Cognitive Area: Grant et al. (1998) study of Context-dependent memory

Background: Have you ever walked into a room and forgotten what you came in for? What did you do? Commonly people report retracing their steps

Background: Many studies have shown that recall is better when the participants is in the same environment during recall as they were when the learning occurred. Example: you learn the Grant et al. study in this room. And so, you will have a better recall of the study in this room, than any other. Commonly people report retracing their steps

Background: Tulving (1972) explained this as a consequence of ‘context- dependency effects’. This suggests that some aspects of the environment during learning are stored (or encoded) with the to-be-remembered items and become part of the memory trace. These extra pieces of information (or cues) then help with the retrieval of the learned items. Thus, when the environment at learning and recall matches, the recall is better than if the two environments are mismatched Commonly people report retracing their steps

Background: Previous research: Godden and Badderly (1975) deep sea divers Commonly people report retracing their steps

Aim: The aim of the study was to test the effect of noise as a source of context on the studying and retrieval of meaningful material in an academic context. A focus on changing learning context was important as students can choose where to study, but not where they are tested. Commonly people report retracing their steps

Method: Laboratory experiment Independent measures design 39 participants aged 17-56 (17 females and 23 males) Recruited through opportunity sample – eight psychology students, each acting as psychologists, each found five acquaintances who would be participants One participant was excluded Commonly people report retracing their steps

Method: Two IV Reading condition (Silent or noisy) Testing condition (Silent or noisy) Copy down the table on page 53 Three DV Reading time Performance on multiple-choice test Performance on short answer test Commonly people report retracing their steps

Method: Background noise for noisy condition was a tape made in the university cafeteria at lunchtime with the hum of conversation, occasional words but no audible sentences and the sound of chairs and dishes It was played moderately loudly through headphones The to-be-remembered material was a two page article on psychoimmunology, which was interesting, understandable and unfamiliar. Reading time was recorded, but not controlled Commonly people report retracing their steps

Method: During reading, all ppts wore headphones After a 2 minute break, participant was asked to answer two tests. Short answered test was given first, to ensure material was being recalled from article itself, rather than questions from multiple choice The dependent variable of retrieval was measured in two ways for each participant Recall: a short-answer of 10 questions Retrieval: multiple-choice of 16 questions Commonly people report retracing their steps

Results: Short-answer test Greatest recall was from ppts who learned info in silence and retrieved info in silence = mean recall 6.7 (out of 10). Similarly, greatest recall was also from ppts who learned info in noisy condition and retrieved info in noisy condition = mean 6.2 (out of 10) Multiple-choice test Study in silence and test in silence = 14.3 Study in noise and test in noise =14.3 Study in silence and test in noise = 12.7 Study in noise and test in silence = 12.7 Environments match Commonly people report retracing their steps Environments match Environment mismatch Environment mismatch

Conclusions: As there was no independent effect of noise on performance, it can be concluded that noise does not affect capacity to study Context dependence affects the retrieval in both short answer questions and multiple choice questions. And so, students should study in environments which reflect the environment where they will retrieve information. For example, in a silent library as exams are held in silence Commonly people report retracing their steps