Andrade Flashcards
What was the aim of Andrade’s (2010) study?
To explore whether doodling assists information processing, either by improving attention or enhancing memory.
What is doodling?
The sketching of patterns or figures unrelated to a primary task, done without taking cognitive resources from the main task.
What do studies suggest about doodling and attention?
Do & Schallert (2004): Doodling aids concentration by reducing daydreaming, improving focus.
Wilson & Korn (2007): Doodling helps maintain arousal, preventing boredom or sleepiness.
What was the design of Andrade’s study?
Lab experiment
Independent measures design
Describe the sample of participants
40 participants (18–55 years old)
20 in the doodling group (17 female, 3 male)
20 in the control group (18 female, 2 male)
Recruited via opportunity sampling after participating in another study.
What were the independent and dependent variables?
IV: Whether participants doodled or not.
DV: Memory recall (names and places).
What was the task for participants?
Listen to a boring phone call (2.5 minutes) about a party.
Doodlers shaded shapes on paper; non-doodlers just listened.
Participants were tested on names of party attendees (monitoring task) and places (recall task)
How was the task controlled?
All participants heard the same recording (227 words/min, monotonous).
Standardised doodling sheets for the experimental group.
Counterbalanced order for recall tasks.
What was done to ensure fairness in responses?
Plausible mishearings (e.g., “Craig” instead of “Greg”) were counted as correct.
Final scores: Correct names minus false alarms.
How did doodlers perform compared to non-doodlers?
Doodlers recalled an average of 7.5 names/places.
Non-doodlers recalled an average of 5.8 names/places.
Doodlers performed 29% better overall.
What were the key findings about memory?
Doodlers recalled more monitored and incidental information.
No participants in the control group doodled spontaneously.
What are the two possible explanations for doodling’s effect?
Attention: Doodlers noticed more target words.
Memory: Doodling enhanced memory through deeper processing.
What limitations made it difficult to determine the exact mechanism?
No measure of daydreaming.
Lack of participant self-reports.
Small memory task (only 8 names).
What are the strengths of Andrade’s study?
Well-controlled environment (high internal validity).
Highly standardised procedures (e.g., same tape, instructions).
Quantitative data allowed for statistical analysis.
Doodling operationalised (standardised sheets).
What are the weaknesses of the study?
Low ecological validity: Doodling sheets were artificial.
Demand characteristics: Some participants suspected a memory test.
Gender imbalance: Mostly female participants.
Deception: Participants couldn’t give full consent.
