Verbal memory differences between the sexes

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Introduction

Prior to formulating a hypothesis, research relating to memory and previous studies had to be taken into account.

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968, 1971) developed a model called the multi-store model. This model describes memory in terms of flowing though a system. In other words, information is detected by the sense organs and sent to the sensory memory. However, this information will only be stored if it is rehearsed. If it is rehearsed, the information enters the long-term memory (LTM) and is stored; otherwise, the information will be lost.

Craik and Watkins (1973) identified two types of rehearsal; maintenance rehearsal where the word is repeated several times and elaborative rehearsal where the word is fully understood by the subject. From this, they concluded that maintenance rehearsal was sufficient enough for storage in the short-term memory (STM) but elaborative rehearsal was needed to keep information in the LTM.

Also, the words at the end of the list were still stored in the STM and therefore could still be recalled. This is known as the recency effect. However, the words in the middle of the list were not well recalled because there was no time to rehearse these words so they were not transferred into the LTM. These words were also forgotten from the STM as the STM only has a capacity of 7 plus or minus 2, and can hold information for up to 30 seconds.  

Paivio (1969) proposed the dual coding theory. This assumes that there are two ways of representing information; verbal or linguistic. These two systems are strongly connected so it is possible to derive an image from a verbal phrase.

‘Begg and Paivio (1969) carried out an experiment which manipulated the variable, classification of words into concrete and abstract words. The results showed that when the participants were asked to make imagery connections for concrete and abstract words, they made these connections quicker for concrete words and also recalled more concrete words than abstract words. This would appear to be because pictorial representations of concrete are made easier than for abstract words as concrete words a usually already stored in the LTM.’

Ebbinghaus (1885) gave participants a list of triograms (eg LIG) and asked them to recall as many of the triograms as possible. Results showed that the triograms at the beginning and end of the lists were recalled better. This was because the participants had time to rehearse the words the beginning of the list so they went into the LTM. This is known as the primacy effect.

Maccoby and Jacklin (1974) reviewed studies on sex differences. Their initial question was; 'What are the overall conclusions from studies on sex differences?' All participants were under the age of twelve years old. They analysed more than 1,500 studies and found that:

  • Girls are marginally superior on tests of verbal ability.
  • Boys are marginally better on tests of visual/spatial ability.
  • Boys are marginally better on tests of arithmetic reasoning.
  • Boys are physically and verbally more aggressive than girls.

The aim of this investigation is to find out whether there is a significant difference between the verbal memories of males and females.

Having carried out this research into memory in general, the following experimental hypothesis has been stated:

Females will recall a significantly higher number of words than males.

This one tailed hypothesis has been derived by referring back to the Maccoby and Jacklin study (1974). This study found that females are marginally superior on verbal memory tests so this evidence has led to the one tailed hypothesis.

Null hypothesis:

There will be no significant difference in the number of words recalled by males and females.

Method

As this investigation is an experiment, an independent variable will be manipulated to see what effect it has on the dependant variable.

  • The independent variable will be the gender of the participant.
  • The dependant variable will be the number of words recalled by males and females.

Extraneous or confounding variables are any factors that may have an effect on the dependent variable other than the independent variable. Therefore, in order to keep the experiment as fair as possible and to ensure it produces accurate and reliable results, these extraneous variables have to be kept under strict control.

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The extraneous variables include:

  1. Order effects eg fatigue – fatigue can play a part in the experiment and can have a direct effect on the number of words recalled by the participant. Therefore, to overcome this problem, there will only be a 2 second gap between each word being read, and the participants will be asked to recall the words as soon as they have heard the list of words. This speeds up the procedure to ensure there is only a short time lapse.
  2. Demand characteristics – the participants may develop an understanding as to why the ...

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