Wanted to find out how long items would remain in STM without rehaersal.
Method
Presented ppts with a nonsense trigram (three random consonants e.g CXV) they were then asked to recall them after 3,6,9,12,15 or 18 seconds. During this pause they were asked to count backwards in threes from a given number. This ws an 'interference task' prevented them from repeating letters to themselves.
Results
After 3 seconds, participants could recall about 80% of trigrams correctly.And after 18 seconds only 10% could be rcalled correctly.
Conclusion
When rehearsal is prevented, very little can stay in STM for longer than 18 secs approx.
Evaluation
- +
- Results are likely to be reliable- as its lab experiment where variables can be lightly controled.
- -
- Nonsense trigrams are artificial so the study lacks ecological validity.
- Meaningful or 'real life' memories may last longerin STM.
- Only one type of stimulus was used- the duration of STM may depend on the type of stimulus.
- Each ppt saw many diffrent trigrams. This could lead to confusion, meaning first trigram was only reaistic trial.
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