Is performance of memory affected by environmental stimuli?
Psychology Coursework Lucy Nuttney Is performance of memory affected by environmental stimuli? Abstract Introduction This experiment aims to investigate whether or not recall of a list of words is influenced by playing classical music (Mozart) in the background. The psychological topic areas relevant to this are memory and recall. Memory can be defined as 'the capacity to retain and later retrieve information' (Baron 1992). Models of memory have been proposed to suggest how information is received, stored and later recalled when needed. The Two- Process Model or Multi-Store Model of Memory, devised by Atkinson and Schifrin (1968), suggests that memory comprises of three stores, the sensory memory, short term and long term memory. They suggest that information detected by the five bodily senses, which is relevant to the individual, passes through each of these stores. Sensory memory can be held for approximately one second, but can be given further attention if necessary, by the short term memory. This is of limited capacity and can hold 7+2 pieces of information for approximately 15-30 seconds. If information is rehearsed / practised in the short term memory, it is passed onto the long term memory, where it can be stored for a lifetime. However, Baddeley and Hitch (1974) challenged this theory, suggesting that recall was dependent
Stroop Effect
Muhammad Kermali AQA A level psychology coursework Abstract In the 1900's J Ridley Stroop demonstrated that if someone was reading information, and other conflicting inputs were added, the rate at which the person read would slow down. The aim of this investigation is to see whether it takes the participants longer to read a list of colours typed in black ink, or whether it takes the participants longer to read the list of colours typed in coloured ink. The hypothesis I have for this investigation is that it will take the participants longer to read the list of colours typed in coloured ink than it will take the participants to read the list of colours typed in black ink. My target population will be 6th Form students at Graveney School, and my sampling method will be opportunity sampling. Introduction In the early 1900's, the Stroop effect was discovered by J.Ridley Stroop. Two cognitive processes are involved with this theory. These are controlled and automatic processing. In the standard stroop task, participants are often exposed to three conditions: congruent, incongruent and neutral. In the congruent condition, colour words (such as red or blue) are presented in consistent ink colours. (eg the word blue printed in blue). In the incongruent condition, colour words are presented in inconsistent ink colours. (eg the word blue printed in red)both of theses conditions
Outline and Evaluate the Multi Store Model of Memory and One Alternative Model
Outline and Evaluate the Multi Store Model of Memory and One Alternative Model Models of memory are theoretical, and sometimes diagrammatic, representations of how the human memory works. Many models have been suggested by various psychologists in attempts to explain how information passes between the known stores of the memory (such as long-term memory and short-term memory) however they also take into account ideas of encoding, duration and capacity, as well as the idea of loss from memory through different mechanisms (such as displacement or decay). One such proposed model is that of Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968), known as the Multi Store Model of Memory. The name of this model comes from its main assumption; that the memory is made up of multiple stores- believed to be three. These three stores suggested in the Multi Store Model are sensory memory (a store holding an exact copy of a sensory stimulus in the same modality for a fraction of a second), short-term memory (where information may be stored for brief periods of time, but longer than that of sensory memory) and long-term memory (a store containing information that has been held for long periods of time). Atkinson and Shiffrin's model shows how data travels through the three stores in a sequence- from sensory memory to short-term memory and eventually to long-term memory. Data in sensory memory may only enter
The Stroop Effect
Abstract The aim of the study was to investigate the extent that automatic tasks have an effect on the speed of saying the words. It was assumed that participants will take significantly longer to say colour words in a different colour to what the word is on a word list then when the colour word is in the same colour because reading a word has become an automatic process. The method of this study used a repeated measures and matched pairs design and involved giving participants a selection of six lists; three inconsistent with colour and the word and three consistently worded. The sampling method was opportunity sampling taken from a sampling body of 16-19 year old students at Richmond Upon Thames College. Results were tested using the Wilcoxon matched pairs signed ranks test; this showed that there is a significant difference in the mean time taken to say the inconsistent list in comparison to the consistent list. However, environmental factors such as the noise of the surroundings have not been taken into account adding a major limitation to this study. Introduction The topic area I am going to study is attention, looking more specifically into automatic processing. Automatic processing is a concept in the area of attention that states that some tasks can be processed without the awareness of the person and don't interfere with the ability to process other tasks, for
Will participants have a better recall of words when they are presented in an organised list?
WILL PARTICIPANTS HAVE A BETTER RECALL OF WORDS WHEN THEY ARE PRESENTED IN AN ORGANISED LIST? ABSTRACT This experiment was carried out by three psychology students to investigate the role of organisation in memory and whether organisation of material helps memory recall. An opportunity sample of friends and relatives were asked to take part in the study. The sample comprised 34 participants aged between 16 and 60. There were two conditions and the participants were split equally between them. In Condition 1, participants studied a prepared organised list of words and in Condition 2 they studied a random list. Their memory was then tested by free recall. An independent design was used and the results analysed using the Mann-Whitney test. The results showed that organisation does play an important role in memory. Participants who studied the organised list of words recalled significantly more words then those who studied the random list. This supports the findings of other studies into the role of organisation in memory. BACKGROUND Memory is an essential part of the human make-up and without it society as we know it would not exist. Whilst there are still questions about how memories are created, stored and retrieved, it seems clear from studies that have been carried out that the more organised information is, the easier the recall is. Bousfield (1953) showed
The aim of the investigation was to repeat the experiment carried out by Bower and Springston in 1970. A laboratory experiment was carried out to demonstrate how chunking could be used to increase the capacity of STM.
Summary The aim of the investigation was to repeat the experiment carried out by Bower and Springston in 1970. A laboratory experiment was carried out to demonstrate how chunking could be used to increase the capacity of STM. Participants were presented with a letter sequence. The independent variable was the chunking and the dependent variable was how many letters the participants recalled. A repeated measures design was used and the participants were an opportunist sample of 20 students, between the ages of 16-18 years. The results were analysed using the Wilcoxon test. Therefore the directional hypothesis that the participants remembered more of the acronyms than the non-related trigrams is significant. The graphs and the results extended this by showing that more acronyms were remembered than the non-related. Introduction Memory is the process of storing information and experiences for possible retrieval at some point in the future. This ability to create and retrieve memories is fundamental to all aspects of cognition and in a broader sense it is essential to our ability to function properly as human beings. Our memories allow us to store information about the world so that we can understand and deal with future situations on the basis of past experience. The process of thinking and problem solving relies heavily on the use of previous experience and
How levels of processing affects memory
An Investigation into How Levels of Processing Affects Memory Abstract The experiment is based on the research by Craik & Lockhart's levels of processing theory, which says that deeper levels of processing will help memory more than shallow levels. The aim was to find out whether categorised word lists improve recall rather than the same words in a random order. My hypothesis is that more words would be recalled from the categorised wordlist than the uncategorised wordlist. The sampling method was opportunity sampling and the first 10 students found in the PE department were selected and I used independent groups for my design. The experiment happened in a laboratory and the participants were briefed on the experiment and the ethical issues involved were mentioned. One of them was given a wordlists and a stopwatch was used to give them 20 seconds to memorise and then 20 seconds to recall as many words as possible, which I ticked on a checklist. The results were then put into a graph. They showed that 60% of participants recalled over half the words on the categorised wordlist and only 20% recalled more than half of the uncategorised wordlist. This shows that deeper levels of processing are used when remembering words from a categorised wordlist compared to an uncategorised wordlist. Introduction Aim: to find out whether memorising words from a categorised word lists would
Investigate into the Primacy and Recency effect
Table of Contents Abstract 2 Introduction 2 Experimental hypothesis 2 Null hypothesis 2 Method 2 Materials used 2 Procedure 2 Experiment 1 - With Interference task 2 Experiment 2 - Without Interference task 2 Results 2 Discussion 2 Conclusion 2 References 2 Appendices 2 Appendix A - Sheet given to participants Appendix B - Results (Interference) Appendix C - Results (Non Interference) Appendix D - Calculations Appendix E - Graph 1 Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate into the Primacy and Recency effect. The study was based on Glanzer and Cunitzs research (1966) who suggested that when remembering words, if given an interference task, the recency effect will be virtually eliminated. It was therefore predicted that when a group of participants were recalling words after having an interference task there would be little, if no recency effect. However it was also predicted that when an interference task was not involved there would be both a primacy and recency effect. The experiment was conducted on two groups of participants, 20 in each group. They were all students between the age of 16 and 18. This was an independent experiment. The findings form this study indicated that there was less of a recency effect when using an interference task then when not. Introduction The aim of this investigation to find out whether people remember material
Does chunking help with memory?
Does chunking help with memory? This study is concerned with the cognitive approach, in particular the are of memory, and how the arrangement of data into organised and disorganised categories affects memory and the ability to store and recall data. Research Short-term memory is believed to have a capacity of 7?2 'chunks' of information, which can remain there for approximately 20 seconds without rehearsal. Chunking is a process that apparently increases the capacity of short-term memory by relating and combining the incoming information to knowledge that we already possess in long term memory. In chunking we organise information giving it a structure and meaning tit did not already have, so although we can only recall around 7 chunks a meaningful chunk can be very large Previous research has been done by other psychologists into the affect of organisation on memory. In 1953 Bousfield asked participants to try and learn 60 words consisting of 4 categories, (animals, peoples names, professions and vegetables) with 15 examples of each all mixed up. Bousfield found that when participants free recalled (recalled in any order) they tended to cluster similar items, Eg; if someone recalled 'onion' it was very likely that other vegetables followed. Although participants had not been told of the categories, the fact they recalled in clusters suggested that they had tried to
An investigation into the Affect of Organisation on memory
An investigation into the Affect of Organisation on memory Research Previous research has been done by other psychologists into the affect of organisation on memory. In 1953 Bousfield asked participants to try and learn 60 words consisting of 4 categories, (animals, peoples names, professions and vegetables) with 15 examples of each all mixed up. Bousfield found that when participants free recalled (recalled in any order) they tended to cluster similar items, Eg; if someone recalled 'onion' it was very likely that other vegetables followed. Although participants had not been told of the categories, the fact they recalled in clusters suggested that they had tried to organise the data. Bousfield called this trend 'categorical clustering'. Another study took place in 1967 by Mandler, where subjects were given lists of random words and asked to sort them into a given number of categories (between 2 and 7). Once sorted the participants were asked to recall as many of the words as possible. The results showed that recall was poorest for those who used 2 categories and increased steadily by about 4 words per extra category. Those with 7 categories recalled approximately 20 more words than those who used 2. Mandler argued that the great number of categories used, the greater amount of organisation was imposed on the list. However my particular study is inspired and based on a
