Cognitive area: Grant et al Flashcards
What key theme does Grant look into?
Memory
What is the name of the background study for Grant?
Godden and Baddley
What did Godden and Baddley test?
Context dependent memory on deep sea divers
Describe how Godden and Baddley tested context dependent memory on deep sea divers?
Got them to learn a list of words underwater or on land and then tested them underwater or on land to see how well they could remember them
What did Godden and Baddley find in terms of context dependent memory of the deep sea divers?
That the divers remembered words better if they recalled the words in the same environment that they learnt them in
Define context dependent memory
Where memory is improved if the environment that the learning takes place in is the same as the environment where a memory is recalled
What is recall memory?
Remembering info without prompts
What is recognition memory?
Recognising info from a list/prompts (e.g. MCQ’s)
What was the aim of Grant’s study?
To investigate if CDM affects both the recall and recognition of information
Outline which research method did Grant use and give a justification for this
Lab experiment - high controls and IV of background noise was manipulated
What experimental design did Grant use?
Independent measures
Describe how the sample was obtained
8 psychology students acted as experimenters and recruited 5 p’s each
What sampling method did Grant use?
Opportunity
Describe the sample
39 (17 females and 22 males) participants, aged 17-56
What were the matching conditions?
Silent study followed by silent test
Noisy study followed by noisy test
What were the mismatching conditions?
Silent study followed by noisy test
Noisy study followed by silent test
How was recall memory measured?
By their score from 10 short answer questions, each with a one word or short phrase answer
How was recognition memory measured?
By their score from 16 MCQ’s with 4 choices
What instructions did the experimenter give to the participants?
That they were to read the 2 page article on psychoimmunology once and could highlight and/or underline anything important as they read
What was the background noise that p’s in the noisy conditions listened to?
Noise from within the university cafeteria of people talking with sounds of chairs and plates being moved
What did the experimenter note down after the participant had finished reading?
How long it took them to read the article
What were P’s given after they finished the article?
A 2 minute break
What happened at the end of the procedure?
P’s were debriefed
How long did the procedure last?
About 30 minutes
List some of the controls used
Same instructions
Always wore headphones
Same questions in same order
Same article
What was the mean score of the matching conditions for the recall task?
6.7 (s/s) and 6.2 (n/n)
What was the mean score of the mismatching conditions for the recall task?
4.6 (s/n) and 5.4 (n/s)
What was the mean score of the matching conditions for the recognition task?
Both 14.3
What was the mean score of the mismatching conditions for the recognition task ?
Both 12.7
What type of data was collected?
Quantitative data
How come CD effects have been found reliably for recall but not for recognition tasks?
Because of Smith’s ‘outshining’ hypothesis which suggests that the recognition items act as strong retrieval cues which outshine the effect of the contextual cues
Why were the participants given an article to read rather than a list of words?
Because it was more meaningful material
Why did they choose to give P’s an article about psychoimmunology?
Because the researchers thought that it would be interesting for P’s
Why did Grant choose to manipulate background noise rather than music?
Because different people prefer different music
Why did Grant focus more on the study conditions rather than the test conditions?
Because students have more control over their study conditions than their test conditions
Why did they do the recall test first?
To ensure that any information recalled was from their memory of the test rather than from the MC test
Why were P’s given a 2 minute break?
To minimise recall information from their short term memory
Why was 1 participants results excluded?
Because his scores were atypically low
Why were participants informed of the condition they would be in before testing began?
To ensure that the study was ethical
Which ethical guidelines did Grant uphold?
All of them
Was the procedure controlled, standardised and replicable? (internal reliability)
Yes - high level controls and standardised procedure
Was a consistent effect found between matching and mismatching conditions? (external reliability)
39 is a good sample size for consistent effect to be found, however only 10 p’s per condition may not be that consistent
Was it an accurate test of context dependent memory? (construct validity)
To an extent yes because of the break between the reading and the testing however, 2 minutes isn’t very long and therefore may have just been measuring STM
Did the tasks resemble real life tasks? (ecological validity)
For students yes because they often complete tests/exams
Could Grant’s study be considered ethnocentric?
Could apply to most cultures (as memory is a species specific behaviour) however we can’t assume that all cultures take tests in this way
How had Grant’s study changed our understanding of memory?
Adds knowledge to our understanding of memory
How has Grant’s study not changed our understanding of memory?
Doesn’t change our understanding but does confirm the theory that there are differences in memory depending on the environmental conditions
