coding, capacity and duration of memory (Baddeley 1966)

aim

Aim- to find the difference in coding and capacity between STM and LTM via semantically similar and acoustically similar words

Procedure

Participants recalled straight after and 20 minutes after hearing either; acoustically similar (cat,can,car) and dissimilar (pit, few, cow). Semantically similar (great, large, big) and dissimilar (bog, put, shoe)

Results

Immediate recall worse with acoustically similar(STM is acoustic) and LTM is semantic

Strengths of Baddeley’s experiment

• 2 memory stores were identified (LTM and STM)- led to the development of MSM

Weaknesses of Baddeley’s experiment

• artificial stimuli- the words had no meaning to participants - cannot be applied to everyday life

• Limited application- in real life, information with meaning is coded semantically