Deese, J. (1959). On the occurence of particular verbal intrusions in immediate recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58, 17-22.
Douglas A. Bernstein
University of South Florida
AN ALL-PURPOSE MEMORY DEMONSTRATION
This demonstration provides an excellent way of either introducing the topic of memory or summarizing a range of material covered in memory lectures.
The procedure requires only that you ask the class to listen as you read, at about a word per second, the following list:
Bed, quilt, dark, silence, fatigue, clock, snoring, night, toss, tired, night, artichoke, turn, night, rest, dream.
Now give the class 15-30 seconds to write down as many of the words as they can recall.
When time is up, ask how many people recalled the word "sleep." A third or more will have done so, but only through constructive memory, since this word is not on the list. (If you played a tape recording of the list rather than actually reading it, you can prove this point to the skeptics.)
Now repeat the list in order and ask for a show of hands by those who correctly recalled each word. By plotting on the blackboard the frequency of correct recall you should produce a reasonable approximation to the classic serial position curve. Recall scores should be best at the beginning of the list (primacy effect) and the end of the list (recency effect). Words in the middle of the list should have the lowest scores, except for "artichoke" which should be recalled better than its neighbors because of its semantic distinctiveness (it has nothing to do with sleep).
The word "night" should also have a particularly high score, not only because of the recency effect because its higher frequency on the list allowed for better rehearsal.
Now count the number of people who correctly recalled both "toss" and "turn." Due to chunking, recalling one should evoke the other (ask for a show of hands by those who recalled these words in sequence on their lists).
Douglas A. Bernstein, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
University of South Florida
Home Address: 28412 Sombrero Drive
Bonita Springs, Florida 34135
Phone: 239-498-4167
Fax: 239-498-8100
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Virtuous motives, trammelled by inertia and timidity,
are no match for armed and resolute wickedness.
Winston Churchill
----- Original Message -----From: Paul SmithSent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 8:09 AMSubject: RE: when things go wrong in the classroom
Mark A. Casteel wrote:
> Hi Annette. I was surprised to hear you say that the serial position curve
> demo works for you only 50% of the time. For me, it's one of the most
> reliable demos that I can do, and I therefore do it in both my intro class
> and my cognitive psych class. For me, the one time it didn't work was when
> I had a class size smaller than 20. My classes usually range between 40-50
> in intro (although my cognitive class generally is between 15-20). Out of
> curiosity, how many words do you use in your list? I use 15. -- Mark
It has worked for me in relatively small classes, including a class of 12 this semester. In the past I had problems with it, I believe because I simply chose a set of words on the spot. Lately I've been using a list from Tom Pusateri's demonstration materials (copied below). These have worked quite reliably so far. Notice that they also will produce other effects such as false memory for "SLEEP". Tom reports that this demonstration originally came from Doug Bernstein, and I suspect that it's published somewhere in more complete form.
Paul Smith
Alverno College
Milwaukee
BED
CLOCK
DREAM
NIGHT
TURN
MATTRESS
SNOOZE
NOD
TIRED
NIGHT
ARTICHOKE
INSOMNIA
REST
TOSS
NIGHT
ALARM
NAP
SNORE
PILLOW
---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
---
You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
