shown is correct, which means that it is valid to
support short-term memory.
A limitation of Miller's research is that it might be overestimating the capacity of short-term
memory. Another research reviewed the research and found that the capacity of short-term
memory is only about 4 chunks. This means that Miller's lower estimate might be more accurate
than the original 7.
A limitation of Peterson and Peterson's study is that the stimuli are meaningless. The information
the participants were asked to recall was irrelevant, and this wouldn't be information commonly
recalled in everyday life. This means that the study lacks external validity.
A strength of Bahrick's study is that it has high external validity. The information that participants
were asked to recall was everyday faces and names from the participants' lives, and so therefore it
makes the study more valid than learning meaningless information. This means that the findings give
a more realistic estimate of the duration of long-term memory.
✏️Coding, capacity and duration of memory
Baddeley carried out a study on acoustic and semantic words. The procedure involved having some
participants memorise acoustically similar words such as cat, cab and can, or dissimilar words such
as pit, few and cow. Other participants memorised semantically similar words, such as great, large
and big, or dissimilar words such as good, huge and hot. Baddeley found that immediate recall was
worse with acoustically similar words, which means that short-term memory must be acoustic.
Recall of the words after 20 minutes was worse with semantically similar words, which means that
the long-term memory must be semantic.
Jacobs and Miller both carried out different studies on capacity. Jacobs got researchers to read 4
digits and increased the number of digits until the participants couldn't recall the order correctly.
The participants could recall 9.3 numbers and 7.3 letters in the correct order immediately after they
were presented. Miller noticed that everyday items come in sevens, such as days of the week, notes
of the musical scale, etc. The span of short-term memory is about 7 items, plus or minus 2, but can
be increased when items are chunked together into meaningful units.
Studies into the duration of short-term memory have been carried out by Peterson and Peterson, as
well as another study into long-term memory by Bahrick. Peterson and Peterson's study involved
students given a consonant syllable such as YCG to recall, as well as a 3-digit number to count back
from. The retention interval varied from 3 to 18 seconds. Bahrick's study into duration in long-term
memory involved participants recalling information from their yearbooks. The participants were
American and between the ages of 17 and 74. They were first given photos from their yearbook and
asked whether they remembered the names which was called a recognition test.
Then they were asked to name the people whom they graduated from memory, which was called a
free-recall test. In the recognition test, participants got 90% correct after 15 years, and 70% after 48
years. However, in the free-recall test participants got 60% recall after 15 years and only 30% after
48 years.
A strength of Baddeley's study is that it identified 2 memory stores. Some exceptions have been
found later, but short-term memory is mostly acoustic and long-term memory is mostly semantic.
This research led to the development of the multi-store model.
A limitation of Baddeley's research is that it used artificial stimuli. These words had no personal
meaning to the participants who were remembering them, so this study doesn't tell us much about
memory for everyday tasks. When more meaningful information is stored, people use semantic
coding, even for their short-term memory. This means that the findings have limited application.
A strength of Jacob's study is that it has been replicated by other researchers. The study was carried
out in the 1800s and so it might have confounding variables that don't apply anymore. However
other studies have confirmed that the information shown is correct, which means that it is valid to
support short-term memory.
A limitation of Miller's research is that it might be overestimating the capacity of short-term
memory. Another research reviewed the research and found that the capacity of short-term
memory is only about 4 chunks. This means that Miller's lower estimate might be more accurate
than the original 7.
A limitation of Peterson and Peterson's study is that the stimuli are meaningless. The information
the participants were asked to recall was irrelevant, and this wouldn't be information commonly
recalled in everyday life. This means that the study lacks external validity.
A strength of Bahrick's study is that it has high external validity. The information that participants
were asked to recall was everyday faces and names from the participants' lives, and so therefore it
makes the study more valid than learning meaningless information. This means that the findings give
a more realistic estimate of the duration of long-term memory.
