Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Expectations And Memory: Positive And Negative Expectations Of Memorizing The Armenian Alphabet, Micah Wood, Madeline Hoyt

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Studies suggest that expectations may have an effect on various cognitive functions, including memory. To this point, no studies have exclusively investigated the effect of expectations on short-term memory. This study tested the effect of positive and negative expectations on short-term memory, utilizing the Armenian alphabet as a test of memory. N=45 undergraduate students (23 men, 22 women), ranging in age from 18-26 years were divided equally into three groups: Group 1 was a control group, Group 2 was manipulated to have positive expectations before testing, and Group 3 was manipulated to have negative expectations before testing. All groups were …