Paper 1 Introductory Topics in Psychology Memory Capacity Duration Coding

To Start.. Next steps… So now we have established what capacity, duration and coding are… We now need to understand the research behind it….

Success Criteria What does research suggest about the coding, capacity and duration of memory? By the end of the lesson… Understand To describe research into the coding, capacity and duration of memory. Apply To explain the findings of research into the coding, capacity and duration of memory. Evaluate To discuss strengths and weaknesses of research into the capacity, duration and coding of memory.

You will see some pictures appear on the screen, you have 30 seconds to try and remember as many as possible. Test your memory

Test your memory

How many did you get? Were you right? Test your memory

How many did you recall correctly?

Memory Test Discuss: How did you learn the objects? Duration of Memory Memory Test Discuss: How did you learn the objects? Did you use any strategies?

Miller Duration of Memory George Miller conducted similar experiments and argued that most things come in 7’s. 7 notes on a musical scale, 7 days of the week etc… He concluded that on average we can recall 7 items (7 plus or minus 2), with a range of between 5-9 items. What memory store might this experiment have been testing? Was it testing capacity or duration and how do you know? What implications does this have for memory in real life? For example… remembering phone numbers?

If our capacity of STM is 5-9 items… Duration of Memory If our capacity of STM is 5-9 items… We can remember more as long as we break information down into 5-9 manageable chunks. Miller discovered that we can remember 5 words as easily as we can remember 5 letters…. Through chunking… CBALOLBRBTBHIDK CBA LOL BRB TBH IDK

Another way to test the capacity of STM Duration of Memory Another way to test the capacity of STM The Digit Span Test

What does this suggest about the capacity of STM? Duration of Memory The Digit Span Test Developed by Jacobs (1887). Researcher gives a number of digits and participant has to recall them all in order. The researcher then increases the amount by 1 digit and the participant has to recall again until they cannot recall the correct order. This determines their digit span. The mean digit span for participants was 9.3 items. For letters it was slightly lower at 7.3 letters. What does this suggest about the capacity of STM?

Over to you Duration of Memory Research the following studies: Peterson & Peterson (1959) Bahrick (1975) Baddeley (1966) Understand Conduct a recreation of the experiment on the class or describe it in detail. Apply Explain what the results suggest about the capacity, coding or duration of STM or LTM.

Over to you Duration of Memory Research the following studies: Peterson & Peterson (1959) Bahrick (1975) Baddeley (1966) Produce a presentation/notes to give to the rest of the class on your allocated study. Understand Conduct a recreation of the experiment on the class or describe it in detail. Apply Explain what the results suggest about the capacity, coding or duration of STM or LTM.

Now evaluate each piece of research… Duration of Memory Now evaluate each piece of research… Produce a list of strengths and weaknesses of each study. Try to touch upon: The methods they used in the study. Alternative explanations/reasons Practical applications or usefulness to memory in real life

Effective Evaluation Duration of Memory STATE Your point Cowan reviewed other memory research and discovered that the average capacity of STM is 4 items. MAKE It relevant to what you’re evaluating This is a weakness of Miller’s research into the capacity of STM because it suggests that Miller may have over-estimated the amount of information STM can hold. EXPLAIN It well Why is it a strength/weakness? This suggests that Miller’s initial research may be flawed and that STM may hold around three items less than the 7 originally proposed.

Quick Check Duration of Memory Explain what is meant by the duration of STM (2 marks) Outline one research study into the duration of LTM. In your answer include what the researchers did and what they found out. (4 marks)

Dory’s Short-Term Memory Loss Duration of Memory Dory’s Short-Term Memory Loss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tESffhWs8l0