Sophia conducted an experiment to investigate the serial position effect in short-term memory recall, specifically looking at how word position affects retrieval.
She recruited 9 participants from a Year 12 cohort. Sophia read aloud a list of 15 words to each participant. Immediately after hearing the list, participants were asked to write down as many words as they could remember.
Sophia recorded the number of words recalled correctly from the middle of the list (words 6–10) and from the end of the list (words 11–15). Each category had a maximum score of 5.
The results of Sophia's experiment are shown in Table 1.
| Participant | Number of words recalled correctly from Middle Position | Number of words recalled correctly from End Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 5 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | 2 | 3 |
| 7 | 3 | 4 |
| 8 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | 3 | 5 |
Calculate the mean number of words recalled correctly from the Middle Position.
You must give your answer to one decimal place.
Practise Edexcel A Level Psychology Research methods and skills with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 657 questions covering Research methods and skills, matched to the Edexcel A Level Psychology (9PS0) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.
