Cognitive Flashcards
assumptions of the cognitive approach
- how information received is encoded and processed determines our behaviour
- humans are like computers as we input, encode, store, retrieve and output information like computers do
Aim of E1 of Loftus and palmer
to see if the use of leading questions will change a witnesses estimate of speed (in mph) after watching a car crash
method, design and sample of E1 of L+P
lab experiment, independent measure, 45 students from the university of Washingtion
what is the iv of E1 of L+P
the verb used in the leading question- smashed, hit, collided, contacted and bumped
procedure of E1 of L+P
pps were shown 7 films of crashes from seattle PD. in 4 films the speed was known ( 20, 30, 40 and 40 mph)
qualitative account was written by pps and then filled out a questionnaire with closed questions. all the questions were fillers except for the one critical question ( “how fast were the cars going when they ____ into each other”)
results of E1 of L+P
smashed: 40.5
collided: 39.3
bumped: 38.1
hit: 34
contacted: 31.8
conclusions of E1 of L+P
there were 2 reasons for the varied estimates of speed:
response bias - when a pps guesses an answer if they are un sure ( if this is the reason it is not an issue)
memory distortion: - the verb used alters the memory of the pps ( if this is the reason it is an issue)
aim of E2 of L+P
to see if leading questions will actually distort a witness’s memory
method, design and sample of E2 of L+P
lab experiment, independent measures, 150 students from UoW ( 3 groups of 50)
iv of E2 of L+P
smashed, hit and a control group
procedure of E2 of L+P
all pps watched one video, pps wrote a quantitive account then answered a questionnaire with one leading question ( “ how fast were the cars going when they ____ into eachother “)
a week later pps were brought back and answered another 10 questions, the critical question was “ did you see any broken glass”
results of E2 of L+P
smashed: 16Y & 34N
hit: 7Y & 43N
control: 6Y & 44N
conclusion of L+P
leading questions produce memory distortion ( pps original memory is changed)
the reconstructive memory hypothesis (info from before and after the event merge to create a new memory)
strengths of L+P
+high internal reliability, lab setting and standardised procedure, establish cause and effect
+useful, can put training in place to ensure law enforcement do not use leading questions
weaknesses of L+P
-low ecological validity, not in real setting where a car crash would happen. the videos are fake so would overall trigger less emotion than in a real car crash
- reductionist, focuses on internal cognitive processes ignoring the influence of external factors, that some pps may have more knowledge regarding driving which may impact the speed estimate given
aim of Grant
to demonstrate the positive effects of context upon memory
method, design and sample of Grant
lab experiment
independent measure
39 pps, 8 psych students gained via opportunity sampling, each students selected 5 = 40 and one was excluded
procedure of Grant
1.informed participation was voluntary.
2.they read a psychoimmunology article only once.
3. all pps wore headphones, silent condition heard nothing, noisy condition heard a recording of a canteen.
4. pps had a 2 min break after reading
5. answered 10 short answer q’s and 16 mcq’s
6. pps were debriefed
results of grant
short answer:
ss 6.7
sn 4.6
nn 6.2
ns 4.6
conclusion of grant
studying and testing in the same context leads to enhanced performance
strengths of grant
+lab experiment, controlled environment, establish cause + effect
+useful, practical implications, providing research of how to enhance performance
weaknesses of grant
-certain conditions lack ecological validity, pps in the silent conditions had to wear headphones with no sound, this doesn’t represent real life
-low reliability, as different cassette players are used for each pps, the quality of sound may be different so the effect of a noisy environment wont be felt
strengths of the cognitive approach
+useful, provides research to how we store and acquire information, which is needed to understand the complexity of human behaviour e.g. grant and context dependent memory
+high internal reliability, standardised procedure , controlled environment to establish C+E e.g. grant all pps wore headphones
weaknesses of the cognitive approach
- reductionist, focuses on internal cognitive processes ignoring any external or social factor which may impact behaviour. e.g. L+P some pps may have more driving experiences which impacts the estimate of the speed
- lacks ecological validity, approach favours experiments which are highly controlled and take away from real life simulation e.g. L+P pps may notice car crashes are fake and therefore not continue seriously.
what is a dichotic task
when one message plays in the left ear and a different message plays in the right ear.
what is shadowing
participants verbally repeat one message as they hear it
what is the attended ear
the message you pay attention to
what is the rejected/unattended ear
the message you dont want to pay attention to
what does affective mean
words with emotional meaning
what does non-affective mean
words with no emotional meaning
aim of moray, study 1
to test cherrys dichotic listening findings in relation to the amount of info recognised in the rejected message
method and sample of moray, study 1
lab experiment with repeated measures.
all undergrad/research workers
procedure of moray, study 1
- use of dichotic listening task using the brenell mark 4 sterophonic tape recorder, modified with 2 amplifiers to give to independent messages.
- voice was the same male speaking at 130/150 words/min at the same volume
- before starting the pps had 4 practices at shadowing the passage.
- a list of 35 words were repeated in the unattended ear, whilst shadowing a passage in the attended ear.
- recall of the 35 words was tested by 3 recognition tests, a. words in the attended ear, b. words in the unattended ear, c. words in neither.
results of moray, study 1
words in shadowed message: 4.9
words in rejected message: 1.9
words in neither: 2.6.
words in rejected message were not recognised well, significantly lower than the shadowed ear and lower than words from neither ear
conclusion of moray, study 1
we are bad at recognising info from the unattended ear and the sound is almost completely blocked out.
aim of moray, study 2
to test cherrys dichotic task in relation to the effect of having ones name in the unattended ear
method and sample of moray, study 2
lab experiment and repeated measures
12 participants, undergrad/research workers
procedure of moray, study 2
pps shadowed 10 passages in the attended ear. 6/10 of passages in the unattended ear had instructions in the middle. 2/6 had pre passage warnings that there will be an instruction given. 3/6 used the pps name, (affective instructions)
results of moray, study 2
affective instruction heard: 20
non affective instruction heard: 4
this shows affective words are able to pass through the attentional barrier but not all the time only ~ 50%
when there was a pre passage warning, affective words are more likely to pass through the attentional barrier.
conclusion of moray, study 2
some important info can break through the attentional barrier and we can not be primed to hear information in our unattended ear.
aim of moray, study 3
to test cherrys dichotic listening task in relation to the effect of instructions to identify a specific target in the rejected message
method and sample of moray, study 3
lab experiment and independent measures, 2 groups of 14 participants
procedure of moray, study 3
the unattended passage had numbers in the message or had no numbers.
one group was told to remember all the contents of the message, the other was told to remember all numbers and digits.
results of moray, study 3
no significant difference between mean number of numbers reported when asked to remember all the message compared to remembering the numbers.
this shows pps can not be primed to listen to specific content in the unattended ear.
numbers are not important to pass through the attentional barrier
overall conclusions of moray
- an identification paradox exists - the content of the rejected message is ignored but does not prevent a response to ones own name.
- all verbal content in the rejected message is lost.
3.subjectively important messages can penetrate the block - it is difficult to make neutral messages important enough to penetrate the block
what is inattentional blindness
when you are focusing on a primary task, you become unaware of the surroundings
aim of simons and chabris
to investigate the influence of several factors on inattentional blindness, including:
1. transparent/opaque
2. easy/hard tasks
3. unusualness of event - umbrella/gorilla
4. if the primary task shares common features with the event, are we more likely to spot it?
method and sample of simons and chabris
lab experiment with independent measures.
228 undergrads
volunteer sampling
iowa, USA
procedure of simons and chabris
tape created lasting 75 seconds. each tape with 2 teams of 3 players. one team wore black shirts, the other wore white shirts. the players were passing a basketball between them.
tape was played on a screen of sizes 13” - 36”
pps were instructed count number of passes of a specific team.
after watching the tape they were asked 4 questions:
1. did you notice anything unusual when counting number of passes?
2. did you notice anything other than the 6 players?
3. did you see anyone else other than the 6 players appear on screen?
4. did you see a gorilla/woman carrying an umbrella walk across the screen?
they were asked if they had taken part in a study like this, and then debriefed and shown the tapes again so they could leave fully informed.
manipulations of the procedure of simons and chabris
- unusualness of the unexpected event - either or woman with an umbrella or someone dressed as a gorilla would enter the screen
- clarity of view - whether the event and the teams were filmed separately then superimposed, appearing transparent, or filmed together, so appeared opaque
- common features of task and event - if pps were counting the black team passes whose colour was the same as the gorilla
- easy or hard task - easy, all passes of a team or hard, number of each different pass
results of simons and chabris
results of 192/228 were analysed.
54% noticed event and 46% did not.
opaque vs transparent - 67% vs 42%
easy vs hard - 64% vs 45%
umbrella vs gorilla - 65% vs 44%
conclusions of simons and chabris
around 50% of people will show in attentional blindness.
this is affected by:
difficulty of task, similarity of event compared to task.
