Investigate how information changes with each
reproduction and to find out why the information
changes
Procedure
Serial Reproduction
First participant in a series read the tale twice to themselves, at normal reading speed. Then waited 15 - 30 minutes
before teliing the story to the second participant, each told the story to the next particpipant,
until all 10 had heard it. This was done with several chains of participants.
Repeated reproduction
Each participant was tested separately - read the story to themselves twice - after 15
minutes they gave their first reproduction; then after 20 hours, 8 days, 6 months and 10
years.
Didn't know the aim
Findings
Very few recalled accurately. Serial and repeated
reproductions showed the same changes.
Patterns in errors: Form, Details, Simplified, Addition
Evaluation
Strengths
Both the repeated and serial
reproduction tasks were done
many times. Reliable.
Other stories used in serial reproduction.
This showed that the changes weren't special
to the 'War of the Ghosts'
Weaknesses
Story from different culture, so not generalisable.
Bartlett did not always test the repeated reproduction participants after the same time intervals,
so the changes over time cannot be compared fairly.
Conclusion
Unfamilar material changes when it is recalled. It
becomes shorter, simpler, and stereotyped
Carmicheal et al (1932)
Aim
Find out whether words shown with pictures would
affect the way the pictures were remembered
Procedure
Laboratory
experiment
Independent
measures
The participants were asked to draw the pictures they had
seen. These were compared to the original.
95 participants split into 3 groups
Pictures shown with Word List 1 (Group 1),
Word List 2 (Group 2), and a Control Group
with no words.
Shown 12 pictures
Findings
Drawings produced by
people who heard list 1 were
very different to list 2 -
drawings looked like the
words
List 1: 73% of drawings resembled the word
List 2: 74% of drawings resembled the word
Control Group: 45% of drawings resembled either word
Conclusion
Memory for pictures is
reconstructed - verbal context
affects recall
Evaluation
Strengths
Using a control group who did not hear any worrds at all - can be
sure that people's drawings weren't always distorted in the same way.
Using two different lists they showed clearly
that the verbal labels affected people's
drawings.
Findings supported by more recent study - Lupyan (2008)
Using 12 pictures, and having lots of participants gave lots
of evidence. Reliable.
Weaknesses
In real life, things are not as ambiguous as the
stimulus figures were. Not generalisable.
Palmer (1975)
Aim
Whether context affects perception
Procedure
Laboratory experiment
64 students
Shown scenes, and provided a context
through 4 conditions: appropriate,
inapprapriate (similar), inappropriate
(different) and no context
Repeated measures
Written instructions
Findings
Correctly identified the most objects after seeing an appropriate context
Conclusion
Expectations affect perception
Evaluation
Strengths
Controlled length of time - 2 seconds -
participants saw the context and
objects for
Written instructions so
they knew exactly what
to do
Didn't use two sets of results because
participants forgot glasses - poor vision
could have affected results
Weaknesses
Told what they were doing, means participants could
have tried harder in some conditions