LAB REPORT 1

TITLE: Effect of Age on Performance on the Memory Interference Test

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The MIT is a test designed to assess a subjects memory base d on responses to sensory cues. It is first preceded by a demographic survey designed to obtain more information about the subject. The survey is entirely optional, and the subject can decline to answer any individual question. The actual memory test has three modes: picture memory (PMIT), word memory (WMIT), and auditory memory (AMIT). For this specific study, the PMIT was used, which uses pictures as its sensory cues. The PMIT is further divided into 4 tests. In test 1, the subject is first presented with a list of 20 pictures to memorize (henceforth referred to as targets). These pictures are displayed one after another, with a fixed amount of time in between. Afterwards, a list of 50 pictures consisting of the previous 20 target pictures mixed with 30 additional pictures (henceforth referred to as distracters) is presented one after another, and the subject must indicate whether or not each picture was on the previous list by pressing an arrow key. The right arrow key corresponds to an affirmation of the picture being displayed previously, while the left arrow key corresponds to a denial of the picture being displayed previously. Tests 2 and 3 are the exact same as test 1, but with different sets of targets and distracters. In test 4, a list of 60 pictures consisting of 10 target pictures from the previous 3 tests mixed with 30 new distracter pictures is displayed. The subject must indicate whether each picture was in test 1, test 2, test 3, or in no test at all. This is done by pressing the 1 key, 2 key, 3 key, and 0 key, respectively. Throughout all of these tests, the subject should try to answer each picture as quickly as possible. This test is then followed by a reaction test, in which a square or a circle is flashed onto the screen. The subject must press the right arrow key in response to the square, and the left arrow key in response to the circle. The MIT program then calculates two scores for the subject: one for correctness, and one for reaction time, and sends these scores to a database where scores for an entire demographic group can be retrieved.

RESULTS Set 1 is comprised of the correctness scores of the age 19 group, while set 2 is comprised of the correctness scores for the age 21 group. Set 1 had a population size of 3600 students, while set 2 had a population size of 404 students. The mean score of set 1 was 137.0 with a standard deviation of 10.0, and the median score of set 1 was 139.0. The mean score of set 2 was 135.1 with a standard deviation of 12.0, and the median score of set 2 was 138.0. All scores listed above are measured in points, as calculated by the MIT program. The Students T-test value for the difference between the means for the two sets is 3.629 with 4002 degrees of freedom. This T-test value indicates a p-value of less than 0.1%.

DISCUSSION As our p-value is less than 0.1%, the difference in mean scores between the two populations was extremely unlikely to have occurred by chance, and so the proposed null hypothesis that the mean scores of a group of 19 years of age and a group of 21 years of age are equal is refuted. Hence, the alternative hypothesis that the 19 year old group would score differently from the 21 year old group is supported. However, it must be noted that the T-test used was a two-tailed hypothesis test, and so it was nondirectional. The T-test and the p-value obtained from it can only reveal statistical significance of the difference in number of correctly answered questions between the two age groups. It cannot determine that one age group would reliably score more correct answers than the other age group. This conclusion would require a one-tailed T-test to obtain. A limitation of this study was the fact that the sample size for the 21 year old age group is small in comparison to the 19 year old age group. This could be remedied by having more 21 year old subjects undergo the PMIT test. Another limitation of this study was the fact that the subjects are mostly UCLA students. This study could be greatly improved by having 19 and 21 year olds at other institutions and in the work force undergo the PMIT test. This would broaden the demographic scope of the two populations, and eliminate effects of demographic characteristics other than age. For example, the majority of students who completed the PMIT self-identified their ethnicity as Asian (Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, etc.), and this may have affected the results. By including more 21 and 19 year olds from other locations and demographic backgrounds, this would no longer have any effect.