Moray 1959 experiment 3

Question 1

what was the research method?

Answer 1

lab experiment

Question 2

what was the sample?

Answer 2

two groups of 14 p’s (28 p’s) of undergraduate students and research workers of both sexes

Question 3

what was the task?

Answer 3

1. p’s were asked to shadow one of the two simultaneous dichotic messages
2. in some of the messages, digits were said in the messages towards the end of the messages
3. sometimes numbers were in both messages, sometimes in only the shadowed message and sometimes only in the rejected message
4. control passages were also included

Question 4

what measures design was used?

Answer 4

independent measures design

Question 5

what was the IV?

Answer 5

group one were told they would be asked questions about the shadowed message and the other group were specifically told to remember as many of the digits as possible

Question 6

what was the DV?

Answer 6

the mean number of digits remembered

Question 7

what was the results?

Answer 7

there was no significant difference between the number of digits recalled by either group. this suggests that neutral material doesn’t become important enough to break through the cognitive barrier even when expectation was increased

Question 8

what did Moray conclude

Answer 8

although important messages such as your name can break the block, it is very difficult but not impossible to make neutral material important enough to break the block