Levels of processing and word
Levels of processing and wordAbstract
The relationship between processing words at deeper levels and memory was examined. Participants were 38 experimental psychology students grouped depending on whether the student had completed cognitive psychology by the time of the experiment. Group A was instructed to decide if a word fit a “CCVCV” pattern, and Group B was asked if a word fit into a given sentence. As predicted, results indicated Group B recalled more words from the word list then Group A. The replication and importance of these findings along with other possible applications of the results were discussed.
Effect of Deeper Levels of Processing On Word Retention
Today it seems everyone is interested in improving memory. With new herbs and miracle drugs that now “promise” better memory, memory problems should be a thing of the past. This, however, is not the case. Although these alternatives may be somewhat helpful in increasing memory, our study hopes to replicate previous experiments that dealt with ways to improve memory without the use of drugs.
In a study conducted by Craik and Tulving (1975), the effects of deeper levels of processing on retention of words was tested. They found that the deeper level the word was processed on, the more likely the word was to be retained. A simple structural task (“Is there a word present?”) requires very little processing and therefore a lesser chance for retention. Tasks that required participants to complete a sentence frame task (Does the word fit into the sentence…?) needed a deeper level of processing and resulted in greater retention.
With today’s interest in increasing memory and the findings by Craik and Tulving (1975), we believe that participants who complete the sentence framework task will recall words better then those who simply do a structural task.
Method
Participants
Participants were 38 experimental psychology students. They were grouped depending on whether the student had completed cognitive psychology before the time of the experiment. If the student had cognitive psychology he or she was placed into group A. Others were selected for group B.
Apparatus
The experiment was conducted in a classroom which contained 38 student desks and one large table. The presenter was equipped with two sets of instructions (see Figure 1 attached), one for each group, an overhead projector, a transparency of a 10 word list (see Figure 2 attached), a word mask, and a wristwatch. The results were tallied on a chalkboard in front of the room.
Procedure
The presenter instructed participants to be silent while the first set of instructions were placed on the student’s desks. The participants who received a set of instructions were then asked to quietly move into the hallway. Group A now received instructions and were asked not to look at them until asked. The presenter then explained the...
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