Paper 1 SAQ Flashcards by Senta Student

Brain Imaging

Intro:
- Before modern technology → case studies [patients with brain damage or autopsies.
- Modern times → neuro-imaging technology, non invasive
- eg. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) → structure of the brain
- Applying a strong magnetic field to the brain, causing the proton spins in hydrogen atoms to align to the magnetic field polarization [Hydrogen present across brain due to composition]
- Static image created by snapshots of brian [2D or 3D] → structure but not function

Study [Maguire 2000 (SHE!!)]:
- MRI to look at neural plasticity and localization of function in the brain
- 16 right-handed male taxi drivers, knowledge licence for 1.5 years.
- Compared to right-handed males who were not taxi drivers.
- Larger posterior hippocampi and smaller anterior hippocampi
- Only certain brain areas impacted → supported theory of localization of function → posterior hippocampus must play a role in spatial memory.
- Voxel-based morphology [volume of the brain] from MRI → more grey matter correlated w. years driving taxis

Conclusion:
- Shows how imaging techniques such as MRI can be used to study the brain
- While we cannot assume causality → MRI allowed Maguire to look at the structure of the participants’ brains in a noninvasive and ethical way

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Evolution

Intro:
- Evolutionary arguments → used to explain human mating behavior
- Evolutionary psychologists argue → behaviors due to natural selection [behaviors that most improve our chances of handing down our genes and producing healthy offspring, these behaviors will continue]

Study [Wedekind (1995)]:
- See to what extent MHC alleles play a role in mating behavior.
- MHC → immune systems [inherited from both of our parents and codominant (we end up with both immune systems)]
- Argued “smell” is based MHC and it is best for a woman to choose a mating partner who has a different smell to maximize child immunity
- Student used in the study
- Men asked to wear T-shirt for 2 nights [no perfume, perfumed soap, spicy food, smoking, sedx, and alcohol] → avoid changes in natural smell
- Noted if women took contraceptives
- 2 days later women rank t-shirt smell [tested in 2nd week after the beginning of menstruation → better sense of smell]
- T-shirts placed into boxes with a “smelling hole.” [3 boxes with same MHC as woman, 3 were different, 1 was unworn]
- Rated for “pleasantness.”
- T-shirts scored as more pleasant when different

Conclusion:
- Suggests that MHC influences human mate selection.
- If different MHC, then both alleles will be inherited and expressed by a child, thus increasing its immune system and chances of survival.

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Genetics

Intro:
- One study of the role of genetics in depression is the study by Kendler of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins.
- Study MZ twins because they have identical DNA → come from a single fertilized egg (zygote).
- DZ twins → different fertilized eggs [born at the same time but their DNA is as different]
- Psychologists argue → concordance rate of MZ twins for a behavior is significantly higher than DZ twins, then there is a genetic component to the behavior.
- Psychologists also know that although one may have a certain genetic makeup (genotype), not all of the genes that are inherited may be expressed.
- Gene expression → individual may have a predisposition to a behavior by inheritance, but until stressor causes expression, behavior will not show [genes alone cannot cause a behavior - interaction does]

Study [Kendler]:
- 42000 MZ and DZ twins → depression might be inherited
- Predicted → MZ twins would have a greater concordance rate
- MZ had a concordance rate of 0.44, whereas DZ twins was 0.17.
- MZ twins concordance rate was not 100%.

Conclusion:
- Difference in concordance rates → depression may be inherited
- Also supports the theory of gene expression [despite same genes MZ twins had different life experiences and so would have a different epigenome - that is, different genes would be expressed]
- This could potentially explain why the concordance rate is not 100%.

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Hormones

Intro:
- Hormone influencing human behavior is testosterone
- Male hormone → plays a main role in male development during puberty.
- Elevated levels of testosterone seen in alpha male baboons and linked to competitive behavior.
- Study by Ronay and Hippel → testosterone may also play a role in risk-taking behavior [counter-balanced repeated measures design]
- See if a young man’s testosterone level played a role in higher risk-taking behavior [behavior measured → risks taken while skateboarding]

Study [Ronay and Hippel]:
- 96 young Australian Males
- Asked the men to first carry out 10 easy tasks and then 10 difficult tricks.
- Sample 1: male researcher, Sample 2: beautiful young female researcher.
- Tricks were filmed
- After the completion of the tasks, the participants gave a saliva sample to measure the level of testosterone.
- Male researcher: more likely to abort the difficult tricks; Female researcher: less likely to abort, often resulting in an accident, higher testosterone
- Evolution → increased risk-taking is a sign to potential mates that the male is healthy, strong, and dominant

Conclusion:
- Researchers argued that testosterone affects the functioning of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex which is responsible for decision-making [higher level may impair vmpfc functioning → higher risk-taking behavior which may have an evolutionary origin to attract a beautiful mate]

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Neuroplasticity

Intro:
- Neuroplasticity → brain’s ability to change shape and grow grey matter in accordance with its environmental needs as well as practice.
- More synapses and more neurotransmission, rather than more neurons [since those exist since birth and are pruned]
- According localization of function, specific areas of the brain are specialized in certain behaviors

Study [Maguire 2000]:
- MRI to look at neural plasticity and localization of function in the brain
- 16 right-handed male taxi drivers, knowledge licence for 1.5 years.
- Compared to right-handed males who were not taxi drivers.
- Larger posterior hippocampi and smaller anterior hippocampi
- Only certain brain areas impacted → supported theory of localization of function → posterior hippocampus must play a role in spatial memory.
- Voxel-based morphology [volume of the brain] from MRI → more grey matter correlated w. years driving taxies
- Supported the theory of neuroplasticity, as the brain appeared to change as a response to external stimuli.

Conclusion:
- Specific physical changes occurred in relationship to their experience
- This shows that learning a new skill leads to changes in the brain - or neuroplasticity.

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Neurotransmission

Intro:
- Neurotransmission → process where neurons communicate with other neurons.
- Presynaptic neuron releases chemicals called neurotransmitters to cross the gap between two neurons called the synapse.
- Neurotransmitters then bind to specific receptor sites on the postsynaptic neuron → creating electrical signal called the action potential.
- If these receptor sites are blocked by another chemical the postsynaptic neuron will not be able to create an action potential, inhibiting the process of neurotransmission.
- Common way of studying neurotransmission → blocking the receptor sites of a specific neurotransmitter and then noting behavioral changes.
- Memory loss patients → lower activity in hippocampus [could be due to lack of acetylcholine]
- Not possible to directly observe the activity of neurotransmission in the brain, and unethical to manipulate levels of acetylcholine in a patient, animal research is used [better understanding of human bahavior]

Study [Rogers and Kesner]:
- Study on the effects of acetylcholine on spatial memory
- Tested rats ability to learn a maze
- Rats were acclimated to the maze [avoid distress by new environment as a confounding variable]
- Rats were allocated to 1 of 2 conditions: 1 → injected with scopolamine [chemical known to block acetylcholine receptor sites], 2 → injected with placebo saline solution [control for an adrenaline increase from the stress of an injection]
- Had the rats run the maze again
- Group injected with scopolamine performed significantly worse on the maze, taking longer to learn it and making more mistakes.

Conclusion:
- Allowed the researchers to conclude that acetylcholine plays a role in the consolidation of spatial memory in the hippocampus
- Later supported in tests on humans such as Antonova’s virtual reality study

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!Bio Research Methods

Conclusion:
Maguire’s study shows how imaging techniques such as MRI can be used to study the brain.
Limitation → findings are only correlational [no IV manipulation → cannot assume causality]
However, the MRI allowed noninvasive and ethical analysis.

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Bio Ethics

Intro:
- Ethical consideration → informed consent [before someone agrees to participate in a study, the researcher explains purpose/procedure the study, rights (right to withdraw), anonymity, potential negative effects]
- Biological approach has some special problems → uses animals that cannot actually give consent, studies are often of people who have a mental illness or brain damage [could be argued that these participants may not be able to understand what they are agreeing to], is often complex and may not be understood by the average person

Study [HM Milner]:
- HM had severe amnesia as a result of an operation that was done to stop epileptic seizures
- Had both retrograde amnesia (pre operation) and anterograde amnesia (new memories)
- Case study → found that the hippocampus plays a key role in the transfer of episodic and semantic memories from short-term to long-term memory.
- As HM could not remember giving consent, this study is ethically problematic [was asked to give consent throughout the experiment, unclear if he really understood what was happening or who Milner actually was]
- Originally consent was given by HM’s mother and later by caretakers [concern that HM may not have been able to take advantage of his right to withdraw either because he did not understand or he forgot]

Conclusion:
- Informed consent is important so that researchers do not take advantage of participants
- Many of the types of participants used in biological research make obtaining informed consent difficult.

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Excitatory Synapses

Intro:
- Neurotransmitters → important role in human behavior
- Released from terminal buttons of a neuron, travel across a synapse, attach to receptor sites on the postsynaptic membrane
- Some neurotransmitters are more excitatory → make the target neuron more likely to “fire” an action potential
- Neurotransmitter can sometimes have an excitatory or an inhibitory effect → depending on the receptor sites
- Eg. acetylcholine in the formation of spatial memories

Study [Antonova, SHE]:
- Demonstrated that blocking ACh receptors affects our ability to create spatial memories
- Double-blind experiment with 20 men
- Participants were randomly allocated to one of two conditions: injected with either scopolamine (an ACh antagonist) or a placebo
- Put into an fMRI → scanned while playing a virtual reality game
- Goal → navigate around a field to find a pole, after learning location the screen would go blank for 30 seconds, when the field reappeared, participant was at a new starting point →had to use their spatial memory to determine how to get to the pole
- When participants were injected with scopolamine → significant reduction in the activation of the hippocampus

Conclusion:
- This indicates that in the placebo condition, AcH was binding to excitatory synapses that led to the creation of spatial memories, whereas in the Scopalomine condition, these receptor sites were blocked so ACh could not bind to the site and cause the action potential to fire.

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Localization of Function

Intro:
- Localization → theory that specific parts of the brain have specific functions that are related to specific behaviors [often behaviors are quite complex and involve several different parts of the brain → although specific parts of the brain may have specific functions, they work together with other parts of the brain to create behaviors]
- Limbic system: (emotional brain) major focus of psychological research for it’s role in memory & emotion
- Hippocampus → part of the limbic system [consolidation of information from short-term → long-term memory, spatial memory (navigation)]

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Pheromones

Intro:
- Pheromone → chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal affecting the behavior of others of its own species [often affect sexual and mating behaviors, and typically taken in by VNO]
- No actual pheromones found in humans → research shows that some chemicals may lead humans to show behaviors similar to animals
- Potential human pheromone → androstadienone [found in male semen and sweat], and Estratetraenol [EST] the famale equivalent

Study [Zhou et al (2014)]:
- Zhou et al conducted an experiment to investigate the effects of AND and EST on heterosexual and homosexual men and women.
- The sample included four groups of healthy non-smokers: 24 heterosexual males, 24 heterosexual females, 24 homosexual males, 24 bisexual or homosexual females
- Participants performed a point-light walker task (PLW) involving a set of moving dots representing human motion.
- Participants identified the sex of the stick figure in motion.
- The task was performed at a similar time each day over three consecutive days.
- Participants were exposed to:
- Androstadienone (AND) mixed with cloves
- Estratetraenol (EST) mixed with cloves
- A control solution mixed with cloves
- Each day, participants only carried out the task while smelling one of the solutions.
- Scents were counterbalanced to control for order effects.

Conclusion:
- The researchers concluded that AND and EST could pheromones that influences mating behavior in humans

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Neural Pruning

Intro:
- Neuroplasticity → process by which our brains adapt to changes in the environment
- One ways → creation of neural networks [happens because of long-term potentiation - that is, the repeated firing of neurons]
- Leads to increase in dendritic branching → increase in the number of synapses
- Another way → neural pruning - which is a decrease in the number of synapses as a result of the removal of dendritic branches
- Pruning can be the result of neuron cell death, hormones such as cortisol, or the lack of use of a neural pathway [exact mechanism not yet fully understood]

Study [Draganski]:
- Showed → when neural pathways are not used, they may be pruned
- Sample → 24 non-jugglers
- Each participant → MRI scan at the beginning of the study in order to see the structure of the brain
- Participants randomly allocated to 1 of 2 conditions: 1 → learn a juggling routine and to practice it daily until they had mastered it [when they did → second MRI], then told not to juggle anymore, 3 months later they had a third MRI
- The other group of participants simply served as a control
- Using voxel-based morphometry → measured the density of the grey matter in both brains
- Jugglers showed a significantly larger amount of grey matter in the mid-temporal area in both hemispheres [visual memory], 3 months after, the amount of grey matter in these parts of the brain decreased

Conclusion:
- Shows that when learning a new skill, new neural networks were created
- However, when the behavior stopped and those neurons were no longer activated, the neurons were pruned.
- Researchers hypothesize that neural pruning is a way to increase the efficiency of the brain.

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Cognitive Biases

Intro:
- Anchoring bias is a heuristic, a mental shortcut that humans use due to being cognitive misers.
- System 1 thinking → make a quick decision [wo. considering all the information and rely on previous knowledge, schemas, and heuristics]
- Anchoring bias → decision is influenced by an “anchor” [value that is presented and used as a basis for judgment]
- Eg. When bargaining in the marketplace → when told original price is 1000 dollars, more likely to assume higher value than if the original price was 600

Study [Englich and Mussweiler]:
- Lab experiment using German law students [9 months of experience] → effect of anchoring bias on courtroom sentencing
- Alleged rape case and asked to assist in the sentencing process
- Pilot: 24 senior law students [17 months, anchor base]
- 15min to read case and make decision [questionaire]
- 2 conditions [persecutor demand]: 1 → high anchor [34-month sentence], 2 → low anchor [2 months]
- High anchor group opted for a significantly higher sentence; av. 10 months longer

Conclusion:
- Demonstrate the effect of the cognitive bias
- Since the law students did not have time to study the case fully, their decision relied partially on the anchor given to them.
- This allowed them to make quick decisions without using too much energy.

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Schema Theory

Intro:
-Idea → we are active processors of information [behavior and cognitive processes can be influenced by our schema]
- Schema → mental representation of the world [way that our mind organizes information / expectations based on past experiences]
- Cognitive misers → simplify the world and predict things with this mental framework
- Formed through assimilation → when we encounter something incongruent with our current schema we can add this to our schema [prepared for future]
- Since we are information processors → often only notice information that is congruent with our schema [confirmation bias]
- Affects behavior in a variety of ways → distortion of memories

Study [Brewer and Treyens]:
- Impact of schemas on memory
- 86 university psychology students, individually to waited in an office for a short time while the researcher went to finish the experiment with another participant, 35 seconds later researcher came to get the participant and brought her into another room where they were asked to recall objects in the office
- Objects → either congruent or incongruent with an office schema [eg. pencils and a stapler, but also brick and screwdriver]
- Asked to remember these objects under three different conditions: a recall condition, a drawing condition, and a recognition condition.
- In recall and drawing conditions → participants remembered objects congruent with their schema
- In recognition condition [chose object from list] → were able to also recognize objects that were incongruent

Conclusion:
- Supports schema theory → unless prompted by researcher, participants were unable to remember objects incongruent with schema.
- Could not use “photographic memory” → used their experience to predict what would be in the office
- We are active processors of information → reconstruct memories based on schema

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Thinking Models

Intro:
- Theory of thinking and decision-making → Dual Processing Model
- People use two types of thinking to handle complex tasks - System 1 → fast, automatic, and based on previous experience [used once practiced, eg. tying a shoe], System 2 → slower, more deliberate, and effortful, less prone to mistakes [used in unfamiliar situations]
- We prefer to use system 1 thinking as we are cognitive misers
- System 1 → uses mental shortcuts called heuristics [eg. anchoring bias]

Study [Wason]:
- Asked participants to carry out a logical puzzle involving four cards [abstract, but if thought through correctly, could be relatively easy to solve]
- Participants repeatedly chose the wrong answers and afterward could not explain why they chose the cards that they did
- Suggests they used system 1 thinking
- Follow-up study by a different researcher → with the same card task, if the task was not abstract, people were less prone to making mistakes
- System 1 thinking is less prone to errors in concrete situations

Conclusion:
This study by Wason supports the Dual Processing Model as participants jumped to an incorrect decision without being able to explain their thinking process.

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Emotion and Memory

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Intro:
- Brown & Kulik → emotional experiences led to detailed, accurate, vivid, and resistant memories
- Argued 2 components of flashbulb memory → element of surprise [“special mechanism” hypothesis → unknown biological factors that led to the creation of these memories], event had to have “personal meaning”
- Combination → flashbulb memory

Study [McGaugh & Cahill (1995)]:
- Investigates the role of emotion on memory
- Participants divided into 2 groups
- Each group saw 12 slides and heard a different story
- 1 → boring story about a woman and her son who paid a visit to the son’s father in a hospital where they watched the staff in a disaster preparation drill
- 2 → heard a story where the boy was involved in a car accident where his feet were severed. He was quickly brought to the hospital where the surgeons reattached the injured limbs. Then he stayed in the hospital for a few weeks and then went home with his mother.
- Repeated 3 →same story as 2 but given beta-blockers [block the receptor sites for adrenaline in the amygdala]
- Two weeks later the participants came back and had their memory tested
- Found → emotional story had better recall [more details], however, emotional story and beta-blockers, led to no better recall

Conclusion:
- May be evidence to support Brown & Kulik’s → “special mechanism”
- Researchers argued → when adrenaline reaches the brain it activates the amygdala in the limbic system to send a message that something important or dangerous has happened[ key role in emotional memories]
- Beta-blockers → prevent the ability to form an emotional memory → importance of emotion and adrenaline in the creation of memory

Cultural Dimensions

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Intro:
- Cultural dimensions → differences in values or beliefs between cultures [reflective of a society’s culture, what they view as the most important]
- Eg. culture’s tendency towards individualism vs collectivism
- Collectivistic cultures → focused more on group success and interdependence within a community [less privacy importance placed on individual freedom]
- Individualistic cultures → focus on personal success, freedom, independence, and privacy
- Theory of cultural dimensions → cultural values impact behavior

Study [Kulkoffsky et al]:
- Impact of cultural dimensions on memory [flashbulb memory]
- See if there was a difference between flashbulb memories in collectivistic and individualistic cultures
- Gave a flashbulb memory questionnaire, based on the original questionnaire used by Brown & Kulik, to people from individualistic cultures [eg. US] and collectivistic cultures [eg. China] → asked to recall a public event that took place in their lifetime [9-11 or death of celebrity]
- Fewer examples of flashbulb memories in collectivistic cultures for such events → less importance given to personal experience and the display of personal emotional responses is frowned on
- Less time talking to others about their personal experiences → do not carry out the rehearsal that is important for the development of such vivid memories.

Conclusion:
- Although the collectivistic cultures may have strong memories of the event itself, they do not have flashbulb memories
- This study supports the idea that our culture can impact our behavior and cognition.

Socio Research Methods

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Intro:
- Method used in this study on conformity is a true experiment → done in a controlled environment, participants are randomly allocated [unlike quasi-experiments], use a standardized procedure [replicable], allow for manipulation of IV and CV [cause and effect relationship → for which extraneous variables must be controlled]

Study [Asch]:
- Sample of American male students
- Deceived participants by telling them that they were being tested on their vision, not conformity
- IV → the presence of social pressure
- DV → whether the naive participant agreed with the incorrect response given by the confederates
- Wanted to see whether or not the participants would conform by giving an incorrect response to a simple task such as matching lines of the same length
- Ensure participants could differentiate between the lengths of the lines → control experiment in which the participant was alone in the room with only the researcher present [errors below 1%]
- Naive participant sat amongst six confederates and the researcher, students were then all shown 2 cards, one of which had one line on it, and another which had three lines of different lengths on it
- Asked to match line from 2 to line from 1 → gave their answers one by one [naive participant → could hear enough confederate answers to feel group pressure]
- 36.8% of participants gave incorrect responses in 50% of the trials or more
- 24% of the participants didn’t conform to any of the incorrect responses

Conclusion:
- True experiment → have full control over extraneous variables [determine a clear cause-and-effect relationship btw. presence of social pressure/level of conformity
- Also used deception → eliminate demand characteristics
- Easily replicated → making it possible to see if the results are reliable

Stereotyping

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Intro:
Stereotyping → form of generalization where one judges an individual based on group membership/physical attributes
- Theory of origin → illusory correlation
- Illusory correlation → people perceive a correlation between two variables when no actual relationship exists
- False correlation → result of the fact that rare or surprising behaviors are more salient and thus we tend to notice and remember them more → results in cognitive bias that can affect one’s judgment and perception of an individual

Study [Hamilton and Gifford]:
- Test the relationship between group size and one’s perception of the group’s traits
- Showed participants statements about two groups: Group A and Group B [smaller, making it the minority]
- Statements were about individuals in each group → positive or negative traits and behaviors [proportion was the same in each group]
- After being shown statements → asked to estimate how many positive and negative traits each group had
- Participants overestimated the number of negative traits for the minority group
- Argued that these results were the result of an illusory correlation → negative traits were more distinct in the minority group

Conclusion:
- Participants had made the illusory correlation between a number of the minority group and negative behavior
- Could lead to stereotypes being created that all members of the minority group had negative traits

!Agonist

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Intro:
- Agonist → chemical that binds to a receptor site on a post-synaptic neuron, causing the neuron to fire
- Neurotransmitters are endogenous agonists [brain’s natural chemicals that bind to receptor sites, leading to an action potential]
- Drugs can play the same role [called exogenous agonists] → alcohol [binds with dopamine receptor sites, causing dopamine neurons to fire]
- Results in the activation of the brain’s reward system [nucleus accumbens]

Study [Setiawan et al 2013]:
- Role of alcohol on the brain’s reward system → origins of alcohol use disorders [AUD]
- Said that those with low response level [LLR] are prone to drinking more → may run in family
- 26 healthy social drinkers
- Filled out drug and alcohol use questionaire
- Categorized drinkers based on their risk for alcoholism based on personality traits and having a lower intoxication response to alcohol [did not feel as drunk despite having drunk the same amount as other drinkers]
- Participants underwent 2 PET scans on 2 days PET scan [counterbalanced → either drank juice or alcohol within 15 min]
- High risk → significantly greater activity in the nucleus accumbens
- The researchers argued that alcohol is an agonist for dopamine, connecting to dopamine receptor sites and causing the neurons to fire

Conclusion:
- Research shows that those with a low level of dopamine neuron activity as a result of alcohol consumption often get tired after drinking a small amount of alcohol → higher level of dopamine activity counteracts the sedative effects of alcohol
- Studying how alcohol acts as an agonist on dopamine neurons → possible to find ways to treat the disorder

Antagonist

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Intro:
- Antagonist → any substance that fits into a receptor site on the post-synaptic neuron, inhibiting the neuron [neuron will not fire and therefore a behavior will not happen]
- Acetylcholine → neurotransmitter that plays a role in memory
- Not possible for researchers to directly observe the role of neurotransmitters [alternative → by giving animals or human participants an antagonist]
- See what happens when acetylcholine receptors are blocked and the neurons are “not allowed” to fire
- One acetycholine antagonist → scopolamine

Conclusion:
By using an antagonist, blocking AcH receptor sites, researchers are better able to understand the role of the neurotransmitter in the formation of memory.

!Inhibitory Synapses [explaination of human connection??]

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Intro:
- Neurotransmitters play an important role in human behavior [released from the terminal buttons of a neuron, travel across synapse, attach to receptor sites on postsynaptic membrane]
- Some neurotransmitters are seen as more inhibitory [make the target neuron less likely to “fire” an action potential]
- Neurotransmitter can sometimes have either an excitatory or an inhibitory effect [depending on receptor sites]
- Eg. role of GABA in memory formation [GABA receptor sites in the hippocampus are inhibitory, decreasing neural activity]

Study [Prevot]:
- See if using a benzodiazepine to stimulate GABA receptor sites would improve memory
- Study done using older mice that showed memory impairment → placed into a ‘Y’ shaped maze
- Double-blind experiment with a pre-test/post-test design [mice were either allocated to the placebo or drug condition]
- Older mice treated with the drug showed significantly higher levels of performance on the task than those that received the placebo
- The GABA agonist increased the memory retention of the maze

Conclusion:
- Study is relevant to human behavior → Porges found same correlation in the frontal lobe of an elderly sample and superior cognitive performance
- Appears that inhibition of activity in the hippocampus plays a role in the creation of memory

Decision Making

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Intro:
- Model of thinking → “Dual Process Model.”
- Argues that there are two systems of thinking.
- System 1 thinking → make a quick decision [wo. considering all the information and rely on previous knowledge, schemas, and heuristics]
- Anchoring bias is a heuristic, a mental shortcut that humans use due to being cognitive misers.
- Anchoring bias → decision is influenced by an “anchor” [value that is presented and used as a basis for judgment]
- Eg. When bargaining in the marketplace → when told original price is 1000 dollars, more likely to assume higher value than if the original price was 600

Cog Ethics

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Intro:
- Ethical consideration → deception [when a participant is not made fully aware of the purpose of a study or is intentionally misinformed]
- Often used by researchers to hide the true aim of an experiment, since if the participants knew the aim of the experiment they would demonstrate demand characteristics [trying to give the researchers what they wanted or trying to behave a certain way → social desirability]
- Problematic → undermines the concept of “informed consent” [violates trust]
- Increases the chance that a participant will withdraw his/her data after the experiment
- Therefore, debriefing is an important part of any experiment with deception [deception is justified and participant is allowed to withdraw data]
- Debriefing is also a chance for the researcher to make sure that there was no harm done

Study [Loftus & Pickrel’s Lost in the Mall]:
- ASee if participants would “create memories” of a biographical event that never happened
- Given 4 short stories describing childhood events [supposedly provided by family members] and asked to try to recall
- 1 story [mall] was false
- 25% of the participants said that they remembered this event [often described in great detail]
- Concluded that being asked to recall something that didn’t happen, but that they thought their parents said happened, can lead to the creation of false memories.

Conclusion:
- Reveal → participants may have felt like they looked foolish
- Could not do a study on false memory by first revealing the actual aim of the study
- Although the deception was justified, the experiment is still problematic from an ethical standpoint

Memory Models

Intro: - Multi-Store Model [Atkinson and Shiffrin] → first to separate memory into sensory, short-term, and long-term memory - Argues that we are bombarded with sensory stimuli → when we pay attention they pass through sensory memory and into the STM → there information is held until either other information displaces it or, if we rehearse it, it is moved to LTM - When remembering → moving information from LTM back into STM so that it can be used Study [Glanzer and Cunitz]: - First given 3, 5 word practice lists [learn procedure] - Read 15 lists of 15 words [common, one syllable, shown with projector, shown for 1 sec w. 2 sec interval] to participants and asked them to recall the words in any order - Repeated measures design - Then the participants were either asked to recall the words immediately after the list was finished, with a 10-second delay or with a 30-second delay [during delays → counted up from random number] - No delay → participants remembered the first few words and the last few words on the list [words earlier on the list were most likely rehearsed and moved into LTM – primacy effect], words at the end of the list were still in STM [recency effect] - When they were asked to count → only remembered the first few words on the list - Shows that through rehearsal some of the words had been placed in LTM → counting backward had displaced the information in STM Conclusion: - This study is evidence that the Multi-store model is correct – and that long-term and short-term memory may be stored in different places and that information in STM may be displaced.

Reconstructive Memory

Intro: - We do not have a "photograph" of memories, but rather that we are activating schema that are relevant to an event to create it - Piece together a memory from bits of information that we have in our schema - Bartlett argues that when we create these memories, we often make assumptions about what could or should have happened Study [Loftus and Palmer]: - Example of an experiment → study on how leading questions may affect one’s memory of an automobile crash. - Aim: Investigate where the use of leading questions would affect an eyewitness’ estimate of speed - 45 students divided into 5 groups of 7 students [independent samples design -> hide goal of experiment] - 7 short films of traffic accidents shown (taken from driver’s education films) - When P. had watched the film twice they were asked to give an account of the accident seen & then answered a questionnaire about the accident - 1 critical Q.: asked P. to estimate speed - asked in the same way using different verbs of different intensities - Mean estimates highest in the ‘smashed’ condition (40.8mph), lowest in ‘contacted’(31.8mph) - More intense verb - higher the speed estimate Conclusion: - Interpertations were based on information outside of the event and after it indicate that momories are not static but rather reconstructive

Cog Research Methods

Intro: - Method used in this study of memory is a true experiment → done in a controlled environment, participants are randomly allocated [unlike quasi-experiments], use a standardized procedure [replicable], allow for manipulation of IV and CV [cause and effect relationship → for which extraneous variables must be controlled] Study [Loftus and Palmer]: - Example of an experiment → study on how leading questions may affect one’s memory of an automobile crash. - Aim: Investigate where the use of leading questions would affect an eyewitness’ estimate of speed - 45 students divided into 5 groups of 7 students [independent samples design -> hide goal of experiment] - 7 short films of traffic accidents shown (taken from driver’s education films) - When P. had watched the film twice they were asked to give an account of the accident seen & then answered a questionnaire about the accident - 1 critical Q.: asked P. to estimate speed - asked in the same way using different verbs of different intensities - Mean estimates highest in the ‘smashed’ condition (40.8mph), lowest in ‘contacted’(31.8mph) - More intense verb - higher the speed estimate Conclusion: - Results of the experiment → the stronger the intensity of the verb, the higher the estimate of the speed of the car - As the data was quantitative, statistics could be calculated to see if the results were significant or due to chance - Therefore a direct cause-and-effect relationship can be established adding reliability to findings.

Social Cognitive Theory

Intro: - Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) → explains how people learn behaviors through observation, imitation, and modeling - A key concept → observational learning [occurs when individuals acquire new behaviors by watching others and the consequences of their actions] - Bandura argued → we learn by first paying attention to a model [then need to be able to remember actions (retention) and have the motivation to imitate them] - Imitation → result of vicarious reinforcement [see person is rewarded and want the same reward] - Theory also highlights the role of self-efficacy, or one’s belief in their ability to succeed. Study [Bandura → Bobo Doll 1961]: - 72 children (36 boys and 36 girls) aged 3 to 6 years were divided into three groups: adult acting aggressively toward a Bobo doll, adult behaving non-aggressively, and (control group) not exposed to a model - After observing the model, children were placed in a room with toys, including a Bobo doll - Researchers observed whether the children imitated the aggressive behaviors [eg. hitting, kicking, or verbal aggression] - Children who observed the aggressive model were significantly more likely to imitate those aggressive actions Conclusion: - The Bobo doll experiment illustrates SCT - Children acquired new behaviors by watching the adult model and mimicked these behaviors without direct reinforcement [supporting the idea that learning can occur vicariously] - Overall, this study validates Bandura’s claim that learning is not solely dependent on direct experience but can also occur through observation.

Enculturation

Intro: - Enculturation → learning the shared behaviors and values of our culture - We learn cultural norms through parents, school, or the media [often through direct instruction, eg. rewards and punishments from our parents or other “gatekeepers” in our society] - One major form of enculturation is the formation of our gender identity within a culture. Study [Fagot 1978]: - See how parents directly influence gender identity [which, although dependent on biological sex, is shaped by cultural norms] - Goal: observe parental reactions to behavior that wasn’t deemed appropriate for the child’s gender [according to American culture at the time] - Naturalistic observations among 24 families, 12 families with boys and 12 with girls - Found that parents acted more favorably towards their children when they acted according to their gender norms and expectations - Boys were encouraged to play with toys that build strength, girls were encouraged to play with dolls or dress up Conclusion: - Demonstrates enculturation → shows parents directly teaching and instructing children about what is and isn’t appropriate behavior according to their culture’s gender norms - Parents were reinforcing culturally appropriate behaviors [influencing choice of toys or ways of playing for their children] - Parents further supported these norms by encouraging boys to be independent and active while girls were encouraged to be dependent and passive - Experiences shape → thinking, schemas, and personal identity - Parents have a direct influence on our adoption of culturally appropriate behavior and identity and therefore play an important role in enculturation as seen in Fagot’s study.

Assimilation

Intro: - Assimilation → process of adopting the cultural and social norms of the dominant culture, often losing aspects of one’s own culture in the process - Failure to assimilate may lead to marginalization - Psychologists argue that integration, rather than assimilation, is important for the mental health of immigrants [become bicultural → function in both the new culture and their original culture] - Assimilation often leads to acculturative stress → possible negative effect on mental health Study [Lueck and Wilson]: - Carried out a set of semi-structured interviews to study the factors that increased acculturative stress in a large sample of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans - Conducted either online or face-to-face - Measured the level of acculturative stress, language proficiency, strength of family ties, and socioeconomic status - 70% of the sample experienced acculturative stress - Found that being bilingual resulted in lower acculturative stress - Higher levels of stress → Asians who did not know their native language well enough to discuss important issues with family members or members of the community - Bilingualism is a predictor of low acculturative stress → but preference for speaking English only is a predictor of high acculturative stress Conclusion: - Shows that Asian immigrants who had assimilated experienced higher levels of stress [adopted the language of the majority culture and “lost” their ability to communicate in their mother tongue] - Those that had integrated experienced less stress - Those able to use both languages equally are able to build up networks of support within and outside their community [important protective factor against stress] - Indicates that assimilation may be a less healthy approach to acculturation than integration

!Culture and Memory [detail in intro]

Intro: - Culture affects our cognitive processes → not universal - A part of culture is a group's lifestyle and how they interact with the environment [which shapes cognitive development] - Psychologists found → cultures that have to interact more with their natural environment may have better spatial memory Study [Kearins (1981)]: - Showed that culture affects how young Aboriginal children and Australians differ in spatial memories - Used a sample of Aboriginal and white Australians - Memory test given outdoors - Kearins placed 20 objects on a board divided into 20 squares - Children told to study the board for 30 seconds - Then all the objects were removed from the board and put into a pile, children were asked to replace the items in their original locations - Aboriginal children correctly relocated more objects than did white Australian children - 18% of the white Australian children had one perfect score, but none had two or more perfect scores. 75% of the Aboriginal children had at least one perfect score and 40% had at least two perfect scores Conclusion: - Kearins argued that the Aboriginal culture developed in the deserts required better visual and spatial memory than the white Australian culture - Interaction with the environment could have had biological consequences such as the development of the posterior hippocampus

Socio Ethics [look back at inthinking notes]

Social Identity Theory

Intro: - Social Identity Theory → based on the assumption that we have both an individual and a social self - Argues that one's self-esteem comes from their membership in social groups - Tajfel → three steps to Social Identity Theory: Categorization, in which an individual considers himself a member of a group, Social identification when the person conforms to the behaviors and values of the group, Individual achieves self-esteem by comparison with members of the out-group - Seeing the traits of one's own group as positive and the out-group as inferior raises a sense of self-esteem - Also argues that one's group membership is made salient, it has an effect on behavior Study [Abrams et al.]: - See if being made aware of one's social identity would increase the level of conformity to a group - Had participants take part in the Asch paradigm [group of confederates and one naive participant] - The group is shown a line and then asked to match it with a line of the same length in a set of three lines - In half of the trials, the confederates gave the correct answer; in half, they did not - To test social identity → one group of naive participants was told that the other participants were "fellow psychology students from the university", the were told that they were "ancient history students from the competitor university" - When assuming their in-group, participants conformed almost 50% of the time to the incorrect answer; when they thought it was their out-group, they conformed only 5% of the time Conclusion: - It appears that when the participants' social identity was made salient, conformity increased in order to be accepted by one's in-group and to maintain self-esteem [did not happen when the participant believed that he was with an out-group] - Type of conformity → normative social influence where the need to belong influences the likelihood that one will conform - This appears to be the case in this study → supporting social identity theory

Paper 1 SAQ Flashcards

(33 cards)