Craik And Lockhart's Levels Of Processing Essay

The model put forward by Craik and Lockhart (1972) which showed the levels of processing in memory focuses on the processes involved in memory. They focused on two types of processing; shallow processing and deep processing. Both argued that memory is a processing continuum. They also proposed that different types of rehearsal lead to different types of processing. For example, shallow to deep processing. In order to prove their theory Craik and Lockhart carried out an experiment. I also took part in an experiment with the rest of my class which tested the effects of deep and shallow processing on memory. The Craik and the Tulving (1975) experiment which tests the level of processing theory also shows the effect of the processes.
Shallow processing uses shorter lasting memory and uses very little encoding. Whereas deep processing gives us lasting memory and uses a lot of encoding. They wanted to test that if retrieving the significance of words involves encoding at a deeper processing level. In their results they found that the words which were processed at a deeper level, based on significance were recalled the best. Meaning that participants were attaching importance to the words in order to recall them. For example, after a word has been recognised it may trigger images or stories of the participants past experiences which allow them to remember the word more clearly than others. To summarise levels of processing Craik and Lockhart (1972) explain that deeper processing leads to a more persistent recall. If information is held in primary memory, such as maintenance will not in itself improve when attention is diverted, information is lost at a proportion which depends essentially on the level of examination. Therefore, those which have been shallow processed are less likely to be remembered (Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S,