The Levels of Processing in a Judgement and Recall Task

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One hundred and forty two undergraduate students participated in a levels-of-processing experiment on the basis of Craik & Tulving’s (1975) famous model. Participants were presented with shallow, intermediate or semantic words within 60 judgment trials, followed by a recognition test of 120 trials containing half of the original words. The findings suggest that participants recognized the semantic words better compared to the shallow and intermediate words; this proposes that by the use of attention, semantic processing leads to a stronger memory trace. Possible explanations and future research regarding levels of processing are discussed.

The levels of processing have become a central phenomenon in cognitive psychology in the last several decades. In everyday tasks, one may not realize that he or she is using the semantic processing for deeper analysis of the story. For example, when reading a novel, it comes naturally and is most likely stored into long-term memory for recall (Craik& Lockhart, 1972, p. 680); that way when the person is discussing about that novel in conversation, it is easy to remember important facts or characters without having to go back and confirm. Craik and Lockhart (1972), as cited in Glanzer, 1972, p. 680) highlighted that in free recall, variables such as presentation rate, and word frequency, affect long-term but not short-term retention. In a positive and negative recall in both incidental and intentional learning environments performed by Craik & Tulving (1975, pg.276), it was concluded that deeper level processing requires more time, but the qualitative nature of the task determines the level of recall. As a result attention is required when focusing on a certain task.
In order to obtain a stronge...

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...lications for communication and its fallibility may even impose a threat to survival.

Works Cited

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Craik, F.I.M.,& Tulving E. (1975). Depth of Processing and the Retention of Words in Episodic Memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. 104:3, 268-294.
Muhle R., Trentacoste S.V., Rapin I. (2004). The Genetics of Autism. Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. 113, 472-S486.
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