BADDELEY’S CLASSIC STUDY

Question 1

What is the aim of Baddeley’s classic study?

Answer 1

To investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall in short term and long-term memory

Question 2

Baddeley’s classic study - Sample

Answer 2

• volunteers from a psychology research panel
• 72 male and female pps
• Independent group design (pps split into four groups with separate independent variables)
• 15-21 pps in each group/condition

Question 3

Baddeley’s classic study - Procedure

Answer 3

• Pps split into four groups with different conditions
  ( acoustically similar and dissimilar & semantically similar and dissimilar )
• A 10 word list was presented for a projector, 1 word every 3 seconds
• Pps then had to complete 6 tasks revolving round memory of digits
• Pps were then asked to recall the order of the list in 1 minute
• This process was repeated over 4 learning trials
• Pps then took part in a 15 minute interference task revolving around digits
• Lastly, pps were given a surprise retest of the order of the original 10 word sequence

Question 4

Baddeley’s classic study - Results

Answer 4

• Recall of acoustically similar words was worse than the recall of acoustically dissimilar words in the learning trials
  (However)
• Recall of acoustically similar and dissimilar words were not significantly different in the surprise retest
• Recall of semantically similar words was worse than the recall of semantically dissimilar words in the surprise retest

Question 5

Baddeley’s classic study - Conclusion

Answer 5

• As recall of acoustically similar words was impaired in the learning trials, Baddeley concluded that encoding in the STM is largely acoustic
• As recall of semantically similar words was impaired in the surprise retest, Baddeley concluded that encoding in the LTM is largely semantic

Question 6

Baddeley’s classic study - Generalisability

Answer 6

• Pps were volunteers (may have had particularly good memories as they may enjoy doing memory tests)
• Large sample of 72 including both males and females
• Independent group measures design meant only 15-21 pps in each condition

Question 7

Baddeley’s classic study - Reliability

Answer 7

• A standardised procedure was used
  (10 words in each list displayed for 3 seconds each)
• Easy to replicate for consistent results

Question 8

Baddeley’s classic study - Applicability

Answer 8

• If LTM uses semantic encoding, students can promote storage of information when learning and revising
• The results can be used to support the MSM, which claims that STM encodes acoustically and LTM encodes semantically

Question 9

Baddeley’s classic study - Validity

Answer 9

• Laboratory experiment - lacks ecological validity
• Artificial memory task - lacks mundane realism (may not demonstrate every day memory recall occurrences)
• Extraneous variables were controlled (length of time words were displayed, number of learning trials) - high internal validity
• Baddeley reduces the impact of demand characteristics by not telling pps about a surprise retest after the interference task (makes memory recall more similar to everyday life)

Question 10

Baddeley’s classic study - Ethics

Answer 10

No major ethical issues