Baddeley

Baddeley

1. Aim – to test if LTM and STM were separate or on a continuum using the same research method for each

2. Sample Psychology students, men and women – independent groups design

3. Four word lists. One word presented every three seconds 6 tasks including memory for digits Recall word list in one minute by writing sequence in correct order, words were shown and ppts had to put them in order (four trials) 15 minute interference task Surprise re-test on word list

   • Sebastian and Hernadez-Gil
     • To investigate the development of the phonological loop in children aged between 5 and 17 using digit span as a measure of phonological capacity
     • Sample 570 volunteers from schools in Madrid Native Spanish – hearing, reading and writing impairments were controlled
     • Divided into 5 different age groups Tested individually Read increasing sequences (by one digit each time) of digits to recall in the correct order at a rate of one digit per second Digit span recorded as the longest sequence recalled in the correct order
       • Key issue
         • Can knowledge of working memory inform treatments for dyslexia?
         • Classroom intervention: Simplifying tasks avoids overloading the working memory’s limited capacity Shorter teacher talk avoids phonological loop overload Phonics – rules to learn letter sounds and aids blending Mathematics tasks should be broken down and written down to break into stages to avoid overload
         • Direct intervention: Different difficulties mean ‘one size fits all’ doesn’t work. There is a delay in diagnosis as can be misdiagnosed as attention problems. Dyslexia can cause social and emotional difficulties not treated in the intervention (low-self esteem) – need to be addressed as may not improve because working memory has improved
     • Preschool (5 years) - 3.76 Primary school (6-8 years) – 4.34 Primary school (9-11 years) – 5.13 Secondary school (12-14 years) – 5.46 Secondary school (15-17 years) – 5.83 Increasing digit span with age
     • Advanced dementia patients had a similar profile to 5 year olds (4.2 digits) Comparing dementia patients to aged pop showed no sig. difference – reduced digit span associated with age rather than the dementia. Sub-vocal rehearsal does not appear until 7-8 years so no difference in digit span before this age supports the word length effect as an explanation
     • Large sample – reliable and generalisible to the Spanish population Controlled for conditions linked to reduced digit span (hearing, reading, language impairments

4. Recall of acoustically similar sounding words was worse than dissimilar words in the trials but not in the re-test – acoustic encoding was affected in the STM but not the LTM Recall of semantically similar words was worse in the re-test – semantic encoding was affected in the LTM

5. Experimental method lacks ecological validity, therefore difficult to generalise to everyday tasks. Lacks mundane realism as the trials were used as rehearsal. In everyday life we rarely have the chance to rehearse information in this way

6. Controlled conditions, standardised procedure – replicable so can check reliability – cause and effect can be established