How good is your memory?

In this task students are asked to memorise a collection of objects and then list what they remember. Randomly, half of the students are given a disruption task to perform before entering their list. Both groups are then shown the objects again and asked to enter the number they identified correctly. You will need to pair them up so their partner can ensure they give an honest answer of how many they got right. The number of correct values for the two groups are then compared using a bar chart on one slide, and the mean and standard deviation on the next slide. The number of items used in the experiment and their viewing time are set in the data table in the first screen. If you copy and edit this activity, you can change these to whatever suits your students. Please note that photographs used in this activity are creator's own. All other images are creative commons.

By Catherine van Saarloos