Group No.

4 Date:

MEMORY
ACa
BS-Psychology 3A Score:

Abstract
I. Background of the Study
Based on the previous study conducted by Richard Knox, Mathew Bergstein Rahul Seth, and
Joey Longo regarding ‘Short Term Memory Based on Gender’ they said that, “The results from
our experiments show that gender has an effect on short term memory. We ran the same
experiment with all subjects and there was a significant gap in the accuracy of men in
comparison to women. Our male subjects averaged an accuracy percentage of 21.2%, and our
female subjects averaged an accuracy percentage of 61.1%. These figures were calculated by
averaging the number of correct responses over the total number of pictures, for each gender.
This is almost a 40 percent difference in the efficiency of short term memory between the sexes.
Our hypothesis stated that our female subjects will prove to have better short term memory than
our male subjects. This is definitely the case in our results. Although, this experiment yields in
favor of the females by 40percent, this figure may be inflated due to the number of subjects that
participated in this experiment. With 20 subjects in each category, the accuracy percentages
would be closer, therefore decreasing the margin between the two groups. Effective studies in
gender and the effects on short term memory can lead to determining which gender has a better
short term memory, why this is the case, and what can be done to bring the other gender up to
par. Hopefully our experiment will inspire more focus in this area of research.”

According to Association for Psychological Science on their study entitled, ‘Sex Differences
In Memory: Women Better Than Men At Remembering Everyday Events’ they said that,
“There are several human characteristics considered to be genetically predetermined and
evolutionarily innate, such as immune system strength, physical adaptations and even sex
differences. Psychologists determine significant sex differences in episodic memory, a type of
long-term memory based on personal experiences, favoring women. Specific results indicated
that women excelled in verbal episodic memory tasks, such as remembering words, objects,
pictures or everyday events, and men outperformed women in remembering symbolic, non-
linguistic information, known as visuospatial processing. For example, the results indicate a man
would be more likely to remember his way out of the woods.”

II. Methods
Participants
Ten (10) heterosexual participants were involved in the experiment: five (5) males and five
(5) females. The respondents came from different colleges of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial
State University-MLUC ranging from age 16 to 20 years old. They were randomly invited to
participate with the experiment.
Materials and Procedure:
The materials used for the experiment are flash cards with images, timer, record sheet and
pencil for recording the results. The flash cards were used to carry out the experiment on short-
term memory.
The experiment was started by gathering a total of ten (10) respondents; five (5) males and
five (5) females around the school vicinity by the group members. The respondents were politely
asked if they have spare time and if want they want to be involved with the experiment. Upon
their approval, they proceeded into the experimental area. As each respondent arrives at the
experimental area, the experimenter explained the procedure regarding the short-term memory
test. Each respondent was instructed to memorize a list of fifteen (15) words written on a paper
within two (2) minutes of time. After which, the experimenter told the respondent that she will
be showing flashcards with images one a time and his/her task is to determine if each image’s
name is present at the list of words presented to him beforehand. He/she has to say yes if the
image was present and no if not. The group recorder records the words he/she got correct and
wrong. The same procedure follows to the rest of respondents.
III. Results
Based on the conducted experiment on Memory (Short-term Memory test), the following
data were obtained:
Table 1.1 Summary of Data gathered in Set 1 in Females
SET 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 correct wrong
F1 / / / / / / / / x / / x x / / 12 3
F2 / / / / x / / / / / / / / / x 13 2
F3 / / / / / / / / / / / / / / x 14 1
F4 / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 15 0
F5 / x / / / / / / / / / x x / x 11 4
Average: 13 2

Table 1.2 Summary of Data gathered in Set 1 in Males

SET 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 correct wrong
M1 / / / / x / / x / x / x / x / 10 5
M2 / / / x x / / / / / x x / / / 11 4
M3 / x / / / / / x / / / x x / x 10 5
M4 / x / / / / / / / x x x x / x 9 6
M5 / / x / / / x / / x / x x x / 9 6
Average: 9.8 5.2

Table 2.1 Summary of Data gathered in Set 2 in Females

SET 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 correct wrong
F1 / / / / / / x / / / / / / / / 14 1
F2 / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 15 0
F3 / / / / / / / x / / / / / / / 14 1
F4 x / / / / / / / / / / / / / / 14 1
F5 / / / / / x x / / / / / / / / 13 2
Average: 14 1

Table 2.2 Summary of Data gathered in Set 2 in Males

SET 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 correct wrong
M1 / x / / / / / / / / / / x / x 12 3
M2 x x / / / / x / / / x / / / / 11 4
M3 / x / / / x x / / / x / / / x 10 5
M4 / x / / / x x x / / x / / x / 9 6
M5 x x / / / / x / / / / / / / / 12 3
Average: 10.8 4.2

Table 3.1 Summary of Data gathered in Set 1 and 2 Between Males and Females

Correct
Set 1 Set 2 average
Females 13 14 13.5
Males 9.8 10.8 10.3
Wrong
Set 1 Set 2 average
Females 2 1 1.5
Males 5.2 4.2 4.7
Discussions
Based on the results gathered, the group arrived with the following key concepts:
▪ There are some behaviors of the respondents which affected their performance during the
experiment. Some of the respondents were at ease and relaxed during and before the
experiment, as they read and memorize the words given to them, showing no sign of
nervousness or tension at all. Thus, having a better performance and a good result of scores.
Furthermore, some of the respondents, mostly the males, show sign of impatience. They did
not consume the time given to them which lasts for 2 minutes; instead they finished reading the
words for only 30 seconds or so. Therefore, leading them to more errors, thus their
performance is quite not good. On the other hand, other respondents patiently consumed their
time and concentrated in reading and memorizing the words, having their own styles and
technique of memorizing, which results to their good performance. Also, there is this certain
participant who does not seem to be taking the experiment seriously, just for him to finish the
experiment; he answered “Yes” all throughout the one set of words. Nonetheless, he performed
well in the other set of words. Those are the significant behaviors of the respondents that
affected their performance in the experiment. However, all of them performed well, but the
female have better performance than the male respondents.
▪ The subjects performed better in Set 2 since according to them, the images in Set 2 are easier to
remember in a short period of time. The respondents were shortly interviewed after the
experiment and five out of the ten respondents said that Set 2 is easier since the set of images
are rampant and commonly used in the environment. On the other hand, four answered Set 1
and one respondent answered neutral.
▪ As we base forgetting under different situations, it is a case to case basis. When forgetting in terms
of short-term memory is being referred to, it is due to passage of time since short-term memory
only lasts up to 15-30 seconds of time. Forgetting in terms of long-term memory, on the other
hand, is due to interference or interpolation. Forgetting information from short term
memory (STM) can be explained using the theories of trace decay and displacement.
Forgetting from long term memory (LTM) can be explained using the theories of interference
and lack of consolidation.

But generally speaking, past researches on short-term memory have revealed some evidences
for decay and additional of evidences showing that short-term memory is worsened by
interference. Studies indicate that short-term memories are subject to very small decay effects
with the mere passage of time but that interference plays a much larger role in their
degradation. One of the potential evidences was proposed by Posner and Rossman (1965) who
explored the difficulty of interpolated tasks on memory performance and did find that the more
difficult the interpolated task, the more forgetting ensued. More importantly, though,
like Roediger et al. (1977), Posner and Rossman did find increases in memory errors even for
simple interpolated tasks, suggesting that these tasks produce interference also. Another
evidence was raised based on an experiment on cockroaches by Minami and Dallenbach (1946)
who tested the interference theory of forgetting with cockroaches. The cockroach was selected
as an experimental subject because of its peculiar characteristic of remaining immobile for as
long as 24 hours if placed in a warm, damp passageway. In this experiment, all cockroaches
had learned to avoid a certain corner of the cage where electric shock was administered. The
cockroaches in the experimental group were then put into the immobile condition. When
retested 24 hours later, they showed almost no loss of retention. But, for a control group of
cockroaches, allowed to be normally active for the same period of time, considerable
relearning was necessary. The experiment gives strong support for the interference theory over
the disuse or trace theory (decay theory of forgetting). Forgetting due to the passage of time
under decay theory is less considered as an explanation to forgetting since one of the problems
with this theory is that it is difficult to demonstrate that time alone is responsible for declines in
recall. In real-world situations, many things are bound to happen between the formation of a
 memory and the recall of that information. Another problem with decay theory is it does not
account for why some memories fade so quickly while others linger. Novelty is one factor that
plays a role in why some things are remembered while others are forgotten. For example, you are
more likely to remember your very first day of college than all of the intervening days between it
and graduation. That first day was new and exciting, but all the following days probably seem quite
similar to each other.

IV. Recommendations
Based on the results of the experiment on reaction time or ruler drop test, the group arrived
with the following recommendations:

1.) Further practices and knowledge must be taken by the experimenter to ensure better
precision at arriving with more reliable results. In this way, the chances of inaccuracy and
extraneous variables can be lessened.
2.) More researches must be conducted in the near future about memory to explain and
create more concrete principles that govern the difference in memory between males and
females.
3.) Testing area must always be considered in conducting an experiment with regards to
memory to lessen or eliminate extraneous variables.