Grant et al - Cognitive area Flashcards
Summarise briefly what Godden and Baddeley’s study was about (5) and what happened (2)
BACKGROUND
- Participants were required to recall information
- Divers listened to 40 unrelated words on the beach or under 10 ft of water
- They were tested to see how many words they remembered
- Matching conditions - remembered far more words
- Mismatching condition - less words remembered
What does Godden and Baddeley’s research suggest?
BACKGROUND
Suggests that characteristics of the environment are encoded as part of the memory trace and can be used to enhance retrieval of the other information in the trace.
What does context-dependent memory mean
THEORIES
Context-dependent memory refers to improved recall of specific episodes or information when the context present at encoding and retrieval are the same.
What was the aim of Grant et al’s study
AIM
Grant et al aimed to show that environmental context can have a more positive effect on performance in a meaninful memory test when the test takes place in the same environment in which the to-be-remembered material was originally studied (matching condition) than when the test occurs in a different environment (matching condition)
What was the experimental method?
RESEARCH METHOD
Laboratory experiment
What was the experimental design?
RESEARCH METHOD
Independent measures design
What was the first IV? (2)
- Whether participants read the two page article under silent or noisy conditions
- study context (silent vs noisy)
What was the second IV? (3)
- Whether the participants were tested under matching or mismatching conditions
- test context (silent v noisy)
- manipulated in a between-subjects factorial design, producing 4 conditions
How many members from a Psychology class served as experimenters?
SAMPLE
8 members
How many participants did each experimenter recruit?
SAMPLE
5 acquaintances
How many participants were in the study? (3)
SAMPLE
- Originally 40
- 1 removed due to poor results (anomaly)
- 39 participants remained
Age range?
SAMPLE
17 to 56
Gender? (2)
SAMPLE
- 17 females
- 23 males
What sampling technique was used?
Opportunity sampling
How were participants ordered into conditions? (3)
PROCEDURE
- Each experimenter ran one participant for each of the 4 conditions
- One additional participant for one of the conditions - assigned by the instructor
- Experimenters randomly assigned their participants to their 5 conditions
What did the experimenter provide for the participants?
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
Cassette players and headphones
How many cassette players were there?
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
- 8
- Exact copies made from a master tape of background noise recorded during lunchtime in a uni cafe
What did the background noise contain? (3)
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
- Consisted of occasional distinct words/phrases embedded within a general conversational hum
- Intermixed with the sounds produced by movement of chairs and dishes
- Moderate loud level
What was the selected study material? (2)
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
- A two page, three-columned article of psychoimmunology
- Hales, 1984
How many marks were the multiple-choice questions out of?
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
- 16 marks
- 16 multiple-choice questions
How many marks were the short answer questions out of?
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
- 10 marks
- 10 short answer questions
Why was the short-answer test always administered first?
MATERIALS AND APPARATUS
Ensure that recall of information from the article was being tested and not recalled from the Multiple choice questions
What was read out aloud? (3)
PROCEDURE
- Standardised instructions
- They described the experiment as a class project
- They said participation was voluntary
What were participants asked to do with the article? (2)
PROCEDURE
- Asked to read the given article once, as if it were for a class assignment
- Allowed to highlight and underline as they read
Were participants informed about what the comprehension would be used for? (2)
PROCEDURE
- Yes
- Participants were told they would be tested with both a multiple choice test and the short answer test
Why did all participants wear the headphones? (3)
PROCEDURE
- Standardisation
- Controlled methodology
- To make sure the headphones didn’t affect the results
What were participants in the silent condition told about the head phones vs the noisy condition (2)
PROCEDURE
- SILENT - told they would not hear anything over the headphones
- NOISY - told they would hear moderately loud background noise but that they should ignore it
How long was the break the participants were given? (3) When was it? why was it used?
PROCEDURE
- 2 minute break
- between the end of the study phase and the beginning of the test phase
- incorporated to minimise recall from short-term memory
In what order were the tests given? + why? (4)
PROCEDURE
- Short answer test first
- Multiple choice questions last
- prevents recall from MCQ
- ensured information from the comprehension was being tested
What happened at the end of the testing phase?
PROCEDURE
Participants were debriefed
How long did the procedure last?
PROCEDURE
- 30 mins
Give two results from the short answer test
- matching condition (SS) = 6.7/10 (MEAN)
- mismatching condition (SN) = 5.4/10
Give two results from the multiple choice questions
- Matching condition (NN) = 14.3/16 (MEAN)
- Mismatching condition (NS) = 12.7/16 (MEAN)
What was reading time in the analysis of test performance? (2)
RESULTS
- a co-variable
- P’s in all groups spent roughly the same time studying the material
What is a co-variable?
RESULTS
Variables investigated in a correlation
Did noise have an effect on performance?
RESULTS
There was no overall effect of noise on performance
Are there context-dependency effects for new material? (2)
CONCLUSIONS
- Yes
- There are context-dependency effects for newly learned meaningful material regardless of whether a short-answer test or a multiple-choice test is used to assess learning
Does studying in the same environment have an effect? (2)
CONCLUSIONS
- Yes
- Studying and testing in the same environment leads to enhanced performance
How can students perform better in exams? (2)
CONCLUSIONS
- Students can perform better in exams if they study for them with a minimum of background noise
- Because, although there was no overall effect of noise on performance, the fact that there was no evidence for context-dependency suggests they are better off studying without background noise as it will not be present during the actual testing
