Psychology Unit 1

Question 1

Jacobs (1887)

Answer 1

Participants were given a string of unrelated letters and numbers that increases by one letter/digit each time.

Capacity (STM) - 7+/- 2

Question 2

Peterson & Peterson (1959)

Answer 2

• Trigrams
• No rehearsal
• Stopped after 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 seconds

Duration (STM) - 18 seconds

Question 3

Conrad (1964)

Answer 3

Participants were given six consonants.

• 1st condition, similar sounding consonants
• 2nd condition, different sounding consonants

Encoding (STM) - Participants made more errors in similar sounding letters. Stored in acoustic codes

Question 4

Bahrick et al (1975)

Answer 4

362 high school graduates were shown picture.

• Matched name to picture (recognition)
• Name the person (recall)

Duration (1975) - Participants performed better up to 34 years and then declined after 47 years. Recognition (60%) was more accurate than recall (20%)

Question 5

Baddeley (1966)

Answer 5

Participants presented with four lists of words:

• Similar sounds
• Different sounds
• Same meanings
• Different meanings

Encoding (LTM) - More errors with similar sounding words. LTM codes semantically.

Question 6

Loftus & Palmer (1974)

Answer 6

Misleading information on the accuracy of EWT

• 45 participants
• Two films of two cars colliding
• Hit/ Smashed/ Collided/ Bumped/ Contacted
• High speed, 41 mph (Smashed)
• Low speed, 32 mph (Contacted)

Question 7

Christianson & Hubinette (1993)

Answer 7

Anxiety on the accuracy of EWT

• 110 people who witnessed bank robberies
• Participants that had greatest levels of anxiety were more detailed and accurate

Question 8

Loftus (1979)

Answer 8

Anxiety on the accuracy of EWT

• Condition 1: Witnessed a friendly conversation, saw a man holding a pen
• Condition 2: Overheard angry conversation, saw a man holding a blood stained knife
  They were asked to identify the man
• Violent scene, more anxious, less accurate (33%) compared to low anxiety (49%)

Question 9

Age and accuracy of EWT (Children)

Answer 9

Accurate -
Davies (1994): Children can resist misleading information if they are questioned sensitively

Not accurate -
Dent (1988): Children provided fewer details than adults
Warren et al (2005): Children are more likely to be influenced by leading questions than adults
Ceci & Bruck (1993): Children tended to change their answer when the question is repeated, assuming their answer is wrong

Question 10

Age and accuracy of EWT (Elderly)

Answer 10

Accurate -
Yarmey (1993): No differences in older people and younger adults (More confident)

Not accurate -
Yarmey (1984): 80% of elderly participants failed to mention that attacker carried a weapon, compared to 20% young adults
Karpel et al (2001): 65-85 year olds were less accurate than 17 - 25 year olds in recall. They were also more vulnerable to leading questions.

Question 11

Context Reinstatement

Answer 11

Witness is asked to mentally recreate an image of the situation, including details of the weather and emotional state.

Question 12

Report Everything

Answer 12

Witness is asked to report everything even if it isn’t important

Question 13

Changed Perspective

Answer 13

Witness asked to recall the event from different points of view

Question 14

Recall in Reverse Order

Answer 14

Witness asked to recall details of the event in different orders, even in reverse

Question 15

Method of Loci

Answer 15

Visual strategy useful for learning a list of a list of items. To do this, the person associates the items with landmarks in some familiar place, which helps them recall the items later.

Question 16

Acronyms

Answer 16

Using the first letter of each item that you need to remember to create a new word, phrase or sentence.

Question 17

Narrative Chaining

Answer 17

Remembering information in a set sequence/order either by making up a short story incorporating items you have to remember.

Question 18

Learning Theory

Answer 18

Classical Conditioning: Learnt from associating mother and pleasure
Operant Conditioning: Learnt from punishment

Question 19

Bowlby’s Theory

Answer 19

• Attachments have survival value
• Attachment is nearly always with the mother (Monotropy)
• Must be formed within 3 years (Critical Period)

Question 20

Strange Situation

Answer 20

Ainsworth tested 100 middle class Americans.

• Mother leaves the room, comes back
• Stranger enters the room

Secure Attachment - 70%
Insecure Avoidant - 20%
Insecure Resistant - 10%

Question 21

Secure Attachment (Type B)

Answer 21

Stays close to caregiver and are distressed by their departure but easily comforted on return.

Question 22

Insecure Avoidant (Type A)

Answer 22

Unconcerned if caregiver is present or absent.

Signs of distress when left alone but could be comforted by caregiver or stranger.

Question 23

Insecure Resistant (Type C)

Answer 23

Gets very distressed when mother leaves.

When returned, wants comfort but shows anger and resists contact.

Question 24

Van Ijendoorn & Kroonenberg (1988)

Answer 24

Meta analysis of 32 cross cultural studies.

Secure attachments are most common across all cultures.

Question 25

Disruption of Attachment

Answer 25

Stage 1 - Protest
Stage 2 - Despair
Stage 3 - Detachment

Question 26

Protest

Answer 26

Child clings to parent to prevent them from leaving and cries when they are gone

Question 27

Despair

Answer 27

Child becomes depressed; they do not appear interested in anything

Question 28

Detachment

Answer 28

Child is no longer distressed but has switched off from people

Question 29

Privation

Answer 29

No attachment is formed between an infant and caregiver.

Question 30

Hodges & Tizard (1989)

Answer 30

Effects of Institutional Care:

• 65 children were studied; placed in institution before 4 months
• Good physical care and attention but could not form lasting attachments with caregivers
• By the age of 16, children had either been adopted or went back to their biological families

Conclusions:
- Both adopted and restored children struggle with a relationship because of early experiences
- Children in poor quality care have poor attachment
> Attachment difficulties:
Readily trust strangers
> Emotional difficulties: Fearful and miserable
> Conduct problems:
Picks fights, tells lies and disobedient

Question 31

Aggression in Day Care

Answer 31

Positive -
Shea (1981): Infants, 3-4 years, were recorded in the playground in 10 weeks. Aggression decreased

Negative -
NICHD (2003): Large sample of children, 4 years, were more aggressive and disobedient.

Question 32

Peer Relations

Answer 32

Positive -
Clarke-Stewart et al (1994): Observed peer relationships of 150 children aged 2-3 years. They have better peer relations.

Negative -
Pennebaker et al (1981): Found that shy/unsociable children had a negative effect on their social development in their future.

Question 33

Limitations of the Learning Theory

Answer 33

Schaffer & Emerson (1964): Found that 4-10 infants formed their first attachment with someone who did not feed them but instead played with them; Learning Theory cannot be the only explanation of attachment.

Harlow (1958): Baby monkeys formed attachment with ‘cloth mum’ than the ‘food mum’.

Question 34

Limitations of Bowlby’s Theory

Answer 34

Schaffer & Emerson (1964): Multiple attachments can be formed; Challenges Bowlby’s ‘monotropy’ theory

Tizard & Hodges (1989): Children adopted after the age of four can still form an attachment with a parent; Challenges ‘critical period’

Question 35

Strength of Bowlby’s Theory

Answer 35

Hazan & Shaver (1987): Found that childhood love can have an effect on future relationships.

Question 36

Limitations of cultural variations

Answer 36

• Ethnocentric
• Western cultures promotes the idea of being independent
• Japanese children are rarely separated from their mothers

Question 37

Strengths of Institutional Care

Answer 37

Hodges & Tizard (1989): Natural Experiment, so it has ecological validity; researchers were measuring real life behaviour

Rutter et al (1998): Studied 111 Romanian children adopted by British families before the age of two and found that development was normal by the age of four; Children are able to recover

Question 38

Limitations of Institutional Care

Answer 38

• Hodges & Tizard (1989): Research was small at 65 children; reduces generalizabilty of their findings
• Hodges & Tizard (1989): They overused interview/ questionnaires; They are open to social desirability bias which reduces validity.

Question 39

Strengths of Day Care

Answer 39

-Naturalistic Observations; no manipulation of behaviour findings have high ecological validity, can generalise findings

Question 40

Limitations of Day Care

Answer 40

• Research is often correlational; cannot determine cause and effect
• Cultural Bias as it takes place in America.