Technology & Memory (DP IB Psychology): Revision Note

Here is an example of a Paper 3 source and a 6-mark SAQ using technology (HL extension) in the Learning & Cognition context:

Source 2

Here is a study conducted by Sparrow et al. (2011) on the effects of technology on memory.

Aim: To investigate the relationship between memory, technology, and the ‘google effect' (reliance on technology rather than on one's own memory to retain information).

Participants: The original journal article does not give any details of the sample demographic. 

Procedure: Participants were asked to learn some new items of trivia that they had not known before the experiment and to enter this information into a computer. The independent variable consisted of two conditions: 

• Condition 1: The participants were told that the information they had entered into the computer would be saved and that they would be able to access it at a later date

• Condition 2: The participants were told that the information they had entered into the computer would be deleted

Half of the participants in both condition 1 and condition 2 were told that they would have to remember the information they had learnt, as they would need it at some point later

Participants then completed a recognition task in which they were shown the 30 trivia statements, with half of them altered slightly. Participants were asked to make judgements about each statement: Is this exactly what you read earlier? Has the statement been saved or deleted? Has the statement been saved to a folder? If so, which one?

Results: In condition 1 participants who were told that they could access the information at a later date did not recall it as well as participants who were told that the information would be deleted.  

Q2: Analyse the findings from source 2 and state a conclusion linked to the claim that technology has a negative effect on memory and learning.

[6 marks]

Worked example:

It could be concluded that the ‘google effect’ leads to ‘digital amnesia’ – the state of being overly dependent on electronic sources to store and retrieve information – which has a negative effect on memory. The findings (knowing that information would be available later in condition 1) may reflect the idea that individual memory is changing to that of a ‘shared memory’, with the internet being the receptacle for information that is accessible to many rather than just to the individual, which in turn increases the validity of the findings

However, in real life people may work harder to remember key information, particularly if it is of personal significance to them. Additionally, it is difficult to form a strong conclusion based on the findings, as nothing is known of the sample used in the study, decreasing its validity.

Guidance

• Your analysis should refer to the raw scores (if these are included) and/or the descriptive/inferential statistics presented in the findings

  • For descriptive stats this may comprise the mean/median/mode as measures of central tendency and the range/standard deviation as measures of dispersion

  • For inferential stats this may comprise a statement of significance and/or link to the level of probability used

• You should always state which condition of the IV performed better

• You should comment on what the stats seem to suggest about performance per condition

• If relevant, you should comment on what the data tells you about the population, e.g., is this a normal distribution or is it skewed?

• If the research is qualitative then you should focus on how the findings have been categorised/presented and whether there are drawbacks or limitations to how it has been gathered (e.g., sample size, potential bias)

• You should draw a conclusion based on what the data in the source/study tells you about what is being investigated

  • E.g., do the findings suggest that X does affect Y?