The Effect of Mindfulness on Short-Term Memory in Teenagers
School Name
Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
Grade Level
9th Grade
Presentation Topic
Psychology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is to compare the effect of mindfulness with respect to short-term memory capacity. Each subject was met twice. The first time they were given a list of twelve words which were randomly gathered online. Studying the words and stopping when they chose, fifteen seconds later the subject wrote down every word they remembered from the list, assessing the subject’s free recall accuracy. At the second meeting, the subject participated in a mindfulness exercise, “Fading Tones.” A chime was rung twice, with the subject listening until the tone faded. The process was repeated, then data was recorded, comparing the individual subject’s first test to their second test to get rid of any outliers, which are trials 17-20, for more accurate results. The results showed that through the procedure used, the number of words remembered by subjects, the dependent variable, has no relationship to the independent variable, the tones of the chime, since the dependent variable is volatile throughout trials. This lack of a relationship indicates that the hypothesis, which is “if the memory tests are taken, then the test results taken with two complete tones of the chime beforehand will be better than the test results with no complete tones of the chime,” was not supported by the data. The null hypothesis, which is “if the memory tests are taken, there will be no difference in how well the memory tests are completed with or without mindfulness practice,” was supported by the data.
Recommended Citation
Smith, Christina, "The Effect of Mindfulness on Short-Term Memory in Teenagers" (2019). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 215.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2019/all/215
Location
Founders Hall 251 B
Start Date
3-30-2019 8:30 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
The Effect of Mindfulness on Short-Term Memory in Teenagers
Founders Hall 251 B
The purpose of this experiment is to compare the effect of mindfulness with respect to short-term memory capacity. Each subject was met twice. The first time they were given a list of twelve words which were randomly gathered online. Studying the words and stopping when they chose, fifteen seconds later the subject wrote down every word they remembered from the list, assessing the subject’s free recall accuracy. At the second meeting, the subject participated in a mindfulness exercise, “Fading Tones.” A chime was rung twice, with the subject listening until the tone faded. The process was repeated, then data was recorded, comparing the individual subject’s first test to their second test to get rid of any outliers, which are trials 17-20, for more accurate results. The results showed that through the procedure used, the number of words remembered by subjects, the dependent variable, has no relationship to the independent variable, the tones of the chime, since the dependent variable is volatile throughout trials. This lack of a relationship indicates that the hypothesis, which is “if the memory tests are taken, then the test results taken with two complete tones of the chime beforehand will be better than the test results with no complete tones of the chime,” was not supported by the data. The null hypothesis, which is “if the memory tests are taken, there will be no difference in how well the memory tests are completed with or without mindfulness practice,” was supported by the data.
