The experiment conducted consisted of testing the participants' memory using a list of 15 words read by the experimenter in 5 repeated trials. The tests were conducted according to a repeated measures design, using the same subjects in each test and the same 15 words in the same order were read aloud to the participants. Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) theorized that human memory has three separate components, sensory register, short-term memory, and long-term memory, called the MSM or Multi-Store model. Murdock (1962) suggested that words at the beginning of the list were stored in long-term memory and words at the end of the list were stored in short-term memory, thus resulting in the serial position effect. The purpose of the present study was to strengthen the original ideas and to witness the effects of the hypotheses in the classroom. Hypothesis1. That memory performance will follow a learning curve.2. That the first words will be remembered more frequently than the middle words.3. That final words will be remembered more frequently than middle words. Data, Analysis and Discussion The learning curve, first described by Hermann Ebbinghaus (1885) is a concept that describes how one may initially acquire knowledge or new skills, but then subsequent learning becomes much slower. A minimal investment of resources produces significant results, but continuous effort produces lesser results. The data obtained from the current study supports the learning curve theory. From the graph (Figure 1) rapid acquisition was evident in trial 1 as participants remembered on average 8.38 words out of 15. This shows that words can initially be memorized efficiently. In experiments 2 and 3 the average number of words remembered at...... half of the paper ...... the Multi-Store model suggests that memory is made up of a series of stores, sensory memory, short-term memory term Memory and long-term memory. Information enters sensory memory after being detected by the sense organs. This information then enters short-term memory and, if repeated, is transferred to long-term memory. Information is lost if the tests are not tested. Conclusion The present study was conducted to test the three hypotheses in a controlled environment. In this case, support for all 3 hypotheses is strong. The results obtained from the tests showed that the data followed the learning curve, thus resulting in a large improvement in test 1 and a performance plateau for the final two tests. The results also showed that Primacy and Recency effects were present, with preceding and following words memorized much more efficiently than middle words...
tags