A researcher wanted to investigate if different components of working memory (the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad) operate independently. She conducted an experiment in a highly controlled environment where participants were divided into two groups:
Group 1 performed a visual tracking task (tracking a moving dot on a screen with a stylus) while simultaneously repeating a sequence of numbers aloud.
Group 2 performed the same visual tracking task while simultaneously describing the angles of a capital letter from memory.
The researcher measured performance accuracy on the visual tracking task. She found that Group 2 performed significantly worse than Group 1.
The investigation of working memory outlined above was a laboratory experiment.
Explain one limitation of a laboratory experiment. Refer to the investigation above in your answer.
32 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Psychology Experimental method. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.