1. F’s and Memory Experiments

2. Count the number of f’s in the following paragraph

3. The necessity of training farm hands for first class farms in the proficient handling of farm livestock is foremost in the minds of effective farm owners. Since the forefathers of the farm owners trained the farm hands for first class farms in the proficient handling of farm livestock, the farm owners feel they should carry on with the former family tradition of training farmhands of first class farms in the effective handling of farm livestock, however futile, because of their belief that it forms the basis of effective farm management efforts.

4. ………….Lets repeat that again……….
There are 47 f’s

5. How Good is Your Memory?

6. Look at the following list of words for two minutes
Look at the following list of words for two minutes. Memorize as many words as you can in this amount of time. Take two minutes to write down as many words from the list as you can.

7. Nine
Swap
Cell
Ring
Lust
Plugs
Lamp
Apple
Table
Sway
Army
Bank
Fire
Hold
Worm
Clock
Horse
Colour
Baby
Sword
Desk
Find
Bird
Rock

8. Take two minutes to write down as many words from the list as you can.

9. Horse
Cat
Dog
Fish
Bird
Orange
Yellow
Blue
Green
Black
Table
Chair
Desk
Bookcase
Bed
Teacher
School
Student
Homework
Class
Apple
Banana
Kiwi
Grape
Mango

10. Because these items can be easily chunked based on category, you can probably remember far more of these words.

11. Some key terms and concepts
Memory
Short-term memory
Chunking
Key Questions for Background Research
On average, how many words can a person remember?
Can other factors such as gender and age have an impact on memory?
Do people tend to remember certain words more than others?

12. The following are just a few ideas you might explore:
Performing Your Own Word Memorisation Experiment
There are a number of different approaches you could take in conducting your own word memorization experiment.
The following are just a few ideas you might explore:
Compare random words versus related words. 
Create two groups of words: one group that is completely random and another that has groups of related words. Ask participants to first complete one trial with the random words, and then complete another trial with the related words. Compare the results of your two trials.

13. Compare results between male and female participants.
Have a group of participants perform the memorization activity, and then compare how many the male participants remembered on average to how many the female participants remembered.
Try the experiment with gender-associated terms versus gender-neutral terms. 
For example, create a list of terms related to objects or concepts commonly associated with women. Then create a list of terms not associated with either gender. Administer both tests to a group of participants and compare the results between the men and women. Did women find it easier to remember the gender-associated terms? Did men find it more difficult? Or were the results insignificant?