Demonstration 3: Meaning Enhances Recall

In the beginning of the experiment, Mr. Anthony gave the class instructions to memorize the 20 words flashed in front of us, and with each word, we had to either count the word’s syllables or identify whether the word is pleasant or unpleasant (determined by the letter A or B on the card). After Mr. Anthony called out all the words, the class had to write the words they remembered down.

The results are:
- The highest number of words remembered is 20 while the lowest is 10.
- The two modes of the data are 15 and 10; therefore the data makes a bimodal graph.
- The average number of the words recalled is15-16 words.

There are two possible reasons of the varying range of scores:
1. Different backgrounds (depending on who you are and what you already remembered)
2. Different memorizing technique: some might make stories or use peg-words while some did not.

There is noticeable difference between the number of words recalled from Group A (syllables) and Group B (pleasant/unpleasant feeling):
- Three students received more A’s than B’s.
- Four students received the same number of A’s and B’s.
- Nine students received more B’s than A’s.

From the results, it can be concluded that words that are associated with meaning—in this case with pleasant or with unpleasant feeling—can be remembered more than words that were memorized with no meaning—counting the syllables. Therefore, when trying to memorize something, it is better to know its meaning. In another words, it is best to use semantic encoding.