Baddeley (1966) Study on Memory

Questions and Answers

What is the title of the experiment?

The influence of acoustic and semantic similarity on long-term memory for word sequences.

What was the aim of the study?

To investigate the influence of acoustic and semantic word similarity on learning and recall in short-term and long-term memory.

What was the sample size of the study?

72 men and women recruited from the Applied Psychology Unit subject panel at Cambridge University.

Which word list was NOT used in the study?

Semantically ambiguous Signup and view all the answers

How were the words in list D controlled?

Matched for frequency of occurrence to words in list C, serving as a control condition. Signup and view all the answers

How many participants were in each group for the acoustic conditions?

Group A: 15, Group B: 20, Group C: 16, Group D: 21. Signup and view all the answers

What occurred in each condition of the study?

The 10 words were presented to participants on a projector for 3 seconds each (2 second slide change over). Signup and view all the answers

What was the first interference task?

A task involving short-term memory for 6 sequences of 8 digits, with sequences read out at a 1 second rate. Signup and view all the answers

What happened after the first interference task?

Participants were allowed 1 minute to write out the 10 word lists in order as a test of memory. Signup and view all the answers

What was the second interference task?

A task involving 15 minutes of copying 8 digit sequences at their own pace. Signup and view all the answers

How did they test long-term memory?

Participants attempted to recall the word list in order during a surprise retest. Signup and view all the answers

What were the results for the acoustically similar words?

There was a tendency for the similar list to be harder during early learning; no forgetting was observed. Signup and view all the answers

What were the results for the semantically similar words?

Slower learning was observed; by trial 4, scores were higher on the control list than the semantically similar list. Signup and view all the answers

What were the results regarding the learning of word lists?

Learning was impaired by semantically similar words. Signup and view all the answers

What was observed throughout all groups?

What was learned was retained for at least 15 minutes. Signup and view all the answers

What do the results suggest about long-term memory?

Long-term memory may be based on meanings of words or sounds of words. Signup and view all the answers

How does short-term memory influence acoustic encoding?

It is shown by the difficulty of learning the list of semantically similar words. Signup and view all the answers

What does short-term memory rely on?

It relies largely on acoustic encoding and is relatively unaffected by the semantic content. Signup and view all the answers

What does long-term memory use?

It uses semantic encoding extensively, with susceptibility to acoustic similarity only during learning. Signup and view all the answers

What were the conclusions of the study?

Participants found it harder to recall list A initially, suggesting short-term memory is largely acoustic. Signup and view all the answers

What did Baddeley say the study showed?

Short-term memory acoustic cues are important, while long-term memory relies on semantic cues. Signup and view all the answers

What was the independent variable in the study?

The type of word list. Signup and view all the answers

What was the dependent variable in the study?

The accuracy of sequence recall. Signup and view all the answers

What experimental design was used?

Independent measures. Signup and view all the answers

What research method was used?

Lab experiment. Signup and view all the answers

What can be said about the generalizability of the study?

Participants were all males and females from a specific unit, limiting representativeness. Signup and view all the answers

What can be said about the reliability of the study?

The study has reliable and reproducible methods, leading to consistent results. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Study Overview

Investigated the influence of acoustic and semantic similarity on long-term memory for word sequences.

Aim

To examine how acoustic and semantic similarities affect learning and recall in short-term (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).

Sample

Included 72 men and women from Applied Psychology Unit subject panel at Cambridge University.

Procedure

Used four types of word lists:
- Acoustically similar (e.g., man, cab, can)
- Acoustically dissimilar (e.g., pit, few, cow)
- Semantically similar (e.g., great, large, big)
- Semantically dissimilar (e.g., good, huge, hot)
Word list D was controlled for frequency of occurrence to ensure comparison validity.

Experimental Groups

Group A: 15 participants
Group B: 20 participants
Group C: 16 participants
Group D: 21 participants

Memory Trials

Each word list presented via projector for 3 seconds per word, followed by a short delay.
First interference task involved recalling six sequences of 8 digits with a time delay.

Memory Testing

After the first interference task, participants had 1 minute to write out the 10 word lists.
Second interference task: 15 minutes of copying 8-digit sequences at their pace.

Long-Term Memory Testing

Participants attempted to recall the word list in a surprise retest.
Focused on order of recall rather than exact word remembrance.

Results

Acoustically similar words led to difficulty during early learning; no evidence of forgetting between tests.
Semantically similar lists showed slower learning compared to semantically dissimilar lists by trial 4.
On the retest, recall of semantically similar words was poorer than for semantically dissimilar words.

Conclusions

Short-term memory is primarily acoustic, evident through initial recall difficulties.
Long-term memory relies significantly on semantic encoding, despite initial acoustic similarities during learning.
Learning of semantically similar words is notably impaired, confirming the need for differing encoding strategies.

Key Findings

Suggests LTM can be influenced by either the meanings (semantic) or sounds (acoustic) of words.
STM primarily operates on acoustic encoding, minimally affected by meaning.

Research Design

Independent measures experimental design, utilizing a lab experiment methodology.

Generalisability

Sample limited to Cambridge University participants, leading to concerns about its representativeness of the wider population.

Reliability

Structure and controlled environment of a lab study contribute to consistent and reproducible outcomes.

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Description

This quiz covers the classic study conducted by Baddeley in 1966, focusing on the influence of acoustic and semantic similarity on word sequence recall. It includes key concepts such as the study's aim, sample, and definitions related to long-term memory. Perfect for psychology students wanting to delve deeper into memory research.