2.3 studies (cognitive)

Question 1

what was the aim of baddeley’s study?

Answer 1

to investigate if LTM is encoded acoustucally (based on sound) or semantically (based on meaning)

Question 2

what was the procedure of baddeley’s study?

Answer 2

• 72 men and women (students) from cambridge university
• participants were assigned to one of four word lists
• shown 10 words on a slideshow with each word appearing for 3 seconds
• given 8 random words to write down three times in order
• step 2-4 repeated 4 times
• given a 15-20 min break doing other tasks
• participants had to recall word order after 15 min task
• participants had words infront of them throughout the study but wasn’t in order

Question 3

what were the findings of baddeley’s study?

Answer 3

similar meaning words:

• strain LTM as meanings are same
• LTM cant sort them as there are no differences
• leads to poor performance in semantically similar list

similar sounding words:

• doesn’t strain LTM as the words have different meanings
• LTM sorts them based on those differences
• good performance on acoustically similar list

Question 4

what is the conclusion of baddeleys study?

Answer 4

because participants struggled the most with the semantically similar list, it shows the LTM is coded semantically

Question 5

what is a strength of baddeleys study?

Answer 5

• internal validity is high
• words were presented for 3 seconds and each in order
• words that participants had to learn were based on the frequency those words occur in the english language
• therefore, the level of control avoids extraneous variables of the participants
• researchers can be more sure that differences between groups is solely based on semantics or acoustics of the word

Question 6

what is the weakness of baddeleys study?

Answer 6

• mundane realism is low
• real life long term memories do not only consist of remembering word lists that sound or mean similar things in order
• therefore, the encoding in the study may not reflect real life
• the role of semantic memory in LTM may have been exaggerated

Question 7

what was the aim of sebastian and hernandez-gil’s study?

Answer 7

• to investigate the development of the phonological loop as a component of the working memory model
• to investigate differences in phonological digit span between spanish and english participants

Question 8

what was the procedure for sebastian study?

Answer 8

• conducted in field settings - school
• 570 volunteered children aged 5-17
• children were from range of schools in Madrid (private and public)
• divided into five diff age groups and tested individually during break times
• random digits were said aloud to them, which increased by one in length at each time
• participants had to repeat them in order

Question 9

what were the findings of sebastian’s study?

Answer 9

• showed clear increase in digit span with age
• youngest age group (5 years) had a significantly lower average digit span than other age groups
• compared to anglo saxon elderly groups, 5/6 year olds had significantly less digit span but older children had the same
• average digit span was lower for spanish children than english children

Question 10

what was the conclusion for the sebastian study?

Answer 10

• digit span increases with age up to adolescence
• digit span in spanish population is significantly shorter than anglo saxon culture