Baddeley (Classic study)

• Generalisability - large sample of 72

  • Anomalies will be averaged out
  • However, many conditions in each study that each group had 15-20 people - only 15 did acoustically similar condition
  • Results might not accurately represent larger population
  • Difficult to draw meaningful conclusions and predictions based on small samples
  • Can be more influenced by other factors
• Reliability - standardised procedures

  • Replicated easily as doesn't need special equipment and can use the same words Baddeley does
  • Allows other researchers to test and verify the findings
  • All participants were given the same set of instructions and performed the same tasks under controlled conditions
  • Minimizing potential variations that could arise from differences in how study was conducted
• Validity - Good internal validity

  • Instead of getting patients to recall words he asked them to recall word order
  • Reduced the risk that some words would be hard to recall as they were unfamiliar or they had associations for the participants
  • Randomly assigned participants to different conditions which helps minimize influence of individual differences
  • Bad ecological validity - recalling list of words artificial but sometimes needed (shopping list)
  • Therefore doesn't resemble anything you would use memory to do in real life