Cognitive Approach Flashcards
Multi-store memory model
Glanzer & Cunitz
A - Investigate serial position effect (tendency to recall first & last items on list better than middle) with & without interference from filler activity.
S - 46 army-enlisted men
T - experiment, repeated measures design
P - Series of 15 words read out to participtants. Required to do a free-recall task. 3 conditions: free-recall task immediately after hearing words; filler activity (counting backwards for 10 seconds) and then free-recall; same filler activity for 30 seconds instead. Each participant given 15 lists, 3 for each conditions. Order of conditions was random.
R - In condition without filler task, both aspects of serial position effect could be observed: primacy & recency effect. In condition with filler task, primacy effect stayed but recency effect disappeared - more in 30s condition than 10s.
C - Fit into multi-store memory model - STM & LTM are 2 separate stores; information moves form STM to LTM if rehearsed, but decays if not; duration of STM is 30s.
Schema
Anderson & Pichert
A - Investigate influence of schema on retrieval of information from long-term memory.
S - Introductory psychology students who were participating in order to fulfill a course requirement
T - experiment, mixed design
P - Participants were assigned either a homebuyer or burgler perspective. Asked to read a passage about a house where 2 boys were staying to skip school. Contained a total of 73 ideas, some being potentially interesting to a burglar and some to a real estate agent. Given a filler task and asked to reproduce story with utmost accuracy. Another filler task given, some participants were asked to switch initial perspectives while others were not. Told to reproduce story one more time without reading it again.
R - For first recall, participtants with burgler intiative recalled more burgler-specific information & homebuyers respectively too. Participants who changed perspective recalled more information important to second perspective than first.
C - Change of perspective influenced retrieval not encoding. Perspective is a type of schema. Supports idea that schemas influence process of retrieval of already stored information from memory
Thinking & decision-making
Albarracin et al
A - Investigate predictive validity of theory of planned behaviour for people’s decisions to use or not use condoms
S - 42 published & unpublished research papers with total of 96 data sets
T - meta-analysis
P - Data sets from published research were combined in single large data matrix, used to analyse fit of TPB
R - TPB turned out to be a successful predictor of condom use. Correlation between intention & behaviour in this model was 0.51. Significant correlations between behavioural intentions & norms, attitudes & perceived control.
C - People more likely to use condoms when they have formed an intent to do so. These intentions are based on attitudes, subjective norms & perceived behavioural control. Confirms predictive validity of TPD in specific domain of condom use.
Reconstructive memory
Loftus & Palmer
A - Investigate if memory can be altered by misleading post-event information
S - University students. Experiment 1: 45 students, 5 groups. Experiment 2: 150 students, 3 groups
T - convenience sampling, experiment, independent measures design
P - In experiment 1, participants shown recordings of traffic accidents, followed by a questionnaire with questions. One crucial question only: “about how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?”. 5 groups in exp 1 only differed in emotional intensity of verb (smashed, collided, bumped, hit & contacted). In experiment 2, participants were given another questionnaire consisting of 10 questions & one yes/no question - “did you see any broken glass”.
R - mean speef estimates varied significantly for experiment 1. emtional intensity of verb in leading question also influenced probability whether participants report seeing broken glass or not.
C - experiment 1 demonstrated misleading post-event information influences eye-witness accounts of an event. two possible explanations: genuine memory change, response bias. Researchers ruled out second explanation, accepted genuine memory change.
Biases in thinking & decision-making
Tversky & Kahneman
A - Investigate influence of the way a decision problem is framed on decisions in scenarious involving risk.
S - 307 uni students in classroom setting
T - experiment, independent measures design
P - group 1 given option of: 200 people will be saved OR 1/3 probability that 600 people will be saved and 2/3 probability that no people will be saved. group 2 was given option of: 400 people will die OR 1/3 probability that nobody will die and 2/3 probability that 600 will die.
R - option A was chosen by 72% of participants (B by 28%). option C was chosen by 22% (D by 78%). problem given to both groups was equivalent but decisions were reversed.
C - only difference is how situation is described, in terms of potential ains or losses. this shouldn’t matter in a rational decision-maker, so observed reversal of choices is a deviation from normative expected utility theory. called the framing effect (avoiding risks, but taking risks to avoid losses).
Flashbulb memories
Sharot et al
A - Investigate neural mechanism of flashbulb memory by comparing brain response to recollecting 9/11 attacks as compared to control
S - 24 participants who witnessed 9/11 in 2001.
T - experiment. mixed design (independent measures because 2 separate groups of participants were compared AND repeated measures because 2 types of memories were measured in each group)
P - 3 years after attacks, participants asked to retrieve memories of the day as well as personally selected control events from 2001. split into 2 groups (downtown group, close to world trade centre during attacks & midtown group, few miles away from world trade centre). Placed in fMRI scanner, participants saw series of 60 cue words, either ‘summer’ (autobiographical memory from preceding summer of 2001) or ‘september’ (memory from attacks)
R - selective activation of left amygdala occured when recalling events from 9/11, but not control events. rates of selective activation differed in the groups (83% in downtown & 40% in midtown). downtown group showed higher amgydala activation than midtown for 9/11 but no difference across groups for summer trials. selective activation of left amygdala correlated with proximity of participant to world trade center during attacks.
C - selective activation of amygdala may be neural mechanism of flashbulb memories. higher correlation in downtown group suggesting it is more personally consequential. it characterizes surprising & shocking events
