Baddley and Hitch (1974)

Uses: working memory model

Aim: to investigate the effect of articulatory suppression tasks on memory

 

Method: duel task experiment

 

Procedure:

  • Asked participants to answer increasingly difficult questions about simple letter combinations that were shown to them at the same time.

  • Questions such as "B is followed by A" and "B follows" then "BA" and "true or false" re

  • Reaction time increased as questions became more difficult.

  • One group was asked to repeat "the" all the time

  • One group was asked to repeat numbers from 1 to 6

  • One group was asked to repeat random numbers

  • They were doing these articulatory suppression task while answering the questions.

 

 

Result:

  • No significant difference in reaction time between the group who was asked to repeat the or to repeat 1 to 6

  • The group who was asked to repeat random number had the worst performance.

  • Interpreted as overload problems for the central executive

Baddeley, A. and Hitch, G. (1974). Working Memory. In G.A. Bower (Ed.), Recent advances in learning and motivation (Vol.8, pp.47-90). New York: Academic Press.