Short Term and Long Term Memory

Overview

Objectives/Goals My project goal was to test the short and long term memory spans of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. Methods/Materials To test the short term memory span, I would go to one of the classes. I would give them material to memorize, both in graphic and non-graphical (text and numbers) form. So for example, I would put some graphics on a sheet. I would make a transperancy out of this sheet, and put it on the overhead for fifteen seconds. Directly after that, I would give them a test to see how much they remembered. This would test their short term memory span. Four days after the short term memory test, I would give them another test to see how much they remembered, but this time the subjects would have to write everything they remembered strictly from memory. This tested their long term memory span. This was done with both graphics and text and numbers, so each subject would take four tests. Results The results were: 8th grade had the best results on every test, the 7th grade the second best, and the 6th grade the worst. The test that had the best scores was the Graphic Short Term Memory. The test that had the worst scores was the Text and Numbers Long Term Memory. The Graphic Long Term Memory and the Text and Numbers Short Term Memory average scores were about the same. Conclusions/Discussion My conclusion proves my hypothesis correct: 8th graders do have the best memory spans. The average scores also seemed to go down with age. The score that had the best scores was the Graphic Short Term, the one with the worst scores was the Text and Number Long Term.

Competition history

• CSEF 2003 Behavioral Sciences · Entry J0325

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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