02. Classic Study Baddeley Flashcards
What does encoding refer to?
The form in which information is stored and transmitted.
Information comes in through the senses, it is changed (encoded) so that we are able to store it in the STM (briefly) or LTM.
What is the background information surrounding the motive behind Baddeley’s study?
-At the time (60s) memory was viewed as a continuum.
-But previous research employed different techniques when studying STM and LTM.
-This meant it was impossible to test if STM and LTM were different or the same.
-So Baddeley set out to test if STM and LTM were different from each other by using the same research technique on both memory stores.
-He decided to investigate the effects of semantic and acoustic encoding in STM and LTM.
What does semantic encoding involve?
Coding information in terms of its meaning. (LTM)
What does acoustic encoding involve?
Coding information based on the way it sounds. (STM)
What was Baddeley’s aim?
-To investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall in STM and LTM.
-This is done by giving participants word lists that are similar in the way they sound or their meaning (semantic); if the participants struggle to recall the word order, it suggests LTM is confused by the similarity which means that this is how the LTM tends to encode.
What research method did Baddeley use?
Laboratory experiment.
What are the 3 types of experimental designs?
- Independent measures
- Repeated measures
- Matched pairs
Define independent measures.
Different participants are used in each conditions of the experiment.
(This should be done by random allocation, which ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to one group or the other)
Define repeated measures.
The same participant take part in both conditions of the experiment.
(This means that each condition of the experiment includes the same group of participants)
Define matched pairs.
Pairs of participants are matched in terms of key variables, such as age. One member of each pair is then placed in the two different conditions.
What is the independent variable of Baddeley’s (1966) classic study?
Words in the list, eg acoustically similar/dissimilar or semantically similar/dissimilar. (Testing STM or LTM).
State the dependent variable of Baddeley’s study.
Score on recall test of 10 words (must be in correct order)
Describe the sample in Baddeley’s study.
Mixed groups of men and women from Applied Psychology Research Unit, Cambridge University.
Total participants: 72 men and women.
What is a strength of Baddeley’s sample?
Representative of the general population as it included both men and women.
Having high generalisation is a strength for the research as the findings that long term memory is encoded semantically can be generalised to both males and females.
What is a weakness of Baddeley’s sample?
Ppts were all from local area nearby and had volunteered to take part. Sample may have been particularly interested in memory research and could be unrepresentative of the wider population. So the findings on LTM being semantically encoded may not be generalisable to all people from the UK or other countries. This could limit the usefulness of the findings.
How many lists of 10 words were there?
4
What was List A?
Acoustically similar:
-15 participants
-Man, cab, can, cad, cap, mad, max, cat, map
What was List B?
Acoustically dissimilar:
-20 participants
-Pit, few, cow, pen, sup, bar, day, hot, rig, bun
(Baseline control)
What was List C?
Semantically similar:
-16 participants
-Eg great, large, big, huge, broad, long, tall, fat, wide, high
What was List D?
Semantically dissimilar:
-21 participants
-Eg good, huge, hot, safe, thin, deep, strong, foul, old, late
(Baseline control)
What experimental design was used?
Independent group design- participants only took part in one group (either list A,B,C or D)
Describe the procedure.
-Words were presented on a screen (slide projector) one word per slide shown for 3 seconds before showing the next word (10 words).
-Immediately following this, participants were asked to take part in an interference task that would involve their STM. Digits were read out at a 1 second rate and participants were then allowed 8 seconds to write down the correct sequence.
-After the interference task they were allowed one minute to write down the 10-word sequence (from the first task).
(There were four trials using the above procedure and participants get better each time because the words stay the same. The recall tasks were designed to test the order of the words, not the words themselves. So the words were visible during learning, testing and retesting).
-After the 4th trial, ppts had an 15 minute break and they were asked to perform an unrelated intereferece task (self-paced digit copying).
-The 5th and final trial is unexpected, they are asked to recall the word sequence again. The longer interference task is to ensure final retest was testing LTM not STM.
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What is a strength of the procedure’s reliability?
Experiment procedure was standardised.
-Experiment can be repeated many times and always show consistent results on how memory is encoded.
-Strength as means procedure is highly reliable.
What is a weakness of the procedure’s reliability?
-Baddeley’s study involved an artificial task of recalling lists of words in correct order, so task is not reflective of real life situations, thus lacking mundane realism.
-This means results on encoding of LTM cannot be generalised to everyday tasks where people use their STM or LTM.
