Aim - To see whether doodling improves or hinders attention to a
primary task
Explain why Andrade’ study was carried out
- To test whether doodling aided concentration, measured by recall
performance on a memory test
Hypothesis - Doodling aids concentration
IV - 2 groups of 20 participants, 18 f - 2m in control, 17f - 3m in
doodling.
Sample - 40 participants : 5m & 35f from university participant
panel, aged 18 - 55, opportunity sampling, recruit participants from
public in university
Experimental Design
- Independent Measure Design = random sampling
- 2 groups of participants were randomly assigned
+ counter balancing
+ half the participants recall the names of party-goers first, followed
by places mentioned. The other half does it in reverse order.
Research Method
- Lab setting, quiet dull room
= controlled, only IV causing DV, high internal validity
Procedure
- participants recruited after finishing an unrelated study
- tested in a quiet dull room
- listened to mock telephone message describing a bd party and
individuals who are going & not going & places mentioned
, - played for 2.5 minutes, 8 names party goers, 3 names non-party
goers, 8 places mentioned
- provided with pencil, A4 paper with shapes of 1cm diameter, 10
shapes per row, alternating rows of squares and circles
4.5cm margin ( to allow space to write target information)
- asked not to remember any of the information and write down
names of people going to the party, ignore names of non-party
goers
- the doodling group was also asked to shade in squares & circles
- when tape finished, the researcher debrief & apologised the
participants about misleading them
- half the ps were asked to recall names of party goers and then
places mentioned whilst the other half does it in reverse
conditions.
Quantitative Data Collected
Results
Monitoring Performance
- the doodling group shaded a mean of 36.3 shapes
- doodling group mean of 7.8 of 8 names of party goers, sd = 0.4
- control mean of 7.1, sd-1.1 ( not distributed normally )
Recall Performance
- doodling : 7.5 ( 29% higher )
- control : 5.8
How the quantitative data were collected
- Asking pp's to listen to a tape recording of a telephone message.
- The ps were asked to write down the names they heard on the
tape that were attending the party
- Then, the ps were given a surprise memory test, where they were
asked to recall the names of those going to the party and the
places mentioned in the message.