Understanding Experiments in Cognition

Understanding Experiments in Cognition

My selected topic is based on Sauerland and Otgaar’s (2022) research study, “Teaching psychology students to change (or correct) controversial beliefs about memory works.” Sauerland and Otgaar’s study is based on the misconstrued fact that students, law enforcement personnel, judges, and therapists often trust in the existence of unconscious repression and automatic repression. More often than not, such belief can be dangerous because it may drive therapists into using techniques that would help clients search for the repressed memories, which, in turn, result in false memories (Otgaar et al., 2021). This paper contends that bringing back true memories from therapy-encouraged false memories, especially of criminal activities, can lead to serious consequences. Therefore, based on this, the study was focused on testing whether inaccurate beliefs in memories that are repressed can be changed or corrected. The research study surveys two cohorts of students of legal psychology and forensic psychology. The study finds out whether education on eyewitness memory science can rectify the inaccurate beliefs in repressed memories. This paper discusses the results found in the study, which showed that students in the two cohorts strongly agreed on average, that memories of traumatic events could be blocked unconsciously. Moreover, it is found that corrections of beliefs remain persistent following a long delay. Based on these findings, educating students on eyewitness memory science proves to be effective in rectifying controversial and inaccurate memory beliefs and repressed memories.

Research Question

As agreed by Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler (2012), many common persons hold that memory is not like a video camera. However, this research study has found that various research evidence shows that people still believe in the existence of repressed memories, which are unconscious. The research question is, can the repressed memories be corrected, especially after therapy-aided false memories? This question is important to help avoid false memories, which are mostly generated by therapists who believe that memories are unconsciously repressed and need to be encouraged to be revealed. The problem with this is that it has led to serious consequences of false memories, which have gravely impacted many criminal cases.

Hypothesis and Key Variables

The hypothesis held by Sauerland & Otgaar (2022) is that if people are presented with information about the science of memory, their repressed memory beliefs would change or would be corrected. This means that education on eyewitness memory science can be effective in rectifying controversial and false beliefs regarding memory and, specifically, repressed memories. The independent variable, in this case, is education on the science of memory, and the dependent variable is the controversial and false beliefs about repressed memories.

Critical Characteristics of the Participants and the Procedures Used

The participants entailed cohorts of students of 2019 and 2018 studying a Master’s program in Legal Psychology and Forensic Psychology at the University of Maastricht. The participants were between 33 and 74. The first time in 2018, student participants were 74; the second time, 56; and the third time, 36. In 2019, the number of participants for the first time was 50, the second time 44, and the third time 33. The participants involved both genders, male and female, and those who did not identify with any gender. In 2018, the range of age involved in the study for the first time was 20 to 30, 20 to 31 for the second time, and 22 to 30 for the third time. In 2019, the first time age range was 21 to 29; the second time, 21 to 27; and the third time, 21 to 27 (Sauerland & Otgaar, 2022).

In addition, the procedure used entailed the initial measurement happening in the opening lecture of the eyewitness memory course, which was part and parcel of the master’s program curriculum in Legal Psychology and Forensic Psychology. In the first round, the students took part in an experiment that was not in relation to this research. Six weeks later, following the course exam and three months following the first measurement, a survey was administered again in another lecture. A questionnaire was issued by a different lecturer asking students to answer the questions again to prepare for a later day presentation in the lecture. A third measurement was also used through email in 18 months for the 2018 cohort and six months for the 2019 cohort. The invitation showed that students took a course in eyewitness memory, expressing their opinions on memory.

Summary of the Main Findings

The findings of the research study were that after six months of taking the eyewitness memory course, the opinions of the students had significantly changed to disagreement. Notably, 18 months later, the effect was the same. Students in both cohorts did not go back to their previous belief on repressed memories, and based on average measurement, they disagreed with the concept of repressed memories at the third measurement. During the follow-up sessions, students expressed disagreement with the concept that traumatic event memories can be blocked unconsciously (Sauerland & Otgaar, 2022). They also disagreed with the statement transfer that memories of trauma are most often unconsciously repressed. This proves that students comprehended the knowledge and were able to apply it in various contextual statements. In the long run, 18 months after the course, students strongly disagreed with the notion of repression of memory, indicating that their knowledge effectively corrected their false beliefs about repressed memories. Therefore, these findings answer the research questions as they show that when students are educated on the science of memory, specifically repressed memory, their controversial and false beliefs about memory are corrected. Before taking the course on eyewitness memory science, students held the opinions of many experts regarding the various memory aspects. For instance, students showed awareness of the memory’s reconstructive nature, that is, it functions differently from a video camera. Like many experts, they also held the opinion that memory is prone to suggestion and the existence of inaccurate memories, as Patihis, Frenda, & Loftus (2018) also wrote.

The Extent to Which the Findings Answer the Research Question

The fact that the students were aware of the nature of memory before the study and also that false memories were apparent and changed their minds about repressed memories after taking the course shows that the study answered the research question significantly. Besides, it shows that undergraduate courses in psychology do not teach students sufficiently about repressed memory. The findings answer the research question that repressed false memories and beliefs about repressed memories can be corrected through deeper education on repressed memories. Therefore, the findings are in agreement with the stated hypothesis.

Conclusion: Weaknesses and Strengths of the Selected Study

The first weakness of this study is that not all the student respondents participated in every measurement. The inconsistent number of participants in every measurement shows that some students dropped out and therefore, were not featured in the findings. Moreover, the research study did not follow up on why the students who participated the second time did not participate in the third time. Rather, the study speculated that students were probably unresponsive in other rounds because they were a bit reluctant to check their emails after graduation. The researchers also speculated that the inconsistent responses were due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Nonetheless, the strength of the research study lies in the fact that it is likely to positively influence students in psychology, especially those who aspire to be therapists in the future. This is because their findings would inform them of the repressed memories and help prevent victimization of the clients or those accused wrongly of criminal activities because of repressed memories that are reignited to be false memories through therapy.

References

Otgaar, H., Houben, S. T., Rassin, E., & Merckelbach, H. (2021). Memory and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy: a potentially risky combination in the courtroom. Memory, 29(9), 1254-1262.

Patihis, L., Frenda, S. J., & Loftus, E. F. (2018). False memory tasks do not reliably predict other false memories. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, 5(2), 140.

Robinson-Riegler, B., & Robinson-Riegler, G. (2012). Cognitive psychology: Applying the science of the mind. Pearson.

Sauerland, M., & Otgaar, H. (2022). Teaching psychology students to change (or correct) controversial beliefs about memory works. Memory, 30(6), 753-762.

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It is reasonable to admit that in four weeks, you have been exposed to a great deal of information about the human mind! This assignment will give you the opportunity to examine how the knowledge that you have acquired during the past weeks may tie together. You will explore a phenomenon that interests you, highlight the methodologies used to study it, uncover the results obtained, and assess the validity of the knowledge acquired. These activities will make you aware of the intrinsic relationship between knowledge of specific mental and behavioural phenomena, as well as the limitations of the techniques used to study them. Knowledge in cognitive psychology is largely gathered by means of experiments. Thus, it is important that you become intimately familiar with this data-gathering method. The goal of the assignment is to ensure that you have a good understanding of specific cognitive psychological phenomena as well as experiments that are often used to investigate such phenomena. Abide by the instructions listed below:

Understanding Experiments in Cognition

Watch the video, Experimental Research Methods in Psychology. It links to an external site on the experimental method.
Go to the University of Arizona Global Campus Library or Google Scholar and select a peer-reviewed article on a topic of interest among those discussed in our class. If you prefer, you may select an article from the recommended resources.
Describe the main research questions that the study attempts to answer. Keep in mind that a description of the main question of the study entails an explanation of the importance of the question (i.e., illustrates the gap in the existing literature).
State the main hypothesis (prediction) made by the researchers.
Identify the key variables.
Describe the critical characteristics of both the participants and the procedures used.
Summarize the main findings. How do these findings answer the question that the researchers formulated in the introductory section of the article?
Explain the extent to which the findings answer the research question. Do the findings support their research question (or prediction)?
Illustrate the weaknesses and strengths of the selected study. For instance, ask yourself questions such as the following:
Is the technique used to understand the selected phenomenon able to gather adequate information about it?
How does this technique compare to other techniques used in cognitive psychology?
Do the findings of the selected study generalize to individuals who may be different from those who participated (young versus older adults)?
Please note that research articles often contain more than one study. Thus, in this assignment, you are given the opportunity to describe each experiment separately or focus on what you believe to be the most significant experiment.
Your paper must begin with an introduction to the selected topic in which you define the research question and all concepts that will be discussed in the paper. For instance, let us assume you select the article by Strayer and Johnston, “Driven to Distraction: Dual-Task Studies of Simulated Driving and Conversing on a Cellular Telephone” as the topic of your paper. Then, your task is to state the question the researchers want to answer and define the terms attention, divided attention, and distraction.

Your paper requires a brief summary of the content of the selected article according to the guidelines described above. It also requires a conclusion expressing your thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of the available evidence. If possible, suggest the course that future research should take if the answer to the selected question is less than conclusive.

The Memory Errors in Real-Life Paper

There must be four to five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA StyleLinks to an external site, as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA Formatting for Microsoft WordLinks to an external site. Resource.
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
Must use at least one peer-reviewed source (the article you chose) in addition to the course text.
The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesLinks to an external site. Table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
All sources must be documented in APA style as outlined in the Writing Center.
A separate references page must be included that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center.