In 1968 Atkinson & Shiffrin proposed a multistore model of memory that consisted of sensory, short-term & long-term stores with different functions, capacity & persistence of stored information. Other researchers elaborated on this model, identifying additional structural components to each of the stores. Badderly (1992) suggests that the short-term consists of components he calls the phonological loop, the visual-spatial sketchpad & the central executive. Baddley & Vallar (1984) found neurological evidence for the existence of the phonological store by comparing the verbal functioning of a patient with an infarction in the left hemisphere with that of healthy control individuals.
The above authors emphasize on the importance of rehearsal of audio-verbal material in short-term memory (more specifically the phonological loop) before it can be copied into the permanent long-term store. Unrehearsed material is lost.
Craik & Lockhart (1972) proposed that the processing of a memory trace begins as simply perpetual and becomes deeper & more abstract. There are no structural blocks of memory corresponding to this process but memory can be described as a continuum of deepening levels of processing. The persistence of a memory trace is a function of the depth of processing. Lewandowski & Hockley (1987) found that deeper processing caused better recall independent of the encoded material, that is considered to be an important sort of interference by the multistore models. .
The aim of this study is to recreate Craik & Lockhart's level of processing theory experiment to see if the level at which information is processed has an effect on recall.
Hypothesis.
The hypothesis is that the participants who process the semantic list will have a greater word recall rate than those who process the structural level list.
Null Hypothesis.
There will be no significant difference between the number of successfully recalled words from the semantic & structural lists & any difference is due purely to chance.