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The Effect of Relationship Priming on Verbal Memory

The Effect of Relationship Priming on Verbal Memory Alexandria Proctor, Jennifer Fregeau, and Tara Blumeyer Faculty Sponsor: Julia Omarzu Loras College. Abstract.

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The Effect of Relationship Priming on Verbal Memory

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  1. The Effect of Relationship Priming on Verbal Memory Alexandria Proctor, Jennifer Fregeau, and Tara Blumeyer Faculty Sponsor: Julia OmarzuLoras College

  2. Abstract • The purpose of the study was to determine whether certain individuals have a higher rate of verbal recall when primed with either a survival or mating situation. Results showed significance between the survival and mating group in the number of words recalled (p<.01). However, there was no significant difference among the pleasantness and mating groups. A one-way ANOVA yielded a main effect for number of words recalled F (2,69)=10.76, p<.001, such that the survival group(m=14.36, sd=3.50) recalled more words than did the mating and pleasantness groups (m=11.33, sd=2.68; m=10.24, sd=3.00) respectively.

  3. Purpose of Study • The purpose of this study was to determine whether individuals have a higher rate of verbal recall when primed with either a survival or mating situation.  • Research by Nairne has shown humans become more attentive and begin to process information in a deeper capacity when in a situation that primes survival mechanisms (Nairne & Pandeirada, 2008). Since mating and reproduction are also adaptive, he argues that priming this topic should also produce increased attention and processing of information

  4. Hypothesis • Participants primed with the survival and mating scenarios will have a higher verbal recall.

  5. Methods • Participants • 71 Loras College Undergraduate Students. • 42 Females and 29 Males. • Participants were gathered from the Introductory Psychology Pool.

  6. Methods • Procedure • Participants viewed a slide show containing 30 words on individual slides. They were asked to rate each word based on a scenario that was given to them. There were 3 different scenarios: survival, mating, and pleasantness. • Participants then completed a five minute digital recall task. • Finally, participants were asked to recall as many words from the first slide show as possible.

  7. Results • A one-way ANOVA yielded a main effect for number of words recalled F (2, 69) =10.76, p<.001, such that the survival group (m=14.36, sd=3.50) recalled more words than did the mating and pleasantness groups (m=11.33, sd=2.68; m=10.24, sd=3.00) respectively. • The survival group showed significance in the number of words recalled than the sexual and pleasantness groups (p<.01). There was no significant difference among the pleasantness and sexual group.  • The mean number of participants who recalled words from group 1 were M=28.50 (SD=17.04), group 2 M=20.80 (SD=11.76), and group 3 M=35.90 (SD=11.65). Tukey’s Post Hoc tests were conducted which found that participants recalled words from group 3 significantly more than group 2 (p=.05).

  8. Discussion • We hypothesized that participants primed with the survival and mating scenarios will have a higher verbal recall than those primed with the pleasantness scenario. We found that the survival group recalled significantly more words than the mating and pleasantness groups. However, we were not able to support the hypothesis that the mating group would also remember more words. • While analyzing the data, we also found that participants remembered the third group of words significantly more often than the second group of words.

  9. Limitations • Participants did not always understand or pay attention to the instructions when they were read aloud. Placing a slide with the instructions at the end may eliminate this confusion. • Participants may have difficulty recalling words that are ambiguous. For example, the word “fly” could represent the verb or the insect. “Alcohol” could signify the beverage or aid used to clean out wounds. • The scale used to rate the words may have been confusing to some participants. The scale ranged from relevant to not relevant. The scale instead could have been written in terms described in the three different scenarios; pleasant to unpleasant.

  10. References Nairne, J. & Pandeirada, J. (2008). Adaptive memory: Is survival processing special? Journal of Memory and Language, 59, 377–385

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