coding of memory Flashcards
what is coding?
the format in which information is stored in the various memory stores.
encoding is the initial learning of information. it is how info coming from sensory input is changed into a form so it can be stored in memory.
who conducted research into how STM and LTM are coded.
Baddeley (1966).
outline the research by Baddeley (1966) into coding.
4 independent groups were given a list of words that were either acoustically similar, acoustically dissimilar, semantically similar, or semantically dissimilar.
ptps were shown the original words and asked to recall them in the correct order.
when they had to do this recall task immediately after hearing it (STM), they tended to do worse with acoustically similar words.
if asked to recall after a time period of 20 minutes (LTM), they did worse with semantically similar words.
this suggests that info is coded acoustically in the STM and semantically in the LTM.
discuss control against confounding variables and artificial in Baddeley’s research.
a strength of the research is that it was well controlled.
the study had controls in place to prevent confounding variables. for example, Baddeley gave all ptps a hearing test prior to the study and only used ptps who had perfect hearing in order to prevent poor hearing confounding the results.
this suggests that cause and effect can be established from the results, providing validity to Baddeley’s conclusions on coding in each memory store.
one limitation of Baddeley’s research however is that he used artificial stimuli.
the word lists had no personal meaning to the ptps, so his findings may not tell us much about coding in different kind of memory tasks, especially in everyday life.
when processing meaningful information, people may use semantic coding even for STM tasks.
this suggests that the findings for the research only have limited application in real world context.
outline a strength of Baddeley’s research.
(separate memory stores)
one strength of the study is that it identified a clear difference between the two memory stores.
later research showed that there are some exceptions to Baddeley’s findings, but the idea that STM mostly uses acoustic coding and LTM mostly semantic has been replicated over time.
this was an important step in our understanding of the memory system, which led to the multi store model of memory.
gives value to the theory of coding in the STM and LTM.
