SAQ

CLOA

* Outline principles that define the cognitive level of analysis

or
* Explain how principles that define the cognitive level of analysis may be demonstrated in
research that is theories and/or studies). [8] same answer for both Q
P: Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors, demonstrated using the
schema theory. Schemas are cognitive frameworks that assist in the organisation and
interpretation of information. They are ever-changing and dependant on the experiences and
knowledge, whether correct or not, that individuals have on the world. An experiment which
supports this theory is:
E: Bartlett (1932) war of the ghosts
- A: to test whether memory is reconstructed based on existing, culture specific schema
- M: Serial production: Bartlett asked participants visiting his lab to read a Native
American Legend and then asked to reproduce the details on three or four subsequent
occasions
- R: Recall of the story became increasingly inaccurate, the mistakes seemed to show a
pattern:
o Levelling: participants shortened the story leaving out information not
important in their culture
o Sharpening: participants changed the order of evenets as well as adding details
and emotional states which made sense on their cultural context rather than in
the original native American context
o Assimilation: some unfamiliar details were changed to fit with british norms and
expectations
- C: The experiment confirms the schema theory as it shows that memory isnt as accurate
and can be distorted by cultural schemas, which occurs due to different ways of
perceiving and understanding of the world.
o His study shows how information was perceived to reflect the organisation of
previous knowledge in the memory. If information is incomplete, the blanks are
filled in by schemas. This leads to errors and distortions
o Suggests that memories are organised within the historical and cultural
frameworks (schema) of the individual, and the process of remembering
involves the retrieval of information which has been unknowingly altered in
order that it is compatible with pre-existing knowledge
. Participants omitted information they regarded as irrelevant, changed
the emphasis to points they considered to be significant, and rationalized
the parts that did not make sense in order to make the story more
comprehensible.
P: Humans are information processors, mental processes guide our behaviour.
E: Multi-store model of memory (Atkinson and Shiffrin): suggests that there are three memory
stores, with each responsible for a different type of memory.
 The Multi-store model of memory

Sensory memory Short Term Memory (STM) Long Term Memory (LTM)

Conversion from Sensory Store

Sensory stimulus (e.g. Encoded from STM Store through rehearsal
Input through selective attention
visual, audio etc.) (repeatedly giving attention to the memory)
(choosing to retain the memory)

Decay Loss due to Displacement loss due to Interference rehearsal gets interfered during
Loss
passage of time replacement of other memories retrieval

Memory gets stored away in a conceptually

Repetitive rehearsal in order to
Process - indefinitely large store.
retain the memory
Retrieved to STM store when needed.

Duration 3 to 5 seconds 1 to 2 minutes Indefinite

Capacity - Limited, around 7 items Unlimited

* Explain how biological factors may affect one cognitive process [8]
Biological factors can greatly affect emotion, seen through a study by Bahrick et al, 1975
A: To test the accuracy of very long term memory (VLTM)
M: lab experiment using an independent groups design. Recruited 392 participants aged between 17
and 74. All participants had been part of a year group of more than 90 and complete year book was
available for their cohort at high school. Participants then completed 5 test of recall
1. Free recall- listing as many full names for classmates as possible
2. Picture recognition- identifying class mates from a choice of pictures
3. Name recognition- identifying classmates from a choice of names
4. Matching- matching names on a list to photographs of classmates
5. Picture cues- adding names to pictures of classmates
R: Although memory declined with age, performance on some test remained remarkably accurate.
Participants within 15 years of graduation were 90% accurate in both the picture and name
recognition test, but participants still achieved 80% accuracy for name recognition and 70 % for
picture recognition 48 years after graduation. Results emphasises the importance of the method of
retrieval, as although memory declined with age, the test results showed an overwhelming high
accuracy particularly for picture and name recognition, evidence that LTM memory can be recalled
using effective queues. Accuracy for free recall was relatively poor.
C: Confirms the existence of LTM and supports the idea that it exists as a separate store.
Challenges the MSM
- shows recall is relatively successful when its queue dependant, rather than just be due
to rehearsal
- by suggesting the existence of another store known as VLTM, shown by the lack of decay
of memory through LTM that MSM suggests. Instead Bahrick shows memory might not
decay in the sense that MSM suggests, but the problem lies within the recall section-
suggests that with right queue, memory is reliable- 90 in 15yrs, without 47.5 in 15.
S- Memory is only reliable in the queues presented in the situation, adding a new dimension to
typical MSM such as MSM and LOP. Suggests that existence of another store which could challenge
idea that memories in LTM decay over time, as well as evidence of how accurate recall can be with
right queues even after 48 years
 L: Individual differences: Stronger emotional ties to certain classmates, making them easier to
recall, due to rehearsal as well as a tie between amygdala and medial temporal lobe forming
emotional memory shown by Dolcos et al in 2004. How prone someone is to forgetfulness- links
to memory issues- memory loss dementia, greatly affects the results
Participants may have seen picture queues and recognition photos several times before, thus
rehearsal would play a part in the recall of the names
Demand characteristics- participants may alter behaviour to satisfy the experiments needs by
trying harder to recall the names of the classmates
Limited useful info information High school yearbook only used- more than 1 could be used,
however it can be argued that the high school yearbook is the only source that is the most
reliable and accurate.
Ecological Validity- uncomfortable lab environment, the experiment assumes that the
participants have not made contact with and classmates, could be wrong, affecting the results of
the experiment.

Explain the reliability of one cognitive process with reference to one relevant study [8]
- Human memory is reconstructive and remembering is not simply retrieving a fully
encoded event
- Loftus and palmer (1974):
A: Aimed to investigate the effect of leading questions on EWT of an event
M: participants were shown 7 films of car accidents that lasted 15-30 sec.
o Films presented in differing orders to each group.
o Participants were then asked to fill out a questionnaire
o Included a series of questions including one critical speed question
o About how fast were the card going when they [hit] each other replaced with
different verbs (IV) DV was the speed estimate.
R: Mean estimates for each verb increased with an increase in the intensity of the verb
C: The study shows how our memory can be reconstructed by uses of pre-existing
schema, which can be manipulated by new information. The verb used can be seen to
distort memory. This suggests that memory is less reliable because it is reconstructed
using schemas which can be altered by new information
[S/L : Ecological Validity: the study was conducted in an artificial and tightly controlled
lab environment. Leading questions may exert much less influence on memory in real
life situation, meaning that memory may be more reliable than Loftus and palmer
suggest.] not needed in SAQ
Describe one research study which has investigated the schema theory [8]
- The schema theory suggests that we use cognitive schemas to help us know what will
happen in an anticipated situation and moderate our behaviour accordingly.
- Schemas may be useful since they allow our memory to be more efficient , storing basic
details then filling in the gas.
- Study- Bartlett (1932) war of the ghosts (REFER TO PREVIOUS PAGES)
Outline one theory of how emotion may affect one cognitive process [22]
- Flash bulb memories- (Brown and Kulik): suggests that events which are unexpected
and unusually significant could prompt a neural trigger adding an intense emotional
component to the memory, therefore making it more durable, more detailed and more
accurate.
- Neisser and Harsch (1992) suggests that flashbulb memory is just memory that is
rehearsed over and over again in to LTM.
A: To test the theory of flashbulb memories by investigating the extent to which memory for a
shocking event would be accurate after a period of time
M: students in an introductory psychology class were given a questionnaire within 24 hours of
the eben and asked to write a description of how they had heard the news.
o They were asked toanswer wuestions regarding their whereabouts, what they
where doing, etc. and what emptional feelings they experienced.
o 2 and a half years later 44 of the original 106 answered the questionnaire again. This
time they were asked to rate how confident they were of the accuracy of the memory
recall from a scale of 1-5. They were also asked if they had done the questionnaire
before.
R: 11/44 remembered they had filled the questionnaire before. There were major discrepancies
between the original and the follow up- mean score of correctness of recall was 2.95 out of 7. For
11 participants it was 0, and 22 scored 2 or less. Average level of confidence was 4.17.
C: The results challenges the FBM theory- participants were confident that they
remembered the event correctly both times but they could not explain the discrepancies in
the results.
- This suggests that FBMs are subject to the same types of inaccuracy and forgetting as
any other memories, which contradicts the theory that emotion affects recall. Assuming
that participants' memories were more accurate one day after the disaster, it can be
concluded that their memories about how they had heard about the news had
deteriorated significantly during the subsequent two and a half years.
- This loss of accuracy over time reflects the flexibility and reconstructive power of the
mental system instead of questioning the original vividness of FB memory.
- This further suggests that FBM are not reliable (as influenced by post-event
information).
- Neisser and Harsch claimed that such findings suggest that FBM's may just be ordinary
memories. The study overall, appears to support the theory that memory is
reconstructive in nature. The participants remembered the event, but the event was not
the occasion on which s/he first heard of the explosion.
- The importance of an event is highly personal and therefore, it is still not an overall test
of the flash bulb memory.
S: The strengths of the experiment are that the study was conducted in a natural
environment and has higher ecological validity than experiments in a laboratory.
- The participants were not manipulated in any way, but were simply asked to respond to
an event which they had personally experienced in some way.
- This was a naturalistic study and does not suffer from the artificiality of many memory
studies which are done in laboratories.
- The experiment can be seen to be completely ethical since it does agree with the
principles of ethics- none of the participants were harmed physically or mentally, all
participants gave consent to the experiment. They all had the right to withdraw and
were deceived by omission to a small extent, to ensure least possible demand
characteristics.
L: Practice effects- since some participants may have recalled what they wrote the last time
and so may have written the same thing.
- The degree of emotional arousal when witnessing a shocking public event may be
different from experiencing a traumatic event in your own personal life.
 - The confidence levels were higher than they should have been as a result of demand
characteristics- since the participants were asked to verify their level of confidence, they
could have increased their ratings to please the researcher or to avoid social disapproval
for claiming not to remember an important day in their countrys history.
- Serious methodological shortcoming: they do not include control condition to allow a
comparison between normal memories and flashbulb memories.
- The nature of the study makes it difficult to replicate, since it would require the same
event to repeat itself, However, other researchers such as Talarico and Rubin have
conducted a similar experiment in 2003 based on the 9/11 attack, which appears to
yield the same results. This demonstrates the transferability of the findings of this study
to other situations and suggests the strong reliability of the experiment as well as a
strong historical validity.
- The biggest limitation to this experiment is the presence of individual differences. The
participants may have faced something traumatic between the questionnaires, such as
the presence of memory loss or any other such medical condition, or may have seen
many dramatic explosion images that were shown so repeatedly on every TV network
which could have stuck in their minds, until finally they came to believe that those
images had been their own first exposure to the news of the explosion
- Authors argue that flashbulb memories involve a special biological mechanism that we
have developed though evolution so that highly consequential surprising events are well
remembered.
- FM is a reconstructive memory, the emotional aspect may affect the way the memory is
then reconstructed, especially if the memory is discussed and often rehearsed
* Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the cognitive level of analysis.
[8] [ERQ also]
- Informed consent- where participants are given full details of research in advance.
- Protection from harm- Psychological- stress etc. and Physical
- Deception- omission/ commission- debrief after the research is concluded
- Right to withdraw
Loftus and Palmer (1974)
- Loftus and palmer (1974): aimed to investigate the effect of leading questions on
memory recall, based on the reconstructive nature of memory.
M: participants were shown 7 films of car accidents that lasted 15-30 sec.
o Films presented in differing orders to each group.
o Participants were then asked to fill out a questionnaire
o Included a series of questions including one critical speed question
o About how fast were the card going when they [hit] each other replaced with
different verbs (IV) DV was the speed estimate.
R: Mean estimates for each verb increased with an increase in the intensity of the verb
C: Supports Loftus theory that memory is not a factual recall of an actual event and that
memory has the ability to be distorted by information after the event. The study shows
how our memory can be reconstructed by uses of pre-existing schema, which can be
manipulated by new information. The verb used was semantically similar, but due to
peoples pre-existing schema, it represented different speeds. This can be seen to
distort memory. This suggests that memory is less reliable because it is reconstructed
using schemas which can be altered by new information
- Challenges Atkinsons and Shiffrins model of memory- which can be seen to be too
simplistic, as it does not take into account how memory can be distorted by schema. The
process of retrieval is over simplified and suggests that humans can recall memory
 perfectly and accurately, like a computer, which is proven to be wrong by Loftus and
palmer, as it can be distorted using leading questions
- Challenges the extent to which memory is reliability
S/L : Easily replicated since the IV is the video, not the actual car crash
o Ecological Validity: the study was conducted in an artificial and tightly controlled
lab environment. Watching a video in a room is lot less traumatising than
witnessing the event in real life, since flashbulb memory suggests that emotional
arousal increases the vividness of memory recall, which would not take into
account in this experiment.
o Demand Characteristics- Participants knew they were being tested for
something, they may have answered the question indifferently, and results may
have been distorted. Some participants may not be good at judging speeds and
thus suggested a speed that they may have thought the experimented wanted
them to. Leading questions may exert much less influence on memory in real life
situation, meaning that memory may be more reliable than Loftus and palmer
suggest. People have different preconceptions of the verbs used.
o Population Validity- A group of students were used, whi may not have a right
preconception about car speeds, since their experience is limited to a few years,
however, their recall may be better than older individuals, having an effect on
the results shown.
Ethics: Informed consent has a low effect since participants have not been told the
purpose of the research. Protection from harm: They might feel like their memories
are not reliable. Deception by omission is low, since they have been debriefed after
the experiment was completed.
Loftus and Pickerell (1995)
A: To test the possibility that the reconstructive nature will allow the creation of false
memories
M: 24 participants (all university students) were recruited, as well as a family member
for each participants, (a parent or sibling who would be trusted by the participants to
have clear memories of the participants early childhood). The family members provided
three genuine stories regarding participants early childhood; which were compiled into
a booklet with one additional false study added by researchers.
o False stories included core details: lost for a long time in a shopping mall, cried,
found by an old woman, reunited with family. Participants took part in a three
phase procedure-
1. Participants were sent a booklet and asked to record details they could
remember about all four stories contained
2. Participants were interviewed 1-2 weeks after completing the booklet and asked
to recall details of the 4 incidents described in the booklet
3. A second interview 1-2 weeks after completing the booklet and asked to recall
disclosure of the 4 incidents described in the booklet
C: 29% of the participants remembered the false event when they completed the
booklet, with 25% continuing to remember the false event during both of their
interviews. Real events were remembered with more detail and clarity, but the detail
and clarity of the false event increased between the first and second interview.
S/L : Individual Differences: the real stories came from their relatives, so their memory
can be judged
 o Ecological Validity: you wouldnt ask someone to memorise/ recall memories
o Demand Characteristics:
o Practice effects: the second interview may have recalled information clearer.
Ethics: Protection from harm High -People might doubt their experiences/anxiety
False memory might be recalled after 10 years' time
ERQ
CLOA
Discuss the use of one research method (experiments) in the cognitive level of analysis.
Use relevant research studies in your response [22]
The methods of investigation undertaken by cognitive psychologists range from laboratory
experiments to interviews in everyday situations. They have in common the aim of obtaining
relevant information on mental processes used to acquire, store, retrieve and apply knowledge
about the world.
- Evaluation- balance of adv and disadv of method employed
With reference to relevant research, to what extent is one cognitive process reliable [22]
- Memory: The reliability of memory can be further analysed by looking closely at Eye
Witness Testimonies (EWT)
- Eye witness testimonies have been used in legal systems as evidence in criminal trials in
countries all over the world and relies on human memory to decide whether a person is
guilty or not.
- Theorists such as Bartlett have argued that memory is a reconstructive process
involving schema rather than an accurate recording of an event. People use fragments
of the target even as well as pre-existing schemas to reconstruct the details in ways
which make sense, but which may not be accurate. A schema is a mental representation
of how an event is likely to have taken place. Bartlett expects that memories can be
distorted by schemas, but Loftus argues that schemas themselves might be altered by
new information such as leading question.
- Loftus and palmer (1974)
* Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the sociocultural level of
analysis [ERQ also] [22]
- Informed consent- where participants are given full details of research in advance.
- Protection from harm- Psychological- stress etc. and Physical
- Deception- omission/ commission- debrief after the research is concluded
- Right to withdraw
Stamford prison experiment
- A: investigate how participants behaviour would change when given a role to play.
- M: Zimbardo had 21 stable university students to play as either a prisoner or a guard
in the transformed basement of Stamford university, simulated as a prison environment.
Participants were provided with information and paid for their volunteering prior to the
experiment, however, the experiment was unpredictable due to the nature of the results
which were based on human behaviour
- R:
- C:
* Evaluate two models of theories of one cognitive process with reference to research
studies
* Discuss the use of technology in investigating cognitive process
* To what extent do cognitive and biological factors interact in emotion?
* Discuss how social and/or cultural factors affect one cognitive process [22]
- Cultural norms and past experience (Bartlett 1932)
Discuss how and why particular research methods are used at the cognitive level of
analysis