Cognitive Psychology: Exploration of Internal Mental Processes E.G Memory

1. Cognitive psychology: exploration of internal mental processes e.g memory

Research proposal

• Formulates a detailed plan of the project including the methodological approach and theoretical framework
• Demonstrates that the proposed research design is both ethically feasible and achievable (methods – can we achieve this, recruit people, how?)
• Demonstrates that the expected project findings will address a research problem is psychology
• A proposed research project you will expect will make a significant contribution.
• Past tense, proposing for the future
• Think about research question and hypothesis, question that needs to be answered by study, what we predict for hypothesis

Plan

• Need to prepare a detailed plan and outline of proposal
• Aim of task is to receive feedback on proposed structure, arguments, and logic that we are including in the research proposal.
• Don’t need to submit through turnitin

Resources

• Library
• Psychotherapy

Social psychology

• A study of how people influence other’s behaviour, beliefs and attitudes
• Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to overestimate the dispositional influences (personality traits) on other’s behaviour (consequently underestimate the situation influences on others’ behaviour.

Social influence

• Conformity: The tendency of people to alter their behaviour as a result of group pressure
• Solomon Asch’s study
• Obedience

Asch’s study: conformity increased as the size of the majority increased – but only up to 5-6 participants (which lines longer/shorter, after 6 trials, people start to say the wrong answer).

Reasons: 1) we look for other people for what is right and wrong

1. We want to be liked, if go against crowd, then would be disliked
2. Rewarding effect (behaviour)
3. Other people conform to high status, would benefit

Confederate: person who knows what is going on in the study

Inflicted insight

Ethics of deception

• Many of classic studies is social psych involved deceiving participants in order to obtain useful experimental knowledge.
• Very controversial
• Harms research participants, violates their right to autonomy.
• Proponents argue that benefits obtained outweigh the negatives.

Ethical issues

1. Deception
2. Protection of participants
3. Withdrawal rights

Situational attribution and deindividualization

• Zimbardo’s Stamford prison study
• Hypothesis: whether inherent personality traits of prisoners and guards are the main cause for abusive behaviours in prison setting (loss of identity)

Deindividualization

• Tendency of people to engage in atypical behaviour when stripped of their usual identity.
• Feeling of anonymity
• Lack of individual responsibility

• We become more vulnerable to social influences and social roles

• Risk of losing our typical identities, becoming irrational.

• Results: social attribution can override dispositional attribution

• Guard and prisoners experienced deindividualization and internalisation of new roles
• Prisoners experienced symptoms of PTSD

Social influence

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