Effect of Serial Position Effect, von Restorff Effect, Delay, and Presentation Rate on Memory - 2750 Words

Effect of Serial Position Effect, von Restorff Effect, Delay, and Presentation Rate on Memory (Essay Sample) Content: Effect of Serial Position Effect, von Restorff Effect, Delay, and Presentation Rate on Memory Performance Name Institution Abstract Multi-store model of memory, an information processing linear model, holds that short term storage and long term storage are involve in memory performance. Information in the sensory store may be forgotten through decay. Information in either of these storages might be retained or lost through displacement, decay, or lack of retrieval cues from the environment. Free recall method was used to investigate STM/LTM distinction; serial position curve; delay; presentation rate; and von Restorff effect. First, words with sexual connections were remembered more than even those at the beginning or end of the list. Second, in the immediate recall, significantly more words were recalled than in the delayed recall. Third, fast presentation had significantly fewer words remembered than the slow presentation. Fourth, participants rem embered significantly more last three words in the immediate recall than those in the delayed recall. These findings have contributed to the support of the multi-store model. Introduction Multi-store model of memory, proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin in 1968, is an information processing linear model (Atkinson Glanzer Murdock, 1962; Peterson Terry, 2015). STM stores acoustically coded information for approximately 15-30 seconds; during which information is lost if there is no repetition or rehearsal. Another line of research proposes that the nature of information affects memory (Wiswede, Russeler, Hasselbach, Hunt Murdock, 1962), relied on free recall method, which seems to be favorite among memory researchers, to study serial position effect. Free-recall involves presenting participants with a series of words, which they try to recall. The participant is allowed to remember the words in any order they like, meaning that the words do not have to be recalled in the o rder they are given. This study used free recall to investigate the distinction between STM and LTM, serial position curve, effects if delay and presentation rate on memory performance, as well as the effect of von Resorff effect on memory. In this light, the following hypotheses were formulated: There will be a statistically significant difference in the number of words recalled between immediate and delayed recall conditions. Sexual words (words in serial position 7) will be significantly remembered more than the other words in the middle of the list. There will be a statistically significant difference in the number of words remembered between slow and fast presentations. There will be a statistically significant difference in the recall for the last three items between immediate and delayed conditions. Method Design The study was an experimental study. The study was conducted as a free recall experiment. The dependent variable in the study was number of words recalled. There wer e three independent variables, including recall (immediate-delayed), presentation rate (slow-fast), and serial position (position in the word list). Participants and Materials Participants in this study were 30 psychology students representing both sexes. The experiment was accomplished through the use of 128 words (Appendix A). Sixty-four words were for the immediate condition while the other 64 were for the delayed condition. Each of these two conditions was categorized into slow and fast categories. There were 16 serial positions, with the 7th serial position being occupied by words with huge emotional significance owing to their sexual connotations. Procedure Participants were presented with lists of words. The words were presented at different rates and intervals. In the slow presentation rate, one word was presented for every 4 seconds while in the fast presentation, one word presented for every one second. For immediate condition, participants were asked to recall the words immediately after they were presented. In the delayed condition, participants were given a longer recall period before they were asked to recall the words. During recall, participants wrote down as many words as they could remember, in any order. They were free to write the words they remembered in any order they wished. Ethics There were no ethical concer...