memory - studies - bartlet (1932) war of the ghosts.

Question 1

aims

Answer 1

• To investigate whether the memory of a story is affected by previous knowledge.
• To find out if cultural background & unfamiliarity with a story would lead to distortion of memory when it was recalled.
• To test if memory is reconstructive & whether people store and retrieve information per expectations formed by cultural schemas.

Question 2

sample

Answer 2

• 20 British participants (7 women, 13 men).
• not told the aim of the study; they believed they were being tested on the accuracy of recall.
  single-blind technique used.
• students & colleagues from cambridge uni

Question 3

procedure

Answer 3

• bartlett used serial reproduction to test recall of the study
• participants asked to read story twice then retell to another participant 15-30 minutes later.
• used repeated reproduction
• same participants asked to write out story after 15 mins, asked to recall story several minutes, hours, days,months, years later.
• story used was a Native American story called ’The War of the Ghosts’

Question 4

define serial reproduction

Answer 4

a technique where participants retell something to another participant to form a chain;
this is how folk stories are passed down through cultures.

Question 5

define repeated reproduction

Answer 5

a technique where participants are asked to recall something again & again.

Question 6

results

Answer 6

• qualitative analysis used for looking & interpreting changes to stories recalled
• repeated reproductions followed similar form; theme or outline of first reproduction tended to remain in later reproduction
• rationalization; participants tried making sense of odd story by giving it meaning; additions or changes = making connections, or giving reasons for events.
• omissions; leaving out unfamiliar/unpleasant parts of story.
• canoe become boat. hunting became fishing.

Question 7

conclusions

Answer 7

• interpreted results as evidence for active & construction nature of memory.
• participants didn’t recall story fully/accurately
• omitted details that didn’t fit w/ their schema & some details altered by influence of their schema.

Question 8

strengths

Answer 8

Reliability → Barlett repeated procedure w/ diff stories, got same results.
High mundane realism → Remembering stories is a realistic use of memory.
Qualitative data collected → Data rich in detail, high validity.

Question 9

weaknesses

Answer 9

Subjective findings → Gave his own interpretation of the stories produced by participants; may lead to bias findings.
Standardized procedures not used → Participants allowed to read story at own pace - low reliability. Not considered scientific.
Validity: The story was not familiar, illogical and contained strange words which could be a reason why participants were unable to remember it. Therefore, participants could have changed their answers because the task was difficult but not because they couldn’t remember. therefore this was not an accurate test of memory.

Question 10

define subjective

Answer 10

based on personal opinions or feelings