AICE psych exam

HOLY GRACE

AIM (Canli et al.)

To find whether emotive images will be better remembered than pictures with little emotion.

AIM (Canli et Al.)

To find whether emotive images will be better remembered than pictures with little emotion.

Canli et al. desing

**The repeated measures design was implemented as participants were unexpectedly asked to repeat the procedure after 3 weeks.**

Sample Canli et al

10 right-handed healthy female volunteers.

Timing Canli et al

Each picture was presented for 2.88 seconds and there was an interval of 12.96 seconds

Results Canli et al

The correlation between participants' intensity rating and valence was -0.66. The correlation between participants' intensity rating and arousal was 0.68. Therefore, participants' ratings of emotional intensity reflected well the valence and arousal characteristics of the stimuli.

Strength Canli et al

As it was a lab experiment, there were standardised procedures: participants rated the same scenes; the time each scene and interval was presented was the same. Hence, there is internal validity, and there are fewer chances of confounding variables affecting the study.

Strength Canli et al

Quantitative data relating to amygdala activation and statistical analyses such as correlational analysis were collected. Therefore, the data is reliable (objective analysis) and easy to compare.

Strength Canli et al

The task isn't ecologically valid however, participants did not respond to demand characteristics, which increases validity.

Weakness Canli et al

fMRI measures biological responses which is an objective finding as the researcher does not have to interpret any results. However, we do not know much about the locations of specific behaviours in the brain.

Weakness Canli et al

The sample only consisted of right-handed females therefore, this introduces participant variables that could distort results and reduce validity. Thus, we can not really generalise results to males and left-handed individuals as they may respond differently.

AIM Dement and Kleitman

__General:__ To investigate the relationship between eye movements and dreaming. \n __Specific:__


1. Does dream recall differ between REM and NREM stages of sleep?
2. Is there a positive correlation between estimated dream duration and REM period length?
3. Are eye movements related to the dream content?

Hypothesis Dement and Kleitman

1. There will be a significant association between REM sleep and dreaming.
2. There will be a positive correlation between estimated dream duration and REM period length.
3. There will be a significant association between eye movement patterns and dream content.

What is an EEG machine?

traces cyclical changes that occur in brain activity during sleep. Electrodes are placed around the skull to analyse brain waves.

What is an EOG machine?

traces eye movements during sleep. Uses electrodes placed around the eye region

Research Method Dement and Kleitman

A laboratory experiment, but different methods to test each aim.

Approach 1 Dement and Kleitman

natural experiment; repeated measures design; IV - whether they woke up from REM or NREM; DV - whether they recalled a dream or not.

Approach 2 Dement and Kleitman

True experiment using correlational study; repeated measures design; IV - waking participants after 5 or 15 minutes into REM sleep; DV - participants guess on dream duration (5 or 15 minutes); correlational analysis used to cross-check participants' estimate dream duration and the word count of their respective dream narrative.

Approach 3 dement and kleitman

natural experiment; repeated measures design; IV - eye movement patterns; DV - dream content.

Sample Dement and Kleitman

7 males and 2 females were recruited through opportunity sampling. 5 studied in detail and 4 used to confirm the results of the first 5.

5 main participants spent between 6 - 17 nights in the lab. Approximately 50 - 77 times awakening.

4 spent only 1 - 2 nights. 4 - 10 times awakening.

Participants were identified by their initials.

Result dement and kleitman

92 minutes was the average time gap between different dreams. The range was 70 - 104 minutes.

Result:1 Dement kleitman

Awakenings from REM produced a dream recall of 79.6%, and from NREM produced a dream recall of 7%. \n Waking participants under 8 minutes of completing their REM period resulted in 5/17 dreams being recalled. However, waking participants after 8 minutes resulted in only 6/132 dreams being recalled.

Result:2 Dement and Kleitman

The estimation of REM duration was accurate and very high. 88% for 5 mins; 78% for 15 minutes. \n There was a positive correlation between REM duration and words in the recall. The narratives of 152 dreams were collected, but 26 were omitted due to poor recording thus, there were 126.

Result:3 Dement and Kleitman

Vertical eye movement - standing at the bottom of a tall cliff and operating a hoist. \n Horizontal - 2 people throwing tomatoes at each other. \n Vertical and horizontal - talking to people standing close to them. \n Little or no movement - watching something in the distance or staring at an object.

strengths dement and kleitman

Reliability is high as it was a lab experiment with many controls. For example, the doorbell made people instantly wake up so that dreams wouldn't be forgotten by slow-woken people.

strength dement and kleitman

Demand characteristics were avoided as participants were not told whether they were in REM or not as otherwise, they would try recalling harder.

strength dement and kleitman

Exhibits validity as the details recorded focused on dreaming; the definition of a 'dream' had been operationalised; and asking participants to choose between 5 or 15 mins helped reduce participant variables such as the ability to guess.

strength dement and kleitman

Quantitative data such as brain waves, eye movement patterns, and REM sleep duration was collected through the EEG and EOG.

strength dement and kleitman

Qualitative data such as the dream content was collected, but it's subjective and can affect the validity since the narrative length is not only dependent on the REM phase length, but also on the participant's expressiveness.

weakness dement and kleitman

Both genders were included thus, there's generalisability. However, the sample size is too small, therefore limiting generalisability.

Weakness dement and kleitman

Deception of participant WD being woken up in the wrong sleep stage can cause distress as they'd try recalling dreams harder. Context: Participant WD had been told they'd be woken up in their REM stage of sleep, but was actually woken up randomly during their REM or NREM stages of sleep.

weakness dement and kleitman

Lacks ecological validity as people who are used to taking alcohol & caffeine may experience atypical dreams. Sleeping in a lab connected to electrodes would be unusual, and this may tamper with their sleeping behaviour.

AIM Singer

* To test the Two Factor Theory of Emotion.
* To research whether people turn to cognitive factors to help in describing feelings if provided a state of physiological arousal with no explanation.

Research Method, Design Singer

It was a highly standardised laboratory experiment. Participants were exposed to the same environment with scripted responses from the stooge. \n The research design used was the independent measures design.

IVs Singer

* Knowledge about the injection symptoms (informed, misinformed, or ignorant).
* The emotional situation following the injection (euphoria or anger). There was a control group that was injected with a saline solution rather than epinephrine.

DV singer

* Observational data was recorded by two observers through a one-way mirror during the emotional arousal. The observer had to measure to what extent the participant acted in a euphoric or angry way.
* The self-report that participants completed following the emotional arousal.

sample singer

The 185 participants were male college students taking introductory psychology at the University of Minnesota. They received course credit. 

How long would the side affects last?

They would experience side effects within 3 to 5 minutes which would last for an hour.

Ethics singer

All participants gave consent. The injection was administered by a trained doctor to protect participants. The participants were deceived, but this was necessary to prevent demand characteristics therefore, it improves the validity of the study.

Hypotheses singer

1. If a person is aroused with no immediate explanation, they will describe their feelings in terms of the cognitions available.
2. When an individual is aroused and has an explanation, they won't label their feelings in terms of the cognition available.
3. If an aroused person is in a situation which in the past could have made them emotional, they would be emotional again.

Result singer

1 participant did not agree to the injection. 11 people had their data excluded due to suspicion. 5 had no physiological arousal to the injection so their data was excluded, and in the end, there were 169 participants left.

result singer

The misinformed group only took part in the euphoria condition as it was a control. Making them take part in just the euphoric condition still allows us to make an evaluation of the impacts, plus, it helps save time.

result singer

Euphoria ignorant group was the second happiest. The informed group was the least happy as they had an explanation for what they were feeling. Participants in the anger ignorant condition were the angriest, and those in the placebo group were the second angriest. 

strength singer

Participants were randomly allocated to different conditions. All participants were deceived, and the double-blind technique was used.

Weakness singer

The sample consisted of university students so participant variables may distort findings. This makes results less valid.

weakness singer

The sample only had male participants thus, the study is less generalisable as females may experience emotions differently.

weakness singer

Adrenalin does not affect everyone in the same way due to individual differences.

weakness

No assessment was made of the participant's mood before the injection; thus, it reduces validity.

strength singer

Quantitative data collected can be easily analysed and used to compare results across two conditions.

weakness singer

questionnaire does not give participants the same freedom to express feelings as discussions would. However, other measures such as observation were useful as the results matched the data in the self-reports.

AIM andrade

To find out whether doodling assisted information processing by increasing attentiveness or by enhancing memory.

research method andrade

Laboratory experiment (unnatural settings)

research design andrade

Independent measures design implemented as participants were either in the doodling or control group.

sampling andrade

40 participants who were members of the Medical Research Council of the Applied Psychology Unit were chosen through the method of opportunity sampling. They were aged 18-55 years, mostly women, and were paid a small sum for participation. In each experimental condition, there were 20 participants. 

Procedure andrade

All participants listened to a dull telephone call about a party for 2.5 minutes, at a recorded speed of 227wpm (words per minute). The independent variable was whether they doodled or not. The responses to the 2 tasks to measure recall, was the dependent variable. They were in a dull quiet room.

procedure andrade

The call had 8 names of partygoers, and 3 people and a cat who didn't attend. 8 place names were mentioned. Participants were given standardised instructions. A4 sheets were given to participants in the doodle group with alternating rows of squares and circles, ten per row.

results andrade

Doodle group — mean no. of shapes shaded was 36.3 from a range of 3-110. No participants in the control group spontaneously doodled. \n The control and doodling group made an average false alarm of 0.3 in the Recall task.

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__Task 1: Monitoring Task Results Andrade__

* Participants of the control group recalled a mean of 7.1 names. 5 people made a false alarm.
* Participants of the doodling group recalled a mean of 7.8 names. 1 person made a false alarm.

Overall results Andrade

* Doodling participants recalled a mean of 7.5 names and places, 29% more than the mean of the control group (5.8).
* Recall for both tasks was better for doodlers, even when participants suspected of demand characteristics were excluded.

Strength andrade

Extraneous variables could be controlled as it was a lab experiment. For example, people listened at a comfortable volume so there were no differences in stress on words

strenght andrade

The standardised procedure made all participants equally likely to be bored and therefore daydream. For example, the same monotonous recording was used and all participants were sat in a dull quiet room. This improves validity as differences in results were due to doodling or not. There is high reliability as all participants were similarly bored.

strength andrade

The operationalisation of doodling was standardised by using the doodling sheets and this increases validity. 

weakness andrade

Participants' age ranged from 18-55 years thus, were representative. However, they are from a recruitment panel and may be very similar, therefore lowers validity. Further, most of the participants were females.

weakness andrade

The study collected quantitative data, the number of names and places. This is an objective record of memory. It would have had been helpful to ask participants for self-reports of any daydreaming to understand whether differences in results were due to attention or daydreaming.

AS

Autism spectrum disorder that affects language and communication skills. Symptoms: restricted & repetitive behaviours and trouble identifying facial expressions.

AIM Baron

1\. To test if the revised version of the 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' test would be successful at differentiating participants with AS or HFA (High Functioning Autism) from the general population. \n 2. To test if there is a negative correlation in a sample of normal adults and between the RET and the AQ. \n 3. To test any sex differences on the RET when normal adults take the test.

Hypothesis baron

1\. Participants with autism will score significantly lower in the RET than the control group. \n 2. Participants with autism will score significantly higher on the AQ test. \n 3. Females in the 'normal' group (grp 2 & 3) will score higher on the RET than males in those groups. \n 4. Males in the 'normal' group will score higher on the AQ measure than females. \n 5. Scores on the AQ and RET will be negatively correlated.

Sample Group 1 baron

15 male adults with AS/HFA. Self-selecting sampling from the UK National Autistic Society through a magazine advert. Average IQ of 115; from a mix of socio-economic and educational backgrounds.

Sample Group 2 baron

122 adults from the adult community & educational classes from Exeter and public library users in Cambridge. 55 males and 67 females. From a broad mix of occupations and education.

Sample Group 3 baron

103 undergraduate students from Cambridge. 53 males and 50 females. Assumed to have IQ higher than other participants.

Sample group 4 baron

14 randomly selected adults whose IQ matched with that of group 1. Average IQ of 116.

Research method baron

Quasi-experiment.

research design baron

Independent groups design

IV baron

Whether they had AS/HFA or were normal, and gender.

DV baron

RET score, AQ score, and gender identification for group 1.

results baron

Scores ranged from 17 - 35, with a mode of 24. \n • Adults with AS/HFA performed significantly worse than other groups for the RET (H1 supported). \n • On the AQ test, adults with AS/HFA performed significantly higher than the control groups (H2 supported). \n • Females scored higher on the RET (H3 supported). \n • There was a significant negative correlation (-0.53) between scores on AQ and RET (H5 supported).

strength baron

It was a lab experiment, so confounding variables could be controlled. Thus, there is internal validity and it is easily replicable. Everyone saw the same set of eyes.

strength baron

Improvements on the eyes test improved validity

weakness baron

The study lacks ecological validity as eye expressions in real life are quick, and not static.

weakness baron

The experimental sample (group 1) is small, so generalising results to those with AS/HFA is not possible.

weakness baron

Only the eyes were used, but normally we study the whole face (mouths are expressive) therefore it lacks ecological validity.

weakness baron

As this was a quasi-experiment, it wasn't possible to randomly allocate participants to the conditions. This introduces a confounding variable as it could be another factor causing the defence in scores between groups. Researchers try to attend to this by having the IQ matched control group.

FHI

participants had to rate 24 items on a scale of 1-8 in terms of how sure they were that the event stated happened. Example: ‘loved asparagus the first time you tried it'. 1 = definitely did not happen; 8 = definitely did happen.

RQ

participants had to rate 32 dishes presented on a menu-like form with five courses on a 1 to 8 scale in terms of how likely they would be to order each dish at dinner, regardless of its price.

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FPQ

participants rated 62 items in terms of how much they like to eat each item.

FCQ

participants had to choose the price they were ready to pay out of multiple options or select ‘would never buy’.

MBQ

participants had to indicate for 3 items of the FHI, whether they had a memory or experience, and specify whether they had a detailed memory, vague belief, or were sure that the event did not happen.

AIM laney

To find out whether giving participants false feedback about them loving to eat asparagus as a child would produce a false memory/belief.

research method laney

It was a laboratory experiment, the procedure was conducted in an unnatural setting, however, the restaurant questionnaire was formatted like a menu, so that choices would mimic real-life scenarios ➔ mundane realism.

IV laney

whether or not the participants had a false belief about eating asparagus after receiving the false feedback.

DV laney

the responses to the 5-self-report questionnaire.

Sample laney

128 participants (99 females, 29 males) were recruited using volunteer sampling from the University of California. The mean age was 20.8, and they received course credit for their participation.

results laney

FHI of both groups were compared and for the love group (n=46) the average responses rose by 2.6 points. The control group’s responses (n=51) rose by 0.2 points. \n 31 participants were excluded from the results as they believed they loved asparagus and give a 5+ score on the FHI.

Believers Laney

Gave a low rating on the FHI in week one on loving asparagus. \n • Gave a high rating on the FHI in Week 2. \n • Gave a positive ‘memory’ or ‘belief’ on the MBQ. \n \n 48% of participants in the love condition were labelled as believers (22 participants). Believers increased an average of 4.5 points from week 1 to week 2 in the FHI. 10 had a memory. 12 had a belief.

AIM #2 laney

Investigate possible underlying mechanisms of false memory consequence. To replicate the first experiment to check the reliability of findings.

Research Method, Design and Variables Laney

Lab experiment \n Independent measures design \n Independent variable: whether the participant had a false belief or not. \n Dependent variable: response to the 4 questionnaires and the slideshow.

Sample #2 laney

103 undergraduate students from the University of Washington who received course credit. 64 females and 39 males with a mean age of 19.9. The 'love' group had 58 participants; the 'control' group had 45 participants.

Results #2 laney

FHI response on loving asparagus from the love group (n=40) rose by an average of 2.5 points. control group (n=33) response increased by 1.0 points. 30 participants were excluded from the analysis.

strengths laney

* The distractor questionnaires prevented participants from knowing the true aims of the study which in turn, controlled demand characteristics and social desirability bias. Therefore, the research has internal validity.

weakness laney

The sample consisted of university students. This introduces participant variables that could distort results, therefore reducing the validity of the research.