Personal Investigation 1

Question 1

Title

Answer 1

An experiment on a context dependent memory task

Question 2

IV

Answer 2

Participants encoding with traffic noise compared to those encoding in silence

Question 3

DV

Answer 3

Recall of words from a list of 20

Question 4

Confounding variables

Answer 4

Distance from word list
Participant variables= noise sensitivity
Intelligence
Content of word list

Question 5

Alternative hypothesis

Answer 5

There will be an increase in the recall of words for a list of 20 when participants are encoding with traffic noise compared to those encoding in silence

Question 6

Null hypothesis

Answer 6

There will be no change in the recall of words from a list of 20 when participants are encoding with traffic noise compared to those encoding in silence any changes will be due to chance

Question 7

Methodology

Answer 7

Lab experiment as we are using an artificial task (not everyday task)
Giving us highest level of control over extraneous variables
Makes it standardised so replicable

Question 8

Experimental design

Answer 8

Independent groups
No order effects
Less chance of demand characteristics
Cost and time effective

Question 9

Sampling

Answer 9

Target-sixth form students
Frame- sixth form students at notre dame
Opportunity sampling-easier to administer in comparison to other techniques

Question 10

Ethics

Answer 10

Privacy- no foreseeable issues
Confidentiality-unique code instead of names used
Deception-minor deception cleared up in debrief
Right to withdraw-told can at any time
Informed consent-gain consent as over 16
Protection from harm-stress, humiliation, anxiety

Question 11

Reliability

Answer 11

Internal-standardised procedures (same noise level/environment/word list)
External-re-test method

Question 12

Validity

Answer 12

Demand characteristics- could guess study decrease by using independent groups
Researcher bias- in same room as P’s decrease by us in g minimum interaction

Question 13

Descriptive statistics

Answer 13

Mean used
Bar chart used

Question 14

Inferential statistics

Answer 14

Mann Whitney U test
The observed value is greater than the critical value so the results are non significant because for this test, the observed value has to be less than the critical value (one tailed test, p<0.05)
Accept null reject alternative

Question 15

Conclusion

Answer 15

The effect of context on recall performance doesn’t depend on auditory conditions

Question 16

Ways to improve

Answer 16

Participants didn’t follow instructions so could test participants individually
Procedures not strict could have done a pilot study first