Term of Award

1981

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Psychology

Document Type and Release Option

Thesis (restricted to Georgia Southern)

Department

Department of Psychology

Committee Chair

Paul R. Kleinginna Jr.

Committee Member 1

George [illegible]

Committee Member 2

Cynthia Legu-Bucell

Abstract

Twenty young (20-35 years), twenty middle-age (40-55 years), and twenty old (60-75 years) males and females viewed codable letter sequences of 12 letters each, presented at the rate of one letter per second. Subjects were required to recall the sequences in the correct order of presentation. Low-code sequences were arranged in no meaningful order (e.g., UABGSTNKLRJI) and high-code sequences could be chunked to form three meaningful four-letter words (e.g., JUSTBANKGIRL). All age groups showed significantly better recall on the high-code as compared to the low-code sequences. There were no significant age differences in recall. Both males and females had significantly better performance on the high-code as compared to the low-code sequences. Females improved their recall on the high-code sequences significantly more than did males, indicating a superior coding efficiency for females.

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