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Sebastian and Hernández-Gil (2012) - Coggle Diagram
Sebastian and Hernández-Gil (2012)
experiment
experiment design:
independent measures, digit span test
done individually in ppts breaks at schools
sample:
570 students from Madrid schools aged 5-17
aim:
investigate the development of the phonological loop in Spanish children from age 5-17
compare to an earlier study of healthy seniors and those with dementia
controlled variables:
no ppts has repeated a year
no hearing/reading/writing difficulties
procedure:
3 sequences of 3 digits read out by experimenter at 1 digit per second
ppts asked to recall in the same order
given an example to check they understand
gradual increase in digits
moved on if they got 2/3 sequences right
results
no difference in digit span before 7 as there's no sub vocal rehearsal until 7
digit span increases from 3.76 at 5 to 5.91 at 17
compared to the Wechster Intelligence Scale for children:
the increase in digit span with age is the same but S&H show a lower digit span for all age groups
compared to the earlier study of seniors and those with dementia:
healthy seniors have a digit span above 6 years old
Alzheimer & frontotemporal patients show a digit span similar to 6 year olds
digit span increases with age, up to 15 in Anglo Saxons and 17 in Spanish population (words have more syllables)
increased word length - increased rehearsal - loss of info
increased time to utter word - increased chance of fade
old age limits digit span, but dementia does not limit it
GRAVE
Application
we can see what age learning is easier and the most valuable, apply to primary education
Validity
low mundane realism, stimulus was artificial and not like everyday STM tasks, low ecological validity
Reliability
standardised procedure, stimulus, time of day and procedure controlled, some potential extraneous variables as it was done at break at school
Ethics
the U16 and Alzheimer's and FTD groups were vulnerable, difficult to get full informed consent, researchers had to make sure family members were aware
Generalisability
large sample size of 570 so high population validity, only 59 ppts in secondary study, gynocentric bias (more females)