cognitive approach: reliability of cognitive processes

Question 1

theory of reconstructive memory

Answer 1

suggests that our memory is reconstructed using past experiences and schemas
suggests that memory is not an accurate reconstruction of past experiences and instead, is based on schemas and is shaped by prior experiences and expectations

Question 2

schemas and memory

Answer 2

Schemas help us make predictions based on patterns and previous experience, as well as guiding our behaviour. When we come across an unknown thing, we can use our schemas to work out what it is.
Overall, schemas support memory and perception by providing an organisational framework within which we can encode and store relevant information, and efficiently incorporate new information. Schemas can simplify some information, making some information harder to remember.
Schemas help our recall by predicting what we would expect to see and filling in any gaps.
However, this may make our recall less accurate if we are presented with unfamiliar details, which we replace with culturally familiar ones because we have schemas and past experiences of these.

Question 3

lotus and memory of witnesses

Answer 3

Loftus claims that the nature of questions asked by police or in a courtroom can influence witnesses’ memory. Leading questions - that is, questions that are suggestive in some way - and post-event information facilitate schema processing which may influence the accuracy of recall. This is called the misinformation effect.

Question 4

misinformation effect

Answer 4

states that information can be added or changed and therefore the long-term memory of the individual will be modified, but believed to be the actual event, or recall of the event, as it happened.

Question 5

loftus and palmer study 1 A

Answer 5

to investigate the effect of leading questions on recall

Question 6

loftus and palmer study 1 M

Answer 6

45 students were shown videos of car crashes
They were then asked questions about these crashes
There was one critical question on the questionnaire: “How fast were the cars going when they _______ each other?”
There were 5 conditions with a different intensity of verb: smashed, contacted, hit, collided, bumped
Estimated speed was compared between conditions

Question 7

loftus and palmer study 1 R

Answer 7

Participants’ estimated speeds were 9mph higher in the ‘smashed’ condition than the ‘contacted’ condition
41mph ‘smashed’ vs 14mph ‘contacted’

Question 8

loftus and palmer study 1 C

Answer 8

leading questions can affect estimated speed recalled

Question 9

loftus and palmer study 2 A

Answer 9

to investigate if leading questions affect the memory of an event or cause response bias

Question 10

loftus and palmer study 2 M

Answer 10

150 students were shown a car crash video
One group was asked “how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?”
One group was asked “how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”
One group was not asked a question
All were then asked, “Did you see any broken glass?”

Question 11

loftus and palmer study 2 R

Answer 11

participants in the “smashed” condition were more likely to falsely remember seeing broken glass
32% ‘smashed’ =yes vs 14% ‘hit’ = yes

Question 12

loftus and palmer study 2 C

Answer 12

leading questions can reconstruct memory

Question 13

strengths of loftus and palmer

Answer 13

Standardised procedures, same video could be shown to each participant

High internal validity, low confounding variables, extraneous variables can be controlled e.g. the distractor questions

Independent measures design, everyone only did one condition, lower demand characteristics and higher validity

Question 14

weaknesses of loftus and palmer

Answer 14

Lacks mundane realism as there is no emotional reaction to the car crash as it was a fake video, mental preparation as they were told to watch a video of a car crash- not as shocking

Question 15

what other study can be used for the theory of reconstructive memory

Answer 15

Bartlett’s War of the Ghosts Study (1932)

Question 16

reconstructive memory critical thinking: strength

Answer 16

Based on reconstructive memory research we now know to conduct cognitive interviews instead of asking leading questions to reduce the chances of someone getting falsely convicted.

Question 17

reconstructive memory critical thinking: strength, application, Ronald Cotton’s false conviction

Answer 17

Changes have been made as a result of reconstructive memory and schema research:

Witnesses are more likely to pick someone in clothes similar to those worn by the culprit than select them on physical characteristics in a line-up. Therefore, they should all be wearing the same clothing - and not similar to those that were described at the scene of the crime.

There is usually the assumption made that the suspect is in the lineup. Therefore, the witness tends to choose the person who most resembles the memory or schema of the accused. Therefore, all members of the line-up should match their description. In addition, witnesses should be told that the suspect may or may not be in the lineup.

When gathering evidence from a witness, researchers use a narrative interview style called a Cognitive Interview. A narrative interview is an interview that asks a simple question such as, “Could you please tell me what you remember about the night of the murder?”. The interviewee does most of the talking; there are very few questions, except for clarification. In this way, the interviewer does not alter schema and distort memory by asking leading questions.

Question 18

reconstructive memory critical thinking: weaknesses

Answer 18

Research is often low in ecological validity; there are ethical concerns about instilling false memories; the research has been applied to courtrooms; not all types of memory appear to be open to distortion; the process of “accessing schema” cannot be observed.

Memory is not directly observable, so we have to make inferences.
This decreases the validity of memory research as we don’t know if people’s memories are truly reconstructed.

Question 19

cognitive bias

Answer 19

a faulty or distorted way of perceiving or understanding the world.
It is a kind of heuristic way of thinking which minimises cognitive effort and energy and maximises quick, easy solutions to problems and to decision-makingex

Question 20

examples of cognitive biases

Answer 20

Illusory correlations
Confirmation bias
The availability heuristic
Anchoring bias
The just-world hypothesis

Question 21

cognitive biases and thinking models

Answer 21

A cognitive bias has the characteristics of System 1 thinking, it is based on intuitive, automatic thinking which requires little or no analysis or reflection

Intuitive thinking (System 1) involves using mental shortcuts (heuristics)
Heuristics are mental shortcuts which focus on one aspect of a complex problem and ignore others.

People are prone to errors in thinking and decision-making due to the way we process information.

There are trends in how we make these errors; those trends are called cognitive biases.

These errors often occur as we are cognitive misers so we prefer to quickly come up with an answer as opposed to logically think through a problem.

The Dual Processing Model explains this as a tendency to choose System 1 over System 2 thinking.

System one thinking is faster, but is more prone to being incorrect. When we engage in System 1 thinking we make a quick decision without considering all the information that is available and rely on previous knowledge or schemas, as well as using heuristics to make decisions.

Question 22

anchoring bias

Answer 22

when we base our estimates around a given value (the anchor) even if the value is implausible or highly unlikely.

We do this because we are uncertain of how to make a decision so we use the anchor as a reference point for making what we believe is our own decision.

It is a heuristic- a mental shortcut that humans use due to being cognitive misers.
Anchoring bias is a shortcut by which a decision is influenced by an “anchor.”

This is a value that is presented and which we then use as a basis for judgement.

Question 23

what 2 studies to use for biases in thinking and decision making

Answer 23

Tversky and Kahneman (1974)
Englich and Mussweiler

Question 24

anchoring bias application

Answer 24

When you get your credit card bill every month, there is a minimum payment required - that is, you are not required to pay off the whole amount, but there is a minimum amount that you must pay to avoid penalties. Based on what you know about heuristics, is this helpful to the credit card customer? Why or why not?
Anchoring bias works against the customer in this case. For example, imagine that a customer was just given a bill that said, you owe 1000 dollars on your credit card. You must pay something, but you may pay any amount. Most likely, the person would pay a good amount of that balance, if not pay it off. However, if a minimum payment is stated - let’s say, 100 dollars, then it is more likely that they will use this as an anchor and pay less than they would have without the anchor. This means that the credit card company will earn more money in interest, which is a disadvantage to the customer.

Question 25

biases in thinking and decision making critical thinking

Answer 25

Much of the research is very simplistic and lacks ecological validity; it is not clear how an individual chooses a specific heuristic in a specific situation; there may be factors that influence whether a heuristic is employed (e.g. expertise or self-confidence); research is not carried out in naturalistic settings; much thought is unconscious, so we are not aware of what we are thinking when we are doing something - so being asked what we were thinking may result in demand characteristics.