Is Recall Higher When a Cue is Prese

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Is Recall Higher When a Cue is Present

Aim:

The aim of the experiment is to find out whether or not recall is

higher when there is a cue present

Background information:

Memory is the process of retaining information after the original

object is no longer present. Most psychologists believe that we have

two types of memory. A Long Term Memory (LTM) and a Short Term Memory

(STM). The LTM can store vast amounts of information for long periods

and the STM lasts for around 15-20 seconds. According to Miller, the

STM can store 7+-2 chunks. A person also tends to remember things if

they are familiar.

The three stages on learning lists to recall are:

1. Encoding Storing the information in the memory creating a memory

trace

2. Storage The result of encoding. The information is stored within

the memory system.

3. Retrieval Recovering the stored information from the memory

system. This is known as either remembering or recall.

Key Study:

My investigation is going to be based on an experiment done by Tulving

and Pearlstone. There study was based on availability and

accessibility using cues to aid recollection. Their aim was to

investigate cues and recall and to collect results so that the

hypothesis could be confidentially accepted or rejected. They read

lists of 12, 24 or 48 words. One group of participants had the

category headings in front of them and the other group a blank piece

of paper. Category headings had an obvious effect on recall. The cues

made the words more accessible.

Hypothesis

Categorised headings will have a significantly improve the recall of a

list of words.

Null Hypothesis

Categorised headings will have no effect on the recall of a list of

words

Directional Hypothesis

Categorised Headings will significantly improve recall on a list of

words.

The Independent Variable will be using category headings and not using

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