Grant et al

Cognitive core study #2 | Key theme: Memory

What was the focus of Grant et al’s study?

To study the effect of context-dependent memory

What is context-dependent memory?

When the ability to recall information is influenced by the context in which the information was learned

What type of context was the study investigating?

Learning and testing recall in matching vs. mismatching environments

Why were they interested in these contexts?

To see if environmental contexts have a negative effect on learning performance

How can Grant et al’s study be considered a lab experiment?

Highly controlled and standardised study

How can Grant et al’s study be considered a field experiment?

Participants were conducting the experiment in their normal classroom with learning materials typical of their normal lessons

What experimental design was used for this study?

Independent measures design

What is the operationalised IV of this study?

Matched/mismatched study and test conditions: noisy/silent

What is the operationalised DV of this study?

Number of correct answers: short answer test & multiple choice test

What were the 4 conditions of this study?

• silent study / silent test

• silent study / noisy test

• noisy study / noisy test

• noisy study / silent test

What sampling technique was used in Grant et al’s study?

Opportunity sampling: 8 experimenters recruited 5 participants each, making 40 total. 1 participant had to be removed from the data for abnormally low performance on the tests

What are the key characteristics of Grant et al’s sample?

• 39 participants

• 17-56 years old

• 17 females

• 22 males

What materials were used in Grant et al’s experiment?

• Psychoimmunology article

• Short answer questions test

• Multiple choice questions test

• Headphones and recorder player

How were the instructions of this study standardised?

The same instructions were read aloud to all participants, explaining what the study would be about

Outline the study task given to participants

• Participants all asked to read an article on psychoimmunology: pps could highlight and annotate the article however they wanted to. The time taken to do so was recorded

• Participants were told to expect noise or silence but to ignore any sound and focus on the article itself

How do the task and materials of Grant et al’s study reflect Mundane Realism?

• The content of the article is typical material that would be studied in class

• The classroom environment is the usual environment of the students

• The participants are students - reading and learning is a natural activity for them

• The chosen background noise (cafeteria ambience) is fairly consistent and typical

What were the controls of Grant et al’s experiment?

• All participants were required to wear headphones, regardless of whether they were in use or not

• Participants were told to expect noise or silence

• The time taken to read the passage of each participant was recorded

Why were participants given a break of around 2 minutes after reading the article, before they started the tests?

To ensure that long-term memory was being tested

How were participants tested on their recall of the article?

• 10 short answer questions

• 16 multiple choice questions

Which test was given to participants first and why?

The short answer questions were given first to ensure that participants’ knowledge of the article was being tested rather than ability to memorise the multiple choice answers

How was the procedure of this study finished?

All participants were debriefed

What conclusion can be made about performance from these results?

The matched conditions show a higher level of recall and recognition compared to the mismatched conditions

Which test of recall/recognition did participants perform best on?

The multiple choice questions (recognition) had higher performance

Under what conditions did participants perform better?

Matching learning and test conditions have a more positive impact on recall

Did noise have an effect on learning?

Noise has no significant effect on learning or recall

What are the 3 main conclusions that can be drawn from this study?

• There is evidence of context-dependency

• Both recall and recognition are affected by environmental context-dependency effects

• Background noise doesn’t have a detrimental effect on studying