PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
Discuss one model of memory
INTRO:
- define important terms:
- multi store memotry model (MSM):
- created by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
- memory consists of a number of separate locations where information is stored
- sensory information enters through sensory memory:
- information arrives from the 5 senses
- the capacity of sensory memory is all sensory experience
- information stays in the sensory stores for a couple of seconds, then a small part, the one that is given attention, moves to short term memory
- Short term memory:
- capacity of around 7 +/- 2 items,
- up to 18 seconds,
- encoding is mostly auditory
- rehearsal of material in STM leads to storing information in LTM – if there is no rehearsal the information is lost
- Long term memory:
- unlimited capacity and duration
- encoding mainly semantic (by meaning), but can be visual or auditory
- recalled back to short term memory when needed
- state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer: HM Milner case study, Glanzer and Cunitz → In this essay I will (+ rephrase the question)
RESEARCH 1 (HM case study):
- topic sentence
- longitudinal case study
- aim:
- to better understand the effects that the surgery had had on patient HM find out more about the working of human brain
- procedure:
- HM had a brain injury because of which he had a brain surgery where they removed a part of the tissue from the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus
- psychometric testing, direct observation of his behaviour, interviews, cognitive tests and MRIs
- results:
- HM could not acquire new episodic and semantic knowledge but his short term and procedural memory were unaffected.
- link to the question:
- shows that different types of memories are stored in separated regions of the brain which supports the Multi store memory model
- It showed that the hippocampus is an important part of converting short term memory into long term memory however short term memory is not stored in the hippocampus.
- It also showed that the implicit memory contains several stores, each of these related to different parts of the brain
- evaluation:
- longitudinal and had a method triangulation which leads to more diverse and reliable results
- cannot be replicated but are case studies similar to this one
- high ecological validity since is is a case study
RESEARCH 2 (Glanzer and Cunitz):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- whether the position of words influences recall
- participants:
- males in the US
- procedure:
- recall of a list of 15 items
- interference task to show that there are two processes involved in retrieving information
- 15 lists of 15 words one at a time
- Participants had to recall the words under one of three conditions: recall with no delay, with a 10-second delay and with a 30-second delay
- results:
- no delay, the first 5 and last three words were recalled best
- 10 or 30-second delay during which the participants counted backwards there was little effect on the words at the beginning of the list but poor recall of later items
- link to the question:
- later words were held in short-term storage and were lost due to interference whereas the earlier words had been passed to long-term storage since they had probably repeated them more times in order to try to remember them
- evaluation:
- low ecological validity
- no random allocation of participants
- gender bias
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas
- addresses the command term:
- both studies support the existence of the MSM since they …
Evaluate one model of memory
INTRO:
- define important terms:
- multi store memotry model (MSM):
- created by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
- memory consists of a number of separate locations where information is stored
- sensory information enters through sensory memory:
- information arrives from the 5 senses
- the capacity of sensory memory is all sensory experience
- information stays in the sensory stores for a couple of seconds, then a small part, the one that is given attention, moves to short term memory
- Short term memory:
- capacity of around 7 +/- 2 items,
- up to 18 seconds,
- encoding is mostly auditory
- rehearsal of material in STM leads to storing information in LTM – if there is no rehearsal the information is lost
- Long term memory:
- unlimited capacity and duration
- encoding mainly semantic (by meaning), but can be visual or auditory
- recalled back to short term memory when needed
- state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer: HM Milner case study, Glanzer and Cunitz → In this essay I will (+ rephrase the question)
RESEARCH 1 (HM case study):
- topic sentence
- longitudinal case study
- aim:
- to better understand the effects that the surgery had had on patient HM find out more about the working of human brain
- procedure:
- HM had a brain injury because of which he had a brain surgery where they removed a part of the tissue from the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus
- psychometric testing, direct observation of his behaviour, interviews, cognitive tests and MRIs
- results:
- HM could not acquire new episodic and semantic knowledge but his short term and procedural memory were unaffected.
- link to the question:
- shows that different types of memories are stored in separated regions of the brain which supports the Multi store memory model
- It showed that the hippocampus is an important part of converting short term memory into long term memory however short term memory is not stored in the hippocampus.
- It also showed that the implicit memory contains several stores, each of these related to different parts of the brain
- evaluation:
- longitudinal and had a method triangulation which leads to more diverse and reliable results
- cannot be replicated but are case studies similar to this one
- high ecological validity since is is a case study
RESEARCH 2 (Glanzer and Cunitz):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- whether the position of words influences recall
- participants:
- males in the US
- procedure:
- recall of a list of 15 items
- interference task to show that there are two processes involved in retrieving information
- 15 lists of 15 words one at a time
- Participants had to recall the words under one of three conditions: recall with no delay, with a 10-second delay and with a 30-second delay
- results:
- no delay, the first 5 and last three words were recalled best
- 10 or 30-second delay during which the participants counted backwards there was little effect on the words at the beginning of the list but poor recall of later items
- link to the question:
- later words were held in short-term storage and were lost due to interference whereas the earlier words had been passed to long-term storage since they had probably repeated them more times in order to try to remember them
- evaluation:
- low ecological validity
- no random allocation of participants
- gender bias
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas
- addresses the command term: evaluation oof MSM
- too simplistic, but very influential
- explains basic ideas well (mechanisms like storing, encoding, retrieval), has a lot of biological support, case studies and experiments
- assumes that each of the stores works individually, that there is no interaction between STM and LTM - other theories say otherwise
- doesn’t explain memory distortion
- doesn’t explain how some things are learned without a lot of repetition, and how sometimes we repeat the info a lot but it doesn’t get transferred to LTM
Evaluate one study related to one model of memory
INTRO 1:
- define important terms:
- multi store memotry model (MSM):
- created by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
- memory consists of a number of separate locations where information is stored
- sensory information enters through sensory memory:
- information arrives from the 5 senses
- the capacity of sensory memory is all sensory experience
- information stays in the sensory stores for a couple of seconds, then a small part, the one that is given attention, moves to short term memory
- Short term memory:
- capacity of around 7 +/- 2 items,
- up to 18 seconds,
- encoding is mostly auditory
- rehearsal of material in STM leads to storing information in LTM – if there is no rehearsal the information is lost
- Long term memory:
- unlimited capacity and duration
- encoding mainly semantic (by meaning), but can be visual or auditory
- recalled back to short term memory when needed
- state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer: HM Milner case study, Glanzer and Cunitz → In this essay I will (+ rephrase the question)
RESEARCH 1 (HM case study):
- topic sentence
- longitudinal case study
- aim:
- to better understand the effects that the surgery had had on patient HM find out more about the working of human brain
- procedure:
- HM had a brain injury because of which he had a brain surgery where they removed a part of the tissue from the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus
- psychometric testing, direct observation of his behaviour, interviews, cognitive tests and MRIs
- results:
- HM could not acquire new episodic and semantic knowledge but his short term and procedural memory were unaffected.
- link to the question:
- shows that different types of memories are stored in separated regions of the brain which supports the Multi store memory model
- It showed that the hippocampus is an important part of converting short term memory into long term memory however short term memory is not stored in the hippocampus.
- It also showed that the implicit memory contains several stores, each of these related to different parts of the brain
- evaluation:
- longitudinal and had a method triangulation which leads to more diverse and reliable results
- cannot be replicated but are case studies similar to this one
- high ecological validity since is is a case study
CONCLUSION: the evaluation of the study
Contrast two models of memory / Discuss models of memory
INTRO 1:
- define important terms:
- multi store memotry model (MSM):
- created by Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968)
- memory consists of a number of separate locations where information is stored
- sensory information enters through sensory memory:
- information arrives from the 5 senses
- the capacity of sensory memory is all sensory experience
- information stays in the sensory stores for a couple of seconds, then a small part, the one that is given attention, moves to short term memory
- Short term memory:
- capacity of around 7 +/- 2 items,
- up to 18 seconds,
- encoding is mostly auditory
- rehearsal of material in STM leads to storing information in LTM – if there is no rehearsal the information is lost
- Long term memory:
- unlimited capacity and duration
- encoding mainly semantic (by meaning), but can be visual or auditory
- recalled back to short term memory when needed
- state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer: HM Milner case study, Glanzer and Cunitz → In this essay I will (+ rephrase the question)
RESEARCH 1 (HM case study):
- topic sentence
- longitudinal case study
- aim:
- to better understand the effects that the surgery had had on patient HM find out more about the working of human brain
- procedure:
- HM had a brain injury because of which he had a brain surgery where they removed a part of the tissue from the medial temporal lobe, including the hippocampus
- psychometric testing, direct observation of his behaviour, interviews, cognitive tests and MRIs
- results:
- HM could not acquire new episodic and semantic knowledge but his short term and procedural memory were unaffected.
- link to the question:
- shows that different types of memories are stored in separated regions of the brain which supports the Multi store memory model
- It showed that the hippocampus is an important part of converting short term memory into long term memory however short term memory is not stored in the hippocampus.
- It also showed that the implicit memory contains several stores, each of these related to different parts of the brain
- evaluation:
- longitudinal and had a method triangulation which leads to more diverse and reliable results
- cannot be replicated but are case studies similar to this one
- high ecological validity since is is a case study
WORKING MEMORY MODEL:
- development of the multi store model of memory
- Baddeley and Hitch
- four part working memory model in place of the short term memory
- Primary memory is separated into four components:
- The phonological loop:
- loop holds sound and language information and is further divided into two parts
- visual-spatial sketchpad: holds visual and spatial information
- episodic buffer: buffer stores events or episodes made up of related information about the particular event. it is believed that it is the source of consciousness
- central executive: replaces the sensory buffer in the MSM model; directs attention to tasks and allocates resources between other stores
- The last part of the model is identical to the Multi-store model; rehearsal of the short-term memory will enter the long-term memory.
- does not explain the loss of memory through decay
STUDY IN SUPPORT (KF case study):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- to see how motorbike injury affected KF
- procedure:
- series of tests on patient KF who suffered brain damage
- results:
- LTM was intact, showed issues in STM
- appeared to have problems remembering lists of words, but was able to learn
- although he quickly forgot numbers and words when they were presented to him orally, he was able to remember these words or numbers when presented to him visually
- impairment for verbal information, almost no for visual
- later testing showed that he had no issue recalling cats meowing or telephones ringing
- link to the question:
- supports the theory that there are several separate STM components
- damage to STM that was auditory and not visual, and verbal rather than non- verbal
- evaluation:
- case study -> not able to be replicated
- longitudinal
- supports theory
CONCLUSION:
SIMILARITIES
limited short term memory ( duration and capacity)
rehearsal and repetition is important to store info from short term memory into long term memory
we take in information through senses
none of the models can explain distorted memories
both show the long term memory as unlimited and info can be retrieved from it
both acknowledge sensory memory, short term memory, and long term memory
in both models, long term memory is the final “destination” of the memory
DIFFERENCES
MSM doesn’t explain multitasking
MSM: one way of transfer to LTM, in WMM several ways to transfer
WMM doesn’t explain LTM
MSM: one single system, LTM: has more systems
WMM makes STM seem more complicated, with multiple stores,
Discuss/Evaluate Schema theory/Discuss one or more studies related to schema theory
INTRO:
- define important terms:
- SCHEMA:
- Bartlett
- mental representations that are derived from prior experience and knowledge
- help us to predict what to expect based on what has happened before, organize our knowledge, assist recall, guide our behaviour and help us to make sense of current experiences
- we have scripts: patterns of behaviour that are learned through interaction with the environment
- cognitive schemas: specific knowledge organized and stored in memory that can be accessed and used when needed
- state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer (Bartlett, Brewer and Treyens)
RESEARCH 1:
- topic sentence
- aim:
- see how memory of a story is affected by previous knowledge, if cultural background would lead to memory distortion
- procedure:
- told participants a native American story called War of the Ghosts -> had to repeat it
- allocation to two conditions, one group: repeated reproduction (repeat after a day, week, month), other serial reproduction (to another person)
- results:
- no significant difference between how people reproduced the story, over time it became shorter and more conventional (retained information that could be connected to the culture of participants, other words changed - canoe=boat)
- three patterns of distortion: more consistency with own culture, became shorter, omitting unimportant information, changing the order in the story, adding detail, emotion
- story remained coherent
- link to the question:
- showed that the story was adapted to be more alike to their culture – what they know - their schema
- evaluation:
- conditions weren’t standardized
- other researches failed to replicate it and get same results - low reliability
- old study
- no random allocation
RESEARCH 2 (Brewer and Treyens):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- to study the role of schema in encoding and retrieval of memory
- participants:
- 86 university psychology students
- procedure:
- seated in a room that looked like an office
- room consisted of objects typical of offices and objects that weren’t typical, and omitted some items that were normally found in offices (books)
- each participant was instructed to wait in the office while the researcher “checks on the previous participant”, and took a seat (same seat for everyone)
- after 35 seconds they were called to another office, were asked to remember what they see from the office and were given a questionnaire
- random allocation to three conditions:
- recall condition: write down the location, shape, size, color of objects they saw, then a recognition test (booklet containing a list of objects, 1-6 scale if they believed that the object was in the room)
- drawing condition: had to draw the outline of the room
- verbal recognition: were read out a list of objects, had to decide if they were in the room or not
- results:
- when writing a paragraph or drawing: more likely to remember items that fit with their schema
- when asked to select items on the list, they remembered the unusual objects, but also had a higher rate of identifying objects which were schema congruent but which were actually not in the room
- tended to change the nature of the objects, like location, to fit the schema
- link to the question:
- more likely to remember the schema fit objects or to think they remember the objects which fit the schema but were actually not there
- evaluation:
- deception but necessary and debriefing after
- sampling bias
- low eco validity
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas:
- adresses the command term:
- both studies show that schema’s influence our memory, etc.
FOR EVALUATE:
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas:
- adresses the command term:
significant amount of research
useful to see how people categorize information, interpret information
explains false memories, memory distortions
is testable
has biological evidence
can be applied to many fields of psychology, abnormal psych, cognitive, sociocultural approach, relationships, health psychology
helps to predict behaviour to an extent
not sure how exactly schemas are acquired or how exactly they influence cognitive processes
cannot account for why schema-inconsistent information is sometimes recalled
Discuss the reliability of one cognitive process/Evaluate one or more studies on the reliability of one cognitive process/
INTRO:
- define important terms:
- memory is one of the cognitive processes
- a reconstructive process and therefore is open to distortion
- Importance of this lies in many fields, such as eye witness testimonies, where due to the memory distortion we can get false information
- One one hand:
- people tend to change details of an event when they try to remember it
- when we recall a memory we are activating schema that are relevant to an event in order to create it
- piece together a memory from bits of information that we have in our schema
- often make assumptions about what could or should have happened
- some scientists argue that memory is reliable
- state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer(Loftus & Palmer, Bahrick)
RESEARCH 1 (Loftus & Palmer (1974 - 2):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- to see if people who estimated higher speed also claimed that they have seen broken glass
- procedure:
- shown a film depicting an accident, 50 answered a questionnaire that included the question how fast were cars going when they hit/ 50 smashed into each other/ 50 had no question about the estimation of speed
- after one week were called in again and asked if they saw any broken glass (there was none)
- results:
- the estimated speed was higher for the smashed position
- most of the participants reported no broken glass, although most participants who did were in the smashed condition
- link to the question:
- wording of the critical question led to higher speed estimates in the first part of the experiment and this also had consequences for how participants answered in the second part of the experiment
- word ‘smashed’ gives the participant the idea of an accident that is severe and therefore he or she is more likely to think that there was broken glass their memory was affected by other cognitive proces –> shows the unreability of memory
- evaluation:
- low ecological validity
- no emotion experienced
- problem of estimating car speed in general
- clear variables
RESEARCH 2 (Bahrick):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- see the reliability of autobiographical memory over time
- participants:
- 392 participants of ages 17-74 were tested on their knowledge of people they went to school with
- procedure:
- free recall task was given first, the other four tasks in random order
- free recall (name as many as you can remember), photo recognition task (10 cards, choose which 5 were taken from own yearbook), name recognition task (choose the name out of 10 names that was their classmate), matching test (match faces-names), picture cueing test (show picture, have to tell their name)
- also had to indicate degree of confidence
- results:
- those who were tested in the range of 15 years after leaving the school: 90% accurate, got worse with age, especially the free recall
- link to the question:
- is the counter argument to the first one since in shows the high reliability of the memory
- evaluation:
- a cross sectional study so cannot account for participant variability/change over time,
- large sample size
- , not that easy to replicate
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas:
- adresses the command term:
- different types of memories are reliable in a different way: autobiographical more, if we’re under the influence of emotions - still quite unreliable, diff studies with the same idea have different answers,
- ecological validity and influence of it (emotional attachment)
- verification of original memories – cannot verify them
- has applications: eyewitness testimonies
Discuss one or more studies of reconstructive memory/Evaluate one theory or study relevant to reconstructive memory
INTRO:
- define important terms:
- memory is one of the cognitive processes
- a reconstructive process and therefore is open to distortion
- Importance of this lies in many fields, such as eye witness testimonies, where due to the memory distortion we can get false information
- One one hand:
- people tend to change details of an event when they try to remember it
- when we recall a memory we are activating schema that are relevant to an event in order to create it
- piece together a memory from bits of information that we have in our schema
- often make assumptions about what could or should have happened
- some scientists argue that memory is reliable
- RECONSTRUCTIVE MEMORY: theory of memory recall, in which the act of remembering is influenced by various other cognitive processes including perception, imagination, semantic memory and beliefs, amongst others (such as newspaper articles, etc.)
- state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer(Loftus & Palmer, Bahrick)
RESEARCH 1 (Loftus & Palmer (1974):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- to see if the use of leading questions would affect the estimation of speed
- participants:
- 45 students
- procedure:
- independent variable: the intensity of the verb used in the question (hit, collided, bumped, contacted, smashed), dependent: the estimation of speed
- 45 students, each watched all 7 films (independent samples design)
- they were asked to give an account of the accident and answer a questionnaire that included the critical question about the speed of cars
- results:
- mean estimates of speed were lowest in the contacted condition and highest in the smashed condition
- critical word affected the participants’ answer to the question, the researchers argued that when participants are unsure of speed, the given word helps them to estimate it higher or lower
- link to the question:
- different words activate different cognitive schemas, distortion of memory is based on reconstruction so that it is not the actual details of the accident that are remembered but rather what is in line with a cognitive schema of a severe accident and therefore show the unreability of our memory because of the influence of the cognitive schemas
- evaluation:
- low ecological validity
- no emotion experienced
- problem of estimating car speed in general
- clear variables
RESEARCH 2 (Loftus and Palmer #2):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- to see if people who estimated higher speed also claimed that they have seen broken glass
- procedure:
- shown a film depicting an accident, 50 answered a questionnaire that included the question how fast were cars going when they hit/ 50 smashed into each other/ 50 had no question about the estimation of speed
- after one week were called in again and asked if they saw any broken glass (there was none)
- results:
- the estimated speed was higher for the smashed position
- most of the participants reported no broken glass, although most participants who did were in the smashed condition
- link to the question:
- wording of the critical question led to higher speed estimates in the first part of the experiment and this also had consequences for how participants answered in the second part of the experiment
- word ‘smashed’ gives the participant the idea of an accident that is severe and therefore he or she is more likely to think that there was broken glass their memory was affected by other cognitive proces (reconstructive memory)
- evaluation: SAME AS BEFORE
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas:
- adresses the command term:
- both of the studies show that their memories were influenced – possibly by schemas, but definetly by the wording of the questions and therefore show that their memories were influenced by other cognitive processes – which proves the reconsctuctive memory
Discuss one cognitive bias/Discuss one or more studies of cognitive biases
INTRO:
- define important terms:
- Dual processing model
- Cognitive biases:
- systematic errors in thinking that affects the decisions and judgments that people make
- cognitive biases are explained by dual process model:
- system 1: faster, intuitive, more prone to mistakes because it depends on assumptions about the world (heuristics - mental shortcuts), uses minimal effort
- system 2: slower, rational, less prone to mistakes
- heuristics result in patterns in thinking, that are consistent but inaccurate → cognitive biases
- Anchoring effect:
- tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered (anchor)
- reference point, or anchor will influence any estimate you subsequently make
- During decision making, anchoring occurs when individuals use an initial piece of information to make subsequent judgments
- state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer: Tversky&Kahnemann, Strack and Mussweiler → In this essay I will (+ rephrase the question)
RESEARCH 1 (Tversky&Kahnemann 1974):
- topic sentence:
- Tversky and Kahneman is one of the simple studies which was carried out on high school students and supports the anchoring effect.
- aim:
- to see the effect of anchoring on estimate the value of a mathematics problem
- participants:
- high school students
- procedure:
- Participants in the “ascending condition” were asked to quickly estimate the value of 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6 X 7 X 8 in five seconds.
- Those in the “descending condition” were asked to quickly estimate the value of 8 X 7 X 6 X 5 X 4 X 3 X 2 X 1.
- Since we read from left to right, the researchers assumed that group 1 would use “1” as an anchor and predict a lower value that the group that started with “8” as the anchor → The expectation was that the first number seen would bias the estimate of the value by the participant.
- results:
- The researchers found that the median for the ascending group was 512; the median for the descending group was 2250. The actual value is 40320.
- link to the question:
- shows that the anchor influenced the estimation
- evaluation:
- very simple experiment –> easily replicated → establish the reliability of the results
- highly controlled → high internal validity
- low ecological validity → very artificial situation
RESEARCH 2 (Strack and Mussweiler):
- topic sentence:
- The second study, which is also supporting the existence of anchoring effect was carried out by Strack and Mussweiler.
- aim:
- test the influence anchoring bias on decision making
- participants:
- 69 undergraduate German students → opportunity sample
- procedure:
- They were asked two questions.
- Half of the participants were asked if Gandhi was older or younger than 9 years old when he died.
- The other half were asked if he was older or younger than 140 years old.
- They were then asked how old they think he was when he died.
- results:
- Participants in the high anchor condition guessed on average he was 67 years old, whereas those in the low anchor condition guessed he was 50 years old when he died.
- link to the question:
- This study demonstrates the anchoring effect – numerical information given to participants before making a judgment can influence their later judgements. It also shows it can have an effect even if the numbers are implausible.
- evaluation:
- here is a clear sampling bias - opportunity sampling (it is hard to generalize, the results may not be representative)
- Demand characteristics may have influenced the findings.
- Well defined variables
- Internal validity
- The study is reliable
- easily replicable
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas
- addresses the command term:
- anchoring bias happens because of quick thinking → shows the use of system 1 → more prone to mistakes, because it uses heuristics (anchor)
- if they were to use system 2, their answers would be more accurate, since they would think about it and the anchor wouldn’t have influenced their decision → by limiting their time, they had to use system 1 → lead to applying the anchor
- happens in real life → less effort needed, easier to do; but it leads to wrong judgements; for example important in marketing
- both of teh studies show that it exists
Discuss one model/theory of thinking and decision making / Evaluate one theory/study related to thinking and decision-making (focus only on Strack and Mussweiler)
INTRO:
- define important terms – DUAL PROCES MODEL :
- several components of thinking (problem solving, decision making..)
- decision making: process of identifying and choosing alternatives based on values and preferences of the decision maker
- dual process model the same as above + restating the question the same as above
- Strack and Mussweiler, biological support (Goet)
RESEARCH 1 (Strack and Mussweiler) - just do not focus as much on anchoring effect -> connect the anchoring effect to the system 1 (relied on the anchor since it is know that it relies on the informatio given; it was easier, more efficient; if they would use system 2, their approximation would be better):
topic sentence:
- The second study, which is also supporting the existence of anchoring effect was carried out by Strack and Mussweiler.
- aim:
- test the influence anchoring bias on decision making
- participants:
- 69 undergraduate German students → opportunity sample
- procedure:
- They were asked two questions.
- Half of the participants were asked if Gandhi was older or younger than 9 years old when he died.
- The other half were asked if he was older or younger than 140 years old.
- They were then asked how old they think he was when he died.
- results:
- Participants in the high anchor condition guessed on average he was 67 years old, whereas those in the low anchor condition guessed he was 50 years old when he died.
- link to the question:
- This study demonstrates that the participants used system 1 and were therefore more prone to making mistakes - relied on the information given - they have used their intuition, this was also the easiest way; if they would have used system 2 thinking, it would have taken them more time, but their answers would have been more accurate
- evaluation:
- here is a clear sampling bias - opportunity sampling (it is hard to generalize, the results may not be representative)
- Demand characteristics may have influenced the findings.
- Well defined variables
- Internal validity
- The study is reliable
- easily replicable
+can also add Tversky and Kahnemann
RESEARCH 2 (Goet):
participants carried out logical tasks
some tasks were more abstract, others more similar to everyday life
participants were put in a fMRI
many common areas of the brain that were active in solving the problems
when the task was abstract, the parietal lobe (associated with spatial processing) was active; when the task was concrete, the left hemisphere temporal lobe was active shows system 1 and system 2
seems to show that brain processes different types of information differently
evaluation:
fmRI is not invasive
low ecological validity
not a very fun environment to be in
concrete tasks might be based on previous experience
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas
- adresses the command term:
- both studies are in support of the dual process model, they show that there are two different systems
- by havinf two different proves (also biological) in makes the model more reliable
- etc.
Discuss one theory of how emotion may affect one cognitive process / To what extent does emotion affect cognition?
INTRO:
- define important terms:
- cognitive process: memory making → Memory is the cognitive function that allows us to code, store, and recover information from the past
- some believe that memory is not a “snapshot” of the past and that we often distort our memories as a result of post-event information
- The Flashbulb Memory Theory:
- when a memory is created of an event that is both emotional and of personal importance, it is more likely to be vivid, accurate and not distorted by post event information.
- Snapshot memories
- restating the question, why it matters:
state the researches (can connect with thesis) -> how it you will answer (Sharon et al, McGaugh and Cahill)
- thesis:
RESEARCH 1 (McGaugh and Cahilll):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- to see if the nature of the story would have an affect on creating a flashbulb memory.
- procedure:
- two groups
- Both groups watched a series of slides:
- group heard a boring story about a boy visiting a hospital
- the other group heard a traumatic story of the boy having his legs severed and reattached
- asked 2 weeks later to recall details of the slides,
- results:
- those that heard the traumatic story remembered significantly more details
- link to the question:
- This seems to support the role of emotion in the creation of flashbulb memories.
- evaluation:
- it was only two weeks later → not clear how long these memories could be accurate.
RESEARCH 2 (Sharon et al):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- to determine the potential role of emotion on flashbulb memories; if the closeness to the event influenced the formation of the FBM
- participants:
- 24 participants who were in New York City on 9/11
- procedure:
- conducted three years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Manhattan
- Participants were put into an fMRI
- While in the scanner, they were presented with word cues on a screen.
- In addition, the word “Summer” or “September” was projected along with this word in order to have the participant link the word to either summer holidays or to the events of 9-11.
- Participants’ brain activity was observed while they recalled the event.
- The memories of personal events from the summer served as a baseline of brain activity for evaluating the nature of 9/11 memories.
- After the brain scanning session, participants were asked to rate their memories for vividness, detail, confidence in accuracy and arousal.
- Participants were also asked to write a description of their personal memories
- results:
- Only half of the participants actually reported having what would be called “flashbulb memories” of the event - that is, a greater sense of detail and a strong confidence in the accuracy of the memory.
- Those that did report having flashbulb memories also reported that they were closer to the World Trade Centre on the day of the terrorist attack.
- Participants closer to the World Trade Centre also included more specific details in their written memories.
- link to the question:
- These results suggest that close personal experience may be critical in engaging the neural mechanisms that produce the vivid memories characteristic of flashbulb memory.
- evaluation:
- correlational in nature and does not establish a cause and effect relationship
- low in ecological validity → highly artificial tasks
- demand characteristics are not really possible
- The sample size is small and culturally biased → harder to generalize
CONCLUSION:
- restating main ideas:
- adresses the command term:
- both studies are in favour of the theory and show that emotions play an important part in cognition – memory
- etc.
- link to the question:
Discuss one or more studies of the influence of digital technology on cognitive processes.
INTRO:
cognitive processes=
- mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension.
- include thinking, knowing, remembering (memory), judging, and problem-solving.
- both of the studies will focus on problem solving/decision making
STUDY 1: BARR ET AL
aim
- to see if smartphone use promotes heuristic thinking, and causes a decrease in analytical thinking / analytic cognitive style
procedure:
- 190 adult participants
- before the research, they were given an attention check test, and were eliminated if they failed
- given a set of heuristics and biases problems, which are designed to cue an incorrect intuitive response that is difficult to override, so it is partially reflective of the analytic cognitive style
- an overall cognitive style score was calculated by taking the mean of the problems
- then, participants were asked to indicate whether they use a smartphone, and how many minutes a day they spend on their smartphone, and how many minutes they spend using the search engines on their smartphones
results:
- participants who reported a relatively higher daily smartphone use scored lower on each of the cognitive style measures
- but no significant difference between smartphone owners and those who don’t own smartphones
evaluation:
strengths:
- a big sample, therefore it is more appropriate to generalize the results
- they used an attention check test, so a variable that could largely interfere with the results, poor attention, was eliminated, so a bit more internal validity
limitations:
- the results were correlational, and there is no cause-and-effect relationship established between the variables, so it has low internal validity
- all the participants are employed adults, so the research applies to a very specific group of people, therefore we cannot generalize the results
STUDY 2: BAVELIER ET AL
aim:
- investigate the connection between playing action video games and decision making
procedure:
- participants=two groups of men and women who have not played video games in the past year
- group 1 asked to play action video games for 2 hours for a total of 50 hours
- group 2 asked to play simulation video games for 2 hours for a total of 50 hours
- after that, they got a computer screen test; shown a pattern of dots, and had to determine which way the majority of dots were moving, some patterns were easy and some were complex
results:
- the group that played action video games accomplished the task faster and more accurately
- able to decipher large amounts of information more quickly and come to a better decision
evaluation
strengths:
- standardized test, so comparison can be made between groups
- done in a lab setting and variables like playing experience were controlled, so higher internal validity
limitations:
- independent samples, so some participants could have had characteristics that deviated the data; better if they took some sort of similar test before they were asked to play video games
DISCUSSION
- the first study shows that smartphone use promotes heuristic thinking, which is intuitive and prone to errors
- the second study shows that playing action video games improves the speed and accuracy of decision making
- both show that decision making is faster, but disagree on the accuracy of the decisions
- just compare the evaluations and see which one is more valid, i will not write all the comparisons because id just be repeating myself, but in the end I will say that the second study is more valid, because the first one has more significant limitations (low internal validity, and the results cannot be generalized), and the second one has more significant strength (high internal validity)
- u can also say that in the end, smartphone use is different from action video games, so it could be possible that their use does have different, or even opposite effects
Discuss one or more positive effects of technology on one or more cognitive processes.
INTRO:
cognitive processes=
- mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension.
- include thinking, knowing, remembering (memory), judging, and problem-solving.
- both of the studies will focus on problem solving/decision making
STUDY 1: BAVELIER ET AL
aim:
- investigate the connection between playing action video games and decision making
procedure:
- participants=two groups of men and women who have not played video games in the past year
- group 1 asked to play action video games for 2 hours for a total of 50 hours
- group 2 asked to play simulation video games for 2 hours for a total of 50 hours
- after that, they got a computer screen test; shown a pattern of dots, and had to determine which way the majority of dots were moving, some patterns were easy and some were complex
results:
- the group that played action video games accomplished the task faster and more accurately
- able to decipher large amounts of information more quickly and come to a better decision
evaluation
strengths:
- standardized test, so comparison can be made between groups
- done in a lab setting and variables like playing experience were controlled, so higher internal validity
limitations:
- independent samples, so some participants could have had characteristics that deviated the data; better if they took some sort of similar test before they were asked to play video games
SMALL ET AL (2009)
aim
- Find out if internet searching can stimulate brain activity in middle age and older adults.
procedure
- participants are 24 middle aged people
- took a questionnaire in which they self-assessed their frequency of computer and internet use, and internet expertise
- based on that they were split into two groups; one with people with minimal experience and the other with people with extensive experience
- while they got an MRI brain activity scan, they performed an internet search task, and a book reading task
- n the Internet task, subjects chose which of the three displayed websites they wanted to visit first, but in the reading condition the subjects were instructed to press a specific button to advance to a text page, and subjects pressed the corresponding button to reveal the text
- the text and images were the same in the book format and internet search engine format
results
- group with minimal experience had same level of activation in similar parts of the brain in both tasks
- group with extensive experience showed the same level of activation in the reading task but higher in the second task in areas of the brain associated with complex reasoning and decision making.
- it can be concluded that internet research engages more neural circuits controlling decision-making and complex reasoning
evaluation
strengths:
- biological proof, so less subjective
- the content of both conditions is the same, so other variables are highly controlled; higher internal validity
- the subject groups were similar in age, sex, and prior educational achievement, and the groups differed significantly only in their prior technology experience, so once again controlled variables and high internal validity
limitations:
- very specific age range, so cannot generalize
CONCLUSION:
- restate the main ideas
- answer the question:
- it can be concluded that internet research engages more neural circuits controlling decision-making and complex reasoning
- the group that played action video games accomplished the task faster and more accurately
- able to decipher large amounts of information more quickly and come to a better decision
- these are 3 positive effects
Discuss one or more negative effects of technology on one or more cognitive processes.
INTRO:
cognitive processes=
- mental processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension.
- include thinking, knowing, remembering (memory), judging, and problem-solving.
- both of the studies will focus on problem solving/decision making
STUDY 1: BARR ET AL
aim
- to see if smartphone use promotes heuristic thinking, and causes a decrease in analytical thinking / analytic cognitive style
procedure:
- 190 adult participants
- before the research, they were given an attention check test, and were eliminated if they failed
- given a set of heuristics and biases problems, which are designed to cue an incorrect intuitive response that is difficult to override, so it is partially reflective of the analytic cognitive style
- an overall cognitive style score was calculated by taking the mean of the problems
- then, participants were asked to indicate whether they use a smartphone, and how many minutes a day they spend on their smartphone, and how many minutes they spend using the search engines on their smartphones
results:
- participants who reported a relatively higher daily smartphone use scored lower on each of the cognitive style measures
- but no significant difference between smartphone owners and those who don’t own smartphones
evaluation:
strengths:
- a big sample, therefore it is more appropriate to generalize the results
- they used an attention check test, so a variable that could largely interfere with the results, poor attention, was eliminated, so a bit more internal validity
limitations:
- the results were correlational, and there is no cause-and-effect relationship established between the variables, so it has low internal validity
- all the participants are employed adults, so the research applies to a very specific group of people, therefore we cannot generalize the results
STUDY 2: SPARROW ET AL
aim:
- to investigate the google effect, if constant access to search engines would impact memory processing
procedure:
- participants asked to type 40 trivia facts into a computer
- randomly assigned into 2 groups
- one group told that the computer would store everything they typed
- other group told the information will be erased
- in each group participants are also divided into 2 groups; one half was told to remember the facts, the other half were told that they don’t have to remember
- all of them had to recall the facts
results:
- participants who believed they could access information later had more trouble recalling the facts than the participants who believed that their information would be deleted
- there was no difference between those who were told to remember and no
conclusion:
- effect is called digital amnesia (google effect)
- expectation of access to information has a negative effect on recall
- brain sees it unessecary to encode information you can look up later
- evidence that the internet is a collective memory of humans
evaluation
strengths:
- used experimental procedures (not self reports) which established a cause and effect relationship, therefore high internal validity,
- well controlled lab experiment, therefore variables isolated =greater precision in data
limitations:
- lab experiment, so had demand characteristics like screw you effect, because they may have guessed what the study is about
DISCUSSION - CONCLUSION
- first study shows that using digital technology results in poor memory recall
- second study shows that smartphone use causes a decrease in analytic cognitive style, therefore promotes heuristic thinking
- here just kind of repeat the evaluation part and the results, and say why poor memory recall and a decrease in analytic cognitive style are bad, for ex. that less analytic cognitive style means that people will spend less time thinking before making decisions, so their decisions will probably be intuitive and therefore bad
- i don’t really know what else to write here cause everything kinda repeats, make sure to say that both studies are quite reliable, expand a bit more on the evaluation of studies, and say that there is sufficient proof of negative consequences on cognitive processes
- we should probably also compare the negative effects but idk yet how to do that, maybe we could talk about how both of these are different but very bad or something
Discuss one or more research methods used to study the interaction between technologies and cognitive processes./ Discuss the use of one or more research methods using the cognitive approach to understand human behaviour. / Discuss the use of one or more research methods used in the cognitive approach to understanding human behaviour.
INTRO
experiment:
researchers manipulate one variable in order to see how it will influence the other variable
control other variables
introduce a standardized procedure
true experiment: random assignment of the participants
quasi experiment: no random assignment of participants to conditions
lab experiment: conducted under highly controlled conditions (where accurate measurements are possible
natural experiment are conducted in the everyday (i.e. real life) environment of the participants, but here the experimenter has no control over the independent variable as it occurs naturally in real life.
STUDY 1: BAVELIER ET AL
aim:
- investigate the connection between playing action video games and decision making
procedure:
- participants=two groups of men and women who have not played video games in the past year
- group 1 asked to play action video games for 2 hours for a total of 50 hours
- group 2 asked to play simulation video games for 2 hours for a total of 50 hours
- after that, they got a computer screen test; shown a pattern of dots, and had to determine which way the majority of dots were moving, some patterns were easy and some were complex
results:
- the group that played action video games accomplished the task faster and more accurately
- able to decipher large amounts of information more quickly and come to a better decision
evaluation
strengths:
- standardized test, so comparison can be made between groups
- done in a lab setting and variables like playing experience were controlled, so higher internal validity
limitations:
- independent samples, so some participants could have had characteristics that deviated the data; better if they took some sort of similar test before they were asked to play video games
STUDY 2: SPARROW ET AL
aim:
- to investigate the google effect, if constant access to search engines would impact memory processing
procedure:
- participants asked to type 40 trivia facts into a computer
- randomly assigned into 2 groups
- one group told that the computer would store everything they typed
- other group told the information will be erased
- in each group participants are also divided into 2 groups; one half was told to remember the facts, the other half were told that they don’t have to remember
- all of them had to recall the facts
results:
- participants who believed they could access information later had more trouble recalling the facts than the participants who believed that their information would be deleted
- there was no difference between those who were told to remember and no
conclusion:
- effect is called digital amnesia (google effect)
- expectation of access to information has a negative effect on recall
- brain sees it unessecary to encode information you can look up later
- evidence that the internet is a collective memory of humans
evaluation
strengths:
- used experimental procedures (not self reports) which established a cause and effect relationship, therefore high internal validity,
- well controlled lab experiment, therefore variables isolated =greater precision in data
limitations:
- lab experiment, so had demand characteristics like screw you effect, because they may have guessed what the study is about
DISCUSSION:
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE RESEARCH METHODS OF THE TWO STUDIES
- lab experiment, because it was done in a controlled lab environment, and true experiment, because the participants are randomly allocated to the conditions
- independent samples design, because each participant was randomly assigned to only one condition (beneficial, because they are less likely to figure out the goal of the experiment, so demand characteristics are being controlled, but can be a limitation, because some participants could have important characteristics that deviate the data)
ADVANTAGES OF AN EXPERIMENT
- establishes a cause and effect relationship, because one variable is being manipulated to research the way it influences the other variable; internal validity, because a cause and effect relationship is established, and there is a high level of control (give example from the two studies)
- standardised procedure, so all the members of one group underwent the same conditions and instructions
DISADVANTAGES OF AN EXPERIMENT
- often low external validity, because the environment needs to be artificial to be controlled, so people would probably not behave the same in real life situations
- demand characteristics (expectancy effect, screw you effect, social desirability effect, reactivity), but can be controlled, give example of independent measures in the 1st experiment
Discuss one research method used to study cognitive processes. / Evaluate one or more research methods used to study cognitive processes.
INTRO
experiment:
researchers manipulate one variable in order to see how it will influence the other variable
control other variables
introduce a standardized procedure
true experiment: random assignment of the participants
quasi experiment: no random assignment of participants to conditions
lab experiment: conducted under highly controlled conditions (where accurate measurements are possible
natural experiment are conducted in the everyday (i.e. real life) environment of the participants, but here the experimenter has no control over the independent variable as it occurs naturally in real life.
STUDY 1: RESEARCH 2 (Glanzer and Cunitz):
- topic sentence:
- aim:
- whether the position of words influences recall
- participants:
- males in the US
- procedure:
- recall of a list of 15 items
- interference task to show that there are two processes involved in retrieving information
- 15 lists of 15 words one at a time
- Participants had to recall the words under one of three conditions: recall with no delay, with a 10-second delay and with a 30-second delay
- results:
- no delay, the first 5 and last three words were recalled best
- 10 or 30-second delay during which the participants counted backwards there was little effect on the words at the beginning of the list but poor recall of later items
- link to the question:
- later words were held in short-term storage and were lost due to interference whereas the earlier words had been passed to long-term storage since they had probably repeated them more times in order to try to remember them
- evaluation:
- low ecological validity
- no random allocation of participants
- gender bias
STUDY 2: RESEARCH 1 (Tversky&Kahnemann 1974):
- topic sentence:
- Tversky and Kahneman is one of the simple studies which was carried out on high school students and supports the anchoring effect.
- aim:
- to see the effect of anchoring on estimate the value of a mathematics problem
- participants:
- high school students
- procedure:
- Participants in the “ascending condition” were asked to quickly estimate the value of 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6 X 7 X 8 in five seconds.
- Those in the “descending condition” were asked to quickly estimate the value of 8 X 7 X 6 X 5 X 4 X 3 X 2 X 1.
- Since we read from left to right, the researchers assumed that group 1 would use “1” as an anchor and predict a lower value that the group that started with “8” as the anchor → The expectation was that the first number seen would bias the estimate of the value by the participant.
- results:
- The researchers found that the median for the ascending group was 512; the median for the descending group was 2250. The actual value is 40320.
- link to the question:
- shows that the anchor influenced the estimation
- evaluation:
- very simple experiment –> easily replicated → establish the reliability of the results
- highly controlled → high internal validity
- low ecological validity → very artificial situation
DISCUSSION:
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE RESEARCH METHODS OF THE TWO STUDIES
- lab experiment, because it was done in a controlled lab environment, and true experiment, because the participants are randomly allocated to the conditions
- low ecological validity due to lab experiment - very artificial situation
ADVANTAGES OF AN EXPERIMENT
- establishes a cause and effect relationship, because one variable is being manipulated to research the way it influences the other variable; internal validity, because a cause and effect relationship is established, and there is a high level of control (give example from the two studies)
- standardised procedure, so all the members of one group underwent the same conditions and instructions
DISADVANTAGES OF AN EXPERIMENT
- often low external validity, because the environment needs to be artificial to be controlled, so people would probably not behave the same in real life situations
- demand characteristics (expectancy effect, screw you effect, social desirability effect, reactivity), but can be controlled, give example of independent measures in the 1st experiment
