Cognitive Psychology

Question 1

What was the background and aim of Vrij & Mann’s study?

Answer 1

• No real background - previous experiments were low in ecological validity as lies were artificial
• Aim: to conduct a study examining the behaviours of authentic high-stake liars
• Expected decrease in nonfunctional movements and behaviours consistent with cognitive load and/or behavioural control, presence of nervous behaviours uncertain

Question 2

What method did Vrij & Mann use?

Describe the sample

Answer 2

• Naturalistic observation: subjects did not know they would be analysed
  
  • IV: veracity, but not manipulated by experimenters
  • DV: behaviours
• Self selecting sample with repeated measures design: the suspects were known to have made both truth and lie statements
  
  • 13 males, 3 females
  • 4 juveniles (three 13yrs, one 15yrs)
  • 12 adults under 65yrs
  • 15 Caucasian, 1 Asian (1^st language Punjabi, fluent in English)
  • Crimes: 9 theft, 2 arson, 1 attempted rape, 4 murder
  • at least 10 had been previously interviewed for other crimes

Question 3

Describe the procedure for Virj & Mann’s study (authentic high-stake liars)

Answer 3

• Video tapes obtained from Kent County Constabulary with truth/lie supported by other evidence
• 65 clips chosen with 27 truths, 38 lies - truths and lies comparable in nature
• At least one truth & one lie for each subject - min. 2, max. 8 clips
• 5.2-145.7s per clip, 41.4-368.4s per subject
• Clips joined to make an hour long video
• Two observers (not told purpose of activity) coded the footage for intances of behaviour in 8 categories (quantitative data)
• Observer 2 randomly coded 36 clips, inter-rater reliability checked (e.g. r = .86 for gaze aversion and .99 for blinking)

Question 4

List and describe the 8 behaviour categories coded by the observers in Vrij & Mann’s study

Answer 4

1. Gaze aversion: seconds looking away from interviewer
2. Blinking: frequency
3. Head movements: frequency of head nods, shakes, tilts, etc.
4. Self-manipulations: e.g. scratching
5. Illustrators: movements to modify/supplement verbal information
6. Hand/finger movements: without moving arms
7. Speech disturbances:‘ah’, ‘mmm’, sentence incompletion, stutters, sentence change
8. Pauses: approx. 0.5s or more betwee words

Question 5

List the controls in Vrij & Mann’s study

Answer 5

• The researchers did not code the clips due to possible bias
• Subjects’ truths and lies confirmed by police
• Truths comparable in nature to lies
• Observers were naïve - not told the purpose of the study or whether a statement was true/false

Question 6

Describe the results of Vrij & Mann’s study

Answer 6

• Lies:
  
  • decrease in blinking (81%) (mean 18.50 compared to 23.56)
  • increase in pauses (81%) (mean 5.31 compared to 3.73)
  • decrease in hand and arm movements (69% decrease, 31% increase)
• Individual differences occured:
  
  • 50% increase, 50% decrease for head movements and speech disturbances
  • 56% increase, 44% decrease for gaze aversion

Question 7

What can be concluded from Vrij and Mann’s study on high-stake liars?

Answer 7

• lying was accompanied by a decrease in blinking and an increase in pauses (possible indicators of cognitive load)
• decrease in blinking indicates cognitive affects suspects’ behaviour more than nervousness
• individual differences challenge popular belief that liars have one set of behaviours: blinking rapidly, fidgeting and avoiding eye contact

Question 8

Evaluate Vrij & Mann’s study

Answer 8

• Generalisation: no, all were criminals (10 had been interviewed several times previously for other offences), 16 is a small sample
• Reliability: low, no real background, different interviewers (sometimes more than one), sometimes other people (attorney, parents) were present, 10 subjects had previously been interviewed
• Validity: high, coders were naïve so no bias, participants did not know they were studied; however, behaviour categories may not have been comprehensive enough
• Ecological validity: high, real-life situation
• Ethics: low, no consent, criminal records are meant to be confidential
• Usefulness: high, helps police BUT not applicable in other situations

Question 9

Define

retroactive and proactive interference

Answer 9

Retroactive interference: occurs when current information works backwards to interfere with earlier information

Proactive interference: occurs when current information is lost because it is mixed up with previously learned, similar information

Question 10

What was the background and aim of Loftus and Pickrell’s study on the formation of false memories?

Answer 10

• Previous experiements by Loftus
  
  • car crash (leading questions; broken glass)
  • Loftus & Coan - 14 year old Chris rated clarity of false memory as 8
• Aim: to investigate whether it is possible to implant an entire false memory for an event that never happened, i.e. being lost in a shopping mall

Question 11

Describe Loftus’ implantation of a false memory in 14-year-old Chris

Answer 11

• Three true events involving mother and brother Jim
• Jim helped to construct false memory: lost in University City shopping mall, Spokane, Washington at age 5; rescued whilst crying heavily by an old man
• Chris wrote about memories every day for 5 days, with more details about getting lost (old man was ‘really cool’, scolded by mother)
• Reinterviewed a few weeks later; true memories rated 1, 10, 5 for clarity; false memory rated 8
• Thought one of the true memories was false

Question 12

Describe the paradigm outlined by Loftus for conducting research into altering eyewitness memories about an event

Answer 12

1. Participants witness a complex event e.g. a car accident or crime
2. Half of participants receive misinformation whilst the other half do not
3. All participants attempt to recall the event

Question 13

Describe Loftus’ method

Answer 13

• Experiment with self-report and semi-structured interviews
  
  • ​repeated measures design
  • could be described as lab (interview at University of Washington) or field (phone interviews, booklet completed at home)
  • IV: three stages of booklet completion, first interview and second interview
  • DVs: %participants recalling true & false events; ratings of clarity (1-10 Likert scale) and confidence (1-5 Likert scale)
• Both quantitative and qualitative data collected

Question 14

Describe Loftus’ sample

Answer 14

• Opportunity sample
• 3 males, 21 females aged 18-53 recruited by University of Washington students
• Each student provided a pair - usually parent/child or siblings - the relative had to be knowlegeable about the childhood experiences of the subject
• Possibly multiple ethnicities: mentioned Vietnamese-American

Question 15

Describe Loftus’ procedure

Answer 15

1. Interviews conducted with relatives to obtain 3 true events and information for constructing a false event (verifying the ‘lost in mall’ story was completely false)
2. Subjects told the study was on childhood memories and asked to complete a 5-page booklet that had been mailed to them about their memories and how much they remembered of them
3. 1^st interview 1-2 weeks after receipt of the booklet, 2^nd interview 1-2 weeks after that (two female interviewers) (at the Uni or by phone)
4. Asked to recall events, rated clarity (1-10) and confidence that given time they would be able to remember more (1-5) (Likert scale)
5. After 1^st interview, participants were thanked for their time and encouraged to think about the four events; asked to remember more details for the next interview, but to not discuss the events with anyone else.
6. Participants debriefed after 2^nd interviewed and apologised to for the deception

Question 16

Describe the booklet mailed to the participants in Loftus’ study, and the details of the false memory that was constructed

Answer 16

1. 5-page booklet
2. cover letter with instruction and scheduled interviews
3. four short stories: three true events described by relative that occured when the subject was aged 4-6
4. false event: lost for an extended period of time in a mall or large department store at about 5 years old, crying, found and aided by an elderly woman, then reunited with the family
5. to make the memory believable, details provided by the relative included:
   
   • where the family shopped at that age
   • which members of the family usually went on shopping trips
   • what kinds of stores attracted the subject’s interest

Question 17

Describe the results found in Loftus’ study on the formation of false memories

Answer 17

• 49/72 of true events remembered across the booklet and both interviews
• 7/24 remembered false event; one subject recalled the event at first then decided she did not remembered so 6/24 in the end
• More words used to describe true memories (mean 138) than false memories (mean 49.9)
• Ratings for 5 participants who falsely remembered being lost:
  
  • Clarity: mean 6.3 and 6.3 for true events, 2.8 and 3.6 for false event
  • Confidence: 2.7 then 2.2 for true events, 1.8 then 1.4 for false events
• 19/24 correctly guessed false event

Question 18

Evaluate Loftus’ study on the formation of false memories

Answer 18

• Generalisation: no, educated sample (known to University students), gender imablance
• Reliability: high, supported by previous studies, many controls
• Validity: low, semi-structured interviews with suggestions so data is perhaps distorted by the interviewers, Likert scale (subjects avoid extreme values and may be drawn to pick the middle value), mean values are skewed
• Ecological validity: low, unusual situation for a relative to make up a false event
• Ethics: high, debriefing; low, deception, no informed consent, altering memory
• Usefulness: high, eyewitness testimonies and the danger of leading questions

Question 19

Define

sensation and perception

Answer 19

Sensation is the process of bringing information from the external world into the internal body and brain.

Perception is the process of selecting, organising and interpreting the raw information that has been taken to the brain by your senses (i.e. touch, taste, sight, sound and smell).

Held and Hein investigated perception, which is involved in visually guied behaviour.

Question 20

What was the background and aim of Held & Hein’s study (kitten carousel)?

Answer 20

• Hebb (1949): the effects of exposure to the environment of the development of spatial perception and coordination
• Walk & Gibson (1961): visual cliff
• Aim: To investigate if self-produced movement with its concurrent visual feedback is essential for the development of visually-guided behaviour

Question 21

Describe Held and Hein’s method and sample

Answer 21

• Lab experiment with controlled observation
  
  • IV: active/passive kitten, exposure to light
  • DV: results for tests
  • controls: movements of kittens, visual stimuli of kittens
• 20 kittens (10 pairs)
  
  • One ‘active’ A and one ‘passive’ P kitten in each pair
  • Kept in lightless cages with littermates and mother to reduce anxiety
  • Group X (8 pairs): reared in darkness from birth until A attained the minimal size and coordiational capacity required (8-10 weeks), then began experiment
  • Group Y (2 pairs): exposed to the patterned interior of a laboratory while restrained from 2-10 weeks of age for 3hrs daily, then began experiment

Question 22

Describe the main tests of visually guided behaviour in Held & Hein’s study

Answer 22

1. Visually-guided paw placement: The kitten was held by an experimenter. Its head and forelegs hung freely. It was carried down to the edge of a table. A kitten with normal visual experience would extend its paws in anticipation of contact with the table.
2. Avoidance of a visual cliff: The kitten was placed onto a transparent cliff-shaped block. It was placed onto the centre. One side looked ‘shallow’ and the other looked ‘deep’. A kitten with normal visual experience completely avoids the deep-looking side because they have a perception of different depths.
3. Blink to an approaching object: The kitten was held in a standing position. The experimenter quickly brought his hand towards the kitten’s face, stopping just in front of it. A kitten with normal visual experience would blink in response.

Question 23

Describe the additional tests done by Held & Hein to check the peripheral receptors and response mechanisms of the kittens

Answer 23

1. Visual pursuit of a moving object: The experimenter moved their hand slowly in front of the kitten. The kitten’s eye movements were recorded. A kitten with normal visual experience would follow the hand with its eyes.
2. Pupillary reflex to light: A torch beam was moved across the kitten’s eyes. Any change in pupil size was noted. The pupil of a kitten with normal visual experience would shrink in response to the light.
3. Tactual placing response: The kitten was held with its forelegs hanging freely. Its front paws were placed against the vertical surface of a table. A kitten with normal visual experience would respond by moving its paws into a horizontal position on the table surface.

Question 24

Describe the procedure for Held and Hein

Answer 24

• Apparatus allowed A to move with the motions mechanically transferred to P (use of ball bearings and aluminium reduced friction and inertia)
• P restrained in a gondola to prevent locomotion, head was free to move
• Group X:
  
  • exposed to apparatus for 3hrs daily, with 6 repetitions of paw-placement test after each exposure
  • on the 1st day that one kitten in each pair passed this test, both were tested on the visual cliff
  • retested the following day, then P left in a continuously illuminated room for 48hrs, then retested
• Group Y:
  
  • on the first day A displayed visual paw placing, it was tested on the visual cliff and retested the next day
  • passive exposure continued 3hrs daily for total 126hrs, then P tested

Question 25

Describe the results of Held & Hein’s study on the development of visually guided behaviour, and what can be concluded from these results

Answer 25

• Results for visual cliff (ratio of shallow/deep descents)
  
  • ​A always 12/0
  • P random, e.g. 6/6, 4/8, 7/5
• A showed normal visually guided paw placement and blinking after around 33 hours of exposure, no P did
• All kittens responded normally to pupillary reflex, tactual placement and pursuit of a moving object tests
• Self-produced movement with its concurrent visual feedback is necessary for the development of visually guided behaviour
• Supports nurture debate as P learned visual perception after 48 hours of self-produced movement

Question 26

Evaluate Held and Hein’s study on the development of visually guided behaviour

Answer 26

• Generalisation: no, naturally rearing of kittens disturbed, cannot compare to other kittens, animals can’t be generalised to humans
• Reliability: high, good controls, consistent results
• Validity: questionable, no mention of other observers, researchers may be biased
• Ecological validity: low, artifical conditions
• Ethics: low, distressed caused, however ends may justify means
• Usefulness: high, adds to scientific knowledge, in the long run may assist helping people with recovering sight

Question 27

What is autism and Asperger syndrome?

Answer 27

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by difficulty in communicating and forming relationships with other people and in using language and abstract concepts.

• difficulties with non-verbal communcations
• obsessive and repetitive behaviours
• lack of social skills

Asperger syndrome is a type of high-functioning autism also concerning difficulties with social interactions and a restricted range of interests and/or repetitive behaviors

Question 28

Describe the ‘theory of mind’ as mentioned in Baron-Cohen’s study

Answer 28

The ability to attribute mental states — beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc. — to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one’s own.

i.e. understanding another’s thoughts and feelings

Question 29

What was the background and aim of Baron-Cohen’s study?

Answer 29

• Lack of theory of mind first tested by Baron-Cohen et al. using Sally-Anne test (1985)
• Baron-Cohen et. al devised ‘Eyes Test’ (1997) to test theory of mind, but a number of methodological weaknesses arised that had to be addressed in the revised version
• Aims:
  
  • Test AS/HFA adults on the revised version of the Eyes Test to see if results are replicated from original test
  • Test if in a sample of normal adults, results on the Eyes Test and AQ (Autism Spectrum Quotient) are inversely correlated
  • Test if the female superiority found in the original test replicated

Question 30

What problems were there with Baren-Cohen’s original Eyes Test?

Answer 30

1. Answering the question involved a forced choice option between only two responses. Chance was too high so the range of scores revealing individual differences was too low (17-25)
2. The test scores were too narrow to differentiate between people with actual autism and “lesser variant” or “broader phenotype” groups (e.g. first relative of the autistic person).
3. Ceiling effects are likely to occur due to the narrow score range, so individual differences are difficult to detect.
4. The emotions described in the test were of two types: Basic and Complex. Basic emotions (e.g. happy and sad) were too easy and made ceiling effects more likely to occur.
5. Some items were linked to gaze direction and perception (e.g. ignoring and noticing). This factor was considered to be a clue that made the test easier to complete for some people.
6. There were more female faces than male faces, so possible bias
7. The two response options were always semantic opposites of each other (e.g. sympathetic and unsympathetic), which was making the test far too easy
8. There may have been issues with participants not correctly understanding the meanings of certain words, especially as autistic patients would have delays in learning language

Question 31

What improvements did Baron-Cohen et al. make to the Eyes Test?

Answer 31

1. To decrease chance and ceiling effects, improve range to 13-36:
   
   • increased number of items from 25 to 36
   • increased number of forced-choice response items from 2 to 4
2. To make the test less easy:
   
   • basic mental states eliminated (only complex)
   • items linked to gaze perception were removed
3. An equal number of female faces and male faces were used to remove bias
4. The correct answer was accompanied by three similar foil words, as opposed to opposites.
5. A glossary was given to participants; they could consult it at any time during the study.

Question 32

Describe the sample used in Baron-Cohen’s study

Answer 32

• Group 1: self-selected sampling
  
  • 15 males with Asperger’s or high-functioning autism
  • recruited via adverts in UK National Autistic Society magazine and support groups
  • mean age: 29.7, mean IQ: 115
• Group 2: opportunity sampling
  
  • 122 adults from adult community and education classes in Exeter or public library users in Cambridge
  • mix of occupations and education
  • mean age of 88 subjects: 46.5
• Group 3:
  
  • 103 (53 male, 50 female) adult undergraduates in Cambridge University (71 in science, 32 in other subjects)
  • assumed to have high IQ
  • mean age: 20.8
• Group 4: ‘randomy selected’
  
  • 14 individuals IQ matched with Group 1
  • mean age: 28.0, mean IQ: 116

Question 33

Identify Baron-Cohen’s method and describe the design of the questionnaires used

Answer 33

• Natural experiment with questionnaires (psychometric tests)
  
  • IV: groups (as people cannot be assigned to become autistic, the experiment is natural)
  • DV: performance on Eyes Test and AQ
• Eyes Test (revised) consists of 36 black-and-white photographs (size 15x10cm) of different male and female eye regions
• Four words presented to describe each person’s thoughts/feelings (1 correct, 3 incorrect)
• AQ consists of 50 statements with 4-point Likert scale (definitely agree, slightly agree, slightly disagree, definitely disagree) (forces participant to either agree or disagree)

Question 34

Describe the development and piloting of the Eyes Test

Answer 34

• Target words and foils generated by first two authors
• Piloted on 4 male & 4 female judges
• Criterion: at least 5 judges agree target word was most suitable; no more than 2 judges pick any single foil word
• Failed items had new words generated and re-piloted until criterion were met
• New criteria applied using Group 2 & 3 results: at least 50% had to select target word and no more than 25% could select a foil
• Items 1, 2, 12 and 40 were dropped (total items 36 from 40)
• Reason: no objective method for identifying the underlying mental state from an expression (check validity)

Question 35

List the predictions made by Baron-Cohen et al. in using the Eyes Test

Answer 35

1. Group 1 (AS/HFA) would score significantly lower on the Eyes Test, and higher on the AQ
2. Females in Groups 2 & 3 (normal) would score higher than males on the Eyes Test
3. Males in Group 3 (normal) would score higher than females on the AQ
4. Scores on the AQ and Eyes Test would be inversely correlated

Question 36

Describe the procedure of Baron-Cohen’s study

Answer 36

• All four groups test on the Eyes Test in a quiet room in Cambridge or Exeter
• AS/HFA group also asked to judge the gender of each photo
• Normal adults found to be at ceiling for gender recognition during piloting so were not required to do this task
• Groups 1, 3 & 4 completed AQ
• Subjects asked at the outset to read the glossary, indicate word meanings they were unsure of, encouraged to read meanings and told they could return to the glossary during the test

Question 37

Describe the results of Baron-Cohen’s study

Answer 37

Eyes Test:

• Group 2 & 3 modal score: 24, normal distribution
• Group 1 mean significantly lower (21.9 compared to 26.2, 28.0, 30.9)
• Females scored higher but not significantly (26.4 & 28.6 compared to 26.0 & 27.3)

AQ:

• Group 1 mean significantly higher (34.4 compared to 18.3, 18.9)
• Males scored higher in Group 3 but not significantly (19.5 compared to 16.6)
• Significant inverse correlation of -0.53 between AQ and Eyes Test scores

Question 38

What conculsions can be made from Baron-Cohen’s study?

Answer 38

• Revised test replicates original - AS/HFA participants are significantly impaired
• Test is improved and validates it as a useful tool for identifying impairments related to AS/HFA
• All predictions confirmed

Question 39

Evaluate Baron-Cohen’s study

Answer 39

• Generalisation: yes, same results in AS/HFA subjects
• Reliability: high, 1997 (original) results consistent
• Validity: high, improvements made, however no info if AQ is valid
• Ecological validity: low, images are static
• Ethics: yes, informed consent, no psych. harm
• Usefulness: high, diagnostic use, use in differentiating patients on the autism spectrum, social awareness of autism impairments, parenting