Levels of processing model

The levels-of-processing effect was first identified by Fergus I. M. Craik and Lockhart in 1972.

The fundamental concept of the levels-of-processing effect, is that different methods of encoding information into memory have different levels of effectiveness, either in their actual writing in, or in their reading back (recall) from memory.

The test used to illustrate their hypothesis showed, roughly speaking, that:

1. Those that hear a passage of text can recall parts of it (audible input)
2. Those that read a passage of text can recall most of it (visual input)
3. Those that write down the text can recall most if not all of it, even with the written form taken away (audible or visual input plus physical output)
4. Those that understand the meaning behind the text will have the strongest ability to recall the passage (conceptual input)

The sliding-scale of increased ability to encode/recall is the focus of the study. Greater processing will lead to greater amounts of information available for recall. Craik and Lockhart postulate depth of processing to fall on a shallow to deep continuum. Shallow processing (e.g., processing words based on their phonemic and orthographic components) leads to a fragile memory trace that is susceptible to rapid decay. Conversely, deep processing (e.g., semantic or meaning based processing) results in a more durable memory trace.

Whether the information is being encoded more effectively or being recalled more effectively is unclear. A typical paradigm employed to investigate the Levels of Processing theory is the incidental learning paradigm. Results reveal superior recall for items processed deeply compared to those items processed at the more shallow level (Eysenck, 1974: Hyde & Jenkins, 1969).

External links

• Paper on the Craik and Lockhart work
• Definition of "Levels of Processing" at Psybox
• Experiments related to the cognitive effect

References

• Eysenck, M.W. (1974). Age differences in incidental learning. Developmental Psychology, 10, 936-941.
• Hyde, T.S., & Jenkins, J.J. (1969). Differential effects of incidental tasks on the organization of recall of a list of highly associated words. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 82, 472-481.