The Effect Chunking of Numbers has on Short-Term Memory Recall Essay Example for Free

The Effect Chunking of Numbers has on Short-Term Memory Recall Essay The same group of people were not tested in both conditions to eliminate the possibility of one condition affecting another. Students and adults, living in the same country were selected. Extraneous variables such as temperature and outside distractions could not be controlled. The temperature of the area in which the experiment was conducted varied. A set of instructions read out before the start of the experiment dealt with ethical issues that may be related to this study, such as informed consent, deception and ability to withdraw. They were given the aim of the experiment and were given the option to withdraw at any time during the experiment. They all had to agree to take part in the tests before the experiment started as well and results were kept anonymous, abiding to ethical regulations for participant confidentiality. Relationship of results to the hypothesis The hypothesis of this experiment was that chunking of numbers will improve recall in STM. Results showed that cause and effect could not be established between the IV and DV. Chunking did not improve recall in this experiment significantly, even though the total number of numbers recalled in the second condition was more than that of the first condition, which suggested there was a big difference. The results became more dispersed, causing the difference in the two conditions to appear much bigger. Conclusion Validity Validity refers to the trueness of an experiment to what its intended aim was-whether it measured what it was supposed to measure. One aspect of this is internal validity, which assesses the extent to which manipulation of a variable in the experiment (IV) was able to do its intended job (change the DV). This includes the control of extraneous variables so cause and effect can be established between the IV and the DV. There was internal validity because confounding variables from external factors, ex. distractions and temperature were not controlled this could effect the results. Experimenter bias was eliminated because participants were not affected by any special behaviour in the experimenters part. The participants may have deliberately forgot letters read out in an attempt to disrupt the experiment. Certain participants were also familiar with the theory of chunking to aid STM recall as they also study psychology, which may have affected results. The experiment also had construct validity as the method used to measuring STM recall was able to measure what it claimed to. Results showed differences in recall quantitatively, which can be compared. Improvements for validity To improve the validity of this experiment, demand characteristics must be reduced. Teachers may have been asked to conduct the experiment as a task set during lessons. This would also improve EV, as it is more realistic for students to be learning information in their lessons rather than under artificial conditions. Reliability Reliability measures consistency in results: whether or not it can be repeated by another researcher afterwards. There was external reliability as many aspects of the experiment were controlled, making it easier to repeat. The same method was used to measure recall in both conditions so comparisons could be made accurately between results. Procedures and instructions used were standardised, so they can be used again and again in other experiments. The apparatus and controls of confounding variables used were very basic and could be duplicated in many other locations. However, the sample used in this experiment may be harder to repeat in different locations as it was from a very small target population. Participants have to be from Park lane college and surrounding area so it cannot be repeated in other countries It also lacked internal reliability, as memory is a very subjective thing. We cannot go inside someones head to read their thoughts and look through their memories. Therefore, it cannot be certain that results showed exactly what participants remembered, as they may leave out some information deliberately. Improving reliability This could be improved by increasing the sample size. More participants could be used so results are more representative of the target population, ex. using a sample of 50. However, the process of collecting data with such a big sample becomes more difficult, as it would be hard to control them and make them do the experiment in absolute silence.