Examples of situational factors

  • Window open in one group but not the other meaning they also were exposed to traffic noise.
  • One member of the group coughing throughout the encoding phase for one group bit not the other.
  • Researcher is sloppy and forgets to start the timer straight away, for one group but not the other when they are in the encoding phase meaning they have a little bit longer to look at the words than the other group.
  • The extract given out to one group in the distractor task is not very well photocopied making it a little smudgy and harder to read, making the task trickier for one group compared with the other, potentially leaving them in a different state of mind before the recall phase compared with the other group.
  • In one group the researchers are whispering to each other about something whilst the Pps are doing the recall task, but in the other group they are silent.
  • The room is very hot in one condition but not the other.