Levels of Processing Theory

1
Levels of Processing Theory

• Craik and Lockhart (1972)

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Basic Premises

• The memory system operates on a
• continuum, not in separate stages.
• Retention is a function of the type of processing
  (encoding) used.

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The Three Levels

• Shallow Processing
• Deeper Processing
• Deepest Processing

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SHALLOW PROCESSING

• Occurs when information is PHYSICALLY encoded (by
  attending to physical properties of the
  stimulus).
• Examples noticing the shape of the letters of
  words, the placement on a page of an
  illustration, the color of print, the length of a
  list of words, the pitch of a sound

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SHALLOW PROCESSING

• Results in poor retention.

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DEEPER PROCESSING

• Occurs when information is ACOUSTICALLY encoded
  (by attending to patterns and phonetic qualities
  of the stimulus).
• Examples reciting words to memorize a list,
  singing along w/ the lyrics of a song, saying
  something over and over in your head to
  remember it.

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DEEPER PROCESSING

• Results in better retention than physically
  encoded, shallow processing.

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DEEPEST PROCESSING

• Occurs when information is SEMANTICALLY encoded
  (by attending to the meaning and definition of a
  stimulus).
• Examples thinking about how a word relates to
  your experience, considering real life
  applications of an algebra equation, paraphrasing
  a textbooks definition of a term to learn

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DEEPEST PROCESSING

• Results in the best retention of the three types

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The Three Levels of Processing

• SHALLOW from physical encoding
• DEEPER from acoustic encoding
• DEEPEST from semantic encoding

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Craik and Tulvis (1975)

• RETENTION RATES
• PHYSICAL Encoding 18
• ACOUSTIC Encoding 45
• SEMANTIC Encoding 80

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The Three Levels of Processing (Craik and
Lockhart, 1972)

• SHALLOW from physical encoding
• DEEPER from acoustic encoding
• DEEPEST from semantic encoding