Cognitive area: Grant et al

Question 1

What key theme does Grant look into?

Answer 1

Memory

Question 2

What is the name of the background study for Grant?

Answer 2

Godden and Baddley

Question 3

What did Godden and Baddley test?

Answer 3

Context dependent memory on deep sea divers

Question 4

Describe how Godden and Baddley tested context dependent memory on deep sea divers?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What did Godden and Baddley find in terms of context dependent memory of the deep sea divers?

Answer 5

That the divers remembered words better if they recalled the words in the same environment that they learnt them in

Question 6

Define context dependent memory

Answer 6

Where memory is improved if the environment that the learning takes place in is the same as the environment where a memory is recalled

Question 7

What is recall memory?

Answer 7

Remembering info without prompts

Question 8

What is recognition memory?

Answer 8

Recognising info from a list/prompts (e.g. MCQ’s)

Question 9

What was the aim of Grant’s study?

Answer 9

To investigate if CDM affects both the recall and recognition of information

Question 10

Outline which research method did Grant use and give a justification for this

Answer 10

Lab experiment - high controls and IV of background noise was manipulated

Question 11

What experimental design did Grant use?

Answer 11

Independent measures

Question 12

Describe how the sample was obtained

Answer 12

8 psychology students acted as experimenters and recruited 5 p’s each

Question 13

What sampling method did Grant use?

Answer 13

Opportunity

Question 14

Describe the sample

Answer 14

39 (17 females and 22 males) participants, aged 17-56

Question 15

What were the matching conditions?

Answer 15

Silent study followed by silent test

Noisy study followed by noisy test

Question 16

What were the mismatching conditions?

Answer 16

Silent study followed by noisy test

Noisy study followed by silent test

Question 17

How was recall memory measured?

Answer 17

By their score from 10 short answer questions, each with a one word or short phrase answer

Question 18

How was recognition memory measured?

Answer 18

By their score from 16 MCQ’s with 4 choices

Question 19

What instructions did the experimenter give to the participants?

Answer 19

That they were to read the 2 page article on psychoimmunology once and could highlight and/or underline anything important as they read

Question 20

What was the background noise that p’s in the noisy conditions listened to?

Answer 20

Noise from within the university cafeteria of people talking with sounds of chairs and plates being moved

Question 21

What did the experimenter note down after the participant had finished reading?

Answer 21

How long it took them to read the article

Question 22

What were P’s given after they finished the article?

Answer 22

A 2 minute break

Question 23

What happened at the end of the procedure?

Answer 23

P’s were debriefed

Question 24

How long did the procedure last?

Answer 24

About 30 minutes

Question 25

List some of the controls used

Answer 25

Same instructions
Always wore headphones
Same questions in same order
Same article

Question 26

What was the mean score of the matching conditions for the recall task?

Answer 26

6.7 (s/s) and 6.2 (n/n)

Question 27

What was the mean score of the mismatching conditions for the recall task?

Answer 27

4.6 (s/n) and 5.4 (n/s)

Question 28

What was the mean score of the matching conditions for the recognition task?

Answer 28

Both 14.3

Question 29

What was the mean score of the mismatching conditions for the recognition task ?

Answer 29

Both 12.7

Question 30

What type of data was collected?

Answer 30

Quantitative data

Question 31

How come CD effects have been found reliably for recall but not for recognition tasks?

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Why were the participants given an article to read rather than a list of words?

Answer 32

Because it was more meaningful material

Question 33

Why did they choose to give P’s an article about psychoimmunology?

Answer 33

Because the researchers thought that it would be interesting for P’s

Question 34

Why did Grant choose to manipulate background noise rather than music?

Answer 34

Because different people prefer different music

Question 35

Why did Grant focus more on the study conditions rather than the test conditions?

Answer 35

Because students have more control over their study conditions than their test conditions

Question 36

Why did they do the recall test first?

Answer 36

To ensure that any information recalled was from their memory of the test rather than from the MC test

Question 37

Why were P’s given a 2 minute break?

Answer 37

To minimise recall information from their short term memory

Question 38

Why was 1 participants results excluded?

Answer 38

Because his scores were atypically low

Question 39

Why were participants informed of the condition they would be in before testing began?

Answer 39

To ensure that the study was ethical

Question 40

Which ethical guidelines did Grant uphold?

Answer 40

All of them

Question 41

Was the procedure controlled, standardised and replicable? (internal reliability)

Answer 41

Yes - high level controls and standardised procedure

Question 42

Was a consistent effect found between matching and mismatching conditions? (external reliability)

Answer 42

39 is a good sample size for consistent effect to be found, however only 10 p’s per condition may not be that consistent

Question 43

Was it an accurate test of context dependent memory? (construct validity)

Answer 43

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

Question 44

Did the tasks resemble real life tasks? (ecological validity)

Answer 44

For students yes because they often complete tests/exams

Question 45

Could Grant’s study be considered ethnocentric?

Answer 45

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

Question 46

How had Grant’s study changed our understanding of memory?

Answer 46

Adds knowledge to our understanding of memory

Question 47

How has Grant’s study not changed our understanding of memory?

Answer 47

Doesn’t change our understanding but does confirm the theory that there are differences in memory depending on the environmental conditions