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Alan Baddeley's Study on Memory Encoding Processes

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Alan Baddeley's research on memory has been crucial in differentiating short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM). His 1966 study revealed that STM is more phonologically based, while LTM relies on semantic encoding. These findings have influenced educational strategies and led to the development of the Working Memory Model, enhancing our understanding of cognitive functions.

Alan Baddeley's Contributions to Memory Research

Alan Baddeley, a prominent English cognitive psychologist, has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of human memory. His seminal work has focused on the differentiation between long-term memory (LTM) and short-term memory (STM), which are two distinct types of memory serving different cognitive functions. LTM acts as a vast repository, capable of storing information for extended periods, such as personal experiences and learned knowledge. In contrast, STM functions as a temporary workspace for information currently in use, like remembering a phone number long enough to dial it. Baddeley's exploration into the mechanisms of memory encoding has been pivotal in determining whether this process relies on the phonological (sound-based) or the semantic (meaning-based) properties of information.
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The 1966 Study on Memory Encoding

In a groundbreaking 1966 study, Baddeley sought to unravel the encoding processes of LTM and STM. He posited that if LTM primarily utilized acoustic encoding, then participants would more easily recall words with similar sounds. Alternatively, if LTM was more reliant on semantic encoding, then words with similar meanings would be more readily remembered. To investigate this, he presented participants with lists of words that were either acoustically similar or dissimilar, and semantically similar or dissimilar. The study's methodology involved a between-subjects design, with 72 participants divided into four groups, each corresponding to one type of word list they were tasked to remember.

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00

Long-term memory (LTM) serves as a ______ for storing information over long periods, unlike short-term memory (STM), which is a ______ workspace.

vast repository

temporary

01

The research by Baddeley has been crucial in understanding if memory encoding depends on ______ or ______ properties of information.

phonological

semantic

02

Baddeley's study: Encoding in LTM vs. STM

Investigated whether LTM uses acoustic or semantic encoding, compared to STM's encoding processes.

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