Chapter 6. Memory

6.1 Introduction

My Slide Activities

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You must read each slide, and complete any questions on the slide, in sequence.

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6.2 Welcome

Start list

Welcome to your Try This! research experience for Chapter 6. As you learned in the chapter, this activity will test your memory ability.

In a moment, you will be presented with 20 words, shown one at a time. After the last word is presented, you will be given 90 seconds to try to recall as many as you can.

When you are ready, click “Start list.”

6.3 Trial

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6.4 Further Instructions

Start recall

Now your task is to recall as many words as you can, in any order you remember them. You will be given 90 seconds. When ready to start, click “Start recall.”

6.5 Recall

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List the words you recall here (each followed by ENTER):

6.6 Result

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Time’s up!

Here are your results. Of the words you were presented, you correctly recalled . Correct answers are highlighted below.

Which words were easiest to recall: those at the beginning, middle, or end of the list? Let’s see if your recall depended on where the words appeared.

Pass the experiment to see your results.

6.7 Graph

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The bars in the graph on the left plot your recall rates for words in the beginning, middle, and end of the list.

The plot on the right depicts the results found in research (Murdock, 1962) using a similar procedure. That study determined the average percentage of words participants recalled at each point in lists similar to the one used here. This pattern of results is the same one that most researchers get with this procedure. (You will see a similar pattern/curve in a graph in the chapter.)

If you are like most people, your recall was better for words in the beginning and the end of the list than it was for words in the middle. How do your results compare?

6.8 Activity Completed!

Why do you suppose it is easier for most people to recall words at the beginning of the list compared to the middle of the list?

Why do you suppose it is easier for most people to recall words at the end of the list compared to the middle of the list?

Think about these questions as you return to the chapter on memory.

This activity inspired by and based on:

Murdock, B. B., Jr. (1962). The serial position effect of free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 64, 4882-488.