Steyvers and Hemmer

Question 1

What was the aim of Steyvers and Hemmer?

Answer 1

To investigate the interaction between episodic and prior knowledge (Semantic) in naturalistic environments

Question 2

Describe the sample for the prior expectations section of Steyvers and Hemmer

Answer 2

Random sample
22 ppts
From an experimental participant pool and the University of California, Irvine.

Question 3

Describe the procedure of the prior expectations section of Steyvers and Hemmer

Answer 3

• Ppts were asked to list things they would expect to see in 5 scenes: office, kitchen, hotel, dining scene and an urban scene.
• They had at least 1 min for each scene
• They had to enter them onto a computer

Question 4

Describe the procedure of the perception section of Steyvers and Hemmer

Answer 4

• A separate group of 22 ppts were shown 25 images of the 5 scenes.
• They had to name all the objects they could see in the scenes.

Question 5

Describe the sample of the experimental memory condition section of Steyvers and Hemmer

Answer 5

49 more ppts were randomly selected from the same experimental participant pool at the University of California. They had not participated before.

Question 6

Describe the procedure of the experimental memory condition section of Steyvers and Hemmer

Answer 6

• 2 sets of 5 were created (1 image of each scene in each set)
• Ppts were only shown 1 set to avoid carry-over effects
• Ppts were shown the images for either 2 or 10 seconds
• Ppts were asked to carry out a free recall of objects they remembered from each scene in their own time.
• Responses were normalised to remove plurals or additional info (eg colour, size)

Question 7

What were the results of Steyvers and Hemmer?

Answer 7

• Incorrect recall of highly probable objects was only 9%
• 91% of ppts correctly recalled the high probability objects
• Incorrect recall of low probability items was 18%
• Overall, when presented with naturalistic scenes memory was quite accurate (always above 80%)
• Actual recall was much higher suggesting episodic memory played a significant role in recall.

Question 8

What was the conclusion of Steyvers and Hemmer?

Answer 8

In recall of naturalistic scenes, prior knowledge (semantic) can contribute to accurate recall in episodic memory tasks.

Prior research tends to be unrepresentative of everyday recall.

A more ecologically valid approach benefits recall.

Question 9

Evaluate the generalisability of Steyvers and Hemmer

Answer 9

Strengths:
Large sample size
Random sample method

Weaknesses:
Ethnocentric
Sample bias - all students

Question 10

Evaluate the reliability of Steyvers and Hemmer

Answer 10

Strengths:
Standardised procedure
Controls

Question 11

Evaluate the validity of Steyvers and Hemmer

Answer 11

Strengths:
Task validity - naturalistic scenes

Weaknesses:
Ecological Validity - lab