The Effects of Association & Word Recall. By: Emily Baumgartner, Ashley Campbell, Lauren Garvey & Ashley Moore

Transcription

1 The Effects of Association & Word Recall By: Emily Baumgartner, Ashley Campbell, Lauren Garvey & Ashley Moore

2 Abstract In this study we are testing the effects of association on word recall Sixty individuals were asked to participate in a word recall task We present the participant with a list of ten words on a powerpoint (one per slide) and flashed each word for 5 seconds, after they had 1 minute to write down as many words as they could recall Association: meaning, rhyming, no association Word recall: how many words you recall, how many mistakes you make

3 Abstract Results indicated that: Condition had a significant enough effect on word recall, however, showed no significance in number of mistakes. Participants recalled significantly more words when in the meaning condition than in the control group. This was the only significant finding after running a Least Significant Difference post-hoc test.

4 Introduction The free association task requires that participants express the first word that comes to mind when presented with a cue. This task serves to help us understand the way in which we connect memories. In one study, a database of free associations modeled these free associations using the ACT-R (adaptive control of thought-rational) model. Results found that cognitive association could be replicated through this model and further implications would follow (Ludueña, 2014).

5 Introduction In one study, experimenters hypothesized that emotional stimulus words as associates would decrease word recall due to cognitive competition. The results supported the hypothesis, finding that word recall was less successful with emotional associates than with neutral associates. The results supported a response competition hypothesis in regard to emotional stimulus word associates (McDowall, 1994).

6 Introduction In another study, it was hypothesized that recall frequency would depend on the number of cues provided in a word list. Using an ANOVA, data supported that frequency of word recall was an increasing function of cue number (Rothkopf,1961). We wanted to explore the effect of neutral cue words (as opposed to emotional), as well as type/depth of association, on word recall.

7 Introduction Hypotheses: 1. Participants will recall more words in condition 3 (meaning), then condition 2 (rhyming), then condition 1 (no association). 2. Participants will make the most mistakes in condition 2 (rhyming), then condition 3 (meaning), then condition 1 (no association).

8 Methods Participants: Recruited N = 60 participants (M = years, SD = 9.17 years, age range : years). Of those participants, n = 31 were female and n = 29 were male. Each recruited 5 participants per condition, 15 participants each total. One independent variable with multiple levels research design 3 conditions: 1. Control: only look at the word and remember as many as you could 2. Rhyme: look at the word and associate it with a word that rhymes with it 3. Meaning: look at the word and associate it with a meaning for that word

9 Methods Materials: laptop (slideshow), piece of paper, writing utensil, & stopwatch. Words on the slideshow: Car Lake Shoe Beach Phone Food Sport State Dog Song

10 Methods Independent variable: Association Levels: 3 (no association, rhyming association, meaning association) Dependent variable: Words recalled Levels: 2 (number of correct words recalled, number of mistakes recalled) Operational definition: To measure the dependent variable (how many words are recalled; correct and incorrect) the words were counted after the participants had 1 minute to write them down. Number correct and number of mistakes were recorded separately.

11 Results: Statistics Table 1: Descriptive statistics of words recalled Mean Standard Dev. Minimum Maximum Correct Incorrect

12 Results: Correct words recalled One independent variable with multiple levels ANOVA (One way ANOVA): Correct words recalled: F (2,57) = 2.90, p = 0.06 LSD Post Hoc Test: Control vs. Rhyme: p > 0.05 Control vs. Meaning: p < 0.05 Rhyme vs. Meaning: p > 0.05

13 Results: Incorrect words recalled One independent variable with multiple levels ANOVA (One way ANOVA): Incorrect words recalled: F (2,57) = 0.381, p = 0.69 Results for incorrect words recalled were not found to be significant, so there was no post hoc test performed.

14 Discussion Before beginning this experiment, it was hypothesized that: 1. Participants will recall more words in condition 3(meaning), then condition 2(rhyming), lastly, condition 1(no association). 2. Participants will make most mistakes in condition 2(rhyming), then condition 3(meaning), and then condition 1(no association). Results provided some support for the first hypothesis.

15 Discussion cont. More words were recalled in the rhyme condition than in the control and more in the meaning condition than in the other two. The Post Hoc test, however, showed that the only statistically significant difference was between the control and meaning conditions. No significant support was found for the second hypothesis.

16 Discussion cont. Limitations to this study include: 1. Amount of distractions present. 2. Gender equality. More females were present in the study. 3. More participants in the study could have led to significant finding for the correct words recalled. In the future, researchers could continue to examine the effects of association and word recall. Research has shown that semantic memory, is responsible for the brain s ability to memorize the meaning of words, concepts, and mental representation. The task of free association is an effective way to study semantic memory.

17 References Ludueña, A., Guillermo, Behzad, D., Mehran, & Gros, Claudius. (2014). Exploration in free word association networks: Models and experiment. Cogn process 15: DOI: /s McDowall, John. (1994). Recall of associates generated to emotionally toned stimulus words. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology 48:1, Rothkopf, Z., Ernst, Coke, U., Esther. (1961). The prediction of free recall from word association measures. Journal of Experimental Psychology 62: