IB Psych Paper 1 Studies; RM; Ethics

SAQ: Techniques used to study brain in relation to behavior

MRI: Maguire

SAQ: Localization

Hippocampus Maguire

SAQ: Neuroplasticity

Hippocampus Maguire

SAQ: Neurotransmitters on behavior

Acetycholine (antagonist - Scopolamine) on spatial memories: Antonova (2011)

SAQ: Research methods used in studying brain and behavior

Quasi experiment: Maguire OR Lab experiment: Antonova

SAQ: Ethical considerations in studying brain and behavior

Protection from harm: Maguire OR Antonova

SAQ: Hormones and behavior

Adrenaline on forming emotional memories: McGaugh and Cahill

SAQ: Pheromones and behavior

MHC odor on attraction: Wedekind (1995)

SAQ: Genes and behavior

Genes on physical/social aggression: Brendgen et al. (2005)

SAQ: Genetic similarities on behavior

Twin study on aggression: Brendgen et al. (2005)

SAQ: Evolutionary explanations for behavior

MHC gene on human mating behavior: Wedekind

SAQ: Social identity theory

Tajfel et al.

SAQ: Social cognitive theory

Oden and Rochat

SAQ: Formation of stereotypes

Illusory correlation: Hamilton and Gifford

SAQ: Effects of stereotypes

Stereotype threat: Steele and Aronson

SAQ: Research methods used in studying individual and the group

Lab experiment: Tajfel et al.

SAQ: Ethical considerations in studying individual and the group

Protection from harm (stereotype threat): Steele and Aronson

SAQ: Cultural origins of behavior

Culture on conformity: Berry et al.

SAQ: Cultural dimensions on behavior

Individualism/collectivism on conformity: Berry et al.

SAQ: Research methods used in studying cultural origins

Quasi-experiment: Berry et al.

SAQ: Ethical considerations in studying cultural origins

Protection from harm (conformity): Berry et al .

SAQ: Enculturation on behavior

On fishing, household chores, and hierarchal system of Samoan culture: Oden and Rochat

SAQ: Acculturation on behavior

Asian-american immigrants: Lueck and Wilson

SAQ: Research methods used in studying cultural influences

Semi-structured interviews: Lueck and Wilson

SAQ: Ethical considerations in studying cultural influences

Informed consent (overt observations): Oden and Rochat

SAQ/ERQ: Schema theory

Bartlett/Loftus and Palmer

SAQ/ERQ: Multi-store model of memory

Glazner and Cunitz (serial position effect) (1966)/HM: Milner (1966)

SAQ: WMM

Landry and Bartling (articulatory suppression) (2011)

SAQ/ERQ: Thinking and decision making

Dual process model (System 1 thinking): Kahneman and Tversky (1974)/Wason selection task

SAQ/ERQ: Research methods in studying cognitive process

Memory - Lab experiments: Loftus and Palmer/Bartlett

SAQ/ERQ: Ethical considerations in studying cognitive process

Thinking and decision making - informed consent: Milner - HM (1966) /Tversky and Kahneman (1974)

ERQ: Evaluation of schema theory

Evaluation of Schema Theory

Credibility:

· Empirical evidence supports influence of schemas on cognition: Mahone et al found that information about non-living and living things were sorted in different parts of the brain - brain automatically sorts and classifies information (same manner as schema theory)

· Artificial studies

Alternate Theories:

Practical Application:

· Robust theory with many applications across field of psychology. Understand how memory works (abnormal psychology, relationships - choice in partner, and health psychology) and memory distortion (reconstructive memory, stereotypes, false memories)

· Applied to improve process of gathering eyewitness testimony

Evidence Against:

· Schema is a vague and unobservable concept. Cannot account for schema-inconsistent information that is sometimes recalled.

· Lacks predictive power: not entirely clear how schemas are acquired or how they influenced cognition

· Unclear whether generalizable to other forms of memory: L&P and B looked at episodic memory (memory of specific events)

Reductionist/Holistic:

· Reductionist: doesn't account for role of emotion in cognition

ERQ: Evaluation of multi-store memory

Evaluation of Multi-store Memory Model

Credibility:

· case studies on subject w/ brain damage + memory loss - Clive Wearing confirm findings

· empirical evidence on localization of brain (hippocampus & memory)

· first basic model of memory - historical importance

Alternate Theories:

· Schema theory

· WMM

· emotions + memory (flashbulb memory)

Practical Application: Difference between STM and LTM useful in medical practices

Evidence Against:

· Does not explain memory distortion, memories formed without rehearsal (flashbulb memories), or the reason of rehearsed material not transferred to LTM, no emotion.

· Memory studies mostly conducted in labs (low ecological validity), with mundane realism issues

Reductionist/Holistic Approach:

· MSM is too simplistic to explain a complex subject of memory: Linear approach to memory, doesn't account for complexities like schema theory

· Assumes all memory is equally easy/difficult to recall and involves same mechanism (unlike FBM)

· Doesn't account for elaborative rehearsal (attributing meaning) and implies passivity of memory not impacted by mental representations.

· Cannot explain effects of articulatory suppression, or word length effect

ERQ: Evaluation of working model memory

Evaluation of Working Memory Model

Credibility:

· Mostly accepted by researchers, supported by considerable evidence of case studies of brain damage

· Brain scans show different areas active during verbal or visual task

Alternate Theories: Schema theory, elaborative rehearsal, emotions on memory, MSM

Practical Application:

· Applies to real life tasks: reading (phonological), problem solving (CE), and navigation (visuospatial)

· explains ability to perform cognitive tasks simultaneously (dual-task technique)

Evidence Against:

· Role of central executive is unclear, interaction among components is unclear,

· Does not explain memory distortion or roles of emotions

· Liberman (1980): blind people have excellent spatial awareness even though they do not have access to visual information; argues to split VS into two components

Reductionist/Holistic Approach:

· Oversimplified in terms of the sensory information included

· Not a comprehensive model of memory (only focuses on WM), does not explain changes in processing ability that occur as the result of practice or time,

· Provides a much satisfactory explanation of storage and processing than MSM, does not overemphasize the importance of rehearsal

ERQ: Evaluation of dual process model

Evaluation of Dual Process Model

Credibility:

· Can see physiological evidence when a person uses System 2 thinking (increased heart rate, perspiration, dilating of pupils), lacks physical presence

· Goel et al (2000) found abstract tasks were linked to activity in parietal lobe and concrete tasks linked to left hemisphere temporal lobe

· Cox and Griggs

Alternative Theories:

Practical Application: Used when problem solving or making decisions and thinking

Evidence Against:

· lack ecological validity (scenarios do not relate to real life and in highly controlled or artificial environments)

Reductionist/Holistic Approach:

· Overly reductionist. Only considers cognitive explanations to thinking and decision making, does not consider biological impacts. More than two systems linked to thinking and decision making.

· Does not explain how (or even if) two modes interact or the role of emotion on thinking and decision making.

· Difficult to determine why System 1 instead of System 2 is used; sometimes experience can cause System 2 to go faster.

SAQ/ERQ: Reliability of memories

Reconstructive memory: Loftus and Palmer/Bartlett/Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

SAQ/ERQ: Biases in thinking and decision making

Anchoring bias: Tversky and Kahneman

Illusory correlations: Hamilton and Gifford

SAQ/ERQ: Emotion on one cognitive process

Flashbulb memory: Brown and Kulik/McGaugh and Cahill

SAQ/ERQ: Research methods in studying reliability of cognitive process

Lab experiment: Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Quasi-experiment: Bartlett (1932)

SAQ/ERQ: Research methods in studying emotions on cognitive process

Retrospective questionnaire: Brown and Kulik (1977)

Lab experiment: McGaugh and Cahill (1995)

SAQ/ERQ: Ethical considerations in studying reliability of cognitive process

Informed consent: Tversky and Kahneman (1974)/Hamilton and Gifford (1976)

SAQ/ERQ: Ethical considerations in studying emotions on cognitive process

Informed consent: Brown and Kulik (1977) (also right to withdraw)/McGaugh and Cahill (1995)

ERQ: Evaluation of reconstructive memory

Evaluation of Reconstructive Memory

Credibility:

· Memory results are consistent as in the studies, either most of them remembered it correctly or most of them remembered it wrongly. Memories can be located in different parts of the brain.

· Sharot et al: 9-11 study on biological evidence that supports memory stored in different locations, such as the amygdala, small structure in temporal lobe, being associated with emotional memories.

Alternative Theories:

· Case study of HM, indicates that different memories can be located in different parts of the brain; leading to varying levels of reliability

Practical Application:

· Explains memory distortion and why false memories may arise in therapy

· Applied to improve process of gathering eyewitness testimonies and to determine the reliability of eyewitness testimonies (don't ask leading questions)

Evidence Against:

· Y&C: emotion is strongly linked to memory

· Brown and Kulik (1977) flashbulb memory: doesn't account for emotion in cognitive processes

· Not generalizable as everyone's memory is constructed differently

Reductionist/Holistic Approach:

· Cannot explain why memory is unreliable, only about how well people remember memories

ERQ: Evaluation of biases

Evaluation of biases

Credibility:

· Hard to measure the presence/actual use of biases in real life situations

Alternative Theories: Connected to intuitive thinking (dual-processing model)

Practical Application:

· Illusory Correlation: application: Such research has led to the modern practice in many countries not to report the race or ethnicity of people who have been charged with a crime; medicine: stigmatized patients suffer more from an illusory correlation bias than do non-stigmatized patients.

· Helps individuals in processes where objectivity is crucial - court verdicts, punishments

Evidence Against:

· Not good at explaining thinking processes - explanations are most likely rationalizations

· Mostly completed with western university student samples: cross-cultural support assumes that cognitive biases are universal

Reductionist/Holistic Approach:

· Can connect to sociocultural approach on cultural differences in thinking and decision making - cognitive biases impacted by culture

o Wang et al (2016) - meta-analysis research on loss-aversion tasks - connected to framing bias - showed that individualistic cultures are more risk-averse than those from a collectivist culture

Evaluation of emotions on memory

Evaluation of Emotions and Memory - Flashbulb Memory

Credibility:

· Biological evidence (fMRI scan) to support role of emotion on memory formation (Sharot et al and McGaugh and Cahill): different types of memory are processed in different parts of the brain; close personal experience may be critical in engaging the neural mechanisms that produce the vivid memories characteristic of flashbulb memory.

· More extreme the emotion, more neurotransmitters admitted from amygdala, supported by biological evidence

Alternate Theories: Schema theory, elaborative rehearsal

Practical Application:

Evidence Against:

· Neisser and Harsch: FBM is associated with one's confidence (highly vivid), not accuracy.

· Cultural differences that indicate that rehearsal may play the most important role in the development of FBM - sociocultural approach

· impossible to verify accuracy of memories; not possible to measure one's emotional state at the time of event (impossible to demonstrate clear casual explanation)

Reductionist/Holistic Approach:

· Holistic: Involves biological and sociocultural approach

o After asking participants in collectivist and individualistic nations, Kulkofsky et al: found that in collectivist countries (China) personal importance and intensity of emotion played less of a role in predicting FBM than in individualist cultures (UK and U.S.)

ERQ: Positive/negative effects of technology on cognition

Memory: Sparrow et al. (negative: transactive memory)/Blacker et al. (2014) (positive: video games on visual working memory)

ERQ: Research methods on technology and cognition

Lab experiment: Sparrow et al. (2011) (independent samples - repeated measures)/Blacker et al. (2014) (independent samples)

ERQ: Evaluation of technology on memory

Evaluation of technology on memory

Credibility:

· Not credible, as of now, most research on the effects of technology on memory have not been replicated or successfully replicated. Relatively new field of study.

· Attempts to replicate Sparrow's findings have not been successful. The failure of replications studies challenges the reliability of these findings. Most studies are correlational.

· Validity - ecological and internal validity - focused on note taking instead

Alternative theories:

· Reliability of memory: tech and false memories: collective memory (tendency for like-minded groups of people to form unique and biased narratives about events).

· Truth illusion: simple repetition of both true and false statements make them more believable, remembered as untruthful. Frenda et Al.

Practical application:

· The idea of transactive memory can also be applied to learning contexts where higher order thinking skills can be developed sooner with outsourcing some factual knowledge to 'search engines' because the testing of regurgitated factual information takes away time from developing higher order thinking skills.

· But can also be argued that memory is unreliable due to large transactive store

Evidence against:

Reductionist:

· studies provide a narrow view on the effects of technology on behavior, focuses on how memory recall is impacted by technology but not why memory is susceptible to flaws.

· Focused on short-term memory, didn't study on long-term memory, give way to longitudinal studies in the future.