Cognitive Area Flashcards
What is the background to Loftus and palmer
- Research suggests we reconstruct our memories using a schema to fill in any gaps.
- a schema is stored units of knowledge that influence how we remember events
- Loftus and palmer wanted to find out if language would effect reconstruction of memory.
What is the method used in Loftus and palmer
- lab experiment
- independent measures design
- IV = wording of the critical question
- DV = estimate of speed
What was the sample in Loftus and palmer first experiment
- 45 American students
- divided into 5 groups of 9
- placed in 1 of 5 conditions
What was the materials in Loftus and palmer
- All shown the same 7 film clips of traffic accidents created for a driver safety film
What was the procedure in Loftus and palmers first experiment
- after they watched each clip, they were given a questionnaire
- all questions were the same apart from the critical question that was different for each condition
- the critical question was ‘how fast were the cars going when they HIT/SMASHED INTO/CONTACTED WITH/COLLIDED WITH/BUMPED INTO each other going’
Different words imply different speeds, so there schemas may be different
What was the finding in Loftus and palmers first experiment
- shows mean estimates of speed
Smashed = 40.5
Collided = 39.3
Bumped = 38.1
Hit = 34
Contacted = 31.8
What was the conclusion from Loftus and palmers first experiment
- wording of the question does lead to a distortion in memory
What was the sample in Loftus and palmers second experiment
- 150 participants
- divided into 3 groups of 50
What was the procedure in Loftus and palmers second experiment
- each watched a 1 minute film with a 4 second car crash
- completed a questionnaire
- in one condition there was no question about speed
- the other 2 were given hit or smashed
- one week later participants asked to complete another questionnaire about accident, containing a critical question. ‘Did you see and broken glass’
What was the findings in Loftus and palmers second experiment
- they found 16 of the smashed group said they has seen broken glass
- 7 said yes in the hit group
- 6 in the control group
What was the conclusion in Loftus and palmer overall
- the wording of the question brings about a lasting distortion in memory
- a complex occurrence occurs when we make memories, info from the actual event (when watching film clip) and post event ( wording of question about speed), which distort memory
What is the background in grants study
- context we are in when encoding memories affects what we later recall
- if we learn and recall in the same environment, we recall more
- context dependant memory
What was the method in grants study
- laboratory experiment
- independent measures design
- IV = whether p’s read the 2 page article in silent or noisy conditions, and whether they were tested in the same environment
- DV = p’s performance on a short answer recall test and multiple choice
What was the sample in grants study
- 39 participants
- aged 17-56
- 17 females, 23 males
- 8 students acted as experimenters and recruited 5 participants they knew
- opportunity sample
What was the materials in grants study
- each supplied there own music player and headphones
- background noise was recorded in a university cafeteria
- 2 page article on psychoimmunology
-16 multiple choice, 10 short answers
What was the procedure in grants study
- asked to read the article, told they would be tested later
- all p’s wore headphones, one group no noise, one group noise
- recorded how long it took them to read article
- then given the tests
- all p’s wore headphones during testing, with or without background noise
- same or mismatched environment
What was the findings in grants study
- recall was better for participants who learned and recalled in same environment
- shows mean score on each test
- silent/silent and noisy/noisy = 14.3
Both mismatched = 12.7
What was the conclusions in grants study
- learning and recalling in the same environment could enhance performance on a test
- context dependency occur
- students should revise in quiet conditions, because they will be asked to recall in quiet exams