Grant et al (1998)

Question 1

Context - dependent memory:

Answer 1

Refers to improved recall of specific episodes or information when the context present at encoding and retrieval are the same

Question 2

Environmental context - dependancy:

Answer 2

Is where the characteristics of the environment are encoded as part of the memory trace and can be used to enhance retrieval of other information (AKA cue dependency)

Question 3

Psych immunology:

Answer 3

Is the study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune system of the human body

Question 4

Standardised procedures:

Answer 4

Ensuring that all procedures/methods/instructions are the same for every participant, so their performances are comparable

Question 5

Mundane realism:

Answer 5

Refers to how much a research study mirrors the everyday world

Question 6

Aim:

Answer 6

To test for the context-dependency effects caused by the presence or absence of noise during learning and retrieval of meaningful material

Question 7

Background:

Answer 7

• Godden and Baddeley conducted an experiment where divers were placed under water or on the beach and listened to a pre recorded list of 36 unrelated, two-and-three syllable words
• After listening to the list of words they were tested on their recall of the words either in the same environment they were tested in or in the alternative environment – sea/sea, land/land, sea/land, land/sea
• The results clearly showed that words learned underwater were best recalled underwater, and words learned on land were best recalled on land
  Matching conditions for encoding and recall is better than non-matching

Question 8

Background:

Answer 8

• Godden and Baddeley conducted an experiment where divers were placed under water or on the beach and listened to a pre recorded list of 36 unrelated, two-and-three syllable words
• After listening to the list of words they were tested on their recall of the words either in the same environment they were tested in or in the alternative environment – sea/sea, land/land, sea/land, land/sea
• The results clearly showed that words learned underwater were best recalled underwater, and words learned on land were best recalled on land
  Matching conditions for encoding and recall is better than non-matching

Question 9

Research method:

Answer 9

Laboratory experiment
Independent measures design

Question 10

IVs + DV:

Answer 10

Independent variables:
Read in silence, test in silence (matching)
Read in silence, test with background noise (mismatching)
Read with background noise, test with background noise (matching)
Read with background noise, test in silence (mismatching)

Dependent variable:
Number of correctly answered questions (10 short answer questions, 16 MCQs)

Question 11

Sample:

Answer 11

8 experimenters, each one recruited 5 pps
39 participants (1 participants results omitted due to because their performance was considerably different to others)
Age 17-56 years (mean 23.4 years), 17 female, 23 male

Question 12

Materials:

Answer 12

Experimenters’ own cassette player and headphones used

8 cassettes (copies from a master tape) – background noise recorded during lunchtime in a university café

Background noise consisted of occasional distinct words/phrases, general conversation hum, sound of movement of chairs and dishes
Tape played at a moderately loud level

A two page, three columned article on Psychoimmunology (is the study of the interaction between psychological processes and the nervous and immune systems of the human body – Hales 1984)

Question 13

Materials - the tests:

Answer 13

Both tests assessed comprehension (understanding) of new material not exact detail and the questions followed the order of the text
Short answer test 10 short answer questions derived from the multiple-choice stems which could lead to a single word/phrase answer

Multiple choice questions (MCQ). This included 16 questions containing a stem and four alternatives testing memory for points made in the text

Question 14

Procedure:

Answer 14

8 members of the psychology class were assigned the role of experimenter

Experimenters randomly assigned their participants to each condition (4 participants selected by experimenters and 1 assigned by the instructor)

Each experimenter ran their own group – all took place 1-2-1.

Instructions, describing the experiment as a class project and stating that participation was voluntary, were read aloud

Participants were asked to read the given article once, as if they were reading it for a class assignment. They were allowed to highlight and underline as they read

Participants were informed that their comprehension would be tested with both a short-answer test and a multiple-choice test

Question 15

Procedure:

Answer 15

All participants wore headphones while they read

Those in the silent condition were told they would not hear anything over the headphones whilst those in the noisy condition were told they would hear moderately loud background noise, but that they should ignore it

Reading times were recorded by the experimenters

A break of approximately 2 minutes between the end of the study phase and the beginning of the test phase was incorporated to minimise recall from short-term memory

The short-answer test was given, followed by the multiple-choice test. - Participants were tested in either silent or noisy conditions and were informed of the condition before testing. Regardless of testing

The entire procedure took approximately 30 minutes

Question 16

Controls:

Answer 16

All were read out the same standardized instructions
All listened to the same master tape (if in noisy condition)
All read the same article on psychoimmunology
All had the same 2 min break between reading the article and answering the questions
All completed the same 10 short answer questions followed by the 16 multiple choice questions

Question 16

Controls:

Answer 16

All were read out the same standardized instructions
All listened to the same master tape (if in noisy condition)
All read the same article on psychoimmunology
All had the same 2 min break between reading the article and answering the questions
All completed the same 10 short answer questions followed by the 16 multiple choice questions

Question 17

Simplified results – short answer questions:

Answer 17

STUDYING T E S T I N G
. silent- noisy-
silent- 6.7 4.6
noisy- 5.2 6.4

Question 18

Simplified results – multiple choice questions:

Answer 18

STUDYING T E S T I N G
. silent- noisy-
silent- 14.3 12.7
noisy- 12.7 14.3

Question 19

Results:

Answer 19

There were individual differences in reading time, but no consistent differences between noisy and silent study conditions or test (retrieval) conditions

However, there was an interaction between study and test conditions. For both the short answer and multiple-choice tests, performance was significantly better in matching conditions than in non-matching conditions

This suggests that recall is better when studying and testing are performed in similar environments in terms of the noisiness of the surroundings

Question 20

Conclusions:

Answer 20

Study and testing in the same environment leads to enhanced performance

As there was no independent effect of noise on performance, the claim made by many students that noise does not affect their capacity to study is supported

However, as context dependence affects retrieval in both SAQ and MCQ tests students should study in quiet surroundings, as exams are typically held in silence