Audio and Visual Digit
Span Test
Cole Gilbert
Central Catholic High School
9th Grade
Problem
Do people remember
things better by hearing or
seeing them?
Digit Span Test
•
This test was created by J. Jacobs in 1887 to test
the memory span of his students.
•
From then on it has been an important tool in the
study of short term memory.
•
It has been recreated many times and many
different variations have been done on it.
Short Term Memory
•
Function of the brain allowing one to forget
unimportant information and pass on important
information to be stored.
•
Due to the constant influx of new information short
term memory is one of the most important
processes of the brain
Visual Memory
•
Allows interpretation of the visual field.
•
Received through the occipital lobe.
•
Attaches to the prefrontal cortex for
transmission of memory.
Auditory Memory
•
Brain interpretation of the audio field.
•
Collected in the auditory cortex.
•
Attaches to the prefrontal cortex for
memory transmission.
Learning
• Various approaches to remembering.
• Chunking; breaking up information into
smaller, easier to remember segments
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is
to test if people remember better
by hearing things or by seeing
things.
Hypotheses
Subjects will remember more
information by auditory recall
than by visual recall.
Null: There will be no significant
variation in recall between
auditory and visual stimuli.
Materials
•
Table to record results.
•
Seven sets of random numbers that range from four digits long to
ten digits long. Each set increase in length by one digit.
•
A different seven sets of random numbers that range from four
digits long to ten digits long. Each set increase in length by one
digit.
•
Twenty freshman subjects CCHS.
•
Quiet Room
•
Stopwatch
Procedure for Auditory
•
The test the proctor read the first string of numbers
aloud to the subject.
•
The proctor waited thirty seconds.
•
Subject was asked to orally repeat the string of
numbers.
•
The process was repeated with a new set of random
numbers which increased by one digit each time
until the subject revealed a mistake in sequence or
number
Procedure for Visual
•
The test proctor gave the subject a piece of paper with the
string of numbers on it.
•
The subject got fifteen seconds to look at the number.
•
The subject then handed the paper back to the proctor.
•
They waited thirty seconds.
•
The subject then repeated the number they saw back to the
proctor orally.
•
This process was repeated with a new set of random
numbers until revealed a mistake in sequence or number
Example String
6319
Auditory and Visual Results
by Subject
Blue=Auditory
Green=Visual
11.25
9
Number
Correct 6.75
of Digits
Correct 4.5
2.25
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Individual Subjects
Average Auditory and Visual
Results
Blue=Auditory
Green=Visual
6.6
Average
Number
of Digits
Correct
6.325
6.05
5.775
5.5
5.225
4.95
All Subjects
ANOVA Analysis of Mean
Scores
• ANOVA analysis compares variation between
two groups
• Reject null if p value is below 0.05
• Calculated p value=0.120511
• 0.120511>0.05 the difference is INSIGNIFICANT
Conclusions
•
The null hypothesis was accepted
because the p value was above 0.05.
However the visual had a better overall
average than the auditory.
Extensions
Limitations
•
More test subjects
• To few subjects
•
Using a tape for the
audio test for less
variation
• More than two
sets of tests
•
Have four random sets
of numbers for both
auditory and visual tests
• Too much
variation in the
auditory test.
References
•
Baddeley, Alan D. Your Memory, a User's Guide. London:
Prion, 1993. Print.
•
Fuster, Joaquin M. Memory in the Cerebral Cortex: An
Empirical Approach to Neural Networks in the Human and
Nonhuman Primate. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1995. Print.
•
Houston, John P. Fundamentals of Learning and Memory.
New York: Academic, 1981. Print.
•
Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia Dictionary. Springfield:
Federon Street, 2002. Print.
•
"Parts of the Brain - Memory & the Brain - The Human
Memory." Parts of the Brain - Memory & the Brain - The
Human Memory. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.human-memory.net/brain_parts.html>.