Introspection
Simon and Chabris (1999) Hemond et Al (2007)
Investigated to what extent people are aware of Gave PPs pictures of faces and objects
information present in visual field. too look at whilst scanning their brains
228 PPs watched a film, in which two teams in with MRI scanner
different coloured tops passed a basketball to each Found that fusiform gyrus brain area
other (face and object recognition area) was
PPs asked to count number of passes made by activated significantly more during face
white team recognition than object recognition
After doing this the PPs were asked if they'd Suggests brain is associated with
noticed anything unusual processing faces
54% failed to notice the man in a gorilla suit or Shows that study of mental processes
women with the umbrella. can be seen across approaches -
Shows that humans are only aware of info in their cognitive and biological approaches
visual field that they choose to pay attention to used alongside each other to examine
Also shows that a scientific means of investigation brain function and visual perception.
can be used to explore the role of mental Shows how approaches build on each
processes. other.
Griffiths (1994)
Investigated thought processes of regular against irregular gamblers, thinking that regular
gamblers would be more irrational.
The PPs were asked to pay on a fruit machine and told to: say everything that goes through
their mind, keep talking, don't try to justify thoughts.
Gamblers used more irrational verbalisations
Shows that study of mental processes can be examined via a conscious process to observe
the thoughts and feelings surrounding ones emotional and mental states.
Cognitive Approach
Barlett (1932)
He was one of the first psychologists to test and illustrate the ideas of schema.
He made English PPs read a Native American folk tale. It was an unfamiliar folk tale and was
full of strange and unusual names, ideas and objects. It also had a different structure to
English stories
The PPs were asked to recall the story after different lengths of time, and all PPs changed the
story to fit their own schemas
The details of the story became more British, containing elements of English culture, and
details and emotions were added
As time between reading and recall increased, the amount of info remembered decreased
It was concluded that people were using their own schemas to help interpret and remember
the world around them.
, Study conducted in labs so lacks ecological validity.
It was a highly influential piece of research at the time as it paved the way for further cognitive
research.
Bugelsky and Alampay (1962) - The rat man
They showed two different groups of PPs a sequence of pictures, before being shown the rat
man illusion
Group 1 - Pictures of human faces
Group 2 - Different animals
The PPs who were shown human faces were more likely to perceive the figure as a man,
whereas PPs who saw the animal pictures were more likely to perceive the figure as a rat
The group that were shown the sequence of animals were expecting to see another animal,
and the group shown the sequence of figures were expecting to see another figure.
The way they perceive the ambiguous figure was influenced by the schema formed by the
initial image.
The Biological Approach
Gottesman (1991) - A meta analysis of Heston (1996) - An adoption study of
twin studies schizophrenia
Carried out a meta analysis of 40 twin Studied 47 adopted children whose biological
studies mother had schizophrenia.
It was found out that having an identical Control group consisted of 50 adopted children
twin with schizophrenia gave you a 48% whose biological mother's didn't suffer from
chance of developing the condition schizophrenia
This reduced to 17% in non-identical The children were followed up as adults and given
twins. This suggests schizophrenia has personality and intelligence tests.
a strong genetic basis. Of experimental group, 5/47 became
Meta analysis carried out on field studies schizophrenic, compared to 0 in the control group
= high ecological validity Another 4 in the experimental group were
Because identical twins share 100% of classified as borderline schizophrenic by the raters
genes, it might be expected that both Study supports the view that schizophrenia has a
twins would always suffer from the same genetic basis.
conditions. Interview data = Unreliable and affected by social
The fact that both twins developed desirability bias.
schizophrenia in only half the cases However, they are a good way to get data in a
suggests that another factor must be naturalistic way
involved. Also, the adopted children whose mothers didn't
Identical twins tend to be treated more suffer from any conditions might have not shown
similarly than non identical twins, so symptoms of schizophrenia yet - it can't be
family environment must also play a role. completely ruled out.
Simon and Chabris (1999) Hemond et Al (2007)
Investigated to what extent people are aware of Gave PPs pictures of faces and objects
information present in visual field. too look at whilst scanning their brains
228 PPs watched a film, in which two teams in with MRI scanner
different coloured tops passed a basketball to each Found that fusiform gyrus brain area
other (face and object recognition area) was
PPs asked to count number of passes made by activated significantly more during face
white team recognition than object recognition
After doing this the PPs were asked if they'd Suggests brain is associated with
noticed anything unusual processing faces
54% failed to notice the man in a gorilla suit or Shows that study of mental processes
women with the umbrella. can be seen across approaches -
Shows that humans are only aware of info in their cognitive and biological approaches
visual field that they choose to pay attention to used alongside each other to examine
Also shows that a scientific means of investigation brain function and visual perception.
can be used to explore the role of mental Shows how approaches build on each
processes. other.
Griffiths (1994)
Investigated thought processes of regular against irregular gamblers, thinking that regular
gamblers would be more irrational.
The PPs were asked to pay on a fruit machine and told to: say everything that goes through
their mind, keep talking, don't try to justify thoughts.
Gamblers used more irrational verbalisations
Shows that study of mental processes can be examined via a conscious process to observe
the thoughts and feelings surrounding ones emotional and mental states.
Cognitive Approach
Barlett (1932)
He was one of the first psychologists to test and illustrate the ideas of schema.
He made English PPs read a Native American folk tale. It was an unfamiliar folk tale and was
full of strange and unusual names, ideas and objects. It also had a different structure to
English stories
The PPs were asked to recall the story after different lengths of time, and all PPs changed the
story to fit their own schemas
The details of the story became more British, containing elements of English culture, and
details and emotions were added
As time between reading and recall increased, the amount of info remembered decreased
It was concluded that people were using their own schemas to help interpret and remember
the world around them.
, Study conducted in labs so lacks ecological validity.
It was a highly influential piece of research at the time as it paved the way for further cognitive
research.
Bugelsky and Alampay (1962) - The rat man
They showed two different groups of PPs a sequence of pictures, before being shown the rat
man illusion
Group 1 - Pictures of human faces
Group 2 - Different animals
The PPs who were shown human faces were more likely to perceive the figure as a man,
whereas PPs who saw the animal pictures were more likely to perceive the figure as a rat
The group that were shown the sequence of animals were expecting to see another animal,
and the group shown the sequence of figures were expecting to see another figure.
The way they perceive the ambiguous figure was influenced by the schema formed by the
initial image.
The Biological Approach
Gottesman (1991) - A meta analysis of Heston (1996) - An adoption study of
twin studies schizophrenia
Carried out a meta analysis of 40 twin Studied 47 adopted children whose biological
studies mother had schizophrenia.
It was found out that having an identical Control group consisted of 50 adopted children
twin with schizophrenia gave you a 48% whose biological mother's didn't suffer from
chance of developing the condition schizophrenia
This reduced to 17% in non-identical The children were followed up as adults and given
twins. This suggests schizophrenia has personality and intelligence tests.
a strong genetic basis. Of experimental group, 5/47 became
Meta analysis carried out on field studies schizophrenic, compared to 0 in the control group
= high ecological validity Another 4 in the experimental group were
Because identical twins share 100% of classified as borderline schizophrenic by the raters
genes, it might be expected that both Study supports the view that schizophrenia has a
twins would always suffer from the same genetic basis.
conditions. Interview data = Unreliable and affected by social
The fact that both twins developed desirability bias.
schizophrenia in only half the cases However, they are a good way to get data in a
suggests that another factor must be naturalistic way
involved. Also, the adopted children whose mothers didn't
Identical twins tend to be treated more suffer from any conditions might have not shown
similarly than non identical twins, so symptoms of schizophrenia yet - it can't be
family environment must also play a role. completely ruled out.
