I am conducting a experiment.........?

Question

I am going to conduct a experiment in school as part of a pyschology investigation and I am going to test whether music has an influence on memory recall, but havent got a clue on what extract I can give to the participants to read, not to long has to be short and quite simple, from this I will give them another sheet with multiple choice answers, anyone have any ideas on what extract/ comprhension test I should use...Thanks. P.S doesnt have to be psychology based.

Answer 1

In looking at the description of the experiment you propose, you have omitted some critical factors which must be determined before you either select a text extract, or even better, construct your own.

Before doing anything, I would suggest that you do a fairly extensive literature search, which will give you some idea of how you might best construct this experiment.

The first question, of course, are the demographic characteristics of the sample you will be selecting. What is the age of the sample? Are they elementary, secondary, or postsecondary students? Do you have one or both genders represented? Are there any special characteristics, such as dyslexia, hearing disability, ethnic/racial characteristics which distinguish this sample from the population on which you plan to project your findings?

Next, you'll want to determine precisely what characteristics of learning you wish to identify as criteria to be tested. Are you interested in short-term memory, long-term memory, ability to abstract the contents of the extract, or comprehension based upon multiple-choice questions requiring understanding of the material? Or, you want subjects to compare and contrast differing viewpoints expressed within the text of the experimental material?

What music stimuli are you going to use? Are you going to compare several genres of music to measure their effectiveness? How are you going to present the music? Will it be before, before and during, or only during the reading of the presented material?

You then need to test the text to determine the range you get without any music being presented. If you find that the comprehension criteria you have established tend to cluster around the same score you may have to revise several times so that you get more variance within the control group. There are advantages and disadvantages to wide or narrow distributions, depending upon the experimental method which you are going to use.

After all this work has been completed, you'll want to construct the hypotheses which are going to be tested by your experiment. You also need to determine the precise procedures which you are going to use as well as the "confidence levels," which you will use to accept or reject your hypotheses.

After you complete all these things, then you are ready to either write your own or find a text which represents a good test of all the criteria you have established.

Designing experiments of this kind are by no means a simple task. If you follow the steps outlined above, do some reading, and consult with your instructor as you need to, you should find this to be a very useful learning experience.

Answer 2

The choice of extract depends on the purpose of your experiment, because of the different processing strategies the brain uses for different topics.

For example, an extract about the music of J.S.Bach will be treated differently by the brain, from an extract about his love life.

If you are using the music of Bach, then a reading about the Beatles will be processed differently from a one about Bach; it is probable that a piece about Emily Pankhurst will be processed in a way that is different from either.

Different writers are known for their individual 'angle'. Dickens uses rich visual and interpersonal cues in his descriptions. Jack Kerouac appeals to cultural biases and stereotypes, particularly relevant to urban/rural divisions in the USA.

Agatha Christie tunes in to a particular cultural context, which is aspirational for some readers. Sara Paretsky's grim urban & corporate underworld is equally aspirational for some readers.

Depending upon the 'flavour' of the extract, people will recall different parts according to their tastes. (stereotypically, girls are supposed to remember characters' attitudes to each other, while boys remember the colour of their cars; in reality, the girls are equally likely to remember the brands of the characters' designerwear, and the boys will remember subtle political affiliations)

Whether the music is liked or disliked by a participant is just as likely to affect their performance, as the match/mismatch between the music and the extract.

You may need to use a range of extracts, scored for their emotional, factual, mathematical, visual, and literary content, as well as their closeness to the mood or lyrics of the music you are testing. The extracts could then be matched to each participant's personality, or an extract could be selected which gives everybody an equal amount of 'preferred' material to recall.

Processing will also be different if the extract is read TO the participants, than if they are reading it themselves.

Answer 3

You want something that is equally familar or unfamiliar to everyone in the group, not too hard to read, and not too technical or obscure, or exciting or distressing.

I would suggest one of the following:
* a newspaper report of a sports or arts event
* an obituary or profile from a national newspaper
* a descriptive passage from a travel guide
* a short section of someone's autobiography, perhaps describing the place they grew up

Answer 4

The song 50 Nifty United States is an example. (It's a song by Ray Charles from 1951) It puts all the of the states in alphabetical order. I use it with my 5th grade students and they always learn the states much easier then just listing them.

Answer 5

im studying psychology and we did a similar experiment.

we were investigated dichotic listening though.

we used an extract from a DIY book as this is something people are all likely to have equal experience of, unless you have any professional decorators!!!

this will stop interference from people being interested in the text and reading differently to others.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

How about asking someone to remember a paragraph from a book versus remembering a verse from a song.

I'm sure the verse from a song would be more memorable and prove your theory.

Answer 8

it needs to be something that he entire test group is interested in and would be fun, why not have them write modern versions of nursery rhymes and make into a booklet and then have group study and recall that while listening to classical music first , then pop, then rock, then rap, then country, then alternative and se which group does best in a cross blind study.

Answer 9

Use a popular piece of text, that your participants will be able to relate to, but make sure that you give them all the same text.

Answer 10

They say that classical music does increase brain power and they proved it in a study.................. maybe if you gave them an extract of a recipe an old one should do the trick therefore they would have to remember weights, and ingredients.