Grant Et Al

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

Provide evidence to support the theory of context dependent memory, and show that the environmental context can have a more positive effect on performance when the two contexts are the same.

Question 2

Participants

Answer 2

Snowball sample- 8 members of psychology lab class each chose 5 additional people each to take part in study. 1 pp results were omitted = 39 pp. 17 female, 23 male. age range = 17-56.

Question 3

Research method and design and IV/DV

Answer 3

Lab experiment.
Independent Measures Design
IV- study context (silent/noisy)
IV - test context (silent/noisy)
DV- pp performance on short answer recall test and pp performance on 16 q multiple choice exam.

Question 4

Materials

Answer 4

1) cassette player and headphones- 8 cassettes = exact copies. noise = recording of cafeteria background noise. pp all wore headphones regardless of condition to reduce individual differences.
2) 2 page, 3 column article on psychoimmunology = study material for all pp.
3) 16 multiple choice question test, each consisting of a stem. 4 alternatives were generated. 10 short answer questions derived from MCQ stems. Short answer q always administered first so recall from article not MCQ was being tested.

Question 5

Procedure

Answer 5

1) pp asked to read article once as if they were reading for an assignment. allowed to highlight and underline.
2) informed comprehension would be tested.
3) all pp wore headphones and pp told they should ignore background noise.
4) researchers noted down reading times.
5) 2 min break given between studying and testing phase.
6) Short answer q given followed by MCQ.
7) pp were informed of their condition before hand.
8) procedure lasted 30 mins and at the end pp were debriefed concerning the purpose of the experiment.

Question 6

Findings

Answer 6

• mean score silent/silent MCQ = 14.3/16
• mean score silent/silent SAQ = 6.7/10
• mean score noisy/silent MCQ = 12.7/16
• mean score noisy/silent SAQ = 5.4/10

Question 7

Conclusions

Answer 7

1) studying and testing in the same environment leads to enhanced performance.
2) Students are likely to perform better in exams if they study for them with minimum background noise due to the impact of context dependent memory.

Question 8

Link to cognitive area

Answer 8

Cognitive area looks at internal mental processes such as memory, attention and perception are key to understanding human behaviour. This links to Grant’s study as he found that memory can be influenced by the context in which we study in, meaning interventions can be put into place to enhance memory of students.