Practical Investigation Two - An experiment into language comprehension and music

State the aim of your correlation. [1]

To investigate whether music lowers language comprehension test scores.

State the alternative/experimental hypothesis of your experiment. [3]

Those who listen to modern, lyrical music using headphones will have a lower English language comprehension test scores (out of 20) than those who complete the test in absolute silence.

State the null hypothesis of your experiment. [2]

There will be no difference in English language comprehension test scores (out of 20) between participants who complete the test in silence and those who listen to modern, lyrical music using headphones. Any difference found will be due to chance factors.

Identify the independent variable (IV) from your alternative/experimental hypothesis. [1]

Modern, lyrical music, listened to on headphones for 11 minutes.

Identify the dependent variable (DV) from your alternative/experimental hypothesis. [1]

To quantify language.

Explain how the independent variable was operationalised within your experiment. [2]

Explain why you chose to operationalise the independent variable in this way. [2]

Modern, lyrical music, listened to on headphones for 11 minutes.

Lyrical music was selected as it is known to distract from memory, as the short-term memory (STM) is acoustic and limited.

Explain how the dependent variable was operationalised within your experiment. [2]

Explain why you chose to operationalise the dependent variable in this way. [2]

To quantify language.

This English language comprehension test was used so that language comprehension could be scored numerically.

Identify one extraneous variable you considered before conducting your experiment and explain how you dealt with this. [3]

One extraneous variable I considered before conducting my experiment of music and language comprehension was the volume of music, as if music is too loud or too quiet for some participants, this could impact their language comprehension.

I dealt with this by controlling the music and headphones from my device, and playing the music at a consistent, moderate volume (Level 8 out of 14).

This was beneficial as this ensured that all participants endured the same level of music distraction so that no individual was at a disadvantage due to higher or lower volume levels compared to others.

Briefly describe an extraneous variable wasn’t controlled during your experiment. [2]

One extraneous variable that was not controlled for in my experiment into music and language comprehension was time of day that individuals completed the experimental task.

This could impact participants’ responses to music (or silence) whilst completing a language comprehension test as if they are fatigued, they may find music more distracting than participants who are not fatigued.

Identify the experimental design used in your experiment. [1]

Independent groups design.

Justify why the experimental design identified [independent groups design] was appropriate in your experiment. [2]

Use of an independent groups design was appropriate in my experiment as this means participants only took part in one condition (music or silence).

As such, they could not become practiced or fatigued in their comprehension test responses.

Describe the features of the participants used in your experiment. [2]

Our sample consisted of 15 participants per condition, equating to a total of 30 participants.

All participants were aged between 16 and 18 years old.

A mix of boys and girls participated in research.

State the sampling method you used and explain how you collected your participants. [3]

To gather participants, we used an opportunity sample.

Each researcher (student) approached two Year 13 students in the Sixth Form Cafe and asked them if they were willing to participate in a study.

Identify the location of research used in your experiment. [1]

Laboratory.

Justify why the location of research identified [laboratory] was appropriate for your experiment. [2]

By conducting the experiment in a laboratory environment, the Year 13 study room, this was appropriate because this ensured that I had high levels of control and minimised distractions for the participants.

This was particularly important for the ‘silence’ condition as this made sure that they would not be distracted by stimuli external to the experiment.