The document summarizes a study that explored how related and unrelated words affect memory recall. Thirty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to recall either related words (African animal names) or unrelated words. Results showed that participants who recalled related words scored higher on average than those who recalled unrelated words, supporting the hypothesis that related words are recalled more accurately due to their ability to be grouped into meaningful categories. The document concludes that grouping vocabulary words into categories can improve word recall during exams.

1. The Effects of Memory on Related and Unrelated Words
Amanda Hanks
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Rick Harnish
METHOD
Participants.
• Thirty (30) Penn State New Kensington
undergraduates participated in my experiment.
• Each received extra credit in their introduction to
cognitive psychology course.
Procedure.
• Participants were randomly assigned to the conditions
of the experiment – half were given a questionnaire
with related words, while the other half were given an
a questionnaire with unrelated words.
Stimulus Material.
• One questionnaire contained nine related words,
while the second questionnaire contained nine
unrelated words.
Measures.
• A basic questionnaire was created using nine African
animal names for the related word-recall and nine and
random words for the unrelated word-recall. Each
questionnaire contained two syllable words.
ABSTRACT
• This research explored how related and unrelated
word-recall effects memory.
• Results supported my hypothesis that related word-
recall is more accurate than unrelated word-recall.
• Results are discussed in terms of the type of word-
recall that have the most impact on memory.
INTRODUCTION
• Koriat and Melkman (1981), found that words that
are related have a more accurate recall than
unrelated words.
• Related words are more likely to be accurately
recalled due to participants being able to group the
words into a meaningful category (Koriat & Melkman,
1981).
• Thus, I hypothesized that related words would be
more accurately recalled compared to unrelated
words because related words will form meaningful
categories in memory while unrelated words will not
form meaningful categories.
RESULTS
• To test my hypothesis, the total number of correctly
recalled words were submitted to an independent
samples t-test.
• Results revealed support for my hypothesis.
• Participants who recalled related words scored higher
(M = 8.67, SD = .72) compared to those who recalled
unrelated words (M = 8.47, SD = .92), t (28) = .66,
p < .05
DISCUSSION
• Related word-recall has a bigger impact on memory
due to the ability to group the words into a
meaningful category.
• To aid individuals who are studying new vocabulary
words, grouping words from a list into meaningful
categories will improve word-recall during an exam.
• Future research could examine how many words is
the maximum for an individual to retain.
REFERENCE
• Koriat, A., & Melkman, R. (1987). Depth of processing
and memory organization. Psychological Research, 49,
173-181.