Coding

• Coding

  The format of HOW information is stored
• STM - Baddeley, 1996

  Baddeley gave his PPs four different word lists, giving them a few seconds to try and memorise the words before taking away the list and asking them to recall what they remember.

  
  

  Strength:

  • reliability - standardised procedures meant it could be replicated (all PPs were given the same amount of time for STM and LTM to recall memory)

  Weaknesses:

  • lacked ecological validity - artificial stimuli
• Baddeley's findings for STM

  Our STM is mainly encoded acoustically

  • we are worse with recalling similarly sounding words when immediately recalled
  • suggests STM encodes information based on sound as the similar-sounding words can interfere which makes them harder to recall (therefore gets confused in our STM)
• LTM - Baddeley, 1996

  He asked PPs to recall after 20 mins (LTM recall).

  
  

  Strength:

  • reliable - consistency = standardised procedures e.g. all PPs given the same time

  Weakness:

  • only tested one type of LTM - lacks validity
• Baddeley's findings for LTM

  Our LTM is mainly encoded semantically.

  • we are worse with recalling semantically similar words
  • LTM stores memory based on meaning so words with similar meanings can overlap and cause confusion overtime, making them harder to recall later on