Coding Flashcards
What is coding?
The format in which information is stored in the various memory stores
What was the aim of baddeley’s study?
To investigate whether there’s a difference in the type of encoding used in short and long term memory
What was the procedure of Baddeley’s study?
He gave different lists of words to 4 groups of pps to remember. Group one had acoustically similar words (words that sounded similar), group 2 had acoustically dissimilar words (words sounded different), group 3 had semantically similar words ( words had similar meanings) and group 4 had semantically dissimilar words (words had different meanings). Pps were shown the original words and asked to recall them in the correct order Either immediately or after 20 o minutes.
What were the findings and conclusions of baddeleys study?
Acoustically similar words were harder to recall than acoustically dissimilar. Semantically similar words were harder to recall than semantically dissimilar words. Participants did worse with acoustically similar words in STM, suggesting that information in STM is coded according to sound, as similar-sounding information conflicted with each other. For LTM, they did worse with semantically similar words, suggesting that information in LTM is coded according to meaning, as information with similar meanings conflicted with each other.
What is a strength of baddeleys study?
It identified a clear difference between the 2 memory stores. The idea that the STM uses mostly acoustic coding and that LTM uses mostly semantic coding has stood the test of time. Important step in our understanding of the memory which system led to the MSM
What is a limitation of Baddeley’s study?
It used artificial stimuli rather than meaningful material. The word lists have no personal meaning to participants so Baddeley’s findings may not tell us much about coding in different kinds of memory tasks in everyday life. Therefore, when processing more meaningful info, people may use semantic coding for STM tasks. This suggests findings study have limited application
