Serial Position Delay
ERA: ‘The influence of delay and no delay on serial position effects in the recall of children’s names’
The aim of this experiment is to investigate whether the serial position effects in the recall of children’s names are influenced by a delay or no delay after learning the names. Four participants were each given a list of 15 names to memorize for one minute. Two participants were condition 1 (no delay) and the other two were condition 2 (delay). Condition 1 was required to recall all the names they could remember on a sheet of paper as condition 2 was required to count backwards by 3’s from 100 for 30 seconds, then recall the names on a sheet of paper. The hypothesis that participants who have no delay following learning 15 names will …show more content…
It is hypothesised that participants who have no delay following learning 15 names will have superior recall at the start of the list. It is also hypothesised that participants who have a short delay before writing down 15 names will have a serial position effect, where recall is superior for the first and last names on the list.
Four participants were gathered for the experiment from home, 2 males and 2 females between the age range of 13-20. Informed consent was used as the participants were briefly informed of the purpose of the experiment, their withdrawal rights & any risks involved. Voluntary participation was applied as four different participants were asked whether they would like to take part in an experiment on memory for their year 12 psychology class. Withdrawal rights were addressed as participants informed of the withdrawal rights at any time. Debriefing at the end of the experiment, the names that participants correctly recalled was identified and results were collated.
Serial position of the name in the list
Recall rate (% correct) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Condition 1 (no delay)
Condition 2
The aim of this experiment is to investigate whether the serial position effects in the recall of children’s names are influenced by a delay or no delay after learning the names. Four participants were each given a list of 15 names to memorize for one minute. Two participants were condition 1 (no delay) and the other two were condition 2 (delay). Condition 1 was required to recall all the names they could remember on a sheet of paper as condition 2 was required to count backwards by 3’s from 100 for 30 seconds, then recall the names on a sheet of paper. The hypothesis that participants who have no delay following learning 15 names will …show more content…
It is hypothesised that participants who have no delay following learning 15 names will have superior recall at the start of the list. It is also hypothesised that participants who have a short delay before writing down 15 names will have a serial position effect, where recall is superior for the first and last names on the list.
Four participants were gathered for the experiment from home, 2 males and 2 females between the age range of 13-20. Informed consent was used as the participants were briefly informed of the purpose of the experiment, their withdrawal rights & any risks involved. Voluntary participation was applied as four different participants were asked whether they would like to take part in an experiment on memory for their year 12 psychology class. Withdrawal rights were addressed as participants informed of the withdrawal rights at any time. Debriefing at the end of the experiment, the names that participants correctly recalled was identified and results were collated.
Serial position of the name in the list
Recall rate (% correct) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Condition 1 (no delay)
Condition 2