This study aimed to investigate the effects of the performance time of the distractor task and the test interval on the amount of free recall in Short-Term Memory. (STM)
Sixty first-year students in middle school were randomly assigned to one of the ...
This study aimed to investigate the effects of the performance time of the distractor task and the test interval on the amount of free recall in Short-Term Memory. (STM)
Sixty first-year students in middle school were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental groups as following conditions; (1) receiving 3-seconds of the distractor task to perform and 10-seconds of the test interval, (2) receiving 3-seconds of the distractor task to perform and 120-seconds of the test interval, (3) receiving 18-seconds of the distractor task to perform and 10-seconds of the test interval, and (4) receiving 18-seconds of the distractor task to perform and 120-seconds of the test interval.
Projector type tachistoscope (TKK-208) was employed to present subjects with the tasks. The significance of obtained data was tested by the mixed design of 2×2×3(W) ANOVA, and the results were interpreted by one-or/and two-process theory.
The conclusions obtained in this study are as follows; (1) the performance time of the distractor task has an effect on the amount of free recall in STM. (2) the test interval does net have an effect on the amount of free recall in STM. (3) the number of trials has an effect on the amount of free recall in STM. (4) the first or second order interaction effects of these variables are not found in this study.