IGCSE psychology notes
Psychology Notes – Memory
Flow of information in memory: Encoding Storage Retrieval
Key terms:
Encoding: changing information so that it can be stored
Storage: holding information in the memory system
Retrieval: recovering information from storage
Multi-store: the idea that information passes through a series of memory stores
Sensory store: holds information received from the senses for a very short period of time
Short-term store: holds approximately seven chunks of information for a limited amount of time
Long-term store: holds a vast amount of information for a very long period of time
Multi-store explanation of memory: Sensory store short-term store long-term store
Memory Store
Duration
Capacity
Sensory
Less than one second
Very limited
Short-term
Less than one minute
Approximately seven chunks of information
Long-term
Up to a lifetime
Unlimited
Research Study: Murdock (1962) [multi-store explanation of memory]
Aim: To provide evidence to support the multi-store explanation of memory.
Method: Participants had to learn a list of words that were presented one at a time for two seconds and recall the words in any order
Results: The words at the end of the list were recalled first (known as recency effect). Words from the beginning were also recalled quite well (known as primacy effect). The words in the middle were not recalled very well at all.
Conclusion: Murdock concluded that this provides evidence for separate short-term stores and long term stores.
Murdock claimed that the recency effect is evidence that the last few words were still in the short-term store. The primacy effect is evidence that the first few words flowed into the long-term store.
Evaluation: Lack ecological validity. Not everything has to be rehearsed to remember it. Helps us understand why registration numbers or phone numbers are so hard to remember.
Practical Applications: since the short-term store is approximately seven chunks of
Flow of information in memory: Encoding Storage Retrieval
Key terms:
Encoding: changing information so that it can be stored
Storage: holding information in the memory system
Retrieval: recovering information from storage
Multi-store: the idea that information passes through a series of memory stores
Sensory store: holds information received from the senses for a very short period of time
Short-term store: holds approximately seven chunks of information for a limited amount of time
Long-term store: holds a vast amount of information for a very long period of time
Multi-store explanation of memory: Sensory store short-term store long-term store
Memory Store
Duration
Capacity
Sensory
Less than one second
Very limited
Short-term
Less than one minute
Approximately seven chunks of information
Long-term
Up to a lifetime
Unlimited
Research Study: Murdock (1962) [multi-store explanation of memory]
Aim: To provide evidence to support the multi-store explanation of memory.
Method: Participants had to learn a list of words that were presented one at a time for two seconds and recall the words in any order
Results: The words at the end of the list were recalled first (known as recency effect). Words from the beginning were also recalled quite well (known as primacy effect). The words in the middle were not recalled very well at all.
Conclusion: Murdock concluded that this provides evidence for separate short-term stores and long term stores.
Murdock claimed that the recency effect is evidence that the last few words were still in the short-term store. The primacy effect is evidence that the first few words flowed into the long-term store.
Evaluation: Lack ecological validity. Not everything has to be rehearsed to remember it. Helps us understand why registration numbers or phone numbers are so hard to remember.
Practical Applications: since the short-term store is approximately seven chunks of