Internal Assessment Psychology SL An experiment to investigate how the depth of processing information affects memory recall
Yu Jin Henson
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Contents Page Abstract p. 3 Introduction p. 4 ethod p. ! "esign p. ! Participants p. ! aterials p. ! Procedure p. # $esults p. % "iscussion p. & $eferences p. & Appendices p. '(
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Abstract
)he aim of this experiment was to investigate how the depth of processing information affects memory recall. )his investigation was a replication based on *rai+ and )ulving. )hree different ,uestions- each testing different level of processing were used as the impendent variable and the number of words the participants recalled as the dependent variable. )he result supported that words that ac,uires deeper lev el of processing becomes stronger more durable.
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Introduction
Prior to the level of processing theory- psychologists At+inson and Shiffrin'&#/0 introduced the multi store model demonstrated memory involving three different stores-sensory memory store, the short1term memoryS)0 and the long1term memoryL)0. )hey indicated that purposes of these static stores are to hold information flows though step by step through control process. eaning- information must be identified through a sensory organ and stored in sensory memory in order to transfer to the S) trough the control process of attention2 S) has ability to % 1 5 items for a limited time.it is by the control process of rehearsal the information enters and become L). *rai+ and Loc+hart '&%50 introduced a level of processing theory as an alternative to the multi1 store model. )hey disagreed with the theory that S) and L) were different. )hey proposed that memory is 6ust a by1product of the depth of processing of information- and there is no clear distinction between short term memory and long term memory. )herefore the memory is enhanced more by depth of processing than by how long information is rehearsal. )o investigate how deep and shallow processing affects recall- *rai+ and )ulving '&%!0 created an experiment. )he participants were presented with a series of words about which they had to answer one of three ,uestions. )he ,uestions re,uired different depth of processing to the participants- i.e. structural visual ,uestion ac,uired shallow processing2 phonetic auditory ,uestion ac,uired intermediate processing2 semantic ,uestion ac,uired deep processing. )he result of experiment indicated that participant had better chance of remembering words that involved processing. )hey concluded that memory last longer when it is fully analy7ed and dose not endure as long when it is only processed information of its structure- i.e. structure- letter. )hus they concluded that memory was enhanced more by depth of processing than by how long information was rehearsed. 8ven though the level of processing method has widen the focus of the direction of memory research from L) as a simple storage unit- there are number of criticism. Psycologist argues that the though the theory only describes rather than explains. A 9ritish psychologist- :ans 8ysenc+ argued that *rai+ and Loc+hart;s theory did not accomplish to explain the reason that causes deep processing effective. :owever- recent studies have clarified this point < it appears that deeper coding produces better retention because it is more elaborate.
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Method
Design
)he design of this experiment was a laboratory experiment which allows a total control over the independent variable- and ability to change all the other variables. )he independent sub6ect was used to avoid any order effects. )hree different ,uestions- that re,uired different depth of level of processing was as+ed was the independent variable- i.e. =Is this word in all capital>=-="oes this word rhyme with the following word>= or ?does this wor+ ma+es sense in the sentence>=. )o avoid the demand characteristic participants were only simply answerer the ,uestion. )hey were to recall the words unexpectedly once all the words were presented. )he percentages of the words recogni7ed in the different types of ,uestions were the dependent variable "@0. )o address the ethical issues- all participants; guardians were to sign the consent form which indicated that they understand this simple experiment will not cause any mental of physical harm to the participant and the results will remain confidential. Also- during the briefing the participants were informed that they have right to with drawl at any point if they felt any discomfort during the experiment. After the results were collected they were also debriefed.
Participant
)o be able to have ,uic+- convenient and most economical method of sampling- I chose the target population used opportunity sampling method. )he participant selected for the study was the Sophomores Pre I9 8nglish students in $utherford :igh school. )here were no psychology students participating to be sure that no one was familiar with the experiment being replicated. ut of 53 randomly chosen students all 53 agree to participate BC530. All of the participants were to answer the ,uestions at the same time.
Apparatus/Materials
Pro6ector icrosoft word slidesAppendix 40 Duestion Sheet Appendix '0 *onsent Eorm 9riefing Bote Appendix 50 "ebriefing Bote Appendix 30 Stopwatch
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Procedures
9efore the experiment too+ place- all participant were to sign a consent form signed by their guardians indicating they have an understanding of the ethical issues discussed- such as withdrawal from an investigation- protection of participants- and confidentiality. )hese issues were readdressed during the briefing. )hey were also told to remain silent during the experiment. )he study was done in a classroom which provided a pro6ector for the word slide. A word was presented on the screen for 4 seconds during the participants received a verbal true or false ,uestion. 5% words were presented one by one in total. nce the slide ended the students were to write down all the word they could possibly recall on the bac+ of their paper. nce the data was collected- participants were debriefed about the experiment.
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Result
)he raw data collected was separated based on the ,uestion as+ed. Bumber of words recalled in ,uestion type A varied ( to 5- ( to 4 in ,uestion type 9- ' to ! in ,uestion type *.
Sum
edian
ean
Duestion type AStructural0
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Standard "eviation .&#%
Duestion type 9Phonetic0
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5
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Duestion type ASynthetic0
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Discussion )he result of the experiment is e,uivalent to the finding of *rai+ and )ulvings result. )he data collected indicated that the participants remembered more words ,uestion had been deeply processed than others. )he participants recalled average of 1 words that were processed through structure processing- 1 through phonemic processing-1semantic processing. )his indicates that the depth of processing information can affect the memory recall. )hus memory can enhance through by processing the information deeply rather than by a long rehearsal of the information. 9ecause the experiment is designed as a laboratory experiment its biggest strength was the ability to have total control over any variable to establish cause1and1effect relationship. :owever because this experiment was held in an artificial environment in which that only word recall is tasted- it lac+s a degree of ecological validity. Also- the convenience sample means resulted in bias since it does not represent the whole population. In addition a student disturbed the study b y as+ing a ,uestion which added unwanted seconds during a ,uestion. )o eliminate these wea+nesses- a more representative sample could be used rather than only a Sophomore PreI9 8nglish student. Also to avoid a disturbance to the entire participant during the experiment- participant can be tested one on one.
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Reerence
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Appendices
Appendix ' *onsent Eorm signed by participants; guardians0 Appendix 5 Script9riefing Bote :i my name is Fu1Gin :enson and today I will be doing a minor memory experiment for my I9 Psychology Internal Assessment today. Eirst- any students who have not returned their consent form please exit the class room during this experiment. )he experiment will only last maximum of '( minutes. )his simple experiment will not cause you any physical or emotional harm. :owever if you start to feel uncomfortable you may withdrawal any time during the experiment. I need all participating students to clear their des+ and ta+e out a writing utensil. 8ither pen or pencils are fine- whatever you prefer. :and out a blan+ sheet of paper to the student0 Please " B) write you;re name on this piece of paper that I;ve handed out. )he result will remain confidential. Bow number one to twenty1five on your paper. I am going to show you a word on the screen which will be followed by a simple verbal ,uestion. )here will be total of twenty1 seven words. Hrite ) if it is true- E if the answer to the ,uestion in false. Present '#; on the screen0 Eor example- if I as+ you a ,uestion Is this number '#>; Fou should write ) on your paper. Are there any ,uestions> It is very important for all of you to remain silent throughout the experiment. Let;s begin. Appendix 3 "ebriefing note ?)he aim of this study was to investigate whether you could remember certain words better than other due to the type of the ,uestion n when the verb used changed between ?contact= and ?smash=. Fou all provided us with useful results and we appreciate your participation. Fou are naturally welcome to read our report when it is finished. "o you have any ,uestions>= J
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Appendix 4 icrosoft word slides
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Appendix! Duestions ne of the following types of ,uestions will appear on screen. A. StructuralK Is this word in all capitals> 9. "oes this word rhyme with MMMM> Phonetic K *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence below> Synthetic K A.Is this word in all capitals '.LAP A. Is this word in all capitals 5.table 9. "oes this word rhyme with f able 3.cloc+ 9. "oes this word rhyme with soc+ 4.drill *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence> )he rich MMMM ate well. !.+nife *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence> Pi77a MMMM delivery fast. #.hair 9. "oes this word rhyme with steer %.tan+ 9. "oes this word rhyme with sun+ /.ca+e *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence> Bo MMMMM threw down. &.nail 9. "oes this word rhyme with f ail '(.*A$" A.Is this word in all capitals ''.case 9. "oes this word rhyme with f ace '5."I*8 A.Is this word in all capitals '3.ball 9. "oes this word rhyme with f lew '4."$N A.Is this word in all capitals '!.money *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence> )a+e the MMMMM and run. '#.loc+ A.Is this word in all capitals '%.slave *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence> )he MMMMM wor+ed in the field. '/.door 9. "oes this word rhyme with more '&.shoe
5(.bra+e *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence> Bext to the accelerator is the MMMMMMM. 5'.robe A.Is this word in all capitals 55.)AP8 A.Is this word in all capitals
53.phone *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence> Oet off the MMMMMM 54.soup 9. "oes this word rhyme with mope> 5!.trout *. "oes this word ma+e sense in the sentence> Hhen in MMMMM- give up 5#.boo+ A.Is this word in all capitals 5%.witch *. )he evil MMMM turned the pro6ect into dust.
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Appendix # $aw data
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