Acoustic versus associative models of short-term memory coding

Abstract

A 230-item word list was used to study methods of coding. The list consisted of 35 pivot words, one each of their high associates (HA), medium associates (MA), synonyms (S), rhymes (R), plus 20 buffer words. The data indicated that short-term memory coding complied to an associative rather than an acoustical model The study offers a possible explanation of why different experiments have found acoustical coding predominant in short-term memory.