Experiment 1: Memory in Different Contexts

Hypothesis

It was hypothesized that when participants were asked to recall stories in the same context they learned them, they would remember more of the stories than participants that were asked to recall the stories in a completely different context

It was also hypothesized that both groups would demonstrate primacy and recency effects, although the group that recalled the stories in the same context would recall more

It was further hypothesized that participants exposed to the different context would confabulate more of their stories

* An additional hypothesis was that participants allowed to recall the stories in the same condition they learned them would recall the stories in the correct order *

Participants

22 undergraduate psychology majors enrolled in upper level psychology course 5 males 17 females

Assigned to be tested in the same or different context based upon lab assignment Same context group : 1 male 11 females Different context group: 4 males 6 females

Apparatus & Materials

Two rooms located in the psychology building at Northern Illinois University Room one: standard classroom where psychology

laboratory classes held, tables and chairs, small blackboard & projector screen

Room two: laboratory classroom design for animal testing, standard bench seating, talk radio was being played, neuroanatomy posters on walls, various behavioral testing equipment located in room (e.g. Morris water maze for another class)

Apparatus & Materials

The American Life: 20 Acts in 60 minutes

Played on an iPod over two speakers

Table 1

List of Stories From This American Life: 20 Acts in 60 Minutes

Act One: Don't I Know You?Act Two: No, Of Course I Know YouAct Three: It’s Commerce That Brings Us TogetherAct Four: The Sound Of One Hand WavingAct Five: The Sound Of No Hands ClappingAct Six: Reaching Out With RadioAct Seven: Up Where The Air Is ClearAct Eight: The Greatest Dog Name In The WorldAct Nine: Of Dogs And MenAct Ten: To Much Light Makes The Baby Go BlindAct Eleven: Etiquette LessonAct Twelve: To Tell The TruthAct Thirteen: More LiesAct Fourteen: Call In Colonel Musturd For QuestioningAct Fifteen: Mister PredictionAct Sixteen: That One Guy At The OfficeAct Seventeen: You Can't Choose Your GiftAct Eighteen: Party TalkAct Nineteen: A Hard Life At The TopAct Twenty: The Greatest Moment I Ever Saw On A Stage

Procedure

Participants were first told to listen to the stories and asked to pay attention as they would be important later

Participants were asked to sit and listen for 60 minutes to the The American Life: 20 Acts in 60 minutes Told to be quiet while listening to not disturb others

All groups of participants listen to the stories in room one

Procedure

After a one week delay participants were either brought back to room one (same context group) or they were brought the novel room two (different context group)

They were then asked to perform a free recall of the stories previously listened to in the prior week

They were given 30 minutes to recall Those in the different context group were given

several distractions in order to influence their ability to correctly recall

Once all participants were done, they were then informed about the nature of the experiment

Recall

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5

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Same Different

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** (p<.05)

Recall

Group Statistics

Group N Mean Std. Deviation

Recall Same 12 9 2.17

Different 10 4.8 1.75

Independent Samples Test

t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Recall 4.92 20 0.000000

Recall

Participants in that were tested in the same context as they heard the stories recalled a significantly higher number of stories (Mean=9) when compare to those tested in a different context (Mean=4.8) t(20)= 4. 92, p<.05

Anecdotally the amount of detail in the stories recalled was greater with those tested in the same context i.e. more sentences, more description about characters or

events in stories Suggests that context possibly influences the amount

of recalled stories

Frequency Data of Stories

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

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Different

Primacy & Recency Effects

Serial position effect The graph represents the total number of

individual stories recalled by each group Both groups demonstrated primacy & recency

effects However, subjects tested in the same context

recalled a greater number of stories both early and later on

Further, subjects tested in the same context also recalled more stories that were presented the middle of the experiment

Confabulation

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Same Different

Mea

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d S

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es * * (p<.05)

Confabulation

Group Statistics

Group N Mean Std. Deviation

Confab Same 12 1 1.21

Different 10 3.22 1.20

Independent Samples Test

t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Confab -4.53 20 0.000203

Confabulation

Participants tested in the different context confabulated significantly more of their stories (Mean=3.22) upon recall compared to participants tested in the same context (Mean=1) t(20)= -4.53, p<.05

For example: In one story the word pasta was replaced by noodle One participant recalled a story about a plane, another about

taxies Another thought there was a story about long lost lovers

getting back together Suggests that context may influence the amount of

confabulation upon recall

Ordering of Stories

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Ordering of Stories

Group Statistics

Group N Mean Std. Deviation

Order Same 12 1.92 1.17

Different 10 1.67 1.23

Independent Samples Test

t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Order 0.03 20 0.98

Ordering of Stories

There were no significant differences between the two groups t(20)= 0.03, p=.98

Although both groups recalled stories that occurred early on, neither group recalled the stories in the correct order

Suggests that context possibly doesn’t correct order of recall better even though subjects tested in the same context recalled more

Some extra information

There are numerous books and articles about this topic Forgetting Recall cues Contextual learning Confabulation Serial position effect (primacy & recency effects)

Remember to discuss this in an overall context, don’t just simply regurgitate try to integrate

The challenge in this is to try to relate this to other aspects of the literature (maybe Alzheimer’s disease, amnesia???) or even find conflicting studies In other words why are our findings important, what can

people take from this study

Some extra information

An important paperSmith, S.M. (1979). Remembering in and

out of context. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 5:460-471.

Can use this it is in the library, but it can’t count towards the two paper min. requirement (but it is very useful)

Some extra information

Remember if you need help ask