How do visual stimuli affect memory recall?

Definitions

VISUAL STIMULI: Visual stimuli is fundamentally anything that can be seen which initiates a response from the brain. A practical application of Visual Stimuli in a psychological experiment is associating an image with each word in a given word list. How does involving the sense of sight affect the human memory?

MEMORY RECALL: Memory recall is focused on the “Memory Model”, entailing the brain’s reconstruction of the sensory information of a certain event or detail for present use. Memory recall can be tested in a variety of ways, including rehearsing and then repeating a given list of words.

THE MEMORY MODEL: The Memory Model is a term used to describe the way in which the human brain works to retrieve memories; it proposes that the Human Memory is made up of 3 components. The first of these is the sensory buffer, where the basic environmental sensory information is initially registered, followed by the Short-Term, or “working” memory, where they reside until rehearsed, a final practice that enters them into the long term memory. If the memory isn’t rehearsed, it ceases to exist.

Factors

Visual Stimuli

Elaborative imagery has been proven to benefit the effectiveness of the human memory. Theoretically, this should extend to visual imagery. It adds another sensory effect that can be effectively related to when recalling the memory.

Design Types

EXPERIMENTAL: Testing Memory Recall by List Reconstruction
Independent Variable: For one group, words are associated with images while for the other, it's just the words.
Dependent Variable: Accuracy of Recalled List

OBSERVATIONAL: Observing teaching styles (finding some who use lots of graphs and examples and some who don't) and assessing their student's performance.

QUALITATIVE: Organise a round-table with students to discuss the impact that visual stimuli have on their learning, or use a google form to collect this information.

LIMITATIONS/CHALLENGES

Not representative of real word scenario.

Various issues have been raised with list recall in a high school setting

Challenging for one person to decide images that are representative of words to a large group, imagery means different things to everyone.

LIMITATIONS/CHALLENGES

Difficult to find specific cases where no/lots of images are used, usually there is more of a mix

Challenging to verify that the reason for the assessment is the teacher's teaching styles.

Unethical and potentially offensive

LIMITATIONS/CHALLENGES

May not receive answers useful to answering key question

Ethical Constraints when working with students/adolescents directly

Images

Diagrams

Self-referential Imagery

Physical interactions

Colours

Sample Size

Who is impacted by Visual Stimuli's effects on memory?

STUDENTS:

  • Visual Diagrams for Study

ELDERLY:

  • Photographs rekindling old memories

ADVERTISEMENTS:

  • Testing to see what advertisements most effectively imprint themselves in consumer's minds.

Possible Population:
High School Students - at GIHS (Years 11-12)

Possible Population:
People over 75 with Dementia

Possible Population:
Adolescents between the ages of 13 & 17

Possible Sample:
Random Selection of 30 Elderly Assisted Living Home inhabitants (all from same home)

Possible Sample:
Random selection of 30 Glenunga Students between years 11/12

Possible Sample:
Random Selection of 50 Glenunga Students :

Further Possible Independent Variables

Relevance of Visual Stimuli to topic

Colour of Visual Stimuli (Colour/Black and White)

Visual Stimuli With/Without Annotations

Length Spent with Visual Stimuli

General Limitations

Ethical

Extraneous Variables

Prior to any experiment conducted to do with memory, all participants should issue INFORMED CONSENT. However, given that some of the suggested samples include minors, parental consent would be a second factor to consider.

All participants will be briefed on the activity that will be completed prior to the experiment. This gives them time to withdraw, ensuring VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION. This offer extends throughout the entire experiment and as such the RIGHT TO WITHDRAW is upheld.

All participants will be issued ID numbers prior to the experiment to ensure that they remain CONFIDENTIAL in data collection.

Following the experiment, participants will receive a DEBRIEF on the aim of the experiment they engaged in.

Given that this experiment is only dealing with effectiveness of short-term memory, there is no risk to participant's wellbeing. However, when operating with various of the possible samples, care must be exerted to ensure that this remains the case due to their circumstances i.e Dementia patients.

Participant:

Situational

Participants may have varying levels of general memory retention outside of the experiment.

In order to combat this and any other possible participant variables, all samples are selected at random.

Distractions in the environment may impact participant concentration during the experiment.