Cognitive approach

Question 1

Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)

Answer 1

It was proposed that information is input to the brain through the senses and moves to the short-term memory store and then to the long-term memory store.

Question 2

Clark and Mills (2011)

Answer 2

Thibaut and Kelley’s theory (social exchange theory) fails to distinguish between two types of relationship-exchange relationships.

Question 3

Sacher and Fine (1996)

Answer 3

Investigated what factors predicted relationship satisfaction.
They found that if females had poor quality relationship alternatives, they had positive relationships six months later.

Question 4

Dion et al (1972)

Answer 4

The halo effect.
The halo effect suggests that if our schema for an individual contains positive impressions, then we are more likely to believe they have other positive characteristics as well.
The schemas we have for other people helps determine the likelihood of forming romantic relationships.
Found that individuals who were judged to be physically attractive were also judged to be more competent romantic partners, more successful in their careers and possesses other positive attributes.

Question 5

Cahill et al (2003)

Answer 5

Assessed the severity of symptoms after each therapy session of 58 patients receiving cognitive therapy for depression.
By the end of the therapy which lasted 12-20 sessions, 71% of the patients who had completed their therapy experienced significant reduction in their symptoms.
However, only 13% of the patients who did not complete the therapy showed improvement.

Question 6

March et al (2007)

Answer 6

Found that CBT was as effective as antidepressants, in treating depression.
The researchers examined 327 adolescents with a diagnosis of depression and looked at the effectiveness of CBT, antidepressants, and a combination of CBT + antidepressants.
After 36 weeks, 81% of the CBT group had significantly improved, demonstrating the effectiveness of CBT in treating depression.
However, 86% of the CBT + antidepressants group had significantly improved, suggesting that a combination of both treatments may be more effective.

Question 7

Kuyken and Tsivrikos (2009)

Answer 7

Suggested that as much as 15% of the effectiveness of CBT mat be attributable to the competence of the therapist.
This means that it may be the case that when CBT is effective it is due in part to the ability of the therapist more than the therapy itself.

Question 8

Simons et al (1995)

Answer 8

An issue with CBT is that it has limited use in situations in which the person’s negative thinking is caused by real life stressors.

Question 9

Foster et al (1994)

Answer 9

Found that if participants thought they were watching a real-life robbery and thought their response would influence the trial, their identification of a robber was more accurate.

Question 10

Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

Answer 10

Found evidence of greater accuracy in real life.
Witnesses to an armed robbery in Canada gave accurate reports of the crime four months after the event even though they had initially been given two misleading questions.
This suggests that misleading information many have less influence on real-life EWT.

Question 11

Buckout (1980)

Answer 11

Conducted a “real-life” study involving 2000 participants.
A 13-second short-film was shown on prime-time TV.
Later, an identity parade was shown on TV and viewers were invited to phone in their choice of suspect.
14% got it right.

Question 12

Schacter et al (1991)

Answer 12

Found that, compared to younger subjects, elderly people have difficulty remembering the source of their information, even though the memory itself is unimpaired.
They become more prone to the effect of misleading information when giving testimony.

Question 13

Braun et al (2002)

Answer 13

Conducted a memorable study involving a carboard cut-out of Bugs Bunny.
College students were asked to evaluate advertising material about Disneyland.
Embedded in this material was misleading information about either Bugs Bunny or Ariel.
(Neither character could’ve been seen at Disneyland because Bugs is not Disney and Ariel hadn’t been introduced at the time of their childhood)
Participants were assigned to Bugs, Ariel, or a control condition (no misleading information).
All had visited Disneyland.
Participants in the Bugs or Ariel group were more likely to report having shaken hands with these characters than the control group.
Shows that misleading information can create an inaccurate (false) memory.

Question 14

Lord Devlin

Answer 14

“Trial judges should be required to instruct the jury that it is not safe to conduct on a single eye-witness testimony alone, except where there is substantial corroborative evidence.”

Question 15

Laszlo Virag (1969)

Answer 15

Convicted in Bristol of stealing from parking meters and using a firearm.
Despite having an alibi and other contradictory evidence, he was found guilty and convicted after the single eyewitness identified him as the perpetrator.
Whilst he was serving time, it was found that another person committed the crime, and he was eventually pardoned.

Question 16

Loftus (1979)

Answer 16

Showed participants slides of a man stealing a large, bright red purse from a woman’s bag.
The participants were later exposed to information containing subtle errors or a more obvious one, purporting that the purse was brown.
Although participants were often wrong about “peripheral” items, 98% of the participants correctly remembered the purse they had seen was red.
Suggests that eye-witness recollection for central or key details may be more resistant to distortion from post-event information.

Question 17

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Answer 17

The information “suggested” after an event becomes incorporated into the original memory.

Question 18

Loftus and Zanni (1975)

Answer 18

Demonstrated the effects of post-event information.
They found that 17% of those asked, “Did you see a broken headlight?” reported seeing a headlight.
The post-event information was the word “a” or “the”.
This research demonstrates that even subtle changes in the wording used in questions can influence the recollection of the participants.
This suggests that whenever a witness is questioned, their recollection of the actual event may be distorted.