Imagery-Rehearsal Memory - Lab Report Example

?Imagery-Rehearsal Memory Lab Report The objective of this lab is to test and evaluate the hypothesis that the use of mental imagery is a more effective memorization technique compared to rehearsing the information through repetitive rehearsal. As a general overview of this lab, there were twenty-one participants, of whom were divided into two sections and then once more divided into imagery or rehearsal groups within each section. By using a chi-square statistical test, I determined whether or not my hypothesis is statistically significant. Introduction: In order to further enhance my knowledge regarding this lab report, I will incorporate pre-existing psychological information. First off, as Allan Paivio made clear in Psychological Review, imagery and verbal messages are fundamentally different in that mental processes vary with the concreteness of an image, whereas verbal information is allegedly independent of concreteness and more based off of meaningfulness (Paivio, Allan). Interestingly, psychologist William James believes that words are in and of themselves static except when they become associated with sensory images, which explains why mnemonic devices are such a successful way of remember something (Paivio, Allan). In other words, William James believes words are merely static representation of a mental image, thus he would promote the imagery dichotomy of memorization. Nonetheless, Deese, like many other psychologists, believed that imagery is merely a subjective and open-ended technique, whereas words as concretely objective (Paivio, Allan). To further shed light on this topic, Marc Marschark and R. Reed Hunt explained the dual coding theory as dual processing and dual memory (Hunt and Marshchark, A Reexamination of the Role of Imagery in Learning and Memory). In order to back up the dual processing theory with evidence, it must be noted that the use of analogue processing and verbally based logical process has been demonstrated as being utilized in different situations. Thus, this theory of dual coding is fairly synonymous with Baddeley’s theory regarding memory in that it includes a visual-spatial sketchpad and also an articulatory loop; therefore, that the brain recalls visual and articulated information to draw upon a memory (Hunt and Marshchark, A Reexamination of the Role of Imagery in Learning and Memory). Furthermore, Kathy and Richard Lutz from the University of California underscored the topic of images versus recitation and their effects on learning and recall. For example, they revealed that external imagery activates right-hemisphere processing through studies of brain electroencephalograms during external stimuli ( Lutz and Lutz, Effects of Interactive Imagery on Learning). This observation that they make is noteworthy because left-handed people tend to have a more activated right-hemisphere of their brain. Therefore, it would be interested to determine whether handedness affects external image memorization ability. Not to get side-tracked. Kathy and Richard Lutz further described how the interaction between an image and its verbal title, for example a company name, is more successfully recalled than an image completely isolated and not tied together with the verbal title (Lutz and Lutz, Effects of Interactive Imagery on Learning). This ever so intriguing background information regarding imagery and verbal processes is a brilliant background to this lab report landscape. Methods: Participants: As previously stated, twenty-one human subjects took place in this experiment. Materials: Twenty different sets of word pairs to be read aloud to each participant. Also, I was the proctor of this experiment. The procedure of this lab was as follows: Rehearsal Condition I am going to read you a list of 20 word pairs. Later I will give you one from each pair and you will be asked to recall the other word from that pair. In order to memorize these word pairs I would like you to follow the following procedure. You may know of other strategies for memorizing word pairs but for this experiment you are asked to use only the procedure described below. Silently rehearse over and over each pair of words after it is read. For example, if I read the word pair “bear” and “bicycle” you should repeat over and over to yourself “bear-bicycle”; “bear-bicycle”; “bear-bicycle”…. Until I read the next word pair. Imagery Condition I am going to read you a list of 20 word pairs. Later I will give you one word from each pair and you will be asked to recall the other word from that pair. In order to memorize those word pairs I would like you to follow the following procedure. You may know of other strategies for memorizing word pairs but for this experiment you are asked to use only the procedure described below. Construct some vivid or bizarre image that incorporates both of the words used in each word pair. For example, if I read the word pair “bear” and bicycle you should form an image of a bear riding a bicycle or any other image you think will help you connect the words. You would thus construct a different image for each pair of words that I read. Results: Due to the fact that there were 21 participants, there were 19 degrees of freedom for the t-test because degrees of freedom= (n-2). As Item 1 on the ensuing page indicates, the mean amount of words recalled by the Imagery Condition group was approximately thirteen words, far exceeding the Rehearsal Condition group which averaged about four words recalled based on a estimation from the graph.. Statistically speaking, the predicted imagery condition had a mean of 13.36 and a standard deviation of 6.02 and was incredibly more effective compared to the rehearsal condition which had a mean of 5.90 and a standard deviation of 3.31. I used a 95% significance test which resulted in a t distribution value of 3.46 and a p value of less than .003. When using a t-test for the equality of means, the standard error difference was 2.15326. Table 2 provides more detailed results which further demonstrate the overwhelming statistical evidence that the Imagery Condition method of memorization and recall is a much more effective method compared to Rehearsal. Item 1: Table 2: Discussion: In summation, the objective of this lab was to test and evaluate the hypothesis that the use of mental imagery is a more effective memorization technique compared to rehearsing the information through repetitive rehearsal by utilizing statistical tools such as the t-test. In support of many psychologists and analysts when it comes to education and learning techniques, this lab also demonstrated that imagery is a more effective means of memorization than rote rehearsal. This might have occurred because there is a more vivied connection and association between images compared to merely words. Interestingly, the right hemisphere of the brain has been linked to high activity in the presence of external images. Thus in the future, it would be exceedingly interesting to test how left or right-handedness affects imagery recall, granted that left handed people have a more active right-hemisphere of their brain. All in all, imagery is a statistically significantly more effective manner of memorization and recall compared to rote rehearsal, which is a crucial observation when it comes to education and learning. References: Lutz, K.A., & Lutz, R.J. (1977). Effects of Interactive Imagery on Learning: Application to advertising. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62, 493-498. Marschark, M., & Hunt, R.R. (1989). A reexamination of the role of imagery in learning and memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning. Palvio, A. (1969). Mental Imagery in Associative learning and memory. Psychological Review, 76, 241-263. Read More