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Digit Span Report

The document describes a digit span test conducted using PEBL to measure the short-term memory of a 17-year-old male student. The test presents sequences of digits for the participant to recall in order. It starts with 3-digit sequences and increases in length. The participant achieved a maximum digit span of 10, indicating a good working memory capacity. Analysis of the results and the participant's introspective report suggest they started focused but became impatient with longer sequences near the end of the test.

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690 views3 pages

Digit Span Report

The document describes a digit span test conducted using PEBL to measure the short-term memory of a 17-year-old male student. The test presents sequences of digits for the participant to recall in order. It starts with 3-digit sequences and increases in length. The participant achieved a maximum digit span of 10, indicating a good working memory capacity. Analysis of the results and the participant's introspective report suggest they started focused but became impatient with longer sequences near the end of the test.

Uploaded by

drstrange090106
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Memory Span Test: Digit Span Test

Method

Aim: To measure the short-term memory using a digit span test.

Plan: To conduct the computerised memory span task through digit span test with PEBL to
the subject.

Participant

The subject is a 17-year-old male, A.S, who is pursuing BSc Psychology (Hons) at Christ
University, Bangalore.

Materials: Digit span experiment on PEBL

Digit span test: Memory span test is one of the commonly used tests to measure short
term memory. The test could be performed with presentation of items that are words, images
or numbers. When the numbers are used as items, it is called as digit span test. During the
test, the working memory span is measured with sequential digits that can accurately be
remembered. Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL) version of the test is used
in the current experiment. The task consists of the presentation of three digits which are to be
recalled. The length of digits increased sequentially.

Procedure

The subject is seated comfortably. Rapport has to be established. The following


subject details are recorded: name (initials), age, sex and education. After the basic
orientation to the test, the subject will be asked to start the test. Sequences of numerical digits
(from 0 to 9) are presented on the screen for a few milliseconds. The correct sequence of the
digits has to be recalled and typed. The task starts with a three digit long number and the
complexity increases after each trial. The upper bound is10 digit long number that has to be
recalled. Three lists of digits are given for each trial length. Two consecutive wrong attempts
leads to the end of the task and the memory span of the person will be given at the end of the
task. If two out of three lists are completed correctly, then it will move on to the next longest
list length. A few practice trials have to be given to the subject to reduce the interference of
response delay. Once the participant has finished all the trials, the saved data will be
downloaded in an excel sheet from the PEBL response repository.

Instructions

The following instructions are to be given to the subject: “You are about to take part
in a memory test. You will be presented with a sequence of digits. Each digit will occur only
once during a list. You will then be asked to type the list of digits exactly in the order you saw
them in. If you do not know what digit comes next, you can skip over it by typing the ‘-’ key.
Try to put the numbers in the original list positions. If you make a mistake, you can use the
backspace key to make a correction. You will start with a list of three items and will get three
different lists at each length. If you are able to recall two out of three lists completely
correctly, you will move on to the next longest list length”.

Ethical Considerations
As what was followed in previous report

Analysis of Results

The data on the responses of the participant was downloaded from the repository of
PEBL. The memory span is represented by the length of the number that could be recalled
correctly. The more the digit span, the more the working memory span is. The person will be
able to remember the digits like in the case of phone numbers, more accurately.

Results and Discussion

The Digit Span test is the PEBL version that is administered to the subject. This test is a
short-term memory test for children aged 7 years and above.
The test evaluates the working memory capacity and the amount of information that one can
remember for a very short period of time (usually 30 seconds or less).
The results of the subject A.S. are shown in the table below.
Table 1

Memory span of the participant A.S.


Length of Digit Span Total time Interpretation
10 8 mins 43 seconds Good working memory.

*The average digit span for normal adults without error is seven (plus or minus two)

According to the observational report of the subject, he started the text with a relaxed and
calm mind. As the number of digits kept increasing, his mind started taking more time to
recall the answers. He looked at each digit with much concentration and did not get distracted
easily. Any noise or activity in his surroundings didn’t bother him, he was focussed on the
numbers which showed up one by one on his screen.

Towards the end, as the digits became 9 and 10, he started getting impatient and couldn’t
remember some of the digits.

Upon asking for an introspective report, the subject reported that he started with a confident
attitude and didn’t bother to look around or hear any noises in the background. Towards the
end, he wasn’t being able to recall some of the digits and went with his gut feeling about
what he thought was right. With each number he got right, he gained more confidence that he
would be able to do the next one correctly.

Conclusion

The subject shows an exceedingly well score on the digit span test and thus it can be
concluded that they have a very good short-term working memory.

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