Atkinson and Schriffon’s multistore model of memory suggests that memory has three separate stores of which information is passed through. The primacy and recency effect supports the multistore model. Twenty words were given to participants and the data showed that words at the beginning were likely to be recalled as they were stored in the long term memory (primacy effect). Also words at the end were likely to be recalled as they are still present in the short term memory (recency effect). Therefore providing evidence that there are separate stores within memory.
According to a number of studies of research which have previously been carried out by psychologists there are different methods of organisation in the long term memory. The method being investigated is categorical clustering which is where items are grouped according to the semantic category to which they belong. Bousfield (1953) investigated free recall on organisation in memory. He gave participants a list of sixty items to learn. Within the list were names of animas, names of people, professions, vegetables (fifteen of each category), all mixed up together. Participants were asked to recall as many of the words as possible in any order they liked. He found that despite the fact that when originally presented the categories were all mixed up participants tended to remember them in clusters of words all belonging to the same category. It was therefore concluded that categorical clusters are indicative of semantic organisation in memory.
The aim of this experiment is to test whether categorical clustering effects the number of words recalled.
Experimental hypothesis: The mean number of words recalled is greater when words are categorised rather than non categorised words.
Null Hypothesis: There will be no difference in the mean number of words recalled from either of the two lists (categorised or non-categorised words) .
METHOD
Design
The independent variable in this experiment is the number of words in List A (categorically clustered groups) and the number of words in list B (no categorical clustering). The dependent variable is the amount of words participants recall from each condition. The experiment is a related measure design as the same participants will carry out both conditions. This will ensure that results are reliable.
An extraneous variable in this experiment may be order effects as participants may get bored or tired of doing the same test twice. To try to overcome this problem I will use counter balancing where half the participants will be given list A then list B, and the other half will be given list B then list A. Another extraneous variable is the instructions which will be given to participants, to avoid any discrepancies the instructions will be written down so each participant will receive the same.
The task for participants is that they will be given a list of words for one minute, and they will be asked to recall as many of the words as they can immediately afterwards given one minute on the response sheet provided. The same will be done for a second list of words.
The ethical issues that arise in this experiment are gaining consent and giving the participant the right to withdraw. Therefore participants will be talked to about this beforehand. This consists of the brief, standardised instructions, and debrief (see appendix 1).
Participants
The target population for this experiment will be 16-18 year olds. An opportunity sample of 10 boys and 10 girls from the sixth form I’m studying at. An opportunity sample will be used because it is a simple way of gaining a number of participants. It is also a practically efficient way given the demands of time.
Materials
List of words A and B. The list of words are both identical in terms of number of words (20), font style and size, the only difference is the actual words. List A contains the related words all mixed up. List B contains unrelated words. (see appendices 2a and 2b)
Other materials which were used to carry out this experiment were Instructions for the participants such as the brief, standardised instructions and debrief (see appendix 1). Pens and response sheets were used for participants to write down the words they remembered. A stopwatch was also used to time participants.
Procedure
A participant is approached. The brief is read to the participant (see appendix 1) they will then decide whether they wish to carry out the experiment or not. If they refuse then the another participant will be approached. If the participant agrees to proceed then they will be taken to a quiet room were all the experiment will take place, to avoid any other variable effecting the results. The standardised instructions will then be read (see appendix 1)
