Whether an External Stimulus Can Decrease an Individuals Memory - Coursework Example

Abstract The aim of the experiment was to test whether an external stimulus (a loud noise) can decrease an individual’s memory. Two groups, each with five subjects, took part in the experiment. One was the control group and the other the experiment group. Some 12 easy to recognize items were placed on a tray and the subjects asked to memorize as many items in the tray as possible. The tray was then covered with a cloth and each subject was asked to remember as many of the items as possible. Further, both the control and experiment group subjects were each given a minute to view the tray with a loud music playing next to them. The number of items remembered was recorded down. The results from the data collected show that, external stimulus affect one’s memory performance with (P=.045). Introduction The human memory is severely affected by external distractions. Many will say that they make mistakes in a location with high noise. The amount of noise has much influence on the way the memory performs according to Douglas, et al. (2000). Distractions and in particular loud noise have varying affects on memory performance. Various studies have indicated that loud noise distractions have both positive and negative affect on memory performance depending on its frequency (Agnes, H 2004). Others have come with the conclusions that distractions have no effect on a memory’s performance. A larger number of studies involving tasks that primarily use short term memory has shown that exposure to loud noise significantly affect memory performance more (Baker et al. 1993). This is attributed to the fact that, distractions will act to avert the degree of concentration. To begin with, a study by Dwivedi’s (1988) proves that, loud noise distractions influence memory performance. In this experiment, students were required to memorize some English words as their teacher spelt them. The teacher repeated them for several times with a different music volumes playing and the number of those that a student could remember against the sound strength was recorded. Results indicated that high intensity noise was significantly detrimental in memory performance than low noise. In addition, Winkler, L et al. (1996) agreed with Dwivedi. They examined the effects of radio noise during class work where students were required to read and answer some simple questions with a radio on during class. The question was again administered to the same students with the radio on. On marking the question and comparing the two performances, it was evident to them that, the performance with the radio on was not the expected Winkler, L et al. (1996) concluded that sounds affected the degree of remembrance. Another interesting study that further supports the notion that, noise distractions have a negative impact on memory performance was done by Kjellberg and Skoeldstroem (1991). They investigated the relationship between certain tasks and subjects' response to loud noise during the tasks. Specifically, subjects performed the tasks while exposed to high levels of a continuous loud noise and later performed the same tasks without the noise. The two found that subject’s memory rated low during loud noise. Thus according to them, interference from loud noise affects overall memory performance. Several studies have attempted to explain exactly what external stimuli acts as a distractor. One of such experiment examined the effects of piano music on the performance of response tasks in student’s homework (Carlson et al. 1997). When the music played during the response testing, there was a significant down turn in the performance. However, background music improved the performance. Methodology Significance of the study, Sample and Procedure The aim of the experiment was to test whether an external stimulus (a loud noise) can decrease an individual’s memory. Two groups, each with five subjects, took part in the experiment. One was the control group and the other the experiment group. Some 12 easy to recognize items were placed on a tray and the subjects asked to memorize as many items in the tray as possible. The tray was then covered with a cloth and each subject was asked to remember as many of the items as possible. Further, both the control and experiment group subjects were each given a minute to view the tray with a loud music playing next to them. The number of items remembered was recorded down. Ethical considerations The issue of information security was taken care of as this is a requirement of all studies as Mailu, D (2004) puts it. All the study subjects were taken through the requirements of the experiment and each was required to make a free consent on accepting the conditions. The protection of human subjects from harm was a high priority. In order to enhance the scientific rigor of the study, it was executed according to the highest standards of research. Restrictions No restrictions were placed on the subjects who took part in the study. However, they were required to be physically present at the time of the experiment. Assumptions Several assumptions were made about the target population, the construction and administration of the experiment, and the data that was collected for the study. The first set of assumptions were related to the target population. It was assumed that, the representatives of the various groups were fully representative. The second set of assumptions was related to the construction and administration of the experiment. It was assumed that, the set of items that were in the tray were valid and reliable and free from bias. Further, it was assumed that, an adequate number of the subjects will remember at least one item. The third set of assumptions related to the data. Although there were some limitations about the sample population and the experiment, it was assumed that a worthwhile set of conclusions will be drawn from the data that was to be collected. Data The data collected from the two groups, control and experiment was entered into a computer package. Two variables were generated from the data. It was analyzed using SPSS and the findings tabulated as below. Results Table 1: Descriptive statistics Paired Samples Statistics Mean N Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean CONTROL 8.6 5 1.140175 0.509902 EXPERIMENT 5.8 5 1.30384 0.583095 Table 2: Paired sample t-test Paired Samples Test Paired Differences     t df Sig. (2-tailed)   Mean difference Std. D 95% CI         Lower Upper     CONTROL - EXPERIMENT 2.8 2.167948 0.1081 5.4919 2.89 4 0.04465345 Discussion From the two tables above, table 1 and table 2, it is evident that the mean score for the control group was 5.8 and that for the experiment group was 8.6. Using the paired sample t-test, since the sample size is less than 30, the difference in the mean scores is significant at 95% confidence level with p=.045 (Significant since p Read More