The Relationship between Head Circumference and Recall of a List Words Essay Example for Free

The Relationship between Head Circumference and Recall of a List Words Essay ABSTRACT This laboratory experiment and report aims on identifying whether head circumference has a significant relationship with the recall of list of words. In this experiment, the researcher has asked 80 (68 females and 12 males) students to participate in the experiment and each were given a chance to memorise the 30 words provided by the researcher. Because of the incomplete response of some participants and extreme values, the researcher opted to use only 61 females and 7 males (68 participants) in the data analysis. Through the use of the SPSS, the study has found that there is a weak positive correlation between the two given variables. This means that the recalling skills of the participants are significantly relevant with their head circumference or head size. INTRODUCTION Cognitive psychology is the study of how the brain processes information. In more everyday terms, it is about the mental processes involved in acquiring and making use of knowledge and experience gained from our senses (Esgate, 2004). The main processes involved in cognition are perception, learning, memory storage, retrieval and thinking, all of which are terms that are used in everyday speech and therefore already familiar to most people. In some research studies, there has been evidence among elderly people with larger head size function better on tests of cognitive function (Reynolds et al, 1999).   As noted by psychologists, an adult head size or circumference is considered to give an appropriate estimate for maximal attained brain circumference (Wickett et al., 2000), such findings have been inferred as a supporting evidence of the theory which optimal neurological development in early phases of life can provide barrier against pathological activities that can influence cognitive performance as they reached their old age (Stern, 2002). However, as the size of the head is relevant to intelligence test scores among young adults, psychologists have noted some possible relations which have been found between head circumference and the cognitive function in elderly people (Deary et al., 2000). In psychological process, some psychologists are trying to determine the relationship between head circumference and recall of a list words.   Ã‚  In a study conducted by Gale, Walton and Matyn (2003) which investigated the cognitive function of elderly people and head circumferences, they have concluded that there is no relationship between cognitive function (memory recall) and head circumference. However, the study have also shown that people with larger head circumference as an adult gained relatively higher scores n the intelligence test on both testing events and were less likely to develop a decline in memory performance over the follow-up period in the study. One other hand, in a cross-sectional study conducted among 818 health older individuals, the researchers have found out that the head circumference is related to performance on global cognitive functioning, tests measuring intelligence and speed of information processing. However, this study has revealed that head circumference or size has not been significantly related with memory functions (Tisserand et al, 2001). In this regard, the main goal of this paper is to conduct an analysis on the relationship of head circumference and recall of a list words.   Thus, this study will work on the following hypothesis:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"There is a significant relationship between the head circumference and recall of a list words†. METHOD This study was conducted in order to assess the relationship of head circumference and recall of list words among students. In order to achieve the objective of the study and to the hypothesis, the descriptive method of research was utilized. The purpose of employing the descriptive method is to describe the nature of a condition, as it takes place during the time of the study and to explore the cause or causes of a particular condition. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire to acquire first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study. According to Creswell (1994), the descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition.     In terms of approach, the study employed both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The quantitative approach focused on obtaining numerical findings was used with the laboratory experiments. The correlation research refers to studies in which the purpose is to discover relationships between variables through the use of correlation statistics (r). The square of a correlation coefficient yields the explained variance (r-squared). A correlational relationship between two variables is occasionally the result of an outside source, so we have to be careful and remember that correlation does not necessarily tell us about cause and effect. If a strong relationship is found between two variables, using an experimental approach can test causality. To assess the strength of relationship between variables, it is important to get the correlation coefficient, which can take on any value between -1 and +1, since this will tell the strength of the relationship between two ranked or quantifiable variables (Saunders et al, 2003, p. 363). Accordingly, a value of +1 represents a perfect positive correlation, which means that the two variables are exactly related, where, as the values of one variable increase, values of the other variable will increase. Conversely, a value of -1 shows a perfect negative correlation, which also means that the two variables are exactly related, only this time, as the values of one variable increase, that of the other decreases. Finally, correlation coefficients between +1 and -1 stand for weaker positive and negative correlations, and a value of 0 means that the variables are completely independent from each other. Table 1: Values of Correlation To assist the researcher in the statistical analysis of the gathered data, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. SPSS is one of the most widely available and powerful statistical software packages that covers a broad range of statistical procedures, which allows a researcher to summarise data (e.g., compute means and standard deviations), determine whether there are significant differences between groups (e.g., t-tests, analysis of variance), examine relationships among variables (e.g., correlation, multiple regression), and graph results (e.g., bar charts, line graphs) (Einstein and Abernethy, 2000). PARTICIPANTS To gather pertinent information, the students were chosen as the respondents or participants for this laboratory study. The participants of this study composed of 68 females and 12 males. However, only 61 female students and seven males were considered to be analysed due to incomplete responses and extreme values. MATERIALS For this study, the experiment has used 30 words which has been shown among the chosen students. Note that the words used ranges from 3-letter words to 4-letter words and have one and two syllables. The data gathered using these words, will determine whether there is a significant relationship between head size or circumference and recall of list words.    PROCEDURE To achieve the objective of the study, the head circumference or size of the students were measured. The measurement of head circumference ranges from 53-62. In this study, the students/participants were asked to read or memorize 30 words which have been given above.   After which the students have asked to mention what words did they recall and the researcher lists the number of words mentioned by the respondents. The scores of the students and the measure of their circumference were used for the analysis of the correlation. RESULT Significant Relations of Head Circumference and Recall   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using SPSS, the descriptive statistics and correlation of the variables were analysed. The result of the analysis were shown in tables and diagrams below.    Descriptive Statistics Table 2 Mean Std. Deviation N Head Circumference 57.015 2.06 68 Recalled List of Words 16.87 3.54    Correlations Table 3 Head Circumference Recalled List of Words Head Circumference Pearson Correlation Sign (2-Tailed ) N 1    .    68 **.315 000. 68 Recalled List of Words Pearson Correlation Sign (2-Tailed ) N 315.** 000. 68 1    . 68 **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)    Figure 1 Scattered Diagram Figure 2 DISCUSSION Given the data gathered from the laboratory experiment, analysis shows that the average of the head size of the students is 57.015 and the recalled words mean average is 16.87 out of 30 words. The correlations table displays Pearson correlation coefficients, significance values, and the number of cases with non-missing values. Pearson correlation coefficients assume the data are normally distributed. The Pearson correlation coefficient is a measure of linear association between two variables. Basically, the values of the correlation coefficient range from -1 to 1. The sign of the correlation coefficient indicates the direction of the relationship (positive or negative). The absolute value of the coefficient of correlation signifies the strength, with larger absolute values showing stronger relationships. The correlation coefficients on the main diagonal are always 1.0, because each variable has a perfect positive linear relationship with itself. Correlations above the main diagonal are a mirror image of those below. In our data, the correlation coefficient for head circumference (independent) and recall from lists of words (dependent) is 0.315. Since 0.315 is relatively close to 1 or -1 this indicates that head circumference (independent) is weak positive correlated with the recall of list of words (dependent). The significance of each correlation coefficient is also displayed in the correlation table. The significance level (or p-value) is the probability of obtaining results as extreme as the one observed. If the significance level is very small (less than 0.05) then the correlation is significant and the two variables are linearly related. If the significance level is relatively large, for example, 0.50, then the correlation is not significant and the two variables are not linearly related. In this result, since the p-value is less than 0.05, then the two variables are not significant Based on the given data, it has been found out that head circumference has a weak positive relation with the recall of lists words. In this regard, the research accepts the hypothesis that there is a significant relationship between head circumference and recall of lists of words among students. In the scattered diagram, it can be said that there is a vague relationship between the two variables. In this regard, it can be said that head size of the students may affect the number of words recalled by the students. CONCLUSION Based on the findings of the data analysis, it can be concluded that the instrument used in this study as well as the method used to achieve its primary objective has been efficient and effective. The findings have shown that the head size or circumference of the students who took part of the study have a weak positive relation with the number of words they recalled out of 30 words provided by the researcher. This study further concluded that the memory function of an individual can be measured through the head circumference or head size of such individual.    Reference Creswell, J.W. (1994). Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. Deary IJ, Whalley LJ, Lemmon H, Crawford JR, Starr JM (2000). 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