psychology - cloa final!!

8/3/2019 Psychology - Cloa Final!!

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CLOA

General Learning Outcomes

Outline Principles that define the cognitive level of

analysis/Demonstrate how principles can be demonstrated in

research

1) Mental processes guide behavior Cognitive processes = mental processes Cognitive processes include:

o Perceptiono Thinkingo Problem solvingo Memoryo Languageo Attention

Cognition is based on ones mental representation of the world Different experiences => different representations Goal of cognitive research is to discover principles underlying cognitive

processes

See mind as computer:o Input (stimulus) processing/memory (cognitive processes)output (behavior)

Demonstrated in research:

Piaget = schema theory Bartlett = cultural schemas and effect on memory James-Lange = theories of emotion (mental interpretations = emotional

response)

2) The mind can be studied scientifically Demonstrated in theories or models that are continuously tested New findings or empirical evidence can be used to improve or replace old

theories or models

Experimental investigation method used as viewed as most scientific However experimental tasks did not always resemble what people did in

every day life

This is why cognitive psychologists began to use field studies as wellDemonstrated in research:

Any cognitive experiment with clear IV & DV can be used to demonstratemanipulation of variables

Brain Scanning technology in experiments


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CLOAo CT Scano PET Scan (Clive Wearing, HM), Mosconi et al (2005)o fMRIs Kills (2003)

3) Cognitive processes are influenced by social & cultural factors Cultural exposure influences schemata Schemata control processing of stimuli in memory Reason why memory is subject to distortionsdifferent schemata

emphasize and recall different details

Demonstrated in Bartlett people anglicised story in memoryDiscuss how and why certain research methods are used in the

cognitive level of analysis

?????

Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the

cognitive level of analysis

Possible ethical considerations:

Informed consent Use of deception (justified?) Stress of participants Possible psychological damage to participants Naming of famous psychological patients (e.g. H.M and Clive Wearing)

Cognitive Processes

Evaluate Schema theory with reference to relevant research

studies

Personal Schemata:o We use personality categories to classify peopleo Often lead us to infer properties that arent present

Also have event and place schemas Schemata help us to make sense of our world Structures to help us make sense of information

Schema:

o A mental model or representation built up through experienceabout a person, an object, a situation or an event


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CLOAo Organised structures that capture knowledge and expectations of

some aspect of the world Bartlett

Evaluation of Schema theory:

Advantages: Limitations:

Guides attention, Selection,encoding & retrieval of

information

Helps integrate current & pastinformation

Helps interpret and understandevents (by insertion of default

variables)

Helps retrieval by recall beingschema driven

Definition of a schema: How can a schema be defined

without circularity of

argument?

Schema selection & retrieval No explanation provided for

how most appropriate

schema is selected and

retrieved Contrary Events

How can we explaininstances of vivid recall of

schema inconsistent details

Reference to research studies:

Bartlett: War-of-the-ghosts (1932)

Aim:o To investigate impact of cultural schemata on recall of read story

over time

Method:o Participants asked to read a native American storyo 15 minutes later were asked repeat the story from memoryo Over following days/weeks participants were asked to recall the

story and repeat it from memory a number of times

o Bartlett noted how each participants memory of the story changedwith each reproduction

Findings:o Story became shorter & more coherento Supernatural elements removed:

Became a straight forward story of fight and death Wound became a matter of flesh not spirit

o Omissions: ghosts omitted early, any culturally inconsistent detailsremoved early

o Rationalization: growing coherence among partso Transformation of details into more familiar & conventional

structure

o Changing order of eventso Changed details inconsistent with culture/beliefs (became more

anglicised as participants were white college males)

Evaluation


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CLOAo Strengths:

Suggests that memory is an active reconstructive process Finding confirmed by replications

o Weaknesses: Intervals of time for repetition each participant differentand unknown Demand characteristics may exist in participants knew

aim of experiment from informed consent

Low ecological validityAnderson & Pichert House Study (1978)

Aim:o To test which stages of memory are affected by schemaso Encoding or retrieval?

Method:o Participants all read same story about a houseo Details included that it was isolated, in the countryo Half read story as potential buyero Other half as potential burglar

Findings:o Found schemas impacted both encoding and retrieval of

information

Evaluation:o Mixed design counter balanced all variables

High degree of control & accounting for order effectso Laboratory experiment enables cause (schema) effect

(encoding/recall of memory) relationship to be visibly established

Evaluate two models or theories of one cognitive process

Cognitive process = memory!!!

Levels-of-Processing (LOP) theory

Craik & Tulving, Craik & Lockhart (1970s) Focus on:

o Ways info can be processedo Effect of ways on memory

Views memory as by-product of processing informationKey assumptions:

Level/depth of processing has a large effect on its memorability Deepest levels of processing produce:

o More elaborateo Longer lasting


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CLOAo Stronger memories than shallow levels of processing

Depth of Encoding

Depending on what we do with information at time of encodingprocessing can be:

o Shallow and superficialo Or deeper and more meaningful

Craik & Lockharto Deeper LOP result in longer lasting & more retrievable memorieso Shallow LOP result in less long-lasting & more difficult to retrieve

memories

3 LOP

Structural processing

Processing information about what things look like:o E.g. word written in capital letters, or number of letters

Phonetic Processing

Processing information about what something sounds likeo E.g. rhyming words

Semantic Processing

Processing information about what something meanso E.g. theme within words (i.e. sports)

Deepest form of information processingTypes of research

Referred to as incidental learning technique Participants dont know recall required when shown words

Multi-store & LOP

Craik & Lockhart assume separate STM & LTM However see functions of STM in terms of the processes carried out

LOP Theory Model suggests that difference between STM & LTM is processing not

stages

Suggests memory is based on cognitive processing not specific skills ineach stage of memory

Seems to suggest memory is limited by ability to process informationEvaluation

Oversimplified Does not consider retrieval process in enough detail In some cases shallow processing does not lead to rapid forgetting Key problem = way depth of processing was measured


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CLOA No independent way of assessing whether processing was deep or

shallow

Working Memory Model

Baddeley & Hitch (1974) Our conscious awareness involves visual or spatial information Theres more than one storage system in STM

Working Memory

Visuo-spatial sketchpad & phonological loop Information can be manipulated when needed central executive Improved version of STM Is credited with solving problems in MSM Wanted to emphasize that storage was not simply stationary in stages

between STM & LTM Is the way we store information while working on it These items interact with other cognitive processes (attention/imagery)

Phonological Loop:

Stores auditory information speech based form Preserves order of words Consists of:

o Phonological store inner earo Articulatory loop inner voice

Visuospatial Sketch Pad

Stores visual information Uses & manipulates visual images to draw in the mind Divided into two compartments

o First stores: Visual cache Information about subjects appearance Visual form & colour

o Second deals with spatial movement information Inner scribe

Central executive

Modality-free Limited capacity Directs attention to a certain stimulus Determines which items are stored in working memory

Explain how biological factors may affect one cognitive process

Theories of forgetting Availability theories


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CLOAo Trace decayo Medical reasons

Accessibility theorieso Interference theorieso Cue dependenceo Repression

Amnesia

Amnesia is forgetting produced by brain injury, trauma or disease Retrograde amnesia

o Cant recall info from prior to trauma Anterograde amnesia

o Cant recall info from after a traumaClive Wearing

Encephalitis from herpes simplex (cold sore virus) Completely destroyed the hippocampus Musical ability preserved No longer had any episodic memory no events recalled Maintained procedural memorymusical ability preserved Lost ability to encode and retrieve conscious experiences Blakemore (1988) performed case study

o Used brain imaging technologies to investigate extent of damage

H.M

Surgery removing hippocampus and amygdala to treat epilepsy Partial retrograde & severe anterograde amnesia Suggests damage to hippocampus affects short term memory and

transferal into long term memory

Hippocampus plays a role in encoding Scoville & Milner (1950s present)

Yarnell & Lynch - 1973

Aim:o To investigate the impact of concussion on memory immediately &

approximately 20 minutes after trauma

Method:o Players were asked immediately after regaining consciousness

what play team was using when injury occurred

o Asked same question approximately 20-30 minutes after regainingconsciousness

Findings:o Could remember the name of the play immediately afterwardso After 20 minutes found it very difficult to remember playo Memory never returnedo EXACT NUMBERS??


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CLOA Evaluation

o High ecological validity tested in real gameso Longitudinal study over two yearso Limitation: some inaccuracy in locating position of head injury

therefore can all concussions be compared?

Discuss how social and cultural factors affect one cognitive

process

????

With reference to relevant research studies to what extent is

one cognitive process reliable?

Reconstructive Memory

The process of putting information together based on general types ofstored knowledge in the absence of a specific memory representation

MORE DETAILED NOTES ON MEMORY ITSELF?Bartlett

Aim:o To investigate impact of cultural schemata on recall of read story

over time

Method:o Participants asked to read a native American storyo 15 minutes later were asked repeat the story from memoryo Over following days/weeks participants were asked to recall the

story and repeat it from memory a number of times

o Bartlett noted how each participants memory of the story changedwith each reproduction

Findings:o Story became shorter & more coherento Supernatural elements removed:

Became a straight forward story of fight and death Wound became a matter of flesh not spirit

o Omissions: ghosts omitted early, any culturally inconsistent detailsremoved early

o Rationalization: growing coherence among partso Transformation of details into more familiar & conventional

structure

o Changing order of eventso Changed details inconsistent with culture/beliefs (became more

anglicised as participants were white college males)

EVALUATION??? Memory an imaginative reconstruction of past events Recall implies risk of distortion


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CLOA Fits into existing schemas Actual events subjective memory Memory is an active process Schemas distort unfamiliar or unacceptable information Does this to fit in with existing knowledge or schemas Can result in unreliable eyewitness testimony

Loftus Reconstruction of an automobile accident

All participants shown same video of car crash Asked a series of questions but only one changed between experimental

groups

About how fast were the cars going when they(hit/smashed/collided/bumped/contacted) with each other?

IV different wording of the question DV speed estimated by participant Criticisms:

o Lacks ecological validity Not real crash Paying attention (less distracting variables)

o Participants Young & Intelligent Eager to please (demand characteristics) Hawthorne effect

o May not be memory guess work based on info provided by verb

Cognition and Emotion

Discuss the use of technology in investigating cognitive

processes

PET Scan

Radioactive material is injected or inhaled Scanner detects radioactive material Radioactive materials commonly used:

o Oxygeno Fluorineo Carbono Nitrogen

Material gets into bloodstream and goes into area of brain in use When radioactive material breaks down gives off a neutron and a

positron

When positron hits an electron both are destroyed Gamma rays are released


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CLOA Detectors record the brain area where rays are emitted

Advantages

Provides functional view of the brain Small movements dont ruin scans

o Participants dont need to lie perfectly still during scanDisadvantages

Images isnt as clear as others e.g. fMRI Radioactive isotope injected into patient only safe for a limited number

of uses (cannot be used many times on any individual patient)

Radio waves used as detectors same as MRI Can be inaccessible due to cost (very expensive)

Study Mosconi et al 2005

Computer program that analyses PETs and reveals reduction inhippocampal activity

Longitudinal study (tested over approximately 10 years and up) Participants with reduced hippocampal activity more likely to develop

Alzheimers

Way to screen & treat Alzheimers earlierfMRI Scan

Functional magnetic resonance Imaging Detects blood flow in the brain by monitoring absorbance of oxygen from

blood into cells in the brain

Allows detectors to pinpoint areas of greater activity Radio waves used as detectors same as MRI

Advantages

No damaging radiation used Minimal/no risk to patient Provides anatomical and functional view of the brain Non-invasive, safe, painless Easy to use Patients can eat and drink anything before procedures (as opposed to

anything that requires an anesthetic

Disadvantages

Can be expensive Can only capture a clear image if the patient lies perfectly still minor

movements can destroy images

Cannot be used in patients with metallic devices i.e. pacemakers Cannot be used in uncooperative patients must stay still Cannot be used in claustrophobic patients (due to small tube in whichscan is conducted)


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CLOAo Subjects are physically aroused by an injection of adrenaline then

exposed to anger or happiness cues

o The cues caused cognitive judgment causing emotional experience Basis of theory suggests that autonomic arousal provided energy &

intensity of an emotion We evaluate the situation and recognize what emotion we should

experience

Called two-factor theory of emotionEmotion-inducing stimulus physiological arousal cognitive interpretation emotion

Physiological state of arousal is necessary Situational factors determine interpretation of arousal Combination of physiological arousal & cognitive interpretation of arousal

forms two-factor theory of emotion

Support for Schachter& Singer Lazarus appraisal theory

If potential benefit appraised, positive emotions result If negative aspect appraised, negative emotion result

Biological explanations/factors

James-Lange Theory (1984)

William James & Carl Lange suggest that emotional experience is a directresult of physiological arousal

Physiological arousal is seen to cause the emotion Proposed that bodily change came first Forms the basis of an emotional experience

o You become happier when you smileo You are scared because you run

Emotion inducing stimulus behavioural & bodily responses interpretation

of arousal as emotion

Body changes/symptoms are accompanied by different emotions Perception of changes determines emotion Differences between emotions result from different patterns of

physiological response associated

Support for James-Lange

White et al (1981)o Running to create arousal ratings of women

Laird (1974)o Smiling mechanism and rating of cartoons

Valins (1966)o Male participants given feedback on heart-rate while rating

models on attractiveness

o Given false autonomic feedbacko Conclusion: there has to be more to emotional experience than

mere physiological arousal


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CLOA

Challenges to James-Lange

Cannon (1927): emotional encounters are emergency situations whichdirectly trigger a central brain process in the thalamus, leading to two

simultaneous but independent outcomeso Heightened arousal system which prepares the body to copeo The conscious experience of the emotion is registered in the cortex

Claims cannon-bard too slow to account for instantaneous feelings Cannon-bard theory physiological and cognitive components happen at

same time

Evaluate one theory of how emotion may affect one cognitive

process

Flashbulb Memory: Highly detailed memories for surprising events Refers to vivid and detailed memories of highly emotional events Canonic categories Information about the place, accompanying events, source of information,

consequences of the event, felt emotions

First described by Colgroveo 1899o Memory of circumstances of learning of Lincolns death

Brown and Kulik 1977

Memory of circumstances of learning about various assassinations Found:

o Learn of surprising and emotional evento Preserve scene accuratelyo All details important & unimportanto 6 categories in flashbulb memory

Where were you? What were you doing? Who told you/how did you find out? Feelings of others Own emotional feeling Aftermath

Special neural mechanism which triggers emotional arousal becauseevent is unexpected, important

Method:o 80 American adults interviewed about assassinations of JFK,

Robert F Kennedy & Martin Luther King

o JFK assassination only one with mass media attention Findings:

oPeople reported memories as: Very accurate


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CLOA Immune to forgetting Complete, vivid

o African Americans more likely to have flashbulb memory of MLKassassination

Conclusion:o Consequentiality key to triggering flashbulb memorieso Consequentiality = personal relevanceo Repeated recall issues

Neisser (2000)

Argues against special mechanism for flashbulb memory Accuracy

o Cannot take accounts at face value as being accurate Rehearsal

o Just rehearse shocking memories moreNeisser & Harsch (1992)

Challenger disaster US space shuttle Filled out questionnaire the day after, then 2 to 3 years later High proportion reported flashbulb memory Inaccuracies in memory

o 21% reported first hearing about on T.V day aftero 45% reported first hearing about on T.V years later

All very confident of memory Tested immediate memory, then 3 years later memory of shuttle

explosion There was little agreement with the two memories despite the

confidence of participants in their recall

40% had distorted memories in final reports Suggests that there is possible post-event info influence on memories Conclusion: inaccuracy of emotional memories is common

Talarico & Rubin (2003)

Memories of 9/11 event Participant confidence in memories is linked to how intense they

perceived the event was But the flashbulb memory could be just as inaccurate as normal memories Aim:

o To investigate how do people feel about their flashbulb memorieso Are flashbulb memories exceptionally vivid?o Are they more accurate than other memories

Method:o Students at Duke university (54, 14 male, 40 female)o Retested memories of 9/11, 1 week later, 6 weeks after, 32 weeks

after


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CLOAo For comparison were asked to describe a recent memorable event

then fill out questionnaires about 9/11 and this event

Findingso No difference in consistency between their memory of 9/11 and

other memoryo Consistency between original report & retest declined with time

(9/11)

o After 6 weeks viewed flashbulb memory as more vivid thaneveryday memory and more confidence in its accuracy

Conclusiono Challenges the theory that flashbulb memories have special

qualities that make them less vulnerable to decay

o Flashbulb memories do fade but people feel these memories areespecially vivid and have a high level of confidence in their

accuracy

psychology - cloa final!!

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