Definitions
Attention
Attention- refers to our mental ability to concentrate; focusing on a task and trying to exclude other factors.
How many participants were there and where were they from?
40 members of Applied Psychology Unit participation panel at the University of Plymouth (UK)
How was the phone call described ?
It was described as a dull boring tape.
How long did the participants chat with the experimenter before taking the memory test?
1 minute
Was the hypothesis supported or refuted ?
SUPPORTED !!
Memory
Memory- refers to our ability to store information that has been processed, then locate it and retrieve it at a later date
Where did they find these participants ?
They had volunteered for a different study
What was the control group given during the mock telephone message ?
A lined piece of paper
What was the point of the experimenter having a conversation with the participants before giving them the memory test ?
The point of this conversation was to get the participants minds off of the phone call and make them less likely to remember the content of the call.
What was the Quantitative and Qualitative date used in this study ?
Quantitative- Mean number of correct recall, false alarms, and memory scores for names and places.
Qualitative- There was no qualitative data in this experiment.
Counterbalancing
What was the sampling technique?
They were recruited via opportunity sample
What was the doodling group told to do during the call?
The doodling group was told to shade in the shapes as they listened to the video, not worrying about how neatly or how quickly they shade them in.
How was the memory test counterbalanced
Half of the group was asked to give the name of those going to the party and then the place names. The other half were asked to recall the place names and then the name of those attending.
Describe BOTH ethical issue in this study.
The participants were unable to give complete consent because they were given an unexpected memory test
There was also deception used in this experiment- The participants were lied to about not having to remember names or places.
Independent Measures Design
This is when p's only take part it one level of the IV. If the IV is naturally occurring then a researcher must use this type of design. In a true independent Measures Design ps are randomly allocated to one level of the IV (so they get an equal chance of being in any level of the IV)
What age range were the participants ?
18-55
Describe the message in terms of: tone of voice, length of the tape, average speaking rate and listening volume.
The tape was in a fairly "monotone voice" that lasted 2.5 minutes. It was at an average speaking rate of 227 words per minute and played at a "comfortable" listening volume.
After the memory test what did the experimenters do ?
All participants were debriefed and given an apology for disguising the fact that it was a memory test. Participants were also asked if they suspected anything.
When explaining the Individual vs Situational aspect of this study how was individuality a factor to be looked at ?
Participants may have doodled before or have a personality type that requires more stimulation than others.