Investigate into the Primacy and Recency effect Essay Example for Free

Investigate into the Primacy and Recency effect Essay The aim of this study was to investigate into the Primacy and Recency effect. The study was based on Glanzer and Cunitzs research (1966) who suggested that when remembering words, if given an interference task, the recency effect will be virtually eliminated. It was therefore predicted that when a group of participants were recalling words after having an interference task there would be little, if no recency effect. However it was also predicted that when an interference task was not involved there would be both a primacy and recency effect. The experiment was conducted on two groups of participants, 20 in each group. They were all students between the age of 16 and 18. This was an independent experiment. The findings form this study indicated that there was less of a recency effect when using an interference task then when not. Introduction The aim of this investigation to find out whether people remember material at the beginning of a list better than material at the end. A further aim is to show that when participants take a memory test with the involvement of an interference task there is no recency effect. The recency effect can be defined as the tendency to recall items at the end of the list more readily than those in the middle (about the last 25%). The recency effect occurs due to the last lot of information still being in short term store. A familiar example of the recency effect is the observation that a pop group is only as good as there last hit song. People tend to remember things more clearly if they have happened recently. The recency effect can be measured using free recall, where participants are shown a list of words, and the later asked to recall them. The recency effect is shown by the fact that the last few words in the list are usually remembered better than the middle. However, Glanzer and Cunitz (1966) found that counting backwards for only 10 seconds between the end of the list presentation and the start of recall (thus producing and interference task) virtually eliminated the recency effect, but had no other effect on recall. This can be explained by the fact that the counting backwards interfered with the process of creating memory and so this wiped out the words towards the end of the list. It can be seen that the rest of the list was not affected by the interference task, as they were now in long-term memory store. In Glanzer and Cunitz experiment the participants recalled the first few items in the list much better than those in the middle, this is known as the primacy effect. The primacy effect can be defined as a high level of free recall of the first items in a list (about the first 25%). The primacy effect depends mainly on rehearsal, in that the words at beginning of the list are rehearsed for longer than those in the middle. The primacy effect was shown by Rundus and Atkinson (1970), who asked their participants to rehearse out loud any of the words they wanted to during list presentation. The recency effect is found when the results of a free recall task are plotted in the form of a serial position curve. Generally, this curve is U-shaped, and the recency effect corresponds to the tail of the U on the right. This tail indicates that words presented at the end of a list of to-be-remembered items are better remembered than words presented in the middle of this list. It is called the recency effect because these items were the ones presented most recently to the subject in the memory experiment. The primacy effect is found when the results of a free recall task are plotted in the form of a serial position curve. Generally, this curve is U-shaped, and the primacy effect corresponds to the tail of the U on the left. This tail indicates that words presented at the start of a list of to-be-remembered items are better remembered than words presented in the middle of this list. It is called the primacy effect because these items were the ones presented first to the subject in the memory experiment. The diagram below shows the multi-store model of memory designed by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968). It shows us how rehearsal is a vital part of the memory system. This model of memory can help to explain why interference will eliminate the recency effect. The recency effect is part of the short-term memory store, in that it is the last piece of information taken in and so, like all information, it goes into short-term store first. What allows us to remember this information is through rehearsal, thus temporarily keeping it in short-term memory store. It is therefore clear to see that if rehearsal is taken away, as it is through an interference task, then there will be no recency effect. Experimental hypothesis If given a list of words to remember, involving an interference task, when recalled there will be a strong primacy effect, and little, if no recency effect. This, one tailed hypothesis was formulated as previous research has indicated the existence of a primacy effect, and the elimination of the recency effect when using an interference task. However when undertaking the same task without interference there should be both a primacy and recency effect. Null hypothesis If given a list of words to remember involving an interference task, when recalled there will be no difference between how strong the recency and primacy effect is. Method Within this investigation there are two groups of participants, consisting of 20 different people in each group. The participants used were all A level students and were asked at random if they willing to take part. Some of these students studied psychology at A level themselves and so may have known what the investigation was about, thus possibly affecting the final results. The type of design being used is that of independent measures. There are two main variables in this investigation, which will later be correlated; these are word number and the total number of times each word was remembered by the participants.

Heart of Darkness as Social Protest Essays -- Heart Darkness essays

Heart of Darkness as Social Protest Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is an intriguing and extremely disturbing portrayal of man's surrender to his carnal nature when all external trappings of "civilization" are removed. This novel excellently portrays the shameful ways in which the Europeans exploited the Africans: physically, socially, economically, and spiritually. Throughout the nineteenth century, Europeans treated their African counterparts savagely. They were beaten, driven from their homes, and enslaved. Heart of Darkness is no exception. In the first section of the novel, Marlow is disgusted by the condition of the Africans at the First Station. His encounter with the chain gang sickens him to the point where he is forced to wait for them to pass. He even takes a separate path to avoid encountering them again. While avoiding the chain gang, Marlow stumbles upon the object of their work-"a vast artificial hole...the purpose of which I found it impossible to divine." Apparently, to keep them occupied and thus "out of trouble," the natives are forced to do meaningless, pointless exercises. Marlow is shocked by this total subjugation of the Africans and the completely pointless work which they are forced to perform. Prior to 1807, the Europeans directly enslaved the Africans. After 1807, Britain, and eventually most European countries, banned the slave trade. However, this did not stop the Eldorado Exploring Expedition, whose members Marlow described as "reckless without hardihood, gree... ...heads of the natives he killed, those "heads on the stakes" with their faces turned toward the house, to show his complete and total dominance over their lives. After this, the natives could not but help view him with a supernatural aura. He also forced anyone approaching him to crawl on all fours and grovel at his feet. This, coupled with the fact that he did not allow very many people to see him, reinforced his god-like authority. In the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, the Europeans shamelessly exploited the Africans. Conrad, who had been to Africa, makes no effort to gloss over the gross abuses of power of the Europeans and their inhumane treatment of the natives. Taken in this light, Heart of Darkness serves as an excellent novel of social protest.

Adventurous Day Essay

ADVENTURES DAY â€Å"IT WAS RAINNING AND I DASHED TOWARDS A DESERTED BUILDING† with this sentence we should start the essay It was raining and as I dashed towards a deserted building when I was running to find my resort when I had been to a holiday trip GOA during the summer vacation. Previosly when my school’s summer vacation started i was really excited as we finished our exams and got a long holiday after a stressful exams. As days passed I was feeling bored and after some days, I got a call from my friends asking to go for a trip to GOA.As I was feeling bored, to pass my time I had to go for the trip. So we decided to start of the coming Monday ,it was a two week plan .We all were pretty exited about the trip ,after a long wait for about one week the day arrived when we left to GOA,we were going by train as it was more fun and could spend more time. As soon as we reached there we found that there was a vehicle waiting for our arrival ,we all got onto the car and we reached our resort within minutes.that day we all were very tired and so just slept the whole day.According to the plan we had to go to the beach . The next afternoon we went to the beach ,as soon as we reached we foud four wheel cars were there and so we decided to race .the destination was not clear to me but I was going first as everyone else had no much experience as I had cause I had drived the four wheel car several times which goes only on sand.i had no idea where I was going as I was going really fast and even the scene was pretty good following that I went too long which I did not realize until I reached a place where I was surrounded by three sides of water.then I realized that I came too far ,so I decide to follow the way I came but as I was going I reached a place where I found a road where no one was there and so I parked my four wheel car and followed the left side direction and to see it started raining and so I started getting scared and so I started running ,I just felt that some was following me while seeing back I just dashed onto a building which was deserted and then my friends come from the buiding giving m e surprise for my birthday!

The Gay Of Being A Gay - 1321 Words

Being Gay in America Being a gay person in America is not nearly as difficult as it once once. There was a time at one point where homosexuality in the US was treated as taboo as many other social subjects such as criminality. However, times, beliefs, and perspectives have changed in the general populous. In 1996, only 27% of Americans polled by Gallop showed a positive stance on gay marriage, and homosexuality in general. By May of 2015, this percentage was nearly reverse, with only 37% of the population showing a negative stance on homosexuality. Despite the recent support for homosexuals in America, sexual prejudice is still prevalent in some areas of life for gay men and women. Life is still hard for gay people in America for a number of reasons, despite an overall acceptance of gay marriage by adults, and as a gay person myself, I have witnessed this injustice and prejudice on several levels. Being a young person, and defying stereotypes of homosexuality in a conservative high school can be a chall enge. The preconceived notions about gay people normally include something about flamboyancy, inferiority, lack of masculinity, nonexistent athleticism, and a high voice. Being a person that generally defies these stereotypes in high school, and into college, is not easy by any means. In a high school, sports can be a natural way of life, except if you are gay. You’re automatically presumed to be athletically inferior as a gay person, and sports are typically out of theShow MoreRelatedThe Film On Being Gay1480 Words   |  6 PagesThe film On Being Gay gave me new ways to look at and understand what it means to be gay. It was filled to the brim with thought-provoking discussion and exercises that allowed it to get its message through loud and clear. 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