Antonova + Troster & Beatty - ERQ - True EXP

True experiment

• examines the effects of an IV on a DV

• establishes cause and effect relationship

• an experiment conducted where an effort is made to impose control over all other variables except the one under study

4 statements of a true exp

• Manipulation of IV

• Random Allocation

• Operationalised variables

• controlled environment

Critical thinking of a true exp

• lacks ecological validity

• correlation does not equal causation

• minimises the influence of extraious variables

• Strong replicability

Aim of antonova

to Investigate whether scopolamine affects the hippocampus activity in the formation of spatial memory

method of antonova

• 20 healthy male with mean age of 28

• Double-Blind Procedure and random allocation

• Two condition: Placebo and Scopolamine injection

• Fmri scanned brain activity while playing a virtual reality game made to test spatial memory creation

• 6 trials

• 4 week break between the swapping of conditions as study was repeated measures design

results of antonova

PP injected with scopolamine showed a significant reduction in the activation of the hippocampus compared to placebo condition

conclusion of antonova

Scopolamine, which causes a lack of ACh, had an effect on the creation of spatial memory because the activity of the hippocampus decreased in the injection condition

link back for antonova

Thus, this study is a true experiment because it examines the effects of IV on DV by examining the effects of scopolamine on the creation of spatial memory. The study was also done in a controlled lap environment where participants were randomly allocated to their condition which follows the requirements for a true experiment.

critical thinking antonova

• Repeated measures design, eliminating pp variablilty (strength)

• Double-blind procedure, reduces researcher bias and allows for more credibility (strength)

• Stress from FMRI could affect results as stress could affect hippocampus which could be an alternative explanation for the activity in the hippocampus. (Limitation)

aim of Troster & Beatty

To determine the role of ACh in the formation and retrieval of memories.

method of Troster & Beatty

• 13 men with mean age of 39.2

• All pp were tested for physical and mental health before participating

• 3 conditions: Placebo, 0.5 mg of Scopolamine, 0.8 mg of Scopolamine

• 48 hour break between participating in each condition - repeated design

• Three tests taken

  • Free Recall Test - must read a list of 14 words, 7 high imagery and 7 low imagery and then had to recall list immediatly and then after 40 mins. This tests the formation of memory

  • New map test - must memorize locations of cities on fictional map. PP then had to list cities on blank map and this was repeated 4 times. This tests the formation of memory

  • Remote memory test - Shown 150 images of famous faces and events to see if they could recognise them which tests the retrieval of memory

results of Troster & Beatty

Scopolamine inhibited the formation of new memories, but had no significant side effects on recall of long-term memories.

conclusion of Troster & Beatty

Scopolamine, which inhibits ACh, had a negative effect on the creation of spatial memory, but not the recalling of memory because the pp with the scopolamine injection showed an inability to create spacial memory in the first two tests but didn’t show any significant inability in the third test which focused on the retrieval of memory.

link back for Troster & Beatty

Thus, this study is a true experiment because the study was done in a controlled environment with a control condition to establish a cause and effect relationship. The study also examined if the IV affected the DV which is a factor of true experiments where the IV was scopolamine and the DV was the creation of spatial memory.

critical thinking Troster & Beatty

• Controlled experiment with placebo condition which limits extranious variables (Strength)

• Artificial tasks so doesn’t have ecological validity (Limitation)

• Small sample size so can’t be generalised to the rest of the population (Limitation)

acetylcholine (ACh)

• Consolidation of memory in hippocampus

• Encoding of semantic and spacial memories

• Activism of some muscles

• Breathing, Attention, Arousal, and Motivation

scopolamine

An acetylcholine antagonist that blocks the receptor sites of ACh.