Name: Castor, Mark Joseph M.

Title: Role of Expectation and Repetition in Memory Performance

Concept: Expectation and Repetition

Objectives: a.) To investigate the impact of expectation and repetition on memory performance.

b.) To explore how prepared exposure of stimuli influences memory processes.

Results:

Discussion:

The experimenter conducted an experiment about Expectation and Repetition Memory.

The experimenter tasked the participant to prepare five pieces of paper that is labelled trials 1 to
5, and create a table wherein it is divided into four columns. The first column represents the trial
number, the second column represents the expected figure of letters that can be written by the
participant, and third column (achievement) represents the total figure of letters the participant
had written, while the last column (errors) represents the total figure of twisted arrangements of
letters or missing in between letters the participant had written. Then, the experimenter tasked
the participant to input the alphabet letters reversely (Z-A) on the trial 1 paper within 30
seconds. The experimenter told the participant to write the total figure of written letters, and the
figure of errors encountered. On trial 2, the experimenter tasked the participants to execute the
same instruction and timeframe but with the incorporation of expected figure of letters can be
written by the participant. On trials 3, 4, and 5, the process is repeated same with the given
timeframe.

The outcome of the experiment shows that expectations and repetition influences
memory performance, retrieval, and process. It is obeserved from the series of Trials 1 to 5. On
the trial 1, expected figure of letters is 0, figures of achievement is 10, and figures of errors is 0.
Trial 2, expected is raised to 10, achievement is 20 (encompasses expectation), and errors is 0.
Trial 3, expected figure is 15 while the achievement turns out 21 (greater than expectation),
while errors is 0. Trial 4, expected figure of letters is 20, however the achievement figure is 26
(complete alphabet letters), and 0 errors. Trial 5, the expected figure is 26 and it equal to the
achievement figure which results to 26, still 0 errors.

N. Kukushkin (2022) states that "Repetition is a well-documented trigger for memory

formation—the more times something is repeated, the better it is remembered,”. Likewise the
result of the experiment wherein trials 1 to 5 is continuously improving as the expectation figures
were raised, the achievement figures also encompasses it, also with zero errors. According to P.
Nowak (2022), Repetition can also improve memory retrieval. If you’ve ever struggled to
remember something and then had it “pop” into your head after you stopped trying to think of it,
you’ve experienced the power of retrieval cueing. Similarly, to the process of the experiment,
along the activity the instructions were repeated and the participant was exposed to the same
stimuli up until trial 5 which causes the participant to improve overtime. As per A. Kafkas et. al
(2018), a fundamental function of the human mind is the ability to infer predictions and form
expectations. Apart from monitoring regularities in the environment, our brains also need to be
able to learn from, and thereby adapt to, both expected and unexpected stimulus encounters.
This shows along the execution of the experiment as the participant is exposed to the same
stimuli, the expectation figures is continuously raised by the participant itself since along the
trials the participant activates monitoring regularities and infers accurate predictions of letters,
and that makes the achievement figures also increases and keeping the errors at 0.

References:

Communications, N. W. (n.d.). Long-Term Memories a Matter of Order—Not Just Repetition.

www.nyu.edu. https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2022/september/long-term-
memories-a-matter-of-order-not-just-
repetition.html?fbclid=IwAR2XzYn6SEDZfONX65y9YU30XDYYvn0whXI4E16QpNubwbiOZ7r-
eNRmZMk#:~:text=%E2%80%9CRepetition%20is%20a%20well%2Ddocumented,Academy%2
0of%20Sciences%20(PNAS)

Kafkas, A., & Montaldi, D. (2018). Expectation affects learning and modulates memory
experience at retrieval. Cognition, 180, 123–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2018.07.010

Nowak, P. (2022). How Does Repetition Help Memory and Memorization? Iris Reading.
https://irisreading.com/how-does-repetition-help-memory-and-
memorization/?fbclid=IwAR3NrRxmUdC1hBsCTfLkBcYd8_Gk7Ym1FC_PhuRkKvgIaIgbKQ4DM
U_C17o

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