Memory

Memory

1. Types of memory

   • -Sensory memory - Short term memory - Long term memory
     • SM contains visual and auditory information that passes briefly through our senses
       • Data disappears in the SM through spontaneous decay
     • STM and LTM differ in duration(how long a memory lasts), capacity (how much can be held in the memory) and encoding (transferring information into codes creates a trace)

2. Research into STM and LTM

   • Key study of duration in the STM Peterson and Peterson
     • Method - participants shown nonsense trigrams and asked to recall them after either 3,6,9,12,15,18 seconds. During the pause, they were asked to count backwards in 3's from a given number. An "interference task" preventing them from repeating the letters. Results - After 3 seconds participants could recall 80% of trigrams correctly. After 18 seconds only 10% were recalled correctly.