cog: baddeley 1966

Question 1

summary

Answer 1

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

procedure= Laboratory experiment with 72 volunteers from applied psychology unit at Baddeley’s university. Participants assigned list condition: List A- 10 acoustically similar words. List B- 10 acoustically dissimilar (baseline for A). List C- 10 semantically similar. List D- 10 semantically dissimilar (baseline for C) were presented by projector at one per 3 second rate. Then was an inference task where they had to write down numbers, preventing rehearsal (STM) the asked to recall sequence of words (words in random order around room) after another inference task given a surprise retest (LTM)

results= List A&B very similar. In LTM, acoustic similarity didn’t affect recall of order of words. List C much worse then List D - semantic similarity affected recall in LTM.

conc= LTM affected by semantic coding but not exclusively but at least primarily.

Question 2

ethics

Answer 2

• ethically sound as participants weren’t put at risk and knew they were in an experiment
  CA= important to maintain confidentiality; individuals who performed badly may be embarrassed if they knew others could see how they scored

Question 3

practical issues

Answer 3

-May have been individual differences which weren’t accounted for, no cause and effect relationships drawn, giving standardised instructions and carrying it out in the same way.
CA= well controlled

Question 4

reductionism

Answer 4

• reduces memory to learning 10 words and recalling them.
  reduces memory to semantic and episodic encoding
  CA= allows research into a very complex topic such as memory

Question 5

comparisons of ways of explaining behaviour

Answer 5

• memory split into stores
• schema theory
• episodic and semantic memory

Question 6

psych as science

Answer 6

Laboratory experiments with good controls and replicability so reliable and objective, controls include setting as artificial setting, variables controlled as people excluded due to impairments.

Question 7

culture and gender

Answer 7

Memory processing same for all humans as have same brain structure, gender not issue in memory, used both males and females.
culture not an issue

Question 8

nature/nurture

Answer 8

n/a

Question 9

psychological understanding over time

Answer 9

1960s was when cognitive psychology new which focused on memory models as baddeley building a body of knowledge, helped society apply knowledge to research.

Question 10

use of psych knowledge in society

Answer 10

• revision techniques; semantic coding for LTM eg mnemonics

Question 11

socially sensitive research

Answer 11

Not really sensitive, found LTM has semantic encoding and STM is acoustic doesn’t seem to affect individuals.