Newcomer Flashcards
Year
1999
Aim
Investigate whether high levels of the stress hormone cortisol interfere with verbal declarative memory.
Sample
employees/students at Washington University Medical Center
Procedure
Matched for age/gender to 1/3 conditions:
1 tablet a day for 4 days
- 160mg (high) cortisol
- 40mg (low) cortisol
- placebo
Listen and recall a prose paragraph in 3 trials, new paragraph each time, same difficulty for everyone.
- before taking any (baseline) (ensure no sig. diff. between groups)
- 1 day after
- 4 days after
- 6 days after (ensure no longterm effects)
Results and conclusion
High - worst performance of verbal declarative memory, returned to normal after stopped taking.
No statistical difference between low and placebo.