EXPERIMENT NO. 1

NAME : BAYHON, AILEEN CLAIRE R. SCORE:
DAY / TIME : W / 7 : 30 – 4 : 30 PM DATE : JUNE 25, 2014

INTRODUCTION TO EXPERIMENTATION
ABSTRACT
The introduction to experimentation aimed to familiarize with some of the logic of research. The materials and apparatuses were pen, paper, and watch with second hand. The procedure of the experiment was that the experimenter instructs the subject to write the alphabet backward (from Z to A) as rapidly as possible. There would be 5 trials of 30 seconds each with a one-minute rest between trials. After the first trial, S would report orally the number of letters written and estimated the number expected in the second trial. After the second, third, and fourth trials, S would report the number estimated, the number achieved and the number estimated for the next trial. After the fifth trial only the estimated and achieved scores were reported.
As the trial repeats in the individual’s performance (subject), there was a rising in the achieved score. On the contrary, in trial 5, the achieved score fell comparing to the previous achieved scores in relation to the subject’s estimated score. In the grouped tally, the computation of the average is 0.2 indicated that the mean with its corresponding intervals below the computed average, failed to have a good performance in the experiment. On the other hand, mean with its corresponding intervals above the computed average, passed in having a good performance in the experiment. Thirteen (13) individuals got a mean of the last achieved score below the average score (0.2) while 42 individuals got a mean of the last achieved score above the average score.
Familiarization through repetition enhanced performance in writing the alphabet backwards. On the other hand, good performance decreases through hindrances such as time pressure, distractions and disturbances from the environment. Therefore, as a whole, familiarization through repetition is effective.

INTRODUCTION
Experiment is a trial or test made to find out about something. It is a test, trial, or tentative procedure or an act or operation for the purpose of discovering something unknown or of testing a principle and supposition. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/experiment Experimental psychology utilizes scientific methods to research the mind and behavior. While students are often required to take experimental psychology courses during undergraduate and graduate school, you should really think of this subject as a methodology rather than a singular area within psychology. Many of these techniques are also used by other subfields of psychology to conduct research on everything from childhood development to social issues. Experimental psychologists work in a wide variety of settings including colleges, universities, research centers, government and private businesses. Some of these professionals may focus on teaching experimental methods to students, while others conduct research on cognitive processes, animal behavior, neuroscience, personality and many other subject areas. http://psychology.about.com/od/researchmethods/a/what-is-experimental-psychology.htm
Experimentation is used in order to get the result of something which is unknown or unclearly. But first, how is the brain function and its relationship to a better memory? Blumenfeld and Ranganath (2006) stated that the results from neuroimaging studies have shown that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) implements processes critical for organizing items in working memory(WM). Based on its role in WM, they hypothesized that the
DLPFC should contribute to long-term memory (LTM) formation by strengthening associations among items that are organized in WM. They conducted an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to test this hypothesis by investigating prefrontal activity during performance of two different WM tasks: on “rehearse” trials, participants actively maintained triplets of words during a brief delay, whereas on “reorder” trials, participants actively organized each triplet during the delay. After scanning, subjects performed an LTM test on words presented during both WM conditions. Behavioral results showed that WM processing in the reorder condition enhanced LTM by strengthening inter-item associations. fMRI results showed that
DLPFC activity specifically during reorder trials was predictive of subsequent LTM. In contrast, activity in the posterior ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was predictive of LTM for words studied on both reorder and rehearse trials. These results support the view that the DLPFC contributes to LTM formation through its role in organization of information in WM. Aquino and Miranda (2005) stated the clarity of our memories of surprising, significant events leads some Psychologists to call them flashback memories, because it’s as if the brain commands, “Print this!”
Memory as Information Processing A helpful model of human memory is that of a computer like information processing system. To remember any event requires that we get information into our brain (encoding), retain it (storage), and later get it back out (retrieval). Consider how a computer encodes, stores, and retrieves information. First, it translates input (keystrokes) into an electromagnetic language, much as the brain encodes sensory information into a neural language. The computer stores vast amounts of information into a neural language. From this information storehouse, it can retrieve a file or document into a working memory, which also can retrieve new information from the keyboard. Part of this working memory is visible on the screen. Similarly, we store vast amounts of information in long-term memory. From our memory storehouse, we can retrieve information into an active working memory, part of which is displayed on our mental screen as short-term memory. And just as a computer’s screen saver, program blanks the screen after a period of inactivity, activated human memories rapidly decay unless kept active.(Aquino, et.al)
APPARATUSES / MATERIALS
Pen, paper, watch with second hand
PROCEDURE
The experimenter (E) instructed the subject (S) to write the alphabet backward (from Z to
A) as rapidly as possible. There would be 5 trials of 30 seconds each with a one-minute rest between trials. After the first trial, S would report orally the number of letters written and estimated the number expected in the second trial. After the second, third, and fourth trials, S would report the number estimated, the number achieved and the number estimated for the next trial. After the fifth trial only the estimated and achieved scores were reported.
SUBJECT
The respondent is a Christian, 18 years old, a third year Psychology student of Rizal Technological University, third of the four siblings.
RESULT
Table 1 and figure 1 show the estimated score and the achieved score of the respondent in writing the alphabet backwards in 30 seconds with 1 minute rest between each trial.
Table 1
The Estimated Scores and the Achieved
Scores of the Respondent in Writing the Alphabet Backwards

Figure 1
The Estimated Scores and the Achieved Scores of the Respondent in Writing the Alphabet Backwards

The table 1 above shows the relationship and the difference of the subject’s estimated score and the achieved score in writing the alphabet backwards. We can see that, as the trial repeats, there is a rising in the achieved score. On the contrary, in trial 5, we can see that the achieved score falls comparing to the previous achieved scores in relation to the subject’s estimated score. Meaning, repetition helps the subject became familiar with the task but even the subject is more familiarize with the task, because of distraction in the environment and time pressure, the performance level of the subject decreased.

Table 2 Grouped Tally of Last Achieved Scores

Figure 2
The Grouped Tally of Last Achieved Scores

I n t e r v a l s i n s e c o n d s
L a s t A c h i e v e d S c o r e s

Table 2 above illustrates the group tally of the last achieved scores with its corresponding intervals and mean. We can see that the estimated mean is 17.88 indicating that intervals 12-17, 6-11 and 0-5 failed to have a good performance in familiarizing on writing the alphabet backwards. On the other hand, intervals 18-23 and 24-29 passed to have a good performance in familiarizing on writing the alphabet backwards.
Figure 2 represents the intervals with its corresponding last achieved scores. It is shown the increasing result of correct letters in writing the alphabet backwards of last achieved score in trial 5.
DISCUSSION
Huber, Clark, Curran, and Winkielman (2008) found the effects of immediate repetition priming on episodic recognition (the “Jacoby–White house effect”) as measured with forced-choice testing. These experiments confirmed key predictions of a model adapted from D.E.
Huber and R.C. O’ Reilly’s (2003) dynamic neural network of perception. In this model, short prime durations pre-activate primed items, enhancing perceptual fluency and familiarity, whereas long prime durations result in habituation, causing perceptual disfluency and less familiarity.
Short duration primes produced recognition preference for primed words whereas long duration primes produced a preference against primed words. Experiment 2 found prime duration effects even when participants accurately identified short duration primes. A cued-recall task found priming effects only for recognition trials that were followed by cued-recall failure. These results suggest that priming can enhance as well as lower familiarity, without affecting recollection. Experiment 4 provided a manipulation check on this procedure through a delay manipulation that preferentially affected recognition followed by cue recall success. I have found out that

Tom Ewer had an experiment in proving that spaced repetition is a good tool in learning anything quickly and efficiently. What is spaced repetition? Spaced repetition is a learning technique that incorporates increasing intervals of time between subsequent review of previously learned material in order to exploit the psychological spacing effect. Alternative names include spaced rehearsal, expanding rehearsal, graduated intervals, repetition spacing, repetition scheduling, spaced retrieval and expanded retrieval. http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Spaced%20Repetition Spacing Effect states that we learn material more effectively and easily when we study it several times spaced out over a longer time span, rather than trying to learn it in a short period of time. http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Spacing%20Effect
Practically, this effect suggests that "cramming" (intense, last-minute studying) the night before an exam is not likely to be as effective as studying at intervals in a longer time frame.
Important to note, however, is that the benefit of spaced presentations does not appear at short retention intervals, in which massed presentations tend to lead to better memory performance.
If you remind yourself of a piece of information regularly, the chance of you remembering it is drastically improved. Tom have experienced this firsthand and can attest to the incredible power of spaced repetition learning — the simple principle of exposing yourself to the same piece of information periodically so that it is eventually lodged within your long term memory. It’s the same reason why when you crammed for an exam in school, you’d forgotten most of what you had learned a week later. The key to retaining information is consistent exposure over an extended period of time — that is how it is transferred from your short term (temporary) memory to long term (permanent) memory. If you remind yourself of a piece of information regularly, the chance of you remembering it is drastically improved. https://managewp.com/spaced-repetition-learning In this study about spaced repetition comparing to my study, my subject crammed in the succeeding trials (“massed presentation”) and I can say that cramming had a negative effect on my subject’s performance because of the falls in her achieved scores especially in trial 5 (Table
1) and Tom Ewer’s study is true. Trial 5 is the last and probably should get a perfect score but the subject got a big decline comparing to trial 4. The idea of spaced repetition, I can suggest to my subject, to use it in order to enhance her performance. He also suggested that “cramming” was not effective as studying at intervals in a longer time frame, so the logic is, “cramming” was effective as studying at intervals in a shorter time frame. This proved that Tom Ewer’s study about “cramming” was not effective on my subject’s performance.

Play it again, Sam. Music repeated gets under our skin. Advertisements repeated replay themselves when we see the product. Repetition of things has a distinct effect on us. Repetition is an act of doing or thinking something over again. Repetition plays a vital role in our memory for a better performance. Repetition creates pattern. Our brains are excellent pattern-matchers and reward us for using this very helpful skill. Repetition creates a pattern, which consequently and naturally grabs our attention at first and then creates the comfort of familiarity. Repetition creates familiarity, but does familiarity breed contempt? Although it can happen, the reality is that familiarity leads to liking in far more case than it does to contempt. When we are in a supermarket, we are far more likely to buy familiar brands, even if we have never tried the product before. Advertisers know this very well. Remember learning your multiplication tables at junior school? We have to repeat things more than once for them to finally sink into our memories. Our short-term memories are notoriously short-term and can forget something (like a person's name) in less than a second. Repetition is one of getting things into longer-term memory and hence is a key method for learning. Repetition is also a basis for trance states and is consequently a basis of hypnosis and hypnotic techniques. http://changingminds.org/principles/repetition.htm In this study, repetition has a big impact on a person’s performance. It makes us familiar with what things we are studying. But on the other hand, aside from the goodness of repetition in our performance, there are hindrances that test its effectiveness such as time pressure, distractions and annoying disturbances. In the case of my subject, trial 3 and 4 assures the effectiveness of repetition but due to hindrances, trial 5 decline.
CONCLUSION
Repetition plays a vital role in memory in order to achieve a good performance. But we must not hold on to the effectiveness of repetition, we should associate focus with a peaceful environment in order to create better result. Familiarization through repetition enhanced performance in writing the alphabet backwards. On the other hand, good performance decreases through hindrances such as time pressure, distractions and disturbances from the environment.
The effectiveness of repetition may vary on the environment and not just its efficiency in sinking something in our memories. Forty-two respondents got an increasing performance as the trial repeats while thirteen respondents got a decreasing effect on their performance. Therefore, as a whole, familiarization through repetition is effective.
REFERENCES
Aquino, G.V. & Miranda, N.C. (2005).Introduction to Psychology 2nd edition.Mandaluyong, Philippines: NBS, Inc.
Blumenfeld, R.S. & Ranganath, C. (2006). The Journal of Neuroscience.Toronto: The Macmillan Company
Huber, D.E., Clark, T.F., Curran, T. & Winkielman, P. (2008). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition. NY, NY: The Berkley Publishing Group.
Website : https://managewp.com/spaced-repetition-learning http://psychology.about.com/od/researchmethods/a/what-is-experimental-psychology.htm http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/experiment http://changingminds.org/principles/repetition.htm
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Spaced%20Repetition