Scientific Poster Flashcards
Was the hypothesis supported?
- write hypothesis
- supported
- sleep deprived mean score of 8.7/15
not sleep deprived mean score of 9.3/15
Why did results occur? Link to background information.
- bidirectional relationship between sleep and mental wellbeing
- not sleep deprived = better performing
- example: affect on cognition -> impaired short-term memory
Difference between systematic and random errors? Possibility of each being present in the method?
systematic errors - cause values to differ from the true value and is the same error every time ie. were not told that the words did not need to be memorised in order. By not disclosing this information at the start in the standardised instructions, the results in terms of their score out of 15 would have been impacted.
random errors - affect the precision of a measurement by creating unpredictable variations in the measurement process (different error every time) ie. students were not given a set amount of time they could take to record the words they could remember. As a result the students may receive a higher score, impacting the validity of the experiment.
Discuss uncertainty with how the DV was measured. Was it truly measured?
uncertainty in data - refers to a lack of exact knowledge of the value being measured
DV: short-term memory measured via memory test
Not truly measured: other factors such as stress affecting concentration, impact scores
Benefits and limitations of convenience sampling
+ does not take long ie. students were selected based on their availability and were chosen because they were in the same year level
- sample unlikely to represent the population, results can’t be generalised ie. sample: 3M, 3F aged 16-21
pop: students in school
Benefits and limitations of between subjects design compared to a within subjects design
+ efficient as the students do not have to take part in both conditions
- individual participant differences such as the students individual short-term memory retention, may affect the results. This is a limitation as compared to a within subjects design, almost all participant related variables are eliminated.
With reference to repeatability, how will repeating the experiment influence the accuracy of results?
repeatability - the same results to be achieved in identical conditioned
repeating ensures that the results of the study are accurate in which trends will be displayed each time repeated.
accuracy - refers to how close a measurement is to the true value
The more it is repeated, the more accurate the data collected will be.
With reference to reproducibility, how will reproducing the experiment influence the accuracy of the data? Include how you would reproduce your experiment.
reproducibility - getting the same results when the experiment is repeated in different conditions
accuracy refers to how close the measurement is to the true value
It can be used as a method to ensure accuracy and control participant related variables.
ie. repeating the experiment using different participants, age ranges, hours of sleep, word lists may improve accuracy of results
With reference to two aspects of your design (between subjects design) that may have reduced the internal validity of your experiment, suggest two improvements to the study.
internal validity refers to whether the IV caused the DV
- the amount of time each participant slept (sleep deprivation had a large range of less than 6 hours) if participants slept for only 1 hour compared to a student who slept for 6 hours this would have a big impact on the results -> same amount of time asleep
- the student’s cognitive processes, for some students it may take them more time to read particular words or they may not know what some of the words are. To improve the experiment, change the word list.
Evidence-based conclusion
The hypothesis that students who are sleep deprived will have worse short term memory than students who were not sleep deprived was supported. The results display that those who are sleep deprived (less than 6 hours) performed worse with a mean score of 8.7/15 than those who were not sleep deprived (more than 6 hours) with a mean score of 9.3/15. Therefore, sleep deprivation proved to negatively impact short-term memory.
With reference to external validity, discuss whether your results can be generalised. Suggest improvements
external validity refers to whether the results can be generalised to other settings or other people over time
this is due to the small sample size of 6 students and limited age range of 16-21. To improve the external validity, the sample size can be larger to include a more diverse age of people in which the results can be generalised to many people not just students.
Identify potential implications of your findings and give advice to your population about sleep deprivation and your dependent variable.
As seen through the results of the experiment, the amount of sleep an individual gets directly impacts their short-term memory. Those who are more sleep deprived are likely to perform worse when using their cognitive skills such as on a memory test, more so than those who are not sleep deprived. Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that the general public should aim to get their required amount of sleep (more than 6 hours) each night as to not negatively affect their short-term memory performance.
