Morays Flashcards
Background
Colin Cherry created a dichotic listening task (2 messages play at once - one in each ear) and asked participants to shadow a message. He found that participants failed to notice details of the unattended message (even if language changed or message reversed)
Overall Aim
To replicate Cherry’s findings and provide evidence for the cocktail party effect in a more rigorous scientific way.
Apparatus used
A modified Brennell Mark IV tape recorder that allowed for a pair of headphones to play different outputs to each ear.
Experiment 1 sample
Undergraduate students and research workers of both genders at Oxford University
Experiment 1 procedure
Participants had to shadow a passage of prose that they could hear in one ear (attended message)
In the other ear (unattended message) was a list of simple words that was repeated 35 times (rejected message)
At the end of the task participants were given a recognition task of 21 words (7 from shadowed, 7 from rejected, 7 from neither)
Participants had to identify words from the rejected passage.
Experiment 1 Results
Word list (1) Mean number of recognised words (2)
(1) 7 words from shadowed passage, 4.9 recognised
(1) 7 words from rejected passage, 1.9 recognised
(1) 7 similar words in neither passage, 2.6 recognised
Experiment 1 Conclusions
Participants were much more able to recognise words from shadowed passage. Almost none of the words from the rejected message were able to break the innattentioanl barrier.
Experiment 2 Aim
To see if affective instructions (e.g. using names) will be strong enough to break the attentional barrier
Experiment 2 Sample
12 research workers/undergrads from Oxford uni
Experiment 2 IV
Whether an instruction in the rejected message was preceded by the participants name or not
Experiment 2 DV
Whether participants were more likely to hear an instruction in a message they’re not paying attention to if it is preceded by their name. This was operationalised by whether they reported hearing the instruction or whether they actually followed the instruction.
Experiment 2 Procedure
Participants were given a dichotic listening task. Two passages of light fiction were heard, one in each ear
Both passages that the participants heard contained and instruction at the start and then another instruction within them.
All passages were read in a steady monotone pace of 130 words per minute by a single male voice.
Participants shadowed 10 passages of light fiction (all in the same order with a repeated measures design).
They were told to try to make as few mistakes as possible when shadowing the passages.
Which passages had the affective and non affective instructions in experiment 2?
Passages with affective instructions: 3,7 and 10
Passages with non-affective instructions: 1,5 and 8
Experiment 2 Results
No. times affective instructions presented - 39
No. times non-affective instructions presented - 36
No. times affective instructions were heard - 20
No. times non-affective instructions were heard - 4
Experiment 2 Conclusions
People were far more likely to hear instructions that were affective (used name) than non-affective (didn’t use name)
Experiment 3 Aim
To see if instructions given at the start (to listen to and remember digits) would make a difference and penetrate the block of the attentional message.
Sample in experiment 3
28 participants 14 in each condition (independent measures design)
Experiment 3 IV
If the group was asked to specifically remember the digits or just told they would be asked questions at the end of each message
Experiment 3 DV
The number of digits correctly recalled
Experiment 3 Procedure
2 groups of 14 participants given a dichotic listening task where they had to shadow 1 of the messages. Digits were stated at the end of the message (digits used as they’re non affective). 1 group of the participants were told they would be asked questions about the shadowed message (group 1) while the other group was told to listen out for digits to remember (group 2)
Experiment 3 Results
No significant difference in number of digits recalled between group 1 (told they would be asked questions only end of passage) and group 2 (told to listen for digits to remember)
Experiment 3 Conclusion
Non affective information like digits cannot be made important enough to break the inattention barrier
