Baddeley (1966) Acoustic, semantic & visual coding
Aims: To contrast the coding of short term and long term memory.
Procedure: Participants were given four sets of words to recall;
Participants were asked to recall the words either immediately or after an interval of time.
Results: When participants were asked to recall the words immediately, therefore using short term memory, they did less well with acoustically similar words than those which sounded different.
When participants were using long term memory, i.e. after an interval,
they performed the same on lists A & B but there were pronounced differences between the words that had the same or different meanings.
Conclusion: This experiment indicates that short term memory codes are mainly acoustic whilst long term memory codes are mainly semantic.
Bahrick et al 1975 Duration in LTM (&face recognition)
Aims: Bahrick et al aimed to investigate the duration of very long term memory (VLTM). They wanted to demonstrate that memories could endure in order to support the assumption that the duration of memory is infinite and cannot be measured. They aimed to test LTM as a natural behaviour by testing memory of real life information.
Procedure: An opportunity sample of 392 American ex-high school students aged from 17 – 74 was formed. They were tested in a number of ways: 1) Free recall the names of as many of their former classmates as possible. 2) A photo recognition test where they were asked to identify former classmates in a set of 50 photos, only some of which were their classmates. 3) A name recognition test.4) A name and photo matching test. This tested LTM as time since departing high school varied, but for some it was as long as 48 years. Participants' accuracy, and thus duration, was assessed by comparing their responses with high school yearbooks, which contain pictures and names of all the students in that year.
Findings: 90% accuracy in face a...