Contemporary Study: Sebastian & Hernandez-Gil (2012) Flashcards
(17 cards)
Define ‘digit span’.
How many numbers we can hold in the STM (phonological loops) at any one time.
What were the aims of this study?
- To investigate the development of the phonological loop and digit span
- To investigate whether digit span declines in older people
- To investigate whether language affects digit span
Who were used in the sample in ‘Part 1’ of the study?
- 570 volunteers
- 5-17 years old
- Spanish
- Primary data
Who were used in the sample in ‘Part 2’ of the study?
- 25 healthy older ppts
- 25 Alzheimer’s patients
- 9 Frontotemporal dementia
- Secondary data
What type of method was used?
Lab
Briefly describe the procedure of of this contemporary study.
- Primary data of 570 Spanish volunteers aged 5-17 were used
- A list of digits were read aloud, one per second with each of the 3 lists starting with 3 digits
- Each time the ppts recalled the list in order, one more digit was added
- The most number of digits recalled accurately indicated the digit span
- This data was then compared with secondary data of the digit spans of 25 healthy people and 25 Alzheimer’s patients
What was the IV and DV?
IV = The addition of a digit every time they recalled the order correctly
DV = How many digits were recalled in the correct order
What were the results of ‘Part 1’ this study?
Age 5 = 3.7
Age 17 = 5.9
The significant increase of 4.6 between 5 and 8 suggests that subvocal recall develops at 7
What were the results of ‘Part 2’ this study?
- Alzheimer’s had a digit span of 4.2
- Healthy ppts had a digit span of 4.4
- Alzheimer’s patients performed significantly better than 5 year olds however didn’t differ significantly from other age groups
Describe the conclusion of this experiment.
- Digit span increases with age, until aged 15
- Subvocal recall develops at age 7
- The adult span is about 7
- Digit span is affected by age, not dementia
How does subvocal rehearsal impact the digit span of English people and Spanish people.
Due to the increased length of Spanish words, it takes longer to say the digit and so they are more likely to decay before English words as there is less to rehearse for them.
Due to subvocal rehearsal not developing until the age of 7, what does this mean for the results of English and Spanish children below age 7?
There should be less difference between the results under age 7 compared to above age 7 due to subvocal recall not being developed yet.
Evaluate the generalisablity using a high and low point.
A strength of this study is that there is high generalisability. A large sample of 570 from a range of schools across Spain was gathered, so the findings are representative of a wider Spanish population. However, there is also low generalisability as the secondary data of elderly/Alzheimer’s/dementia sample only involved 59, mostly female ppts. Therefore, results are gynocentric and so is harder to represent males, lowering generalisability as we can’t suggest that all Alzheimer’s patients will have a digit span of 4.2.
Evaluate the reliability using 2 high points
A strength of the study is that it has high reliability due to the standardised procedure. For example, all ppts heard the words read aloud and all sequences started with 3 digits and a digit was only added if they recalled it correctly. Therefore, this makes it easy to replicate and test for consistency in findings, increasing levels of reliability.
Are there any applications?
A strength of the study is that it has practical applications. For example, it helps us understand the development of children’s phonological loop such as the age of sub vocal rehearsal being at 7. Therefore, in education of children before the age of seven, we should break verbal tasks down into small steps so there is less reliance on STM, keep instructions short and reinforced by writing them down or restating them as the children are unable to replay instructions in their phonological loop.
Evaluate validity using a high and low point.
A weakness of this study is that there is low task validity. The task of recalling digits is not an everyday activity to do with memory. Findings therefore may not reflect memory in real life due to lacking mundane realism.
