Psychology Paper 1,2,3

IB Psychology Notes
Paper 1, 2 & 3
1
Multi-store Memory Model
- The multistore model (MSM) comprises 3 stores: sensory register, short term
memory (STM) and long term memory (LTM).
- Information is gathered through the 5 senses and is briefly held in the sensory
register for less than a second.
- Information is then transferred to the STM through the process of attention.
Through the process of rehearsal, information is transferred from STM to LTM.
- The STM has a capacity of 5 -9 items, duration of 18 seconds without rehearsal
and 30 seconds with rehearsal and information is encoded acoustically.
- The LTM store has an unlimited capacity, a duration that can last from a few
minutes to a lifetime, and information in the LTM is encoded semantically.
Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)
Aim: To prove the existence of separate memory structures like Short-Term Memory
and Long-Term Memory
Sample: 46 army enlisted men.
Method:
- Participants were first given three 5-word practice lists so that they could learn
the procedure.
- They used free recall of a list of 15 items combined with an interference task to
show that there are two processes involved in retrieving information.
- The researchers showed 15 lists of 15 words one at a time and had subjects recall
the words under one of three conditions: recall with no delay, with a 10-second
delay and with a 30-second delay.
- The words were shown on a screen with a projector. The words were common
one-syllable words.
- Each word was shown for 1 second with a 2-second interval between words. The
experimenter read each word as it appeared.
- When the list was done, the participants either saw a # or a number between 0
and 9. If they saw the # The experimenter said "write" and they wrote down as
many words as they could recall in any order. If they saw a number, then they
were to start counting from that number until the experimenter said, "write."
- The Experimenter would either stop them after 10 seconds or after 30 seconds
and all participants were tested individually. The order of the reading of the lists
was randomised.
2
Findings:
- With no delay, the first 5 and last 3 words were recalled best.
- With a 10 or 30-second delay during which the subject counted backwards, there
was little effect on the words at the beginning of the list but poor recall of later
items.
- This suggests that the later words were held in short-term storage and were lost
due to interference whereas the earlier words had been passed to long-term
storage.
Conclusion: The ability to recall words at the beginning of the list because they had
already been transferred to long-term memory is called the primacy effect. The ability to
recall words that have just been spoken because they are still in short-term memory is
called recency effect.
Critical Thinking:
- An advantage of independent measures design is increased external validity

because it typically uses a larger sample of participants than other research
designs, such as repeated measures design. By using a larger sample, researchers
can increase the representativeness of the study sample, which can make the
results more generalizable to other populations.
- A disadvantage of independent measures design is that individual differences in
participants can sometimes lead to differences in the groups' results. Individual
differences refer to the unique characteristics of each participant, such as their
age, gender, personality, and background. These differences can influence the
way that participants respond to the independent variable, which can lead to
differences in the results of the groups.
- The use of standardised procedures increases reliability because they can be
easily replicated by other researchers to test the accuracy of the results. When
researchers use consistent and predetermined methods for collecting and
analysing data, it is easier for other researchers to replicate the study and test
whether the results are accurate or not. This is especially important in
psychological research, where the goal is to produce reliable and generalizable
findings that can be tested and applied to the general population
- Demand characteristics: When participants are aware that they are being tested
or observed, they may change their behaviour in an attempt to fit what they think
the researcher wants or expects them to do. This can be a limitation of research
studies because it can affect the validity and reliability of the results.
- Extraneous variables are closely controlled, meaning the IV is likely to have
affected the DV, increasing the internal validity of the study.
3
- One limitation of research studies is that the tasks given in the research may not
be reflective of everyday tasks or activities. This can be a problem because it can
affect the external validity of the study, which refers to the extent to which the
results can be generalised to other populations or settings (lack of mundane
realism).
HM: Milner(1966)
Aim: To better understand the effects that the surgery had had on patient HM.
Procedure:
- In order to carry out her research, Milner used many different strategies. This is
an example of how method triangulation may be used in a case study:
- Psychometric testing: IQ testing was given to HM. His results were above
average.
- Direct observation of his behaviour.
- Interviews with both HM and with family members.
- Cognitive testing: memory recall tests as well as learning tasks -such as reverse
mirror drawing.
Findings and conclusions:
- HM could not acquire new episodic knowledge (memory for events) and he could
not acquire new semantic knowledge (general knowledge about the world). This
suggests that the brain structures that were removed from his brain are
important for the transfer of information from short-term to long-term memory.
- The researchers also found that he was able to remember his house and could
draw a picture of the floor plan of his new home. This indicates that he was able
to form a cognitive map of the spatial layout of his house. This may mean that
this type of memory is not encoded in the same way as semantic or episodic
memories.
- HM had a capacity for working memory, since he was able to carry on a normal
conversation. This requires a minimal level of retention of what has just been
heard and said.
- On being asked to recall the number 584, HM was able to do so even 15 minutes
later, apparently by means of constant rehearsal. However, after the task was
over, HM would not be able to recall the number.
- Memories in the form of motor skills, i.e. procedural memories, were well
maintained; for example, he knew how to mow a lawn.
4
Summary of the key findings:
- The memory systems in the brain constitute a highly specialised and complex
system.
- The hippocampus plays a critical role in converting memories of experiences
from short-term memory to long-term memory.
- However, researchers found that short-term memory is not stored in the
hippocampus as HM was able to retain information for a while if he rehearsed it.
- Implicit memory contains several stores. For example, procedural memory,
emotional memory and skills and habits. Each of these areas is related to
different brain areas.
Critical Thinking:
- The study was a case study. The strength of this study is that it was longitudinal -
over 50 years! This means that change could be observed over time. In addition,
case studies use method triangulation.
- The limitation of case studies is that they cannot be easily replicated. However,
there are several other case studies of patients like HM - for example, Clive
Wearing - which confirm the findings.
- Some of the study was retrospective in nature. This means that we do not have a
lot of data on HM's actual cognitive abilities before the accident.
- High ecological validity, no variables were manipulated and HM was observed in
his natural environment.
- Milner's research met high ethical standards of consent, confidentiality and
protection from harm.
Theory Critical Thinking
- There is significant research to support the theory of separate memory stores -

both experimental research and in biological case studies of patients with brain
damage.
- The model is of historical importance. It gave psychologists a way to talk about
memory and much of the research which followed was based on this model.
- The model is over-simplified. It assumes that each of the stores works as an
independent unit.
- The model does not explain memory distortion.
- The model does not explain why some things may be learned with a minimal
amount of rehearsal. For example, once bitten by a dog, that memory is quite
vivid in spite of the lack of rehearsal.
5
- There are several times that we rehearse a lot to remember material and it is not
transferred to LTM.
Contrast Conclusion
- The MSM theory, being oversimplified unitarily focused, provides only a general
and brief explanation for the different stores, but explains the interaction
between the short-term and long-term memory, explaining the role of rehearsal
in the transfer of information from STM to LTM.
- The WMM theory goes into detail about particularly only the short-term memory,
stating that there are multiple different stores within it, but doesn’t focus much
on the link between STM and LTM, only explaining the rehearsal loop to
maintain the information within STM, but not on the transfer of information.
- The memory stores in MSM, processing is linear, meaning all information goes
into the same memory store and processed the same.
- In WMM, information is stored and processed based on modality, with the type
of information being received going into a specific memory store.
- MSM model also doesn’t explain multitasking for the processing of different
information as it states that the STM can only hold a certain amount of
information and talks about displacement of Information due to overload.
- WMM does explain and account for multitasking due to the existence of different
stores within the short-term memory, which is also proved by the articulatory
suppression as even if one store is overloaded, other information can be
processed. It states that since the stores work independently of each other, they
both can perform tasks at the same time, overall explaining multitasking within
memory.
- Ultimately, both models of memories do focus on explaining how information
behaves within memory, however there are certain drastic differences between
them both, each of them having their own strengths and limitations
- The WMM was developed on top of the idea of the MSM to account for its
weaknesses. Both models still ultimately provide for and help further research
and advance psychology.
6
Working Memory Model
- The WMM is split up into 4 parts: the central executive, phonological loop,
visuo-spatial sketchpad and the episodic buffer.
- The central executive controls all processing of memory. It's responsible for
dividing attention, error checking and blocking out any unnecessary info.
- The phonological loop is responsible for the processing of auditory memory. It
contains the articulatory loop, which is responsible for rehearsal and the
phonological store, which holds auditory memory traces.
- The visuo-spatial sketch pad is responsible for visual and spatial info. It has a
visual cache where memory is stored and an inner scribe that processes spatial
and movement info.
- The episodic buffer is an integration of both slave systems and can hold any type
of info.
- One aspect of the phonological loop is the articulatory suppression, which is a
method used to inhibit memory performance by restricting information verbally.
Landry and Bartling (2011)
Aim: To investigate if articulatory suppression would influence recall of a written list of

phonologically dissimilar letters in serial recall.
Sample: 34 undergraduate psychology students. The researchers used an independent

sample design.
Method:
- The participants were tested individually.

- In the experimental group, participants first saw a list of letters that they had to
recall while saying the numbers '1' and '2' at a rate of two numbers per second (an
articulatory suppression task).
- The control group saw the list of letters but did not carry out the articulatory
suppression task.
- There were ten lists each consisting of a series of 7 letters randomly constructed
from the letters F, K, L, M, R, X and Q. These letters were chosen because they
don't sound similar.
- The experimenter presented one letter series at a time. The participants received
an answer sheet with seven blanks in each row. Before the experiment started,
each participant viewed one practice list in order to become acquainted with the
procedure.
7
- In the control group, the experimenter showed participants a printed list for five
seconds, instructed them to wait for another five seconds, and then instructed
them to write the correct order of the letters on the answer sheet as accurately as
possible. This was repeated ten times.
- In the experimental group, participants received instructions to repeatedly say
the numbers '1' and '2' at a rate of two numbers per second from the time of
presentation of the list until the time they filled the answer sheet. This was also
repeated ten times.
- Each trial was scored for the accuracy of recall. The trial was scored as correct if
the letters were in the correct position. The experimenter then calculated the
average percent correct recall for both groups.
Findings:
- The results showed that the scores from the experimental group were much lower
than the scores from the control group.
- The mean percent of accurate recall in the control group was 76% compared to a
mean of 45% in the experimental group. Although the difference in the means
was large, the standard deviations were nearly identical with SD = 0.13 for the
control group and SD = 0.14 for the experimental group.
- A T-test was calculated and found a significant difference of p ≤ 0.01.
Conclusion: In line with the Working Memory Model, articulatory suppression is

preventing rehearsal in the phonological loop because of overload. This resulted in
difficulty in memorising the letter strings for participants in the experimental conditions
whereas the participants in the control condition did not experience such overload.
Critical Thinking:
- The study is a well-controlled study with a high level of internal validity. A cause
and effect relationship can be determined.
- However, the nature of the study is rather artificial and thus lacks ecological
validity.
- The study supports the Working Memory Model and is easily replicable because
of the use of standardised procedures, which increases reliability. The findings
can be tested to see if they are reliable.
8
Warrington and Shallice (1970, Case of KF)
Aim: To investigate the relationship between long term memory and short-term
memory, when the STM is impaired, Especially on memory trace formation and
memory retrieval.
Procedure: Strings of ten high frequency words each of 4 or 5 letters were read to K.F. at
a rate of 1 word per sec. Immediate recall was tested. K.F. was instructed to report as
many words as he could and was given 1 min for recall. In all, 30 strings were presented
over three testing sessions.
Findings:
- Warrington and Shallice (1972) found that although he quickly forgot numbers
and words when they were presented to him orally, he was able to remember
these words or numbers when presented to him visually. KF's impairment was
mainly for verbal information-his memory for visual information was largely
unaffected.
- This supports Baddeley's theory that there are separate STM components for
visual information and verbal information (the phonological loop).
- Since the study was longitudinal, over time Warrington and Shallice (1974) were
able to be even more precise in their findings. Later testing showed that although
KF could not recall words or letters when presented orally, he had no difficulty
recalling cats meowing or telephones ringing.
Conclusion: The researchers concluded that his accident had resulted in damage to a
short-term memory store that was auditory and not visual, and also verbal rather than
non-verbal. This research supports the theory that STM is much more complex than
suggested by the original Multi-store model.
Critical Thinking:
- Case study method allowed for in depth study of KF's memory issues.
- Case study, therefore results cannot be directly generalised to a broader
population to some extent.
- It was longitudinal meaning that change could be observed over time. In
addition, case studies use method triangulation.
- The limitation of case studies is that they cannot be easily replicated.
- Some of the study was retrospective in nature. This means that we do not have a
lot of data on K.Fs actual cognitive abilities before the accident.
9
- High ecological validity, no variables were manipulated and KF was observed in
his natural environment.
- The model is supported by considerable experimental evidence. Brain scans have

shown that a different area of the brain is active when carrying out verbal tasks
than when carrying out visual tasks.
- This model helps us to understand why we are able to multitask in some
situations and not in others.
- The role of the central executive is unclear, although Baddeley and Hitch said it
was the most important part of the model.
- This model does not explain memory distortion or the role of emotion in memory
formation.
- This model really only explains short-term memory and so tells us very little
about the processes involved in long-term memory.
10
Schema theory
- A schema is a structure based on preconceived ideas and can be used to interpret
new aspects of the world.
- They are used to organise our knowledge, to assist with recall, help make
predictions about a situation, and to help us to make sense of current
experiences.
- Schema helps our minds to simplify the world around us.
- Schema theory is a theory of how humans process incoming information, relate it
to existing knowledge and use it.
- The theory is based on the assumption that humans are active processors of
information. People do not passively respond to information. They interpret and
integrate it to make sense of their experiences, but they are not always aware of it.
- If information is missing, the brain fills in the blanks based on existing schemas.
- Schema theory mentions the 2 processes when it comes to schemas.
- The first process is assimilation, which is when new info is related to pre-existing
schemata and thus aligns with it.
- The second process is accommodation which is when new information
contradicts a pre-existing schema and leads to a change in the mental framework,
thus creating a new schema.
- Cultural schemas are schemas of info that humans use to understand members of
other cultures and add new info to their pre-existing mental frameworks.
- (Studies are the same as reconstructive memory theory except for Yuille and
Cutshall)
Bartlett (1932)
Aim: To investigate how the memory of a story is affected by previous knowledge. He

wanted to see if cultural background and unfamiliarity with a text would lead to
distortion of memory when the story was recalled.
Method:
- Bartlett told participants a Native American legend called The War of the Ghosts.
- The participants in the study were British; for them, the story was filled with
unknown names and concepts, and the manner in which the story was developed
was also foreign to them. The story was therefore ideal to study how memory was
reconstructed based on schema processing.
- Bartlett allocated the participants to one of two conditions.
11
- One group was asked to use repeated reproduction, where participants heard the
story and were told to reproduce it after a short time and then to do so again
repeatedly over a period of days, weeks, months or years.
- The second group was told to use serial reproduction, in which they had to recall
the story and repeat it to another person.
Findings:
- Bartlett found that there was no significant difference between the way that the
groups recalled the story.
- Bartlett found that participants in both conditions changed the story as they tried
to remember it - a process called distortion. Bartlett found that there were three
patterns of distortion that took place.
- Assimilation: The story became more consistent with the participants’ own
cultural expectations - that is, details were unconsciously changed to fit the
norms of British culture.
- Levelling: The story also became shorter with each retelling as participants
omitted information which was seen as not important.
- Sharpening: Participants also tended to change the order of the story in order to
make sense of it using terms more familiar to the culture of the participants. They
also added detail and/or emotions.
- The participants overall remembered the main themes in the story but changed
the unfamiliar elements to match their own cultural expectations so that the story
remained a coherent whole although changed.
Conclusion: Bartlett's study indicates that remembering is not a passive but rather an
active process, where information is retrieved and changed to fit into existing schemas.
This is done in order to create meaning in the incoming information. According to
Bartlett, humans constantly search for meaning. This means that memories are not
copies of experiences but rather a reconstruction.
Critical Thinking:
- Bartlett's theory of reconstructive memory has several applications and explains

many real-life situations. Thus, in spite of the fact it was carried out in a
laboratory, it has high ecological validity.
- The methodology was not rigorously controlled. Participants did not receive
standardised instructions. There was no standardised time after which
participants had to recall the story. He also did not tell his participants to be as
accurate as possible.
12
- Although there were two conditions, there was no difference in the performance
of the two groups meaning the IV did not affect the DV.
- It appears that culture did affect how they recalled the story. But if we focus on
how cultural schema affects the participants' memories, there are several
limitations.
- When we consider culture the IV, then the study is quasi-experimental - that is,
no independent variable was manipulated. Therefore, a cause and effect
relationship cannot be established.
- There was no control group. There was no group of Native Americans recalling
the story to verify that, in fact, this distortion doesn't happen to people in that
cultural group.
Brewer and Treyens (1981)
Aim: To investigate the role of schema in encoding and retrieval of episodic memory.
Sample: 86 university Psychology students.
Method:
- Participants were seated in a room that was made to look like an office. The room
consisted of objects that were typical of offices: a typewriter, paper, and a coffee
pot. There were some items in the room that one would not typically find in an
office. For example, a skull or a toy top. Finally, there were items that were
omitted, such as books.
- Each participant was asked to wait in the professor's office while the researcher
"checked to make sure that the previous participant had completed the
experiment." The participant did not realise that the study had already begun.
- The participants were asked to have a seat. All of the chairs except for one had
objects on them. In this way, it was guaranteed that all participants would have
the same vantage point in the office. The researcher left the room and said that he
would return shortly.
- After 35 seconds the participants were called into another room and then asked
what they remembered from the office.
- When they finished the experiment, they were given a questionnaire. The
important question was "Did you think that you would be asked to remember the
objects in the room? 93% said "no."
- 30 participants carried out written recall and then verbal recognition.
- 29 participants carried out a drawing recall.
- 7 participants carried out verbal recognition only.
13
- The written recall condition: Participants were asked to write down a description
of as many objects as they could remember from the office. They were also asked
to state the location, shape, size, and colour of the objects. They were asked to
"Write your description as if you were describing the room for someone who had
never seen it." After this, they were given a recognition test in which they were
given a booklet containing a list of objects. They were asked to rate each item for
how sure they were that the object was in the room. "1" meant that they were sure
it was not in the room; "6" meant that they were absolutely sure it was in the
room. The questionnaire consisted of 131 objects: 61 were in the room; 70 were
not.
- The drawing condition: Participants were given an outline of the room and asked
to draw in the objects they could remember.
- The verbal recognition condition: Participants were read a list of objects and
simply asked whether they were in the room or not.
Findings:
- They found that when the participants were asked to recall either by writing a
paragraph or by drawing, they were more likely to remember items in the office
that were congruent with their schema of an office - that is, the "expected items"
were more often recalled. The items that were incongruent with their schema of
an office - e.g. the skull, a piece of bark, or the screwdriver - were not often
recalled.
- When asked to select items on the list, they were more likely to identify the
incongruent items; for example, they didn't remember the skull when doing the
free recall but gave it a 6 on the verbal recognition task. However, they also had a
higher rate of identifying objects which were schema congruent but not in the
room.
- In both the drawing and the recall condition, they also tended to change the
nature of the objects to match their schema. For example, the pad of yellow paper
that was on a chair was remembered as being on the desk. The trapezoidal
worktable was recalled as a square.
Conclusion: It appears that schema played a role in both the encoding and recall of the
objects in the office. Memory is better than just recalling what we believe should be in
the room. There was reconstructive memory of things expected from schema. Schematic
things were remembered because they were unexpected, which shows that memory is
better than schema theory makes out.
14
Critical Thinking:
- In the written recall condition, the average number of correct objects recalled was
13.5. The average number of "inferred" objects recalled was 1.13. The objects that
were remembered that were not in the room were books (by 9/30), a filing
cabinet (3/30), pens (1/30), a coffee cup (2/30), a telephone (1/30), a lamp
(1/30), and curtains (1/30). The results do not indicate a high number of errors
and do not explain why some recalled these objects yet others did not.
- There is no way to verify the schema of the participants prior to the experiment,
but the researchers did a pilot study by using a questionnaire with students to
determine schema consistent objects.
- There are ethical concerns about the deception used in the study. The
participants had agreed to be in the study, but they were deceived about the true
nature of the study and were not told when the experiment had actually begun.
This was necessary to avoid demand characteristics.
- Schema theory is testable.

- There is also biological research to support the way in which the brain categorises
input. For example, Mahon et al (2009) found that from the visual cortex,
information about living and non-living objects is shuttled to different parts of
the brain - even in blind participants.
- Schema theory has been applied to help us understand how memory works. It
also helps us to understand memory distortion.
- Cohen (1993) argued that the concept of schema is too vague and hypothetical to
be useful. Schema cannot be observed.
- Schema theory is applied across cultures. There is no apparent bias in the
research, although most of the early research was done in the West.
- The theory helps to predict behaviour. We can predict, for example, what types of
information will be best recalled when given a list of words. However, we cannot
predict exactly what an individual will recall.
15
Reconstructive Memory
- The reconstructive memory theory is based on the idea that schemas may
influence memory processes at all stages as well as determine what you
remember and what you don't remember even after this information has been
coded and stored in the LTM.
- The theory proposes that memory is an active process that involves the
reconstruction of information rather than being the passive retrieval of
information.
- Perceptions, beliefs and past experiences, and cultural factors, all influence the
retrieval of memory and are often believed to be true in spite of contradictory
evidence.
- Confabulation: a memory based on a fabricated, distorted or misinterpreted
memory often believed to be true in spite of contradictory evidence.
- Schema processing: memory processing based on prior knowledge in the form of
schemas which could result in distortion.
- False memories: recalling an event that never happened and believing it to be
true.
- (Studies are the same as schema theory)
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
Aim: To investigate whether the use of leading questions would affect the estimation of
speed.
Sample: 45 students participated in the experiment. They were divided into five groups
of nine students.
Method:
- The independent variable was the intensity of the verb used in the critical
question and the dependent variable was the estimation of speed.
- Seven films of traffic accidents were shown, and the length of the films ranged
from 5 to 30 seconds.
- These films were taken from driver’s education films. The study was an
independent sample design; each participant watched all 7 films.
- When the participants had watched a film they were asked to give an account of
the accident they had seen and then they answered a questionnaire with different
questions on the accident with one question being the critical question where
they were asked to estimate the speed of the cars involved in the accident.
16
- The participants were asked to estimate the speed of the cars. They were asked
the same question, but the critical question included different words. One group
of participants was asked, “How fast were the cars going when they hit each
other?" The critical word "hit’" was replaced by ‘collided’, ‘bumped’ or ‘smashed’
or’ contacted’ in the other conditions.
Findings:
- The mean estimates of speed were highest in the ‘smashed’ condition (40.8 mph)
and lowest in the ‘contacted’ group (31.8 mph). The researchers calculated a
statistical test and found that their results were significant at p ≤ 0.005.
- The results indicate that the critical word in the question consistently affected the
participants’ answers to the question. The researchers argued that it may be that
the different speed estimates are the result of response-bias, i.e. the participants
are uncertain about the exact speed, and therefore a verb like "smashed" biases
their response towards a higher estimate.
- It may also be that the way the question is formed results in a change in the
participant’s mental representation of the accident, i.e. the verb "smashed"
activates a cognitive schema of a severe accident that may change the
participant’s memory of the accident. This distortion of memory is based on
reconstruction so that it is not the actual details of the accident that are
remembered but rather what is in line with a cognitive schema of a severe
accident. This interpretation is in line with Bartlett’s suggestion of reconstructive
memory due to schema processing.
Conclusion: In conclusion, it seems that participants’ memory of an accident could be

changed by using leading questions. Their memory may have been distorted by the
different intensities of verbs the researchers had used in the different conditions. This
shows that memory is an active process that can be affected, as all of the participants
had seen the same videos, but their estimations were different due to the critical verbs in
the question.
Critical Thinking:
- The experiment was conducted in a laboratory and the participants were

students. Lab experiments may be problematic in the sense that they do not
necessarily reflect how people remember in real life. There may be a problem of
low ecological validity. Support for this point could be that the films shown in the
experiment were made for teaching purposes and therefore the participants did
not experience the same kind of emotion that they would have experienced if it
had been a real accident.
17
- A strength of the experimental method is that confounding variables can be
controlled so that it is really the effect of the independent variable that is
measured. This was the case in this experiment and Loftus and Palmer could
rightfully claim that they had established a cause-effect relationship between the
independent variable (the intensity of the critical word) and the dependent
variable (estimation of the speed).
- The fact that the experiment used students as participants has also been criticised
because students are not representative of a general population. They were most
likely young and inexperienced drivers, so this may have influenced their ability
to estimate the speed of the cars.
Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

(Contrast and To what extent questions only)
Aim: To determine whether leading questions would affect memory of eyewitnesses at a

real crime scene.
Sample: 13 of the eyewitnesses agreed to be interviewed as part of a study.
Location: The crime scene was in Vancouver.
Method:
- A thief entered a gun shop and tied up the owner before stealing money and guns
from the shop. The owner freed himself, and thinking that the thief had escaped,
went outside the shop. But the thief was still there and shot him twice. Police had
been called and there was gunfire - and the thief was eventually killed. As the
incident took place in front of the shop, there were eyewitnesses - 21 were
interviewed by the police.
- The researchers chose this incident to study because there were enough witnesses
and there was forensic evidence available to confirm the stories of the
eyewitnesses. The researchers contacted the eyewitnesses four months after the
event.
- 13 of the eyewitnesses agreed to be interviewed as part of a study. They gave their
account of the incident, and then they were asked questions.
- Two leading questions were used.
- Half the group was asked if they saw "a" broken headlight on the getaway car.
- The other half were asked if they saw "the" broken headlight. In fact, there was no
broken headlight.
- The second question asked half the group if they saw "the" yellow panel on the
car, and the
18
- The other half was asked if they saw "a" yellow panel on the car (the panel was
actually blue).
- They were also asked to rate their stress on the day of the event on a seven-point
scale.
Findings:
- It was found that eyewitnesses were actually very reliable. They recalled a large
amount of accurate detail that could be confirmed by the original police reports.
They also did not make errors as a result of the leading questions.
- 10 out of 13 of them said there was no broken headlight or yellow quarter panel,
or that they had not noticed those particular details.
- The researchers found that the accuracy of the witnesses compared to the original
police reports was between 79% and 84%. It appears that this research
contradicts the study by Loftus & Palmer (1974). It could be that the lack of
emotional response to the video that was shown in their study played a key role in
the influence of the leading questions. The witnesses reported that they didn't
remember feeling afraid during the incident, but they did report having an
"adrenaline rush."
Conclusion: These findings suggest that post-event information may distort memory
less in real life than in the laboratory.
Critical Thinking:
- Even though this study was also done under lab conditions, the actual context of
the experiment was naturalistic - that is, the event that they witnessed was
naturally occurring and not manipulated by the researcher. However, it is not a
natural experiment. In a natural experiment, the IV (the leading question) would
have to be manipulated by environmental forces beyond the control of the
researcher. In this study, the researchers manipulated the variable - which was
the use of leading questions. The study does use a purposive sample - that is, the
sample is chosen because they were eyewitnesses to the crime. Only people that
meet that requirement are eligible to be participants in this study.
- There was archival evidence (police records of the original testimonies) to
confirm the accuracy of the memories.
- The study is not replicable and also not generalizable since it was a one-off
incident. There was no control of variables, so it is difficult to know the level of
rehearsal that was used by the different eyewitnesses. It could be that those who
agreed to be in the study had spent the most time thinking and reading about the
case.
19
- Because the eyewitnesses' safety was threatened, it could be that this is a case of
flashbulb memory, which would mean that it cannot be directly compared to
Loftus's original research.
- There was an attempt at deceiving the participants. As consent was given by all
participants, the idea that undue stress or harm would be caused by being asked
to recall the incident is unfounded.
- The quantification of the qualitative responses from the participants is
problematic and may be open to researcher bias.
- Yuille & Cutshall study was a field study. This has very strong ecological validity
in comparison to Loftus & Palmer's laboratory study. Because they had actually
witnessed a crime, they would have had an emotional response that is very
different from what the students felt watching videos of drivers' education car
crashes. In addition, there was archival evidence (police records of the original
testimonies) to confirm the accuracy of the testimonies.
- Loftus and Palmer's study has a higher level of reliability. Yuille and Cutshall's
study is not replicable and also not generalizable since it was a one-off incident.
There was also no control of variables, so it is difficult to know the level of
rehearsal that was used by the different eyewitnesses. It could be that those that
agreed to be in the study had spent the most time thinking and reading about the
case.
- It may very well be that different types of memory are more reliable than others.
As we saw in the case study of HM, although he had lost his declarative
memories, he was still able to learn procedural memories. This clearly indicates
that different memories may be located in different parts of the brain - and that
they also may have different levels of reliability.
20
Thinking and Decision Making
- The dual processing model states that there are 2 systems that influence our
decision-making, system 1 and 2. These systems are used to handle complex
tasks.
- System 1: intuitive, automatic, quick and requiring limited effort, influenced by
biases
- System 2: rational, goal directed, requires intentional effort and time,
analyses/controls for biases.
- System 1 thinking often employs heuristics - that is, a ‘rule’ used to make
decisions or form judgements. Heuristics are mental short-cuts that involve
focusing on one aspect of a complex problem and ignoring others.
- This “fast” mode of thinking allows for efficient processing of the often complex
world around us but may be prone to errors when our assumptions do not match
the reality of a specific situation.
- We tend to take heuristics when we use system 1 because we're cognitive misers.
These lead to errors in our decision making, these patterns of cognitive errors are
known as biases.
- System 2 starts by thinking carefully about all of the possible ways we could
interpret a situation and gradually eliminates possibilities based on sensory
evidence until we arrive at a solution.
- Rational thinking allows us to analyse the world around us and think carefully
about what is happening, why it is happening, what is most likely to happen next
and how we might influence the situation.
Strack and Mussweiler (1997)
Aim: To test the influence of anchoring bias on decision making.
Sample: The researchers used an opportunity sample of 69 German undergraduates was

recruited from
the university canteen at lunchtime.
Method:
- They were asked if they would take part in a general knowledge questionnaire.
The participants answered questions on a computer screen. Each question had
two components.
- In the first component, participants were asked to make a comparative
judgement about something.
21
- This question acted as the anchor. Anchors were either high or low, plausible
(likely) or implausible (unlikely).:
- Did Mahatma Gandhi die before or after the age of 9? [low anchor, implausible]
- Did Mahatma Gandhi die before or after the age of 140? [high anchor,
implausible]
- Did Mahatma Gandhi die before or after the age of 64? [low anchor, plausible]
- Did Mahatma Gandhi die before or after the age of 79? [high anchor, plausible]
- In the second component, participants were then asked to provide an absolute
estimate for the target information. “How old was Mahatma Gandhi when he
died?” (The actual answer is 78).
Findings:
- Results were calculated as the mean value offered for the second task.
- High Plausible Anchor: 99.6, Low Plausible Anchor: 67.9, High Implausible
Anchor: 66.7, Low Implausible Anchor: 50.1
- The plausible anchor clearly influenced the final value offered. Faced with an
unknown, participants were ‘anchored’ by the most recent, seemingly relevant
information.
- Even the implausible anchor influenced the final value offered. It is interesting to
note that the implausible, low anchor (9) appears to have been more influential
than the implausible, high anchor (140). This could reflect the belief that the high
anchor is in fact impossible, rather than implausible.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates the anchoring effect – numerical information

given to participants before making a judgement can influence their later judgements. It
also shows it can have an effect even if the numbers are implausible.
Critical Thinking:
- There is a clear sampling bias - opportunity sampling. The students were

recruited at lunchtime in a German University. They are all men and German so
the findings may not be generalisable to a wider population.
- Demand characteristics may have influenced the findings. The participants knew
they were being tested so they may have acted differently to please the
researcher.
- Well defined variables. There is a clear IV and DV.
- Internal validity and Reliability. The study was done under lab conditions and
uses standardised procedures meaning it can be tested to see if it is reliable.
22
Tversky & Kahneman (1986)
Aim To test the influence of positive and negative frames on decision making.
Sample: The researchers used a self-selected (volunteer) sample of 307 US

undergraduate students.
Method:
- Participants were asked to make a decision between one of two options in a

hypothetical scenario where they were choosing how to respond to the outbreak
of a virulent disease. For some of the participants, the information was framed
positively while for others it was framed negatively.
- The scenario reads as follows: Imagine that the U.S. is preparing for the outbreak
of an unusual Asian disease, which is expected to kill 600 people. Two alternative
programs to combat the disease have been proposed. Assume that the exact
scientific estimate of the consequences of the programs is as follows.
- In condition 1, the participants were given the "positive frame." Their choices
were the following:
- If Program A is adopted, 200 people will be saved.
- If Program B is adopted, there is a 1/3 probability that 600 people will be saved,
and 2/3 probability that no people will be saved.
- In condition 2, the participants were given the "negative frame." Their choices
were the following:
- If Program C is adopted 400 people will die.
- If Program D is adopted there is 1/3 probability that nobody will die, and 2/3
probability that 600 people will die.
- It is important to note that the two questions are essentially the same. Program A
is the same as Program C - and Program B is the same as Program D.
Findings:
- Condition 1- 72% of the participants chose Program A, whereas only 28% chose
program B.
- Condition 2- 22% of the participants chose Program C and 78% chose Program D.
Conclusion: The results clearly demonstrate the influence of the frame. Where
information was phrased positively, (the number of people who would be saved) people
took the certain outcome, (option A) and avoided the possibility of a loss in the less
certain option (option B). By contrast, when the information was phrased in terms of
23
people dying (a negative frame) people avoided the certain loss (option C) and took a
chance on the less certain option D.
Critical Thinking:
- The experiment is highly controlled and has high internal validity. We can
conclude that the framing of the situation actually had an effect on the choices
made by the participants. The study is also highly standardised, meaning that it
is easily replicable and the results have been shown to be reliable.
- However, the study has low mundane realism. There is no actual threat and
there is no fear of losing one's life. The situation is completely hypothetical. In a
real situation of this nature, there would be a lot of emotion in making a decision.
In addition, it is unlikely that an individual would make this decision on his or
her own. Most decisions of such importance are made in consultation with
others.
- The sample was made up of Western university students. Wang et al (2016)
found higher levels of loss aversion in individualistic cultures. This is also true of
cultures with higher power distance and masculinity.
- The framing effect has been applied successfully in marketing as well as in health
campaigns.
- Lots of evidence for a wide variety of cognitive biases. These show that we often
use System 1 thinking that it does not take time to examine carefully what our
options are in order to make "informed choices."
- Difficult to measure the actual use of such biases in real life situations. What
other variables might influence the decision?
- We are not very good at explaining our thinking processes. Since heuristics are
often used unconsciously, our explanation as to how we decided what was the
best price to pay is most likely a rationalisation, rather than a true reflection of
our thinking processes.
- Much of the research is done with Western university student samples under
highly controlled - and rather artificial conditions. Many of the questions given to
the students would be of little interest to them and were not asked in a way that
was natural. The studies lack ecological validity as well as cross- cultural support.
How do we know cognitive biases are universal?
- System 1 thinking is most often associated with errors but it has been argued that
system 1 can be effective when using the thin slicing technique (making very
24
quick inferences about the state, characteristics or details of an individual or
situation with minimal amounts of information but high accuracy).
25
Biases in Thinking and Decision Making
- Although System 1 thinking is an efficient way to process the information we
receive from the world around us (meaning that it is fast and uses minimal effort)
it is also prone to errors because it depends on assumptions about the world
which are sensible but which do not always match the complexities of the real
world which are difficult to predict! These assumptions are often referred to as
heuristics – a ‘mental shortcut’; it is usually a simple rule which is applied with
little or no thought and quickly generates a ‘probable’ answer.
- Heuristics can result in patterns of thinking and decision making which are
consistent, but inaccurate. These patterns of thought are usually described as
cognitive biases. However, it is important to note that some cognitive biases are
not dependent on a heuristic – for example, the bias may be the result of an
individual trying to protect self-esteem or trying to fit into a group.
- Confirmation bias: the tendency to seek out information to confirm what you
already believe
- Anchoring bias: where an individual depends too heavily on an initial piece of
information offered (considered to be the "anchor") when making decisions.
Strack and Mussweiler (1997)
Aim: To test the influence of anchoring bias on decision making.
Sample: The researchers used an opportunity sample of 69 German undergraduates

who were recruited from the university canteen at lunchtime.
Method:
- They were asked if they would take part in a general knowledge questionnaire.
The participants answered questions on a computer screen. Each question had
two components.
- In the first component, participants were asked to make a comparative
judgement about something.
- This question acted as the anchor. Anchors were either high or low, plausible
(likely) or implausible (unlikely).
- Did Mahatma Gandhi die before or after the age of 9? [low anchor, implausible]
- Did Mahatma Gandhi die before or after the age of 140? [high anchor,
implausible]
- Did Mahatma Gandhi die before or after the age of 64? [low anchor, plausible]
- Did Mahatma Gandhi die before or after the age of 79? [high anchor, plausible]
26
- In the second component, participants were then asked to provide an absolute
estimate for the target information. “How old was Mahatma Gandhi when he
died?” (The actual answer is 78).
Findings:
- Results were calculated as the mean value offered for the second task.
- High Plausible Anchor: 99.6, Low Plausible Anchor: 67.9, High Implausible
Anchor: 66.7, Low Implausible Anchor: 50.1
- The plausible anchor clearly influenced the final value offered. Faced with an
unknown, participants were ‘anchored’ by the most recent, seemingly relevant
information.
- Even the implausible anchor influenced the final value offered. It is interesting to
note that the implausible, low anchor (9) appears to have been more influential
than the implausible, high anchor (140). This could reflect the belief that the high
anchor is in fact impossible, rather than implausible.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates the anchoring effect – numerical information

given to participants before making a judgement can influence their later judgements. It
also shows it can have an effect even if the numbers are implausible.
Critical Thinking:
- There is a clear sampling bias - opportunity sampling. The students were

recruited at lunchtime in a German University. They are all men and German so
the findings may not be generalisable to a wider population.
- Demand characteristics may have influenced the findings. The participants knew
they were being tested so they may have acted differently to please the
researcher.
- Well defined variables. There is a clear IV and DV.
- Internal validity and Reliability. The study was done under lab conditions and
uses standardised procedures meaning it can be tested to see if it is reliable.
Tversky & Kahneman (1974)
Aim: to test the influence of the anchoring bias on decision-making
Sample: high school students were used as participants.
27
Method:
- Participants in the “ascending condition” were asked to quickly estimate the

value of 1 X 2 X 3 X 4 X 5 X 6 X 7 X 8 in five seconds.
- Those in the “descending condition” were asked to quickly estimate the value of 8
X 7 X 6 X 5 X 4 X 3 X 2 X 1.
- Since we read from left to right, the researchers assumed that group 1 would use
"1" as an anchor and predict a lower value than the group that started with "8" as
the anchor.
- The expectation was that the first number seen would bias the estimate of the
value by the participant.
- The researchers found that the median for the ascending group was 512; the
median for the descending group was 2250. The actual value is 40320.
Conclusion: The first number seen by the participants seems to have biased the final
estimate. Since they had no time to calculate in 5 seconds, they had to make an
estimation based on the first few multiplications. When those numbers were smaller,
the estimate was smaller. The first number they saw acted like an anchor and was used
by those students to estimate the value of the mathematical equation given to them.
Critical Thinking:
- The study is a very simple experiment that is easily replicated, allowing us to

establish the reliability of the results. The study is highly controlled and has high
internal validity. It can be inferred that the anchor was the cause of the higher
(or lower) estimates by the students.
- The experiment has low ecological validity. The situation is very artificial. It is
not too often in life that we have only five seconds to estimate the value of
something! It is questionable to what extent the findings can be applied.
However, as shown in the studies above, there is evidence that anchoring is
shown in other situations.
- The researchers used the median to report the data. This allowed the researchers
to diminish the influence of outliers on the reporting of the data.
- The study was an independent sample design. This means that participant
variability may have played a role in the results. It would be better to have a
matched pairs design to attempt to have two groups with an equivalent level of
maths competency.
28
- It is important to consider cultural differences in thinking and decision making.

For example, a recent meta-analysis (Wang et al, 2016) of research on loss
aversion tasks like the one in Tversky and Kahneman’s research has shown that
people from more individualistic cultures are more risk averse than those from a
collectivist culture.
- It’s difficult to measure the use of such biases in real life situations. An anchor
might play a key role in determining how much you are willing to pay for an item
but in a naturalistic situation there are also other factors e.g. how much money
you have to spend, emotional state, how much you like the seller, etc.
- Since heuristics are often used unconsciously, our explanation as to how we
decided what was the best price to pay is most likely a rationalisation, rather than
a true reflection of our thinking processes.
- Much of the research in this chapter is done with Western university student
samples under highly controlled - and rather artificial - conditions.
- Many of the questions given to the students would be of little interest to them and
were not asked in a way that was natural. The studies lack ecological validity as
well as cross-cultural support - assuming that cognitive biases are universal.
29
Emotion and Memory
- Flashbulb memories are a type of episodic memory associated with highly
emotional and detailed recall of an event. They’re an exceptionally vivid
“snapshot” of the moment when a surprising or emotionally arousing event
happened.
- As part of Brown & Kulik theory, they proposed the special-mechanism
hypothesis which argues for the existence of a special biological mechanism
hypothesis (SBMH) that, when triggered by an event exceeding critical levels of
surprise, creates a permanent record of the details and circumstances
surrounding the experience.
- The importance driven model (IDM) emphasises that personal consequences
determine the intensity of emotional reactions. The importance driven model
goes further than the original theory that proposed that surprise is responsible
for the creation of flashbulb memories.
- The theory argues that it is the personal relevance that makes the memory
different. This is especially true when the event is life threatening. The interaction
between the IDM and the SBMH, assigning a level of surprise to an event, is what
overall leads to the creation of FBM.
Brown and Kulik (1977)
Aim: To investigate whether surprising and personally significant events can cause
flashbulb memories.
Sample: There were 80 male participants, 40 black and 40 white American male
participants.
Method: The researchers asked the participants to fill out a questionnaire regarding the
death of public figures - such as President John F Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin
Luther King Jr - as well as of someone they personally knew. They were asked a series of
questions about the event including:
- Where were you when you heard about the event?

- Who was with you when you heard about the event?
- What were you doing when you heard about the event?
- How did you find out about the event?
- How did you feel when you heard about the event? (to indicate level of emotion)
- How important was this event in your life? (to indicate personal relevance)
- How often have you talked about this event? (to indicate rehearsal)
30
The study was carried out in 1977. President Kennedy was assassinated on November
22, 1963, and Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Findings:
- The researchers found that 90% of the participants recalled a significant amount
of detail about the day when these events occurred. Most participants had very
detailed memories of the death of a loved one.
- However, there was a difference in their memories of the assassination of public
officials, based on the personal relevance of the event to the participant. 75% of
black participants had flashbulb memories of the murder of Martin Luther King,
compared to 33% of white participants.
Conclusion: Flashbulb memories are long lasting and include information about where,
when, and with whom information is received. People form flashbulb memories of
events that have important consequences for them. Therefore, more emotion means
more rehearsal which leads to the creation of flashbulb memories.
Critical Thinking:
- The study was one of the first to attempt to empirically test the existence of
flashbulb memories. It has led to a large amount of further research.
- The study is an interview/questionnaire, which means that it cannot establish a
cause and effect relationship between in-group identity (white vs African
American) and flashbulb memories.
- The procedure could be replicated, allowing us to determine if the results are
reliable.
- The questionnaire was retrospective in nature - that is, it was self-reported data
that relied on the memory of the individual and could not be verified for accuracy
by the researchers. (Compare this to Neisser & Harsch prospective study.)
- The actual level of surprise or emotion at the moment of the historical event
cannot be measured or verified.
- It is not possible to actually measure the role of rehearsal in the creation of the
memories.
- When people are questioned about an important national event, they may say
what they believe that they are supposed to say - a demand characteristic known
as the social desirability effect.
- The study shows sampling bias; it is difficult to generalise the findings as only
American males were studied. The study had both gender and cultural bias.
More recent findings show that collectivistic societies may have lower rates of
FBM.
31
Sharot (2007)
Aim: To determine the potential role of biological factors on flashbulb memories.
Sample: The sample was made up of 24 participants who were in New York City on that
day.
Method:
- This quasi-experiment was conducted three years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks
in Manhattan.
- Participants were put into an fMRI. While in the scanner, they were presented
with word cues on a screen. Examples of words used in the list were hands,
reading, sleep, circle, reporter, weather etc. In addition, the word "Summer" or
"September" was projected along with this word in order to have the participant
link the word to either summer holidays or to the events of 9-11.
- Participants’ brain activity was observed while they recalled the event. The
memories of personal events from the summer served as a baseline of brain
activity for evaluating the nature of 9/11 memories.
- After the brain scanning session, participants were asked to rate their memories
for vividness, detail, confidence in accuracy and arousal. Participants were also
asked to write a description of their personal memories.
Findings:
- Only half of the participants actually reported having what would be called
"flashbulb memories" of the event - that is, a greater sense of detail and a strong
confidence in the accuracy of the memory.
- Those that did report having flashbulb memories also reported that they were
closer to the World Trade Centre on the day of the terrorist attack. Participants
closer to the World Trade Centre also included more specific details in their
written memories.
- Sharot and her team found that the activation of the amygdala for the
participants who were downtown was higher when they recalled memories of the
terrorist attack than when they recalled events from the preceding summer.
- Whereas, those participants who were further away from the event had equal
levels of response in the amygdala when recalling both events.
Conclusion: The strength of amygdala activation at retrieval was shown to correlate with
flashbulb memories. These results suggest that close personal experience may be critical
32
in engaging the neural mechanisms that produce the vivid memories characteristic of
flashbulb memory.
Critical Thinking:
- The study is correlational in nature and does not establish a cause and effect
relationship.
- The environment of the fMRI and the task that the participants are asked to do is
highly artificial and thus low in ecological validity. However, because of the
nature of the task, demand characteristics are not really possible.
- Although the study demonstrates the role of the amygdala as a result of proximity
to the event, it does not explain why some people have vivid memories after
seeing the events on television or the Internet.
- The sample size is small and culturally biased. Research indicates that
individualistic cultures are more likely to have flashbulb memories than
collectivistic cultures. This makes the findings difficult to generalise.
Neisser and Harsch (1992)

(To what extent questions only)
Aim: To determine whether flashbulb memories are susceptible to distortion.
Sample: 106 Emory University students in introductory psychology.
Method: On the morning after the Challenger disaster – less than 24 hours after the
event – the participants were given a questionnaire at the end of the class. They were
asked to write a description of how they heard the news. On the back of the
questionnaire was a set of questions:
- What time was it?

- How did you hear about it?
- Where were you?
- What were you doing?
- Who told you?
- Who else was there?
- How did you feel about it?
- How did the person who told you seem to feel about it?
- What did you do afterwards?
2 ½ years later they were given the questionnaire again. 44 of the original students - 30
women and 14 men - were now seniors at the university. They were not told the purpose
33
of the study until they arrived. They were given the original questionnaire to fill in again.
This time they were also asked for each response to rate how confident they were of the
accuracy of their memory on a scale from 1 (just guessing) to 5 (absolutely certain).
They were also asked if they had filled out a questionnaire on this subject before.
Incredibly, only 11 participants or 25% said yes!
Seeing that there were discrepancies, semi-structured interviews were carried out a few
months later in
order to determine if the participants would repeat what they had written a few months
earlier or
revert to the original memory. The interviews were taped and transcribed. The
interviewer presented a
prepared retrieval cue with the hope of prompting the original memories.
Participants whose 1988 recall had been far off the mark were given a cue based on their
original records. At the end of the interview, the participants were shown their original
1986 reports in their own handwriting. The researchers were surprised to see the extent
of the discrepancies between the
original questionnaire and the follow-up 2 ½ years later.
Findings:
- In order to come up with a “score,” the researchers looked at the seven “content”
questions – that is, not the two that are about emotion and gave a point if they
matched the original response. The maximum total response was then 7.
- The mean score was 2.95/7.0.
- Eleven participants scored 0. Twenty-two of them scored 2 or less.
- Only three participants scored the maximum score of 7.
- In spite of the lack of accuracy, the participants demonstrated a high level of
confidence. The average level of confidence for the questions was 4.17.
- When presented with the original questionnaire, participants were surprised and
could not account for the discrepancies.
Critical Thinking:
- The study was a case study. The strength of this method is that it was both
longitudinal and prospective. There was also method triangulation - both
questionnaires and interviews were used. The limitation is that it cannot be
replicated. In addition, there was participant attrition - that is, participants who
dropped out of the study over time.
34
- The study has high ecological validity. The researcher did not manipulate any
variables and the study was not done under highly controlled conditions.
- The study was naturalistic. Although this is good for ecological validity, it is
difficult to eliminate the role of confounding variables. There was no control over
the participants' behaviour between the first questionnaire and the second. We
have no idea how often this memory was discussed or how often the participants
were exposed to media about the event.
- It is possible that the confidence levels were higher than they should have been as
a result of demand characteristics - that is, since the participants were asked to
verify their level of confidence, they could have increased their ratings to please
the researcher or avoid social disapproval for claiming not remember an
important day in their country's history.
- There are several studies of different events - like September 11th - which seem to
have the same results. This demonstrates the transferability of the findings of this
study to other situations.
- Neisser (1982) has questioned the idea of flashbulb memories. People do not
always know that an event is important until later, so it is unclear how flashbulb
memories could be created at the moment of the event. He suggests that the
memories are so vivid because the event itself is rehearsed and reconsidered after
the event. According to Neisser, what is called a flashbulb memory may simply be
a well-rehearsed story.
- There is biological evidence that supports the role of emotion in memory
formation- for example Sharot (2007) (and McGaugh and Cahill covered in the
biological topic)
- Neisser argued that it is one's level of confidence, not accuracy, which defines
FBM.
- There are cultural differences that indicate that rehearsal may play the most
important role in the development of FBM.
- Often with real-life research on the topic, it is impossible to verify the accuracy of
memories.
- It is not possible to measure one's emotional state at the time of an event - thus
making it impossible to demonstrate a clear causal explanation.
35
Cognitive Research Methods
Questionnaire
(All 3 Essays)
- Questionnaire, to study the reliability of cognitive processes, used by Brown and

Kulik.
- Questionnaires are written self-report techniques, usually distributed to many
participants who are given a preset number of questions to respond to.
- Questions can either be open or closed-ended, and both qualitative and
quantitative data are gathered by it.
- Questionnaires can also include Likert scales which are used to gather a rating
from participants.
- Questionnaires are generally used as it allows researchers to gather huge
amounts of data at once as it can be easily distributed to a huge group of people.

(All 3 Essays)
flashbulb memories.
participants.
death of public figures - such as President John F Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin
Luther King Jr - as well as of
someone they personally knew. They were asked a series of questions about the event
including:

36
Findings:
Conclusion: Through the use of questionnaires researchers were able to collect

qualitative and descriptive information from a large group of people easily such as
details of the events that the participants remember. This data helped them in
determining whether participants had FBMs or just normal memories, and also
quantitative data allowed them to compare the results of the participants with each
other. This assisted them in concluding that personally significant and surprising events
led to the creation of FBMs, as well as studying the cognitive process involved, which is
memory.
Critical Thinking:
- Questionnaires are easy to administer and they can generate a lot of data.
- Questionnaires lead to rich, qualitative data. Surveys ask participants to make
choices. This means that they may choose the "best answer" that may only
partially reflect what they think.
- Questionnaires are more difficult to analyse than surveys. Statistical analysis
cannot be easily applied. Usually, researchers use either a deductive or inductive
content analysis, looking for trends in the responses. This process is
time-consuming and may be open to researcher bias.
- The validity of a questionnaire can be compromised due to social desirability.
- If any questions are misunderstood, participants may complete them incorrectly.
In addition, researchers have to be careful that the questions are not leading
questions that would unduly influence the response of the participants.
Lab Experiments
(Cognitive Processes and Reliability Essays)
- Lab experiments are experiments conducted under highly controlled

environments to allow for accurate measurements to be taken.
37
- It allows the researcher to create and manipulate the independent variable and
observe its effects on the dependent variable and allows them to establish a cause
and effect relationship between them both.
- It also allows the researchers to randomly allocate participants to different
conditions, making the study generalizable.
Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Aim: To investigate whether the use of leading questions would affect the estimation of
speed.
Sample: 45 students participated in the experiment. They were divided into five groups
of nine students.
Method:
- The independent variable was the intensity of the verb used in the critical
question and the dependent variable was the estimation of speed.
- Seven films of traffic accidents were shown, and the length of the films ranged
from 5 to 30 seconds.
- These films were taken from driver’s education films. The study was an
independent sample design; each participant watched all 7 films.
- When the participants had watched a film they were asked to give an account of
the accident they had seen and then they answered a questionnaire with different
questions on the accident with one question being the critical question where
they were asked to estimate the speed of the cars involved in the accident.
- The participants were asked to estimate the speed of the cars. They were asked
the same question, but the critical question included different words. One group
of participants was asked, “How fast were the cars going when they hit each
other?" The critical word "hit’" was replaced by ‘collided’, ‘bumped’ or ‘smashed’
or’ contacted’ in the other conditions.
Findings:
- The mean estimates of speed were highest in the ‘smashed’ condition (40.8 mph)
and lowest in the ‘contacted’ group (31.8 mph). The researchers calculated a
statistical test and found that their results were significant at p ≤ 0.005.
- The results indicate that the critical word in the question consistently affected the
participants’ answers to the question. The researchers argued that it may be that
the different speed estimates are the result of response-bias, i.e. the participants
38
are uncertain about the exact speed, and therefore a verb like "smashed" biases
their response towards a higher estimate.
- It may also be that the way the question is formed results in a change in the
participant’s mental representation of the accident, i.e. the verb "smashed"
activates a cognitive schema of a severe accident that may change the
participant’s memory of the accident. This distortion of memory is based on
reconstruction so that it is not the actual details of the accident that are
remembered but rather what is in line with a cognitive schema of a severe
accident. This interpretation is in line with Bartlett’s suggestion of reconstructive
memory due to schema processing.
Conclusion: In conclusion, it seems that participants’ memory of an accident could be

changed by using suggestive questions.
Critical Thinking:
- It is easier to replicate (i.e. copy) a laboratory experiment. This is because a

standardised procedure is used.
- They allow for precise control of extraneous and independent variables. This
allows a cause and effect relationship to be established.
- The artificiality of the setting may produce unnatural behaviour that does not
reflect real life, i.e. low ecological validity. This means it would not be possible to
generalise the findings to a real life setting.
- Demand characteristics or experimenter effects may bias the results and become
confounding variables.
Quasi Experiment
(Emotion Essay)
- Quasi Experiments examine the effect of a naturally occurring or pre-existing

independent variable (for example, age, gender, ethnicity) not an independent
variable that is manipulated by the researcher.
- Therefore, in quasi experiment studies, the participants cannot be randomly
allocated to conditions but are assigned to conditions on the basis of the
pre-existing independent variable.
Sharot (2007)
(Emotion Essay)
39
day.
Method:
in Manhattan.
Findings:
written memories.
flashbulb memory.
40
Critical Thinking:
- Useful when it's unethical to manipulate the IV

- Studies the 'real effects' so there is increased realism and ecological validity
- Confounding environmental variables are more likely meaning it’s less reliable
- Must wait for the IV to occur
- Can only be used where conditions vary naturally
- Aware they're studied= less internal validity
Correlational research
(Effects of Technology Essay (HL Only))
- Correlational research is a type of nonexperimental research in which the

researcher measures two variables and assesses the statistical relationship (i.e.,
the correlation) between them with little or no effort to control extraneous
variables.
- There are essentially two reasons that researchers interested in statistical
relationships between variables would choose to conduct a correlational study
rather than an experiment.
- The first is that they do not believe that the statistical relationship is a causal one.
Hirst et al. (2009)
Aim: To investigate the relationship between media coverage and accuracy of memory
over a 3-year period.
Sample: 391 participants who filled out all three surveys.
Method: Hirst gave participants a series of questionnaires assessing factors such as

emotion, media attention and conversations surrounding the events of 9/11. The
researchers identified a rough estimate of media coverage for the 9/11 and challenger
disaster events by searching articles in the New York Times which had included the
terms ‘September 11’ for the 9/11 events and ‘challenger’ and ‘explosion’ combined for
the Challenger space shuttle disaster, over the past 3 years. Accuracy scores were
calculated across all three-time frames (from immediate to a three year delay)
Findings: Accuracy scores correlated with media coverage. As you can see from the
graph to the left, there was a higher level of accuracy in the 9/11 memories; however,
there was also more media coverage of the 9/11 attacks over the three years following
the event.
41
Conclusion: The media’s reminder of the emotional event leads to overt rehearsal and
thus more accurate recall of the event.
Critical Thinking:
- May predict causal relationships

- Methodology and statistical analysis may be easier to implement
- May predict human behaviours
- No inferences can be found by results
- There is no cause and effect
- Possibility of the third variable problem / confounding factor
Experimental studies
(Effects of Technology Essay (HL Only))
- Experimental studies are studies conducted under highly controlled

environments to allow for accurate measurements to be taken.
Sparrow et al (2011)
Aim: To see if knowing that we would have access to saved information later (like we do
with the internet) would affect semantic memory (memory of facts and information).
Sample: 60 undergraduate students, 37 females and 23 males at Harvard University.
Method:
- Participants were asked to type 40 trivia facts into the computer. Some of the
facts were expected to represent new knowledge (An ostrich’s eye is bigger than
its brain) whilst other facts were more likely to be already known to the
participants (The space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry over Texas
in Feb. 2003).
- The experiment used a 2 x 2 independent samples design – meaning that two
independent variables were manipulated at two different levels.
- Participants were presented with trivia statements one by one on a computer
screen. They were asked to read the statements, and then type what they read
into a dialog box which appeared below the statement.
42
- Half of the participants were told to press the spacebar to save what they typed to
the computer, and that they would have access to what they typed at the end of
the task. The other half were told to press the spacebar in order to erase what
they just typed so that they could type the next statement.
- In addition, half were told to try to remember the statements, and half were told
nothing.
- This means that four conditions were present in the study:
- They were then given a blank piece of paper and asked to recall as many of the
facts as they could in ten minutes. Then they were given a recognition task where
they were given forty statements and asked to identify (yes or no) whether they
were exactly the same as what they saw on the computer screen.
Findings: The results showed that being asked to remember the information made no
significant difference to the participants’ ability to recall the trivia facts. But there was a
significant difference if the participant believed that the information would be stored in
the computer. Participants who believed they would be able to retrieve the information
from the computer appear to have made far less effort to remember the information
than those who knew they would not be able to do this.
Conclusion :Sparrow et al.’s study shows that when we do not need to rely on our own
memories to store
information because we know the information will be stored elsewhere then this will
reduce our memory of that information.
Critical Thinking:

43
Cognitive Ethics
Informed Consent
(all Ethics Essays)
- Informed Consent is when psychologists inform participants about the purpose of

the research, their right to decline to participate and to withdraw from the
research once participation has begun.
- Factors that may be expected to influence their willingness to participate such as
potential risks, discomfort or adverse effects, any prospective research benefits,
motives for participation, who to contact for questions about the research and
research participants' rights.
- They provide opportunities for the prospective participants to ask questions and
receive answers.
Bartlett (1932)
Aim: To investigate how the memory of a story is affected by previous knowledge. He

wanted to see if cultural background and unfamiliarity with a text would lead to
distortion of memory when the story was recalled.
Method:
- Bartlett told participants a Native American legend called The War of the Ghosts.
- The participants in the study were British; for them, the story was filled with
unknown names and concepts, and the manner in which the story was developed
was also foreign to them. The story was therefore ideal to study how memory was
reconstructed based on schema processing.
- Bartlett allocated the participants to one of two conditions.
- One group was asked to use repeated reproduction, where participants heard the
story and were told to reproduce it after a short time and then to do so again
repeatedly over a period of days, weeks, months or years.
- The second group was told to use serial reproduction, in which they had to recall
the story and repeat it to another person.
Findings:
- Bartlett found that there was no significant difference between the way that the
groups recalled the story.
44
- Bartlett found that participants in both conditions changed the story as they tried
to remember it - a process called distortion. Bartlett found that there were three
patterns of distortion that took place.
- Assimilation: The story became more consistent with the participants’ own
cultural expectations - that is, details were unconsciously changed to fit the
norms of British culture.
- Levelling: The story also became shorter with each retelling as participants
omitted information which was seen as not important.
- Sharpening: Participants also tended to change the order of the story in order to
make sense of it using terms more familiar to the culture of the participants. They
also added detail and/or emotions.
- The participants overall remembered the main themes in the story but changed
the unfamiliar elements to match their own cultural expectations so that the story
remained a coherent whole although changed.
Conclusion: Bartlett's study indicates that remembering is not a passive but rather an
active process, where information is retrieved and changed to fit into existing schemas.
This is done in order to create meaning in the incoming information. According to
Bartlett, humans constantly search for meaning. This means that memories are not
copies of experiences but rather a reconstruction.

(Emotion Essay)
flashbulb memories.
participants.
death of public
figures - such as President John F Kennedy and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr
- as well as of someone they personally knew. They were asked a series of questions
about the event including:

45
Findings:
Conclusion: Flashbulb memories are long lasting and include information about where,
when, and with whom
information is received. People form flashbulb memories of events that have important
consequences for them. Therefore, more emotion means more rehearsal which leads to
the creation of flashbulb memories.
(Effects of Technology (HL Essay Only))
Sample: Sixty undergraduate students, 37 females and 23 males at Harvard University.
Method:
in Feb. 2003).
46
nothing.
- This means that four conditions were present in the study:
Findings: The results showed that being asked to remember the information made no
significant difference to the participants’ ability to recall the trivia facts. But there was a
significant difference if the participant believed that the information would be stored in
the computer. Participants who believed they would be able to retrieve the information
from the computer appear to have made far less effort to remember the information
than those who knew they would not be able to do this.
memories to store
Critical Thinking (All Studies)
- It is not always possible to gain informed consent. Where it is impossible for the
researcher to ask the actual participants, a similar group of people can be asked
how they would feel about taking part.
- In order for consent to be ‘informed’, consent forms may need to be accompanied
by an information sheet for participants setting out information about the
proposed study (in lay terms) along with details about the investigators and how
they can be contacted.
Protection from undue harm and stress

(All Ethics Essays)
- Researchers must ensure that those taking part in research will not cause
distress. They must be protected from physical and mental harm. This means you
must not embarrass, frighten, offend or harm participants.
47
- Normally, the risk of harm must be no greater than in ordinary life, i.e.
participants should not be exposed to risks greater than or additional to those
encountered in their normal lifestyles.
Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

Aim: To determine whether leading questions would affect memory of eyewitnesses at a

real crime scene.
Sample: 13 of the eyewitnesses agreed to be interviewed as part of a study.
Location: The crime scene was in Vancouver.
Method:
- A thief entered a gun shop and tied up the owner before stealing money and guns
from the shop. The owner freed himself, and thinking that the thief had escaped,
went outside the shop. But the thief was still there and shot him twice. Police had
been called and there was gunfire - and the thief was eventually killed. As the
incident took place in front of the shop, there were eyewitnesses - 21 were
interviewed by the police.
- The researchers chose this incident to study because there were enough witnesses
and there was forensic evidence available to confirm the stories of the
eyewitnesses. The researchers contacted the eyewitnesses four months after the
event.
- 13 of the eyewitnesses agreed to be interviewed as part of a study. They gave their
account of the incident, and then they were asked questions.
- Two leading questions were used.
- Half the group was asked if they saw "a" broken headlight on the getaway car.
- The other half were asked if they saw "the" broken headlight. In fact, there was no
broken headlight.
- The second question asked half the group if they saw "the" yellow panel on the
car
- The other half was asked if they saw "a" yellow panel on the car (the panel was
actually blue).
- They were also asked to rate their stress on the day of the event on a seven-point
scale.
Findings:
48
- It was found that eyewitnesses were actually very reliable. They recalled a large
amount of accurate detail that could be confirmed by the original police reports.
They also did not make errors as a result of the leading questions.
- 10 out of 13 of them said there was no broken headlight or yellow quarter panel,
or that they had not noticed those particular details.
- The researchers found that the accuracy of the witnesses compared to the original
police reports was between 79% and 84%. It appears that this research
contradicts the study by Loftus & Palmer (1974). It could be that the lack of
emotional response to the video that was shown in their study played a key role in
the influence of the leading questions. The witnesses reported that they didn't
remember feeling afraid during the incident, but they did report having an
"adrenaline rush."
Conclusion: These findings suggest that post-event information may distort memory
less in real life than in the laboratory.
Sharot (2007)
(Emotion Essay)
day.
Method:
in Manhattan.
49
Findings:
written memories.
flashbulb memory.
Schaefer et al (2011)
(Effects of Technology (HL Essay Only))
Aim: To investigate if there was a difference in memories of the 9/11 terrorist attacks
depending on the
reception context. The researchers wanted to know just how important these visual
images are in the creation of flashbulb memories.
Sample: The sample was made up of 38 students from the University of Winnipeg
(mean age 20.3).
Method: They were asked to do a free recall of when they heard the news about the
terrorist attack both 28 hours after the event and then again six months later. They were
not told at the time of the first recall task that they would be tested again six months
later. The participants were divided into two groups: immediate and delayed viewing of
television coverage of the event.
- Those in the immediate group (n = 27) saw the event live on television or turned
on television within minutes of hearing the news.
- Those in the delay condition (n = 11) saw the event on television hours after being
informed.
50
- The responses were coded by two independent research assistants who were
blind to the hypotheses.
- They coded the responses for nine canonical categories: time, location, what they
were doing, informant, presence of others, clothes worn, first thought, feelings,
what they did immediately thereafter.
Findings: The quantity of information provided in the initial and follow-up reports,
based on the number of canonical categories and word length, did not differ with regard
to reception context. However, the delayed viewing of images resulted in less elaborate
and less consistent accounts over the 6-month interval.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that seeing the news on television led to more accurate
recall of the flashbulb memory over a six-month period.
Critical Thinking (All Studies)
- Protects participant welfare.

- If participants know they will be looked after, researchers will always have willing
volunteers to take part in research.
- Can be a hindrance- researchers can not manipulate stress/harm/emotion in an
experimental setting.
- Researchers can overcome the weakness above by studying naturally occurring
events (as in the case of emotion and memory- all studies were based on real life
events)
51
Positive Effects of Technology
Working Memory
- Working memory is information that we are conscious of at any one time. More
specifically, it is “…the small amount of information that can be held in mind and
used in the execution of cognitive tasks” (Cowan, 2013).
- It is the information we hold and manipulate in our conscious attention. Any
conscious thought is us utilising our working memory, for example, working out a
maths problem in our mind, being able to picture things in our mind e.g. creating
images in our mind when reading a book.
- Working memory capacity refers to how much information we can hold in our
minds at any one time. This capacity has been linked to many things, including
intelligence and academic achievement. Therefore, kids with poor working
memory capacity (i.e. unreliable working memory capabilities) struggle in school
and often get in trouble. This is a problem for the kids, their parents and teachers
so researchers have been looking at ways to help improve working memory
capacity.
- One method that has been developed to improve working memory is the use of
computer games. This has become a multi-million-dollar industry. These games
are designed to be fun and engaging, like ordinary video games, but they require
kids to use their working memory.
Klingberg et al (2005)
Aim: To investigate whether computer games can improve the working memory capacity
of children with ADHD.
Sample: 42 children with ADHD
Method: Participants were assigned to two conditions:
- A computer game designed to improve working memory that gradually got

harder (treatment group)
- The same game but not designed to stretch their capacity (control group).
The children were expected to play the games for around 40 minutes a day, for five days
a week. The children were tested after five weeks of treatment and again after three
months.
52
Findings: The results showed that the children in the treatment group had a significant
improvement in their working memory capacity.
- Their parents also reported reduced symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity.
This is one example of the positive effects of technology on the reliability of
cognitive processes, in this case working memory capacity and attention.
Conclusion: Digital technology, depending on how it is made, improves reliability of

working memory capacity.
Critical Thinking:
- High ecological validity: they played in natural settings without the presence of
researchers.
- Also, the study was over 3 months, looking at both short-term and long-term
effects. → more realistic because the human brain needs enough time to adapt.
Hence, more accuracy for real-life applications.
- Small sample with ADHD with symptoms of low reliability in working memory.
→ difficult to apply to a larger population without ADHD.
- Simons et al. (2016) further warns about applying these results to a wider range
of cognitive tasks.
- Found that games can help performance on closely related tasks but limited
transfer to other related or general cognitive tasks.
Reliability of Thinking and Decision Making
- In many everyday situations, speed is of the essence but fast decisions typically
mean more mistakes, however, research is starting to emerge which may suggest
that the act of playing action video games significantly reduces reaction times
without sacrificing accuracy.
- Playing action video games requires rapid processing of sensory information and
prompt action, forcing players to make decisions and execute responses at a far
greater pace than is typical in everyday life. During game play, delays in
processing often have severe consequences, providing a large incentive for
players to increase speed.
- Accordingly, there is anecdotal evidence that avid game players react more
readily to their environment. However, it remains unknown whether any
reduction in reaction time (RT) really generalises to tasks beyond video-game
playing?
Bavelier et al (2011)
53
Aim: To investigate the connection between action games and decision making.
Sample: Two groups of men and women, average age 26, who said they had not played
video games in the past year.
Method:
- One group was told to play two action video games for two hours for a total of 50
hours.
- The second group was asked to play a simulation game in which they had to make
decisions about a character's life.
- After the 50 hours of game time, members of both groups were asked to look at a
computer screen and do a simple test. The computer screen showed a pattern of
dots.
- Participants had to determine which way the majority of dots were moving by
pressing a key on the keyboard.
- Some of the patterns were easy - with pretty much all of the dots heading in the
same direction. Others were more complex.
Findings: Although both groups could accomplish the task, those who had played the
action video did the task faster and with fewer errors - that is, they were able to decipher
a large amount of information more quickly and come to an accurate decision
Critical Thinking:
- Biological evidence to support the above findings: Kühn et al (2013) carried out a
study to determine the effects of prolonged video game playing on the brains of
young adults. In this study, the researchers had participants play Super Mario 64
for 30 minutes every day for two months. The experiment used a pretest/posttest
design. The researchers carried out MRI scans on the participants both before
and after the two-month period of game playing. In addition, the MRIs were
compared to a control group that did not play video games. The MRIs showed
that the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus and
cerebellum had increased and was on average larger in the gaming group than in
the controls. The roles of the different parts of the brain: The prefrontal cortex is
involved in strategic planning, decision making, and cognitive control. The
hippocampus is involved in memory formation, with the right hippocampus
being particularly involved in spatial navigation. The cerebellum is involved with
fine motor function. These findings seem to lend biological support to Bavelier
and similar studies.
54
- However, we should use a bit of caution. First, the sample size was small. In order
to trust these findings, the study would need to be replicated and obtain similar
results.
- From the above studies we can see that technology can be harnessed to improve
memory capacity and the reliability of cognition.
- Excellent practical application in both an educational setting as well as the ability
to improve everyday decision making and strategic thinking.
- There is a lack of longitudinal research on the impact of digital technology
(simply because modern technology is too new!). Much of the research focuses on
short-term memory and any claim for long term effects makes use of
correlational data only.
- Sample sizes are small in the majority of research so we must approach the
findings with caution.
- Is it too early for us to make claims regarding the positive and/or negative impact
of modern technology? We are still adapting to the introduction of modern
technology, over time we will have a greater understanding of its implications.
55
Negative Effects of Technology
Transactive Memory
- The old saying “use it or lose it” applies to the brain and it might be that modern
technology is not encouraging us to use our brains in positive ways, so our
thinking skills are deteriorating. For example, we used to have to try to remember
information if we wanted to access it later. Now we can rely on our phones to
store information and we have everything we need to know if we just “google it.”
This could be negatively affecting our memory.
- Transactive memory is an additional form of memory which was originally
proposed to exist within groups of closely linked individuals. This is a form of
memory where we remember where information can be found (i.e. who knows
what) and how to access it (i.e. the best way to extract information from another
member of the group) rather than the knowledge itself.
- Frequent use of Internet search engines and databases may represent a new type
of transactive memory system that reduces reliance on our own individual
memory stores.
Sample: 60 undergraduate students, 37 females and 23 males at Harvard University.
Method:
in Feb. 2003).
56
nothing.
- This means that four conditions were present in the study.
Findings:
- The results showed that being asked to remember the information made no
significant difference to the participants’ ability to recall the trivia facts.
- But there was a significant difference if the participant believed that the
information would be stored in the computer. Participants who believed they
would be able to retrieve the information from the computer appear to have made
far less effort to remember the information than those who knew they would not
be able to do this.
memories to store
Critical Thinking:
- Clear manipulation of the IV to see the effect on the DV

- There are possible confounding variables that include:
- Participant variables such as varying memory skills (especially problematic with
small sample sizes)
- Typing ability (could lead to anxiety affecting performance)
- Some facts may be more personally relevant to some.
- The random nature of the trivia facts means the information was less meaningful
so the effort put in to remember may not match the effort made if it was real life
relevant information.
Shallow Processing
- How we try to learn things in the first place might also be having an effect on our
memory.
57
- Students are using laptops in classes more than ever and it might be detrimental.
Because we can type fast without thinking, the processing of information is quite
shallow, and it doesn’t transfer to our long-term memory.
- Taking notes by hand forces us to think about our notes and the information and
this may be better for our memory in the long-run.
Meuller and Oppenheimer (2014)
Aim: To investigate if the act of taking notes by hand would be more effective than
taking notes on a
computer in a university lecture.
Sample: Volunteer sample of 109 UCLA undergraduate students, 27 of whom were

male.
Method:
- Participants were given either a laptop or pen and paper and were instructed to
take notes on a series of four lectures. The lectures were films of a graduate
student reading from a teleprompter. The lectures had the following themes:
bats, bread, vaccines, and respiration.
- Participants were told that they would be tested in one week on the content of the
lectures - and they would not be allowed to take their notes home with them.
Each participant watched the lecture on a private monitor with headphones in
order to avoid any distractions.
- The two conditions - handwriting and laptop note-taking - were then randomly
divided into two more conditions.
- In the "study" condition, the participants were given 10 minutes to study their
notes before being tested.
- In the "no-study" condition, the participants were immediately tested without a
chance to review their notes.
- There were 40 questions - 10 for each lecture. The questions were categorised by
the researchers into "factual" questions and "conceptual" questions.
Findings: The results showed that in both the longhand and the laptop conditions, if the
participants did not get a chance to study, they did poorly on factual knowledge and did
fairly well on conceptual knowledge. Although, there was no significant difference in
performance. A significant difference was found when the participants did get the
chance to study. Participants who took notes by hand did significantly better than those
that took notes on the computer.
58
Conclusion: There was a significant difference in test scores based on conceptual
understanding (comprehending the meaning and significance of the facts). This
suggests that using technology to take notes might affect our ability to remember and
understand important ideas about what we’re learning.
Critical Thinking:
- The task itself has good mundane realism as the participants were asked to note
take using their usual method of notetaking.
- It could be argued that the experiment lacks ecological validity because although
the task was relevant, the topic itself was not meaningful to students which could
affect how much effort they put into processing the information.
- From the above studies we can see that relying on digital technology to process
and store information could have a negative effect on how well we retain that
information.
- Are these effects actually negative? Could there be positives to take from this? For
example, might it be that more of our cognitive capacity and energy is being freed
up for other tasks since we don’t have to worry about remembering?
- These studies are also measuring memory in the short-term. This is a limitation
because we do not know the long term effects of technology on memory.
- There is a lack of longitudinal research on the impact of digital technology
(simply because modern technology is too new!). Much of the research focuses on
short-term memory and any claim for long term effects makes use of
correlational data only.
- Is it too early for us to make claims regarding the positive and/or negative impact
of modern technology? We are still adapting to the introduction of modern
technology, over time we might get used to it and find ways to make technology
beneficial. Are there negative effects because we are not using technology
‘properly’?
59
Emotion and Technology
- Technology is leading to the development of more Flashbulb Memories.
- It appears that technology may play a role in the creation of flashbulb memories.
The images that we see in the media lead to a strong emotional response and
overt rehearsal of the event. We now live in a world of "breaking news", social
media, and 24-hour news coverage. When something bad happens, our phones
alert us and we are often able to watch events happen live.
- Our prior knowledge and experience play a key role in what will actually be a
flashbulb memory. This helps us to determine whether an event is important to
us - and it will also determine the level of surprise or emotion in our reaction to
the news.
- If the event is important, we will discuss this with others or ruminate (think a lot
about) this event, thereby engaging in overt rehearsal. It is the combination of
these variables that may lead to a flashbulb memory.
- The question is, is the ‘reception context’ an important variable that should be
considered in this model?
- (How we hear the news of an event = reception context.)
Schaefer et al (2011)
Aim: To investigate if there was a difference in memories of the 9/11 terrorist attacks
depending on the reception context. The researchers wanted to know just how
important these visual images are in the creation of flashbulb memories.
Sample: The sample was made up of 38 students from the University of Winnipeg
(mean age 20.3).
Method: They were asked to do a free recall of when they heard the news about the
terrorist attack both 28 hours after the event and then again six months later. They were
not told at the time of the first recall task that they would be tested again six months
later. The participants were divided into two groups: immediate and delayed viewing of
television coverage of the event.
- Those in the immediate group (n = 27) saw the event live on television or turned
on television within minutes of hearing the news.
- Those in the delay condition (n = 11) saw the event on television hours after being
informed.
- The responses were coded by two independent research assistants who were
blind to the hypotheses.
60
- They coded the responses for nine canonical categories: time, location, what they
were doing, informant, presence of others, clothes worn, first thought, feelings,
what they did immediately thereafter.
Findings: The quantity of information provided in the initial and follow-up reports,
based on the number of canonical categories and word length, did not differ with regard
to reception context. However, the delayed viewing of images resulted in less elaborate
and less consistent accounts over the 6-month interval.
Conclusion: It can be concluded that seeing the news on television led to more accurate
recall of the flashbulb memory over a six-month period.
Critical Thinking: The terrorist attack of 9/11 led to a lot of research on flashbulb
memories. However, we have to be cautious in our interpretation of the research.
Because there is no way to control the amount of media exposure over time, many of the
studies have low internal validity. In the case of national tragedies, anniversaries of the
tragedy receive more media coverage which then encourages overt rehearsal. 9/11 has
intense media coverage every anniversary; meanwhile, personal tragic events, such as
the death of a loved one, would not.
Hirst et al. (2009)
Aim: To investigate the relationship between media coverage and accuracy of memory
over a 3-year period.
Sample: 391 participants who filled out all three surveys.
Method:
- Hirst gave participants a series of questionnaires assessing factors such as

emotion, media attention and conversations surrounding the events of 9/11.
- The researchers identified a rough estimate of media coverage for the 9/11 and
challenger disaster events by searching articles in the New York Times which had
included the terms ‘September 11’ for the 9/11 events and ‘challenger’ and
‘explosion’ combined for the Challenger space shuttle disaster, over the past 3
years.
- Accuracy scores were calculated across all three-time frames (from immediate to
a three year delay)
61
Findings: Accuracy scores correlated with media coverage. There was a higher level of
accuracy in the 9/11 memories; however, there was also more media coverage of the 9/11
attacks over the three years following the event.
Conclusion: The media’s reminder of the emotional event leads to overt rehearsal and
thus more accurate recall of the event.
Critical Thinking:
- Correlational study, meaning it cannot establish a cause and effect relationship

between the IV and the DV
- Uses two real life events. Compares two events - may not necessarily be
comparable?
- Difficult to test and control because certain things will be more important than
others and emotion is subjective.
- Hard to confirm the accuracy of FBM recalled years later an event as we don't
know for certain where the person actually was at the time of the event
- Research proved that different parts of the brain work when recalling memories.
62
Localisation
- The theory of localization states that specific parts of our brain handle and
manage specific tasks, cognitions, and behaviour.
- There are many examples of localization such as the prefrontal cortex which is
localised in impulse control and risk management in performing decisions.
- Another example is the parietal lobe which is localised for perception and
recognition.
- The hippocampus is localised for the transferring of short-term memory to
long-term memory, essentially the consolidation of memory.
Maguire et al. (2000)
Aim: to examine the localization of spatial navigation function in the brain.
Sample: 16 right-handed male London taxi drivers who have been driving for more than
1.5 years, as well as 50 non taxi drivers. The mean age for both groups was the same.
Procedure:
- The structural MRI scans were obtained, where an image of the grey matter in the
brain was shown.
- The scans had also been specifically focused onto the hippocampus of both
groups then compared to see structural changes between them.
Results: The taxi drivers had a larger hippocampus and an increase in grey matter in
both hemispheres. The increased volume was found the most in the posterior of the
hippocampus. For the non-taxi drivers, their anterior was larger.
Conclusion: The posterior of the hippocampus is localised for spatial navigation, which
is evidenced by the structural differences between taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers. By
identifying the spatial navigation function in the posterior of the hippocampus. This
study provides overall evidence and supports the theory of localization of functions in
the brain.
63
Neuroplasticity
- Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to change over the course of a person’s
life due to.
- It is the adaptation of the brain’s functions to perform an action better due to a
required need for it, and the changes of the brain can be both genetic and
environmental.
- This change in the structure of the brain occurs due to the making and breaking
of synaptic connections between neurons.
- Neural network is defined as the creation of new synaptic connections, and is
developed through the repetition of information, which is also known as long
term potentiation (LTP).
- The breaking, or cutting, of the connections of synaptic connections is known as
neural/synaptic pruning. This is usually due to a long-term neglect of certain
information, causing the brain to deem the information useless, thus causing
neural pruning.
- Cortical remapping is another process of neuroplasticity, which is the movement
of certain synaptic connections from one part of the brain to another due to
damage to an area.
Draganski (2004)
Aim: To investigate the influence of learning a new skill on the structural changes of the
brain.
Sample: 24 volunteers aged 20-24 and were 21 females and 3 males.
Procedure:
- An initial MRI scan of the brain structure and grey matter was obtained for each
participant to serve as a base line.
- The participants were then split into two conditions: Jugglers and Non-jugglers.
The juggler had to practise and master the skill of juggling over the course of 3
months, while the non-jugglers served as a control group.
- After the initial 3 months had passed, a second MRI scan was obtained on both
groups for the structural changes within the brain, and a voxel-based
morphometry (VBM) was used to calculate changes in grey matter and neural
density.
- After that, the jugglers were instructed not to practise any juggling for an extra 3
more months. After the second 3 months, an MRI scan of the structure was
obtained again, and VBM was used to identify changes in neural density.
64
Results:
- The researchers found that prior to the start of the experiment, there was no
significant difference in the grey matter of both groups, but after the initial 3
months, the juggler group showed significantly more grey matter in the
mid-temporal area of both hemispheres, which is associated with visual memory.
- After the second 3 months, when the participants were instructed not to practise
juggling, a decrease in grey matter of the mid-temporal area was observed.
- The control group had no significant change in grey matter throughout the course
of the experiment.
Conclusion: The repetition, and the learning of a new skill, does cause neuroplasticity to
occur. This is clearly shown in the results as the participants who learnt a new skill had
significantly more grey matter to participants who didn’t, and more than themselves
before knowing the skill, which evidences neural networking as a cause of long-term
potentiation. The results also evidence neural pruning as participants who learnt the
skill then forgot it had a decrease in grey matter, showing the breaking of neural
networks and explaining neural pruning. The study overall explains and supports the
theory of neuroplasticity as shown by the results.
65
MRI (techniques)
- Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI scans, uses magnetic and radiofrequency
waves to map the activity of hydrogen activities in the brain tissues.
- The image can either be viewed as a slice of the brain from any angle, or it can be
used to create a 3-dimensional image of the brain.
- MRI scans are useful as they are non-invasive and have minimal potential harm
to the participants.
- Another advantage is that the image produced is of high resolution, which gives
researchers a good sense of the actual structure of the brain.
- However, MRI scans only indicate structure and not the activity in relation to
time.
Maguire et al. (2000)
Aim: to examine the localization of spatial navigation function in the brain.
Sample: 16 right-handed male London taxi drivers who have been driving for more than
1.5 years, as well as 50 non taxi drivers. The mean age for both groups was the same.
Procedure:
- The structural MRI scans were obtained, where an image of the grey matter in the
brain was shown.
- The scans had also been specifically focused onto the hippocampus of both
groups then compared to see structural changes between them.
Results: The taxi drivers had a larger hippocampus and an increase in grey matter in
both hemispheres. The increased volume was found the most in the posterior of the
hippocampus. For the non-taxi drivers, their anterior was larger.
Conclusion: The posterior of the hippocampus is localised for spatial navigation, which
is evidenced by the structural differences between taxi drivers and non-taxi drivers. By
identifying the spatial navigation function in the posterior of the hippocampus. Maguire
et al used MRI scans to evidence the relationship between the function and the area,
thus evidencing localization, overall proving the usefulness of MRI scans.
66
Neurotransmitters
- Neurotransmitters are biological and chemical “messengers” that allow the
electrical impulses/action potential to travel between two neurons and are
released by the presynaptic neuron.
- There are two types of neurotransmitters, inhibitory and excitatory.
- Excitatory neurotransmitters, which are neurotransmitters that increase the
likelihood of a neuron firing and action potential, increasing a response.
- An example of a neurotransmitter is acetylcholine, which is an excitatory
neurotransmitter, which plays a role in the consolidation of memory in the
hippocampus, specifically the encoding of spatial memory.
- An agonist is a substance that binds to the synaptic receptors and increases the
likelihood of a neuron firing.
- An antagonist substance is a substance that binds to the synaptic receptors and
decreases the effects of the neurotransmitter and the likelihood of the firing of an
action potential from the neuron.
- There are two types of agonists/antagonists, endogenous and exogenous.
Endogenous agonists/antagonists are agonists/antagonists that are already
present in the body such as hormones and neurotransmitters, whereas exogenous
agonists/antagonists are agonists/antagonists that were externally injected into
the body such as drugs.
- One example of an antagonist substance is scopolamine which is an exogenous
antagonist.
- Scopolamine plays a role in inhibiting the effects of acetylcholine, which is a
neurotransmitter linked with spatial memory, by binding to its receptor sites and
blocking its transmission
Antonova (2011)
Aim: to investigate the effects of blocking acetylcholine, by using scopolamine, on the

encoding of spatial memory.
Sample: consisted of 20 healthy male adults and used a double-blind.
Procedure:
- There were 2 conditions, participants were injected with either scopolamine or a

placebo 70-90 min before the experimental task.
- Participants were then put into fMRI scan while playing a virtual reality "Arena
task".
67
- Participants were first trained in the game to get familiar with it. They had to
navigate around the arena to find a pole. once found, the screen would go blank
for 30 seconds.
- During this time the participants were told to actively rehearse the way to get to
the pole. After that the screen would come up again and they would be placed in a
different location in the arena and had to find the pole again using their spatial
memory.
- After training, the participants' brain activity was measured for 6 trials.
Participants returned 3-4 weeks later and redid the test with opposite treatment
to the original study.
Results:
- It was found that when injected with scopolamine, activity levels in the
hippocampus were much lower than when injected with the placebo. These
results show that the decrease in acetylcholine leads to a decrease in the encoding
of spatial memory.
Conclusion:
- Acetylcholine plays a significant role in the encoding of spatial memories as

shown by the results and inhibiting acetylcholine leads to a decrease in spatial
memory creation which evidence acetylcholine to be an excitatory
neurotransmitter/agonist as it enhances spatial memory, and overall explaining
neurotransmitters. (Neurotransmitters, Agonist and Excitatory)
- Scopolamine plays a role in the inhibition of acetylcholine, as shown by the
results due to a decrease in spatial memory encoding as a result of inhibiting
acetylcholine, which evidence scopolamine to be an antagonist as it decreases the
effects of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and the likelihood of a neuron firing,
overall explaining antagonist substances. (Antagonist)
68
Hormones
- Hormones are defined as a chemical secreted by glands in the endocrine system,
that are released into the bloodstream, and may act as neurotransmitters, and
attach to receptor sites.
- Adrenaline is a hormone that is released in the case of being under extreme
stress, or in response to a “threat”, as it instigates the “fight or flight” response.
- This response causes the body muscles to tense up, heart rate to increase, pupils
to dilate, and blood to rush to the muscles.
- Adrenaline also plays a role in the activation of the amygdala and causes it to
send a signal that something important or dangerous has happened.
- The amygdala is believed to play an important role in emotional aspects of
memory.
Mcgaugh and Cahill (1995)
Aim: to investigate the role of adrenaline and the amygdala on emotional memory, and
the role of emotion in the creation of memories.
Sample: consisted of 20 undergraduate participants who were split into two groups.
Procedure:
- Each group was shown a very different story. In the first condition, the
participants were shown a mundane and boring story. The second condition was
shown a traumatic story.
- After that, the participants were asked to rate how emotional they found the story
from 1-10.
- Two weeks later, they were asked to perform a recognition task to test their
memory of the story.
- The researchers then did a follow-up study but this time for the traumatic story
participants, half of them were injected with a beta-blocker, propranolol, and the
other half with a placebo (Participants didn’t know which they were getting).
- The beta-blocker was given to inhibit the release of adrenaline to prevent the
activation of the amygdala, which in turn stops emotional connection to memory.
The placebo was given to prevent demand characteristics purely from being
injected.
Findings:
69
- In the original study, participants that had the traumatic story had a greater
recall of details.
- In the follow up study, the participants who received the beta-blocking did no
better than the mundane story participants, while those who received the placebo
did do better.
- These results show that having an emotional connection to a memory does
increase the remembrance of details.
Conclusion: Emotion does play a role in creation of memory, as well as that adrenaline
does play a role in the activation of the amygdala, and ultimately on the creation of
emotional memory. This is shown in the results as the inhibition of adrenaline inhibited
the activation of the amygdala, thus inhibiting emotional connection to memory. The
overall evidence explains the role of adrenaline on emotional memory.
70
Pheromones
- A pheromone is a chemical substance produced by a species and released into the
environment which affects the behaviour or physiology of others of its own kind.
- Pheromones have been identified in animals, and their roles have been clearly
demonstrated and shown specifically in the mating behaviour.
- For humans however, a pheromone hasn’t been identified on its own, which
makes it possible that pheromones may or may not exist in humans.
- One possible pheromone, or a structure that may cause the release of
pheromones, is the MHC gene.
- The MHC gene is a group of genes that play an important role in the immune
system.
- MHC genes make molecules that enable the immune system to recognize
pathogens, which means that the more diverse the gene of the parents, the
stronger the immune system of the offspring.
Wedekind (1995)
Aim: to investigate whether one’s MHC gene would affect mating choices.
Sample: consisted of 49 female and 44 male students.
Procedure:
- Each participant was “typed” for their MHC gene.

- The men were asked to wear a T-shirt for 2 nights and keep it in an open plastic
bag during the day. Two days later, the women were asked to rank the smell of 7
T-shirts, each in a cardboard box with a “Smelling hole”.
- Three of the boxes contained T-shirts of men with similar MHC to the women, 3
contained T-shirts of men who had different MHC, and 1 contained an unworn
T-shirt to provide as a control.
- The women were then asked to rate the T-shirt (0-10) for intensity and were
asked to rate the T-shirts (0-10) for pleasantness and sexiness (5 being neutral).
Results: Women scored male body odour as more pleasant when they differed from
their own MHC.
Conclusion: The researchers concluded that MHC may have an influence in mating
behaviour. These results provide support that pheromones may have an influence in
mating as the odour released by males with different MHC genes, which would result in
71
the most effective immune system in their children, had the most attraction. Overall
explaining the role of pheromones in mating behaviour in humans, however, the debate
is still ongoing.
72
Genes
- Genetic arguments of behaviour are based on the principle of inheritance.
- Genes and their DNA are passed down from parents to their offspring, with 50%
of our genes being inherited from each parent.
- These genes are measured in two different ways, direct measure, and indirect
measure.
- Direct measures are studies that identify a specific gene to study the behaviour
and establish whether it is genetic.
- Indirect on the other hand doesn’t specify it to a certain gene, but rather just
establishes a connection using people who share genes and determines whether a
behaviour is genetic or not.
- In this essay I will be explaining the role of genetics using a direct measure study.
- 5-HTT gene is a serotonin transporter gene that plays a role in the reuptake
process of serotonin. A mutation of this gene, the short allele, has been linked
with the development of depression.
Caspi (2003)
Aim: to investigate whether the type of the 5-HTT gene had influence in the
development of depression.
Sample: consisted of 847 New Zealand 26-year-olds who were split into 3 groups based
on the version of the 5-HTT gene they had.
Procedure:
- The 3 groups were: 2 Short Alleles – 1 Short 1 Long Allele – 2 Long Alleles.
- All the participants were assessed for mental health every other year until they
were 21.
- The participants were asked to fill a “Stressful life events” questionnaire which
asked them about the frequency of 14 different events, including financial,
employment, health, and relationship stressors, between the ages of 21-26.
- They were also assessed for depression.
Findings:
- Participants who had inherited 1 or more of the short versions of the 5-HTT gene
were more likely to suffer from depression.
- The results also showed that having 3 or more stressful life events had the
strongest effect.
73
Conclusion: the short version of the 5-HTT gene does play a role in the development of
depression, as shown by the results as participants with 1 or more of it were more likely
to develop depression than the participants with the long version, overall evidencing
and explaining the role of the 5-HTT gene on behaviour.
74
Genetic similarity
- Genetic similarity is the establishment of connections between genes and a
behaviour by using individuals that share percentages of their genes.
- Genetic similarity is important as it allows researchers to ascertain whether
certain behaviours are inherited or learnt.
- There are many ways in which genetic similarity is studied, two of which are twin
studies and kinship studies. In this essay I will be focusing on kinship studies.
- Kinship study is a study in which researchers investigate the incidence of a
behaviour over several generations. Also known as family study, this allows us to
establish a correlation between genetics and a behaviour if seen to be hereditary.
Weissman (2005)
Aim: to investigate the potential genetic nature of MDD.
Sample: consisted of 161 grandchildren, their parents, and grandparents.
Procedure:
- Weissman carried out a longitudinal study over a course of 20 years looking at

families with high risk and low risk of depression.
- The original sample of depressed participants (Grandparents) were taken from
an outpatient clinic, and the non-depressed patients were taken from the same
local community.
- Data was collected from clinicians, blind to previous depression analyses, and
researcher triangulation was used.
- Children were evaluated by both a child psychiatrist and a psychologist.
- Their inter-rateability reliability was 0.82 for MDD.
Findings:
- Grandchildren with 2 generations of depressed parents had the highest risk of

developing depression. By 12-years-old, 59.2% of the grandchildren were
showing signs of psychiatric disorders.
- Children had an increased risk if both generations were diagnosed with MDD
compared to children whose parents weren’t diagnosed.
- Moreover, if the original sample (Grandparents) weren’t depressed, there was no
influence of parent’s depression on the children.
75
Conclusion: Genetics do play a role in the development of depression. Depression is
genetic as shown by the results as children were more likely to be depressed if parents
and grandparents were, and genetic similarity was used to establish this connection,
which overall explains the role and benefit of using genetic similarity in studying
behaviour.
76
Evolutionary
- Evolutionary psychology states that certain behaviours are a result of the
development of our species across generations.
- Sexual selection, one of the evolutionary explanations, states that mates are
chosen based on the ability to produce the healthiest offspring.
- An example of sexual selection, one which I will be focusing on in this essay, is
the choosing of mates with relatively different Major Histocompatibility Complex
(MHC) genes, a gene linked with immune response, to produce offspring with the
strongest immune systems because of diversity in immune response.
Wedekind (1995)
Procedure:

their own MHC.
behaviour. Wedekind’s results provide overall support for sexual selection on mating
choice. Women were attracted to the MHC gene that were different to their own as they
were most likely to produce the offspring with the strongest immune system, which
would explain why they found their smells more pleasant, ultimately evidencing
evolutionary explanations for behaviour.
77
Biological Research Methods
Brain and Behavior/Hormones and Pheromones
In this essay I will be explaining the use of one research method, Lab Experiment, to
study Brain and Behavior, used by Draganski OR Hormones and Pheromones, used by
Mcgaugh and Cahill. Lab Experiments are experiments conducted under highly
controlled environments to allow for accurate measurements to be taken. It allows the
researcher to create and manipulate the independent variable and observe its effects on
the dependent and allows them to establish a causal relationship between them both. It
also allows the researchers to randomly allocate participants to different conditions,
making the study generalizable.
Draganski (2004) (Brain and Behaviour)
Aim: To investigate the influence of learning a new skill on the structural changes of the
brain.
Sample: 24 volunteers aged 20-24 and were 21 females and 3 males.
Procedure:
- An initial MRI scan of the brain structure and grey matter was obtained for each
participant to serve as a base line.
- The participants were then split into two conditions: Jugglers and Non-jugglers.
The juggler had to practise and master the skill of juggling over the course of 3
months, while the non-jugglers served as a control group.
- After the initial 3 months had passed, a second MRI scan was obtained on both
groups for the structural changes within the brain, and a voxel-based
morphometry (VBM) was used to calculate changes in grey matter and neural
density.
- After that the jugglers were instructed not to practise any juggling for an extra 3
more months. After the second 3 months, an MRI scan of the structure was
obtained again, and VBM was used to identify changes in neural density.
Results:
- The researchers found that prior to the start of the experiment, there was no
significant difference in the grey matter of both groups, but after the initial 3
months, the juggler group showed significantly more grey matter in the
mid-temporal area of both hemispheres, which is associated with visual memory.
78
- After the second 3 months, when the participants were instructed not to practise
juggling, a decrease in grey matter of the mid-temporal area was observed.
- The control group had no significant change in grey matter throughout the course
of the experiment.
Conclusion: Draganski was able to draw his conclusion that learning a new skill does
influence the brain structure of the participants by using the Lab experiment method.
He was able to establish a causal relationship by isolating the IV and following
standardised procedures. Using the control group, who didn’t do any juggling, he was
able to use it as a comparison to the experimental group to see differences and solidify
the causal relationship. Overall the lab experiment helped him investigate
neuroplasticity in the brain, and ultimately investigate Brain and Behavior.
Mcgaugh and Cahill (1995) (Hormones and Pheromones)
Procedure:
from 1-10.
injected.
Findings:
recall of details.
79
did do better.
Conclusion: Mcgaugh and Cahill were able to draw the conclusion that the amygdala
and adrenaline play a role in the creation of emotional memory by using the lab
experiment method. He was able to establish a causal relationship by isolating the IV
and following standardised procedures. Using the control group, and the performing of
a follow-up study, he was able to use it as a comparison to the experimental group to see
differences and solidify the causal relationship. Overall lab experiment helped him
investigate the role of adrenaline and ultimately the role of Hormones on behaviour.
Genetics and Behavior
In this essay I will be explaining the use of one research method, Case study, to study
Genetics and Behavior, used by Weissman. A case study is an in-depth study of a person,
group, or event over a long period of time. It often takes place in the natural
environment of the person or the group. An example of a case study is studying a family
generation over multiple years, which enables researchers to look at the genetic markup,
similarities and disorders in the family. The use of case studies also allows for
researcher triangulation which increases the reliability of the study.
Weissman (2005)
Aim: to investigate the potential genetic nature of MDD.
Sample: consisted of 161 grandchildren, their parents, and grandparents.
Procedure:
- Weissman carried out a longitudinal study over a course of 20 years looking at

families with high risk and low risk of depression.
- The original sample of depressed participants (Grandparents) were taken from
an outpatient clinic, and the non-depressed patients were taken from the same
local community.
- Data was collected from clinicians, blind to previous depression analyses, and
researcher triangulation was used.
- Children were evaluated by both a child psychiatrist and a psychologist.
- Their inter-rateability reliability was 0.82 for MDD.
80
Findings:
- Grandchildren with 2 generations of depressed parents had the highest risk of

developing depression. By 12-years-old, 59.2% of the grandchildren were
showing signs of psychiatric disorders.
- Children had an increased risk if both generations were diagnosed with MDD
compared to children whose parents weren’t diagnosed.
- Moreover, if the original sample (Grandparents) weren’t depressed, there was no
influence of parent’s depression on the children.
Conclusion: Weissman et al. was able to draw the conclusion that depression is genetic
by using the case study method. They were able to reach this conclusion using case study
as it was an in-depth longitudinal study conducted on the family and lineage, allowing
them to track occurrences of depression over generations. They were able to gather
correlational data overall allowing them to deduce the genetic nature of depression and
ultimately study genetics on behaviour.
81
Biological Ethics
All 3 SAQ Introduction:
Informed consent is a process in which researchers explain the nature, purpose, and
potential risks and benefits of a research study to participants and obtain their voluntary
agreement to participate. To obtain informed consent, researchers must provide
participants with information about the study in a clear, concise, and easily
understandable way. This may include information about the purpose of the study, the
procedures that will be used, the potential risks and benefits of participating, and the
participants' rights as research subjects. Researchers must also ensure that participants
are able to ask questions and clarify any concerns they may have before deciding
whether or not to participate.
Antonova (2011) (The Brain and Behaviour)
Aim: to investigate the effects of blocking acetylcholine, by using scopolamine, on the

Sample: consisted of 20 healthy male adults and used a double-blind.
Procedure:
- There were 2 conditions, participants were injected with either scopolamine or a

placebo 70-90 min before the experimental task.
- Participants were then put into fMRI scan while playing a virtual reality "Arena
task".
- Participants were first trained in the game to get familiar with it. They had to
navigate around the arena to find a pole. once found, the screen would go blank
for 30 seconds.
- During this time the participants were told to actively rehearse the way to get to
the pole. After that the screen would come up again and they would be placed in a
different location in the arena and had to find the pole again using their spatial
memory.
- After training, the participants' brain activity was measured for 6 trials.
Participants returned 3-4 weeks later and redid the test with opposite treatment
to the original study.
82
Results:
- It was found that when injected with scopolamine, activity levels in the
hippocampus were much lower than when injected with the placebo.
- These results show that the decrease in acetylcholine leads to a decrease in the
Conclusion: The participants are being injected with either scopolamine or a placebo,
which may involve some level of risk or discomfort. They are also being asked to
participate in a virtual reality task and undergo an fMRI scan, which may also involve
some level of risk or discomfort. It is important that the researchers provide the
participants with clear and concise information about these procedures and obtain their
voluntary agreement to participate.
Mcgaugh and Cahill (1995) (Hormones and Pheromones)
Procedure:
from 1-10.
injected.
Findings:
recall of details.
83
did do better.
Conclusion: The participants are being shown a traumatic story and are being asked to
rate their emotional response. They are also being asked to participate in a recognition
task to test their memory of the story. In the follow-up study, the participants are being
injected with either a beta-blocker or a placebo, which may involve some level of risk or
discomfort.
Wedekind (1995) (Genetics and Behaviour)
Procedure:
their own MHC.
Conclusion: The participants are being asked to wear T-shirts for two nights and to
provide a ranking and rating of the T-shirts based on their smell. It is important that the
researchers provide the participants with clear and concise information about these
procedures and obtain their voluntary agreement to participate, due to the lifestyle
change that is being asked of them.
84
Social identity Theory
- SIT states that the sense of who we are is based on group membership.
- The theory claims that the groups we belong to can be an important source of
pride and self-esteem, and proposed that we have a personal self, and multiple
social selves based on different groups.
- SIT also states that our social selves may become salient meaning they become
more dominant and noticeable, and more aware of that facet of identity.
- Tajfel also identified 3 mechanisms in creation of a social identity, them being:
- Social Categorization: Process of classifying people based on characteristics, leads
to creation of ingroups.
- Social identification: Adopting norms of the group
- Social Comparison: Justifying group membership by comparing your in-groups
to other out-groups.
Drury et al. (2009)
Aim: to investigate the impact of social categorization on a person’s decision to assist

others.
Sample: consisted of 40 Sussex students, 7 males and 33 females.
Procedure:
- The study used an independent sample design and used a virtual reality
experience of an emergency to escape a fire.
- The participants were primed by making them think about an emergency before
the experiment.
- Participants were split into two groups: Group identification and Individual
Identification.
- Group identification identified with others from the same football team and wore
the same-coloured vests.
- Individual identification identified themselves individually and wore different
coloured vests (The colour of vest was to increase saliency).
- They were then presented with the scenario of having to escape from the fire, in
which they could either push others and escape faster or help others but escape
slower.
- To ensure the group size didn’t influence the results, the experiment was done
with both a group size of 8 and 32 to establish causality.
85
Results: Participants in the group identification condition helped more and pushed
less, while the individual group pushed more. The crowd size had no effect.
Conclusion: Drury concluded that having high ingroup identification, and having
higher social categorization increases the tendency to help others. These results
provide evidence for social categorization and identification, as participants who had
identified with the group helped more, which overall supports and describes social
identification theory.
86
Social Cognitive Theory
- SCT states that people can learn behaviour from the environment through the
process of modelling and reinforcement, essentially learning by observing.
- Modelling is the process of observing role models performing a certain behaviour
with a certain consequence. This leads to vicarious reinforcement due to the
observed consequences and leads to imitation of the behaviour if the
consequence is perceived as desirable.
- Bandura identified certain conditions for social learning: observer must pay
attention to the action, observer must retain the information, must be motivated
to repeat the behaviour, must have potential and ability to reproduce behaviour.
- Once all these conditions have been met, social learning can take place.
Bandura (1961)
Aim: to investigate whether children would learn aggressive behaviour by imitating role
models.
Sample: 36 boys and 36 girls, 3-5 years old, all evaluated for levels of aggression prior to
the experiment, this was done by asking experimenters and teachers to describe the
child’s behaviour.
Procedure:
- The children were then split into 3 conditions using a matched-pairs design
(average level of aggression was same for all groups).
- The 3 conditions were: Whether exposed to violence or not, Gender of the child,
gender of role model. The children watched either a male or female role model
acting either aggressively (Bashing bobo doll) or passively, or they observed no
role model (Control).
- Children were then invited to a room full of toys but banned from using any of
them to instigate frustration within the child. Children were then put into the
room and observed through a one-way mirror
Results:
- Children who were exposed to aggressive role models displayed most aggression,
control coming second, and passive role models displayed least aggression.
- Boys were most violent, girls tended to imitate female models more directly.
Conclusion: Role model behaviour and aggression does influence behaviour modelled by
children, as shown by the results since aggressive role model groups displayed most
87
aggression compared to other groups, and passive role model groups displayed least
aggression.
88
Formation of Stereotypes
- Stereotypes are defined as a widely held, fixed, and oversimplified image of a
particular type of person, thing, or idea.
- These stereotypes are mainly acquired through indirect methods such as media,
people, and social norms, but can sometimes also be acquired directly through
personal experiences.
- Stereotypes can also be seen as a heuristic linking with schemas as they provide a
fast method to reach a conclusion about a certain group. These stereotypes can
ultimately lead to judgement of the groups.
- Prejudice, which is defined as the making of a judgement with very little evidence
except group identification, is caused because of these held stereotypes.
Discrimination is the biased behaviour towards a group, thing, or idea that is
caused due to these held stereotypes and prejudice.
- One method of stereotype formation is Illusory correlation. Illusory correlation is
an example of a cognitive bias which leads us to perceive two social groups
differently.
- It is the erroneous judgement of relationship between two variables, a group and
the stereotype held, leading to the unwarranted positive or negatively held
relationship between them both, and hence the underestimation or
overestimation of the association between the two variables leading to the
formation of the stereotype
Hamilton and Gifford (1976)
Aim: investigate the illusory correlation of group size to a negative behaviour.
Sample: 70 Americans, male and female, who were split into two groups – group A and
group B.
Procedure:
- Group A had twice as many people (26) than group B (13), making group B the
minority group.
- The participants were told that group B was smaller than group A before starting
the experiment.
- Participants were shown a series of slides, each with a statement about a single
individual of one of the two groups, with the statements being either positive or
negative.
89
- Each of the groups had the same proportion of positive to negative statements.
The participants were then asked to rank members of each group for 20 traits,
such as popularity, socialness, and intelligence.
- Once this task was completed, they were given a booklet with statements about a
person from an unspecified group, then asked whether this person belonged to
group A or group B, and finally were asked how many of the statements for each
group were “Undesirable”.
Results:
- The trait rankings, group A was ranked higher than group B for positive traits
and ranked lower for negative traits.
- In the booklet, participants recalled more positive traits for group A (74%) than
group B (54%) but recalled more negative traits for group B (65%) than group A
(55%).
- Finally, Participants overestimated the number of negative traits in the minority
group.
Conclusion: Hamilton and Gifford concluded that illusory correlation had taken place
with the negative behaviours being associated with the minority group. They argued that
this was because the minority group was smaller in number, hence the negative
behaviours appeared more distinct and representative to the group, ultimately causing
the linking of that behaviour to the group itself. These results overall support and
explain illusory correlation, and ultimately explain the formation of stereotypes.
90
Effects of Stereotypes
- Stereotypes are defined as a widely held but fixed and oversimplified social
perception or an idea of a particular type of person, group, or thing.
- It is the generalisation that is made about a group, and then attributed to
members of that group.
- Stereotypes usually aren’t acquired directly, but rather through other ways such
as social media, people, and social norms.
- Having these stereotypes can lead to judgement, prejudice and discrimination.
- Stereotypes can also be seen as schemas that help us gain a perception of the
world around us, and it can be either negative or positive.
- One effect of stereotypes is stereotype threat which is the fear of confirming a
negatively held stereotype about a group that one belongs to.
- When faced with stereotype threats, people tend to get nervous and perform
worse, thus confirming the stereotype.
Steele and Aronson (1995)
Aim: to investigate the influence of stereotype and stereotype threat on academic

performance within African Americans.
Sample: 76 male and female, black and white undergraduate students.
Procedure:
- The participants were each given a standardised test of verbal ability, similar to
SAT, and were split into two groups.
- One group was told that it was a test to diagnose their intellectual ability and the
other group was told that it was a test of problem-solving skills.
- The condition of testing intellectual ability is the stereotype threat condition. The
participants then had to complete the test and their results on the test were
analysed.
Findings:
- No significant difference between males and female participants between the

conditions, hence showing that gender doesn’t play a role in this case.
- As for race, African Americans performed worse when they believed that it was a
test of ability but did just as well as the white Americans when they believed it
was to test their problem-solving skills.
91
- This shows that African Americans performed worse in the stereotype threat
condition, but their performance equaled the white Americans in the non-threat
condition.
Conclusion: Stereotype does have an influence on people's behaviours, especially on

academic performance in this case, as shown by the results with the African Americans
performing worse when faced with the stereotype.
92
Cultural Origins
- Culture is defined as a set of shared beliefs, behaviours, and values followed by a
certain group or community of people and is generally passed on through
generations.
- Hofstede provided an explanation for culture as it being a “mental software”. He
explained that the cultural schemas that have been internalised influence
thinking, emotion, and behaviour, and that these cultural schemas are developed
through daily interactions and feedback from other members of the group.
- Culture is divided into two types, surface culture and deep culture. Surface
culture is the visible part of culture such as clothing, foods, traditional activities
and alike. Deep culture on the other hand is the unseen part of the culture such as
their behaviours, attitudes, beliefs, and values held by them.
- Different cultures may have different methods of learning and recalling
information. These strategies are developed because of the conditions of the
culture itself and due to their beliefs.
- An example of this is for most westernised schools, information is usually taught
to be remembered through word and linguistic cues. In other cultures, such as
Aboriginal culture, they have developed their memory encoding through visual
cues for memory recall.
Kearins (1981)
Aim: to investigate whether culture had an influence on memory through investigating

cultural strategies of Aboriginal people for visuospatial memory recall.
Sample: 44 adolescent desert indigenous Australians (27 boys 17 girls), and 44

adolescent white Australians (28 boys 16 girls).
Procedure:
- The experiment was done outside of the school environment, mainly outdoors.
- The basic procedure was that Kearins placed 20 objects onto a board divided into
20 squares, each object in one square.
- Both samples were told to study the board for 30 seconds. Once this was done,
the items were removed from the board and the children were asked to replace
the objects in their correct position.
- There were 4 variations of this task: Artificial different, Natural different,
Artificial same, Natural same. The artificial tasks consisted of man-made objects
likely more familiar to the white Australians, while the natural tasks consisted of
93
naturally occurring objects such as rocks, feathers, etc… that are likely more
familiar to the desert children.
- Different means that the objects were distinctly different from each other, same
means that the objects were inherently similar to each other so it would be harder
to distinguish between them.
- The basic task was done for all 4 of these conditions.
Findings:
- All 4 conditions, Indigenous Australian children correctly relocated more objects

than White Australians. The task with the least difference between the two
groups was the Artificial difference, in which the white Australians performed
their best.
- Indigenous Australians showed no significant difference whether the objects were
artificial or natural, showing that the objects themselves had no influence. 18% of
the white Australians managed one perfect score, and none obtained two or
more, while 75% of the Indigenous Australians made at least one perfect score,
and 41% made at least two perfect performances.
Conclusion: Aboriginal people do perform better in tasks that take advantage of their
specific cultural strategy. The indigenous Australians living in the desert would have
developed a better visual memory recall using visual cues in order to survive better in
the desert, explaining why they did better in these tasks that require visuospatial
memory. Hence Kearins ultimately concluded that culture does have an influence on
memory which is explained by these results, and ultimately explains the effects of
culture on memory recall.
94
Cultural Dimensions
- Cultural dimensions are the values within a culture that influence behaviour and
cognition.
- There are many cultural dimensions that Hosftede identified such as Direct vs
indirect communication, Time vs Relationship, Low vs High power distance, etc…
- In this essay I will be focusing on Individualism vs Collectivism (I-C).
- Individualistic cultures are very achievement based, focused on uniqueness and
independence, and there is no obligation to a larger community. They are
expected to take care of themselves. An example of an individualistic culture
would be the western culture which is mainly focused on independence.
- Collectivistic cultures are cultures that put heavy importance on social harmony,
focus on tradition, interdependence, group membership and obligation to larger
communities.
- An example of a collectivistic culture is China, where the people are expected to
be loyal to the community.
Berry (1967)
Aim: to investigate the influence of (I-C) dimension on the levels of conformity within
both an individualistic community (Inuits) and a Collectivistic community (Temne).
Sample: 3 distinctly different communities: Temne, Inuits, and Scots (Reference group).
Within both the Temne and Inuit group, there were 122 participants in each, with each
of the cultures including traditional and transitional people. Traditional refers to having
no interaction with western education, while transitional refers to people who have had
western education or employment.
Procedure:
- His procedure was recreating Ash’s line study, where each individual was brought
into a room separately, given a set of 9 lines of different lengths and asked to
match a given line to one of the 9 ones which most closely matched it in length.
- There were a total of 6 trials done, the first two being a test trial where they were
simply asked to match without any external influence.
- For the 3rd trial, they were given a “hint” with the researcher telling them that
most of the other people in their own group chose a specific line, and they were
given the right answer in the hint.
- For trials 4-6, the same procedure was repeated as trial 3, but this time the hint
was given as the wrong answer, with the correct answer being 5 lines away.
95
- The results were measured with the DV being how many lines away from the
correct answer they were.
Findings:
- The Temne, collectivistic group, had a much higher rate of conformity when told
that the other Temne people chose a certain answer, even if it was incorrect.
- The Inuits on the other hand had a much lower rate of conformity, even lower
than the Scots.
- There was also no significant difference within the group themselves, meaning
traditional or transitional didn’t influence the results.
Conclusion: The (I-C) dimension does influence behaviour of conformity as shown by

the results since Temne people conformed more than Inuits, which can also be
explained through the values held by them. Overall the results of this study evidence and
explain cultural dimensions.
96
Enculturation
- Enculturation is defined as the process of how norms of one’s own culture are
adopted onto themselves, with the behaviours, attitudes, and values of the
cultures being internalised and accepted.
- It is argued that enculturation can be explained through the SCT model of
behaviour as the model states that behaviour is learnt through observation,
imitation, and shaping (being rewarded or punished).
- Gender enculturation, being the norms of a culture regarding gender roles, is one
type of enculturation and the process of adopting these norms occurs at a very
young age, as early as 3 years old.
- Martin and Halvorson believed that children actively seek out information to help
them develop a schema of what their gender should be and how they are
supposed to act.
- These gender schemas are a bank of knowledge on gender behaviour that
organises a person’s beliefs and expectation of gender.
- By seeking out information and receiving it from people of a certain culture
causes the enculturation of those gender roles to occur, and ultimately influences
the attitude towards gender behaviour.
Fagot (1978)
Aim: to investigate gender roles and observe parental reaction to behaviour that wasn’t
deemed appropriate to the child’s gender, according to American culture of the time.
Sample: consisted of 24 families (12 with a boy and 12 with a girl). Each family had only
one child between 20 and 24 months old, with both the parents living at home and being
between 20 and 30 years old. All families were white, with 5 of them living in university
housing, 6 in apartments, and the rest in private homes.
Procedure:
- The researchers performed an observational study; the observers used a checklist

of 46 child behaviours and 19 reactions by the parents and recorded the child’s
behaviour according to this checklist every 60 seconds and the parents’ reaction
to the behaviour.
- The study took place over a 5-week period with there being 5 60-minute
observations for every family.
- Two observers were used to establish inter-coder reliability and the agreement of
the observers were 0.93 for child behaviour and 0.83 for parent reaction.
97
- After the observations were completed, each parent was asked to rate the 46 child
behaviours as more appropriate for boys, girls, or neutral.
- Each parent also filled a questionnaire on the socialisation of sex roles.
Findings:
- Boys were more likely to be left alone, More positive reaction towards boys when
playing with blocks than to girls
- Criticised more for girls when participating in large motor activities (Running,
jumping)
- More positive to girls when playing with dolls and negative for boys for doing the
same
- Fathers were more concerned with appropriate sex-typing than mothers
- Parents reacted significantly more positively to the child when engaging with
same-sex preferred behaviour than with cross-sex preferred behaviour.
Conclusion: Cultural norms of how a specific gender should act has been deeply
internalised and that enculturation has taken place and is demonstrated. This can be
seen as the study shows parents directly teaching and instructing children about what is
and isn’t appropriate behaviour according to their culture’s gender norms.
98
Acculturation or Assimilation
- Acculturation is the process of cultural and psychological change that takes place
as a result of contact between two or more cultural groups.
- Berry proposed a model of acculturation that identifies 4 strategies of interaction
with a new culture.
- These 4 strategies are: Integration – Assimilation – Separation –
Marginalisation.
- This essay will be focusing on assimilation, which is the method of adopting the
new cultural norms when there is a lack of importance of maintaining one’s own
culture while also having a positive relationship and a need to adopt the new
culture.
- People who assimilate into new cultures abandon their old cultures entirely, and
completely adopt and follow the new norms of their new culture.
- Acculturative stress, the behaviour which I will be focusing on as a result of
acculturation, specifically assimilation (only for assimilation essay), is the
psychological impact of the adaptation of the new culture, which may lead to
reduced mental and physical health. Acculturative stress is also known as
“Culture shock”.
Lueck and Wilson (2010)
Aim: to identify and investigate variables that may predict acculturative stress in a
nationally representative sample of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans.
Sample: 2095 Asian Americans with 1271 of them being first generation immigrants who
were 18 years and older when they came to the US. The rest of the sample was born in
the US to first-generation immigrants.
Procedure:
- The researcher carried out a semi-structured interview. The interviewers had

cultural and linguistic backgrounds similar to those of the sample population,
and interviews were conducted either over the internet or face to face.
- The interviews measured the participants’ level of acculturative stress,
considering variables such as language proficiency, language preference,
discrimination, social networks, family cohesion, and socioeconomic status and
each of their influence on acculturative stress.
99
Findings:
- In 1433 of the 2095 interviews, participants were shown to have experienced

acculturative stress, that is about 70% of the whole sample.
- The findings also showed that bilingual language preference contributed to lower
AS, but the preference for English speaking only predicted higher AS.
- Negative treatment led to more AS - sharing similar values as a family
significantly decreased AS
- AS was significantly lower for those with satisfied economic opportunities.
Acculturation conclusion: Lueck and Wilson overall concluded that acculturation

generally does lead to acculturative stress, but there are factors that may increase or
decrease this level of stress gained by it, meaning that the each of 4 specific strategies
that are used to adopt new culture would have a different level of AS caused by them.
Overall, this study evidences and explains Acculturation.
Assimilation conclusion: Lueck and Wilson overall concluded that acculturation

generally does lead to acculturative stress, but there are factors that may increase or
decrease this level of stress gained by it. This means that each of 4 specific strategies
that are used to adopt a new culture would have a different level of AS caused by them.
Specifically, assimilation would have the least AS, as shown by the results where
immigrants had low AS when satisfied with their economic position, meaning that
having abandoned their own culture and adopting new culture they would experience
the least clash in social norms, and ultimately experience the least AS. Overall, this
study evidences and explains assimilation.
100
Sociocultural Research Methods
Individual and the group
In this essay I will be explaining the use of one research method, Lab Experiment, to
study the individual and the group, used by Bandura. Lab Experiments are experiments
conducted under highly controlled environments to allow for accurate measurements to
be taken. It allows the researcher to create and manipulate the independent variable and
observe its effects on the dependent and allows them to establish a causal relationship
between them both. It also allows the researchers to randomly allocate participants to
different conditions, making the study generalizable.
Bandura (1961)
Aim: was to investigate whether children would learn aggressive behaviour by imitating
role models.
Procedure:
Results:
101
Conclusion: The researchers are manipulating two independent variables: the exposure
to violence and the gender of the role model. The dependent variable is the level of
aggression exhibited by the children. By manipulating these variables and measuring
the effect on the dependent variable, the researchers can study the relationship between
exposure to violence and aggression in children. This shows clear manipulation of the IV
and its relationship with the DV.
Cultural Origins
Quasi Experiments examine the effect of a naturally occurring or pre-existing

independent variable (for example, age, gender, ethnicity) not an independent variable
that is manipulated by the researcher. Therefore, in quasi experiment studies, the
participants cannot be randomly allocated to conditions but are assigned to conditions
on the basis of the pre-existing independent variable.
Berry (1967)
Procedure:
102
Findings:
than the Scots.
Conclusion: In this study, the researchers are manipulating the independent variable of
whether the participant is a part of an individualist or collectivist group. The dependent
variable is the rate of conformity. By manipulating this variable and measuring the
effect on the dependent variable, the researchers can study the relationship between
culture and conformity.
Cultural Influences
An observational study is a research method in which researchers observe and record

the behaviour of individuals or groups without manipulating any variables or interfering
with their behaviour. Observational studies are a type of descriptive research that allow
researchers to gather information about the characteristics, behaviour, and patterns of a
particular group or population.
Fagot (1978)
Procedure:
- The researchers performed an observation study; the observers used a checklist

to the behaviour.
103
Findings:
jumping)
same
Conclusion: The researchers used a checklist to observe and record the behaviour of
children and their parents over a 5-week period and choose to observe the families in
their natural environment. They used two observers to establish inter-coder reliability
and ensure that the observations were consistent and accurate.
104
Sociocultural Ethics
Individual and the group/Cultural Influences
Informed consent is a process in which researchers explain the nature, purpose, and
potential risks and benefits of a research study to participants and obtain their voluntary
agreement to participate. To obtain informed consent, researchers must provide
participants with information about the study in a clear, concise, and easily
understandable way. This may include information about the purpose of the study, the
procedures that will be used, the potential risks and benefits of participating, and the
participants' rights as research subjects. Researchers must also ensure that participants
are able to ask questions and clarify any concerns they may have before deciding
whether or not to participate.
Bandura (1961) (Individual and the group)
Aim: to investigate whether children would learn aggressive behaviour by imitating role
models.
Procedure:
Results:
105
Conclusion: In this study, it is likely that the researchers obtained informed consent
from the parents or guardians of the children who participated in the study. This would
have involved explaining the purpose and procedures of the study, as well as the
potential risks and benefits, and ensuring that the parents or guardians understood this
information and were able to make an informed decision about whether or not to allow
their child to participate.
Fagot (1978) (Cultural Influences)
Procedure:
- The researchers performed an observation study; the observers used a checklist

to the behaviour.
Findings:
jumping)
same
106
Conclusion: The researchers obtained informed consent from the parents or guardians
of the children who participated in the study. This would have involved explaining the
purpose and procedures of the study, as well as the potential risks and benefits, and
ensuring that the parents or guardians understood this information and were able to
make an informed decision about whether or not to allow their child to participate.
Cultural Origins
Debriefing refers to the process of providing information to research participants about

the purpose and procedures of the study, and any potential risks or benefits that they
may have experienced as a result of participating. Debriefing is typically conducted at
the end of a study, and is designed to ensure that participants are fully informed about
the nature of the research and any potential consequences of their participation.
Berry (1967)
Procedure:
107
Findings:
than the Scots.
Conclusion: Debriefing is important in this study because it helps to ensure that the
participants are fully informed about the nature and purpose of the research, and any
potential risks or benefits that may have arisen as a result of participating. This is
important because the study involves giving participants deceptive hints that may have
an influence on their performance on the task. Without proper debriefing, participants
may not fully understand the purpose of the hints or the potential impact that they may
have had on their performance.
108
Biological Theories of Attraction
Theory 1
- The biological approach argues that human attraction has its roots in natural
selection – that is, we are attracted to the traits that would have the greatest
advantage for our potential offspring.
- They also argue that attraction is primarily a physiological response. These
physiological responses include neurotransmitters, hormones, and potentially,
pheromones.
- The Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) is a set of genes that play a role in
the immune system, and research has shown that people tend to be attracted to
individuals whose MHC genes are different from their own. This is thought to be
because having a partner with different MHC genes can increase the chances of
producing offspring with a strong immune system.
Wedekind (1995)
Procedure:

their own MHC.
109
explaining the role of natural selection in mating behaviour in humans.
Critical Thinking:
- By using a specific and measurable approach, it allows for the examination of the
specific role of MHC genes in attraction. The study uses a controlled approach, as
the study uses an unworn T-shirt as a control, this control allows for the
examination of the effect of MHC genes on attraction specifically and not any
other variables.
- It may not generalise to other populations as the study only used students, thus
the results might not be generalizable to other groups. Additionally, the study is
based on self-reported data, which can be influenced by the participant's current
mood or perspective; this might affect the accuracy of the results.
Theory 2
- Romantic love is not an emotion, but rather a motivation system - a need or a

craving - designed to enable lovers to mate. Helen Fisher believes the obsessive
behaviour often displayed in romantic love as obsessive behaviour is linked to a
specific attraction system (‘biochemical cocktail’) in the brain- focused on
dopamine rich areas.
- This could perhaps explain why attraction is normally linked to increased energy,
focused attention, obsessive following, sleeplessness and loss of appetite.
- Dopamine is behind the intense motivation to win a specific mating partner in
the early stages of human romantic love. In this way, humans are very much like
other animals.
- The ‘biochemical cocktail’ of love is made up of Dopamine, Testosterone,
Noradrenaline and Serotonin.
Fisher et al (2005)
Aim: Fisher and her team used an fMRI to test their hypothesis that there are specific
neural mechanisms associated with romantic love.
Sample: The participants consisted of a self-selected sample of 10 women and 7 men

who were
intensely in love for an average of 7.4 months.
110
Method
- The researchers first conducted a semi-structured interview to establish the

duration and intensity of the participants’ feelings of romantic love.
- Each participant completed the Passionate Love Scale - a Likert scale
questionnaire that measures traits commonly associated with romantic love. This
was done in order to compare what participants reported on the questionnaires
to their brain activity as seen through the fMRI.
- The participants first looked at the photograph of their beloved for 30 seconds
while they were scanned.
- Then they had a filler task to distract them before they looked at a neutral
photograph for 30 seconds while being scanned.
- This was repeated six times. The researchers got what Fisher calls “a beautiful
picture of the brain in love”, showing activity in the brain’s reward system.
Findings: The researchers found that the brain’s reward system was particularly active
when the lovers looked at pictures of the object of their love - that is, increased activity
in the areas of the brain with high levels of dopamine neurons; they also found that the
more passionate they were, the more active the brain’s reward circuitry was.
Conclusion: This is in line with our knowledge of the brain's reward system and the role
of dopamine in motivation. The data from the fMRI scans supported a correlation
between the attitudes towards the lover and brain activity. According to Fisher,
romantic love is not an emotion, but rather a motivation system - a need or a craving -
designed to enable lovers to mate.
Critical Thinking:
- Establishes a cause and effect relationship between specific neural mechanisms

associated with romantic love.
- Standardised procedures used, which causes an increase in control and accuracy
which increases internal validity
- Artificial task, meaning the study lacks mundane realism, causing it to decrease
in ecological validity
- Biased results as participants were answering questionnaires, meaning they could
display demand characteristics
- It is often difficult to establish causation in evolutionary/biological research on

attraction, as it can be challenging to disentangle the complex interactions
111
between genetics, environment, and behaviour. However, researchers can use a
variety of methods to try to establish causation and understand the factors that
influence attraction.
- Mating behaviours can vary significantly across different cultures and societies.
While there may be some universal aspects of human mating behaviour, such as
the desire for a mate who is able to provide resources or protection, there is also a
great deal of cultural variation in mating behaviours. For example, some cultures
place a high value on physical attractiveness in a mate, while others may value
qualities such as intelligence, kindness, or social status more highly. In some
cultures, arranged marriages are common, while in others individuals have more
freedom to choose their own mates. Additionally, cultural norms around dating,
courtship, and marriage can vary significantly.
112
Cognitive Theories of Attraction
Theory 1:
- The Similarity-Attraction Model argues that people like and are attracted to
others who are similar, rather than dissimilar to themselves.
- Couples tend to be similar in age, religion, social class, cultural background,
personality, education, intelligence, physical attractiveness, and attitudes.
- This could be due to similarity leading to self validation (someone else agreeing
with our opinions, worldviews etc.) and the idea that spending time with people
similar to us is more enjoyable (because you have the same interests e.g. both like
going to the cinema or playing sport)
Markey and Markey (2007)
Aim: investigate the extent to which similarity is a factor in the way people choose a
partner.
Procedure:
- Using questionnaires, the researchers asked a large self-selected sample of

undergraduate students to describe the psychological characteristics, values, and
attitudes of their ideal romantic partner, without thinking of anyone in particular.
Afterward, they were asked to describe themselves.
Findings: The results showed that the way the participants described themselves was
similar to what they were seeking in their ideal partner.
Second Study:
- Sample: In a follow-up study, the researchers used 106 young couples who had
been together for a year. The self-selected sample of 212 participants was
recruited through advertisements in the local newspaper and around the
university campus where the research took place.
- Method: The participants filled out a questionnaire about their own as well as
their partner’s personality characteristics. The result was in line with the first
investigation. The study confirmed that people want partners who are similar to
themselves.
Findings: The second study also found that couples who experienced the most loving
and harmonious relationships have romantic partners who are similar to themselves on
113
some characteristics but not all. For example, if one partner tended to be somewhat
dominant, the other was more submissive. This points towards the possibility that total
similarity in a couple may be a wish but perhaps not ideal when it comes to maintaining
harmony long-term.
Critical thinking:
- Efficient data collection: Questionnaires can be administered to a large number

of participants relatively quickly, making them an efficient way to collect data
from a large sample.
- High response rate: Questionnaires can often achieve a high response rate, as
they can be completed by participants at their own pace and in their own time.
This can be particularly useful when studying large populations.
- Response bias: Participants may not always answer honestly or accurately on
questionnaires, which can introduce bias into the data. For example, participants
may feel pressure to give socially desirable responses, or they may not recall past
events or behaviours accurately.
- Limited ability to probe: Questionnaires do not allow researchers to probe or
follow up on responses, which can make it difficult to get a full understanding of
participants' thoughts, feelings, or behaviours.
Theory 2:
- John Bowlby, a developmental psychologist, posited that as children we form

mental representations or schema based on our first bonded relationship - often
with our mother or another caregiver.
- The motivation to form attachment is biologically based but the process of
forming attachments is based on experience. Bowlby called this set of schemas
the internal working model.
- Internal working model is a term used in developmental psychology to describe
an individual's mental representation of their relationships with others. It is
thought to be an important factor in the development of attachment, which is the
emotional bond that forms between an infant and their caregiver.
- There are three important elements: ideas about attachment figures and what can
be expected from them, ideas about the selfand ideas about how self and others
relate.
Hazan and Shaver (1987)
114
Aim: to determine if there was a correlation between one's attachment style and their
satisfaction in romantic relationships.
Sample: The sample was self-selected. 620 people aged between 14 to 82 years
responded to the love quiz, with a median age of 34 and a mean of 36. There were 205
males and 415 females. Forty-two percent were married at the time of the survey.
Method:
- In order to carry out their study, the researchers devised a questionnaire called
the “love quiz” that was published in a local newspaper.
- The questionnaire was divided into three parts. The first contained 56 statements
concerning the participant's most important relationship - for example, "I
considered/consider X one of my best friends."
- The participants responded to a Likert scale by circling SD, D, A, or SA to indicate
points along a strongly disagree to strongly agree continuum.
- Part 2 of the questionnaire asked specific questions about the nature of the
relationship.
- The final section of the questionnaire included questions about the participant's
childhood relationships with his or her mother and father and the parents'
relationship with each other.
- The participants were asked to focus on one romantic relationship, past or
present, that they thought was the most important in their life.
Findings:
- The researchers found that 56% of the respondents demonstrated what would be
considered a secure attachment style, 25 % showed an avoidant style and 19%
showed an ambivalent style.
- The best predictor of adult attachment type was the participants' perceptions of
the quality of their relationship with each parent and the parents' relationship
with each other.
- People who were securely attached said their parents had been readily available,
attentive, and responsive.
- People who were avoidant said their parents were unresponsive, rejecting, and
inattentive.
- People who were ambivalent said their parents were anxious, only sometimes
responsive, and generally out of step with their needs.
Conclusion: Although the researchers found there was some correlation between
childhood attachment style and the quality of one's adult romantic relationships, they
115
warned about drawing too many conclusions about the continuity between early
childhood experience and adult relationships. It would be overly deterministic to say
that insecurely attached children would also end up in insecure adult relationship
patterns.
Critical Thinking:
- The study has a large sample size and is more likely to be representative of the
population being studied, which makes the results more generalizable to the
larger population.
- Likert scales provide a quantifiable measure of participants' responses, which can
help to reduce subjectivity and increase the objectivity of the data.
- Participants may not always answer honestly or accurately on Likert scales, which
can introduce bias into the data. For example, participants may feel pressure to
give socially desirable responses, or they may not fully understand the items on
the scale.
- Likert scales typically offer a limited range of response options (e.g., strongly
agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree), which may not capture the full
range of participants' attitudes or behaviours.
- The wording of the questions on the Likert scale can influence the results, so it is
important for researchers to carefully consider the wording of the items and to
pilot the scale to ensure its reliability and validity.
Theory Critical Thinking:
- The measure of the internal working model lacks construct validity, the results
may not be generalizable to the larger population, as the measure may not
accurately reflect the concept in all cases and it may be difficult to compare
findings across studies, as different measures may be measuring different
constructs so it may not be able to accurately predict other outcomes that are
theoretically related to it, such as attachment style or relationship quality.
- The internal working model “accounts for personal differences," meaning that it
can help to explain why individuals may differ in their attitudes, behaviours, and
relationships with others. For example, research has shown that individuals with
a positive internal working model of themselves and others tend to have more
secure attachments, while those with a negative internal working model tend to
have more anxious or avoidant attachments. These differences in attachment
style may be influenced by the individual's internal working model, which reflects
their mental representation of their relationships with others.
- In the case of the internal working model, some researchers argue that this
concept has high ecological validity, as it reflects an individual's mental
116
representation of their relationships with others, which is a central aspect of
human social behaviour and development. The internal working model is thought
to influence an individual's perceptions and interactions with others in real-world
settings, and research has shown that it is predictive of important outcomes such
as attachment style and relationship quality.
- Relationship formation is a complex process that is influenced by a wide range of
factors, including individual characteristics, interpersonal dynamics, and the
social and cultural context in which the relationship occurs. In many cases, it is
difficult or impossible to fully isolate these factors under natural conditions, as
they are often interconnected and difficult to separate.
- The approach may be considered too simplistic when not used in combination
with other approaches to understanding human relationships. The internal
working model may be considered too simplistic because it does not take into
account the complex and dynamic nature of human relationships. Relationships
are influenced by a wide range of factors, including individual characteristics,
interpersonal dynamics, and the social and cultural context in which the
relationship occurs. While the internal working model may provide insight into
an individual's subjective experiences and expectations about their relationships
with others, it does not fully capture the complexity of human relationships.
117
Sociocultural Theories of Attraction
- Zajonc proposed that the mere-exposure effect plays a key role in the formation
of a relationship.
- The mere exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon by which people tend to
develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them.
- The mere exposure effect is thought to be driven by the principle of familiarity, in
which individuals are more likely to prefer or feel positive towards stimuli that
they are familiar with.
- Cultural differences in individualistic and collectivist cultures can influence the
mere exposure effect, as they may affect how individuals respond to familiar
stimuli.
- Research has shown that people in individualistic cultures tend to place a higher
value on personal autonomy and self-reliance, and may be more likely to rely on
their own preferences and judgement when making decisions.
- In contrast, people in collectivist cultures may be more influenced by social
norms and the opinions of others, and may be more likely to rely on the opinions
of others when making decisions.
Zajonc (1968)
of a relationship.
- In Zajonc's (1968) study, he showed a set of Michigan State University seniors
photos of male faces.
- The participants were told that they were taking part in a study of “visual
memory."
- The participants were shown each photo for only two seconds. The faces were
shown with different rates of frequency to different groups.
- Each time that they saw a photo, they were asked to rate how much they would
like the man on a 7-point scale
- When the participants were exposed to the image more frequently, their rating of
the likeability of the man in the photo was significantly greater than when they
had only seen the image once.
Critical Thinking:
- The within-subjects design allows the researchers to control for individual

differences and other factors that might confound the results, which can increase
the internal validity of the study.
118
- The study can be easily replicated by other researchers using the same methods,
which can increase the reliability and generalizability of the results.
- Looking at photos and making a judgement about someone’s likeability has
pretty low ecological validity.
- The study only includes a small sample of participants (Michigan State University
seniors) and only examines white male faces, which may limit the generalizability
of the results to other populations.
Moreland and Beach (1992)
Aim: Moreland and Beach (1992) carried out a field experiment to test the validity of the
Mere Exposure Effect.
Sample: The sample was made up of 130 undergraduate psychology students (63 male;
67 female). All of the participants were taking a personality psychology course in a large
lecture hall.
Method:
- The experiment used confederates - four women who posed as students in the
course. Each of the women attended a different number of class sessions.
- Woman A attended no session; woman B attended 5 sessions; woman C attended
10 sessions; woman D attended 15 sessions. The choice of which session to attend
was determined randomly.
- For each visit, the same procedure was followed.
- One of the women arrived at the lecture hall a few minutes before class began,
walked slowly down toward the front of the hall, and sat where she could be seen
by all the other students. During the lecture, she simply listened and took notes.
A few minutes after class ended, the woman rose, walked slowly up toward the
back of the hall, and left.
- In order to create conditions of mere exposure, none of the women was allowed
to interact with the other students.
- At the end of the semester, the participants were shown slides of the four women
and asked to fill in a survey in which they were asked to rank the women on a 1 - 7
scale for several traits - including attractiveness, popularity, intelligence, warmth,
honesty, and success. They were also asked whether they knew the woman or if
she was familiar.
Findings: The data indicated that male and female students responded to the four
women in similar ways. Sex was therefore not a confounding variable. The participants
119
did not find the women familiar, however, the more classes a woman attended, the more
positive traits she was believed to have.
Critical Thinking:
- Field experiments take place in real-world settings, which can increase the
ecological validity of the study. This makes it more likely that the results will be
applicable to real-world situations.
- Field experiments allow researchers to manipulate the independent variable and
control for other factors that might confound the results, which can increase the
internal validity of the study.
- The use of confederates may raise ethical concerns, as the participants may not
be fully aware that they are part of an experiment.
- The results of the experiment may not be fully generalizable to other settings or
populations, as the study only includes a sample of participants in a single
context
- Unlike biological approaches, sociocultural explanations do account for

individual experiences and the role of the environment.
- Social theories are often studied in experimental settings which can be replicated
to establish reliability.
- However, situations in the lab are highly artificial. Often strangers are used and
therefore are unlikely to predict what would happen outside of the artificial
setting.
- Factors influencing attraction are impossible to isolate under natural conditions.
We can’t know if it is mere-exposure or other variables making a person more
attractive.
120
The Role of Communication
Theory 1:
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, adapted from Dr. John Gottman's
research, are four negative communication patterns that are highly predictive of
relationship dissatisfaction and divorce. These patterns are:
- Criticism: Attacking the character of the partner at the core which is different
from a complaint, which focuses on the behaviour. “Why can't you do this right?"
“What's wrong with you?"
- Defensiveness: Self-protection and retaliation to ward off a perceived attack
which causes shifting the focus away from the problem onto the partner's flaws.
“The problem isn't me, it's you."
- Contempt: Treating the partner with disrespect or ridicule. Thinking the other as
lesser. Partner feels despised and worthless. Using eye-rolling, sarcasm,
name-calling. “You're disgusting." “You're so stupid." *The single greatest
predictor of divorce.*
- Stonewalling: Withdrawing from the interaction, shutting down or “checking
out." Habitually avoiding conflict, turning away, acting busy, or engaging in
obsessive behaviours. “Whatever. I don't need this".
Gottman (1999)
Aim: to investigate communication strategies in married couples. He argues that he can

predict the likelihood that a marriage will survive by watching communication patterns
between two people.
Procedure:
- Mainly interviewed couples in his lab.

- Many had come as a "last resort" to save their marriage.
- Some longitudinal research to describe communication patterns of successful
couples.
- Observations of couples having a low-conflict conversation and then a
high-conflict conversation.
- Measured heart rate, blood pressure and skin galvanization.
- He studied heterosexual and same-sex couples.
Findings: 4 communication styles that threaten a relationship.
Critical Thinking:
121
- Gottman's method is based on extensive research on couples and their
interactions, which provides a strong foundation for the approach.
- Gottman's method has been shown to be effective in reducing relationship
distress and improving relationship satisfaction in the long-term.
- The method is based on a Western, middle-class, and mostly heterosexual
population, so it may not be as generalizable to other cultures or subpopulations.
- The method focuses mainly on the relationship, it may not be as effective for
individuals with personal issues that are impacting their relationship or for
couples dealing with emotional or psychological issues.
Theory 2
- Attribution Style theory of communication is a framework that explains how

people interpret and make sense of the behaviour of others. The theory suggests
that people have different styles, or patterns, of explaining the cause of an event,
which in turn can affect how they respond to that event.
- Relationship-enhancing attribution style refers to the tendency to explain
negative events or behaviours in a relationship in a way that is constructive and
promotes understanding and forgiveness. For example, if a partner is late for a
date, someone with a relationship-enhancing attribution style might attribute the
behaviour to circumstances beyond their control, such as traffic or work.
- Distress-maintaining attribution style refers to the tendency to explain negative
events or behaviours in a relationship in a way that is destructive and promotes
blame and resentment. For example, if a partner is late for a date, someone with a
distress-maintaining attribution style might attribute the behaviour to personal
characteristics such as rudeness or disrespect.
Bradbury and Fincham (1992)
- The study was an observational study in which the researchers were looking at
both causal attributions (why is there a problem) and responsibility attributions
(whose fault is it?).
Sample: Couples were considered only if they were married, living together and had not
been for marriage counselling. 47 couples participated. The average length of marriage
was 8.5 years. All participants were asked to fill out a survey to determine their level of
marital satisfaction.
Method:
122
- Prior to the observation, the couple was asked to individually fill in a
questionnaire to determine what the greatest problems were in the marriage.
- The researchers chose a common problem from the questionnaires and then
asked each participant questions about the cause of the problem and who was
responsible for the problem.
- They were also each asked about a problem that was identified in their
questionnaire which their spouse did not identify as a problem.
- After the individual session, they were brought together and instructed to discuss
a possible solution to the problem that they had both identified.
- The observation took place in a laboratory setting. The observation was
discontinued after 15 minutes had elapsed.
- The observation was videoed. Two trained researchers independently coded the
videotape to identify relationship enhancing and distress maintaining patterns of
communication.
Findings: Couples that reported lower levels of marital satisfaction had more frequent
distress maintaining patterns of communication – in other words, they were more likely
to attribute marital problems to the partner and have a greater tendency toward seeing
the partner as behaving intentionally and with selfish motivation. The interaction
between such couples was rated as more hostile and rejecting the positive approaches of
the partner.
Critical thinking:
- The study used a large sample of couples and collected data from both partners,
which increases the generalizability of the findings.
- The study used a variety of measures to assess different aspects of relationship
functioning, such as relationship satisfaction, communication, and conflict
resolution.
- The study only focused on negative interactions, and did not take into account
the positive interactions between couples.
- The study did not examine the long-term effects of interventions, which limits the
generalizability of the findings.
- The study did not take into account the impact of external factors such as cultural
and societal influences on relationship functioning.
- A problem with studying communication in relationships is that it is often based

on self-reported retrospective data. This means that participants are asked to
123
recall past events and report on their communication patterns, which can be
problematic because people's memories are not always accurate and can be
influenced by their current mood or perspective.
- Studying communication in relationships is often based on samples of unhappy
couples. This can bias the findings because the communication patterns of
unhappy couples may not be representative of all couples. Longitudinal research
from the start of a relationship would be more beneficial in understanding the
dynamics of communication in relationships.
- It is challenging to establish causality when studying communication in
relationships. The relationship between communication and relationship
satisfaction is often correlational, meaning that we can observe a relationship
between the two variables, but we cannot be certain that one variable causes the
other. It's possible that the relationship style leads to better or worse
communication, or vice versa.
- Studying communication in relationships has excellent practical applications.
Research on communication in relationships can help improve existing
relationships or help people to identify when a relationship may be headed for
trouble. It can also provide insight into how communication patterns change over
time, and how they may be linked to relationship satisfaction.
124
Why do relationships change/end?
- Hatfield et al's (1979) Equity Theory is a social psychological theory of

interpersonal relationships that proposes that people strive to maintain a balance
of equity in their relationships.
- According to the theory, people compare their outcomes in a relationship with
the outcomes of their partner, and they strive to achieve a balance of equity in the
relationship.
- The theory proposes that when people perceive a balance of equity in a
relationship, they will feel satisfied and motivated to continue the relationship.
- On the other hand, when people perceive a lack of equity in a relationship, they
will feel dissatisfied and motivated to restore equity. This can lead to changes in
the relationship, such as increased or decreased effort, or the termination of the
relationship.
- Communication style can also influence how people perceive and respond to
equity in a relationship. For example, if a person has a more passive
communication style, they may be less likely to voice their concerns about a lack
of equity in the relationship and may instead withdraw or disengage from the
relationship (stonewalling). On the other hand, if a person has a more assertive
communication style, they may be more likely to voice their concerns and take
action in the relationship, which may cause them to have contempt towards their
partner.
Hatfield et al (1979)
Aim: to investigate the validity of the assumption that extramarital affairs are a result of
an imbalance in the equity of a relationship.
Sample: 2000 responses to a magazine questionnaire from US couples that are either
married or living together
Method:
- The questionnaire asked information about partner traits (desirability,

appearance, character, financial status, etc), nature of the relationship (whether
they were under-benefited or over-benefited), and extramarital affairs (if they
had occurred, how many and how long they lasted).
Findings:
125
- Those who felt deprived or under-benefited had extramarital relations sooner
after marriage and with more partners than those who felt either fairly treated or
over-benefited.
- Those who felt that their relationship was perfectly equitable were more likely
than others to think that they would still be together in one year and in five years.
- Those who felt greatly under-benefited and those who felt greatly over-benefited
were least likely to think that their relationship would be intact in the future.
- What is most interesting is that the over-benefited were just as doubtful about
future prospects as were the under-benefited.
Critical Thinking:
- The study provided empirical evidence for the equity theory by demonstrating
that people are sensitive to the balance of equity in their relationships and that
they are motivated to restore equity when it is lacking.
- The study found that people have different standards or reference points for what
is considered equitable, which supports the theory that people have different
levels of equity sensitivity.
- The study provided evidence that people are more likely to terminate a
relationship when they perceive a lack of equity, which supports the theory that
people are motivated to restore equity in their relationships.
- The study relied on self-reported data, which can be problematic because people's
perceptions of equity may not be accurate and can be influenced by their current
mood or perspective.
- The study did not take into account the emotional aspect of relationships, and it
may not be able to explain why people stay in relationships that are not equitable.
- The study did not take into account the cultural and societal influences on
people's perceptions of what is considered fair.
- The sample in the study is relatively small and not diverse, which limits the
Gottman (1999)
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are four communication patterns that are highly
predictive of relationship dissatisfaction and divorce, they can cause a toxic and negative
atmosphere in a relationship, leading to feelings of dissatisfaction, resentment, and
ultimately the end of the relationship. (add to the essay for communication to make it
about why relationships end)
126
between two people.
Procedure:

couples.
- He studied by heterosexual and same-sex couples.
Critical Thinking:
- Gottman's method is based on extensive research on couples and their

interactions, which provides a strong foundation for the approach.
- Gottman's method has been shown to be effective in reducing relationship
distress and improving relationship satisfaction in the long-term.
- The method is based on a Western, middle-class, and mostly heterosexual
population, so it may not be as generalizable to other cultures or subpopulations.
- The method focuses mainly on the relationship, it may not be as effective for
individuals with personal issues that are impacting their relationship or for
couples dealing with emotional or psychological issues.
- The strengths of the theory is that it provides a framework for understanding how
people evaluate and make decisions about their relationships. It highlights the
importance of fairness and balance in relationships and how it can affect the
dynamics of the relationship. The theory suggests that people have different
standards or reference points for what is considered equitable, which can explain
why some people might tolerate more inequality than others. Additionally, it has
a practical application, it can improve relationships or verify that a relationship
should end.
- The theory also has some weaknesses. One of the main criticisms is that it does
not take into account the emotional aspect of relationships, and it may not be
127
able to explain why people stay in relationships that are not equitable.
Additionally, it does not take into account the cultural and societal influences on
people's perceptions of what is considered fair. Another limitation is that it relies
heavily on the self-reported data, which can be problematic because people's
perceptions of equity may not be accurate and can be influenced by their current
mood or perspective. Finally, the theory is not able to fully explain the complexity
of human relationships and interactions within them.
128
Human Relationships Research Methods
Questionnaire

Kulik.
from participants.
Zajonc (1968)
of a relationship.
- In Zajonc's (1968) study, he showed a set of Michigan State University seniors
photos of male faces.
- The participants were told that they were taking part in a study of “visual
memory."
- The participants were shown each photo for only two seconds. The faces were
shown with different rates of frequency to different groups.
- Each time that they saw a photo, they were asked to rate how much they would
like the man on a 7-point scale
- When the participants were exposed to the image more frequently, their rating of
the likeability of the man in the photo was significantly greater than when they
had only seen the image once.
Evaluation:
129
Experiments
- Experiments are conducted under highly controlled environments to allow for

accurate measurements to be taken.
Markey and Markey (2007)
Aim: investigate the extent to which similarity is a factor in the way people choose a
partner.
Procedure:
- Using questionnaires, the researchers asked a large self-selected sample of

undergraduate students to describe the psychological characteristics, values, and
attitudes of their ideal romantic partner, without thinking of anyone in particular.
Afterward, they were asked to describe themselves.
Findings: The results showed that the way the participants described themselves was
similar to what they were seeking in their ideal partner.
Second Study:
- Sample: In a follow-up study, the researchers used 106 young couples who had
been together for a year. The self-selected sample of 212 participants was
recruited through advertisements in the local newspaper and around the
university campus where the research took place.
- Method: The participants filled out a questionnaire about their own as well as
their partner’s personality characteristics. The result was in line with the first
investigation. The study confirmed that people want partners who are similar to
themselves.
Findings: The second study also found that couples who experienced the most loving
and harmonious relationships have romantic partners who are similar to themselves on
130
some characteristics but not all. For example, if one partner tended to be somewhat
dominant, the other was more submissive. This points towards the possibility that total
similarity in a couple may be a wish but perhaps not ideal when it comes to maintaining
harmony long-term.
Critical Thinking:

131
Human Relationships Ethics
Informed Consent

receive answers.
Wedekind (1995)
Procedure:

their own MHC.
explaining the role of natural selection in mating behaviour in humans.
132
Evaluation:
Gottman (1999)

between two people.
Procedure:

couples.
- He studied heterosexual and same-sex couples.
Evaluation:
133
events)
134
Biological Etiology of MDD
Theory 1:
- Genetic researchers argue that genetic predisposition can partly explain

depression
- The findings from Kendler et al's twin study suggest that there is a genetic
component to depression. Specifically, the higher concordance rates for MZ twins
compared to DZ twins suggest that genetic factors play a significant role in the
development of depression. The fact that the concordance rates were higher for
female MZ twins than male MZ twins also suggests that genetic factors may be
more important for the development of depression in women than in men.
- Epigenetics refers to changes in gene expression that occur without changes to
the underlying DNA sequence. Epigenetic modifications can be influenced by
environmental factors, such as stress or trauma, and can alter gene expression in
a way that may contribute to the development of depression.
- Research has suggested that epigenetic changes may play a role in the
development of depression, and it is possible that the higher concordance rates
for depression in MZ twins compared to DZ twins may be due, at least in part, to
epigenetic differences between the two groups.
Kendler et al (2006)
Aim: investigate the genetic and environmental factors in major depression over time.
Sample: 15,493 complete twin pairs listed in the national Swedish Twin Registry. Only
twins whose zygosity could be verified were used in the study.
Procedure:
- In order to gather their data, the researchers used a team of trained interviewers
to carry out telephone interviews.
- Interviews were carried out between March 1998 and January 2003.
- The interviewers assessed lifetime major depression by using modified DSM-IV
criteria.
- 8056 twins met the criteria for a diagnosis of major depression at some point in
their life - and 322 twins voluntarily discussed a history of antidepressant
treatment.
- In addition to this information, the interviewers also asked questions about the
twins:
135
- shared environment: when they were living in the same household
- individual-specific environment: adult personal life events that may make
members of the twin pair more susceptible to depression.
Findings:
Conclusion: In conclusion, Kendler et al's twin study provides strong evidence for a
genetic component in the development of major depressive disorder (MDD). The study
found that the heritability of MDD is around 38%, consistent with previous research,
and that the concordance rates for MDD were significantly higher in monozygotic twins
than in dizygotic twins. Importantly, the study also found that the heritability of MDD is
higher in women than in men, suggesting that some genetic risk factors for MDD may be
sex-specific.
These findings support the biological etiology of MDD and suggest that genetic factors
play an important role in its development.
Evaluation:
- One strength of Kendler et al's twin study is the large sample size of over 15,000
twin pairs, which provides a robust and representative sample for drawing
conclusions. The use of twins also helps to control for environmental factors, as
twins are often raised in the same household and exposed to similar
environments. The study's findings are consistent with previous research, which
strengthens the reliability of the findings and suggests that the study's
conclusions are generalizable to other populations.
- However, there are also some limitations to the study. The study is correlational,
which means that no cause-and-effect relationship can be determined. The study
also did not isolate any specific genes for testing, and so it cannot identify the
specific genes or genetic variations that are involved in the development of MDD.
136
- Additionally, the study relied on self-reporting of lifetime major depression,
which can be subject to inaccuracies due to recall bias or social desirability bias.
There is also the possibility that men are less reliable in their reporting of lifetime
major depression than women, which could potentially affect the study's findings.
The study's reliance on telephone interviews to gather information is also a
potential limitation, as diagnoses made by clinicians over the phone may be of
questionable validity.
Caspi (2003)
Aim: to investigate whether the type of the 5-HTT gene had influence in the
development of depression.
Sample: consisted of 847 New Zealand 26-year-olds who were split into 3 groups based
on the version of the 5-HTT gene they had.
Procedure:
- The 3 groups were: 2 Short Alleles – 1 Short 1 Long Allele – 2 Long Alleles.
- All the participants were assessed for mental health every other year until they
were 21.
- The participants were asked to fill a “Stressful life events” questionnaire which
asked them about the frequency of 14 different events, including financial,
employment, health, and relationship stressors, between the ages of 21-26.
- They were also assessed for depression.
Findings:
- Participants who had inherited 1 or more of the short versions of the 5-HTT gene
were more likely to suffer from depression.
- The results also showed that having 3 or more stressful life events had the
strongest effect.
Conclusion: the short version of the 5-HTT gene does play a role in the development of
depression, as shown by the results as participants with 1 or more of it were more likely
to develop depression than the participants with the long version, overall evidencing
and explaining the role of the 5-HTT gene on behaviour.
Evaluation:
137
- The study focused on a specific gene, the 5-HTT gene, and its influence on the
development of depression, providing valuable information about the biological
basis of depression.
- The study followed participants over a period of several years, allowing for
longitudinal analysis, which can provide insights into the development of
depression.
- The study found a significant correlation between the short version of the 5-HTT
gene and the risk of developing depression, which suggests a strong genetic
component in the etiology of depression.
- The study was conducted in New Zealand, which may not be representative of
other populations.
- The study relied on self-report measures for both depression and stressful life
events, which may be subject to bias or inaccuracies.
- The study only assessed participants until the age of 26, which may not capture
the full range of the development of depression.
- Correlational studies do not establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

- Twin studies have the problem of population validity- twin samples do not
necessarily represent the general population.
- It is impossible to isolate variables and separate out social factors in twin studies.
- Genes alone do not determine who will develop depression—they only suggest
vulnerability. This may mean that genes are not a direct cause as other factors
must trigger the disorder. Evidence for this is that the concordance rates are not
100%, which shows that depression is due to an interaction of genetic and other
factors.
- Twin studies have been highly reliable in their results.
- Modern research has allowed us to actually locate genetic variations using very
large sample sizes.
- Modern research recognises the interaction of environmental and biological
factors and does not use a solely reductionist approach .
Theory 2:
- Neurogenesis is the process by which new neurons are formed in the brain
- This theory argues that depression is the result of the cessation of neuron birth in
the hippocampus as well as in other neural networks related to serotonin,
dopamine, and norepinephrine.
- Cortisol appears to be the reason for this lack of neurogenesis.
138
- Patients with major depressive disorder display a symptom called HPA-axis
hyperactivity that results in the over-secretion of cortisol.
- This over-secretion of cortisol leads to reduced serotonin and other
neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, which has been linked to
depression.
Videbech and Ravnkilde (2004)
Aim: To carry out a systematic review and meta-analysis of volumetric studies of the
hippocampus in patients with mood disorders.
Method: Studies of hippocampal volume in unipolar and bipolar patients were

identified. A meta-analysis of the 12 studies of unipolar depression fulfilling specific
criteria was performed. The sample comprised 351 patients and 279 healthy subjects.
Results:
- The studies were highly heterogeneous regarding age and gender distribution,
age at onset of the disorder, average number of episodes, and responsiveness to
treatment, but the pooled effect size of depression was significant in both
hemispheres for the unipolar patients.
- The weighted average showed a reduction of hippocampal volume of 8% on the
left side and 10% on the right side.
- The causes of the heterogeneity were analysed, and a meta-regression showed
that the total number of depressive episodes was significantly correlated to right
but not left hippocampal volume reduction.
Conclusion: Hippocampal volume is reduced in patients with unipolar depression,

maybe as a consequence of repeated periods of major depressive disorder.
Evaluation:
- More complex and less reductionist biological explanation
- Involves various elements of bio e.g., neurotransmitters and brain structure (size
of hippocampus)
- The researchers looking at this themselves argue that we don't know whether
depression causes shrinkage of the hippocampus or if people with small
hippocampi are more vulnerable to depression, which is called bidirectional
ambiguity (this exists in correlational studies where the direction of the
correlation is unknown.)
- The research was cross-sectional and correlational, and we did not know the size
of the hippocampus before the diagnosis. We cannot assume a small
139
hippocampus is the result of a lack of neurogenesis and the reason for
depression.
- The study was not longitudinal so therefore it is unknown whether depression
had caused them to have small hippocampus or if people with small hippocampi
are vulnerable to depression, creating bidirectional ambiguity.
140
Cognitive Etiology of MDD
Theory 1:
- Arbitrary inference: drawing conclusions based on little or no evidence. For

example, when Mary does not immediately receive a text back from her
boyfriend, she concludes that he is cheating on her.
- Dichotomous thinking: An all-or-nothing approach to viewing the world. For
example, you either love me or you hate me. I either have to be the best, or I am a
failure.
- Exaggeration: Also called magnification. Overestimating the significance of
negative events. For example, when a teacher gives you constructive feedback on
an essay and you conclude that "he thinks I am a terrible writer!"
- Overgeneralization: Applying a single incident to all similar incidents. For
example, when you have an argument with a friend and you think that this means
that none of your friends supports or cares about you.
- Personalization: Assuming that others' behaviour is done with the intention to
hurt or humiliate you. For example, a friend throws a dinner party but you were
not invited. You then assume that you were intentionally not invited so that he
could hurt your feelings.
- Selective abstraction: Drawing conclusions by focusing on a single part of a
whole. For example, focusing on the fact that you earned a low grade on one of
your quizzes this semester, without focusing on the fact that overall you have an
"A" (or "7") in the class.
Ruiz-Caballero & González (1994)
Aim: Two experiments were carried out to investigate a possible mood-congruent

memory bias in explicit memory (free-recall test) and implicit memory (word-stem
completion task) for positive and negative words in depressed and non depressed
college students.
Procedure: A comparison of implicit and explicit mood-congruent memory bias should

help to reveal cognitive processes involved in this effect. They had a total of 92 adults
participate. In Exp 1, stimuli were 2 lists of 18 adjectives; the implicit task was presented
before the explicit task. Exp 2 included both intentional and incidental learning
conditions; the stimuli consisted of 2 lists of 27 adjectives.
Findings: The results of both studies indicated that depressed subjects showed a
memory bias not only on the traditional explicit memory task, but on the implicit
141
memory task as well. (Simple terms- The results indicated that depressed participants
showed a memory bias for negative words)
Conclusion: Schemas affect memory , if they were depressed, they made more negative
relationships as they already developed thoughts that makes them have negative
perspectives
Evaluation:
- low levels of ecological validity due to the control over the environment; as a
result, it has high internal validity.
- there could be a sampling bias in that having students do such a task may remind
them of assessments which could affect their mood.
- Is the diagnosis the same for all participants?
Alloy et al. (1999)
Sample: Alloy et al used a sample of non-depressed college freshmen with no other

diagnosed disorders. Half of the sample had a history of clinical depression; the other
half did not. The students with a history of clinical depression demonstrated no
symptoms at the beginning of the study.
Procedure: To begin, the students were given a test to measure their cognitive style. The
students were identified as either High Risk (HR) or Low Risk (LR) for depression based
on their thinking patterns. The researchers carried out follow-up assessments every 6
weeks for 2.5 years and then every 4 months for an additional three years. The study
was based on a combination of questionnaires and structured interviews to identify
stressful life events, cognitive style, and symptoms of depression. Participants also took
a test in which they listened to a list of adjectives. For each adjective, they were asked
whether they thought that the word described them. At the end of the list, they were
asked to recall as many words as possible from the list.
Sample: The results found that in the group with no prior history of depression, 17% of
the HR students developed Major Depressive disorder, compared to only 1% of the LR
students. In addition, 29% of the HR group showed symptoms of minor depression,
compared to only 6% of the LR group. Among the group with a past history of
depression, 27% of the HR group relapsed, whereas only 6% of the LR group did. In
addition, 50% of the HR group showed symptoms associated with depression, compared
to 26.5% of the LR group. In addition, the rate of suicidality was higher in the HR
groups (28%) compared to the LR groups (12.6%). For the adjective task, the
researchers found that the HR groups showed faster processing and better recall of
negative information; and slower processing and worse recall on positive information.
142
Evaluation:
- The study used method and data triangulation, increasing the credibility of the
findings.
- The tests used to measure cognitive style are highly standardised and have a high
level of reliability.
- The use of a pre-test, / post-test design helps to diminish the bidirectional
ambiguity. However, the study is a natural experiment - that is, the researcher
does not manipulate the independent variable. This means that it is not possible
to establish a cause and effect relationship.
- The link between cognitive style and depression may be more complex than the
study actually proposes. See the second above about domino causality.
- The theory of cognitive vulnerability has been applied in therapy (CBT) and has
been shown to be effective.
- The BDI has been used in research and to help diagnose patients or identify those
that need help – useful
- CBT, a therapy based on Beck's theory, has been successful in treating patients
(Thimm et al. 2014: Study retrospectively examines the outcomes of patients who
received group CBT for depression at a psychiatric outpatient clinic between
2003 and 2013. 88 patients, BDI used as outcome measure. After CBT: The
average BDI-II score decreased from 28.5 to 18.5. After CBT: 44% of the patients
showed a significant improvement in depression, including 30% who recovered;
at follow-up, the proportions increased to 57% and 40%, respectively.)
- Etiology-Treatment fallacy. Just because a therapy leads to improvement, this
does not determine the cause of a disorder
- Explains the role of cognitive processes as mitigating factors in depression -
explaining both depression and resilience to stressful life events.
- The question of bidirectional ambiguity: depression can make thinking more
negative, and negative thinking can probably cause and certainly worsen
depression. So is it depression causing the thoughts or the negative thoughts
causing depression?
- Reductionism – NICE guidelines (UK) suggest CBT as a treatment for
mild/moderate depression and medication AND CBT for resistant and more
severe depression. If this is the case then a more holistic explanation is needed to
understand the various factors that may help explain the development of
depressive symptoms (bio/socio/cog)
143
Theory 2:
- Rumination comes from the verb ruminate, which means "to think deeply,“
- Nolen-Hoeksema proposed that differences in coping styles may underlie the
gender differences in depression.
- She has found that men are more likely to distract themselves when they feel
depressed, whereas women are more likely to amplify depression by ruminating
about their feelings and their possible causes – that is, they think a lot about how
they feel and try to understand the reasons they feel the way they do.
Nolen-Hoeksema (2000)
Aim: To carry out a prospective study of the role of rumination on symptoms related to
depression.
Sample: The researchers had a sample of 1132 participants that had been randomly
selected from a community sample of adults in the San Francisco area, including San
Jose and Oakland. They were chosen by random-digit dialling of telephone numbers.
Procedure: The participants were interviewed two times over a period of one year. All of
the participants were interviewed in person in their own homes. The interview
consisted of a clinical interview which lasted for 90 minutes. This included a battery of
tests which included the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hamilton Rating Scale for
depression, the SCID, and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. They were also given a
rumination and coping questionnaire, designed by the researchers. For example, on the
questionnaire they were asked to rate how often they think, “Why do I react this way”, “I
think about how sad I am”, or “I think that I will lose my job if I don’t get better.”
Findings: Participants who showed signs of Major Depressive Disorder at the time of the
first interview had a significantly higher score on ruminative responses than those who
did not show signs of MDD. Participants who had never been depressed had
significantly lower rumination scores than the other participants. In addition, those
who had been depressed but improved had lower rumination scores than those who
remained chronically depressed.
Evaluation:
- The research supports Beck's theory that patterns of cognition can have a
negative effect on mental health.
- The Response Styles Theory is supported by biological evidence - such as Farb
(2011), see below.
144
- The study relied on self-report questionnaires as well as diagnosis through
clinical interviews.
- Originally there were 1317 participants. Although there was a small attrition rate,
it was those with the strongest symptoms that dropped out – which means that
there may have been a bias introduced into the study
- No information was available on whether the participants living with depression
were receiving treatment or how other protective factors may help them to cope
with their disorder. The results may have been influenced by uncontrolled
- Nolen-Hoemseke’s study is clear evidence to suggest that depressed people have

a particular negative thought process which encompasses an undesirable
perception of life
- There are difficulties in establishing whether rumination is symptom of having
depression or a explanation and until this is resolved, it will be unclear in how it
can contribute to the understanding of depression
- The issue with construct validity as it is very difficult to measure rumination.
Forms of bias and subjectivity can be raised as the evidence is collated by the
theorist. In order to ensure that there is no bias, other forms of reliability testing
(inter rater) should be conducted.
145
Sociocultural Etiology of MDD
Theory 1:
- Protective factors: these factors decrease the risk of depression in combination

with particularly stressful life events; for example - a strong sense of community
or a close bond with a family member.
- Vulnerability factors: these factors increase the risk of depression in combination
with particularly stressful life events. The most significant vulnerability factors
were (1) Loss of one's mother before the age of 11, (2) lack of a confiding
relationship, (3) more than three children under the age of 14 at home and (4)
unemployment.
- Provoking agents are acute and ongoing stress.
Brown & Harris (1978)
Aim: to investigate how depression could be linked to social factors and stressful
life-events in a sample of women.
Sample: 458 women in South London were surveyed on their daily life and depressive
episodes. The researchers focused on important biographical details - that is, particular
life events or particular difficulties faced by the women. These events were later rated in
severity by independent researchers.
Results: 8% of all the women - that is, 37 in total - had become clinically depressed in
the previous year. 33 of these women (nearly 90%) had experienced an adverse life
event (e.g. loss of a loved one) or a serious difficulty (e.g. being in an abusive
relationship). Only 30% of the women who did not become depressed suffered from
such adversity. Only four of the 37 women who became depressed had not experienced
any adversity. Social class - measured by the occupation of the husband - played a
significant role in the development of depression in women with children.
Working-class women with children were four times more likely to develop depression
than middle-class women with children.
Conclusion: The researchers identified three major factors that affected the
development of depression. The study showed that social factors in the form of life
stress (or serious life events) could be linked to depression. The fact that working-class
mothers were more likely to develop depression than middle-class mothers showed risk
factors associated with social class. According to Brown and Harris, low social status
leads to increased exposure to vulnerability factors and provoking agents, whereas high
146
social status was associated with increased exposure to protective factors and decreased
exposure to provoking agents.
Evaluation:
- This was a new way of looking at depression since much research until then had
focused only on personality factors and childhood experiences. The study was
very important for psychiatry at the time because it was one of the first studies
investigating social factors and life stressors associated with the etiology or origin
of depression. The study was important in that it recognized that life events and
difficulties could provoke onsets of depression. It also provided a model for
investigating the interrelationship between social stressors and depression.
- The study used semi-structured interviews to get an in-depth understanding of
the participants' situation as they see it themselves. This increased the credibility
of the results.
- The sample size of the original study was relatively large, making the results
potentially more reliable.
- However, only women were interviewed so the results may not be generalised to
men, but the relationship between stressful events and the onset of depression
might be applicable to men as well.
- In addition, this study is based on self-reporting of depressive episodes.
Therefore, it is impossible to accurately determine the actual extent of depression
for each of the women interviewed.
- Finally, this is an example of a survey. Because there is no manipulation of an
independent variable, the findings cannot determine cause and effect. The
findings are correlational in that they indicate that there is a relationship between
sociocultural factors and depression, but since other variables were not
controlled, it is possible that biological vulnerability may also play a role in this
study. This is what modern research appears to indicate.
- This was conducted in 1978, meaning it is outdated. This is where Caspi et al
comes in (to what extent). According to the diathesis-stress model, depression is
caused by an interaction between a biological vulnerability (diathesis) and a
series of stressful life events. This model can explain why nearly everyone who
became depressed in Brown & Harris' study experienced difficult life events, but
not everyone who experienced difficult life events became depressed. The people
who became depressed may have also suffered from a biological vulnerability
(such as a short version of 5HTT alleles) that made it more difficult to cope with
the stress of difficult life events.
147
Coan et al (2006)
Sample: The sample consisted of sixteen married couples. The mean age of the
husbands was 33 and the wives 31. The couples were all from Madison, Wisconsin. They
were recruited by newspaper advertisements.
Procedure:
- The study consisted of two parts. First, participants were given questionnaires to
assess their level of satisfaction and happiness in their marriage. In addition,
personality traits were assessed. Finally, they were asked to do a test run in an
fMRI scanner. This was done to make sure that they were comfortable with the
scanner and to show them how it works.
- The second visit took place one week later. The wives were put in an fMRI with
an electrode attached to one ankle. While in the fMRI the women were shown 12
non-threat indicating images (safety cues) and 12 threatening images (threat
cues) - that is, images that when shown, indicated that an electrical shock was
possible. The safety cue was a blue zero on a black background; the threat cue
was a red x on a black background. After the cue was shown, there was up to a
10-second period when a shock could be administered. During the experiment,
two shocks were administered. After the threat period was over, there was a rest
period when the women were simply shown a black screen. During the rest
period, they were asked for their rate, their level of arousal and their feelings of
unpleasantness on a 1 - 5 scale.
- This experiment was a repeated measures design. Each woman would undergo
the tests in the fMRI under three conditions: holding their husband's hand,
holding the hand of a stranger (whom they did not meet until after the
experiment), or not holding anyone's hand. The conditions were
counterbalanced to control for order effects.
Results: Results showed that the women's subjective sense of unpleasantness and
arousal was lowest when holding their husband's hand. In addition, the brain's "threat
response" was lowest when holding their husband's hand. The threat response was
strongest when no hand was held. Not only this, but there was a negative correlation
between the reported marital quality and the threat response - that is, the higher the
reported marital quality, the lower the brain's threat response. It appears that social
support is key to resilience.
148
Evaluation:
- The study was highly controlled. The study was counterbalanced so that order
effects such as habituation - that is, getting used to the shocks - was most likely
not a confounding variable. This means that the study had high internal validity.
- The use of subjective ratings of unpleasantness was used to correlate with brain
activity. This helped to improve construct validity.
- In addition to the high level of control, the study was highly artificial and thus
lacks ecological validity.
- The study had a very small sample. The sample consisted of 15 Caucasian (white)
and 1 Asian female. The men were not tested in the scanner. This means that we
cannot generalise to males. In addition, since being in a "satisfying marriage"
was a requirement for being in the study, this study cannot be generalised to
people who are in unhappy relationships. Although there was a correlation
between marital satisfaction and the brain's response to a threat, all of the
participants had good levels of marital satisfaction.
- In addition, women with a history of mental health issues, such as depression,
were excluded from the sample. This also limits our ability to generalise the
findings.
- The actual mechanisms for why there is less activity in specific parts of the brain
are not clear. The original study hypotheses that oxytocin or endorphins may
play a role, but this could not be determined from the original study.
Theory 2:
- Explanatory models of illness are shaped by personal, social and cultural

influences, and they are strongly associated with beliefs about treatment, and
different help-seeking behaviours (Kleinman, 1980)
- Kirmayer (2001): cultures have "explanatory models" for disorders. Kirmayer’s
theory argues that cultures create socially acceptable sets of symptoms for mental
distress. Since cultures are continually evolving, especially in the era of
globalisation, these explanatory models may change.
- This change in explanatory models may account for a seeming "rise" in the
disorder within a culture.
- This is very similar to Okello's (2006) research in Uganda where she wanted to
see how culture affected the prevalence of depression among the Baganda people.
Depressive symptoms were conceptualised by the local people as a problem
related to thoughts (thinking too much) rather than emotion (sadness) and the
resulting condition is referred to as "illness of thoughts". Worrisome thoughts
resulting from various socio-economic problems were seen as important reasons
for the illness of thoughts and deemed not to require medication - but rather, to
149
spend time with family. Once the illness becomes chronic, other explanations -
such as angry ancestral spirits or witchcraft, were considered.
- Early cross-cultural research tended to take an etic approach to the question of
whether disorders existed. The researchers used Western diagnostic criteria in
order to attempt to measure the prevalence of the disorder in the other culture.
- Marsella (1979) criticised this approach - arguing that looking for affective
symptoms are typical of individualistic cultures where people are encouraged to
"express themselves."
Parker, Cheah & Roy (2001)
Aim: To compare the extent to which depressed Chinese patients in Malaysia and
Caucasian patients in Australia identified both cognitive aspects of depression and a
range of somatic symptoms as a sign of their depression and the reason that they sought
professional help.
Sample: The sample was made up of 50 Malaysian participants of Chinese heritage and
50 Australian participants of Caucasian, Western heritage. Whereas the Australians all
had English as their first language, the Chinese were a mix of Chinese (80%) and
English (20%) as their first language. All participants were out-patients who had been
diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, but who did not have other diagnoses as
well, such as drug addiction or schizophrenia.
Procedure: The questionnaire was based on two sets of symptoms. First, a set of mood
and cognitive items common in Western diagnostic tools for depression. Secondly, a set
of somatic symptoms commonly observed by Singaporean psychiatrists. The
questionnaire was translated into Malay and Mandarin Chinese. It was back-translated
to establish credibility. The patients were asked to judge the extent to which they had
experienced each of the 39 symptoms in the last week. They had only four options: all
the time, most of the time, some of the time and not at all. They were also asked to rank
the symptoms that they experienced in order of how distressing they were. Through the
assistance of their psychiatrists, it was also noted what the primary symptom was that
led to them seeking help.
Results: When looking at which symptom led them to actually seek help, 60% of the
Chinese participants identified a somatic symptom, compared to only 13% of the
Australian sample.
150
There was no significant difference in the number of somatic symptoms indicated by
each group as being linked to their depression. However, the Chinese participants were
significantly less likely to identify cognitive or emotional symptoms as part of their
problem. They were less likely to rate feeling helpless and hopeless, in a depressed
mood, having poor concentration, or having thoughts of death than the Australian
participants. The role of culture is evident here; in Western culture it is more
appropriate to discuss one's emotions and depression is seen as linked to a lack of
emotional well being; whereas in Chinese culture, it is less appropriate and even
stigmatised if one speaks about a lack of emotional health.
Evaluation:
- The study attempted to develop a questionnaire based on cultural evidence

relevant to the participants. They did not simply use a standardised Western
questionnaire that may have influenced the results.
- They did choose participants based on the DSM-IV criteria for diagnosing Major
Depressive Disorder. In this sense, the study demonstrates an imposed etic
approach to research. It may have eliminated people from the sample who may
have a form of depression that does not meet the Western criteria for diagnosis;
this may account for the similarities in the two samples.
- Asking patients to recall their "first symptoms" is open to memory distortion and
to demand characteristics. If in the West we believe that depression is an
emotional disorder, patients may expect that this is the correct response.
151
- Malaysia is a very modern and Westernised society. The effects of globalisation
may account for the relatively small difference in the data. Research on more
cultures would be necessary to test the reliability of the findings.
152
Prevalence of MDD
Argument 1: Men and women have different kinds of symptoms.
- According to this hypothesis, men and women are equally susceptible to

depression, but depression in men often takes the form of "acting out" behaviours
instead of sadness, passivity, and crying, which are symptoms commonly
included in self-report inventories. In particular, it has been suggested that the
male equivalent of depression is alcoholism.
- This argument is boosted by evidence that in cultures in which alcohol
consumption is strictly prohibited, such as among the Amish, no sex differences
in depression are found (Egeland & Hostetter, 1983). However, there are also
several men that suffer from both alcoholism and depression and there are men
that suffer only from alcoholism and not depression.
Egeland & Hostetter (1983)
- The authors review the goals, methods, sample, and selected epidemiologic
findings from a collaborative study of affective disorders among the Amish.
- This culturally and genetically homogeneous population (N = 12,500) constitutes
an excellent research setting for psychiatric epidemiologic and genetic study.
- Alcoholism, drug abuse, and sociopathy did not complicate the study because
they are culturally prohibited.
- During 1976-1980, 112 active cases of mental illness were identified; 71% received
diagnoses of major affective disorder.
- Equal numbers of men and women received diagnoses of unipolar depression.
Evaluation:
- The study focuses on a culturally and genetically homogeneous population, which

reduces the impact of extraneous variables and allows for higher levels of control,
however since it focuses on a single group, the research may not be applicable to
the general population.
- The large sample size (N = 12,500) provides sufficient statistical power to detect
meaningful differences and associations.
- The study only includes active cases of mental illness, which may underestimate
the true prevalence of affective disorders in the population.
- The study relies on self-reported data, which may introduce response bias and
reduce the accuracy of the results.
Argument 2: The origin of depression is rooted in gender roles
153
- Theorists suggest that, because the desire for relationships is an inherent aspect
of female personality, women who attempt to succeed in jobs will be continually
faced with disturbing conflicts between their natural propensity toward
relationships and demands to be independent and competitive in the job.
Deviance from gender role expectations may result in social rejection.
- Costrich, Feinstein, Kidder, Marecek & Pascale (1975) found that assertive
women were rated as more unattractive and in need of psychotherapy than were
assertive men. Some support for the role conflict hypothesis comes from
epidemiological studies of depressive symptoms in the general population.
Aneshensel, Frerichs & Clark (1981) found that among persons who were married
and employed, women reported significantly more depressive symptoms than
men; this was not true among unmarried, employed persons.
- You may notice, however, that a significant amount of the research on role
conflict is from the 1970s and ’80s as more women were entering the workforce.
In addition, a significant number of the studies are based in the US where child
care services are private and expensive, putting an added financial strain on
working mothers, sometimes countering the financial gain that results from
employment
Costrich, Feinstein, Kidder, Marecek & Pascale (1975)
- Reports 3 studies with a total of 242 undergraduates that demonstrate penalties

for sex-role reversals.
- In each study, Participants evaluated men and women who behaved either in line
with sex-role stereotypes or counter to them.
- Results show that popularity ratings and perceived psychological adjustment of
both passive-dependent men and aggressive-assertive women were adversely
affected.
Evaluation:
- The study is a pioneering work in gender and social psychology, and it provides
insights into the negative effects of gender role violations on individuals' social
status and psychological adjustment.
- However, the study has some limitations in terms of sample size and
generalizability. The study only involved a few participants, which may limit the
- Additionally, the study only focused on the evaluation of passive-dependent men
and aggressive-assertive women, and it did not consider other types of gender
role violations. Therefore, the study's findings may not be applicable to other
contexts or situations where different types of gender role violations occur
154
Aneshensel, Frerichs & Clark (1981)
- Examines the relationship of family and work roles to sex differences in

depression.
- Data consist of 1,000 interviews from a large-scale community survey on the
epidemiology of depression, conducted in Los Angeles County during 1979.
- Overall, women were significantly more depressed than men, but the extent of
the sex difference varied according to the specific constellation of family and
work roles.
- There were significant sex differences in the 2 conditions of high family role
demands: parents with children in the household and single parents.
- The difference was not significant among parents whose children lived elsewhere,
or among nonparents.
- Among parents with children in the household, employed men were less
depressed than either employed women or homemakers; these 2 groups of
women did not differ significantly from each other in depression level.
- Results suggest that family and work roles tend to be associated with reduced
depression among both sexes, but that the effect is greater for men.
Evaluation:
- The strengths of the study include its exploration of the moderating effects of
gender attitudes on the relationship between employment and mental health
outcomes
- The study also highlights the overlap between pain and depressive symptoms
- The study's findings provide valuable insights into the relationship between
social position, stress, and mental health outcomes
- The sample size may be inadequate to make generalisations about the entire
population.
- The study may not be generalizable to other contexts or situations, as it focuses
on a specific group of participants
- The study may have been limited by the measurement tools used to assess the
participants' mental health outcomes.
Argument 3: The difference is the result of reporting bias.
- Padesky & Hammen (1977) carried out a study of college students in which the
level of depressive symptoms at which women said they would seek
psychotherapy was lower than the level at which men said they would seek help.
155
However, it is important to note that the students were not currently suffering
from those symptoms, so the situation was only hypothetical.
- Amenson & Lewinsohn’s (1981) study of actual help-seeking behaviour found that
men and women with similar levels of self-reported depressive symptoms were
equally likely to seek psychiatric help or go to a general practitioner.
Padesky & Hammen (1977)
- Suggests that although epidemiological data have documented sex differences in

depression, the nature and origins of the differences are unclear.
- Depression in 972 male and 1,300 female unmarried college students was
measured by the Beck Depression Inventory.
- No sex differences were found in the degree of depression, and yet, discriminant
function analysis of the responses of the most depressed scorers yielded a
significant and interpretable sex difference in the patterns of symptom
expression.
- Depressed males were more likely to report an inability to cry, loss of social
interest, a sense of failure, and somatic complaints.
- Females were characterised by indecisiveness and self-dislike.
- These patterns were not the same as sex-role-stereotyped responding in the total,
predominantly nondepressed, sample.
- Speculations are made about the consequences of sex differences in depressive
responses, including hypotheses about sex differences in experience with
help-seeking and labelling.
Amenson & Lewinsohn’s (1981)
Sample: The sample was made up of 998 participants who were recruited through an
announcement mailed to 20.000 residents of Eugene and Springfield, Oregon. The
names were randomly selected from the county voter registration list. Participants were
told that they would be part of a study of "the understanding of psychological health and
its relationship to what people do, think and feel."
Procedure: There were two times that the participants were assessed for depressive
symptoms. First, they were asked to fill out a 938-item questionnaire and mail it back
to the researchers. The second time was about 8 - 9 months later when they were
interviewed at the clinic. The interview was a 2-hour semi-structured interview. The
interviewers were blind to the questionnaire data. Part of the questionnaire was the
Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), which measures the
intensity of depressive symptoms.
156
Results: To test the artefact hypothesis, men and women were divided into high,
medium, and low symptom level groups based on their CES-D scores. Each group had a
similar mean score. When asked about how they labelled their own behaviour and
whether they had sought help, there were no significant differences between the genders
in any of the three groups. In addition, they compared the CES-D scores based on
self-reported symptoms with the clinical diagnosis from the two-hour interview. The
analysis found that men and women with equal reported symptom levels were equally
likely to be diagnosed as depressed, regardless of whether the interviewer was male or
female. Self-labelling and clinical diagnosis were in agreement for 81% of the female and
92% of the male participants.
Conclusion: This study supports the argument that there are actual differences in the
prevalence of depression in males and females and that is not the result of reporting or
clinical biases.
Evaluation:
- Women diagnosed as depressed less frequently labelled themselves as depressed.

This means that studies that rely on self-reported data may actually
underrepresented the level of depression in women.
- The study was done under naturalistic conditions, where participants discussed
their own health. This study is high in ecological validity.
- The study was done in the US - a culture that is highly individualistic. It would be
difficult to generalise the findings to other cultures where self-reporting of
depressive symptoms may be more stigmatising. The study may lack
cross-cultural validity.
- In addition, the study is over 30 years old. It is possible that education and the
integration of psychology into high school programs means that people are more
aware of depression and are more willing to seek treatment. The study may lack
temporal validity.
- The researchers also found no differences when dividing participants by income,
educational level or employment status. This also challenges the psychosocial
theory to explain gender differences in prevalence.
- By the time appropriate data is collected and analysed, the conclusions and
recommendations derived from these analyses may be out of date.
- Sample sizes may not be large enough to compensate for error in measurement.
- Self-reported data, as well as clinical diagnosis, may not be reliable.
157
158
Abnormal Psychology Research Methods
Correlational research
- Correlational research is a type of nonexperimental research in which the

researcher measures two variables and assesses the statistical relationship (i.e.,
the correlation) between them with little or no effort to control extraneous
variables.
- There are essentially two reasons that researchers interested in statistical
relationships between variables would choose to conduct a correlational study
rather than an experiment.
- The first is that they do not believe that the statistical relationship is a causal one.
Procedure:
criteria.
treatment.
twins:
Findings:
159
sex-specific.
Critical Thinking:
- May predict causal relationships

- Methodology and statistical analysis may be easier to implement
- May predict human behaviours
- No inferences can be found by results
- There is no cause and effect
- Possibility of the third variable problem / confounding factor
Questionnaire

Kulik.
from participants.
160
Evaluation:
161
Abnormal Psychology Ethics
162
Evaluation:

events)
Informed Consent

receive answers.
Procedure:
criteria.
163
treatment.
twins:
Findings:
sex-specific.
Evaluation:
164
Paper 3 Research Methods
Quantitative Methods:
Experiment: Experimenters decide on a single variable, the independent variable (IV)

which they manipulate or deliberately alter) in order to see whether this brings about a
change in a second variable, known as the dependent variable (DV) which is measured
in some quantitative way. All other variables which might affect the dependent variable
are held constant (controlled) meaning any change in the DV can be said to have been
caused by the IV and this means that the findings of experimental studies can be said to
have strong internal validity.
Field experiment: Field experiments also seek causal relationships between a

deliberately manipulated independent variable and a measured or dependent variable
yet they do not take place under controlled conditions, instead they are conducted in
real-world environments where participants can be found going about their daily
business, e.g. at a cinema or shopping centre. Participants in field experiments are often
unaware that they are being observed as part of an experiment, meaning that their
behaviour is more natural, while this increases the ecological validity of the findings, the
inability to control extraneous variables due to the natural setting decreases internal
validity.
Quasi experiment: Quasi means 'seemingly' or 'apparently' and quasi experiments

therefore share some but not all of the characteristics of a laboratory experiment; the
defining feature is that it is not possibly to randomly allocate participants to the
experimental (treatment) and/or control groups, as these groupings are outside of the
control of the experimenter. The fact that participants cannot be randomly allocated in a
quasi-experiment means that the findings can be said to lack internal validity as there
may be uncontrolled variables that led participants to be in one group and not the other,
which are responsible for any changes in the DV.
Natural Experiment: Natural experiments are characterised by the fact that the
independent variable is naturally occurring, i.e. the change between the experimental
and control conditions is brought about as a consequence of factors which are outside of
the experimenters control, e.g. before and after the introduction of western TV channels
on a remote island. As changes in the independent variable are naturally occurring, the
findings of natural experiments may lack internal validity, as changes in the DV may
have arisen due to extraneous factors, i.e. other societal changes which accompanied the
introduction of Western TV were actually responsible for changes in the DV.
165
Correlation: Correlational studies have no manipulated variables and therefore do not
seek to establish causal relationships) as is the case with experimental studies; they have
two or more measured variables known as co-variables which are measured using
quantitative data, e.g. through some sort of rating scale. Correlational studies are
common in areas of psychology where it may not be possible to ethically or practically
manipulate variables as part of an experiment; as there is no attempt to establish
causality, internal validity relates solely to the extent to which the instruments used to
measure the co-variables provide accurate and meaningful data.
Qualitative Methods:
Naturalistic Observation: The observer collects from participants' in their data

natural environments without any deliberate manipulation of the setting; while tallying
can be used to collect quantitative data, the researcher may record qualitative 'field
notes', describing behaviours of interest while diagrams and sketches may also be used.
In a participant observation the researcher becomes actively involved within the
community or group that he or she is studying; this facilitates a unique perspective that
would not have been otherwise possible and though this can lead to subjectivity, the
credibility of the data may also be enhanced. In a non-participant observation the
researcher remains separate from the activities of the group and does not interact with
participants whilst conducting the observation; this lack of involvement means that the
researcher is free to focus entirely on the data collection, arguably leading to a more
accurate record of events. In a covert observation, participants are unaware of the
observer and according to the BPS this is ethical if the study takes place in a public
setting; data collected will be more credible as behaviour will be less inhibited and
unaffected by demand characteristics or evaluation apprehension for example.
Case Study: Case studies typically focus on a single individual, group or organisation
that is unusual in some way; the researcher generally collects a detailed case history
including secondary data from school reports or hospital records for example; this
allows the researcher to gain necessary insight before collecting their own primary data.
Case studies often comprise data that has been gathered using a variety of techniques
including interview, observation and the use of standardised tests for example. This is
known as method triangulation and results in a rich and detailed insight into the
behaviours of interest.
Unstructured interviews: Unstructured interview have a clear research objective and the
interview schedule will include broad topics or themes for discussion; there may or may
not be a list of starter questions but the defining features of this style of interview are
flexibility and freedom; the direction of the interview is determined by the interviewee
and the interviewer bases any questions asked on their previous responses.
166
Unstructured interviewers need more training and experience to collect credible data; it
can be hard to keep the interview on track and achieve the research objective when there
is no 'script' as such; eliciting relevant information without asking leading questions and
with minimal guidance in the interview schedule requires practice and skill.
Semi-structured interviews: A semi-structured interview is more flexible than a

structured interview; while there is a predetermined set of questions in the interview
schedule, the interviewer may deviate from this, asking follow-on questions if the
interviewee presents an unanticipated and relevant view; the interviewer may also
rephrase questions and alter the order as appropriate. The semi-structured Interview
schedule may include both open and closed questions: open questions prompt longer,
richer answers from respondents allowing them to elaborate in their own words without
being guided in any particular direction by the interviewer while closed questions result
in brief, precise answers of just a few words.
Focus Groups: A focus group comprises 8-12 people who are interviewed together about
a topic of common interest; this size group works well allowing all members to have
their say; people who share similar experiences tend to bond together, developing a
sense of belonging and trust which helps them to talk freely about even sensitive issues.
In a focus group the researcher becomes the group facilitator and their role is to monitor
the discussion, keep the group on the topic if they veer off into an irrelevant topic; they
must ensure that all issues raised are responded to and explored as fully as possible
within the time available.
Sampling Methods:
Opportunity sampling: Participants are selected based on naturally occurring groups.
Random sampling: Methods of selecting participants for a study where each member of
the population has an equal chance of being selected. This can be done with a random
number generator or by pulling names out of a hat.
Self-selected sampling: Participants volunteer - usually in response to an advertisement

in the local community or over the Internet.
Snowball sampling: Participants recruit other participants for a study.
Stratified sampling: The sample matches the make-up of the population. Participants
from within various subgroups of the population are randomly selected.
167
Purposive sampling: A purposive sample is looking for people with a very specific set of
traits. This is often accomplished by a self-selected sample.
Describe the ethical considerations that were applied in the study and
explain if further ethical considerations could be applied.
- Consent
- Anonymity
- Right to withdraw
- Debriefing
- Undue stress or harm
- Deception
Describe the ethical considerations in reporting the results and

explain ethical considerations that could be taken into account when
applying the findings of the study.
First part of the question:
- When describing the reporting of the results, it is important to consider

anonymity and communicate the results of the study effectively to the readers.
- Anonymity (e.g., removing names from published results), Right to withdraw
(e.g., right to withdraw data), Informed consent (and parental consent)(e.g.,
informing people before the study how the results will be reported), Debriefing
(e.g., telling people how the results will be reported) and Disclosure (e.g., of
conflicts of interests in the research).
Second part of the question:
- Justice & equitable treatment: Unjust treatment includes publishing an idea that
leads to prejudice against a group or withholding treatment that you believe is
beneficial from some participants so that you can use them as controls.
- Sound & valid methodology: When research findings are published, people are
likely to take them as fact and policies may be based on them. It is important that
the limitations of the studies are explicitly communicated to all constituents.
- Deception: It is important that findings are stated precisely and cautiously to
avoid misunderstandings or misinterpretations of the research. Any
misrepresentations of the findings by policymakers or the media should be
directly addressed by the researchers.
- Reflexivity: Researchers should be aware of how their findings may be used by
others. They should make explicit the assumptions underlying their research so
168
that the public can consider whether they agree with these. They should be aware
of their own values and biases and how they may have influenced their findings.
Discuss the possibility of generalising the findings of the study.
Quantitative Research:
- Was there any sampling bias/is the sample representative of the larger
population it was drawn from? How might the bias affect the chance of
generalising the results?
- Is the sample large enough to be generalised?
- Could the study be replicated to get the same findings? (increasing sample sizes
and reliability)
- Does the study have high ecological validity? Or is the experimental condition
artificial and/or overly controlled?
Qualitative Research:
- Explain any sampling bias in the study.

- Think about how the sampling technique may affect the generalisability.
- Consider which variables would need to be the same so the results could be
transferred?
- Does the study have any unique features that make it difficult to transfer?
Discuss how a researcher could ensure that the results of the study
are credible.(qualitative only)
Data Triangulation: Data triangulation involves using different data sources within the
same method. This could be if you are using two different populations, interviewing
people at different points in time, in private vs. public settings, or comparing people
with different perspectives. By doing this, you are ensuring that it was not the sample
alone which led to the findings, but rather that the findings are consistent across
different data sources.
Method Triangulation: Method triangulation involves utilizing different data collection

methods with the same sample in order to check the consistency of the findings. The
goal is to make sure that it was not the choice of research method alone that led to the
results. So, for example, it wasn't because I used a focus group that I got the results I
did; I get similar findings when using a questionnaire or when carrying out a naturalistic
observation.
169
Researcher Triangulation: Researcher triangulation involves using other researchers to
help carry out the research and review the data. The goal is to make sure that the results
are not due simply to one researcher's interpretations of the data, which may be open to
confirmation biases or misinterpretation of behaviour.
Member checking: Member checking is a technique in which the data, interpretations,

and conclusions are shared with the participants. It allows participants to clarify what
their intentions were, correct errors, and provide additional information if necessary.
Discuss how the researcher in the study could avoid bias.
Peer review: Peer review is the evaluation of a researcher's work by others working in
the same field. All research should be approved by a committee of peers before being
undertaken - and then the final paper should be reviewed before publication.
This is the most fundamental way in which to avoid bias. Peers should be able to point
out any bias which may compromise the way in which a study is done or how the
findings are interpreted.
Single and double-blind controls: In a single blind control, the participants do not know
whether they are in the experimental or control group. This helps to prevent participant
biases - i.e. demand characteristics. In a double blind control, neither the participants
nor the researchers who are analysing the data know which participants are in the
experimental or control group. Sometimes analysis can be blind, even though the
participants were clearly in a control or experimental group.
Researcher triangulation: Having more than one researcher carry out an interview or
observation - or interpret data - is known as researcher triangulation. The goal of
researcher triangulation is to have researchers work independently and, hopefully, come
up with the same results. For example, if three researchers watch children on the
playground in order to measure their level of aggression. If all three determine a similar
level of aggression using the same tools for measurement, we can say that there is
inter-rater reliability.
Cultural bias: for example, WEIRD - that is, Western, educated, industrialised rich and
democratic cultures. Or using university students (YAVIS - young, affluent, verbal,
intelligent and social).
Self-selection bias: people that volunteer tend to be more highly motivated than the
average person or have specific reasons why they want to be in this particular study..
170
Ascertainment bias: when a particular group is left out from research. For example,
when looking at why relationships fall apart, often people in healthy relationships are
not included in the study.
Personal reflexivity: Personal reflexivity is when a researcher thinks about how their
own personal values, beliefs and experiences may have influenced their ability to be
objective when carrying out and interpreting the data in their study. It is important that
researchers include personal reflexivity as part of their research process.
Epistemological reflexivity: Epistemological reflexivity is when a researcher reflects on

how the way that research was carried out may have influenced the findings. For
example, the use of a focus group might lead to conformity effects. The use of face to
face interviews on sensitive topics might lead to a lack of disclosure. On the other hand,
the fact that the researcher knew the participants may mean that they were more
comfortable to disclose sensitive information.
171

Psychology Paper 1,2,3

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Psychology Paper 1,2,3

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Psychology Paper 1,2,3

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

IB Psychology Notes

Glanzer and Cunitz (1966)

Sample: 46 army enlisted men.

- An advantage of independent measures design is increased external validity

Findings and conclusions:

Theory Critical Thinking

- There is significant research to support the theory of separate memory stores -

Landry and Bartling (2011)

Aim: To investigate if articulatory suppression would influence recall of a written list of

Sample: 34 undergraduate psychology students. The researchers used an independent

- The participants were tested individually.

Conclusion: In line with the Working Memory Model, articulatory suppression is

Theory Critical Thinking

- The model is supported by considerable experimental evidence. Brain scans have

Aim: To investigate how the memory of a story is affected by previous knowledge. He

- Bartlett's theory of reconstructive memory has several applications and explains

Brewer and Treyens (1981)

Sample: 86 university Psychology students.

Theory Critical Thinking

- Schema theory is testable.

Loftus and Palmer (1974)

Conclusion: In conclusion, it seems that participants’ memory of an accident could be

- The experiment was conducted in a laboratory and the participants were

Yuille and Cutshall (1986)

Aim: To determine whether leading questions would affect memory of eyewitnesses at a

Sample: 13 of the eyewitnesses agreed to be interviewed as part of a study.

Location: The crime scene was in Vancouver.

Theory Critical Thinking

Strack and Mussweiler (1997)

Aim: To test the influence of anchoring bias on decision making.

Sample: The researchers used an opportunity sample of 69 German undergraduates was

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the anchoring effect – numerical information

- There is a clear sampling bias - opportunity sampling. The students were

Sample: The researchers used a self-selected (volunteer) sample of 307 US

- Participants were asked to make a decision between one of two options in a

Theory Critical Thinking

Strack and Mussweiler (1997)

Aim: To test the influence of anchoring bias on decision making.

Sample: The researchers used an opportunity sample of 69 German undergraduates

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the anchoring effect – numerical information

- There is a clear sampling bias - opportunity sampling. The students were

Tversky & Kahneman (1974)

Aim: to test the influence of the anchoring bias on decision-making

Sample: high school students were used as participants.

- Participants in the “ascending condition” were asked to quickly estimate the

- The study is a very simple experiment that is easily replicated, allowing us to

- It is important to consider cultural differences in thinking and decision making.

Brown and Kulik (1977)

- Where were you when you heard about the event?

Aim: To determine the potential role of biological factors on flashbulb memories.

Neisser and Harsch (1992)

Aim: To determine whether flashbulb memories are susceptible to distortion.

Sample: 106 Emory University students in introductory psychology.

- What time was it?

Theory Critical Thinking

- Questionnaire, to study the reliability of cognitive processes, used by Brown and

Brown and Kulik (1977)

- Where were you when you heard about the event?

Conclusion: Through the use of questionnaires researchers were able to collect