Cognitive Methodology

7/27/2019 Cognitive Methodology

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This is not a psychologylaboratory

Cognitive Methodology

What was the third of the assumptions we looked at last lesson?

The cognitive approach sees psychology as a _________________,

and so behaviour should be investigated in a __________________

way.

The cognitive approach uses many different research methods to investigatebehaviour. We will be looking at laboratory experiments and casestudies.

When have we looked at these two types of methodology before? _____________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

LABORATORY STUDIESLaboratory experiments are a method of investigation wherebehaviour is studied under controlled conditions. This linksin with the assumption that psychology should betreated as a science. Cognitive psychologists use thecontrolled environment of a lab to make inferences about apersons mind by observing their behaviour and by askingquestions.

What is a laboratory?When you think of the word laboratory, you probably get amental image of test tubes, Bunsen burners and scientificequipment. In psychology however, a laboratory is simply anenvironment which is under the control of an experimenter.

Most often it is a room in a university. We could use a classroom in the school as alaboratory.

Independent and dependant variablesIn a laboratory study, the experimenter will manipulate a variable to see what effect ithas on another variable. The variable that is altered by the experimenter is called theindependent variable (IV) and the variable that is measured by the experimenter isthe dependant variable (DV).

Identify the IV and the DV in the following examples

A: An experimenter is investigating whether music affects concentration. One group of

participants sit a test in silence, and another group sit it with music playing. Theexperimenter then compares their scores.IV: _________________________________DV: _________________________________

B: A group of participants are asked to give money to charity. Some people are asked bya male charity collector, and others are asked by a female collector. The experimenteraims to see if there is a difference in the amount collected.IV: _________________________________DV: _________________________________

C: An experimenter wants to see if people are more alert in the morning or in theevening. Participants have their reaction times tested at 7am and again at 7pm.IV: _________________________________DV: _________________________________

Examples of laboratory experiments:One area of cognitive psychology that has been investigated is memory.ElizabethLoftus (amongst others) has conducted numerous laboratoryexperiments in the field of eyewitness testimony, and has used the resultsof her study to draw conclusions about memory. This is an example ofpsychological research being applied to real life situations.


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If you witnessed a crime, how important would it be remember things

accurately?

Loftus and Zanni (1975)

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Loftus and Palmer (1974)

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Loftus et al (1987)_____

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What can we infer about human memory from the first two studies?

What does the third study tell us about memory?

Are there any issued with these types of experiment?

Strengths

Laboratory experiments are often the best way to study behaviour, as the strict

controls mean that we can establish________________________ relationships. This

means that we can be sure that the _______________ variable we are manipulating


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what is causing the change in the ________________ variable, and that the change is

not due to the effect of extraneous variables. Extraneous variables are variables that

are not being manipulated by the experimenter that could alter the results. Lab

experiments allow these extraneous variables to be controlled and

_____________________.

Lab experiments are __________________. The experimenter will follow standardised

procedures meaning that the study can be replicated by others. This means that labstudies are usually _________________. The data collected in a lab study is mostly

quantitative, and therefore objective as it does not require interpretation by the

researcher. This means that it is not __________________.

As the data collected is nearly always quantitative, it can be easily analysed and

comparisons can be made. This is difficult to do with _____________________ data as it

is often not numerical.

Weaknesses

Lab experiments often do not reflect real life. Both the environment that theexperiment takes place in and the tasks that the participants are asked to do can be

________________. This means that it can lack________________________. The way that

participants react in an experiment may bear no resemblance to how they would act

in a real life situation.

Participants in a lab experiment are liable to behave unnaturally for the reasons

stated above and also because they may guess the aims of the study which leads

to___________________________. This could cause the participants to change their

_____________________in one of two ways. They may decide to go along with what they

believe the aim of the study to be, and conform to the researchers____________________. Alternatively, they may want to spoil the study, and act in a way

opposed to the researchers aims (the screw you effect).

The experimenter could (intentionally or _____________________) influence the way that

the participants behave. For example, their tone of voice could influence the

responses from participants, or by interpreting behaviour so that it fits with their

_________________. These are called experimenter effects.

The missing words

minimised qualitative expectations subjectiv

e

objective

independent demand

characteristics

cause and

effect

artificial ecological

validityunintention

ally

hypothesis reliable dependa

nt

behaviour

CASE STUDIESWe studied case studies as part of the psychodynamic approach. The methodology and

evaluation points can be reused here.Strengths Weaknesses


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You need to be able to give a specific example of a case study in the cognitiveapproach.

Henry Gustav Molaison (February 26, 1926 December 2, 2008), better known as HM was amemory-impaired patient who was widely studiedfrom the late 1950s until his death. His case played avery important role in the development of theoriesthat explain the link between brain function andmemory. His case was used as evidence for theMultistore Memory Model (Atkinson and Shriffrin 1968)

After undergoing brain surgery for epilepsy at the ageof 27, he suffered from some retrograde amnesia,meaning he had lost some of his memories that he

had before the surgery. More importantly howeverwas that he suffered with severe anterograde amnesia. He was unable to create newmemories. However, his short term memory was still intact (he could hold a phonenumber in his head for example) and he was able to learn new skills, even if he had nomemory of doing it (learning to draw using a mirror).

HM was important not only for the knowledge he provided about memory impairmentand amnesia, but also because his exact brain surgery allowed a good understanding ofhow particular areas of the brain may be linked to specific processes in memoryformation. In this way, he provided vital information about the brain and helped formtheories of normal memory function.

HM was never able to live independently and spent his life being cared for my family, orin a care home. He was the focus of intense scientific interest throughout his life.

Q1: How does the case of HM provide support for the Multistore model of memory?

Q2: Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of using case studies to tell us how ourmemory works.


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Loftus and Zanni (1975): They showed participants a film of a

car accident. One group of participants were asked Did yousee a broken headlight? while the other group was askedDid you see the broken headlight? There was no brokenheadlight in the film. 7% of the participants who were askedabout a broken headlight reported seeing it, while 17% ofthe group asked about the broken headlight said they had.

Loftus and Palmer (1974): Participants were shown a video ofa car crash, and were asked How fast were the cars weregoing when they _______________ each other? The word inthe space was hit, smashed, collided, bumped orcontacted. Participants who were asked with the words

smashed, collided and bumped gave higher speeds thatthose asked with the words hit or contacted.

Loftus et al (1987): Participants overheard an argument in an

adjoining room. In the first condition, a man came into theroom where the participants were, holding a pen covered ingrease. In the second condition, he came in with a knifecovered in blood. Participants were then asked to identify the

Going further...How do you think the knowledge of leading memories can be applied in police investigations? Look upthe cognitive interview on the internet. How has this been put together from cognitive research?Compare the case study of HM with the case studies carried out by Freud. What similarities anddifferences are there?Go on YouTube and look up the case of Clive Wearing, who is another person with anterograde amnesia.Does his case add anything to or knowledge of memory?


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man from a series of photos. 49% of those in the pencondition could identify the man, compared with 33% ofthose in the knife condition.

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Cognitive Methodology