cognitive psychology Flashcards
cognitive assumptions
behaviour is a result of information processing, the mind works like a computer
internal mental processes, such as language, thinking, memory etc are all factors that affect our behaviour
Grant’s background, aim, sample and sampling method
background
context dependent memory refers to improved memory when in the same context that info was retrieved from, he was interested in determinng whether environmental context dependency effects would be generalise to schooling.
aim
to test for context dependency effects caused by precense and absence of noise when learning and retrieval of meaningful info
sample
39 pps, 17-56yrs, 17f and 22m, american
opportunity sampling - 8 members of the class had to recruit 5 accquaintes
Grants research method, experimental design IV and DV
Lab experiment
independent measures
iv- learning material in either silent or noisy condition
whether they recalled in matching or mismatching conditions
dv- score on recall test out of 10, and mcq out of 16
Grants method
stated was a class project, and stated it was voluntary
all pps randomly assigned to a condition
everyone wore headphones, noisy condition had background noise at a moderately loud level whereas silent simply had nothing playing
had to read psychoimmunology article, were told they could highlight/underline
once read, break of 2 mins to minimise short term memory
10 qs short answer test given first, then 16 multiple choice
were told they had r2w and was debriefed
Grants results and conclusions
silent-silent scored best 80.8%,
worse was silent noise 66.5%
conclusions
studying and testing in the same environment leads to enhanced performance
Grant’s issues and debates
nature+nurture- context is situational factor affecting behaviour, but is processed using memory which is individual
holism
determinism
psych as a sicence- standardised, quantifiable, controlled
ethics- deception but debrief, confidentiality, consent, protection from harm
practical apps- new revision techniques in matching conditions
Moray background
selective attention is when ppl are presented with 2 messages but should only pay attention to one and reject other
Moray wanted to expand on Cherry’s “cocktail party phenomenom” in a controlled setting
Moray aim
to test cherrys dichotic listening findings in relation to:
E1- amount of info recognised in rejected message
E2- effect of hearing one’s own name in unattended message
E3- effect of instructions to identify a specific target in rejected message
Moray sample
was volunteers
E1- male and female undergraduates and research workers, dont know how many
E2- 12 male and female undergrads and research workers
E3- 14 male and female undergrads and research workers
Moray Research method, IV and DV and experimental design
all lab experiments
E1- repeated measures, IV- dichotic listening DV- number of words correctly recognised in rejected message
E2- repeated measures design, IV- whether instructions had pps name DV- number of affective instructions followed
E3-independent measures, IV- whether pps were given instructions to listen to digits or prose DV- number of digits recalled
Moray procedure experiment 1
all info played on Brennel Mark IV stereophonic tape recorder with 2 amplifiers
“amount of info recognised in rejected message”
1. short list of simple words spoken 35 times as “rejected” message
2. pps were asked to shadow (copy) some light fiction as their attended message
3. 30 seconds after dichotic listening task, pps given recognition test of 21 words. 7 were from shadowed message, 7 from rejected message and 7 which were in neither ( acted as a control).
given recognition test
Moray procedure experiment 2
“the effect of hearing one’s own names ( an affective cue ) in the unattended message”
1. pps heard 2 passages of light fiction at once, one in each ear.
2. 10 passages began with instruction to listen to the right ear and in 2 cases this instruction was followed with a warning that there would be an instruction to change ear.
3. instruction that followed were - affective 3 times (with names), non affective 3 times or no instructions 4 times.
=10 trials for each pps
4. performances recorded and analysed
Moray procedure experiment 3
“the effect of instructions to identfiy a specific target in the rejected message”
conducted in order to test exp 2
1. some pps told to listen to prose, some told to listen to digits
then given recognition test
what was the tape played on in Morays study
Brennel Mark IV stereophonic tape recorder, 2 amplifiers
results of Morays study
exp 1- significantly more words recalled in shadowed message (4.9/7) compared to rejected message (1.7)
e2- affective instructions head 20/39 compared to non affective 4/36
e3- no significant differenve in mean scores of digits recalled in either condition
Morays conclusions
The verbal content of the rejected message is blocked, even when the message is repeated many times, very hard to penetrate the block. However, important messages (own name) can break this block . It is very difficult to make neutral material break this block as digits with no meaning was unsuccessful.
Morays issues and debates
psych as a science- lab, quantitative data, standardised
ethical
usefulness-education, aiming to implent affective cues to keep children interested
nature- attention is an internal mental process
nurture- influences in environment like affective cues can influence auditory attention
reductionist- findings only focus on how to penetrate the block
determinsim- predetermined if we hear our name to listen
simon and chabris background
wanted to build on morays research by investigating into visual attention and inattentional blindness
Mack and Rock found ppl failed to see smiley face
however they wanted to make task more representative of a real life situation
simon and chabris aim
to investigate whether particularly unusual events are likely to be detected
to investigate if a more difficult task increases the rate of inattentional blindess
to investigate the effect of superimposition and transparency of characters in a video
simon and chabris sample
192 undergrads, volunteer sampling
was initially 228 but 36 had alr seen video
male and female
simon and chabris experimental design, research method IV and DV
lab experiment
independent measures
IV- 4 conditions= 1) transparent/umbrella
2) transparent/ gorilla
3) opaque/umbrella
4) opaque/gorilla.
4 tasks-
1) white/easy
2)white/hard
3)black/easy
4)black/hard
16 conditions- pps only took part in one
DV- number of pps who noticed the unexpected unevent
simon and chabris procedure
1.pps tested alone
2.given instructions to count number of passess that basketball players passed
if in easy condition they counted number of passes
if in hard condition they counted how many bounce and aerial passes
3. when watching event, unusual event would happen, either lady with umbrella or gorilla
4. after pps asked did you notice anything unusual and if they said yes they would ask follow up qs
if not they would be asked 2 more closed questions
simon and chabris controlled observation and result
12 new pps
made gorilla thump his chest
see if doing something significant would change how many ppl noticed,
only 50% noticed
simon and chabris results
54% noticed, 46% showed inattentional blindness
65% saw umbrella women, 44% saw gorilla (more unusual)
64% saw it in easy condition, 45% saw it in hard- more concentrated
opaque- 67%, easier to see. transparent- 42%.
