cloa studies

Question 1

Glanzer & Cunitz (1966)

Answer 1

• 2 distinct memory storage mechanisms
• testing recency effect
• 46 enlisted men in US army
• repeated measures
• shown lists of words, 3 exp conditions (immediate vs non-immediate recall)
• recency effect disappeared in 10 + 30 sec cond
• produced by STM - 10 sec delay enough for displacement

Question 2

Anderson et al (1976)

Answer 2

• how personal experiences influence interpretations of stories
• 60 participants, 30 music, 30 PE
• quasi-experiment
• 2 texts, 10 MCQ + free recall test
• analysis of biographical data - effect on interpretations

Question 3

Bechara et al (2000)

Answer 3

• effects of brain damage on ability to use rational thinking
• 17 healthy participants, 8 patients w/ lesions in vmPFCs
• Iowa Gambling Task
• 4 decks, participants pick a card from 1 of the decks
• do this for 100 trials
• initially, they don’t know that 2 of the decks have high initial reward but high long-term risk factors, opposite for 2 other decks
• healthy participants able to resist initial temptation of going for high reward decks
• vmPFC could not
• cannot think past initial impulses due to damage to System 2

Question 4

Loftus & Palmer (1974)

Answer 4

• if memory can be altered by misleading post-event info in eyewtiness situation
• 195 uni students
• independent measures design
• reconstructive memory in relation to LINGUISTIC schema
• 3 versions of critical question
• 1 week alter, were given questions w/ 10 questions + critical YES/NO question (did you see broken glass?)
• emotional intensity of verb in leading question influenced probability of reporting seeing broken glass
• 32% in smashed condition (who said yes), 14% in hit condition, 12% in no critical question condition
• underwent genuine memory change

Question 5

Buchanan & Lovalleo (2001)

Answer 5

• influence of cortisol on emotional memory in humans
• 48 healthy participants
• cortisol released by ADRENAL gland during stress response
• if we feel stressed, amygdala triggers HPA axis& cortisol is released
• participants received 20 mg of cortisol / placebo
• shown range of images (nice, ugly, neutral) on TV
• ranked how emotionally arousing they found images
• 1 week later, memories tests and both groups recalled emotionally arousing images better
• cortisol group remembered more
• elevated cortisol levels during memory encoding enhances long term recall performance of emotionally arousing pics relative to neutral pics

Question 6

Hamilton & Gifford (1976)

Answer 6

• Investigate illusory correlation of group size & negative behaviour
• 39 people, 26 in A, 13 in B → same proportion of positive & negative traits
• Read descriptions about 2 made-up groups - based on positive & negative traits
• No correlation b/w group membership & types of behaviour
• Had illusory correlation as most of the undesirable traits were attributed to minority group B
• Distinctive info draws attention