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
results in the bc study
- On the Eyes Test, participants with AS/HFA (Group 1) correctly identified significantly fewer target words than participants in the three comparison groups.
- All participants in the AS/HFA condition scored 33 or above out of 36 on the sex recognition task
- On the AQ task, participants with AS/HFA scored significantly higher than the student comparison and IQ matched comparison groups. (meaning they had autism)
- There was a significant negative correlation between the AQ and Eyes Task scores (–0.53) but no correlation between the IQ and Revised Eyes Test scores. This suggests that as a participant’s AQ score increases (illustrating higher autistic traits) their ability to correctly identify the correct target word on the Eyes Test decreases.
what can you conclude from the bc study
- The results suggest that the participants with AS or HFA have a deficit in a cognitive process that allows a person to identify emotions in other individuals. This lack of a theory of mind, or ability to attribute emotions to another person, is strongly linked to autism spectrum disorders.
- There was evidence of a sex difference between males and females in the comparison groups; with males showing more autistic traits and performing worse on the Eyes Test than females.
describe ‘memory’
Memory is not always a factual recording of an event and can become distorted by other information both during encoding and after the event.
aim of laney et al in exp 1
The aim was to investigate whether giving false feedback suggesting that a participant had loved to eat asparagus as a child, would generate a false belief or memory of experiences linked to eating and enjoying asparagus.
IV of laney? exp1
- The independent variable was whether a participant had the false belief that they had enjoyed asparagus as a child embedded during the second part of the experiment.
- These participants were compared with a (control group) of participants who received no false belief.
DV of laney? exp1
The dependent variable was measured through the use of five questionnaires
type of experimental design used in laney? exp 1
This experiment is an example of an independent groups design as participants only took part in one of the two conditions: the ‘love’ condition or the control group.
describe the sample in laney in exp 1
All 128 of the participants were undergraduate students at the University of California who received course credit for their time
The sample consisted of 99 females and 29 males who had a mean age of 20.8 years old. The participants were randomly assigned to either the ‘love’ condition (63) or the control group (65).
how many pps were inc in the laney study in exp1
128 undergrad students
99 females and 29 males
what were the pps in exp 1 in laney told about the study
were told that they were going to take part in a study of ‘food preferences and personality’.
what were the distractor questionnaires in exp1 of laney
personality measure,
a social desirability scale
eating habits questionnaire.
describe the critical item in exp 1 of laney
The critical item, ‘you loved to eat cooked asparagus’, was embedded in the third position of the profile for participants in the ‘love’ condition.
which questionnaires were given to the pps in week 1 of exp 1 of laney
FHI
RQ
3 D
which questionnaires were given to the pps in week 2 exp 1 of laney
- pps split into two grps: love and control condition
- FHI
- RQ
- FPQ
- MBQ
results from exp 1 of laney?
- When asked a second time as part of the FHI if a participant loved asparagus the first time they tried it, participants in the ‘love’ condition’s average (mean) response rose by 2.6 points following the false
- those participants who were told that they loved asparagus when they first tried it had a greater chance of generating a false memory or belief to substantiate this false memory
- On the FPQ, in comparison to the control group (mean 3.84), believers (mean 6.14) reported liking asparagus significantly more.
- Finally, on the FCQ, believers were willing to pay significantly more for asparagus than those in the control group
what was one result from the FPQ compared to the control group in exp 1 of laney
On the FPQ, in comparison to the control group (mean 3.84), believers (mean 6.14) reported liking asparagus significantly more.
To be classified as a believer, participants had to meet the which three criteria?
- given a low rating on the FHI when initially asked if they loved asparagus (week one)
- increased their rating on the FHI when asked if they loved asparagus on week two
- given positive ‘memory’ or ‘belief’ response on the MBQ.
conclusions from exp 1 of laney
- Participants can be led to develop positively framed false beliefs and these false beliefs can have a consequence on behaviour and food preferences.
- Participants who had the false belief implanted increased their rating of their love of asparagus and these beliefs had further impacts on how much they would be willing to spend on asparagus, greater intention to eat asparagus in the future, and a greater preference for it.
aim of exp 2 laney
- The aim of the second experiment was to examine the possible underlying mechanisms of the false memory consequence effect by exploring if, after the false love of asparagus manipulation, the very sight of asparagus was more appealing to participants.
- A secondary aim was to replicate and extend the results of the first experiment to check the reliability of the findings.
IV of exp 2 of laney
whether the participant had the false belief, ‘you loved asparagus’, embedded. These participants were compared with a control group of participants who received no false belief.
DV of exp 2 laney
measured through the use of four questionnaires and the participant’s feedback to a slideshow of 20 pictures of common foods.
describe the pps in exp 2 of laney
- All 103 of the participants were undergraduate students at the University of Washington who received course credit for their time.
- The sample consisted of 64 females and 39 males who had a mean age of 19.9 years
how many pps were there in laney exp 2
103
from which uni were the pps in exp 1 and exp 2 from in laney
exp 1 - uni of cali
exp 2 - washington
how many food pics were there in exp 2 laney
20
how long was each slide displayed for in exp 2 laney
30 sec
what were the distractor questionnaires in exp 2 laney
a personality measure and a social desirability scale.
what was the scale used in laney exp 2 while the pps answered the questions during the slideshow
1 (not at all) - 8 (very much)
what were the questions asked to the pps during the slideshow in exp 2 of laney
- how appetising they found the food depicted in the photo
- how disgusting they found the food depicted in the photo
- the artistic quality of the photo
- whether the photo was taken by a novice, amateur or expert photographer.
which questionnaires were completed in the first week of exp 2 in laney
- FHI
- RQ
- FPQ
- 2 distractor
which questionnaires were completed in the second week of exp 2 in laney
- pps split into love and control grp
- FHI
- RQ
- FPQ
- MBQ
- slideshow
what was a result from the slideshow task in exp 2 of laney
on the photograph ratings, believers rated the asparagus photo as
- more appetising than those in the control group
(5. 10 versus 4.00), and as - less disgusting
(1. 81 versus 3.24).
conclusion from exp 2 laney from the slideshow?
The photograph measure provides a step towards understanding the cognitive mechanisms associated with false memories as the false memory primed the participant to process the images of asparagus more positively.
describe the theory that baron cohen were testing with their reading the mind in the eyes test
- were testing the theory of mind
- which refers to our ability to attribute mental states to ourselves and others
- like our desires, emotions, etc
identify one problem with the ORIGINAL reading the mind in the eyes test as identified by bc
- ceiling effect (too easy and all pps have top score which makes it hard to differentiate btwn pps)
- no glossary (comprehension problems)
Outline one result from the monitoring performance scores - andrade
Monitoring performance was significantly higher in the doodling condition (mean 7.7) compared to the control (non-doodling) condition (mean 6.9) (2 marks)
The study by Laney et al. is about false memories.
Describe what is meant by ‘false memories’.
People’s memories of events in their own lives can be incorrect/not real
False details about real events and entirely false events can be added to a
person’s memory storage system/mixed together
From all of the stored information, people can reconstruct ‘memories’ for
events/imagined events
Doing things like ‘filling in the gaps’ and using false information gets
embedded in actual information
As a result of this people form ‘new’ memories that contain information that
is not correct
Outline how the category of ‘initiates new activity’ was operationalised in this study. schachter and singer
If the participant gave creative euphoria;
That is, they initiated euphoric behaviour outside of the stooge’s routine;
Therefore, the behaviour had to be one that had never been seen by the participant (from the stooge).
Name one behaviour shown by a participant in this study that was categorised as ‘initiates new activity’.
hula hooped
laughing
throwing paper basketballs
open the window
Describe how the participants were recruited for Groups 2 and 3 in baron cohen
Group 2:
Opportunity/volunteer sampling;
From adult community/education classes in Exeter;
From public libraries in Cambridge;
Group 3:
Opportunity/volunteer sampling;
From students studying degrees at Cambridge University;
All students had performed well in Advanced Level qualifications;
