Identifier

107

Date

2017

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Major

Psychology

Concentration

Cognitive Science

Committee Chair

Jason Braasch

Committee Member

Stephanie Huette

Abstract

When recalling information, related knowledge can be impaired due to a phenomenon known as retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). The goal of this study is to continue to test the validity of RIF by using materials that are more complex than the word pairs commonly used in past studies. About 45 undergraduate students will read a total of 24 small argumentative paragraphs debating if social media use is beneficial or detrimental to society. Each will have a claim statement followed by one to three evidence statements. Of the 24 paragraphs, 16 will be of detriments or benefits and 8 will be of the other (this will be counterbalanced across all participants). The procedure will be as follows: a prior knowledge assessment, time to study the 24 paragraphs (both the claims and evidence statements), a vocabulary distractor task, retrieval practice of 8 paragraphs from the group 16, another vocabulary distractor task, and a final recall of all paragraphs. The expected results are that RIF will occur despite the more complex stimuli. In addition to RIF occurring, there are also two correlations expected to appear. One will be the better the performance on the retrieval practice, the stronger the inhibition on the irrelevant information. The other correlation will be the better performance on the practice, the better the final recall performance on the practice information.

Comments

Undergraduate Honor's Thesis

Library Comment

Honors thesis originally submitted to the Local University of Memphis Honor’s Thesis Repository.

Notes

Data is provided by the student.

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