PDF (PhD Thesis Susan Chipchase) - Nottingham eTheses ...

of the memory process are briefly described below. There can also be
manipulations during the retention interval but these are not discussed here.
The encoding stage in memory research can be manipulated by altering
the mental state of the participant at the time they are encoding material, e.g.
by inducing a particular mood state as described above. Altering the demands
of the task performed whilst encoding the material can also affect the level of
memory performance, e.g. asking participants to judge the honesty of a person
can lead to subsequent higher recognition than asking them to judge the sex of
the person (see Lockhart, 2000).
With regard to the retrieval phase, in memory research up until the
1970s most researchers considered that different methods of evaluating
memory were just alternative methods for measuring a common underlying
construct, but since then memory tasks have been seen as possibly involving
different processes that potentially tap different memory subsystems (Lockhart,
2000). One often used measurement of memory is the recognition test. In this
participants are presented with exactly the same material in the test phase as in
the study phase. Items may be presented singly in a free-choice recognition test
(yes, no response required) or in a forced-choice recognition test one
previously studied item is presented along with other new (distractor) items.
The choice of distractors is important in recognition tests as the degree of
similarity between old and new items is one factor which will affect the
difficulty of the test.
In recognition tests it is important to take account of the possibility of
guessing and achieving chance success, although in forced recognition tests
participants are more likely to make an unbiased judgement between
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