EXPERIMENT-4

MEMORY
RECALL

AIM: To study and compare the recall of meaningful words and nonsense syllables (non-
meaningful words)
INTRODUCTION:
Memory refers to the processes that are used to acquire, store, retain, and later retrieve
information. There are three major processes involved in memory: encoding, storage, and
retrieval. Human memory involves the ability to both preserve and recover information we
have learned or experienced.
• Memory Encoding
When information comes into our memory system (from sensory input), it needs to be
changed into a form that the system can cope with, so that it can be stored.
Think of this as similar to changing your money into a different currency when you travel
from one country to another. For example, a word which is seen (in a book) may be stored if
it is changed (encoded) into a sound or a meaning (i.e. semantic processing).

There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed):
• Visual (picture)

• Acoustic (sound)

• Semantic (meaning)
For example, how do you remember a telephone number you have looked up in the phone
book? If you can see it then you are using visual coding, but if you are repeating it to
yourself you are using acoustic coding (by sound).
Evidence suggests that this is the principle coding system in short-term memory (STM) is
acoustic coding. When a person is presented with a list of numbers and letters, they will try
to hold them in STM by rehearsing them (verbally).
Rehearsal is a verbal process regardless of whether the list of items is presented acoustically
(someone reads them out), or visually (on a sheet of paper).
The principle encoding system in long-term memory (LTM) appears to be semantic coding
(by meaning). However, information in LTM can also be coded both visually and
acoustically.
• Memory Storage
This concerns the nature of memory stores, i.e., where the information is stored, how long the
memory lasts for (duration), how much can be stored at any time (capacity) and what kind of
information is held.
The way we store information affects the way we retrieve it. There has been a
significant amount of research regarding the differences between Short Term Memory
(STM ) and Long Term Memory (LTM).
Most adults can store between 5 and 9 items in their short-term memory. Miller (1956) put
this idea forward and he called it the magic number 7. He though that short-term memory
capacity was 7 (plus or minus 2) items because it only had a certain number of “slots” in
which items could be stored.
However, Miller didn’t specify the amount of information that can be held in each slot.
Indeed, if we can “chunk” information together we can store a lot more information in our
short-term memory. In contrast, the capacity of LTM is thought to be unlimited.
Information can only be stored for a brief duration in STM (0-30 seconds), but LTM can last
a lifetime.
• Memory Retrieval
This refers to getting information out storage. If we can’t remember something, it may be
because we are unable to retrieve it. When we are asked to retrieve something from memory,
the differences between STM and LTM become very clear.
STM is stored and retrieved sequentially. For example, if a group of participants are given a
list of words to remember, and then asked to recall the fourth word on the list, participants go
through the list in the order they heard it in order to retrieve the information.
LTM is stored and retrieved by association. This is why you can remember what you went
upstairs for if you go back to the room where you first thought about it.
Organizing information can help aid retrieval. You can organize information in sequences
(such as alphabetically, by size or by time). Imagine a patient being discharged from hospital
whose treatment involved taking various pills at various times, changing their dressing and
doing exercises.
If the doctor gives these instructions in the order which they must be carried out throughout
the day (i.e., in the sequence of time), this will help the patient remember them.

Tulving has proposed yet another classification and has suggested that the declarative
memory can either be Episodic or Semantic. Episodic memory contains biographical details
of our lives. Memories relating to our personal life experiences constitute the episodic
memory and it is for this reason that its contents are generally emotional in nature. How did
you feel when you stood first in your class? Or how angry was your friend and what did s/he
say when you did not fulfil a promise? If such incidents did actually happen in your life, you
perhaps will be able to answer these questions with reasonable accuracy. Although such
experiences are hard to forget, yet it is equally true that many events take place continuously
in our lives and that we do not remember all of them. Besides, there are painful and
unpleasant experiences which are not remembered in as much detail as pleasant life
experiences.
Semantic memory, on the other hand, is the memory of general awareness and knowledge.
All concepts, ideas and rules of logic are stored in semantic memory.
Episodic memory and semantic memory are the two types of declarative memory. These are
the long-term memories stored in the brain of a human being. Episodic memory is associated
with the events that take place in the life of an individual. These memories are stored in the
limbic system of the brain.
 Semantic memory, on the other hand, is associated with some facts and figures. It is the
conceptual memory that is stored in the brain of a person. Examples of both these memories
have been listed in the article. In some instances, both these types of memories may work in
integration. The episodic memory is only involved in storing the information about some
events while the semantic memory involves storing logical inputs in the brain. Both the
episodic and the semantic memories are stored in the hippocampus and other regions of the
temporal lobe.

Sensory Memory
The incoming information first enters the sensory memory. Sensory memory has a large
capacity. However, it is of very short duration, i.e. less than a second. It is a memory system
that registers information from each of the senses with reasonable accuracy. Often this
system is referred to as sensory memories or sensory registers because information from all
the senses are registered here as exact replica of the stimulus. If you have experienced visual
after-images (the trail of light that stays after the bulb is switched off) or when you hear
reverberations of a sound when the sound has ceased, then you are familiar with iconic
(visual) or echoic (auditory) sensory registers.
Short-term Memory
You will perhaps agree that we do not attend to all the information that impinge on our
senses. Information that is attended to enters the second memory store called the short-term
memory (abbreviated as STM), which holds small amount of information for a brief period of
time (usually for 30 seconds or less). Atkinson and Shiffrin propose that information in STM
is primarily encoded acoustically, i.e. in terms of sound and unless rehearsed continuously, it
may get lost from the STM in less than 30 seconds. Note that the STM is fragile but not as
fragile as sensory registers where information decays automatically in less than a second.
Long-term Memory
Materials that survive the capacity and duration limitations of the STM finally enter the
long-term memory (abbreviated as LTM) which has a vast capacity. It is a permanent
storehouse of all information that may be as recent as what you ate for breakfast yesterday to
as distant as how you celebrated your sixth birthday. It has been shown that once any
information enters the long-term memory store it is never forgotten because it gets encoded
semantically, i.e. in terms of the meaning that any information carries. What you experience
as forgetting is in fact retrieval failure; for various reasons you cannot retrieve the stored
information.
The Magic number 7 (plus or minus two) provides evidence for the capacity of short-term
memory. Most adults can store between 5 and 9 items in their short-term memory. This idea
was put forward by Miller (1956) and he called it the magic number 7. He knew though that
short-term memory could hold 7 (plus or minus 2 items) because it only had a certain number
of “slots” in which items could be stored.
However, Miller didn’t specify the amount of information that can be held in each slot.
Indeed, if we can “chunk” information together we can store a lot more information in our
short-term memory. The duration of short term memory seems to be between 15 and 30
seconds, according to Atkinson and Shiffrin (1971). Items can be kept in short term
memory by repeating them verbally (acoustic encoding), a process known as rehearsal.
DESCRIPTION:
This experiment is used to understand the level of recall associated with learning meaningful
words as well as nonsense syllables (non-meaningful words). The experiment consists of two
sets that are Set 1 and Set 2. For Set 1 the subject is shown a series of 10 flashcards for 3
HYPOTHESIS:
The recall of the meaningful words will be better than the recall of nonsense syllables (non-
meaningful words)

VARIABLES:
• INDEPENDENT VARIABLE: This is the variable that is manipulated by the
experimenter. In this experiment, the independent variable is the list of
meaningful and non-meaningful words.
•
DEPENDENT VARIABLE: This is the variable on which the effect of the
independent variable is visible. In this experiment, the dependent variable is the recall
of memory of the subject.

CONTROL VARIABLE: This is the variable that is kept constant throughout the
duration of the experiment. In this experiment, the control variable is the
temperature of the room

MATERIAL’S REQUIRED:
• 10 flashcards of meaningful words
• 10 flashcards of nonsense syllables (non-meaningful words)
• Stopwatch
• Paper
• pen/pencil
DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS:
• NAME: ABC
• AGE: 18 YRS
• GENDER: MALE
• EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION: UNDER GRADUATE
• DATE: 26 NOVEMBER 2020
th

• MARITAL STATUS: SINGLE

ADMINISTRATION:
RAPPORT FORMATION:
The subject was firstly made sit comfortably at one spot and a conversation was striked in
order to form a rapport with the subject and the experiment was begun in a few minutes after
the subject was ready to perform. After this, instructions were directed to the subject and it
was clear to subject so there were no confusions.
INSTRUCTIONS:
• I will be showing you 2 sets of flashcards. Each of the sets consists of 10 flashcards.
Set 1 consists of meaningful words and Set 2 consists of nonsense syllables (non-
meaningful words). You have to learn all the words and recall each one of them in a
serial order.
• Each flashcard will be shown for only 3 seconds. For Set 1 (meaningful words) the
trials will continue until you get all the words in the correct serial order. However,
for Set 2 (nonsense syllables) the trials will continue till we reach the same number
of trials taken to successfully recall meaningful words in the correct serial order.
• We shall start when you are ready, any questions?”
PROCEDURES:
• The subject was invited into the room where the experiment was being held and it was
ensured that the room was well lit and well ventilated. All precautionary measures
were taken as well. Proper rapport formation was established to ensure that the subject
felt at ease while experimenting.
• The instructions were repeated twice to ensure that the subject had complete clarity on
what needs to be done and only after an affirmative answer from the subject was the
experiment started.
• The conduction of the experiment followed. For Set 1, the subject was shown 10
flashcards of meaningful words. Each of these flashcards was shown only for 3
seconds. The subject had to recall all the words in a serial order. The trials were
continued till the subject listed all the words in the correct serial order without any
errors.
• There was a 10-minute break between the two sets.
• The same process was repeated for Set 2 which contained 10 flashcards of nonsense
syllables (non-meaningful words). The number of trials of Set 2 was the same as the
number of trials it took the subject to successfully recall meaningful words in the
correct serial order in Set 1.
• There was a 10-minute break between the two sets.
• Post the conduction of the experiment scoring was done and results were computed.
PRECAUTIONS:
• The subject should be comfortable during the experiment.
• The room should be ventilated and lit.
• There should be no disturbances in the surroundings.
• Instructions should be clear to the subject and should be well followed.
• The flashcards should be prepared beforehand.
• The flashcards should be of the same size and font and well visible.
OBSERVATIONAL REPORT:
My subject was very calm during the experiment and seemed really excited while
performing it. He read all the instructions very carefully and it was made sure that he
followed them. He was looking forward to his result. Over all my subject was pretty
cooperative.
INTROSPECTIVE REPORT:
I found the experiment really fun and I had a nice experience. Now I am looking forward
to my result.
SCORING:
• The scoring of this test is done by hand. The subject is required to recall a
collection of 10 meaningful words in serial order in Set 1.
• While scoring for Set 1 we asked the subject to recall a collection of 10 meaningful
words in a serial order. Before each trial, they are shown the flashcards for a period
of 3 seconds each. If the subject was able to recall the word in the correct order they
were given one point and for every incorrect or misplaced word, they were given a
zero.
• The same process is followed till the time the subject is able to successfully recall all
the meaningful words in the correct serial order without any mistakes.
• The results obtained are noted in table 1. In Set 2 the subject is shown a collection of
10 nonsense syllables (non-meaningful words) and at the start of every trial, she/he is
shown the flashcards again, for 3 seconds each.
• For every successful recollection and association, they are given 1 point and for every
incorrect association, they are given a 0.
• The same process is followed for the same number of trials that it took for the subject
to successfully recall meaningful words in the correct serial order in Set 1. The
results obtained are noted in table 2.
• The total number of correct answers for the trials in Set 1 and Set 2 is calculated and
computed. Using the total number of correct answer the mean is calculated for both
Set 1 and Set 2. Once the two means are calculated and compared we can understand
which list of words were easier for the subject to recall.

RESULTS:

TABLE 1 – RAW DATA FOR SET-1 (MEANINGFUL WORDS)

TABLE 2 – RAW DATA FOR SET-2 (NON-MEANINGFUL WORDS)

SNO. WORDS TRIAL-1 TRIAL-2 TRIAL-3 TRIAL-4

1. 1 1 1 1
DOVX
2. 1 0 0 1
XAPS
3. 0 0 1 1
UYRPZ
4. 1 1 0 1
FUZWAG
5. 0 0 1 1
QPNZU
6. 0 0 1 1
ZIWJFR
7. 0 0 1 0
RSWUVDY
8. 1 1 1 1
SUWTEG
9. 0 1 0 0
KIBAFV
10. 1 1 0 1
MAHWA
NO OF CORRECT 5 5 6 8
RESPONSES

SUM OF CORRECT 5+5+6+8=

RESPONSES 24
 MEAN OF CORRECT MEAN OF CORRECT RESPONSES= TOTAL NUMBER
RESPONSES OF CORRECT RESPONSES/4=
24/4=6

INTERPRETATION:
It can be seen that for SET- 1 (meaningful words) in trial 1 the subject got 7 correct
responses, for trial 2 it was 7, trial 3 was 8 and in trial 4 the subject was able to correctly
recall all the meaningful words in the correct serial order without errors. It took the subjects
only 4 trials to correctly recall all the meaningful words in the right serial order. For SET-1
(non-meaningful words) in trial 1 the subject correctly recalled 5 words, for trial 2 it was 5,
trial 3 was 6 and in trial 4 it was 8. The subject was unable to successfully recall all the non-
meaningful words within 4 trials. The sum of correct answers in SET-1 (meaningful words)
was 32 whereas for SET-2 (non-meaningful words) it was 24. Using the sum of correct
answers, the mean of correct responses was calculated. The mean for SET-1(meaningful
words) was 8 whereas the mean for SET-2 (non-meaningful words) was 6. This indicated
that for my subject the recall of meaningful words was better than the recall of non-
meaningful words which clearly proves the hypothesis.
DISCUSSION:
The aim of the experiment was “To study and compare the recall of meaningful words and
nonsense syllables (non-meaningful words)”. The experiment was conducted on a 21-year-
old, who completed his graduation in 2019. During SET-1, which consisted of meaningful
words it was observed that the subject in the 1 and 2 trial was able to recall 70% of the
st nd

words in the correct order. With the progression of trials, it was seen that the subject was
successfully able to recall all the words with minimal errors in trial 4 and there was a perfect
recall with 0 mistakes. In SET- 2, which consisted of nonsense syllables (non-meaningful
words) it was seen that in the first 2 trials there was a slight error in the order of recall of the
words. However, for trials 2 and 3 there was a slightly better recall, but the subject was
unable to recall the nonsense syllables within 4 trials. The mean of correct answers was
calculated, and it was seen that the mean for meaningful words was 8 which was more than
the mean for nonsense syllables (non-meaningful words) which was calculated to be 6. Thus,
it could be derived that for my subject recall of memory was better and more effective in
meaningful words in comparison to nonsense syllables (non-meaningful words).
CONCLUSION: