Coding

• Information is stored in different forms depending on whether this is entering the STM or the LTM. This is known as coding.
• Baddeley (1966) researched into this concept using word lists that either sounded the same or had a similar meaning. He split participants into four groups.
• Group 1: words in this list sounded similar. This was the acoustically similar group. Group 2: words in this list did not sound the same. This was the acoustically dissimilar group. Group 3: words in this list all had similar meanings. This was the semantically similar group. Group 4: words in this list all had different meanings. This was the semantically dissimilar group. When participants in these groups had viewed the words from these lists, they were asked to recall them at different intervals. When asked to recall these words immediately after seeing them, this was measuring their STM.
• It was found that when participants did they, recall was worse for the acoustically similar words. Baddeley suggested that this is because the STM was getting confused because it codes things acoustically (based on how things sound). When they were asked to recall the words 20 minutes after seeing them (and therefore testing the LTM), they did worse when the words were semantically similar. Baddeley suggested that this is because the LTM was getting confused by words that had similar meanings because it codes semantically (based on what things mean).
• A strength of Baddeley's research is that it was very well controlled. All participants received exactly the same instructions and procedure. This meant extraneous variables were well controlled for and makes the study easily to replicate to test for its reliability. This is a strength because both of these things are important features of science which makes this research scientific.
• However, a limitation of this research is that the study lacks ecological validity. The wordlists were artificial in the sense that they included random words that do not have specific links to everyday life. It may be that the STM and the LTM coded the wordlists in this way during this research but stimuli that we are faced with on a more daily basis may be coded in different ways. This is a limitation because the findings from Baddeley's study may not apply to wider contexts