Encoding

• Baddeley - Acoustic and Semantic encoding

  A: to compare encoding in STM and LTM i.e. the form in which information is encoded

  P: a lab study

  ppts were presented either semantically similar i.e. neat, clean, tidy or acoustically similar i.e. heat, sweat, great

  recall was tested both immediately and again after a delay

  F: when testing immediate recall, ppts recalled fewer words when they were acoustically similar (acoustic confusion)

  when testing recall after a delay ppts recalled fewer words when they were semantically similar (semantic confusion)

  C: confusion on semantically similar lists after a period of time is evidence that LTM mainly uses semantic coding.

  confusion on the lists that sounded similar is evidence that encoding in STM is acoustic
• Strength - replicability/reliability


  lab experiment -> controlled - removed extraneous variables

  further empirical support by Conrad suggests there's wide, academic credibility for the idea that encoding in STM is mainly acoustic
• Weakness - lack of ecological validity/mundane realism


  artificial environment

  artificial task

  not going round remembering words
• Weakness - contradictory evidence by Posner

  visual codes are also used by the STM.

  'A' followed by 'A' were faster to decide it was the same letter

  however, 'A' followed by 'a'. 'a' was different and a different visual code slowed ppts down