moray Flashcards
research method
- carried out controlled lab experiments and these fulfil the scientific criteria
- however, it is possible that since participants were aware they were in a study, some of them may have been affected by the partcipants responding to demand characteristics and giving answers they thought they were supposed to give
data
- collected and reported quantitative data which allows for easy comparison between conditions and for the results to be easily summarised
- quantitative data allows the reliability of the research to be tested and repeated
ethics that moray upheld
- tasks were explained to the participants before the study
- no protection from harm
- very ethical study
validity
- highly controlled lab experiment meaning it is high in validity
- low construct validity: particionsts knew they were in a study meaning the risk of demsnd characteristics were high (e.g. they may have thought that they were supposed not to remember anything in the inattended message and so reported that they did not when in fact they did
- low ecological validity: they were being fed information from each ear through headphones which blocks out all background noise and participants were shadowing the message they were instructed to attend to
- participants would not experience these conditions in everyday life.
reliaility
- high internal reliability: the study uses highly controlled lab experiments and meets the criteria for scientific research meaning it is replicable
- low external relaibility: the sample used for each experiment is quite small to establish consistent effects
sample
- sample was made up of students and reseach worker
- the sample enables research to be carried out relatively quickly and cheaply for a researcher carrying out research at a university
- however it may be that the students and the research workers that were preselected for their high level of cognitive ability may outperform the general population on tasks that require cognitive skills
- lack generalisability: the sample used is quite small so limits generalisability to a broader population
ethnocentric
- not ethnocentric: it is researching cognitive processes such as selective attending which depends on the physiognomy of the brain meaning that due to its cognitive nature, it is the same in every culture
- ethnocentric: the findings of the study may only reflect how english speaking people attentional processes work and it may be that people whose brains have been shaped by a different language or culture might perform differently on the test s
psychology as a science
moray carried out controlled lab experiments and these fulfil the scientific criteria of theory, control, evidence and replication
how is morays study useful
- contributes as an academic discipline as it provides evidence for cherrys cocktail party and contributed to out understanding of auditory selective attention
how does morays research link to the cognitive area
-it is investigating the cognitive process of attention
- it aimed to investigate selective attention by trying to find out whether ‘unattended’ material could break through the attentional barrier that is set up when a person focuses their listening on a specific task
key theme of moray
- attention
how does morays study link to the key theme
- moray provides empirical evidence into auditiory selective attention
- moray confirms cherrys cocktail partu effect where if important information is said like their name, it breaks through the inattentional barrier
how does morays study change our understanding of behaviour
Attention is selective as participants were unable to recall information they were not
focusing on unless it was subjectively important to them.
This suggests that most
information around us is not processed or paid attention unless its deemed relevant.
