cognitive Flashcards
(70 cards)
1
Q
murdoch (1962)
aim
A
- investigate how the position of words in a list affects memory
2
Q
murdoch (1962)
procedure
A
- shown a list of words 1 at a time for 1-2 seconds
- as soon as all the words were shown participants had to recall as many words as they could
3
Q
murdoch (1962)
results
A
- remembered more words at the beginning of the list (primacy effect) and the end (recency effect)
- worst recall for the middle of the list
4
Q
murdoch (1962)
conclusion
A
- words at the beginning put into long term memory
- words at the end put into short term memory
5
Q
murdoch (1962)
evaluation
A
- supports the multi store model of memory
- debatable if the beginning of the list is really in long term memory
- low ecological validity
6
Q
robbins et al (1996)
aim
A
- elucidate whether or not working memory has more than one process
7
Q
robbins et al (1996)
procedure
A
- participants asked to play chess and do another cognitive task at the same time, repeat words or tap numbers on a keyboard
8
Q
robbins et al (1996)
results
A
- playing chess involved using the visuo-spatial sketchpad
- no interference playing chess and repeating words
- interference playing chess and tapping numbers
9
Q
robbins et al (1996)
conclusion
A
- performing 2 tasks that use the same component of working memory cannot be performed successfully
- use different components, successful
10
Q
robbins et al (1996)
evaluation
A
- well controlled, replicable, supported
11
Q
bartlett (1932)
aim
A
- investigate how cultural schemas can influence memory
12
Q
bartlett (1932)
procedure
A
- british university participants asked to read native american folk story “war of ghosts” twice
- asked to use repeated reproduction soon after being read it, time period varied from days to years between participants
13
Q
bartlett (1932)
results
A
- assimilation, more consistent with participant’s own cultural expectations, fit the norms of british culture, canoe to boat etc
- levelling, shorter each time, information judged as unimportant
- sharpening, changed order of the story to make sense and added details, overall theme same
14
Q
bartlett (1932)
conclusion
A
- participants found it hard to remember because it didn’t fit their own cultural schemas
- couldn’t relate to prior experiences
- cultural schemas can lead to memory distortions
15
Q
bartlett (1932)
evaluation
A
- supports the idea that schemas can lead to false memories
- took place a long time ago, modern psychological research was not developed
- procedure was not carefully controlled
- not ecologically valid but some argue it is because we remember information our friends and family tell us
16
Q
khaneman and tversky (1973)
aim
A
- investigate how the availability heuristic impacts judgement
17
Q
khaneman and tversky (1973)
procedure
A
- participants were asked if a random word is taken from the english language, is it more likely that the word starts with the letter k or that is the third letter?
18
Q
khaneman and tversky (1973)
results
A
- over 2/3rds of participants thought it was more likely words would begin with the letter k
- in reality twice as many words that have k as the third letter
19
Q
khaneman and tversky (1973)
conclusion
A
- results of this study are likely to due the availability heuristic/ system 1 thinking
- they found it easier to find words that have k as the first letter and then assume there are more
20
Q
khaneman and tversky (1973)
evaluation
A
- easy to replicate, reliable
- low ecological validity
- participants were all american college students, not generalizable
21
Q
bonke et al (2014)
aim
A
- elucidate whether unconscious thought (intuitive and automatic thinking) led to more accurate estimations of survival probabilities than conscious thought (rational and controlled)
22
Q
bonke et al (2014)
procedure
A
- 100+ medical workers, purposive sampling from hospitals and medical centers, netherlands
- presented with 4 fictitious medical case histories, computer statements and clinical test results
- half encourages to engage in conscious thought for 4 minutes about the patients life expectancy
- other half distracted with another task
- participants asked to estimate the probability each patient would be alive in 5 years
23
Q
bonke et al (2014)
results
A
- no significant difference in task performance between different ranked medical profesionals or conscious/unconscious thinking conditions
24
Q
bonke et al (2014)
conclusion
A
- unconscious, intuitive thought did not lead to better or worse performance than deliberate, conscious thought.
25
bonke et al (2014)
evaluation
- only medical profesionals, netherlands, generalizable?
26
fox (2006)
aim
- elucidate how the availability heuristic influences judgements about the quality of university courses
27
fox (2006)
procedure
- 64 american business students, mid course evaluation form
- randomly assigned 2 conditions
- half asked list 2 ways the course could be improved before providing a rating, other list 10 ways list could be improved before providing a rating
28
fox (2006)
results
- list 2 improvements 4.92
- list 10 improvements 5.52
29
fox (2006)
conclusion
- struggled to think of 10 ways to improve the course, evidence not many problems vs easily thinking of 2
30
fox (2006)
evaluation
- only american business students, generalizability?
31
loftus and palmer (1974)
aim
- investigate how leading questions can influence eyewitness memory
32
loftus and palmer (1974)
procedure
- study conducted on american students
- all shown the same video of a car crash
33
loftus and palmer (1974)
results
- participants estimated the car was going much faster when they question said smashed vs contacted
- more participants said there was broken glass when the question was smashed even when there was none
34
loftus and palmer (1974)
conclusion
- leading questions can change the memory of an event
- "smashed" is associated with more severe accidents which suggests higher speeds and broken glass
35
loftus and palmer (1974)
evaluation
- well controlled lab experiment
- findings may not apply to other age groups or cultures
- speed estimates have low ecological validity
36
hamilton and rose (1980)
aim
- investigate how illusory correlations contribute to the maintenance of social stereotypes
37
hamilton and rose (1980)
procedure
- 3 groups, high school, undergrad and adults
- performed 3 experiments:
- 1. participants read sets of sentences describing different occupations with adjective pairs (e.g. doctor w/ smart & wealthy), along with non-stereotypical adjectives
- 2. participants read sets of sentences with adjective pairs either consistent with the occupation stereotypes, or unrelated to them
- 3. participants read sets of sentences in which the adjectives were either inconsistent or unrelated to the occupational stereotype
- participants then had to estimate how frequently each of the trait adjectives accurately described the member of the occupation
38
hamilton and rose (1980)
results
- participants correlation between traits and occupations aligned more with existing stereotypical beliefs than actual correlation
39
hamilton and rose (1980)
conclusion
- processing information about social groups is influenced by existing stereotypes from illusory correlation bias
40
hamilton and rose (1980)
evaluation
- well controlled, small sample size, replicable
- members of group were not present, decreased social desirability bias
- different people have different stereotypes
41
hill et al (2008)
aim
- investigate the role of confirmation bias in interviewing a suspect of a crime
42
hill et al (2008)
procedure
- 61 undergrad students make up questions they wanted to ask a person suspected of cheating
- before wrote, led to believe suspect was either guilty or innocent
43
hill et al (2008)
results
- heard suspect guilty, formulated more questions presuming they were guilty than presuming innocent
44
hill et al (2008)
conclusion
- expectations of guilt can impact questioning style
45
hill et al (2008)
evaluation
- replicable, generalizable?
46
khaneman and tversky (1974)
aim
- investigate how anchors influence thinking and decision making
47
khaneman and tversky (1974)
procedure
- participants spun a wheel with numbers ranging from 1 to 100
- the wheel was rigged so it would only land on either 10 or 60
- afterwards participants were asked to estimate what percentage of U.N. member countries were african countries
48
khaneman and tversky (1974)
results
- participants who spun the number 10 gave a significantly lower estimate for african U.N. membership than those who spun the 60
- mean estimate for the low spinning group was 25% compared to 45% for the other group
49
khaneman and tversky (1974)
conclusion
- the random number had an anchoring impact on the participants estimates even though it had no relation to the topic
50
khaneman and tversky (1974)
evaluation
- well controlled experiment
- low ecological validity
51
brown and kulik (1977)
aim
- investigate whether people have unusually vivid memories of highly emotional events
52
brown and kulik (1977)
procedure
- 80 americans, half white half african american
- participants asked to recall assassinations of famous people like JFK
- also asked to remember an emotionally intense personally event, death of a family member etc
53
brown and kulik (1977)
results
- nearly all participants had vivid memories of where they were and what they were doing when they heard JFK was assassinated
- african americans had vivid memories of martin luther king assassination
- 73/80 had vivid memories of an emotionally intense personal event
54
brown and kulik (1977)
conclusion
- emotionally intense events are remembered in great detail
55
brown and kulik (1977)
evaluation
- study supports the idea of flashbulb memory showing the connection between emotion and memory
- study could not verify if their memories were accurate
- details of their memories could have changed over time
56
phelps (2004)
aim
- investigate which brain regions play a role in flashbulb memory
57
phelps (2004)
procedure
- 24 participants who were in new york when 9/11 happened recalled their memories of that event while having their brain scanned by an fMRI machine
- participants were also asked to rate how detailed and vivid their memories were of the 9/11 attacks
58
phelps (2004)
results
- only participants who were very close to the attacks had very vivid and detailed memories of 9/11
- the further away from the attacks the less detailed the memories were
- participants who were closed showed increased activity in the amygdala
- amygdala regards emotions
59
phelps (2004)
conclusion
- flashbulb memories are likely to occur when witnessing a shocking event firsthand not just seeing it on the news
- the amygdala is involved in flashbulb memories
- strong emotions = vivid detailed memories
60
phelps (2004)
evaluation
- study supports the theory of flashbulb memory and supports brown and kulik's hypothesis
- suggests flashbulb memories are only created when the event is personally relevant
- small scale study only involving 24 participants
- did not verify the accuracy of the participants memories of 9/11
61
sparrow et al (2011)
aim
- investigate how technology can lead to cognitive offloading of factual information
62
sparrow et al (2011)
procedure
- participants were asked to type 40 trivia facts into a computer
- randomly assigned 2 groups
- group 1 told the computer would store everything and the other group 2 were told everything would be erased
-within the 2 groups they were divided again, half were told to remember the facts and the other half were not asked
63
sparrow et al (2011)
results
- participants that were told the computer would erase the information remembered 30% more facts
- told the computer would store remembered 20%
- telling the participants to remember had no impact on memory
64
sparrow et al (2011)
conclusion
- when people think information will be stored electronically, they make less effort to remember
- even when told to remember they won't bother because they can just look it up later
65
sparrow et al (2011)
evaluation
- supports the theory of cognitive offloading
- well controlled lab experiment showing a causal relationship
- potential demand characteristics
66
kaspersky lab (2015)
aim
- investigate the phenomenon of cognitive offloading
67
kaspersky lab (2015)
procedure
- internet survey 6000 consumers aged 16- 55+, equally represented men and women, around the world
- asked to recall important phone numbers, how and where they stores information located online
68
kaspersky lab (2015)
results
- more than half adults could recall their home phone, child phone, work phone
- one in three happy to forget or risk forgetting information they could find online
- 36% internet before trying to remember
- 24% forget online fact as soon as they had used it
- higher rates among older age groups
69
kaspersky lab (2015)
conclusion
- devices enrich lives but also can result in digital amnesia
70
kaspersky lab (2015)
evaluation
- wide range of countries, lots of participants
