Godden and Baddley- Divers Evaluation

Godden and Baddley- Divers Evaluation

1. GENERALISABILITY

   • LOW GENERALISABILITY
     • Small Sample= 18 Divers on a diving holiday
     • Unrepresentative= All from the same diving club

2. RELIABILITY

   • Study's conclusions reinforced by findings of others
     • Smith (1985)
       • Words learnt listening to Mozart/Jazz/Silence were recalled best when background music at recall matched learning
   • Lack of control over extraneous variables in procedure;
     • Equipment failure, inconsistent diving location, lack of standardisation and timing, fitness, and weather conditions
     • However, they tried to standardise as much as possible;
       • How they gave the words, cold and wet at end of day, all in diving gear
   • Participants could have cheated
     • Researchers did not observe them through learning and writing stage
       • But unlikely as results seemed realistic- there was correlation

3. APPLICATION

   • EYE WITNESS TESTIMONY POLICE
     • Take witnesses back to the crime scene of the event
     • Or recreate the event to cue memories
   • EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
     • Reinstating the learning context for examinations
       • i.e. Learn in hall, sit exam in hall

4. VALIDITY

   • HIGH VALIDITY
     • Realistic open water environment for divers
   • LOW VALIDITY
     • Learning words is artificial
     • Not a realistic reflection of everyday memory

5. ETHICS

   • PROTECTION
     • Divers 20 feet under water, so at risk
     • However they were experienced divers
   • CONSENT
     • Consent was given by participants