With reference to research studies, to what extent is one cognitive process reliable?

With reference to research studies, to what extent is one cognitive process reliable?
Memory and reliability – Crane 81-85

How is reliability determined What is reliability? Chinese whispers. How is the final version different to the given one? What kind of changes to the story were made? Is there a consistent pattern? Identify three occasions when either your memory or someone else’s proved to be unreliable. Brainstorm – ways in which we could test if memory is actually reliable- refer to past studies if you can.

Eye witness testimony How reliable is memory? The legal system uses eyewitness testimony (EWT) which relies on the accuracy of human memory to decide whether a person is guilty or not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-SBTRLoPuo&feature=related Normally, juries in courts of law take EWT very seriously, but recently, the use of DNA technology has demonstrated what some psychologists have claimed for years, eyewitnesses can be wrong.

Lying or not ?? Research has demonstrated that memory might not be as reliable as we think. Memories may be influenced by other factors than what was recorded in the first place, due to the reconstructive nature of memory. Definition: The term reconstructive memory refers to the brains active processing of information to make sense of the world Repression may also occur and this further puts into question the reliability of memory.

Want to forget? Think about a time you forgot something? Why do you think this happened? Identify something you want to forget. List reasons why you would rather not remember? Brainstorm. Lets’ consider Mr Sigmund Freud.

Unconscious Conscious Preconscious Unconscious

Freudian idea that forgetting happens for a reason Thoughts & memories that are painful are forced out of conscious mind to the unconscious mind

Freud and memory Video clip Sigmund Freud (1915) was an influential psychodynamic psychologist. Using evidence gained from his case studies of people suffering from mental disorders, Freud was convinced that forgetting was caused by repression According to Freud, people who experience anxiety provoking events may use defense mechanisms, such as repression, to protect their conscious self from knowing things that they cannot cope with. They send dangerous memories to the unconscious, which means they deny that the ever happened.

Will such memories be gone forever? Can they ever be retrieved? How? Dream analysis and hypnosis. What do you think? Continuum….one side of the room for and the other against. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRW-m_8nZzw&feature=related Could you become open to suggestion? What would this result in? Relate to reliability of memory. Some researchers who are critics of Freud claim that these techniques (hypnosis and dream analysis) can create false memories, which people consequently believe to be true.

False memory maybe…. However, it is important to differentiate between the repression of everyday memories, and memories for severely traumatic eventssuch as experiences of child abuse, or witnessing a murder But there is some research from cognitive psychology suggesting that repression does exist, such as research by Levinger & Clark (1961).

Words used in Levinger & Clark’s study: copy marker fight pathway business rapist honest kicking hatred service destroy wounded river killing hurt book despair murder singer table

Levinger and Clark (1961) Aim: To examine whether repression can cause the forgetting of certain words Procedure:PPs shown two intermixed word lists Some words had Negative emotional connotations and some were Neutral They then compared recall for the two types of word *What does the concept of repression suggest should happen? Findings & Conclusions: they found PPs had poorer recall of emotionally negative words (e.g. ‘fight’, ‘fear’), and concluded that this was because the words with negative emotional connotations were repressed

Evaluation: Solid experimental methodology used Research support: Klein (1972) found PPs had poorer recall for a wordlist when they had been insulted by the experimenter during learning, support the idea that repression of emotionally negative material occurs Levinger & Clark’s experimental findings have problems: Bradley and Baddely, (1990) replicated Levinger & Clark study and found recall for negative words higher after a delay Klein’s (1972) PPs might have been distracted during learning or demotivated during recall (methodological flaws) Also the serial position of the words may have influenced recall in Levinger & Clark’s study This research has Low E.V.

Repression: In summary: Experimental evidence (Lavinger & Clark, 1962) and the case study evidence (Freud, 1915) is weak Repression probably does happen, but not often; Freud’s suggestion that most forgetting is repression is not sustainable evidence is lacking for repression as an important process in in everyday forgetting, however, it may play a role in forgetting traumatic experiences....

Which ones did we recall more of (mean of words recalled for the class)? Negative emotional words …… Neutral words…… Reflection: Based on Levinger & Clark’s study and Freud’s concept of repression, what can we conclude about the extent to which memory is reliable? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………….. ………………………………………………………….

Quick quiz What is repression? How did Freud gather evidence for his concept of repression? What is the structure of consciousness according to Freud? What two types of repression is it important to differentiate between? Give the aims procedures, findings and conclusions of Levinger & Clark’s (1961) study What were the findings of Klein’s (1972) study, and how does this support Levinger & Clark’s findings? What did Bradley and Baddely, (1990) find when they replicated Levinger & Clark’s (1961) experiment and included a delay? Make three evaluative points about Levinger and Clark’s (1961) study What does research into repression tell us about the reliability of memory?

The recovery of false memories for traumatic events The victims of child abuse may not want to remember the traumatic experience, but is it possible to totally forget these things? (remember repressed memories can resurface) There is a controversy around the recovery of false memories. Terr (1994) documented cases where people say they have retrieved false memories of childhood sexual abuse during therapy, and also witnessing traumatic events. The False Memory Syndrome Foundation was founded in 1992 to provide support to families that had been shattered by accusations of childhood abuse by their children after their children had been through therapy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRW-m_8nZzw&feature=related

The recovery of false memories for traumatic events Elizabeth Loftus does not deny that child abuse happens, but she has argued that some of the recovered memories may simply be created by misleading post event information during therapy. Her laboratory research has shown that it is possible to manipulate peoples memories . Loftus (2002) wrote an article on the case of the Washington Sniper, who killed a number of people. The police asked people to come forward with information on the murderer and many reported having seen a ‘white van’ in the vicinity of the shootings. In fact, the snipers van was ‘dark green’. Loftus tried to find out where the myth of the ‘white van’ came from. She discovered that a bystander mentioned a white van in an interview. After this, other people reported that they has seen a white van. According to Loftus, a false memory had been create by the misleadingpost-event information.

Empirical Research into the reliability of memory In his book remembering (1932) Bartlett argued that memory is reconstructive and that schemas influence recall. He also demonstrated the influence of culture on memory. Bartlett’s (1932) classic study of reconstructive memory using the native American folk tale ‘The war of the Ghosts’.

Native American Canoes

Reflection: Based on the findings and conclusions of Bartlett's (1932) research on reconstructive memory, to what extent is memory reliable? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………

Experiment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg5bBJQOL74&feature=related Group 1 How fast do you think the cars were going when they hit each other? 1.Extremely fast – 120 km/h 2.Reasonably fast – 100km/h 3.Reasonably slowly – 80 km/h 4.Extremely slowly – 60km/h

Group 2 How fast do you think the cars were going when they hit each other? 1.Extremely fast – 120 km/h 2.Reasonably fast – 100km/h 3.Reasonably slowly – 80 km/h 4.Extremely slowly – 60km/h

Did you see any broken glass in the video clip we watched yesterday?

Loftus research on the reliability of eyewitness testimony One of the leading researchers into eyewitness testimony (EWT) is Elizabeth Loftus. Loftus supports Bartlett’s idea of memory as reconstructive. Loftus claims that the nature of questionscan influence witnesses memory. She calles this the “MISINFORMATION EFFECT” She suggests that Leading Questions – ‘a question phrased in a manner that tends to suggest the desired answer’ influences recall This is misleading post (after) event information facilitate schema processing which may influence the accuracy of recall Loftus- was Hilary Clinton lying? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hER-5mdIoN0

Loftus and Palmer (1974a) Laboratory experiment 1 into the effect of leading questions on reconstructive memory Aim:To investigate the role of leading questions in recall Procedure: An independent measures design was used 45 students shown video clips of car accidents Then asked questions: Critical question was ‘About how fast were the cars going when they HITeach other?’ ‘Hit’ replaced with either ‘smashed’, ‘collided’,‘bumped’ or ‘contacted’. Title of study: “Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction : An Example of the Interaction Between Language and Memory” IV: ………… ……………. Findings: DV: ………… ……………. What are the implications of these findings? Conclusions: The use of different verbs activates different schemas in memory, so that the participant hearing the word ‘smashed’; may actually imagine the accident as more severe than the participant hearing the word ‘contacted’.

Loftus and Palmer (1974b) Laboratory experiment 2 to see whether misleading post event information can lead to the creation of false memories Aim: To see whether misleading post event information can lead to the creation of false memories Procedure: An independent measures design was used 150 students all shown a video clip of car accident Split into groups of 50 1st group asked “How fast were the cars going when they hit each other?” 2nd group asked “How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?” 3rd group was the control group – they were not asked to estimate the speed of the accident Findings: One week later they were asked a critical question, “Did you see any broken glass?” (there was no broken glass in the video clip) The 2nd group who were initially asked “How fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?”. On average gave higher speed estimates and that they recall seeing broken glass. IV: ………… ……………. DV: ………… ……………. Still the highest – although most people said no to the question

Overall Findings & Conclusions Different words had an effect on the estimation of speed as well as the perception of the consequences of the accident. Loftus and Palmer (1974) explained that ‘smashed’ provides participants with verbal information that activates schemas for a severe accident. The higher rates of participants seeing broken glass is connected to this, the participant is more likely to think that there was broken glass involved when they were asked the leading question containing the word ‘smashed’ Loftus’s research also indicates that it is possible to create a false memory using misleading post-event information(i.e. – the questions asked after the event, causes memory to be easily distorted leading to inaccurate recall) This is also known as confabulation –confusion of true memories with false memories. Evaluation of the experiment: StrengthsLimitations video#

Strengths Loftus and her colleagues have made an important contribution to our understanding of the fallibility of EWT. It seems clear from the research that memory for event can be fundamentally altered in light of misleading post event information. This has had important implications for the way in which the police question witnesses, and also in the courtroom. Loftus used experimental methodology, so that cause & effect can be observed, making the study easily replicable. Loftus & Palmer (1974b) also used a control condition in their study: the 3rdgroup were not asked about accident but asked about whether they saw broken glass or not, for reliability of results. The use of experiment 2 enabled Loftus to make sure that the results of the experiment 1 were not merely due to demand characteristics. Limitations There are problems with the use of closed questions, which means people have to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – research suggests people recall information better when asked questions in a logical order – such as the ‘Cognitive Interview’ developed by Geiselman et al (1985) to be used by the police to get detailed accounts from eyewitnesses. – when this technique is used EWT can be much more accurate. All the research participants were from the US, so the sample is culturally biased The research also raises the question of how well people are able to estimate speed, and this may have influenced the results Her research has also been criticized for its low E.V. & artificiality, in real life, events that might have to be recalled later in a court of law, often take place unexpectedly and in an atmosphere of tension. It is difficult to recreate such conditions in the laboratory for practical and ethical reasons, and it is quite possible that eyewitnesses remember real events differently from staged events An evaluation of Loftus research into EWT

Yullie and Cutshall (1986) criticism of Loftus’s research… Yullie and Cutshall (1986) have criticized Loftus’s research for a lack of ecological validity. Performing research on memory in the laboratory does not reflect how and when people remember in real life, they argue. They used Loftus’s technique in interviewing people who had witnesses a real robbery and found that misleading questions did not seem to distort peoples memory. Instead, they found that the memory for details in this real life situation was quite amazing. This was seen in particular in witnesses who had been close to the event. In fact, it seems that the wording of the question had no effect on recall, and those who were most distressed by the situation had the most accurate memories. Furthermore, there is also research into ‘flashbulb memories’ which are particularly vivid, detailed and long lasting memories of the circumstances surrounding an event, such as 9/11

Reflection: Based on the findings and conclusions Loftus’s research on EWT, to what extent is memory reliable? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Test Yourselves… 1. Which of the following was not a cue word in the experiment by Loftus and Palmer? Smashed Contacted Knocked Hit The correct answer is… c) Knocked

Test Yourself… 2. The DV in the first experiment was… Estimate of speed The verb ‘smashed’ The question about broken glass The film The correct answer is… a) Estimate of Speed

Test Yourself… 3. In Experiment 1, how many experimental conditions were there? 1 3 5 7 The correct answer is… c) 5

Test Yourself… 4. In Experiment 2, how many experimental groups were there? 1 2 3 4 The correct answer is… b) 2

Test Yourself… 5. In Experiment 2, participants were tested immediately and then asked to return for some more questions. How long afterwards was this? 1 day 3 days 1 week 2 weeks The correct answer is… c) 1 week

Test Yourself… 6. In Experiment 2, which group saw the most broken glass? The ‘smashed’ group The ‘collided’ group The ‘hit’ group The control group The correct answer is… a) The ‘smashed’ group

Test Yourself… 7. Which of the following is true? Experiment 1 and 2 were both repeated measures Experiment 1 and 2 were both independent measures Only Experiment 1 was repeated measures Only experiment 1 was independent measures The correct answer is… b) Experiment 1 and 2 were both independent measures

Test Yourself… 8. The participants in this study were: Children Students Teachers Adults The correct answer is… b) Students

Research…With reference to research studies, to what extent is one cognitive process reliable? Freud (1915) Levinger & Clark (1961) Klein (1972) (Bradley and Baddely, 1990) Bartlett’s (1932) Loftus (2002) Terr (1994) Loftus & Palmer (1974a) Loftus & Palmer (1974b) Geiselman et al (1985) Yullie and Cutshall (1986)

Presentations on the reliability of memory Prepare a podcast or video clip on the reliability of memory. Groups will be assigned and have different topics – see next slide The main topic of your presentation is the extent to which memory is reliable- you MUST refer to research studies You will prepare questions for a discussion after your presentation. The presentation may not be longer than 2 minutes. Presentation due on Tuesday 13 march. See rubric on blog

Presentation topicsto what extent is memory reliable? Based on Levinger & Clark’s study and Freud’s concept of repression, what can we conclude about the extent to which memory is reliable? Based what you have read about the recovery of traumatic repressed memories, to what extent is memory reliable? Based on the findings and conclusions of Bartlett's (1932) research on reconstructive memory, to what extent is memory reliable? Based on the findings and conclusions Loftus’s research on EWT, to what extent is memory reliable

Things to consider… Present the research Evaluate the research, and discuss the research in relation to the essential question ’to what extent is memory reliable’ Identify questions which would be helpful in developing ideas for the LO. Engage your listeners

http://www.psychexchange.co.uk/_hotpotatoes/16794688201244238917.htm - self quiz http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-SBTRLoPuo&feature=related (EWT 13 mins – good vid) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4V6aoYuDcg&feature=channel (part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtDt-THaH_o&feature=related (short version) http://www.psychexchange.co.uk/videos/view/20015/ (video)

With reference to research studies, to what extent is one cognitive process reliable?