canli et al. Flashcards
(38 cards)
what is the canli studies premise (basically what it studied / concluded)
event-related activation in the human amygdala associates with later memory for individual emotional experience
what was canli’s aim?
to show that emotive images will be remembered than those that have little emotional impact on an individual.
canli’s central question?
- whether the amygdala is sensitive the varying degrees of emotional intensity to external stimuli
- whether the level of intensity of said stimuli enhances the memory for the stimuli
background of canli?
- people are more likely to recall emotional experiences than non-emotional
- fMRI: neuroimaging procedure using MRI technology that measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow
how was the fMRI used in the study?
used in a repeated measures, subsequent-memory design to test the prediction that emotionally intense stimuli that produce greater amygdala activation would be recalled more easily that stimuli that generate less amygdala activation.
study procedures summarization?
1) participants saw neutral and negative scenes
2) indicated how they experienced emotional intensity in each case
3) a separate fMRi response was recorded in the amygdala for each such emotional experience
4) 3 weeks later, participant’s memories for experiences were assessed to see if those images that generated greater activation of the amygdala were remembered better
research method?
lab experiment, as the environment the participants were tested in is not an everyday situation.
how does the use of the fMRI scanners limit the realism of the study?
they are large machines participants don’t encounter often IRL, and participants have to lie very still while the measurements are being recorded.
independent variable (IV)?
the intensity of emotional arousal to each of the 96 scenes presented to each participant.
how many scenes were shown for participants to rate?
96 scenes.
participants had to choose between __ buttons to indicate emotional arousal on a scale of __
4 buttons to indicate emotional arousal, on a scale of
0 - not emotionally intense at all
to
3 - extremely emotionally intense
experiment design?
repeated measures design, as the participants contributed to each of the 4 conditions depending on their rating of each scene.
dependent variables? (2!)
1) level of activation of the amygdala measured by fMRI during the 1st stage of the experiment when the participants were exposed to the 96 scenes.
2) measure of memory when participants had to recognize the images 3 weeks after the initial experiment.
how many frames were captured per trial?
11 frames, meaning that for each scene there were 11 fMRI measures of neural activity/
sample?
ten right-handed healthy female volunteers.
why was the sample chosen?
because it was thought that they are more likely to report intense emotional experiences and show more physiological reactions to the stimuli than men
how were the scenes presented to the participants?
the 96 scenes were presented by overhead projector and mirror during the scanning to participants during scanning to allow them to see it while in the fMRI scanner.
did all participants give informed consent?
all participants gave informed consent to be involved in the study and were aware of the nature of the experiment.
were the individuals operating the fMRI scanner trained?
the individuals operating the fMRi scanner were fully trained and competent in safety arrangements that should be followed during a medical scan.
where were the 96 scenes used from?
all 96 scenes were from the “International Affective Picture System” stimuli set.
what were the ratings of valence in the scenes?
the scenes had average ratings of valence.
what does valence mean?
attractiveness or aversiveness of an event, object, or situation.
how was the order of scenes randomized for participants?
the order of scenes were randomized across participants.
how long was each picture presented for?
2.88 seconds
