Explain how you would carry out an experiment to examine the effect of temperature on memory (12

marks)

You must refer to/provide details of:

• A laboratory or quasi-experiment
• How you would measure the dependent variable
• An independent or repeated measure group design
• Analysis of data (descriptive and inferential)

1. Lab - IV + DV? Operationalised. Control of DV + EVs? Conditions

2. DV - Operationalised. Clear measure. (Simple) Results? Ordinal
3. Independent Group Design or Repeated Measures Design? Conditions - how will they work? Order
effects? Counterbalancing?
4. Data - descriptive - mean, median, mode graphs/ inferential

Lab Experiment
IV = Temperature of the room
DV = The accuracy of repeating a sequence of pictures

Repeated measures design

Ordinal data, participants ranked in order of best to worst.

I will use a Lab experiment. There will be 30 participants that will take three different memory tests in three
different conditions. The first test will take place in a room with a set temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. The
second test will take place a week later in the same room but with the temperature set to 35 degrees Celsius
and the third test, another week later in a temperature of 10 degrees. In each condition, the participants are
tested on their ability to recall a set of pictures. They will be shown a set of 20 images, each containing one
object e.g. a car, over a period of 2 minutes. They will then have a one minute break and will then have to
write down as many of the images as they can remember. The number of correct answers will be counted and
each participant will be scored out of 20 will one point awarded per correctly recalled image. The results can
then be compared between the two experiments. To control extraneous variables the participants will all
enter the room at the same time and will be given 5 minutes to adjust to the new temperature before the test
starts.