Explanations for Forgetting (AQA A Level Psychology)

An experiment was carried out to test the effects of learning similar and dissimilar information on participants’ ability to remember.

In Stage 1 of the experiment, 10 participants in Group A, the ‘similar’ condition, were given a list of 20 place names in the UK. They were given two minutes to learn the list. 10 different participants in Group B, the ‘dissimilar’ condition, were given the same list of 20 place names in the UK. They were also given two minutes to learn the list.

In Stage 2 of the experiment, participants in Group A were given a different list of 20 more place names in the UK, and were given a further two minutes to learn it. Participants in Group B were given a list of 20 boys’ names, and were given a further two minutes to learn it.

In Stage 3 of the experiment, all participants were given five minutes to recall as many of the 20 place names in the UK, from the list in Stage 1, as they could. The raw data from the two groups is below.

What is the most appropriate measure of central tendency for calculating the average of the scores, from Table 1, in each of the two groups? Justify your answer.

Table 1: Number of place names recalled from the list in Stage 1

Calculate the measure of central tendency you have identified in your answer to part a for Group A and Group B. Show your calculations for each group.

In Stage 3 of the experiment, several participants in Group A, the ‘similar’ condition, recalled words from the Stage 2 list rather than the Stage 1 list.

Use your knowledge of forgetting to explain why this may have occurred.