Core studies - Grant - Paper 2

Question 1

Area

Answer 1

Cognitive - memory is a cognitive process

Question 2

Basis

Answer 2

Context dependent memory - when details are memorised, details of the environment are encoded and become associated with the memory
Therefore the right environmental factors can help with recall

Question 3

Aim

Answer 3

To investigate whether or not performance on a memory test improves if the studying took place in the same environment as the test

Question 4

IV and DV

Answer 4

IV - test/study conditions
Silent study/silent test
Silent study/noisy test
Noisy study/silent study
Noisy study/noisy test
DV - performance in a short answer recall test
Performance in a multiple choice recall test

Question 5

Sample

Answer 5

39 ppts - 1 omitted from results
Experimenters were psychology lab students
8 experimenters recruited 5 ppts each

Question 6

Materials/stimuli

Answer 6

Each experimenter provided a cassette player and headphones - each tape was an exact copy of a master tape of background noise in a cafeteria
It was played at a moderately loud level
Ppts had to study a 2 page article on psychoimmunology
There were 16 multiple choice questions on recalling facts from the text
There were then also 10 short answer questions (answered with a word or phrase)

Question 7

Procedure

Answer 7

Experiment described as a voluntary class study
Told to read article once as if for a class and that they could underline and highlight if they needed as they would be tested on recall
All ppts wore headphones as they read
Those in the noisy study condition told to ignore background noise
Reading times were recorded by experimenters
Two minute break before test
Ppts informed of the condition they’d be studying in (noisy/silent)
Entire procedure took around 30 minutes

Question 8

Results

Answer 8

Silent study/silent test had the best results - mean score 21/26
Noisy study /noisy test - 20.5/26
Silent study/noisy test - 17.3/26
Noisy study/silent test - 18.1/26
Silent study/ noisy test had the worst results

Question 9

Conclusions

Answer 9

Studying and testing in the same environment enhances performance
There are context dependency effects for for newly learned meaningful material regardless of whether a short answer or multiple choice test is used to assess learning

Question 10

Strengths

Answer 10

Standardised procedure - construct validity
Useful application
Ethical

Question 11

Weaknesses

Answer 11

Arguably ethnocentric - only USA (but cognitive processes are universal)
Low ecological validity as real students have more time to study