1. Memory
Lesson 1

2. A Memory Test.. What is Memory?
From memory…. Re-create the psychology timeline.
You have 3 minutes!

3. Pair up with someone in your team
Pair up with someone in your team. Each pair give themselves a letter A, B, C , D or E.

4. Did you get it correct? What is Memory? Discuss:
How did you recall the psychology timeline?
Did you use any strategies?
How easy was it to recall? Why?
What type of memory is this testing?

5. Short Term Memory Long Term Memory
Information that we process and recall straight away.
It stores the information we are currently aware of.
Long Term Memory
The memory for past events that can last for the life time of a person.
Its capacity is unlimited.

6. Why is Memory Important?
What is Memory?
Why is Memory Important?
Case studies of brain damaged patients have shown that memory is vital for learning. Without memory, no learning would take place.
Memory is used for remembering how to do things such as catch a bus or ride a bike. It is also important for talking to friends and remembering places.
Without memory….we wouldn’t be human!

7. Objectives
To be able to describe the capacity, duration and coding of the STM
To be able to outline one research study into the capacity, duration and coding in the STM
Challenge
To be able to evaluate research into STM and LTM

8. Specification
The multi-store model of memory: sensory register, short-term memory and long-term memory. Features of each store: coding, capacity and duration.
The working memory model: central executive, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad and episodic buffer. Features of the model: coding and capacity.
Types of long-term memory: episodic, semantic, procedural.
Explanations for forgetting: proactive and retroactive interference and retrieval failure due to absence of cues.
Factors affecting the accuracy of eyewitness testimony: misleading information, including leading questions and post-event discussion; anxiety.
Improving the accuracy of eyewitness testimony, including the use of the cognitive interview.

9. If you remember the last slide, you have used your memory.
What is Memory?
Definition:
“keep hold of
- Store”
Human memory can most broadly be defined as the process by which we retain information about events that have happened in the past.
This does not just mean things that happened years ago, but also in our immediate past.
If you remember the last slide, you have used your memory.

10. Define the following words
In your own words, define the following terms… Capacity Coding Duration

11. Define the following words
Capacity: how much? The measure of how much can be held in memory. For example, how many digits can be held in STM. Coding: how is it changed so it can be used in your memory? As information enters the brain via the senses, it is transformed into a code so that it can be stored. The codes can be visual (picture), acoustic (sounds) or semantic (the meaning of the information) Duration: how long? The measure of how long memory lasts before it is no longer available

12. STM: Coding (encoding)
Baddeley (1966)

13. I am going to read a list of words out to you.
Listen to your list and then right the words down in the correct order.
Question: There are 4 conditions – what experimental design is being used?

14. List A Man Cap Can Cab Mad Mat Cat Map List A Cap Mad Map Cat Man Can
Man
Cap
Can
Cab
Mad
Mat
Cat
Map
List A
Cap
Mad
Map
Cat
Man
Can
Cab
Mat

15. List B Pit Few Cow Pen Sup Bar Day Kit Mixed list Pen Kit Few Day Bar
Mixed list
Pen
Kit
Few
Day
Bar
Cow
Pit
Sup

16. List C Large Big Huge Broad Tall Fat Wide High Mixed list Tall Broad

17. List D Good Huge Hot Safe Thin Deep Strong Foul Mixed list Safe Hot

18. Draw the following chart for today…
STM
Research and findings
Evaluation
Coding
Capacity
Duration

19. The Mean Most sensitive measure More representative  Can be distorted
Coding results:
The Mean
Most sensitive measure
More representative
 Can be distorted
STM
Acoustically similar
Acoustically dissimilar
Semantically similar
Semantically dissimilar

20. Task: to measure LTM
You have been given your list of words that you looked at…
Arrange the list in the correct order…

21. The Mean Most sensitive measure More representative  Can be distorted
Coding results:
The Mean
Most sensitive measure
More representative
 Can be distorted
LTM
Acoustically similar
Acoustically dissimilar
Semantically similar
Semantically dissimilar

22. Task: answer the following questions on encoding
Baddeley (1966) Coding of STM and LTM

23. Findings in the original study: Baddeley (1966)
Participants tended to do worse with acoustically similar words
Participants in LTM did worse in semantically similar
Therefore
The greater confusion shows that words in the short term memory are stored acoustically
The greater confusion shows that words in the long term memory is stored semantically

24. Baddeley concludes that LTM encodes semantically, at least primarily
Baddeley concludes that LTM encodes semantically, at least primarily. His earlier experiments suggest STM encodes acoustically. This is why LTM gets confused when it has to retrieve the order words which are semantically similar: it gets distracted by the semantic similarities and muddles them up. It has no problem retrieving acoustically similar words because LTM pays no attention to how the words sound.

25. Coding Evaluation Experimental control (20 minute delay)
Artificial stimuli
Just words- who cares?
The ecological validity of Baddeley study is not good. Recalling lists of words is quite artificial but you sometimes have to do it (a shopping list, for example). Recalling the order of words is completely artificial and doesn’t resemble anything you would use memory to do in the real world.

26. STM: Capacity
Jacobs and Miller

27. Digit span task Watch the powerpoint
Write down the digits (in the correct order) once you see ‘end of list’ appear on the screen

28. Stimulus List for Digit Span Demonstration
Is there anyway we can improve the capacity of our short term memory?

29. How many digits could you remember?

30. Jacobs (1887) Miller (1956)
Jacobs (1887) research on the capacity of STM Participants were presented with a sequence of digits or letters and required to repeat them back in the same order. (The pace was controlled at half second intervals using a metronome). Jacobs conducted the first study on the capacity of memory and found the amount of information which can be remembered on one exposure is 9 digit items and 7 letter items. Jacobs found that participants recalled more digits (9 items) than letters (7 items) Jacobs also found that capacity increased steadily with age; in one sample of school girls he found that 8 year olds remembered an average of 6.6 digits whereas for 19 year olds it was 8.6 digits.

31. Miller (1956) Chunking
Which list would be easier to remember? Y E B N O I P D T A L G R C U C A R D O G L I T P E N B U Y What does this suggest about our memory?

32. Jacobs (1887) Miller (1956)
Miller in (1956) found that chunking information can help improve the capacity of the STM by 7+/-2 chunks of information.

33. Jacobs (1887) Miller (1956)
Answer the following questions using your worksheet provided:
How was the capacity of STM of an individual decided?
Average span for digit?
Average span for letters?
Difference in spans across ages?
Are there individual differences?
Why is it useful?
Extension: Can you think of any further evaluation points for Miller?

34. Capacity: Evaluation
Miller’s (1956) theory is supported by psychological research. For example, Jacobs (1887)
Although Miller’s (1956) theory is supported by psychological research, he did not specify how large each ‘chunk’ of information could be and therefore we are unable to conclude the exact capacity of short-term memory. Consequently, further research is required to determine the each size of information ‘chunks’ to understand the exact capacity of short-term memory.
Finally, Miller’s (1956) research into short-term memory did not take into account other factors that affect capacity. For example, age could also affect short-term memory and Jacobs (1887) research acknowledged that short-term memory gradually improved with age.

35. STM: Duration

36. Duration
Peterson and Peterson claim that information in the STM can disappear in less than 30 seconds if it is not rehearsed On each trial the participants saw a trigram, which consisted of three consonants (e.g. BVM, CTG) A different trigram was used for each trial. They were asked to recall each trigram after a delay of seconds: 3,6,9,12,15 or 18. Once they were shown the trigram they had to perform an interference task, which prevented repetition of the trigram in STM. They were shown a random three digit number (e.g.866, 532) and had to count backwards from it in threes. After the appropriate time delay the trigram had to be recalled.

37. Duration of STM Peterson and Peterson (1959) Watch the powerpoint
You will be presented with 3 letters
You will count backwards in threes from three numbers then recall the original

38. Practice

39. SMP

40. 395

41. Ready?

42. XTR

43. 289

45. FBW

46. 495

48. LCP

49. 987

51. GZV

52. 531

54. HSL

55. 246

57. XFT

58. 267

59. Results
How many did you get right?
XTR
FBW
LCP
GZU
HSL
XFT

60. Duration
Rehearsal can keep information in the STM. Without rehearsal the duration of the STM is very limited.
Peterson and Peterson studied the duration of the STM using the trigram task.
They found participants were able to recall 80% of the trigrams after 3 seconds and after 18 seconds around 3% were recalled.

61. Results of Peterson and Peterson Use this to sketch your graph
There was a gradual decrease in the number of trigrams recalled the longer the time interval.
80% of trigrams recalled after 3 seconds
50% after 6 seconds
20% after 9 seconds
3% after 18 seconds
Task: Draw a line graph to illustrate the results
Extension
Can you think of any problems with the design of this study?

62. Duration task Answer the following questions: What is a trigram?
What is a trigram?
What were the time delays?
What was the interference task? Why do it?
What was the % recall after 3 and 18 seconds?
What about the validity?

63. Evaluation
It could be argued that Peterson & Peterson’s study has low levels of ecological validity. In this study participants were asked to recall three letter trigrams, which is unlike anything people would want to memorise in their everyday lives. As a result we are unable to apply these results to everyday examples of memory and are unable to conclude if the duration of short-term memory may be longer for more important information i.e. memorising a phone number.
However, Peterson & Peterson’s study was highly controlled and took place in a laboratory of Indiana University. As a result Peterson & Peterson had a high degree of control for extraneous variables, which makes their procedure easy to replicate.

64. Exam consolidation
Complete the exam questions testing coding, capacity and duration of STM

65. Consolidate todays learning…
STM
Research and findings
Evaluation
Coding
Capacity
Duration

66. Lesson 2: LTM

67. Approaches mini mock

68. Plenary: answer the following questions
How was the capacity of STM of an individual decided?
Jacobs found that the average span for digits was?
Jacobs found that the average span for letters was?
What factors affect the capacity of STM?
Why is Miller’s (1956) research useful?
What type of research method did Peterson and Peterson use in their study on the duration of the STM?
Give one strength of this method when studying memory.
What was the interference task? Why do it?
What was the % recall after 3 and 18 seconds?
It has been argued that Peterson used artificial stimuli in this study of duration. What is meant by this and why is it a problem?

69. Complete the exam questions from STM

70. LTM: Capacity and Duration

71. Read the research on page 6 of your pack about the capacity of LTM
The LTM
Capacity and duration are very difficult to test.
Generally accepted that capacity of LTM has no upper limit so it is unlimited.
Read the research on page 6 of your pack about the capacity of LTM
The duration of the LTM is probably a lifetime ( read the research in your booklet)

73. Bahrick et al (1975) Used year book photos
Participants tested at 15, 30 and 48 years
Recall was 90% accurate after 15 years using name-recognition and 60% accurate free recall
Free recall (naming class mates) dropped to 30% accuracy after 48 years but name recognition was 80% accurate
This provides evidence for a VLTM
A realistic task but hard to control (especially if people still in touch)

74. Semantic
Acoustic

75. Plenary
Describe the research that you have learnt over the last two lessons:
Jacobs
Peterson and Peterson
Conrad
Bahrick et al

76. On mini whiteboards draw and fill in grid below
(main) CODING
DURATION
CAPACITY
Sensory register
Short term memory
Long term memory

77. Should look something like this…
(Main) CODING (form)
DURATION
(how long)
CAPACITY
(how much)
Sensory register
Iconic,echoic, other
Iconic-1/2 s
Echoic-3 s
Very large
Short term memory
acoustic
15-30 seconds
7 items
Long term memory
semantic
A life time
unlimited

78. How do we know about the nature of memory?
Conducting experiments

79. Now it’s your turn!
Your are psychologists investigating the nature of one of the memory stores (you can choose which one you do).
Your task is to design an experiment to discover
what the capacity of short term memory is (although you already know but pretend you don’t).
What the duration of short term memory is
What the duration of long term memory is
You must include -IV and DV, hypothesis, description of method and apparatus you would use, how would you prevent extraneous variables? How would you collect your data?
Record it all on research sheet.

80. Track your learning