Cognitive psychology: Case study 4: Movement-produced stimulation in the development of visually guided behaviour

Cognitive psychology

Case study 4: Movement-produced stimulation in the development of visually guided behaviour

Author: Held and Hein (1963)

Key term: Kitten Carousel

Is visual perception learned or inherited? If an animal is deprived of a sensory experience, in this study physical movement in an artificial environment, can it adapt when placed in an normal environment?

Aim/Hypothesis: To test if self produced movement is necessary for visually guided behaviour (eg. walking). In this experiment, to see if a kitten needs to see and move for itself in an environment to be able to develop normal movement, such as paw placement. 

Method: Laboratory experiment

Variables:

• Independent variables: 

1. The two different pairs of kittens X and Y. 
2. The passive kitten and active kitten.

• Dependent variables:

1. Kittens response to tests based on visually guided behaviour.

Design: Independent measures, because each kitten on preforms in one condition on the test.

Participants and sampling technique: 10 pairs of kittens, each taken from a different litter.

Apparatus: 

1. Kittens are kept in a cage with no light with their mother and litter mates during non-experimental time.
2. 'Exposure' apparatus: Striped environment and a carousel. In the pair, the active kitten is attached to a harness and allowed to walk freely around the carousel. The movement from the active kitten is transferred to the passive kitten, who is put in a gondola to restrain leg movements.

Controls:

• All kittens were exposed to the same environment and did the same tests.
• All kittens were kept in the same living conditions.

Procedure:

1. The 10 pairs of kittens were divided into two groups: Group X: Eight pairs. Group Y: Two pairs.
2. Group X: Reared in darkness from birth until one kitten from the pair was able to coordinate and walk around, which was around 8-12 weeks old.
3. Group Y: Reared in darkness for 2 weeks from birth, then from 2-10 weeks were put in exposed environment (carousel) for 3 hours a day. They were put in a double gondola; so head movement was allowed but nothing else.
4. All 10 pairs were then placed in the carousel for 3 hours a day.One kitten (active) was allowed to walk and the other (passive) was not. During non-experiment time they were put back in the light-less cage.
5. After around 33 hours of exposure to the carousel, each kitten was tested with six different tests. 3 were the main tests and 3 were additional.

         Main tests

• Visually guided paw placement - Kitten was held above a table and slowly moved towards it. Normal kittens would put their paws to touch the surface.
• Avoidance of visual cliff - A bridge with a shallow drop on one side and a deep drop, with invisible glass on the top so the kittens don't fall, on the other. A normal kitten will avoid the deep drop and walk onto the shallow surface.
• Blink to an approaching object: The experimenter will quickly bring his hand towards the kitten's face but stopping before actually touching the kitten. Normal kittens will blink.

         Additional tests

• Pupillary reflex to light: The kittens pupil should shrink when a light is shined in their eyes.
• Tactual placing response: Similar to paw placement test. When a normal kitten is touching a vertical surface it will move its paws to touch the horizontal surface.
• Visual pursuit of moving object: When the experimenter moves his hand in front of the kitten their head and eyes should follow the movement.

Group X: Paw placement repeated 6 times after carousel exposure and when one kitten from the pair (active) passed the paw placement they were tested on the visual cliff. 

Group Y: Paw placement repeated 6 times, but when active kitten passed only the active kitten was tested on the visual cliff.  Only tested after 6 weeks (126 hours) on the kitten carousel.

Findings: 

• All kittens responded normally to additional tests (pupillary reflex, tactual placement,  visual pursuit).
• The active kittens in group X passed all the main tests (paw placement, blinking, visual cliff), whereas none of the passive kittens in group X passed.
• All the group Y passive kittens failed the paw placement and visual cliff tests.
• After 48 hours in a normal, well lit free environment, all the kittens performed normally on all tests, showing no after effects of the experiment.

Conclusion: Visually perception is not all inherited, self produced movement is needed for normal visually guided behaviour.

Cognitive psychology: Case study 3: Baron-Cohen's eyes test

Cognitive psychology

Case study 3: Baron-Cohen's eyes test

Author: Baron-Cohen et al. (2001)

Key term: Eyes test

Background/context: One symptom of autism is mind blindness. (the ability to know what someone is feeling). Baron-Cohen et al. devised a theory of mind test in 1975 for autistic adults called the 'eyes test', but there were many methodological problems with this test so a new version was revised in 2001.

Problems with original test

• Only a choice of two words for each picture, meaning the answer could be a 50/50 guess. Four words were added to the revised test. (Prevent ceiling effect)
• Revised test had 40 (reduced to 36) pictures instead of 25. (Prevent ceiling effect)
• Too many easy pictures as well as pictures that could be guessed by looking at the gaze direction, which did not assess the mental state. (Prevent ceiling effect)
• More female faces, Equal numbers of male and female faces were put in the revised test.
• In the original test the words were semantic opposites (eg. happy and sad). Words changed so they were not semantic in revised test. (Prevent ceiling effect).
• The words used were not known by some participants so in the new test a glossary of terms were given to participants.

Ceiling effect: Too many scores at the top end of the mark range (too many people getting good scores).

Hypothesis:

To see if revised version works on autistic adults

Predictions:

1. People with AS/HFA (aspergers/high functioning autism) will score lower on the eyes test than other groups
2. People with AS/HFA will score higher on the AQ test than other groups.
3. 'Normal' females will score higher than males on the eyes test.
4. 'Normal' males will score higher than females on the AQ test.
5. Scores on the eyes and AQ test will be inversely correlated.

Predictions 3 & 4 are because Baron-Cohen predicts that a surplus of testosterone causes autism, so males, who generally have more testosterone than women, should have more autistic tendencies.

Method: Natural experiment with questionnaires

Questionnaire design

Eyes test: 

36 black and white photos of different male and female eye regions taken from a magazine. Each photo has four words to describe the mental state of the person in the photo. Participants need to choose the word they think describes the person's mental state from the photo of their eyes. After completely all 36, the correct answers are rounded up to give an overall score.

The words for each set of eyes were chosen by two authors and judged by a four male four female team. At least 5 judges had to agree the word was correct for the mental state. Four photos did not achieve this consistency so they were dropped, leaving 36 photos.

AQ test:

5o statements of which the participants get to choose "slight agree, definitely agree, slightly disagree, definitely disagree". There was actually no difference between 'Slightly and definitely',  one point is given to either agree or disagree. Total score out of 50. This test is reliable and valid, and both the eyes and AQ test are psychometric tests. 

Groups

1. 15 adult males with AS/HFA. Mean IQ of 115
2. 122 normal adults (control group)
3. Normal adult students (cambridge undergrads) 103 (53 male 3 female). Higher than average IQ.
4. 14 IQ matched controls with group 1.

Apparatus

Eyes test, AQ test and quiet room in Cambridge.

Procedure

• All groups given eye test
• Groups 1, 3 and 4 given AQ test

Data- Quantitative

Results

1. Mean eyes test score was lowest for group 1 (AS/HFA) at 21.9.
2. Sex difference was examined in group 1 and 2 but the difference was not statistically significant enough for the AQ and eyes test.
3. Group 1 scored significantly higher on the AQ test (mean 34.4) than groups 3 and 4 (mean  18.3 and 18.9).
4. Significant inverse correlation of -0.53.

Conclusion

• This test is an improvement of the original as the old weaknesses were not observed.
• All initial aims met and predictions confirmed.
• Validates eyes test as useful for identifying impairments related AS/HFA.

English lang weekly writing #2

Article - 5 myths about domestic abuse everyone believes
Click here for article

This article talks about the stigma and stereotypes of domestic violence in relationships and how what we think of domestic violence is completely different to the actual reality, which is proven by stories from people who have been in abusive relationships. "We spoke to six different victims of domestic abuse - male and female - and found out that lots of these cases don't look like the plots of Lifetime movies.." This shows that our image of domestic violence victims are not always women being beaten by a man, as shown in commercials and movies.

The first myth the article debunks is the myth that domestic violence is always a violent, big man beating a woman cowering in the corner. "And of the women who've reported at least one incident of domestic violence in their life, more than half say it was "bidirectional"". This disproves the stereotype that the woman is weak and submissive. This might be seen as unfair and people may say that no one is a victim if they're both abusive towards each other, but men are generally stronger than women, so while the man might get a slap or a bruise, the women could get put in hospital. "One lives in fear for their life, the other is merely annoyed.".

But even then, men can also be the victim of domestic violence. "I tried to reach over and comfort her, but she dug her fingernails into my arm and cut my wrist open." This shows us that men are also victims of domestic violence, although people don't believe that men can't be victims because they are physically stronger than women. But even though a man might not get badly injured, acts of violence cause emotional trauma, which men also experience, whether or not they get badly physically abused. This brings me to the point that domestic violence is not always physical, but can be emotional. "Studies consistently find that victims of abuse find the emotionally abusive acts more devastating than the physical violence." People who have never been in the situation would not understand the psychological effects, which means people who were emotionally abused get put aside, although they are just as damaged as people who were physically abused. "The most traumatic part of the physical abuse is the fear it inspires- fear that is the same whether they're getting hit, or only feel like they might."

In conclusion, domestic violence is not all about a girl with bruises all over her face getting shouted at by a muscular, fierce man as adverts on the tv and movies show.

Biology: Chapter 1: Cells: Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic

Biology: Chapter 1: Cells: Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic 

Prokaryotic (No nucleus)

- Very small in size, 1-10 micrometers

- Nuclear region does not have nuclear membrane

-Single chromosome present

-Nucleolus is absent

-Membrane bound organelles are absent

-Multiplication of cell is by fission or budding

-Cell wall present in plant cells

-Unicellular

-Example : Bacteria, Archaea

Eukaryotic (Has a nucleus)

-Much larger than prokaryotic cells. 10-100 micrometers

-Nucleus surrounded by double membrane layer (Nuclear envelope)

-More than one chromosome present

-Nucleolus present

-Membrane bound organelles present

-Cell division by mitosis or meiosis

-Multi-cellular

-Example: Animal and plant cells

Biology: Chapter 1: Microscopy

Biology: Chapter 1: Microscopy

Units of measurement

metre	m	= 1 m
millimetre	mm	= 10-3 m
micrometre	mm	= 10-6 m
nanometre	nm	= 10-9 m

Magnification and Resolution

Magnification - How much bigger an image seems under a microscope than it does in real life

Magnification = Image size / Actual size

Resolution - The ability to distinguish two separate points in an image / How clear the image is.
 - The resolution of an image is based on the length of the wavelength used to view it. If the specimen being observed is smaller than half the wavelength used to observe it, it will not be detected as the light waves will not hit the specimen. 
- Using a microscope with a stronger magnification will not increase the resolution, it will only increase the size of the image. If the specimen is smaller than 200nm (half a light wavelength), it will only be seen as one point.
- The resolution of an electron microscope is much higher than that of a light microscope.

Light Microscopy

- Specimens are illuminated with light, which is focused with glass lenses and viewed with the eye. 

- Specimens can be living or dead, but usually need to be stained with a dye (eg. iodine) to make them more visible.

- Many different stains are available that stain different parts of the cell eg. Lipids, DNA, cytoskeletons, mitochondrion, etc. 

- Many light microscopes are compound microscopes (use many different lenses to gain a different magnification). 

- Has a resolution of around 200nm (half a light wavelength), which is enough to view cells but not the details of cell organelles. 

-Cheap and easy to operate and maintain.

-Vacuum not required.

-Natural colour maintained.

-Can only magnify images up to a maximum of 2000 times.

-Small and portable.

Electron Microscopy

-Uses a beam of electrons instead of the electromagnetic spectrum.

-Easily produced (using hot wire), focused (using electromagnets), detected (using phosphor or photographic film)

-Wavelength of less than 1nm

-Only works in a vacuum so electrons don't deflect off air molecules and other substances, so specimens can only be dead.

-Must be stained with electron-dense chemicals (eg. metals such as lead, gold)

-Artefact: Preserved structures created when processing the specimen for viewing and therefore not part of actual specimen.

-All images in black and white

-Expensive to buy and handle 

-Complicated preparation

-Requires a lot of space

-Magnifies over 500 000 times

Transmission electron microscope (TEM)

- Passes a beam of electrons through the specimen which then get detected on a fluorescent screen and displays the image, similar to light microscopes.

-Thin sections are needed for TEM because the electrons need to pass through

-Most common form of electron microscopy, has the best resolution

Scanning electron microscope (SEM)

-Passes a beam of electrons over the surface of the specimen

-Electrons reflect off the specimen which has been coated in metals, which are then focused onto a fluorescent screen to produce an image.

-Has lower resolution than TEMs, but gives 3 dimensional images of the specimen.

-Can use thicker sections of the specimen since electrons don't have to pass through.

Preparation of slide samples for light microscopes

1. Fixation: Chemicals preserve the specimen in a life like condition. Does not distort specimen.
2. Dehydration: Water removed from specimen (usually using ethanol). Especially useful for electron microscopy because the water molecules deflect the electrons, blurring the image.
3. Embedding: Supports the tissue in wax or resin so it can be cut into thinner sections, letting light or electrons go through and make the specimen easier to view.
4. Mounting: Mounting the specimen on a slide and covering it so it's protected and suitable for viewing for a long period. 

English Language Vocabulary

English language vocabulary

Bamboozle - Confuse, trick, frustrate "she bamboozled him by giving him a fake number"

Bizarre - Strange, peculiar "His attitude is bizarre"

Boisterous - Full of energy, loud, wild, spirited, large "He had a boisterous personality"

Commemorate - Recall in a respectful way, remember, celebrate "In commemoration of the soliders who died in war"

Decorum - Decency, manners, etiquette "He had no sense of funeral decorum"

Despondent - Low spirited, without hope, without faith "He became despondent after his father died"

Divulge - To make known, reveal, declare "She likes to divulge in gossip"

Eclectic - Selecting ideas or information from a diverse and broad selection of sources "My information is construction on a eclectic range of ideas and information"

Exult - To show or feel extreme happiness "He was exultant about his grades"

Fallacy - Misunderstanding based on false information, deception, misleading "Romeo and Juliet's ending was a tragic fallacy"

Abberation - Flaw, deflect, abnormal "Black people are abberations"

Acrimony - angry. bitter feelings, hostility "The group was split apart by acrimony"

Adjudicate - Judge (lawyer), make decision in a formal matter, "The board will adjudicate complaints made against the school"

Abominable - terrible, bad, despicable "His behaviour is abominable"

Antiquated - old fashioned or outdated "His clothing style is antiquated"

Aphorism - A short statement of a general truth or idea "He has a good aphorism for the school"

Augur - To predict the future from omens "The end of the cold war was a good augur"

Axiom - A statement that needs no proof because it's truth is obvious "Pigs can't fly is a axiom everyone knows"

Adulate - Flatter, admire "He adulates her all the time"

Daunt - Demoralize, intimidate "He was daunting him to show his superiority"

Rudimentary - Basic, facts/principles, elementary "His english was at a rudimentary stage"

Credulous - Gullible, Eager to believe "He convinced the credulous believers"

Lucid - Easy to understand, clear "The meaning was lucid"

Sacrosanct - Regarded as sacred "I should be treated as a sacrosanct"

Docile - Submissive, teachable "Her dog is very docile"

Precedent - An action done in a certain way due to a past event "There are a few precedents for training minors"

Obsequious - Obedient, full of excessive compliance "His secretary is obsequious"

Reiterate - Say or do repeatedly "He reiterated the company's rules"

Impartial - unbiased, fair "The judge always made impartial decisions"

English lang weekly writing #1

Short story - The story of an hour - Kate Chopin 
Click here to read the story
In the story of an hour, Josephine and Richard hear that Brentley Mallard has died in a train accident, and have to gently break the news to Louis Mallard, his wife. The instant she hears of his passing she cries and goes to her room in grief, but she realizes now her husband has died she is no longer held back by him and she starts to look forward to her new independent life. She goes downstairs with her sister Josephine when the doorbell rings and to her shock its Brentley, her husband, who had been far away from the scene at the time of the accident and did not know there even had been an accident. Louis has a heart attack and dies at the sight of her husband, supposedly dead, at her doorstep.

Louis is portrayed as different from other women."She did not hear the story as many would have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment." This shows that Louis is more open emotionally than the conserved, uptight women that were the social standard in that time. It conveys the image of a more independent, confident woman.

When Louis goes to her room, swept up in a whirlwind of emotions, she cries and is depressed about her husband's passing but then she realizes she is now no longer held back by another person. "She said it over and over again under the breath. "Free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes." This quote shows her realization of the freedom she has been granted by her husband's death, which is not something most women would feel when their husband dies, but Louis also knows "that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death", but "she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely". This could show her maturity in her positive way of thinking, looking on the bright side of her husband's death by realizing her new found in dependency, although it is a bit sadistic to find joy in the death of a loved one. But this could be because in the time this story was written women were not seen as equal to men, and would have to be obedient to their husband and refrain from speaking their own opinion or doing what their husbands disliked.

When she goes downstairs with her sister, embracing her fresh freedom, she sees her husband, who, surprising to everyone, was alive, Louis got a heart attack and died, possibly due to the shock and dismay of losing her so newly found happiness. "When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - the joy that kills". The doctors and everyone else did not know she had been joyous about her husbands death. ""Go away. I am not ill" No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window." Her sister had been worried that Louis's isolating herself in her room because she was still in major depression when in fact she was anticipating her freedom. The doctors said her heart attack was due to the joy that kills, but as the readers know, she was happy about being widowed, so instead of dying out of the sheer happiness of seeing her husband alive, it was the sudden loss of her life dream, therefore the joy that was taken away from her killed her.

Biology: Chapter 1: Cells, types of cells and cell structure

Biology: Chapter 1: Cells, types of cells and cell structure

Organelles

Cell

• Basic living unit of all organisms
• Surrounded by partially permeable cell surface membrane
• Contains cytoplasms and organelles

Membrane systems

• Cell surface membrane: Semi permeable, controls what goes in and out of the cell. Also called plasma membrane. Can be seen to have three layers, called trilaminar appearance.
• There are many other membranes inside the cell. These enable different compartments to perform different functions and chemical reactions without interfering with each other, called compartmentalisation.

Nucleus

• The nucleus is responsible for protein synthesis, cell division, growth and respiration. It also contains the genetic material (DNA or RNA) of the cell.
• Surrounded by a double membrane which is called the Nuclear envelope.
• The Nuclear envelope is perforated by pores which allow and control the passage of substances in and out of the nucleus. 
• The outer membrane is continuous with the Endoplasmic Reticulum.
• The Nucleolus is a structure found inside the nucleus with no membrane. The nucleolus's function is to synthesize ribosomes.
• Chromatin: Material which consists of DNA and proteins. Chromatin turn into chromosomes when they coil for division. Chromatin is the name when the DNA is less coiled and performing its regular function.

Mitochondria

• Where cellular respiration occurs to generate ATP (energy). 
• Consists of two membranes.
• Cristae: Inner membrane, which is folded many times, forming finger like structures which project into the interior solution, the Matrix. The cristae help increase surface area. Aerobic respiration takes place here. Final stage (oxidative phosphorylation) takes place in the Cristae. 
• Matrix: Inside the inner membrane (Cristae). Complex mixture of enzymes and proteins, which are important for the synthesis of ATP. The first stage of the Krebs Cycle takes place in the matrix.
• The space between the outer and inner membrane is called the intermembrane space.

Golgi body

• Stack of flattened sacs covered by a membrane. The stacks are called Cisternae.
• Synthesizes, sorts and secretes the cell products. 
• More than one Golgi body can be present in a cell.
• The stack is constantly being formed, with vesicles at one end which bubble off the Endoplasmic reticulum, and broken down again at the other end to form golgi vesicles, which are either transported to other parts of the cell or out of the cell.
• The golgi body is basically like a post office.
• Golgi vesicles are also used to make lysosomes.

Lysosomes

• Spherical sacs surrounded by a single membrane.
• Contain digestive enzymes.
• Breakdown unwanted structures and digest bacteria.

Endoplasmic reticulum

• Extensive system of flattened compartments, sacs, running through the cytoplasm.
• Continuous with the outer membrane and nuclear envelope.
• Rough Endoplasmic reticulum: Covered with ribosomes. Proteins made by the ribosomes enter the rough ER and move through them. Vesicles (small sacs) break off from the ER and join to the golgi body, which then can be exported from the cell via the golgi vesicles. 
• Smooth Endoplasmic reticulum: Has no ribosomes. Makes lipids and steroids.

Ribosomes 

• Site of protein synthesis.
• Made of RNA (Ribonucleic acid)
• Found freely in the cell or in the Rough ER. 
• In the rough ER, proteins made are modified and travel through the Rough ER and transported to the Golgi body, which then transports it out of the cell. 
• Have two sub units, a large and small sub unit.

Microvilli

• Finger-like extensions of the cell surface membrane. Usually found on epithelial (cells on the surface of structures) cells. 
• Increase surface area of cell surface membrane, which is useful for absorption.

Microtubules and microtubule organiszing centres

• Long, rigid hollow tubes found in the cytoplasm. Make up the Cytoskeleton, which is like the skeleton of the cell. Membrane bound organelles are held in place by the cytoskeleton.
• Made of proteins called Tubulin. There are two forms of tubulin; alpha-tubulin and beta-tubulin.
• Alpha and beta tubulin molecules combine to form dimers (double molecules). The dimers then join end to end to form profilaments. 13 profilaments are then lined up alongside each other in a ring to form a cylinder, which is the microtubule. 
• This process of assemling microtubules from Tubulin is controlled by special locations in the cell called Microtubule organizing centres.
• Microtubules also have other functions. Vesicles can move along the outside surface of the microtubules, which forms a intracellular transport system.

Centrioles and centrosomes

• Just outside the nucleus
• Hollow cylinder, approximately 500nm long, formed by ring of microtubules. 
• The two centrioles are close together and at right angles to each other in a region known as a Centrosome.
• Main function of centrioles unknown, only function we know is that centrioles at the bases of cilia and flagella, act as Microtubule organizing centres. 

Chloroplasts

• Surrounded by two membranes, forming chloroplast envelope.
• Main function is photosynthesis. 
• Light energy absorbed by photosynthetic pigments in the chloroplast, mainly chlorophyll. The energy is used to manufacture ATP from ADP. 
• Electron transport needed to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, which is why chloroplasts contain a complex system of membranes.
• Membrane system consists of fluid filled sacs called Thykaloids.
• Thykaloids in some places of the chloroplast form flat, disc-like structures called Grana. 
• Grana membranes contain the photosynthetic pigments and electrons needed for the light dependent stage of photosyntehsis.
• Chloroplasts and the membranes inside can change orientation to receive the maximum amount of light (like phototrophy).
• Second stage of photosynthesis requires a cycle of enzyme controlled reactions  called the Calvin cycle and takes place in the Stroma. 
• Stroma: Like the matrix in the mitochondria. Sugar made be stored as starch grains in the stroma. Stroma also contain lipid droplets, which are reserves of lipid for making membranes or breaking down membranes in the chloroplast.

Cognitive psychology: Case study 2: Formation of false memories

Cognitive psychology

Case study 2: The formation of false memories

Authors: Elizabeth Loftus and Jacqueline Pickrell (1995)

Key term: False memories

Approach:Cognitive psychology

A False memory is possible when false information about the event after the memory manipulates and changes the original memory, making the person believe the false information about that memory even though it's fake. 

Aim/Hypothesis: To discover if it is possible to implant a false memory in someone's brain, although it never happened. 

Method: Experiment with self-report (semi-structured) interviews.

Self report is when someone provides details about him or herself (e.g questionnaire)

Variables

• Independent variable: 3 stages of booklet completion, interview 1 and interview 2. (Time interval between the three IVs were abandoned because participants were unavailable). 
• Dependent variable:

1. Percentage of participants who recalled the true and false events at all three stages
2. Ratings of clarity of memory ( 1 to 10 - 1 being not clear at all, 10 being extremely clear)
3. Ratings of confidence to recall more detail ( 1 to 5 - 1 being not confident, 5 being extremely confident

Design: Repeated measures because all participants had to complete all conditions of the independent variable (booklet, interview 1 and interview 2)

Participants: 24 participants (21 female, 3 male) aged 21-53 years.

Sampling technique: The participants were all recruited by University of Washington students, which makes it an opportunity sample.

An Opportunity sample is people recruited from an opportunity where participants are easy to find and available (e.g a study on korean kids at Korean International School)

Experimenters: Two students from University of Washington who recruited participants and conducted the interviews.

Apparatus: Five page booklet with 4 short stories, 3 true (given by family relatives) and one false (about getting lost in a mall). Each story was a paragraph long and had space below for the participants to write details he remembers about the memory. 

Control: 

• All stories were a paragraph long.
• The false story was the third in the booklet
• The false "lost in the mall" story was aided by a family relative who gave true features to make the story seem more realistic; where the family usually went shopping, who the participant shopped with, shops that would attract interest to the participant.
• The relative had to confirm the participant had never actually gotten lost in a mall
• The false story also contained the same lies; the participant was lost for an extended period, cried, lost in the mall at around 5 years old, found by an elderly woman and reunited with their family

Procedure

1. Interview with relative to get three true stories about the participant that happened when he was 4-6 and details to write a false event. 
2. Participants sent booklet to fill in any memories they had about the four events.
3. Researches conduct interview 1 at University of Washington (or over the phone) one or two weeks after the participants completed the booklet.
4. Researchers conducted Interview 2 at University (or over phone) one or two weeks ago first interview. 
5. Researchers asked participants to recall as much as they could about each event, and add as much detail as possible. 
6. Participants asked to rate clarity of memory (1-10) and confidence of recalling more future detail (1-5).
7. Participants told that the experiment was to try and implant a false memory and apologized for decepting them.

Data: 

• Quantitative data - Percentage of recall, Clarity and confidence ratings
• Qualitative data - The participants descriptions of the memories in the booklet

Results

1. 49/72 of the true stories were recalled in the booklet, interview 1 and interview 2. (68%)
2. 7/24 (29%) of the participants recalled the false event in the booklet, but at the interview two participants changed their mind and said they had no recollection of the false event. 
3. 5/24 participants recalled the false event  in Interview 1 and interview 2.
4. The mean clarity rating for the true events for Interview 1 and 2 was 6.3/10.
5. The clarity rating of the false event at interview 1 was 2.8/10.
6. The clarity rating of the false event at interview 2 was 3.6/10.
7. Participants who believed the false event happened at the first interview were asked their confidence rating. The confidence rating for the true events at interview 1 was 2.7/5.
8. The confidence rating for the true events at interview 2 was 2.2/5.
9. The confidence rating for the false event at interview 1 was 1.8/5.
10. The confidence rating for the false event at interview 2 was 1.4/5.
11. Participants wrote more words to describe true events (mean 138 words) than the false events (mean 50 words).
12. 5/24 participants believed the false event was true.

Conclusion:  People can be made to believe false events happened to them. Memory can be altered, just by suggestion.

Cognitive psychology: Case study 1: High stake liars

Cognitive psychology

Case study 1: Suspects, lies and videotapes: an Analysis of authentic high-stake liars

Author: Mann et al. (Samantha Mann, Aldert Vrij, Ray Bull) (2002)

Key term: Lying

Approach: Cognitive psychology

Authentic high stake liar is someone who has to tell a real lie, when they have too much to lose by telling the truth.

Aim/hypothesis: To conduct a study observing the behaviour and body language of liars in high stake situations - in this situation, real criminals being interviewed by police officers, who are telling real lies (and some truths) without knowing that they are going to be analysed in an experiment.

The aim is to use this research to prove that:

1. Liars will make fewer movements (e.g hand movements)
2. Liars will have more speech disturbances, with longer pauses between sentences or words
3. Liars will blink less

Method: Natural experiment - Participants do not know the videos of their interview will be observed and analysed, so their lies will be genuine. If this experiment was done as a laboratory experiment, with actors, who knew they were being watched, the results would be invalid.

Variables: 

• Independent variable: Truth or lie. The IV was not able to be manipulated by the researches because the criminals could choose whether or not to lie.
• Dependent variable: The behaviour of the suspects when they lied or didn't on the tape, 

Design: Repeated measures - The participants told both truths and lies in the tape.

Observation coding/response categories: The two observers were told to code the video footage of the interview. They were not told what the study was about or that truths and lies were involved. This was so their observations would be unbiased; if they knew they were watching people lie, the results may be different as the observers could exaggerate observations.

The participants had to code (mark on a sheet when a behaviour happened) eight different behaviours:

1. Gaze aversion
2. Blinking
3. Head movement
4. Self-manipulations (head scratching, scratching the wrist, etc)
5. Illustrators (supplements to speech - gestures)
6. Hand/finger movement
7. Speech disturbances
8. Pauses

The observations would be coded and then the tape would be replayed so the researcher could analyse which behaviours happened the most and whether they were during a lie or truth. (The experimenters knew whether the suspect was lying or not in each video clip, but the observers didn't.)

Participants: 16 police suspects (13 male, 3 female), aged between 13 and 65. Suspected of crimes such as murder, arson, attempted rape and theft.

Sampling technique: Interviews were recorded by the Kent police, which were then used in the study. The sample was self selecting because suspects made both truth and lies in the statement. Lies were known because the suspects later confessed to lying.

Apparatus:

• 1 hour video tape with 65 clips of the 16 suspects. 27 of those clips were lies, 38 were truths.
• Record of the behaviour the observers recorded during each clip/

Controls:

• The observers who recorded the results were unaware of what the experiment was about or whether the suspect lied or told the truth. If the researchers did the coding themselves the results could be biased - "seen what they wanted to see"
• The lies and truths were confirmed by the police because the criminals confessed later and admitted they lied.

Procedure

1. Video tapes of authentic liars were broken down so there was at least 1 truth and 1 lie per participant (suspect). 
2. Observer 1 watched all the clips coding the 8 behaviours he saw in each clip. He was told just to "code the video".
3. Observer 2 watched a random sample of 36 clips (at least one of each suspect) instead of all.
4. Codings were checked to see if both observers recorded similar results.

Inter-rater reliability is the correlation between the results of two observations of the same experiment. The inter-rater reliability of the two observers in this experiment were very good, On the correlation test (Pearson product-moment test), with 0 being no agreement and 1 being perfect agreement, the observers scored:

• Gaze aversion: 0.86
• Blinking: 0.99
• Head movements: 0.95
• Self manipulations: 0.99
• Illustrators; 0.99
• Hand/finger movements: 0.99
• Speech disturbances: 0.97
• Pauses: 0.55

Data: Quantitative data was gathered and placed on tally chart. Illustrators, self-manipulations and finger/hand movements were merged into one hand/arm category. The mean number of times each behaviour was recorded and put in a table.

Behaviour                                                 Truthful                                  Deceptive                                  

Gaze aversion                                           27.82                                      27.78                                         Blinks                                                       23.56                                      18.50                                         Head movements                                     26.57                                       27.53                                         Hand/arm movements                             15.13                                       10.80                                         Pauses                                                      3.73                                         5.31                                           Speech disturbances                                 5.22                                        5.34                                           

Findings

• There was no behaviour that all liars exhibited. This means there are many individual differences so generalization would be inaccurate.
• No differences were found for speech disturbances and head movements. 50% of participants showed an increase in each behaviour when lying and 50% showed a decrease. 
• 69%  of participants showed an increase in hand/arm movements when lying.
• 81% of participants blinked less and paused longer while lying. This was the most reliable finding and showed significant difference between lying and truth telling.

Conclusion: Mann et al can confirm that the most reliable indication of a liar are longer pauses and blinking less, which is two out of three of their hypotheses. It also contradicts the popular belief that liars act nervous, which actors might do when pretending to lie. 

Evaluation of experiment and study

Strength: 

Suspects did not know they were going to be analysed, so they were telling genuine lies and their behaviour was natural. If the participants knew they were being recorded, they might not lie and there behaviour could be different.                                                                                                                    

Strength:
The results were recorded quantitatively, so results were more objective, clear and scientific. The inter-reliability confirmed the results were more clear and objective.                                                      
Weakness:
The results may be different if the experiment was repeated so this could be unreliable. The experiment environment is hard to duplicate, and if police know the tapes will be analysed, they might act differently and unnaturally when interviewing the suspects.