02. Classic Study Baddeley

Question 1

What does encoding refer to?

Answer 1

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.

Question 2

What is the background information surrounding the motive behind Baddeley’s study?

Answer 2

-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.

Question 3

What does semantic encoding involve?

Answer 3

Coding information in terms of its meaning. (LTM)

Question 4

What does acoustic encoding involve?

Answer 4

Coding information based on the way it sounds. (STM)

Question 5

What was Baddeley’s aim?

Answer 5

-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.

Question 6

What research method did Baddeley use?

Answer 6

Laboratory experiment.

Question 7

What are the 3 types of experimental designs?

Answer 7

1. Independent measures
2. Repeated measures
3. Matched pairs

Question 8

Define independent measures.

Answer 8

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)

Question 9

Define repeated measures.

Answer 9

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)

Question 10

Define matched pairs.

Answer 10

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.

Question 11

What is the independent variable of Baddeley’s (1966) classic study?

Answer 11

Words in the list, eg acoustically similar/dissimilar or semantically similar/dissimilar. (Testing STM or LTM).

Question 12

State the dependent variable of Baddeley’s study.

Answer 12

Score on recall test of 10 words (must be in correct order)

Question 13

Describe the sample in Baddeley’s study.

Answer 13

Mixed groups of men and women from Applied Psychology Research Unit, Cambridge University.

Total participants: 72 men and women.

Question 14

What is a strength of Baddeley’s sample?

Answer 14

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.

Question 15

What is a weakness of Baddeley’s sample?

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

How many lists of 10 words were there?

Answer 16

4

Question 17

What was List A?

Answer 17

Acoustically similar:
-15 participants
-Man, cab, can, cad, cap, mad, max, cat, map

Question 18

What was List B?

Answer 18

Acoustically dissimilar:
-20 participants
-Pit, few, cow, pen, sup, bar, day, hot, rig, bun

(Baseline control)

Question 19

What was List C?

Answer 19

Semantically similar:
-16 participants
-Eg great, large, big, huge, broad, long, tall, fat, wide, high

Question 20

What was List D?

Answer 20

Semantically dissimilar:
-21 participants
-Eg good, huge, hot, safe, thin, deep, strong, foul, old, late

(Baseline control)

Question 21

What experimental design was used?

Answer 21

Independent group design- participants only took part in one group (either list A,B,C or D)

Question 22

Describe the procedure.

Answer 22

-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.

-

Question 23

What is a strength of the procedure’s reliability?

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

What is a weakness of the procedure’s reliability?

Answer 24

-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.

Question 25

What is a strength of the procedure’s validity?

Answer 25

The delay of 15 minutes meant participants were using their LTM not their STM, as STM only lasts about 30 seconds. This shows high internal validity of the results.

Question 26

What is a weakness of the procedure’s validity?

Answer 26

Research was done in a lab setting, there is low ecological validity as the setting is unnatural. This may lead to an affect on their behaviour as their memory could be distorted due to the unnatural setting. So the results may be less accurate and results may not be useful in real life, such as to help people improve their memories.

Question 27

What were the results of Baddeley’s classic study for the acoustically similar list?

Answer 27

-Similar list (A), was confusing to learn at first (harder). Until trial 4 when this reversed. This suggests STM gets confused by acoustic similarities.

-Neither list (A or B) showed any forgetting between trial 4 and the retest. This suggests LTM is not confused by acoustic similarities.

Question 28

What were the results of Baddeley’s classic study for the semantically similar list?

Answer 28

-Little difference between either list at trial 1.

-Similar list (C) was harder to learn/control list (D) significantly better recall.

-By trial 4 scores were significantly higher for control list (D).

-Neither list (C or D) showed any forgetting between trial 4 and retest.

Question 29

What did Baddeley’s study conclude about STM?

Answer 29

-STM and LTM are different as they are affected different by different types of coding.

-Acoustically similar words were more difficult to encode into STM- they kept getting mixed up resulting in poorer recall in trials 1-3 as participants found it more difficult to recall list A (acoustically similar) in the initial phase of learning suggesting STM is largely acoustic.

Conclusion: STM mainly uses acoustic encoding.

Question 30

What did Baddeley’s study conclude about LTM?

Answer 30

-STM and LTM are different as they are affected different by different types of coding.

-The semantically similar words were more difficult to encode into LTM- they kept getting mixed up resulting in poorer recall at the retest. As participants found it more difficult to recall list C (semantically similar) at the retest this suggests LTM is largely semantic.

Conclusion: LTM mainly uses semantic encoding.

Question 31

What is the overall conclusion?

Answer 31

LTM encoding may rely on semantic cues and STM encoding may rely on acoustic cues.

Question 32

What is a strength of the study’s results?

Answer 32

We can use this knowledge to help improve long term recall of information. This is useful for students revising for exams. Rather than repeating material (rehearsal) students are better to think about the information, to reorganise it (eg use mind maps) and try to relate it to things they already know. These strategies allow you to process the meaning of the material, which matches the form of encoding for LTM.

Question 33

What is a weakness of the study’s results?

Answer 33

Despite the findings being unlikely to have harmful consequences. A weakness of the findings is it’s low generalisability. This is because all ppts were from Cambridgeshire, therefore these findings can only be reliably applied to the UK’s population.

Question 34

Describe Baddeley study’s application?

Answer 34

Good application for Baddeley’s findings as results have provided insight to help students learn more efficiently and help people with memory loss which makes a good contribution to society.