Classic Studies summary Flashcards
Cognitive: Baddeley (1966b)
Aim- LTM encode acous/sem?
Procedure
Exp- SS, AS
Control-SD,AD
1) 4 groups following IV 1+2, slideshow
2)Conditions:
AS > List sharing similar sounds
> Control group- monosyllabic words
SS > List sharing similar meaning
> Control group= words w/o correlation
3) All groups carry out an ‘interference task’- hearing then writing down 8 numbers (3x each)
Then recalling words following their specific condition
4) 4 trials; ppts improve bc words stayed the same
> Words were on signs around the room, focus = word ORDER
5) After 4th round, there was a 20 min delay(incl interference task) then 5th/ final trial (final was a surprise trial)
> Unlike tests 1+2, words are displayed + order is recalled
Results
- Compared similar/ control + how well they performed in 5th
> AS- LTM isn’t confused by AS, scores on 5th were similar to 4th. Little/no diff
> SS- Seemed to confuse LTM, ppts lagged behind control group + never caught up. Little forgetting yet lower score than AS
Concl
-LTM encodes semantically, STM encodes acoustically
LT: Watson & Rayner (1920)
Aim: To investigate whether you could condition a phobia into a child & then remove phobia
> If phobia could be generalised
Procedure:
At 9 months Albert was assessed on his responses to a number of objects such as: a white rat, father christmas mask, etc.-to ensure there was no predisposed fear response so they could establish better cause & effect for creating CR of phobia/fear
-2 months later Albert was presented with the white rat again
-When he reached for it the experimenters hit a metal bar to frighten him
-The rat was the NS, the metal bar was the UCS and the fear response was the UCR
-repeated 5 times a week later and 2 times more 17 days later
-Used other white fluffy stimuli to test for the generalisability of the conditioned fear response eg. rabbit. dog, santa mask, cotton balls
Results:
first trial –> jumping violently
-second trial –> Albert was suspicious of the rat
- third trial –>Albert leaned away from the rat
-rabbit was placed next to him –>Albert cried
-7 weeks later –>Albert cried in response to a white fury coat showing the fear had generalised
Concl:
is artificially possible to induce emotional responses by classical conditioning (learning via association), suggests that phobias can be learned from the environment.
Social: Sherif et al (1954/61)
Aim: investigate how in-group behaviour developed to include related out-group hostility using competition
- To investigate how this friction can be reduced
Procedure:
1) In-group formation = establishing culture and group norms and names (The Eagles and The Rattlers)
2) Friction phase = the first contact between the groups in sports competitions (such as baseball and tug of war)
3) Integration phase = reducing friction by increasing contact (such as eating together) and by solving problems that require teamwork (such as the water shortage problem)to reach superordinate goals
Results: 1)group stereotypes emerged with verbal hostility to out-groups (e.g. sissies)
2) Boys characterised in-groups with favourable terms and vice versa
- Prejudice went from verbal to physical (fighting)
Concl:
Conflict of interest and competition for lack of resources cause prejudice
- Increased contact doesn’t help
- Working towards a superordinate goals helps
- People overestimate the abilities of their group
- People underestimate the abilities of out-groups
Bio: Raine et al (1997)
Aim: show that the brains of NGRI murderers were different from the brains of non-murderers
> To investigate if this abnormality makes them more aggressive and so reduces accountability
Procedure:
- 10 mins before being given a FDG injection for the PET scan ppts were given practice trials on the continuous performance task (CPT)
- 30 secs before the injection, the real CPT task started and were monitored for 32 mins in the PET scan
- The CPT involved spotting targets on a screen and pressing a button to indicate the target had been recognised
-Their brains were scanned 10 times at 10 minute intervals to pick up differences in glucose metabolism in the cerebral cortex and sub-cortical layers
Results:
Parietal lobes of murderers had lower activity in both hemispheres than controls with a difference of 0.05 in the left and 0.04 in the right
Frontal lobes of murderers had lower activity in both hemispheres than controls with a difference of 0.03 for both
- Amygdala of murderers had lower activity in left (0.94) compared to 0.97 of non-murderers and greater activity in right (0.88) compared to 0.83 of non-murders
Concl:
Violent behaviour is controlled by areas of the brain and that abnormalities to these areas can affect behaviour, even though we can’t be certain that their violent behaviour was caused by these abnormalities.
Clinical: Rosenhan (1976) 1st study
Aims: investigate whether psychiatrists can reliably tell the difference between people who are sane and those that are insane
To highlight the negative effects of being diagnosed as abnormal and institutionalised
Procedure:
- Patients booked appt w psychiatrist, Each patient on arriving at admissions complained about hearing voices of the same sex saying “thud” “hollow” “empty” (not a known symptom of mental disorder in DSM, so niche)
> Prior to study, ppts didn’t shower for a few weeks before appt to appear more ‘dishevelled’
- Psychiatrists used the DSM-II to diagnose
- All background information pseudo patients gave were the truth
- All ppts were taught how to avoid swallowing medication/ antipsychosis meds
Initially, pseudos showed signa of mild anxiety & fear as they feared being discovered
- Pseudo patients ceased simulating symptoms of abnormality after a while on ward
> Were on wards for 7-52 days (Rosenhan there for longest)
> Ppts had to get themselves discharged, feeling powerless
- Once there, ppts recorded notes of things such as: how many times nurses interacted with patients, behav of staff
Pps were watched at all times, even in toilet
> Lawyers were briefed if anything were to go wrong, ensuring patients were never on the ward
> 1 pp dropped, broke covert rules, psychology grad also has wife bring his hwk to study., 1 started romantic relationship w nurse
Results:
All pseudo patients were admitted (7 with the diagnosis of schizophrenia)
Discharged as schizophrenia in remission
Average time spent in the hospitals was 19 days
Normal behaviours were often seen as aspects of their illness (e.g. writing notes was seen as ‘note-taking behaviours’ - sign of Sz,abnormal)
Real patients on the ward noticed the pseudo patients were normal and 35 reported them
Hospital conditions were terrible, e.g. lack of privacy
Real patients would flush medication down the toilet
Concl:
All pseudo patients were admitted based on one symptom
> Type Two error/ False negative - when a professional diagnoses as healthy person as sick
Once diagnosed, it is hard to get rid of the label associated with the mental illness and so becomes depersonalised
Once tagged as abnormal, all behaviours were interpreted according to their institutional label
