Classic Study (Cognitive)- Baddeley (1966b)
Baddeley wanted to study the semantic encoding in the LTM. He started off with two
previous experiments, however the results were not what he expected. He realised that the
STM was helping the LTM out, as the two memories were working together. To remove this
confounding variable, he carried out a third test by controlling the STM.
Aim: To investigate if LTM encodes acoustically (sound) or semantically (meaning).
Sample: 72 men and women volunteers from the Cambridge University subject panel. There
were around 15-20 in each condition.
Procedure: Participants were split into 4 groups and each group was assigned a list from
the 4 different lists of 10 words (acoustically similar/dissimilar and semantically
similar/dissimilar). Each group was shown the set of words on a slideshow and each word
appeared at a rate of 3 seconds. After each trial a digit task was performed as an
interference task to occupy the STM and then the list was recalled. All that mattered was
that the words were recalled in the right order, and this was done for a total of four trials.
After the fourth trial a 15 minute self-paced digit task was completed followed by a re-test
which was unexpected for the participants.
Results: The worst recall of acoustically similar words was during trial 1, compared to
acoustically dissimilar, however this wasn’t significant as the participants soon “caught up” .
therefore the LTM is not confused by sound similarities suggesting that sound doesn’t
impact LTM. Semantically similar words were much harder to recall with only around 58% of
them being recalled in the correct order, compared to the control group who got a 85%
accuracy.
Conclusion: STM encodes acoustically and LTM encodes semantically primarily. This
explains why LTM gets confused by same meanings and muddles the words up. However it
is not solely encoded semantically.
Baddeley wanted to study the semantic encoding in the LTM. He started off with two
previous experiments, however the results were not what he expected. He realised that the
STM was helping the LTM out, as the two memories were working together. To remove this
confounding variable, he carried out a third test by controlling the STM.
Aim: To investigate if LTM encodes acoustically (sound) or semantically (meaning).
Sample: 72 men and women volunteers from the Cambridge University subject panel. There
were around 15-20 in each condition.
Procedure: Participants were split into 4 groups and each group was assigned a list from
the 4 different lists of 10 words (acoustically similar/dissimilar and semantically
similar/dissimilar). Each group was shown the set of words on a slideshow and each word
appeared at a rate of 3 seconds. After each trial a digit task was performed as an
interference task to occupy the STM and then the list was recalled. All that mattered was
that the words were recalled in the right order, and this was done for a total of four trials.
After the fourth trial a 15 minute self-paced digit task was completed followed by a re-test
which was unexpected for the participants.
Results: The worst recall of acoustically similar words was during trial 1, compared to
acoustically dissimilar, however this wasn’t significant as the participants soon “caught up” .
therefore the LTM is not confused by sound similarities suggesting that sound doesn’t
impact LTM. Semantically similar words were much harder to recall with only around 58% of
them being recalled in the correct order, compared to the control group who got a 85%
accuracy.
Conclusion: STM encodes acoustically and LTM encodes semantically primarily. This
explains why LTM gets confused by same meanings and muddles the words up. However it
is not solely encoded semantically.
