2. Coding, Capacity And Duration AO3

Question 1

Name a limitation of Baddeley’s research

Answer 1

• Used artificial stimulus not meaningful information
• Study had no personal meaning to participants
• Limited application
• Caution when generalising to different memory tasks

Question 2

Explain the effect of meaningful information on coding

Answer 2

When processing more meaningful info people may used semantic coding even for STM tasks

Question 3

Name a limitation of Jacobs study

Answer 3

• The research was conducted a very long time ago
• Early research often lacks adequate control of extraneous variables
• Results may not be valid if variables weren’t controlled

Question 4

Give an example of a potential extraneous variable in Jacobs’ study

Answer 4

If participant was distracted they may not have performed as well

Question 5

Name a strength of Jacobs research

Answer 5

Results have been confirmed by other studies supporting its validity

Question 6

Name a limitation of Miller’s research

Answer 6

• He may have overestimated the capacity of STM

Question 7

Explain a study that challenges Miller’s research

Answer 7

Researcher reviewed other research - concluded capacity of STM was about 4 chunks - suggests lower end of Miller’s estimate is more appropriate than 7 items

Question 8

Name a limitation of Peterson and Peterson’s research

Answer 8

• Artificial stimulus
• Memorising consonant syllables doesn’t reflect real life memory activities
• Not meaningful
• Study could lack external validity

Question 9

Explain a counter argument for Peterson and Peterson’s research being meaningless

Answer 9

We do sometimes remember meaningless things such as phone numbers - study isn’t totally irrelevant

Question 10

Name a strength of Bahrick’s study

Answer 10

• High externals validity
• Real life, meaningful memories (e.g. People’s faces)
• When lab studies were done with meaningless pictures - recall rates were lower.

Question 11

Name a counter argument for Bahrick’s study having high external validity

Answer 11

Downside of real life research:

• Confounding variables aren’t controlled
• E.g. Bahrick’s participants may have looked at yearbook over the years - rehearsed memories