Classic Study: Baddeley

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

• To find out if LTM is encoded acoustically (based on sound) or semantically (based on meaning)

Question 2

Sample

Answer 2

• Men and women from Cambridge University subject panel
• 72 participants all together
• 15-20 people in each condition

Question 3

Procedure

Answer 3

• Participants were assigned to one of 4 word lists, which were acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar and semantically dissimilar
• Participants are shown 10 words on a slideshow, each word appearing for 3 seconds
• After seeing all the words, they were given 8 random numbers to write down 3 time
• The participants then practiced writing down the words in order. Steps 2 and 4 were repeated 4 times
• This is considered the ‘’Learning Phase’’
• The participants were given a 15–20 minute break doing another interference task
• This task was unexpected for the participants. The participants then have to recall the word order after the 15-minute task
• This final recall is also unexpected for the participants
• Participants have the words in front of them throughout the study however they weren’t in order

Question 4

Finding

Answer 4

• The findings show that for semantics, the more similar list had lower performance than the dissimilar list. The scores for the acoustic lists were more similar

Question 5

Conclusion

Answer 5

• Because participants struggled the most with the semantically similar list, it shows that the LTM is coded semantically

Question 6

Strength of Baddeley Study

Answer 6

• The study had high internal validity
• The words participants had to learn were matched based on how common the frequency those words occur in the English language
• This means the results couldn’t be explained by the participants being able to recall more familiar words
• This is a strength as this levels avoids the factor that participants being better able to recall words based on familiarity
• This means the researchers can be more sure that the difference between the groups is based on the semantics or acoustics of the word

Question 7

Weakness of Baddeley Study

Answer 7

• The study had low mundane realism
• Real life long term memories don’t consist of remembering word lists that sound or mean similar things in order
• Other factors also impact the recall of memory, Baddeley excluded this as his procedure was highly controlled
• Therefore this may suggest the encoding in the study may not reflect real life and that the role of semantic encoding may have in LTM has been exaggerated