Modern Psychological Studies Volume 15 Number 1 Article 6 2009 Visual versus auditory learning and memory recall performance on short-term versus long-term tests Katie Lindner Milligan College Greta Blosser Milligan College Kris Cunigan Milligan College Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps Part of the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Lindner, Katie; Blosser, Greta; and Cunigan, Kris (2009) "Visual versus auditory learning and memory recall performance on short-term versus long-term tests," Modern Psychological Studies: Vol. 15 : No. 1 , Article 6. Available at: https://scholar.utc.edu/mps/vol15/iss1/6 This articles is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals, Magazines, and Newsletters at UTC Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Modern Psychological Studies by an authorized editor of UTC Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Katie Lindner, Greta Visual versus Auditory Blosser, Learning and Memory Recall Performance on Kris Cunigan Short-Term versus Long- Milligan College Term Tests Our study explored the influence of visual versus auditory learning on recall of a memory test. There were four groups in our study, two of which heard an article, and two of which read an article. All groups were then given a posttest to assess their recall. Two of the four groups took an immediate posttest, and the other two took a delayed posttest 45 minutes after hearing or reading the article. Visual learning outperformed auditory learning in both the immediate post-test condition, as well as in the delayed post-test condition. Overall, our study found that visual learning produced better recall than auditory learning. The topic of memory recall has been the subject attempted to follow the pattern. This experiment of much research. Research Investigations have found that separate memory processes are involved involved short and long term memory as well as in verbal and visuospatial recall indicating that recall various mediums, such as auditory, visual, and is affected by the medium in which the information is visuospatial. Pickering, Peaker, and Gathercole presented. A similarly revealing study conducted by (1998) designed and conducted an experiment Hall and Edmondson (1992) examined the which studied whether the same memory process importance ofpossessing prior information on a was implemented in the recall of verbal and subject when taking posttests. The significance of visuospatial information. The 59 participants were possessing prior information of a subject matter was five and eight year old children tested in a quiet more evident in delayed posttests indicating that room of their local public school. For the verbal having any amount of prior knowledge of a new group, the experimenter read a list of consonants to subject will enhance long-term memory recall. a child and then asked the child to repeat the letters Participants in memory and recall studies involving in the correct order. Similarly, the children in the information they are somewhat familiar with will visuospatial group watched an experimenter make a provide both higher posttest and delayed posttest series of taps on a set of wooden blocks and then scores. 39 Mayer (1998) has studied if information is participants to learn about the heart and circulatory integrated more easily when words or instructions system. One group was given text and the other two are given auditorily, rather than visually. He groups were given text with diagrams of differing designed an experiment in which children were given complexity. The groups that received diagrams both a computer, which showed an animation of how to displayed higher comprehension. The simplest operate a car or how lightning is formed. diagram created the greatest amount of Instructions were given about these processes either comprehension further supporting the effectiveness aurally or visually. The children were tested of visual learning. Visual recall was also found to be afterwards and scored based on their ability to recall greater in a study by Kargopoulos, Bablekou, information about the processes they had previously Gonida, and Kiosseoglou (2003). Participants were learned about. Recall performance was significantly divided into two groups and given a description of a greater for those children who saw the computer person they had no prior knowledge of. One group animation and received aural instruction than those was given a description with the name of the person who received visual instructions. This is known as in the description and the second group was given a the split-attention effect, where words and pictures photograph with the description. Both groups were can be integrated more easily when the words are given tests that found that people recalled the presented aurally, rather than visually. Watkins and information better when it was paired visually with a Peynircioglu (1986) also designed a study that photograph. examined visual and auditory effects on recall. Our study is a logical extension of the pre-existing Participants were presented with letters or numbers research and literature. By studying the effect of the visually or auditorily. They were then asked to recall type of learning (visual or auditory) over both the list in the order it was presented or in immediate and delayed posttests, we hope to alphabetical order. Auditory recall was found to be provide more evidence for the theory that visual better when participants were asked to present the stimuli creates better recall both immediately and list in serial order and visual recall was found to be delayed over auditory stimuli. better when participants were asked to present the list in alphabetical order. The results of this study Method suggest that auditory learning results in better short- term memory while visual learning results in better Participants long-term memory. An experiment conducted by Our project involved four groups of college-aged Deboth and Dominowski (1978) had similar students (49 students total) from a small Christian findings. Participants were presented with a list of liberal arts college, specifically Milligan College. twenty words either visually or auditorily. Auditory Milligan College is home to approximately 903 presentation was found to increase short-term undergraduate and 197 master's students. There memory recall, but overall there were no conclusive are 664 women and 436 men attending Milligan results indicating whether visual or auditory learning College, and the population's ethnic mix consists of resulted in greater memory recall. Another study by a white majority (86%), but includes a variety of Doty and Savakis (1997) examined whether visual other races as well, including AfricanAmerican (7%) and auditory memory recall was focused in different and Hispanic (3%). 67% of the total student body hemispheres of the brain. The study did not find a are below age 24, 24% are between ages 24 and significant difference in visual verses auditory recall. 39, 8% are ages 40-64, and 1% are greater than Visual memory has been widely studied in recent age 65. All students used in the study were of typical years, specifically, visual-spatial memory as it relates college age (between 18 and 22). Students were to verbal working memory. Butcher (2006) already in pre-existing general education classes conducted an experiment examining the usefulness of (two sophomore humanities sections, one text with diagrams in reinforcing mental model sophomore composition class, and one statistics development and inference. The study asked class), and the number of students in each group 40 ranged from 9 to 16. Classes were chosen Results randomly. Materials A 2 (post-test type: immediate or delayed) x 2 We gave each student in two of the groups part of (learning condition: visual or auditory) between- an article about Warren Buffet's childhood to read subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA) was (see Appendix A for the complete article). The performed to asses recall performance. Data other two groups heard this same part of an article analysis revealed a significant main effect ofpost-test read aloud to them by one of the experimenters. type, such that the immediate post-test for both the Each student in all 4 groups was then given a visual condition (M = 8.00, SD = 1.414) and the twelve-question questionnaire/memory quiz to auditory condition (M = 6.44, SD = 1.82) complete after either reading or hearing the story outscored the delayed post-test for both the visual (see Appendix B for the complete list of questions). condition (M=6.00, SD=2.17) and the auditory The article about Warren Buffet was chosen condition (M = 5.00, SD = 1.71), F(1, 34.73) = because it was clear and concise, and it provided 11.01, p = .002 (see figure 1 in Appendix C). Data the experimenters the opportunity to ask different analysis also revealed a significant main effect of kinds ofmemory questions, such as questions about learning condition type, such that the visual learning numbers, questions about names, and questions condition outperformed the auditory learning about Buffet's experiences. condition in both post-test performance settings, Design and Procedure where F(1, 19.30) = 6.118, p = .02. However, Our experiment was a 2 (reading versus hearing) there were no statistically significant interaction X 2 (immediate versus delayed) between groups effects present. As predicted, visual learning of the design. Before participating in the study, each group information produced greater memory recall than heard an introduction to the experiment and each auditory learning, without regards to the specific test person was given an informed consent form to read type. and sign, with which they could also request further information about the study and its results. After either reading or listening to the article, each student Discussion was given an anonymous, short-answer post-test on the article (see attached for the article and the post- We hypothesized that visual learning of test).