IB Psych Studies General Idea/Summary

Troster and Beatty

BLA: aimed to determine the role of acetylcholine in the formation and retrieval of memory; injected half the participants with placebo and the other half with scopolamine; finding that scopolamine impaired memory recall, indicating acetylcholine's crucial role in memory processes

Scarr and Weinburg

BLA: aimed to investigate the influence of genetics and environment on IQ by studying adopted children in two adoption studies; finding that a significant effect of both genes and environment contributed to the development of intelligence

Fessler et al

BLA: aimed to investigate disgust sensitivity as a function of the immune system, testing the hypothesis on pregnant women; used a survey; finding that disgust sensitivity was heightened in early pregnancy to protect both the mother and fetus when the most vulnerable, with less sensitivy later in pregnancy sensitivity

Kosfeld et al

BLA: aimed to investigate the role of oxytocin in trust; gave participants either placebo or oxytocin and asked them to invest in a trust game; finding that those given oxytocin were more likely to trust their partners, suggesting oxytocin's influence on social bonding

Wedekind

BLA: aimed to investigate the role of pheromones in mate selection; used a smell test with t-shirts worn by men; finding that women preferred t-shirts of men with dissimilar immune genes, supporting the theory of genetic diversity in mate choice

Brewer and Treyen

CLA: aimed to investigate the effect of schema on memory; had participants recall objects from an office setting that contained office and non-office objects; findings indicated that memory was influenced by existing schemas, with participants recalling consistent items while often omitting inconsistent ones

Craik and Tulving

CLA: aimed to investigate the depth of processing on memory retention; tested participants using different levels of processing tasks (structural, phonemic, and semantic) and found that deeper semantic processing led to better recall (MSMM)

Conrad and Hull

CLA: aimed to investigate the effects of phonological similarity on memory recall; used lists of consonant letter strings and found that participants had more difficulty recalling lists with similar sounds, suggesting that phonological processing plays a critical role in memory (WMM)

Sharot et al

CLA: aimed to investigate the cognitive processes underlying flashbulb memories; conducted a study on participants who experienced the 9/11 attacks and found that personal relevance and emotional impact contributed to the vividness and accuracy of these memories

Festinger

CLA: aimed to study the theory of cognitive dissonance in the tendency to avoid the mental stress of holding inconsistent conditions; research infiltrated and observed UFO cult group; finding that individuals changed their beliefs and behaviors to reduce dissonance after a predicted event did not occur, demonstrating the impact of cognitive dissonance on belief systems

Bandura et al

SCLA: aimed to investigate social learning theory through a study of aggressive behavior in children; observed children's responses to adult behavior towards a Bobo doll, finding that children who observed aggressive models were more likely to imitate that behavior, illustrating the influence of observational learning

Bagby and Rector

SCLA: aimed to test the effect of in-group bias on the behaviors of jurors in a courtroom scenario; participants were presented with a mock trial involving a defendant from either an in-group or out-group; found that jurors showed favoritism towards in-group members, leading to biased decisions, exemplifying the impact of social identity on judgment

Steele and Aronson

SCLA: aimed to examine the effects of stereotype threat on academic performance in black students; conducted experiments in which African American students were told the test was either diagnostic of ability or not; finding that students performed worse when they believed the test assessed their intelligence, highlighting how stereotypes can impact performance

Miranda and Matheny

SCLA: aimed to see what factors would decrease the level of acculturative stress in Latino immigrants in the USA; participants filled out a questionnaire; finding that strong family support and community ties were associated with lower levels of acculturative stress, emphasizing the role of social relationships in the adaptation process

Fagot

SCLA: aimed to investigate parental influence on gender role development in children; observed interactions between parents and their children; finding that parents rewarded gender-appropriate behavior and discouraged gender-inappropriate behavior, demonstrating how parental reinforcement shapes children's understanding of gender roles

Brown and Harris

ABN: aimed to investigate how depression can be linked to social factors and stressful life events in a sample of women; women in London were interviewed about their daily lives and depressive episodes; finding that stressful life events, particularly those related to loss, were significant predictors of depression, highlighting the influence of social circumstances on mental health

Caspi et al

ABN: aimed to determine whether there is evidence for a gene environment interaction for a mutation of the serotonin transporter gene 5-HTT; participants filled in a questionnaire on stressful life events and were assessed on depression; finding that individuals with one or two short alleles of the gene had a higher likelihood of developing depression following stressful life events, indicating a genetic vulnerability that interacts with environmental factors

Tabassum et al

ABN: investigated how depression is conceptualized and experienced in a Muslim community; finding