EPISODIC MEMORY: CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT WORDS

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Concrete and Abstract Words and How They Are Stored With Episodic
Memory

Neophytos Gregoriou
European University Cyprus
Stun. Nos: F20132341
PSY253 Intro. To Research Methods in Psychology
Spring Semester 2015
Date of Submission 12/5/15

Abstract
In this study I will explain the theory behind episodic memory and how information is
stored, then I will write down the procedure of the experiment which is based on the
theory and i will analyze it to see if our hypothesis came true, or not.

EPISODIC MEMORY: CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT WORDS

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Concrete and Abstract Words and How They Are Stored With Episodic
Memory
The theory on retention of words in episodic memory suggest that words can
be remember and stored in memory for long or short periods of time and on long or
short recall time depending of the depth of processing levels. It can be shallow,
intermediate, or deep levels of encoding. Deeper levels of encoding are best to be
carried out if the person needs to remember well. Also a semantic orienting task has
shown to be better at remembering words rather than using a structural orienting task.
This means that its better to imagine what the word means and think about synonyms
rather than looking at what letters the word contains (Craik, & Tulving, 1975).
Furthermore the dual-coding theory says that we can store words with their
pronunciation and meaning which is verbal and also its image that represents the
word, which is non-verbal, for example if its an object then its form (Paivio, 1990).
Concrete words that represent an object or something that can be perceived visually
can theoretically be stored on a deeper level of encoding rather than abstract words
which represent ideas and they are only verbal (Fliessbach, Weis, Klaver, Elger, &
Weber, 2006). Studies have shown that abstract words activate mostly the left inferior
frontal cortex when you hear them, which is an important part of understanding the
semantics of the word, but with concrete words showed stronger activation in the
brain, the same place as before and in addition in the posterior inferior parietal lobe
which is used to retrieved visual information. I will base this study on an experiment I
conducted, in which I delivered vocally concrete and abstract words to people who
agreed to participate in this experiment. I am expecting to find that concrete words
will be able to be recalled more than abstract words.

EPISODIC MEMORY: CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT WORDS

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Methodology
I used a within subject design. I chose a convenient sample since it was easy to
find a lot of people willingly to help with the experiment at the cafeteria of the
European University. There were 30 females and 20 males. The mean age for the
females is 21,4 and for the males is 22.7, in addition every participant was over 18
years old.
Material
The things I gave to the participants is a consent form which the rules, their
rights and the reason for the experiment are written and if they agree they would sign
the form. After I said the words I gave them an empty sheet of paper and a pen to
write down words they recalled and then the debriefing form explaining to them the
true purpose of the experiment and also contact information if they wanted to find out
the results or anything to ask. The words I used were: concrete {apple, car,
microscope, hammer, bird, money, ocean, pencil, baby, book} abstract {moral, effort,
interest, theory, anger, fate, chance, happiness, hope, knowledge}
Apparatus
What I was holding with me was the instructions I needed to follow a pen the
consent and debriefing form to hand out.
Procedure
I started looking for participants at the cafeteria of the university during lunch
hours since a lot of people would be their taking their breaks. After I found a person I
asked if they were available and willing to do an experiment, if they agreed I would
give them the consent form to read and sign it. Then I would lead them somewhere
quiet without a lot of noise to reduce the distractions on the environment. I informed
the first half of the people that I would read the words one by one and they would
have to tell me if the words contained the letter a, this is for them to actively complete
a structural oriented task. Then they will have to count backward by minus three
starting from a random two-digit number, this would distract them from the real goal
and stop encoding any more of the words. I would let the counting last for 15 second.

EPISODIC MEMORY: CONCRETE AND ABSTRACT WORDS

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For the final phase I gave them an empty sheet of paper and ask them to write down
as many words as they remember. They had 90 seconds to do this. When they finished
I gave them a consent form, thank them for their cooperation and leave, I would later
separate the concrete words from the abstract. I would ask the other half of people to
think if the word i said has any association with the university, this plays the role of
the semantic oriented task.
Results
Paired Samples Statistics
Mean
Pair 1

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

abstract

3,10

50

1,282

,181

concrete

4,28

50

1,539

,218

Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences
95% Confidence
Interval of the

Mean
Pair

abstract -

concrete

Std.

Std. Error

Deviation

Mean

-1,180

1,746

,247

Difference
Lower
-1,676

Sig. (2-

Upper
-,684

t
-4,779

df

tailed)
49

0,000016

I used paired sample t-test as the independent included two groups, the
concrete and the abstract words. Independent variable : words, dependent variable:
which words where recalled more. Abstract mean is 3.10 concrete mean is 4.28, level
of significance is 0.000016
Discussion
The results came out as expected as the concrete mean is higher than the
abstract and the level of significance shows that there is a difference between the two
groups. In addition the experiment could be better if the sample was bigger and not be
a representative just for university students which their brain is constantly activated,

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also I could not foresee if some words were unknown to certain people. Furthermore I
could minimize the distractions from the environment a lot more.

References
Fliessbach, K., Weis, S., Klaver, P., Elger, C., & Weber, B. (2006). The effect of
word concreteness on recognition memory. NeuroImage, 1413-1421. doi:
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.06.007. Retrieved from: http://epileptologie
bonn.de/cms/upload/homepage/weber/Fliessbach_Neuroimage_2006.pdf
Craik, F., & Tulving, E. (1975). Depth of processing and the retention of words in
episodic memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 104(3),
268-294. doi:10.1037/0096-3445.104.3.268
Paivio, A. (1990). Mental representations: a dual coding approach. New York:
Oxford University Press.