Memory for Accurate Information - Assignment Example

Assignment 2 Independent variable Sleep deprivation; having two levels – no deprivation and 24 hour deprivation. 2) Dependant variable Memory for 7 – alphabet lists; measured for the extent to which individuals can repeat lists backward 3) Alternate measure Memory for accurate information can also be measured using recognition. This would involve presenting the subjects with multiple options, and asking them to choose the right one out of the options. 4) Controlled variable Length of lists; controlled such that each list is the same length. Each list has 7 items; the average number of items that can be stored in STM. 5) Alternate controlled variable A variable that could have been controlled is the meaningfulness of the 7 – alphabet lists when taken as a whole. Some lists may form words or may come close to meaningful words when reversed, or in the presented format. This would affect the extent to which the lists are remembered by the subjects, as meaningful material would be more memorable that non – meaningful material. 6) One tailed null hypothesis Sleep deprivation will not affect memory adversely. 7) Statistics used A t-test would be the appropriate statistical analysis for the data collected. The t-test helps us evaluate if the difference between two means is statistically significant. Since the experiment is an attempt to check if there is a difference between two conditions which are both measured on continuous variables; this makes the t-test an appropriate statistic. 8) Alternate tool It is possible to use lists of digits in place of lists of alphabets. People are as familiar with digits as they are with alphabets; and the extent of meaning assigned by most to different digits is relatively the same; same as the alphabets. Also, as the subjects have to repeat the list in reverse order; chunking the digits into numbers will not affect memoriablity as much as it would have if they had to repeat in the same order. 9) use of alphabets rather than words The research study uses alphabets as they are basic units of language, and form the simplest units that can be memorised. Also, words have meaning, and some individuals may have more meaning associated with certain words as compared to other; or may know certain words more than others. Words that are previously known and words that have special meanings associated with them are more memorable to that person. Such individual differences can affect the data; and confound the results. On the other hand, everyone knows the alphabets to more or less a similar extent; and thus, the results are less confounded by individual differences. Assignment 3 1) Question 1 a) Hypothesis The hypothesis being tested is: “imitation plays an important role in the exhibition of aggressive behaviour by children. That is, children who have a chance to observe aggressive behaviours are more likely to behave aggressively themselves. b) Independent variable Opportunity to observe aggressive behaviour; which had two levels – present and absent. c) Dependent variable Aggressive behaviour exhibited, measured in terms of the number of aggressive acts indulged in over a ten minute period. d) Meaning of chosen at random. The phrase chosen at random means that the children chosen to participate in the experiment were chosen through the use of a randomisation technique, such that each child on the register had the same chance of being chosen to be a part of the sample as any other child. 2) Number of participants There were a total of twenty participants; ten in each of two groups. 3) Hypothesis Children, who are exposed to a chance to observe aggressive behaviours, are more likely to behave aggressively themselves. That is, children exposed to adult aggressive behaviour will themselves exhibit more number of aggressive behaviours during a ten minute unsupervised period as compared to children who are not exposed to adult aggressive behaviour. 4) Controls Two variables that need to be controlled in this experiment are: i) Gender: children exhibit different base levels of aggression dependent on their gender, with boys exhibiting more aggression. ii) Family experiences: children who come from troubled families, or are experiencing some kind of difficult situation at home will behave differently as compared to children from positive backgrounds. Thus, the number of children in each group should be controlled either by balancing or by choosing children from only one background for both these variables. 5) Design This experiment uses an independent measures two groups experimental design. Assignment 4 1) Sample size The sample size was 350 subjects; divided into two groups on the basis of gender. Each group had an equal number of subjects; 175 subjects per group. 2) Survey A survey is a type of quantative research, often use in the social sciences. It consists of asking a set of standardised questions to a sample of respondents chosen from the population being studied. All participants are asked the same questions using the same techniques. Typically, survey techniques are used when the investigators want to study a large sample size. 3) Reason for the question asked to the children The question was framed in such a way, that it limited the choice of response to only one – i.e. – each child could choose only one present. This ensured that one subject did not respond to two or more categories. The question also limited the response in that the child had to choose one of the options given instead of giving an open response which could have fallen outside the categories that are being studied. 4) Graph of percentages The graph may be drawn thus: 5) Error in conclusion The study results claim that there is evidence of sex – stereotyping in the choices of presents by 5 – 9 year old children in Britain. This generalisation is invalid since the study was carried out only with children from schools in the North if England. While these results may be considered valid for the area tested; it is inappropriate to generalise them to the entire country before studying the conditions in other parts. It may be that the observed trend is specific to the area from where the sample was collected; and may not be representative of the entire country. In order to generalise the results to the entire country, the researchers will need to collect data from other parts of the country and verify that the same trends are seen repeatedly. 6) Question 6 a) Pilot study A pilot study is a precursor to the actual study. It consists of collecting data on a small number of subjects beforehand by following all the rules, procedures and controls laid down for the main experiment. This data is then analysed for anomalies and problems. If any are found; then the main study is modified to ensure that it does not run into the same problems. If no problems are encountered; then the study is carried out as planned. Pilot studies are mostly conducted for studies that require large scale data collection. b) Reasons for a pilot study A pilot study is carried out so that: i) One can verify that the instrument chosen does actually collect data that meets the study specifications and that there are no biases in the data. ii) One can verify that the study instructions, equipment, etc work as desired by the investigators. 7) Limitations of Survey method The survey has some significant limitations to its use. a) A survey requires that a large amount of data be collected before the results of the survey can be trusted; and so can only be used with populations that are reasonably large. b) A survey may not be completely representative of reality. The survey collects the opinions and responses by asking them to put themselves in the said mental space for the moment. These responses may get affected by temporal factors, biases, the desirability effect, and the subject’s perception of what the investigator wants to hear, and other such circumstances. Thus, the data collected in a survey is not as robust as the data collected through direct observation. Read More