sebastian and hernandez gill

Question 1

what is digit span?

Answer 1

the amount of numbers we can hold in our STM at once

Question 2

what are the three aims of sebastian and hernandez gills study?

Answer 2

• to investigate the development of the phonological loop and digit span
• to investigate how age effects digit span
• to investigate if language effects digit span

Question 3

what were sebastian and hernandez gills sample?

Answer 3

• 570 5-17 year old volunteers from a school in madrid
• 25 healthy elderly participants
• 25 participants with alzheimers
• 9 participants with dementia

Question 4

what was sebastian and hernandez gills procedure?

Answer 4

• a list of digits were read aloud, one per second
• it started with three digits
• when digits were recalled correctly, an extra digit was added
• most digits recalled accurately indicated digit span

Question 5

what was the average digit span for a 5 year old child in madrid?

Answer 5

3.7

Question 6

what was the average digit span for a 17 year old child in madrid?

Answer 6

5.9

Question 7

why was it significant that digit span increased to 4.6 between the ages of 5 and 8?

Answer 7

it suggests that subvocal recall develops at 7

Question 8

what were the results of the older participants?

Answer 8

healthy elderly participants: 4.4
participants with alzheimer’s: 4.2

Question 9

what were sebastian and hernandez gills conclusions?

Answer 9

• digit span increases with age
• digit span is not impacted by dementia

Question 10

how generalizable is sebastian and hernandez gills study?

Answer 10

• it has a large sample size of 570 participants which increases generalizability, as anomalies can be averaged out. therefore it is representative of a wider spanish population
• it has low generalizability for children of other cultures such as british, where digit span stops increasing after 15.
• the elderly sample only consisted of 59 participants and they were mostly female, therefore this also reduces generalizability

Question 11

how reliable is sebastian and hernandez gills study?

Answer 11

• a standardised procedure was used, for example all participants heard the words read aloud and all sequences started with 3 digits and one was added at a time if the digits were recalled correctly, therefore it is easy to replicate and test for consistency in the future

Question 12

how valid is sebastian and hernandez gills study?

Answer 12

• it was conducted in a lab which means any extraneous variables such as noise can be controlled for, ensuring that all of the findings are a direct manipulation of the independent variable (adding a digit)
• however it has low task validity as the procedure involved recalling digit sequences which isn’t reflective of how we use our memory in everyday life, thus lacking mundane realism

Question 13

how applicable is sebastian and hernandez gills study?

Answer 13

• it has lots of practical applications including understanding the development of children’s subvocal rehearsal at age 7, allowing us to find ways to assist children who may experience difficulty rehearsing spoken or written information