cognitive approach Flashcards
what are the three studies in the cognitive approach
- andrade (doodling)
- baron-cohen et al (eyes test)
- laney et al (false memory)
aim of andrade study
Andrade was interested to know whether doodling assisted information processing, perhaps by enabling people to attend more effectively or by enhancing their memory.
what type of experimental design was used in the andrade study
independent measures as participants were either in the control group or in the doodling group.
IV & DV in andrade study
IV: whether they doodled or not during the phone call
DV: recall for each of the two tasks
describe the sample in andrade
40 members of a participant panel at the Medical Research Council unit for cognitive research.
population aged 18–55 years and
they were paid a small sum for participation.
There were 20 participants in each group, mainly females,
with two males in the control group and three in the doodling group (one participant in this condition did not doodle and was replaced).
how many pps were there in andrade
40
what were the two tasks in andrade
‘monitoring’ task
and ‘recall task’
describe the monitoring task in andrade
They were told beforehand they would be tested on the names of people who were attending the party (and not the ones who were not going to be there).
describe the recall task in andrade
They also had an unexpected test, on the names of places mentioned. The order of these tests was counterbalanced, i.e. half the participants were asked to recall the names of party-goers then the places mentioned. The other half recalled the places first, then the names.
describe the phone call in the andrade study
The mock telephone message lasted 2.5 minutes and was recorded in a monotonous voice at an average speed of 227 words per minute.
what important info was included in the phone call in andrade
It had eight names of people attending a party,
and the names of three people and one cat who could not attend.
Eight place names were mentioned, as well as irrelevant details.
results for andrade
- In the doodling condition, the mean number of shaded shapes on the printed sheet was 36.3
- Participants in the control group correctly recalled a mean of 7.1 (SD 1.1) of the eight party-goers’ names and five people made a false alarm.
- Monitoring performance was significantly higher in the doodling condition (mean 7.7) compared to the control (non-doodling) condition (mean 6.9) (2 marks)
- Participants in the doodling group correctly recalled a mean of 7.8 (SD 0.4) party-goers’ names and one person made one false alarm.
- overall the doodling participants recalled a mean of 7.5 names and places, 29% more than the mean of 5.8 for the control group
conclusions for andrade
Doodling helps concentration on a primary task as the doodling participants performed better than participants just listening to the primary task with no concurrent task. However, because the doodling group were better on both the monitored and incidental information there are two possible explanations. Either the doodlers noticed more of the target words, an effect on attention, or doodling improved memory directly, for example by encouraging deeper information processing.
what was the aim of the baron cohen study
The main aim of this research was to test whether a group of adults with Asperger Syndrome (AS) or High-functioning Autism (HFA) would be impaired on the revised version of the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ task
what is HFA
high functioning autism
what is AS
asperger syndrome
what were the 5 hypotheses in the bc study
- Participants with autism will score significantly lower scores on the revised ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ task than the control group.
- Participants with autism will score significantly higher on the Autism Spectrum Quotient Test (AQ) measure.
- Females in the ‘normal’ groups (Groups 2 and 3) will score higher on the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ task than males in those groups.
- Males in the ‘normal’ group (Group 3) would score higher on the AQ measure than females.
- Scores on the AQ and the ‘Reading the Mind in the Eyes’ task would be negatively correlated.
what is the AQ test
‘autism spectrum quotient test’
is a self report questionnaire with scores ranging from 0 to 50
what are the ‘basic emotions’
anger happiness surprise disgust sadness fear
what is a ‘control group’
often used in experiments, this group does not receive manipulation of the IV and can be used for comparison with the experimental group or groups
IV in bc study
The independent variable was the type of participant in each condition
outline briefly the groups in the bc study
1: the experimental group containing participants with AS or HFA
- - control/ coomparison groups–
2: Adult comparison group
3: Student comparison group
4: IQ Matched group
describe group one in the bc study
Group 1: AS/HFA
The group comprised 15 adult males with AS or HFA with a mean IQ score of 115 and mean age of 29.7 years. The sample was self-selecting through adverts in the Autistic Society magazine and support groups and all had been diagnosed in specialist centres using the DSM or ICD criteria.
describe group 2 in the bc study
Group 2: Adult comparison group
The group comprised ‘normal’ adults, who did not have a diagnosis of AS/HFA. They were selected from adult community and education classes in Exeter and public library users in Cambridge with a mean age of 46.5 years.
describe group 3 in the bc study
Group 3: Student comparison group
The group comprised ‘normal’ students, who did not have a diagnosis of AS/HFA, from Cambridge University with a mean age of 20.8 years. Cambridge is a highly selective university so these students are not representative of the general population.
describe group 4 in the bc study
Group 4: IQ Matched group
The group comprised
14 IQ matched participants with those in the AS/HFA group with a
mean age of 28 years and
mean IQ score of 116.
These participants were randomly selected from the general population