Encoding in STM

Encoding in STM

1. Baddeley

   • Conclusion
     • List A was recalled the least efficiently, so there must be some acoustic confusion in the STM
     • suggests that STM is encoded acoustically
   • Procedure
     • 75 participants were presented with 1 of 4 lists that contained five words
       • List B (acoustically dissimilar words)
       • List C (semantically similar words)
       • List D (semantically dissimilar words)
       • List A (acoustically similar words)
     • Participants then had to recall the lists in the correct order, immediately after hearing the words. This was carried out four times.
   • Findings
     • List A was recalled the least efficiently, with 10% recall
     • The other lists were recalled much better, with recall at 60-80%

2. Conrad

   • Procedure
     • Presented participants with visual stings of letters for 3/4 of a second
     • The letters were either acoustically similar or acoustically dissimilar
     • Participants had to write down the letters in the same order as they were shown
   • Findings
     • V & B were often confused with P, but S wasn't
   • Conclusion
     • This type of error suggests that visual information is converted into acoustic information

3. Evaluation

   • STM is not restricted to acoustic coding. The difference in recall between semantically similar and dissimilar lists suggests semantic coding in STM
   • Research suggests that encoding is primarily acoustic but other sensory codes are also used
   • Baddeley;s study was a laboratory study; it showed causality, but it lacked ecological validity.