Murdock's serial position curve study

Question 1

What was the aim of Murdock’s serial position curve study?

Answer 1

To provide evidence for the existence of separate stores of memory which include long term memory and short term memory

Question 2

What was the study design of Murdock’s study?

Answer 2

Carried out in a lab which was a controlled environment. All the procedures were standardized

Question 3

Describe the method of Murdock’s study?

Answer 3

The method consisted of 16 pps who were presented with 20 words at the rate of 1 word per second. After hearing all 20 words they were asked to give a free recall in which they were given 90 seconds to do this. The test was repeated with the same pps with a list of different words each time.

Question 4

What were Murdock’s results?

Answer 4

Murdock’s results found that the words at the end were recalled first. The words at the start were recalled quite well but the words in the middle were recalled inaccurately.

Question 5

What was Murdock’s conclusion?

Answer 5

Murdock concluded that the last few words were still in the STM and were ready to be recalled. The words at the start were remembered because they were rehearsed. The words in the middle were not recalled as they weren’t rehearsed or recently recalled

Question 6

Give one strength of Murdock’s study

Answer 6

One strength of the research into the LTM and STM is that it is a lab experiment which means it has high control over extraneous variables such as the familiarity of words. This increases the validity of the study into LTM and STM.

Question 7

Give one weakness of Murdock’s study

Answer 7

One weakness of Murdock’s study is that the research has low ecological validity. This is because the research took place in a controlled and artificial environment which means the pps may not have displayed their natural behaviour. This decreases the validity of Murdock’s study into the STM and LTM