MEMORY Recap What are three different memory stores

MEMORY

Recap • What are three different memory stores? • What do we mean by capacity, encoding and duration?

Sensory Memory • Holds information in a relatively unprocessed form for fractions of a second after the physical stimulus is no longer available, E. g. Watching a film • Baddeley (1988): Function is to allow enough time for the information to be integrated and so to give continuity to our visual environment. • It is assumed that we have separate stores for each sense (Iconic = visual, echoic = auditory)

Lesson Objective To be able to explain the capacity of STM Success Criteria 1) To be able to outline Miller’s research into the capacity of STM 2) To be able to outline other factors that effect the capacity of STM 3) To be able to support these factors using findings from research

Work out the following sums in your head A. 5 x 7 = B. 53 x 7 = C. 53 x 78 =

How did you find that? A. Easy… B. Possible C. much more challenging Why do you think this is? What is the key term we are talking about here? Capacity

Miller (1956) • In pairs - one of you is the researcher the other the participant • Researcher – read the lists of digits out loud • Participant - immediately repeat the Iist back in order. • How many items could you remember – when did the mistakes begin to occur?

Assessing Capacity in STM • Finding out how many digits you can repeat in the correct order immediately after hearing them = Immediate Digit Span • The sequence in which participants are correct over 50% of the time is defined as their Digit Span • What is your digit span?

Lesson Objective To be able to explain the capacity of STM Success Criteria 1) To be able to outline Miller’s research into the capacity of STM 2) To be able to outline other factors that effect the capacity of STM 3) To be able to support these factors using findings from research

Factors Affecting STM Capacity • What do you think?

Influence of LTM • What is a problem with using immediate digit span as a measure for STM capacity? – It is difficult to exclude the influence of LTM • What do you think would happen if the digit strings are repeated within a series of immediate memory span trials? – They would become progressively easier for participants to recall (Bower and Winzenz, 1969) • What does this indicate? – Information in LTM is helping to increase STM capacity temporarily

Reading Aloud • Is this going to make it bigger or smaller? • Have a go at remembering this list of words: Tomato Earphones Lego Note-Pad Bank Do NOT read them out loud

Reading Aloud • This time do read them out loud to yourself: Printer Book Piano Ring House

Reading aloud • Which did you find easier – which meant you recalled most? • General Rule: Reading lists out loud before recalling them leads to superior recall compared to reading them ‘in your head’ or having them read to you.

Rhythmic Grouping • How do you remember telephone numbers? • 01293 526 255 • 07872 627 909 • How about car number plates?

Rhythmic Grouping • We group items together and recall them using intonation and pauses helping us to increase STM capacity. • We do this spontaneously when recalling car number-plates , telephone numbers and football scores. • It is a form of Chunking

Chunking • Miller claimed that STM capacity could be increased if items of information were organised – can you think of an example? • The digits 9 3 7 1 would represent four separate items to most people, . But would form a single chunk for you if they happened to be your bank PIN. • In theory, the amount of information in each chunk could be quite large providing it was meaningful to the individual. • Still only 7± 2 Chunks though…

The Word-Length Effect • Longer chunks of information take longer to say • Baddeley (1975) thought that this (rather than capacity) may affect how much STM can hold. • I am going to show you two lists of words, after each one write down the words in the correct order immediately.

List 1 Bar Cat Sum String Done

List 2 University Hippopotamus Reincarnation Impossible Operation

The Word-Length Effect • What was the difference between the 2 groups? – One was Monosyllabic, the other polysyllabic. • Which did you find easiest? - Should have been the first list – as the words were shorter and quicker to say - Can store more shorter words in our STM

In your booklets… • In the “Miller” section – write down the key points on the four factors which could affect STM capacity • Provide a conclusion to Jacobs’ study

Complete the summary • The capacity of the STM is thought to be…. • Its capacity is affected by… • One key study to demonstrate this is…