key practical Flashcards
what was the experimental hypotheses
more acoustically dissimilar words will be recalled than acoustically similar sounding words
what was the null hypotheses
there will be no difference in the number of acoustically similar and dissimilar words recalled, any difference found will be due to chance
what was the independent variable
acoustically similar or dissimilar words
one group will be presented with 10 acoustically similar words and one with 10 acoustically dissimilar words
what was the dependant variable
total number of words recalled from the list in a memory test
what apparatus was used
standardised instructions = used to ensure method is reliable and participants all have the same experience
word lists = 10 accurately similar and dissimilar words
timer= so all participants have the same amount of time to make recall fair
what were the experimental controls
all participants were 16 years or over so could all give personal consent to take part
standardised instructions so all participants had same experience
word lists to ensure reliability and that no participants had an advantage over another. equal in familiarity and difficulty
each words takes up an equal mouth of short term capacity
controlled environment to ensure that there was no extra interference to affect the dependant variable
what was the target population
over 16
opportunity sampling as memory is being tested - we don’t need special attributes
what was the experimental design
independent measures to avoid demand characteristics and order effects
what were the problems
opportunity sampling meant we could have deliberately picked out people with demand characteristics - we could have used random sampling instead to combat this
some participants may have told the others about the study so they could have known what results to give. we could have asked and excluded anyone who had heard about the study
all participants were 16-18 so couldn’t generalise - could have asked family and friends as well
didn’t test for dyslexia which may have accounted for any differences, could have asked them to fill in a questionnaire
as it was in a lab we don’t know if the behaviour was natural or demand characteristics. could have used single or double blind techniques
