Memory is a fascinating aspect of psychology that has attracted the interest of scientists for several decades. One of the most-studied aspect of memory is short-term recall. For example, short-term recall could involve a sequence of digits, letters, or words that require a listener to both memorize for a short period of time. Two well-studied aspects of short-term memory recall are digit span and chunking.
Defined simply, digit span is the number of digits in a sequence of numbers or letters that a listener can immediately recall in the correct sequence, or order, without making a mistake. When given a sequence of numbers or letters to remember, most people can recall up to seven digits in the given sequence (Baddeley). Some people can even recall up to 10 digits, but many people can successfully recall only four digits (Baddeley). Thus, there is quite a variation in people’s ability to recall digits without making a mistake. It has been found that, when digit spans are vocally repeated, recall success (as far as length of digit spans recalled accurately) spikes upward (Baddeley). This is due to the fact that the mind’s memory apparatus has an echoic chamber, which temporarily stores verbal information, such as digit spans (Baddeley).
There are other methods that help people recall longer digit spans. For example, by repeating the digit span to be recalled in a rhythmic manner, researchers have found that the recall of digits by subjects increases significantly (Baddeley). Other methods, such as grouping to-be-recalled digits, are effective at increasing the overall recall ability of test subjects (Baddeley). For example, experiments have found that when subjects memorize digits in groupings of three, their recall performance also improves. Thus, these experiments have proved what many people knew, that the rhythmic aspect of digit groupings – much like in a poem – improves one’s ability to successfully recall digit spans (Baddeley).
Chunking is another facet of recall that has been studied extensively. When groups of letters are able to be put into meaningful chunks, they are more successfully recalled (Baddeley). Researchers have found that chunking has enabled certain “recall memory geniuses”, such as scientist A.C. Aitken (Baddeley). Thus, short-term memory recall involves at least a couple of significant mental mechanisms.
Lastly, memory recall researchers have discovered a phenomenon called the recency effect. Thus, when a subject is given a list of words to remember, they do much better at recalling the last few words on the list than the first, or even middle words (Baddeley). Scientists theorize that the recency effect is constantly observed because memory may have two separate storages, one for short-term information, and one for long-term information (Baddeley). At any rate, researchers have experimented by varying certain experimental conditions, and still have found that the recency effect holds up (Baddeley). For example, even across cultures (such as with Arabic speakers), under the influence of alcohol, or even by saying words at different paces, researchers have collected very similar data about the recency effect (Baddeley). Thus, the recency effect has important implications for memory researchers.
Work Cited
Baddeley, Alan D. Essentials of Human Memory. Hove, England: UK Psychology Press,
1999. Web.
