Memory. The task, which the participants had to do was to look at a series of thirty words in a random order. Therefore, I made the words random by shuffling them. After each word was read out a question followed relevant to the level of processing conn

Method

Design

The actual research method used is an experiment. Experiments always have an IV and DV. In my experiment I shall be looking to see; ‘how many words at each level of processing are remembered’. The experimental design, which I shall be following is the repeated measures design. This entails using the same people and testing them under different conditions. In my case it will be testing the same people on the different levels of processing (semantic, phonological and structural). Some disadvantages of the ‘repeated measures design’ are the practice effects, fatigue and/or boredom of the participants. To reduce this risk we can use a technique called counterbalancing, which involves varying the order of the way in which the trials are presented. I used counterbalancing in my experiment. The advantages of this method, however, is that it is often more accurate, also that we can use the same participants to test each level of processing on, thereby making it a quicker method to use as opposed to matched pairs and independent measures design for example.

An extraneous variable could be some words explicitness or their length; this is due to the fact that these words would stand out in many people’s minds, therefore ‘throwing’ some of the results. It could have affected the results because it is more likely the participant(s) would have remembered words, which were extraordinarily long or had sexual connotations. This would have defeated the entire objective of the experiment because these words would not be recalled due to their level of processing but by other factors. The control used for the extraneous variable was to use words of roughly the same length (all words were around five letters long) and to not use any words that had any explicit nature attached to them.

Participants

The sampling method I used was opportunity sampling; this means that the sample is selected on the basis of who is available at the time of the testing, assuming that they are willing to take part. It is a very straightforward sampling method to use. The target population that I used was the students on the grounds of Bournville College of Further Education.

Materials

The task, which the participants had to do was to look at a series of thirty words in a random order. Therefore, I made the words random by shuffling them. After ...

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Participants

Materials

The task, which the participants had to do was to look at a series of thirty words in a random order. Therefore, I made the words random by shuffling them. After each word was read out a question followed relevant to the level of processing connected to that word. In order to do this certain materials were needed. These included; slips of small paper with the words written on separately, sheets of A5 paper which the participants used to record the words they recalled on, the questionnaire, which had each word I used followed by the relevant question that related to its level of processing. This was needed in order to ask the participants a question relating to the level of processing associated with that word and a pen was also needed. I also used a computer and a printer in order to print off my words and questionnaire that I used for my experiment. These materials were all vital in the process of my research.

Procedure

Pupils were approached and given a copy of the brief (which deals with the participants consent), I said, “Excuse me, I am currently a student studying psychology at Bournville College of further education and am conducting a study to do with memory would you like to take part in it?” If they said no, they were then thanked. If they said yes they were given a copy of the standardised instructions. At this point I said “You have the right to withdraw from the experiment at any time if you wish to do so. I am now going to show you a series of thirty words, after each I will ask you a question about the word, is that ok?” I then waited for confirmation from my participant. If they said no I thanked them and walked away, if they replied yes, I then proceeded by showing the participant in question the thirty words, after each I asked the relevant question (see questionnaire). Ten questions related to structural levels of processing, ten related to semantic levels of processing and ten related to phonetic levels of processing. It was by these questions that I based my experiment on, as they each referred to one of three levels of processing and that is what I am interested in finding out (which level of processing leads to superior recall). After I had completed reading out the words and questions to the participant I then said the debrief, “Would you please write down as many of the words as you can remember on this slip of paper.” I then handed the participant a piece of paper and a pen and waited for them to finish writing down the words they recalled. When they had finished I said, “thank you for your time and I assure you that your results will remain strictly confidential.” I then walked away carrying my materials.

One relevant ethical consideration is consent. By this I mean that in order to carry out my research I had the participants permission to do so and did not breach this in any way, for example making the participant do something that they did not want to. Another ethical issue could be the participants right to withdraw from the experiment at any time if they wished. By this I mean that if they did not wish to continue they could stop at any time. Also one must consider confidentiality as an ethical consideration. By this I mean that the results I gathered from the participants will not be displayed along with their name and identity, so no one knows the people from which I gathered my data from, out of respect for them. To control these ethical considerations I explained clearly to the participants that their results will remain strictly confidential and that they have the right to withdraw and stop at any time during the experiment. Also I asked whether they would mind taking part in my experiment and writing as many words as they could remember down on a piece of paper. I told them that the experiment was to do with memory and was to help me with my coursework.