Pragmatics
Through recording people recalling the words I could then transcribe any responses. One participant said they have a very bad memory, however then went on to recall many words. I asked the participant how they managed to go on and recall so many after struggling and they said ‘because they were strange words’. So the fact that some of the words were bizarre may have made them stick in this participant’s mind to further recall. However some participants commented after the tape had been stopped. An interesting comment made was about the word ‘camera’. A male participant said that he remembered this word in particular because he does photography and so it had an underlying meaning to him. He thought that the questions may relate to a subject he was interested in. Another comment made was on colour. A male participant who recalled no words at all said ‘I can only remember the colours because there were questions about colour.’ So again this supports the fact that colour is very important in processing. He went on to recall ‘blue’ and ‘yellow’ which were not words on the list but were colours used for the words ‘Window’ and ‘bottle’ The relevance and significance of words also has an effect on recall.
The word ‘Window’ was highly recalled, an underlying explanation for this could be the fact that there was a window in the room at the time of the experiment and students were probably looking forward to their break time, being free and having a break from their morning lessons. A pragmatical explanation of the high female recall of the word ‘BAG’ could be that the female connotations associated with ‘bag’ are more embedded, as males may say ‘she can’t go anywhere without that bag!’ To some women their bag is very personal and important to them and this could be why they highly recalled the word.
The word ‘Table being recalled by more women and being the first word on the list could support the idea that women prefer a clear narrative structure with logic and order. This can be linked to the stereotypical thought that females make bad comedians, this could be because they prefer a logical structure whereas males can pick out things and make an audience laugh with their unstructured ideas and naturally occurring jokes, structure and logic is not so humorous.
Gender
Female participants remembered more words than males over all. The mean number of words recalled by males was 4.625, the mean number of words recalled by females was 5.6 this could suggest that females may have better memory than males when it comes to recalling word lists. This could be due to the fact that stereotypically women do the shopping and so therefore are used to writing lists and having to recall them whereas males would be less familiar with this. It may be that females pay more attention and stereotypically are better learners academically, this is supported by exam results, they appear to be more cooperative and willing to make notes whereas males are more competitive outside of the classroom. A problem with this experiment however, could be that asking people to recall random words from a list is unrealistic and so lacks ecological validity, the results may not be useful in terms of generalising them to the real world.
Women overall recalled more words however when I was comparing the words recalled by females and males there were no words in particular that were recalled by females and forgotten by males, this was fairly even. For example there was a very low recall of the word ‘bottle’ by both males and females fairly equally. There was a very high recall of the word ‘BAG‘ but this was also high for both males and females so this is interesting. Both highly recalled and lowly recalled words are very similar for both males and females, they have this in common.
Gender and Colour
Females paid more attention to the words that stood out from the page such as colourful or bold words. Every single female participant recalled a word in colour whereas 5/8 males recalled a word in colour, the pragmatics in advertising supports the idea that females are more easily targeted in the advertising world as they pay more attention and achieve success at academic achievement. The word ‘bottle’ was in colour on the list, however only one participant recalled this word. I think that this may be down to the fact that it was written in a yellow highlighter pen which appeared paler on paper compared to the other words. So this again supports the fact that colour is an important feature in grabbing people’s attention but it has to be bold and noticeable which appears to be what the advertising market try to comply with, producing bright, large text to ensure people see it.
More about colour
An interesting finding was that some of the participants when trying to recall the words from the list recalled the colour of the word rather than the word itself. For example the word ‘tent’ was typed in pink and one of the participants recalled ‘pink’ as the word. This shows that the colour of the word does have an affect on the reader; it is processed and often stands out in people’s memory which is why colour is used in advertising. 7/18 participants recalled the word ‘yellow’, this word did not appear in the list, the word bottle was written in yellow and so this proves that colour is definitely processed maybe more so than the word itself. This suggests that adverts with different colours are more likely to be remembered compared to a plain advert. Unless the words included require semantic processing. The idea that colour is important can be linked to my background research on advertising (see appendix 4).
Primacy Recency Effect
The Primacy recency affect occurred in some cases. This is where participants recall words from the beginning (primacy) and the end (recency) of the word list. A female participant in my experiment supports this theory as she recalled the words ‘Table, plant, BAG, Sun’. ‘Table’ and ‘Sun’ are the first two words on the list, ‘BAG’ and ‘Plant’ are in the last three words. The last word on the list was ‘bottle’ but the yellow colour of the word didn’t stand out very well so this could be why the participant didn’t recall this word. Participants were not told that they were going to be tested on recall as this would have affected my results as some participants may have employed memory techniques such as chunking or making up a story involving the words, this could then have affected the order of the word recall. I didn’t want to find out about memory techniques, I wanted to find out about on the spot memory.
Words at beginning of list recalled first?
The first word on the list was ‘Table’ 5/18 participants recalled this word first. This could be down to the primacy factor (it was the first word, first impressions are remembered). If participants had known I was going to test their recall after the questions they may have used memory techniques which would have most definitely affected the order of which they recalled words, probably remembering even more words from the beginning especially, and maybe the end. This could also have increased recall of words in the middle of the list, especially if they used the story technique.
Repetition
In the word list I included the words ‘camera’ and ‘cameras’. I found that 8/18 participants recalled both of these words (11/18 remembered at least one of these words). I think this use of repetition is the explanation for this high recall. If you see a word twice you are likely to pay more attention to it (process it twice) and you may think to yourself ‘I’ve already seen this word and answered a question on this’. This increases the likelihood of you recalling it. I believe this technique is also used in advertising, repetition can emphasise a point. It is a rhetorical device used by politicians and by many others including at college, used by teachers to make students remember information for an exam by making them repeat practice exam questions over and over again.
Fillers
Fillers such as ‘ummm’ and ‘uhhh’ were used by every participant when trying to recall the words. They were used for thinking time along with many pauses, these lengthened in time as the recollection of the words came to a point where the participant was struggling to remember any further words. 8/8 boys used fillers, 8/10 girls used fillers. 30 fillers were used in total, males had a higher mean frequency of 1.85 fillers, females was slightly lower at 1.5, however many females used a lot of pauses rather than fillers again used for thinking time as are fillers. The reason for long pauses, especially used by females could support the idea that girls try harder and achieve better academically. Females may spend more time and effort in doing well, taking more time to remember words compared to males.
Paralinguistic features were not a huge factor but some facial expressions were used such as concentration and confusion especially when struggling to remember words.
Discussion
The findings showed that significantly more words were remembered using semantic processing compared to visual processing. This suggests that semantic processing does lead to increased recall and so is the deepest level of processing. It was also found that there was a primacy recency effect. Participants remembered more words from the beginning and the end of the word list. This means that they remember the most recently processed words (at the end of the list) because they are fresher in the mind but also remember the first words they read (primacy) - first impressions. The participants particularly remembered words in colour or words that stood out from the page; in fact 15/18 participants recalled at least one word in colour. Overall females recalled more words than males showing better ‘on the spot memory’. In this context I think the female ‘vulnerability’ to adverts and their higher results in academia could be referred to in terms of semantic processing and advertising and learning.
Relationship to background research
The findings of this experiment showed that thinking about the actual meaning of a word (semantically processing a word) leads to increased recall of the word suggesting that semantic processing is the deepest level of processing as over double the amount of words were recalled semantically compared to visually where only the physical appearance of the word is looked at.
These results are backed up by many psychologists that have done research into levels of processing. Mandler (1967), found that organisation lead to increased recall. In order to categorise and organise, thought must go into the meaning of the word and so this leads to semantic processing. In Mandler’s experiment those who had sorted into the most categories had the best recall suggesting that the act of organising makes it memorable without conscious effort or rehearsal as deeper processing is automatically taking place when the meaning is thought about in order to categorise.
Another piece of research that supports the findings of this experiment is Tyler et al (1979). Tyler conducted an experiment using anagrams, some were very easy and some were much more complex. When he tested them unexpectedly he found the participants remembered more of the difficult anagrams. When participants were completing the more complex anagrams they would have had to really concentrate and think a lot harder. They would have spent more time in completing the anagrams. This suggests that the more effort put in, the more thought goes into it therefore it is processed at a deeper level supporting the idea that deeper/semantic processing leads to increased recall/memory.
The results also showed that the primacy recency effect occurred when participants recalled the words from the list. Participants tended to remember more words from the beginning and the end of the list. This is supported by Glanzer and Cunitz research. They explain it using the familiar U-shaped serial position curve which shows that more words are remembered from the beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of a list rather than the words in the middle.
Conclusion
Having completed my analysis I then wanted to test the findings against the real world, to see if my investigation and findings could link to the real world of advertising showing that my results have ecological validity. I gathered a typical day in the life collection of adverts and analysed them according to the findings that I had already discovered.
A collection of advertisements from a day in the life of me
I made a note of all the advertisements I was subjected to over one day. I was consciously observing the world of adverts, however normally we live in their company, passing them by unthinkingly.
From the moment that I woke until the moment I went to sleep at the end of the day I noted over 100 advertisements (and these were only the ones I noticed). Adverts were everywhere I went; in my house in the form of magazines, newspapers, on the television almost continually one after the other or in breaks between programmes, on bill boards on the way to college, inside of the college in the restaurant, diner and café as menus or promotions and so on.
I then analysed some of these adverts according to my findings that I have already discovered. This allowed me to see how my investigation links to the real world of advertising.
I found very similar results. The frameworks I had found from my experiment were reflected throughout my collection of real life advertisements.
Colour and use of Illustrations
In terms of colour, every single advertisement that I was subjected to had an element of colour in it. I noticed that I was particularly drawn to the most colourful advertisements as they grabbed my attention, in particular there was an advert in the college common room advertising a college party on the TV screen, this was full of bright, party colours. Colours were used to highlight certain words, the main point of the advert, for example the cake and hot drink promotion in the coffee shop had the words ‘cake and coffee £2’ in bold and in bright red to make the main focus stand out. The rest of the advert was in smaller writing and in black just explaining the promotion further, but the information was less important. I also noticed that many of the adverts had illustrations, most of which related to the subject being advertised, such as the college party had pictures of disco lights and pictures of previous college parties, so this is used to bring the audience in, show them how the product/service being advertised can benefit them. Colour is certainly a factor that the advertising market exploit in order to achieve their aims.
Repetition
I noticed that repetition is particularly used on television adverts. I believe the reason for this is that they are only on for a few seconds so they want the advert to stick in your mind whereas posters and notices advertising are fixed, you can refer back to them in your own time whereas television adverts come on at random times throughout the day so you may only catch them once. A good example of this repetition is the ‘Buy one get one free’ windows advertisement. The man on the television tells you about the buy one get one free promotion on windows and then at the end says “I said you buy one, you get one free”! He wants to get across the point of the advert and so uses repetition to this. He also refers to the promotion using an acronym ‘BOGOF’ (now a relative neologism) this is also a method of ensuring viewers remember the advert.
Another feature that I noted from my collection was the use of ‘jingles’. Music and jingles were used in a large number of the television and radio adverts I saw/heard during the day. For example ‘Sheila’s wheels’ car insurance advert has a really annoying, but catchy song throughout the advert to communicate the information. Although I find this annoying, the information/advert certainly sticks in your mind, I even found my self singing the song! On the radio jingles are used to associate certain programmes being advertised. Those programmes are recognised through these familiar jingles, even without mentioning the name of the programme or product being advertised. So sound is another important factor that advertisers use in visual/verbal advertisements. The sound idea can link to my earlier experiment findings. Some of the words in the word list such as ‘table’ and ‘bottle’ have the same sounding ending ‘le’, the aural quality may aid recall in semantic processing, as you have to think about the words and to do this you say the words (out loud or in your mind). The amount of syllables a words has may also have an affect on recall. For example ‘BAG’ has one syllable, this may make it easier to remember, whereas ‘camera’ has three syllables which may make it harder to remember although ‘Window’ has two syllables and this was very highly recalled. Individual differences make it hard to generalise people’s preferences, some people prefer different sounds and find them easier to recall. Onomatopoeia and alliteration are often said to make words stick in your mind such as ‘silly sausage’ which is alliteration or ‘snap’, ‘crackle’ and ‘pop’ which are onomatopoeia.
These findings have provided further evidence for my initial findings backing up all the frameworks that I found as a language investigator. Presentation and repetition are key frameworks and features used by advertisers in order to gain attention and make the advertisement memorable.
Implications and suggestions for further research
The information gained from this experiment could be used in everyday life. The fact that semantic processing leads to increased recall could be used as an advantage. In schools teachers could incorporate this level of processing in children’s learning to increase children’s recall and memory. By getting children to think about the meaning of words rather than just their appearance should help them to understand and remember the word. It could also be used for spelling test expansion, using the meaning to help with spelling. Using this level of processing in teaching will increase the likelihood of what’s being taught to enter the children’s long term memory rather than their short term memory and then be lost
The findings from my experiment are already in use as proved by my real life collection of advertisements so this gives my findings ecological validity and reliability as I got very similar results from my language investigations.
Further research could be done in to politics and the techniques politicians use to ensure people remember their argument or campaign for example they use a lot of repetition and other rhetorical devices.
For further research an investigation into the comparison of how semantic processing increases young people’s recall in comparison to older people’s recall. Different levels of processing may suit different ages. The results may reveal that different levels are more appropriate for different ages. Older people are likely to already have a wider range and depth of knowledge compared to younger people, in which case a lower level of processing may be more sufficient and less time consuming. Whereas with younger people who are at school or college are still in the process of learning and need to remember a great deal of facts to pass exams, so in this case a deeper, more intense level of processing may help the information to sink in and stay in the long term memory ready to be brought back into the STM to be recalled in an exam. Advertisers must also have to take this fact into consideration, they need to ensure their advert appeals to the audience that it is intended to target, they may exploit different advertising techniques in order to do this.
Evaluation: Limitations and Modifications
In this experiment one of the limitations was the sample. The sample size was fairly small (only 18 people took part, 8 boys and 10 girls for each condition). This meant that quite a small amount of results were gathered and it was hard to compare and generalise the results. The sample itself was a limitation in terms of the type of people. The participants were all college students and between the ages of 16-18 so the group was limited. To modify this, a bigger sample could be gathered and from the general population so the participants would be from a wider radius rather than just college students. For example you could go into town and randomly select a sample. I would also investigate more frameworks to explore my results further.
It would be interesting to add in the third level of processing which is acoustic. It would be interesting to see how the results would alter. Some people’s preferred learning style involves saying the word or having it played on a tape recorder and so this may increase their recall.
The participants had to recall a list of words they had answered questions on. This is fairly unrealistic because in everyday life we are not required to remember random words, the experiment lacks ecological validity. To modify this I could have used a shopping list (including food/drink etc) as this is happens in real life and has some significance. However I have decided to test my findings using real life data.
Finally I am very happy with my findings as I took a holistic approach and my frameworks occurred naturally through my research. My further research exploring advertising has been effective in supporting my results regarding the frameworks.
References
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) Short term memory, the serial position effect
Mandler, G. (1967) Organisation and Memory, Levels of Processing
Tyler, S.W., Hertel, P.T., McCallum, M.C, Ellis, H.C. (1979) Cognitive effort and memory journal of experimental psychology
Bibliography
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Cardwell. M, Clark. L, Meldum. C (1996)
Psychology For A Level
Collins Educational, Hammersmith
Cardwell. M and Flanagan. C (2003)
Psychology AS, The Complete Companion
Cheltenham
Nelson Thornes Ltd
Rice. D. et al (2000)
Psychology in Focus AS Level
Causway Press, Ormskirk
Appendix 1
Before the experiment took place I introduced the experiment. I used the following script:
Hello, my name is Laura Bishop. I would like to ask you if you would mind taking part in my experiment to help me with my coursework. If you do not wish to take part you have the right to leave the room now. If you do wish to take part you can withdraw at any time or even withdraw your results at the end of the experiment.
I am going to hand out a sheet of paper to you, I would like you to answer all the questions and turn your sheet over when you have finished. You will have 3 minutes to answer the questions. I will instruct you further when you have completed the questions.
I will answer any questions you have after the experiment. If you do not wish to participate please leave now.
(When the time is up I continue with my script):
Time is up now, can you please turn your paper over and I will collect it. Can you now please recall as many words as you can remember from the word list.
Appendix 2
Table Does this have legs?
Sun Is the word in capital letters?
Tent Is the word in black?
FRY Is this a type of animal?
Camera Can you take pictures with this?
PEN Is the word in blue?
Window Can you see through this?
Cameras Is the word in lower case?
Plant Is this a type of food?
BAG Can you put things in this?
bottle Is the word in yellow?
Appendix 3 Participants Answer sheet
Table Does this have legs?
Sun Is the word in capital letters?
Tent Is the word in black?
FRY Is this a type of animal?
Camera Can you take pictures with this?
PEN Is the word in blue?
Window Can you see through this?
Cameras Is the word in lower case?
Plant Is this a type of food?
BAG Can you put things in this?
bottle Is the word in yellow?
Background Information on Advertising
Since my experiment I have done some research on advertising and how to get your advert noticed. Some very common features came up. A lot of research commented on the need to catch the readers’ eye. This links with the frameworks that occurred in my experiment.
Attract the reader's eye
The advertisement should feel friendly and inviting to the reader. It should draw the reader's eye to the page and make reading the advertisement a pleasure. So for example you could use bold and bright colours to make the advert stand out and gain the readers attention. You should avoid layouts that make the advertisement hard to read or discourage readers from even trying, this relates to the word ‘bottle’ in my experiment as the word appeared difficult to see as the colour was fairly pale in comparison to the other words.. A good idea is to have a focal point or a dominant visual element to the advertisement that draws the reader's eye to the page. In my experiment I found that the use of colour and bold letters in the word list made participants remember those words compared to the ordinary typed words.
Use of illustrations
The advertisement should be illustrated with a photograph or a drawing that visually communicates the main idea in the headline. Together, the headline and visual should get the message of your sales pitch across to the prospect. In other words, the reader should never have to read into the small print in order to understand the point of the story. It would have been interesting to have included illustrations in my memory experiment. I could have drawn illustrations next to a few words that relate to the word e.g. next to the word ‘bottle’ I could have drawn a bottle of coke. It would have been interesting to see if this made people more likely to remember the word as they could link it with the picture. Advertisers use this technique.
