Cognitive Approach Flashcards

Question

RESULTS BARON COHEN

Answer 1

On the Eyes Test, participants with AS/HFA (Group 1) correctly identified significantly fewer target words than participants in the three comparison groups. 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.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

Memory is not always a factual recording of an event and can become distorted by other information both during encoding and after the event. There have been many experiments within memory research that have demonstrated that memories can be distorted by information provided following an event. This has even resulted in people believing that an impossible event has taken place. People may have memories for events that never actually happened Testing if positive false memories could be created as previous studies focused on negative ones People can reconstruct memories of events that have real and false memories in them

Answer 4

Restaurant Questionnaire (RQ) Assessed the respondents’ desire to eat each of 32 separate dishes (e.g. sautéed asparagus spears). How likely they would be to order each food on a scale of 1 (definitely no) to 8 (definitely yes). May not accurately measure this because what people say in a questionnaire does not mirror their behaviour, there before just because they said they would be more likely to order asparagus doesn’t mean they actually would

Answer 5

Food History Inventory (FHI) Respondents rated 24 items on a scale of 1 (definitely did not happen) to 8 (definitely did happen) as to their food experiences before the age of 10 (e.g. ‘Loved asparagus the first time you tried it’).

Answer 6

Food Preferences Questionnaire (FPQ) A 62 item inventory of items of food (e.g. asparagus) that respondents had to rate on a 1 (definitely don’t like to eat, for whatever reason) to 8 (definitely like to eat).

Answer 7

Food Costs Questionnaire (FCQ) A list of 21 different food items (e.g. a pound of asparagus) with multiple choice answers where respondents had to circle the price they would be willing to pay for each, including a ‘would never buy’ option. For asparagus, the price options were $1.90, $2.50, $3.20, $3.80, $4.40, $5.00 and $5.70. May not accurately measure the most they are willing to pay because what people say in a questionnaire does not mirror their behaviour, there before just because they said they woul spend a certain amount on asparagus doesn’t mean they will…

Answer 8

Memory or Belief? Questionnaire (MBQ) Respondents were asked to indicate whether they had a memory of an experience with three items from the FHI, including, for the ‘love’ condition, the critical item of asparagus. The choices were that they had specific memory of the event occurring, a belief that the event had occurred (but lacked specific memory), or were positive that the event had not occurred.

Answer 9

EX1: 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. EX2: To examine the 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. To replicate and extend the results of the first experiment to check the reliability of the findings.

Answer 10

The experiment was a laboratory experiment as the environment the participants were tested in was very artificial and unlike an everyday event Participants were tested in laboratory settings in groups of up to eight people. IV/DV IV: 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: effect of the false belief - measured through the use of five questionnaires.

Answer 11

ex 1: 128 participants Undergraduate students at the University of California who received course credit for their time. 99 females and 29 males Mean age of 20.8 years old. The participants were randomly assigned to either the ‘love’ condition (63) or the control group (65) ex 2: 103 undergraduate students at the University of Washington who received course credit for their time. 64 females and 39 males (19.9 y) randomly assigned to either the ‘love condition (58) or the control group (45).

Answer 12

1: FHI, RQ, 3 distractor qs -->FHI, RQ, FPQ, FCQ, MBQ 2: FHI, RQ, FPQ 2 distractor questionnaires. After one week --> FHI, RQ, FPQ, common foods slideshow, MBQ

Answer 13

A slideshow of 20 colour photographs of common foods were displayed for 30 seconds each to all participants. 3 questions about each slide: On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 8 (very much): how appetising 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.

Answer 14

To be classified as a believer, participants had to meet the following three criteria: * a low rating on the FHI when initially asked if they loved asparagus (week one), lower than 5 * increased their rating on the FHI when asked if they loved asparagus on week two * given positive ‘memory’ or ‘belief’ response on the MBQ.

Answer 15

1: 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 feedback from the researchers, in the control condition only increased by 0.2 points in comparison. 31 participants were excluded from this analysis as they initially believed they loved asparagus the first time, or scored greater than 5 on the FHI on the first occasion. This left 97 participants to be included in the analysis. More participants in the Love group reported having a memory/belief of loving asparagus compared to the control group. 2: RQ: neither the believers nor the control group reported an increased desire to eat the critical asparagus item when comparing the two weeks. FPQ: in comparison to the control group, believers reported a significantly greater desire to eat asparagus. 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).

Answer 16

Participants can be led to develop positively framed false beliefs 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 These beliefs had further impacts: on how much they would be willing to spend on asparagus greater intention to eat asparagus in the future, a greater preference for it. Those participants who believed the false feedback were more likely than those in the control group to rate a photograph of asparagus as more appetising and less disgusting.