practical

Question 1

what was the aim of the practical?

Answer 1

• to investigate whether the positioning of 21 words in a word list (beginning, middle and end) would influence 30 participants ability to recall them in the correct order.

Question 2

what was your experimental hypothesis?

Answer 2

• there will be a difference between the participants ability to recall the beginning and end of the 21 word list compared to the middle of the word list. Participants will remember more from the beginning and the end of the word list.

Question 3

what is the null hypothesis?

Answer 3

• there will be no relationship between a participants ability to recall 21 words in a word list and the positioning of the words being at the beginning, middle of the end.

Question 4

what design was used in your practical?

Answer 4

• repeated measures design as there was only one condition and all participants took part in the same condition therefore it is repeated measures.

Question 5

what sampling method was used?

Answer 5

• opportunity sampling

Question 6

where were the participants from and how many were used?

Answer 6

• a local midlands sixth form
• 30 students
• 16-18 year old

Question 7

where did the study take place?

Answer 7

• in a classroom

Question 8

when participants entered the class room what happened?

Answer 8

they were asked to take a seat and refraim from communicating with the other participants, they were briefed by one female experimenter.

Question 9

what was said in the brief?

Answer 9

• they were told they had the right to withdraw at any point during the experiment
• asked to sign a written consent form
• and asked finally if anyone was not willing to take part in the study.
• they were told the study was looking at memory capacity.

Question 10

after the participants had been briefed what happened next?

Answer 10

they were told by the experimenter that a series of 21 words would appear on a powerpoint (1 word per slide) and would change slides every 3 secs - they were asked to try and remember as many words as possible.

Question 11

what did participants have to do once the power point slide show was over?

Answer 11

• write down as many words that they could remember they were given 3 minuets to do this

Question 12

what happened after the participants answers had been collected in by the experimenter

Answer 12

• they were debriefed and told that the experiment is over and they are free to leave.

Question 13

what was the critical value of lists one and two?

Answer 13

17

Question 14

what was the critical value of list two and three

Answer 14

17

Question 15

what was the calculated value of list one and two?

Answer 15

11

significant

Question 16

what was the calculated value of list two and three

Answer 16

26

insignificant

Question 17

what statistical test was used?

Answer 17

Wilcoxon

Question 18

how was this study reliable?

Answer 18

• standardised procedure use of words lists, 3 secs for each word on a slide show.
• easily replicated

Question 19

what issues are there with generalisability?

Answer 19

• only 16-18 year old were used
• small sample of 30
• midlands not ethically diverse really

Question 20

what ethical implications should of been considered?

Answer 20

• children being used so informed consent from school and parents as well as children themselves
• ensuring anonymity

Question 21

why was it ethical?

Answer 21

• debrief and brief was given

- informed consent given verbally and in writing

Question 22

how has the study got ecologically validity?

Answer 22

because it takes place in a class room which is a students natural environment and would of been familiar to them