Sperling's Study on Sensory Memory

Sperling's research provides crucial evidence for the existence of sensory memory, supporting the multi-store model of memory (MSM) by demonstrating the characteristics of the sensory store.

Procedure:

• Participants viewed a screen where rows of letters were flashed very briefly (1/20th of a second).
• After the screen went blank, participants were asked to recall as many letters as possible.

Key Findings:

• Information in the sensory store decays very rapidly, typically within less than half a second.

Evaluation:

• This study supports the MSM by providing evidence for a distinct sensory store.
• The rapid decay of information in the sensory store distinguishes it from short-term memory (STM).
• If the information were held in STM, participants would likely have been able to remember the presented stimuli for a longer duration.

Highlight: Sperling's study is crucial in establishing the existence and characteristics of sensory memory, which is the first stage in the multi-store model.

Example: If you close your eyes immediately after looking at a bright light, you may still "see" an afterimage for a brief moment. This is an example of sensory memory in action.

This research contributes to our understanding of how information is initially processed before entering short-term memory, supporting the multi-store model's conceptualization of memory as a series of distinct stores.

Baddeley's Research on Memory Coding

Baddeley's study on memory coding provides further support for the multi-store model of memory by demonstrating differences in how information is encoded in short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).

Key Findings:

• Short-term memory primarily uses acoustic coding (based on sound).
• Long-term memory primarily uses semantic coding (based on meaning).

Vocabulary:

• Acoustic coding: Encoding information based on how it sounds.
• Semantic coding: Encoding information based on its meaning.

Evaluation:

• This research supports the multi-store model by showing that STM and LTM use different coding methods.
• The distinct encoding processes provide evidence that STM and LTM are separate and independent stores.
• If STM and LTM were part of the same system, we would expect similar coding methods, but Baddeley's research shows this is not the case.

Example: In STM, words that sound similar (like "cat" and "mat") are more likely to be confused, while in LTM, words with similar meanings (like "happy" and "joyful") are more likely to be confused.

This study strengthens the multi-store model's assumption that short-term and long-term memory are distinct systems with different characteristics and processes.