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psychology paper 2 : section A > cognitive area > Flashcards

cognitive area Flashcards

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1
Q

what are the key themes within the cognitive area?

A

memory and attention

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2
Q

what are the studies within each key theme?

A

memory : loftus and palmer, grant
attention : moray and simon and chabris

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3
Q

what are the key principles within the cognitive area?

A
  1. mental processes are key to understanding human behaviour
  2. the mind can be seen as an information processor ( input, processing and output of information)
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4
Q

what was the aim of loftus and palmers study?

A

to study the effects of leading questions and post event information on someones ability to accurately remember events

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5
Q

what was the background of loftus and palmers study?

A
  • bartletts theory of reconstructive memory
    memory can already be biased or distorted since after interpreting something
    eyewitness testimony is highly unreliable as it can be influenced by many things
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6
Q

what design was used in loftus and palmers experiment?

A

independent measures design

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7
Q

what were the variables within loftus and palmers study?

A

independent variable : the wording of the question
dependent variable : a week later when asked if there was any broken glass and the estimated speed given by participants

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8
Q

describe the sample used in loftus and palmers study

A

experiment 1:
- 45 students were divided up into 5 groups with 9 in each group
experiment 2 :
- 150 students were divided into 3 groups with 50 in each group

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9
Q

outline the procedure from loftus and palmers first experiment

A
  1. everyone was shown the same 7 film clips of different traffic accidents which were originally made as part of a driver safety film
  2. each each clip, the participants were given a questionnaire which prompted the question ‘ about how fast were the drivers going when they hit each other?’
  3. however the other 4 groups out of the 5 in total were given the verbs ‘smashed, collided, contacted and bumped’ instead of ‘hit’
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10
Q

outline the procedure from loftus and palmers second experiment

A
  1. everyone was shown a one-minute film clip which contained a four second multiple car crash
  2. they were asked to describe the accident followed up with a few questions about it
  3. there was a critical question about speed
    - one group was asked ‘ about how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?’
    - another asked ‘about how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?’
    - third group was not asked about vehicular speed
  4. a week later, all participants were asked, without seeing the film again, completed another question ‘ did you see any broken glass?’
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11
Q

what were some controls within loftus and palmers experiment?

A
  • the same films were shown
  • questions were identical except for the critical question
  • order of films were randomised
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12
Q

what were the results for experiment 1 for loftus and palmer?

A
  • the verb smashed prompted a mean speed estimate of 40.5 mph
  • the verb contacted prompted a mean speed estimate of 31.8 mph
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13
Q

what were the results for experiment 2 for loftus and palmer?

A

out of those with the verb smashed 16 said there was broken glass
out of those with the verb hit 7 said there was broken glass

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14
Q

what were the conclusions from both experiments?

A
  • the verb used in a question influences a participants response
  • information from two sources will integrate over time
  • people are not very good at judging vehicular speed
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15
Q

what was a strength of the research method used in loftus and palmer?

A

p : high internal validity as its a lab experiment
e : due to control over extraneous variables, helping to ensure that only the effect of the IV on the DV is being measured. The researcher can establish cause and effect
ev : precise timings of the 7 car crash films

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16
Q

what was a weakness of the research method used in loftus and palmer?

A

p : lacks ecological validity
e : this is a weakness as behaviour displayed in the study does not reflect the behaviour shown in real life
ev : car crashes will create more emotion if seen in real life and would have more motivation to recall the speed more accurately than a video of the car crashes in the study

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17
Q

what is a strength of the data collected in loftus and palmer?

A

p : it is easy to analyse ( quantitative )
e : this means that comparisons can be made between the results of each condition of the IV to establish which had the most effect on the DV
ev : in experiment 1 the mean estimate speed of the vehicle smashed 40.5mph and contacted 31.8 mph

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18
Q

what is a weakness of the data collected in loftus and palmer?

A

p : it lacks detail
e : it simplifies complex human behaviour making it hard for research to establish why behaviours occur
ev : participants didn’t have the chance to say what they remembered about their experience of the car crash or why they estimated the speed that they did

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19
Q

what is are the ethical considerations within loftus and palmer?

A

p : minimal ethical issues
e : participants had the right to withdraw , were protected from harm and were debriefed
ev : researchers show films of staged car crashes that had been filmed for health and safety training so this should not have upset students.

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20
Q

what is the reliability for loftus and palmer?

A

p : internal reliability is increased as a standardised procedure is used
e : this is because each participant is measured in the same way, therefore reducing how differences may affect the DV
ev : all participants watched the same 7 film clips

21
Q

is there any sampling bias for loftus and palmer?

A

p : the sample is bias as all participants used were from a certain group and of similar age
e : therefore the findings cannot be generalised to other age groups
ev : students are younger so are less likely to be drivers so their ability at estimating speeds may be worse than the general population.

22
Q

describe how loftus and palmer is ethnocentric

A

p : only studied American students
e : it is based on only one culture ( individualistic)
ev : the interpretation of the verb may be different in other cultures

23
Q

how does loftus and palmer relate to the cognitive area?

A

principle : the cognitive area looks at mental processes as key to understanding human behaviour. The mind can be seen as an information processor as its important to consider the input, processing and output of information

aim : loftus and palmer wanted to see the effect leading questions had on the memory of an event. Specifically if changing a word within a question could have an effect on the answer given.

link: participants who received the word ‘smashed’ in the critical speed estimate question gave a higher mean average speed 40.5mph than ‘contacted’ in the sam question 31.8mph. This shows that data input after an accident is witnessed can interfere with the processing and output what the witness reports

24
Q

how does loftus and palmer relate to the key theme of memory?

A

key theme : loftus and palmers study links to the key theme of memory as it is studying eye witness testimony and the ability to remember something from the past

overview : loftus and palmer wanted to see the effect leading questions had on the memory of an event. Specifically, if changing a word within a question could have an effect on the answer given. Participants with verb ‘smashed’ estimated 40.5mph, participants with verb ‘ contacted’ estimated 31.8mph.

link: shows that the memory of an incident can be affected by the information received after the event i.e: the wording of questions. This links to the key theme of memory as it demonstrates how unreliable it can be.

25
Q

what was the aim of grants study?

A

determine whether environmental context dependency effect would have a positive effect on performance in a meaningful memory test

26
Q

what was the background of grants study?

A

godden and baddeley, context dependency on water and land
matching conditions for encoding and retrieval is better than non-matching

27
Q

what design was used in grants experiment?

A

independent measures design

28
Q

what were the variables within grants study?

A

IV : whether the article was read under noisy or silent conditions
DV : participants performance on a short answer recall test and a multiple choice recall test

29
Q

describe the sample used in grants study

A

39 participants ranging in age from 17 to 56 years
17 female and 23 male

30
Q

outline the procedure of grants experiment

A
  1. instructions were read aloud
  2. participants were asked to read the given article (on psychoimmunology)
  3. participants were informed that the comprehension would be tested with both a short answer and long answer test
  4. all participants wore headphones while they read, those in the silent condition would hear nothing, those in the noisy condition would hear moderately loud background noise
  5. reading times were recorded
  6. there was a 2 minute break between end of study phase and beginning of test phase
  7. short answer test then multiple choice
  8. after testing, participants were debriefed concerning purpose of experiment
31
Q

what were some controls in grants experiment?

A
  • everyone wore headphones
  • everyone did a short answer and multiple choice test
  • everyone read the same article
32
Q

what were some results from grants study?

A

short answer questions:
- silent/silent : 6.7/10 questions answered correctly
- noisy/noisy : 6.4/10 questions answered correctly
multiple choice questions:
- silent/silent : 14.3 questions answered correctly
- noisy/noisy: 14.3 questions answered correctly

33
Q

what were some conclusions from grants study?

A

there was no independent effect of noise on performance

34
Q

what is a strength of the research method used in grants study?

A

p : internal validity
e : due to control over extraneous variables, helping to ensure that only the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable is being measured. Therefore, researcher can establish cause and effect.
ev : all participants completed the same short answer and multiple choice questions

35
Q

what is a weakness of the research method used in grants study?

A

p : lacks ecological validity
e : the behaviour displayed in the study does not reflect the behaviour shown in real life settings
ev : the participants may have realised that the study was about learning with/without noise as they were all wearing headphones

35
Q

what is a weakness of the data produced in grants study?

A

p : lacks detail
e : it simplifies complex human behaviour making it hard for research to establish why behaviours occur
ev : participants didnt have the chance to say why they think they recalled as well / not so well. It may have been due to a lack of concentration rather than whether learning and recalling was matching or not

36
Q

what is a strength of the data produced in grants study?

A

p : easy to analyse
e : comparisons can be made between the results of each condition of the I.V to establish which has had the most significant effect on the D.V.
ev : short answer questions and multiple choice questions were recorded so easy comparisons could be made between the conditions

37
Q

were there any ethical considerations within grants study?

A

p : minimal ethical issues
e : participants had the right to withdraw, were protected from harm and were debriefed
ev : researchers read instructions at the beginning stating that participation was voluntary

38
Q

was there any sampling bias within grants study?

A

p : good sample
e : can apply findings
ev : the ages were between 17-56

39
Q

was grants study ethnocentric?

A

p : was based on american culture
e : this means that evidence can’t be generalised to everyone
ev : for other cultures, matching conditions might not enhance recall

40
Q

how does grants study relate to the cognitive area?

A

principle : the cognitive area looks at mental processes being key to understanding human behaviour, the mind can be seen as an information processor its important to consider the input,, processing and output of information

aim : Grant aimed to look at how context dependency effects recall of material. Specifically whether the presence or absence of noise during learning and retrieval effects recall of meaningful material

link: Participants in matching conditions scored higher on the short answer questions than those in mis-matching conditions. This showed that environmental data is input when we try to learn information, it is then stored within the memory and environmental cues can help improve recall. Therefore people should keep the environment they learn and recall information as similar as possible.

41
Q

how does Grants study relate to the key theme of memory?

A

key theme : Grants study links to the key theme of memory as it looks at whether the presence or absence of noise during learning and retrieval effect the recall of meaningful material.

overview: participants were given an article on psychoimmunology to study in either a silent or noisy condition and then tested using short answer questions followed by multiple choice questions. Participants in the matching conditions either silent-silent or noisy-noisy scored higher on the multiple choice answer questions (14.3) than those in the mismatching conditions (12.7)

link: this shows that memory of meaningful material can be affected by environmental cues encoded at the time information is learnt.

42
Q

what are some similarities between Grant and Loftus and Palmer?

A
  • both lab experiments
  • both independent measures design
  • both had quantitative data
  • both had the right to withdraw at any time
  • both were ethnocentric
43
Q

what are some differences between Grant and Loftus and Palmer?

A

Grant :
- more ecologically valid
- larger age sample size
Loftus and Palmer :
- less ecologically valid
- smaller age sample size

44
Q

what were the aims of Morays study?

A
  1. to investigate the amount of information participants could recognise from a rejected message
  2. to investigate the effect of hearing ones name in the rejected message
  3. to investigate the effect that neutral information has on our attention
45
Q

what was the background of Morays study?

A

Cherry
- ‘cocktail party’ when you can focus auditory attention on a particular stimulus while filtering out a range of other stimuli
Broadbent
- humans have limited attention capacity

46
Q

what design was used in Morays study?

A

exp 1 : repeated measures design
exp 2 : repeated measures design
exp 3 : independent measures design

47
Q

what were the variables within Morays study?

A

psychology paper 2 : section A (7 decks)

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