title: The impact of group size on memory and memory beliefs: a methodological report.
abstract: Two studies examined the impact of group size on interview results for older and younger adults. Both studies assessed memory performance over multiple trials, as well as memory beliefs. The second study also examined the relationship of state anxiety to group size, in the context of a motivational goals-feedback paradigm. Correlational data in both studies showed no relationship between group size and memory performance or memory beliefs. In the second study, larger groups were associated with greater arousal, and with reduced self-efficacy, for the older adult participants only. Although group size effects approached significance on several other measures, these results indicated that group size is not a critical factor in cognition, nor is it a confound when examining the outcomes of multi-trial list learning studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-2250, USA. rwest@geron.ufl.edu
authors.forename: Robin L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: Dana K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Bagwell
authors.forename: Anyika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005246:Feedback; D006040:Goals; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D009042:Motivation; D010379:Peer Group; D011594:Psychometrics; D020377:Self Efficacy