Cognitive practical: STM recall

Question 1

what was the aim of the cognitive practical?

Answer 1

to see if STM recall was based on acoustic similarity or dissimilarity

Question 2

state the null hypothesis

Answer 2

there will be no difference in the number of acoustically similar and dissimilar words, any difference found will be due to chance or other factors.

Question 3

what is the independent variable?

Answer 3

whether words presented are acoustically similar or dissimilar in sound.

Question 4

what is the dependant variable?

Answer 4

total number of accurately recalled words from original list in a memory recall test.

Question 5

what is the sampling method?

Answer 5

opportunity sampling

Question 6

what is the participant design?

Answer 6

independent measures - one group does acoustically similar, one group does acoustically dissimilar

Question 7

give 5 procedural points of your cognitive practical

Answer 7

• to prevent demand demand characteristics, pp told what they are going to do, but not why.
• words presented one at a time in 3 second intervals
• pp given pen and paper to recall words and given one minute to write down as many as possible
• pilot study conducted in a class to make sure there are no errors in my practical
• pp given right to withdraw and debriefed true aim and the end of the study

Question 8

what was the result of the practical?

Answer 8

highest number of words recalled when acoustically dissimilar

Question 9

what is the conclusion of your practical?

Answer 9

STM recalls acoustically dissimilar words better than acoustically similar words.

Question 10

what is the statistical test typically used for this practical?

Answer 10

man whitney U

Question 11

give 3 strengths of your practical

Answer 11

• high ecological validity because students carried out tests in classrooms
• well controlled procedures, all pp’s treated same with same list of words in sequential order at 3 sec intervals and given 1 min to recall so highly replicable
• ethical as pp’s reminded of their rights to withdraw, results were anonymised, and told test was not a measure of intelligence which reduced stress

Question 12

give 4 weaknesses of cognitive practical

Answer 12

• small sample of 20 pp so not generalisable
• only used sixth form students so not representative of other year groups
• not everyday normal task to write down and recall words from a list so lacks task validity
• pp’s asked to participate in study for STM; pp not aware of true aim of study so no informed consent

Question 13

how can generalisability be improved?

Answer 13

• take a larger sample size of 200
• carry out test on years 7-13 in a mix of private and public schools

Question 14

how can ethics be improved?

Answer 14

inform parents on the aims and procedures of study and gain informed consent. Remind pp’s they have a right to withdraw.