Memory

Aim:To see if the type of question asked about words will have an effect on the number of words recalled

Method:Pps were presented with a list of words, one at a time and asked question about each word to which they had to answer yes or no. Some questions required structual processing of the words; other required phonetic and the remainder required semantic processing. They were then given a longer list of words and asked to identify the words they had answered questions about.

Results:pps identified 70 per cent of the words that required semantic processing and 35 per cent of the words that required phonetic processing, 15 per cent of the words required structual processing.

Conclusion: The more deeply info is processed the more likely it is to be remembered 

Evaluation: - Craig and Lockharts study has been criticised because it does not explain why deeper levels of processing helps memory. 

+ Some people said that deeper processing take more time and that is why it helps us to recall more info.

- Lacks ecological validy because in real life memory tasks are not usually about learning lists of words