Cognitive Study - Grant Flashcards
What is the background of the study?
Goddon and Baddly (195) tested context dependent memory on deep sea divers - the divers had to learn a list of words either on land or underwater and recall the words either on land or underwater. Results showed recall was better when divers studied and tested in the same place
What is context dependent memory?
Memory is improved if the environment that the learning takes place in its the same as the environment where memory is recalled
What is recall memory?
When you have to remember information with no prompts to remind you
What is recognition memory?
When you have to remember things and then recognise them in a list
What is outshining hypothesis?
Context dependent memory will not benefit recognition tasks
What was the aim?
To investigate context dependent memory effects of both recall and recognition for meaningful information (as opposed to just list of words)
What was the research method?
Lab experiment
What was the IV?
Sound for learning and testing
What was the DV?
Memory - recognition and recall
What was the experimental design?
Independent measures
How was the sample obtained?
8 psychology students from Iowa State Uni acted as experiments in the study. They each recruited 5 acquaintance as participants in the study
What were the characteristics of the sample?
39 participants (1participant’s results were not included) who ranged in age from 17 to 56 (mean age 23.4), 17 females and 23 males
What were the four conditions?
Silent study + silent test, noisy study + noisy test, Silent study + noisy test, noisy study + silent test,
How was recall measured?
10 short answer (recall tasks requiring one word or short phrase answers)
How was recognition measured?
16 multiple choice (recognition task of 4 answers)
What was the procedure?
Participants were asked to read once through a two-page academic article on the subject of psychoimmunology while wearing a pair of headphones. The time taken to read was recorded and then they were given a 2 minute break. - then they completed the questions
What was the background noise from?
A cafeteria
What were the controls?
The questions, the article, sound, all read at once, 2 minute break, all wore headphones, standardised instruction, recall test done first, noisy condition played at moderately loud level, always tested individually
What was the mean reading time in the silent study + silent test, condition?
15.0
What was the mean reading time in the silent study + noisy test, condition?
11.8
What was the mean reading time in the noisy study + silent test, condition?
13.8
What was the mean reading time in the noisy study + noisy test, condition?
14.0
What was the mean amount of correct answers out of 10 for the recall task for the silent study + silent test?
6.7
What was the mean amount of correct answers out of 10 for the recall task for the noisy study + silent test?
5.4
What was the mean amount of correct answers out of 10 for the recall task for the silent study + noisy test?
4.6
What was the mean amount of correct answers out of 10 for the recall task for the noisy study + noisy test?
6.2
What was the mean amount of correct answers out of 10 for the recognition task for the silent study + silent test?
14.3
What was the mean amount of correct answers out of 10 for the recognition task for the noisy study + silent test?
12.7
What was the mean amount of correct answers out of 10 for the recognition task for the silent study + noisy test?
12.7
What was the mean amount of correct answers out of 10 for the recognition task for the noisy study + noisy test?
14.3
What was the type of data which was collected?
Quantitative
What were the conclusions?
Context dependent memory aids participants in both recall and recognition tests.
Grant suggests that it is because in this study participants were learning ‘meaningful prose’ like students really do rather than just a list of words
What ethical guilelines were upheld?
Consent, withdrawal, debrief, confidentiality
What ethical guidelines were broken?
Deception, and protection from harm
Point for internal reliability
Lots of controls
Point for external reliability
Recognition - suspicious, maybe too consistent, results look eerily patterned
Point for internal (construct) validity
only looking at noise (one type of context)
Point for external (ecological) validity
Students would have to read article, noise was normal for them, not tested 2 minutes after reading normally
Is this study applicable only to the culture in which the research was carried out, or could the findings apply elsewhere?
Based in America, cognition should be the same everywhere.
