cognitive area Flashcards
what are the key themes within the cognitive area?
memory and attention
what are the studies within each key theme?
memory : loftus and palmer, grant
attention : moray and simon and chabris
what are the key principles within the cognitive area?
- mental processes are key to understanding human behaviour
- the mind can be seen as an information processor ( input, processing and output of information)
what was the aim of loftus and palmers study?
to study the effects of leading questions and post event information on someones ability to accurately remember events
what was the background of loftus and palmers study?
- 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
what design was used in loftus and palmers experiment?
independent measures design
what were the variables within loftus and palmers study?
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
describe the sample used in loftus and palmers study
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
outline the procedure from loftus and palmers first experiment
- everyone was shown the same 7 film clips of different traffic accidents which were originally made as part of a driver safety film
- 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?’
- however the other 4 groups out of the 5 in total were given the verbs ‘smashed, collided, contacted and bumped’ instead of ‘hit’
outline the procedure from loftus and palmers second experiment
- everyone was shown a one-minute film clip which contained a four second multiple car crash
- they were asked to describe the accident followed up with a few questions about it
- 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 - a week later, all participants were asked, without seeing the film again, completed another question ‘ did you see any broken glass?’
what were some controls within loftus and palmers experiment?
- the same films were shown
- questions were identical except for the critical question
- order of films were randomised
what were the results for experiment 1 for loftus and palmer?
- the verb smashed prompted a mean speed estimate of 40.5 mph
- the verb contacted prompted a mean speed estimate of 31.8 mph
what were the results for experiment 2 for loftus and palmer?
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
what were the conclusions from both experiments?
- 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
what was a strength of the research method used in loftus and palmer?
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
what was a weakness of the research method used in loftus and palmer?
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
what is a strength of the data collected in loftus and palmer?
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
what is a weakness of the data collected in loftus and palmer?
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
what is are the ethical considerations within loftus and palmer?
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.