Handedness and its relationship to the retrieval of face-memory, under the conditions of elaborative and non-elaborative encoding

Mehmood, Aneesa (2014) Handedness and its relationship to the retrieval of face-memory, under the conditions of elaborative and non-elaborative encoding. Manchester Metropolitan University. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

As the effects of increased hemispheric interaction in handedness influencing episodic memory have been found in studies investigating the effects of handedness on memory, the intention of this study was to observe the effects of handedness and its relationship to the retrieval of face-memory. This evaluated whether or not handedness would have an effect/enhance the retrieval of episodic memory on tasks that demand deeper levels of processing, and high retrieval processes; in line with theoretical predictions by Christman and Butler (2011), a memory advantage for Mixed-Handers occurs due to Mixed-Handed subjects being able to engage in deeper levels of processing, due to superior interactions between the cerebral hemispheres. A 2x2 repeated measures experimental design was used, with the within subjects variables being performance on face-name recognition tasks under the conditions of elaborative and non-elaborative learning. The between subjects variable was the handedness groups (Strongly Right-Handed vs Mixed-Handed). Analysis of the data by 2x2 mixed ANOVA found a significant main effect for coding, within the elaborative coding condition. The findings do not support the hemispheric interaction theory, as no significant main effect was observed.