SHORT TERM MEMORY

Effects of Organised and Unorganised Words on Short Term Memory

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of an organised list on the status of short term memory of human beings. On independent sample of 40 participants of equal number of males and females between ages of 17-52 years lab experiment is performed. The participants are divided into control and treatment groups. Control group was given an unorganised list of words while treatment group was given an organised list of words. After analysing the results of summary statistics and results of a dummy variables model, it is found that the number of words recalled from an organised list and from an unorganised list is different but the statistical impact of organisation is insignificant.

Introduction

Memory of a human being is always considered as a source of power that human beings have over other creatures (Sherwood, 2010, pp. 157). It is the memory of early human life that played a vital role in evolution. Without remembering the happenings around, the reactions of certain actions, and the feel of different emotions a human being cannot learn. Knowledge is related to the status of memory (Neat, 2005, pp. 234). Human memory is broadly classified into long term memory (LTM) and short term memory (STM). Further classification is as follows:

Sensory Memory

Sensory memory that holds the information received by brain for less than one second has the shorter time span but it lasts almost forever (Majerus & D'Argembeau, 2011, pp. 41). The example is sense of degree of hotness or coldness in a human being. Although the information received is for a very short time period but the memory of that sense foe a hot or cold object remains in the human brain forever.

Long Term Memory

Long term memory of human being has a life time span. Information that is received for longer times stays in long term memory. Long term memory is further divided into explicit memory and implicit memory (Johansen, 2008, pp. 120). The information that is received by human brain in conscious is stored as an explicit memory and the information that is received by human brain in unconscious is stored as an implicit memory. Explicit memory usually holds the facts and events that a human being observes while implicit memory holds the skills and tasks that a human being learns. The events in implicit memory are stored as episodic memory while the facts are stored as semantic memory (Kimesch, 1994, pp. 8).

Short Term Memory

Short term memory also known as working memory is that part of human memory that temporarily stores information. As the storage is temporary there the capacity available for temporary storage is also limited. Short term memory stores the information received in less than 1 minute. The time duration for which the information stays in memory varies according to many variables of human beings and the information. These variables include the age, gender, and chemical structures in the brain. Variables of information include the structure, order, colour, sound, and related information (Baddeley, 1999, ...