| Question | Concept | Study |
Sociocultural | Social identity theory | Social Identity Theory, proposed by Tajfel and Turner, suggests that individuals define themselves through group memberships, forming multiple social selves. People categorize themselves into in-groups (us) and distinguish themselves from out-groups (them), which helps build identity and self-esteem through belonging and group success | Abrams et al (1990) Used a line judgment task similar to the Asch paradigm. Compared conformity between in-groups (psychology students) and out-groups (ancient history students). Also tested whether responses were made publicly or privately. Confederates were introduced as either in-group or out-group members. Participants gave their answers either out loud (public) or wrote them privately.
Participants conformed more to in-group members than out-group members. Public responses led to higher conformity, especially when the group was an in-group. Private responses reduced the pressure to conform, and differences between in-group and out-group were smaller.
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Effects of stereotyping | Stereotype threat : the anxiety or fear that individuals may experience when they are at risk of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group, which can negatively impact their performance. This psychological phenomenon can lead to reduced achievement or performance, as individuals become overly concerned about confirming the stereotype in question. | Spencer et al (1999): Look at the effect stereotyping on women's math performance They were selected based on their math sat score Split in two groups Told that they were investigating if women were worse in math than men and then that one test had shown gender differences and the other had not The study that showed gender difference women performed significantly worse than men and almost evenly in the other condition
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Cultural dimensions | Individualistic vs collectivist cultures | Berry (1967) Groups used Temne of Sierra Leone is a society that is based on rice farming (collectivistic) Inuit people of Baffin Island in Canada, which survives by hunting and fishing (collectivistic Scots control Took both traditional and transitional people from each group
Used the asch paradigm On the 3rd trial they told them the correct answer saying that most ..their group.. Say this line On 4-6 gave the wrong answer in this fashion DV was the number of lines that were away from the correct line Temne had higher conformity and the inuits had lower than the scots No significant difference within groups
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Ethical considerations in culture of behavior | | |
Cognitive | One model of memory | Working memory modelThe Working Memory Model (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974) describes how we temporarily store and manipulate information through distinct components: the central executive, phonological loop, visuospatial sketchpad, and later the episodic buffer. This model emphasizes that working memory has limited capacity and operates through specialized subsystems for verbal, spatial, and integrated information. | Landry and Bartling (2011) articulatory suppression Independent designs two groups: a control group that performed no concurrent task while memorizing a list an experimental group, which performed the concurrent task of articulatory suppression while memorizing a list.
10 Lists of 7 letters selected to not sound alike Experimental group must repeat 1 2 from seeing the numbers to the time of completion the mean percent of accurate recall in the control group was higher than the mean percent of accurate recall in the experimental group
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One research method in the study of cognition | A case study is a research method that involves an in-depth, detailed examination of a single individual, group, or event to explore complex phenomena in their real-life context. It provides rich, qualitative data, often used in clinical, psychological, or educational settings, and is particularly useful for studying rare or unique cases that cannot be easily replicated in experimental research. | Milner (1966) Longitudinal case study HM was hit by a cyclist and suffered a severe brain injury resulting in seizures At 27 he had removed tissue from the medial temporal lobe (including the hippocampus) he forgot daily events nearly as fast as they occurred remembered his childhood very well. His personality appeared largely unchanged primarily suffered from anterograde amnesia
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The influence of emotion on cognition | Flashbulb memory theory suggests that highly emotional or significant events are remembered with vivid detail, as though they are imprinted in the mind like a "flashbulb." These memories are thought to be more accurate and enduring than regular memories due to the intense emotional arousal associated with the event, although research has shown that they can still be subject to distortion over time. | Sharot et al (2007) Quasi experiment participants were recruited through advertisements. Put in fmri and presented with word cues on a screen along with either the word summer of september The memories of personal events from the summer served as a baseline participants were asked to rate their memories for vividness, detail, confidence in accuracy, and arousal and to write a description activation of the amygdala for the participants who were downtown was higher when they recalled memories of the terrorist attack than when they recalled events from the preceding summer participants who were further away from the event had equal levels of response Close personal experience may be critical in engaging the neural mechanisms that produce the vivid memories characteristic of flashbulb memory.
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Reconstructive memory | Reconstructive memory refers to the process by which memories are reconstructed rather than exact replicas of past events. This process is influenced by schemas—mental frameworks or structures that organize and interpret information. Schemas help us make sense of the world by filling in gaps in our memories, but they can also lead to memory distortions, as we may unintentionally alter details to fit existing schemas or expectations. | Loftus and Palmer (1974) Participants were shown a video of a minute long multi car crash Right after they took a were asked to give an account of the accident they and seen and then they answered a questionnaire In the survey they were asked to estimate the speed of the cars when they … each other replacing the word hit with collided, bumped, smashed, or contacted One week after they were asked to identify if they saw any broken glass The wording of the critical question led to higher speed estimates in the first part of the experiment and this also had consequences for how participants answered in the second part of the experiment
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Biological | Localisation of function | Specific areas of the brain are responsible for particular cognitive processes. This theory suggests that different regions of the brain are specialised for different tasks, such as memory, language, and perception. For example, the hippocampus is known to play a critical role in the formation of new memories | Milner (1966) Longitudinal case study HM was hit by a cyclist and suffered a severe brain injury resulting in seizures At 27 he had removed tissue from the medial temporal lobe (including the hippocampus) he forgot daily events nearly as fast as they occurred remembered his childhood very well. His personality appeared largely unchanged primarily suffered from anterograde amnesia
Sharot et al (2007) Quasi experiment participants were recruited through advertisements. Put in fmri and presented with word cues on a screen along with either the word summer of september The memories of personal events from the summer served as a baseline participants were asked to rate their memories for vividness, detail, confidence in accuracy, and arousal and to write a description activation of the amygdala for the participants who were downtown was higher when they recalled memories of the terrorist attack than when they recalled events from the preceding summer participants who were further away from the event had equal levels of response Close personal experience may be critical in engaging the neural mechanisms that produce the vivid memories characteristic of flashbulb memory.
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The use of brain imaging technology | The use of brain imaging technology in psychology allows researchers to observe and measure brain structure and activity in real time, helping to investigate the biological basis of behavior and cognitive processes. Techniques such as MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) show detailed images of brain anatomy, while fMRI (functional MRI) measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow, making it useful for studying functions like memory, language, and decision-making. | Sharot et al (2007) Quasi experiment participants were recruited through advertisements. Put in fmri and presented with word cues on a screen along with either the word summer of september The memories of personal events from the summer served as a baseline participants were asked to rate their memories for vividness, detail, confidence in accuracy, and arousal and to write a description activation of the amygdala for the participants who were downtown was higher when they recalled memories of the terrorist attack than when they recalled events from the preceding summer participants who were further away from the event had equal levels of response Close personal experience may be critical in engaging the neural mechanisms that produce the vivid memories characteristic of flashbulb memory.
Maguire (2000) Aim: carried out a study to demonstrate how cognitive processes may lead to neuroplasticity in the hippocampus Quasi-experiment correlational Used fmri to study the Compared right hnaded male taxi drivers compared to right handed males who do not driver taxis voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and pixel counting. Voxel-based morphology (VBM) was used in this study to measure the density of grey matter in the brain. Pixel counting consists of counting the pixels in the images provided by the MRI scans to calculate the area of the hippocampus. First, pixel counting revealed that the posterior hippocampi of taxi drivers were significantly larger relative to those of control subjects and the anterior hippocampi were significantly smaller. VBM showed that the volume of the right posterior hippocampi correlated with the amount of time spent as a taxi driver. No differences were observed in other parts of the brain
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Note
Studied by 33 people