QCAA Psychology - Grant et al (1998)

In the experiment by Grant et al (1998), all participants were required to wear headphones while reading, even though half of the participants didn't have any audio played through the headphones as they were part of the silent condition.

Recall what Grant and colleagues were trying to achieve by having all participants wear headphones in the investigation.

• To ensure the right of participants to have equity, as part of their ethics approval.

• Use standardised procedures in order to minimise extraneous variables related to use of the headphones.

• To eliminate extraneous and confounding variables.

• Use standardised procedures to increase confounding variables related to the use of the headphones.

Answer explanation

The requirement of all participants to wear headphones is an example of a standardised procedure. This was done to minimise any extraneous variables that may have had an unintended impact on the dependent variable.

Identify one strength of Grant et al's (1998) investigation on context-dependent memory.

• The use of independent group design.

• The use of non-standardised procedures.

• The use of a small sample size.

• The use of highly controlled experimental variables.

Identify the two independent variables present in Grant et al's (1998) experiment.

• 1. If the reading conditions were noisy or silent and if the test conditions were noisy or silent.

• 1. If the participants were assigned to the noisy condition or if they were assigned to the silent condition.

• If participants performed better on the short-answer or the multiple choice questions and if the test condition affected their results.

• If the participants wore headphones or not and if the participants were tested in noisy or silent conditions.

Recall the dependent variable from Grant et al's (1998) experiment.

• The accuracy of the participant's reading ability.

• The accuracy of the participant's responses to the short-answer and the multiple choice questions.

• The performance of the participants in the silent condition compared to the noisy condition.

• The ability of the participant to follow instructions while they were wearing headphones.

With reference to Grant et al's (1998) experiment, explain how the learning environment impacts memory.

Answer explanation

Model Answer:

In Grant et al's (1998) experiment, the effect of the learner's environment on learning and remembering was investigated. It was found that the context in which a learner learns and recalls information impacts their accuracy of recall. Specifically, when the context at encoding and retrieval are the same, recall is better than compared to when the context at encoding and retrieval differs.

For example, when participants studied in silent conditions, they were better at retrieving that information during silent conditions. However, if they studied in noisy conditions, they performed worse when they needed to retrieve the information during silent conditions.

Tips:

Refer specifically to Grant et al's (1998) experiment

Refer to the context at encoding and retrieval being the same leads to improved recall.