9 Mark Studies Flashcards
outline Penfield’s study of the interpretive cortex
A: to investigate the function of the temporal lobe using the Montreal procedure
M: operated on patients with severe epilepsy, he could stimulate areas of the brain in a conscious patient who reported their experiences
R:-when stimulation was applied to the different areas the patients reported different things:
-visual cortex=colors, shadows and crude outlines of objects
-somatosensory cortex=tingling sensation or a false sense of movement
-temporal lobe (in either hemisphere)=experiences and feelings (hallucinations) associated with those experiences, including deja vu
C: area stimulated in the temporal lobe has a role in storing memories of previous events
stored in 2 different ways:
facts of the experience and facts for the individual
the interpretive cortex stores info on feelings
what is a strength of Penfield’s study
*precise method
P- used a precise method of studying the brain
E- could stimulate the exact same part of the brain and have verbal reports from awake patients
L- useful in enabling a “map of our brain functions” and would benefit neuroscience immensely
what is a weakness of Penfield’s study
*unusual sample
P- unusual sample
E- all participants had severe epilepsy
L- may not reflect people that have “normal” brains
what is a weakness of Penfield’s study
*mixed results
P- mixed results in later research
E- findings weren’t consistent as in later research only 40/520 people recalled past experiences when the temporal lobe was stimulated
L- interpretive cortex doesn’t always respond in the same way (lacks validity)
outline Tulving’s gold memory study
A: to investigate if episodic memories produce different blood flow patterns to semantic ones
M: -6 participants injected with radioactive gold they monitored blood flow using PET scans, repeated measures
-8 memory trials:
-4 episodic (holidays they had been on as a child
-4 semantic (recalling history facts)
R:-different blood flow in 3/6 participants
-semantic memories=greater concentration of blood towards posterior cortex
-episodic memories=greater concentration of blood towards frontal lobe
C:-suggests that episodic and semantic memories are separate forms of LTM and that they’re located in different areas of the brain (localised)
-supports the idea that memory has a biological bases
what is a strength of Tulving’s gold memory study
*objective evidence
P- produced objective (scientific) evidence
E- evidence from brain scans are difficult to fake
L- unbiased evidence
what is a weakness of Tulving’s gold memory study
*sample
P- restricted sample
E- only 6 participants including Tulving and his wife
conclusion was only based on 3 of the participants
L- data is inconclusive, difficult to generalise results to all people
what is a weakness of Tulving’s gold memory study
*episodic+semantic=similar
P- episodic and semantic memories are often very similar
E- episodic and semantic memories are difficult to separate
L- which may explain inconclusive evidence
outline Murdock’s serial position curve study
A: to investigate if memory of words was affected by where the words were positioned in the list
M: -words from the 4,000 most common words in english were chosen randomly
-participants listened to 20 word lists (with 10-40 words on them)
-they recalled the words after each list
R: -recall was related to the position of the word in the list
-higher recall=first few words (primacy)
-higher recall=the last words (recency) compared to words in the middle of the list
C: -shows the serial position effect=position of a word determines the likelihood of recall
-supports the MSM
what is strength of Murdock’s serial position curve study
*lab study
P- it was carried out in laboratory conditions
E- things like familiarity of words could be controlled
L- more certain that the position of the words affected recall
what is weakness of Murdock’s serial position curve study
*artificial task
P- task was artificial
E- list of words=relates to only 1 type of memory
L- results don’t relate to how we use our memories in other ways (personal events)
what is strength of Murdock’s serial position curve study
*supporting research
P- research with amnesiacs supports the conclusion
E- Carlesimo et al found that some amnesiacs can’t store long term memories and don’t show a primacy effect but show a recency effect
L- proves that primacy effect is related to LTM
outline Bartlett’s war of ghosts study
A:to investigate whether people’s memory for a story is affected by previous knowledge (schemas) and the extent to which memory is reconstructive
M:-Bartlett gave British participants a Native American Folk story to read (culture different from their own) called “War of Ghosts”
-after 15 minutes he asked them to reproduce the story to another person who then has to recall it to someone else (Chinese whisperers)
-each time the story was reproduced a record was made, he asked them again and again over a period of months and years (serial production)
R: -main idea of story was remembered
-changed unfamiliar elements to make sense of the story using more familiar terms to their cultural expectations
eg= -shortened by omissions
-phrases were changed to language and concepts from the participants’ own culture (boat->canoe)
-slight variations
C: -our memory isn’t an exact copy of what we hear
-distorted by what we already know about the world
-people don’t remember details, we remember fragments and use our knowledge of social situations to reconstruct memory
what is a strength of Bartlett’s war of ghosts study
*eye witness testimony
P- explains problems with eye witness testimony
E- this research showed memory is affected by expectations showing that people don’t always recall accurately
L- EWT is no longer solely relied on as evidence in criminal investigations
what is a strength of Bartlett’s war of ghosts study
*real life
P- reflects how we use memory in our everyday life
E- uses a story instead of artificial materials
L- findings are more relevant to real life memory processes
what is a weakness of Bartlett’s war of ghosts study
*“something black”
P- not all memories are reconstructed
E- participants often recalled “something black came out of his mouth” because it was distinctive
L- shows some memories are accurate
outline Von Frisch’s bee study
A: to describe dances of honey bees to understand their communication
M: -observed bees in their natural habitat
-sometimes changed their environment–>put food close to hive (10-20 meters) and far away (up to 300 meters)
-observed bees 6,000 times over 20 years
R: -bees tell each other where sources of pollen are
-round dance: moving in circle to show pollen is less than 100 meters away
-waggle dance: figure of eight shows the direction
-60% of bees went to sources at the distance indicated by the dances
C: sophisticated communication system
what is a strength of Von Frisch’s bee study
*valuable
P- important contribution to science
E- opened people’s eyes to the capabilities of animals
L- great scientific value
what is a weakness of Von Frisch’s bee study
*sound=overlooked
P- importance of sound was overlooked
E- when the bees performed dances in silence, other bees wouldn’t go and investigate the food sources
L- the communication system may be more complex and might include sound based signals
what is a weakness of Von Frisch’s bee study
*don’t always respond
P- bees don’t always respond to the waggle dance
E- bees wouldn’t use the info from the waggle dance when food was placed on a boat in the middle of a lake (bees may know instinctively that food won’t be found in the middle of water/may prefer not to)
L- may be other factors that affect communication; these aren’t investigated so the research is limited
outline Yuki’s study of emoticons
A: to find out if there’s a difference in interpretation of emoticons in Japan and America
M: -95 Japanese students and 118 American students
-participants were presented with a set of six emoticons with different combinations of eyes and mouths (happy, sad, neutral)
-participants were then asked to rate the faces in terms of happiness expressed (9 point likert scale), average was then worked out
R: -Japanese: higher happiness rating for happy eyes than Americans
-American: higher happiness rating for happy mouths even with sad eyes
C: -suggests that Japanese and American people interpret facial expressions differently (may be due to social norms and expectations)
-Americans: brought up to express emotion openly—>look at mouths
-Japanese: brought up to hide emotions—>eyes may be a better way of telling how they’re feeling
what is a weakness of Yuki’s study of emoticons
*artificial materials
P- emoticons may not represent human faces
E- emoticons leave out features such as wrinkle lines which may be important when judging emotion
L- study may lack relevance to everyday life