Background
The background of the current research was stated in Ebbinghaus’ psychological study, and reveals the fact, that if e series of accidental symbols is offered for memorizing, the human memory will be able to memorize the fromer and the latter symbols, while the memorizing of the symbols that are in the middle of a sequence would require several repetitions.
Method
The amount of the participants is restricted. This particular research included only one participant, and the report reveals, that there were nine repetitions of the remembering process. The materials used are the cards with symbols on them. An probationer should choose any envelope with the cards, which are in the particular order, and study this order. Then, the researcher shows the cards without showing what is painted upon them, while the probationer should recollect the order of the cards, and name, as the cards are shown. Then, these cards are shown to the probationer, and he or she has to name the cards. The researcher shows every card, offereing up to two seconds for the probationer to recollect the symbol that is on the card. The periods before sequences are six seconds.
The results are represented in the following table:
The first trial is completely unsuccessful, as all the cards were anticipated wrong. The following attempts are more successful, however, the probationer managed to anticipate all ten cards correctly only during the ninth trial.
Discussion
The hypothesis was confirmed, as it is difficult to remember the meanings, which are in the middle of a sequence. Gormezano Wasserman (1992, p. 68) argue, that an average human needs at least three repetitions in order to remember the sequence of accidental symbols, thus, it should be emphasized, that a human with poorly trained memory was tested.
The limitations of the study do not take into account some secondary factors, that may essentially influence the memory activity of a brain, as a human may be tired, sleepy and so on. This test does not take into account such probability, that is why the results may be corrupted.
The future directions of the further research may be held taking into account the subsidiary factors, that were pointed in the “limitations” paragraph.
Personal Experience
The order of the symbols, words numbers etc are met in our everyday life: words, abbreviations, books, phone numbers. Depending on tiredness, it is possible to remember these sequences rather successfully, however, according to my personal experience the first and the latest are remembered the best.
References
Gormezano, I. & Wasserman, E. A. (Eds.). (1992). Learning and Memory: The Behavioral and Biological Substrates. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.