g11 EYOE & cognitive - ERQ studies (11)

warrington and shallice

1 model of memory - wmm

war and shal AM2F4

aim: Investigate KF’s memory impairment after brain damage

Method:

• Longitudinal case study.

• researchers orally and visually presented KF with lists of words, numbers, or other visual or auditory stimuli

Findings:

• after being asked to recall these lists, KF could not remember words and numbers that were presented orally

• digit span of 1

• he was able to recall words and numbers that were presented visually

• contrasting results indicate separate components in STM, separating visual information and verbal information

war and shal strengths/limits

The longitudinal design allowed for detailed observation of KF’s memory function over time

As a case study, the findings are based on a single individual, limiting the generalizability of the results

milner M5F3

aim: to better understand the effects of surgery on patient HM. HM had an accident, had epilepsy, had surgery resulting in anterograde amnesia.

method:

case study. method triangulation: overt observations, MRI, cognitive testing, interviews.

Findings:

HM could not form new memories, but his LTM remained intact. he had a working memory capacity. MRI showed damage to the hippocampus

landry and bartling

1 model of memory - wmm

land and bart AM5F2

aim: to Investigate if articulatory suppression affects recall of a written list of phonologically dissimilar letters.

Method:

• Undergraduate psychology students.

• Independent samples design

• Experimental group: Recalled letters while repeating ‘1’ and ‘2’ (articulatory suppression task).

• Control group: Recalled letters without suppression task.

Findings:

• Experimental group had lower recall accuracy than the control group.

• Articulatory suppression negatively impacted recall, supporting the Working Memory Model.

land and bart strengths/limits

Well-controlled study with high internal validity. Establishes cause-and-effect relationship.

Artificial task and settings reduce ecological validity.

mart and halv

schema theory, ethical considerations in cp’s, research methods

mart and halv AM5F2

aim: to see how sex-typing schemas can influence memory distortion

method:

• true experiment, repeated measures

• Young children were pre-tested on their gender stereotypes

• they were shown various images of people doing gender-consistent activities or not gender-inconsistent activities.

• children were told they did not have to remember this information

• one week later they were asked to recall the images by identifying the gender of the person and the activity they were doing.

• researchers included new images to test for response bias and the children were asked to rate their confidence on a 4-point scale

findings:

• children were more likely to remember gender-consistent activities while their memories were distorted of the gender-inconsistent activities.

• rated their confidence lower on the false images

mart and halv strengths/limits

children were pretested to control for participant variability - high internal validity

the use of children limits generalizability - children have different existing schemas and worse memory than the average person

brewers and treyens

schema theory, ethical considerations in cp’s, research methods

brewers and treyens AM5F4

Aim: to Investigate how schema influences encoding and retrieval of episodic memory.

Method:

• true experiment

• University psychology students.

• Seated in an office with both typical and atypical items.

• After 35 seconds, taken to another room for recall.

• Three conditions: written recall & verbal recognition, drawing recall, and verbal recognition only.

Findings:

• Participants better recalled schema-congruent items.

• Incongruent items were often forgotten in free recall but recognized later.

• Schema-consistent false memories occurred

• Participants distorted object details to fit their schema

brewers and treyens strengths/limits

High internal validity due to controlled lab setting. Multiple recall methods provided comprehensive data.

Sample bias (psychology students may have better memory skills).

loft and palm

reconstructive memory, ethics in reliability, research methods in reliability

loft and palm AM6F2

aim: to Investigate how wording of a question influences speed estimates and memory recall.

Method:

• true experiment

• students, were randomly allocated to three groups.

• Watched a video of a multiple-car accident.

were asked:

• Group 1: Asked about speed using “smashed.”

• Group 2: Asked about speed using “hit.”

• Group 3: No speed question (control).

• One week later, answered an interview including: “Did you see any broken glass?” (none was present).

Findings:

• Higher speed estimates in the “smashed” group than the “hit” group.

• More participants in the “smashed” group falsely recalled seeing broken glass.

loft and palm strengths/limits

High control of variables in a lab setting. Random allocation reduced bias.

Lacks ecological validity (video vs. real-life accident). Estimating speed and recalling broken glass may not reflect real-life memory processes.

loft and pick

reconstructive memory, ethics in reliability, research methods in reliability

loft and pick AM5F3

aim: to Investigate whether false autobiographical memories can be created through suggestion.

Method:

• Family members provided three real childhood memories and confirmed if the participant was ever lost in a mall.

• Participants received a questionnaire with four events (three real, one false).

• Asked to write about their memories or state, “I do not remember this.”

• Two interviews over four weeks, recalling details and rating confidence (1-10).

• After the second interview, debriefed and asked to identify the false memory.

Findings:

• 25% recalled the false memory of being lost in a mall.

• False memories were less detailed and had lower confidence ratings.

• Some participants could not identify the false memory during debriefing.

loft and pick strengths/limits

the addition of the participant’s real memories from family ensured that all the questions felt valid

Demand characteristics may have influenced responses.

brown and kulik

emotion in memory, ethics of emotion, research methods in emotion

brown and kulik AM4F4

aim: to Investigate whether surprising and personally significant events lead to flashbulb memories.

Method:

• 40 Black and 40 White American male participants.

• interview-based study.

• Participants answered questions about significant events: the assassinations of JFK and MLK Jr. and the death of someone personally known.

• Questions covered memory details, emotional response, personal significance, and frequency of discussion.

Findings:

• 90% of participants recalled detailed memories of significant events.

• Personal Loss: Most had detailed memories of a loved one’s death.

• 75% of Black participants had flashbulb memories of MLK Jr.’s assassination.

• 33% of White participants had flashbulb memories of MLK Jr.’s assassination.

brown and kulik strengths/limits

Controlled structure of the questionnaire Allows for testing reliability.

Self-reported memories provide retrospectice data and may not be accurate. Demand characteristics

sharot et al

emotion in memory, ethics of emotion, research methods in emotion

sharot et al AM7F2

aim: to Investigate the role of the amygdala in the formation of flashbulb memories.

Method:

• 24 individuals in NYC during 9/11 (self-selected sample).

• Quasi-experiment conducted three years after 9/11.

• Participants placed in an fMRI scanner.

• Shown word cues linked to “Summer” (baseline) or “September” (9/11 memories).

• Brain activity measured while recalling 9/11 and personal summer memories.

• Wrote descriptions of their memories.

• Rated memories for vividness, detail, confidence, and arousal.

Findings:

• Higher amygdala action in participants closer to the World Trade Center during 9/11. less if they were further away. less for summer memories

• Half of the participants reported vivid, detailed recollections.

sharot et al strengths/limits

the use of an FMRI Provided objective biological evidence of memory processes.

Because it is a quasi experiment, it Cannot establish causation between amygdala activation and flashbulb memory formation.

Tversky and Kahneman

theory of thinking and decision-making, one biases in thinking and decision-making

Tversky and Kahneman AM4F4

aim: To investigate the effect of anchoring bias on numerical estimation.

method:

• True experiment, independent samples design

• High school students

• Participants were given five seconds to estimate the value of a factorial equation: Ascending condition: 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 × 5 × 6 × 7 × 8 OR Descending condition: 8 × 7 × 6 × 5 × 4 × 3 × 2 × 1

• Researchers hypothesized that the first number seen would serve as an anchor, influencing the estimates.

findings:

• The median estimate for the ascending group was around 500.

• The median estimate for the descending group around 2000.

• The actual value of the equation is over 40k

• Participants anchored their estimates to the first number in the sequence, leading to systematically lower estimates in the ascending condition.

Tversky and Kahneman strengths/limits

Use of the median reduced the impact of outliers on results, eg someone whos naturally really good at math

Low ecological validity as estimating factorials under time pressure is not a typical real-life task

Englich and Mussweiler

theory of thinking and decision-making, one biases in thinking and decision-making

Englich and Mussweiler AM4F2

aim: To investigate whether a prosecutor’s suggested sentence would influence the sentencing decisions of judges.

method:

• 19 young trial judges with limited experience.

• Judges read a case of alleged rape and formed an opinion. They were then given a questionnaire.

• Half were told the prosecutor recommended a high sentence, while the other half were given a low sentence.

• Judges rated the fairness of the sentence and recommended their own.

findings:

• Judges given a high anchor recommended significantly longer sentences than those given a low anchor.

• The difference in sentencing supports the influence of the prosecutor’s suggestion.

Englich and Mussweiler strengths/limits

true experiment

small sample size and limited experience of the judges make it difficult to generalize the findings to more experienced legal professionals.