6.3 Developmental Psychology: Gender

The Formation and Development of Gender Roles

OUTCOME: ASSESS THE EXTENT TO WHICH BIOLOGICAL, COGNITIVE AND SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS INFLUENCE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.

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Focus questions:
1. Are there psychological differences between men and women, or are the differences in behavior due to socialisation?
2. When does gender-role socialisation begin?
3. What is gender identity, gender role and gender constancy?
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Nearly all societies have expectations of the ways males and females should behave. In order to live up to these expectations, children will learn what it means to be a boy or a girl in the culture that it grows up in.

Thus, it is generally accepted that gender role socialisation begins as soon as a newborn child has been identified as a girl or a boy. The child will be given a name, and that name will already be a definition of the sexuality of that child. The world will treat the children according to their gender.

Gender Roles are determined once the infant's gender is determined soon before / after birth.

When children are as young as two years old they develop the ability to recognise their own gender, as well as others' genders. This is known as gender identity. The development of gender identity is a step toward gender roles, which will be realised by children at the age of seven years old, when they realise that regardless of the way a person acts or dresses, their gender will remain the same (=gender constancy).

Men and women occupy different roles in society, and ideas of what is typical behavior for a sex is according to the biological sex of an individual. Children, once assuming gender roles, are raised accordingly to their genders (so as to facilitate the development of gender roles).

Whiting and Edwards (1973) found that girls were more nurturing and made more physical contact, while boys were more aggressive, dominant and engaged in rough play. Whiting and Edwards studied children from Kenya, Japan, India, the USA, Mexico and the Philippines. Whiting et al determined that the gender differences in the six cultures as differences in the socialisation pressures that those cultures put upon children. (EG: to what extent older female siblings were put in charge of taking care of their younger siblings).

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Nurture or nature?
There has been an ongoing debate on whether gender roles are developed behaviorally or culturally. The general consensus is that biological (hormonal) factors are important in the development of gender identity, but cultural factors are also important. (An extremist nature argument contends that a child's gender identity is completely determined by the physiology of the child such as prenatal exposure to certain hormones, and is unchangeable.) (An extremist nurture view claims that the way a child is dressed, treated and taught will be critical factors in the development of his or her gender identity.

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Biological Explanations of the Difference in Females and Males
Evolutionary psychologists tend to argue that the difference in the evolutionary pressures faced by men and women are what account for the gender differences between males and females. the natural selection process in evolution is what brought upon vast differences in the physiology and the psychology between the man and the woman.
This view argues that men are aggressive and competitive because it increases their chances to mate with a female. Women are nurturing, caring, empathetic and gentle, which are also evolutionary adaptations in order to attract a mate and produce / care for offspring.
Critics of this theory: argue that differences in gender roles are not a result of evolution, but rather a consequence of the different roles that cultures assign to men and woman, as well as agreement on socialisation practices that prepare children for these roles.

The BIOLOGICAL perspective: PSYCHOSEXUAL DIFFERENTIATION:
Some researchers argue that behavioral differences between children can be explained by the hormones and the changes in the brain structure as they develop. The theory of psychosexual differentiation holds that all humans were born with an innate (biological) predisposition to behave like females or to behave like males. This theory stresses that the prenatal hormones that are secreted and absorbed by the infant are what affects the gender and gender-appropriate behavior of the children. This theory undermines the important of social interaction / societal influences in gender-related behaviors and roles.

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The role of SOCIALISATION on gender behavior: BIOSOCIAL THEORY OF GENDER ROLE DEVELOPMENT
The biosocial theory of gender role development values the role that society and socialisation have on the individual's gender identity and role. This theory was first suggested by Money and Ehrhardt in 1972. This theory sees that the interaction between prenatal hormones and biological indicators of gender differences (i.e. from the psychosexual differentiation theory) and socialisation are important indicators in the way a gender role develops within an individual. Biosocial theory of gender role development argues that the development of a gender role and the adherence to the gender role during growth (/development) depend on socialisation. Money argues that children are gender neutral at birth which means that they can be raised and reared to grow up as either a female or a male.

Money and his theory of gender neutrality
Money based his theory off of case studies with individuals that were born with ambiguous sexual reproductive organs. He found that children who were born as biological females can be raised as boys and they will act like boys, and vice versa. Thus he arrived at the theory of gender neutrality: "humans are not born with a gender identity, and do not have one until two years of life. Therefore if a child is raised as a specific gender from before the age of two, they will be act like the gender that they were raised as." = "It is possible to reassign sex to children with intersex reproductive organs due to surgical disasters."

Money and David Reimer (a subject)
David Reimer (birth name Bruce) was born an identical twin in Winnipeg, Manitoba. At 6 months of age both boys were mistakenly diagnosed with phimosis, a natural condition of the infant penis. The so-called doctor Jean-Marie Huot botched the first circumcision completely destroying Bruce's penis. Twin Brian's circumcision was canceled; he made a full recovery from his "condition" of phimosis, without further treatment.

Shortly after the botched circumcision Bruce's mother Janet saw a television interview with John Money, a physician from John Hopkins Hospital who worked with cases of gender identity, transsexuality and intersex conditions. Janet wondered if perhaps she had found an answer to the horrific situation her baby was in, could Bruce be raised as a girl?

John Money thought he saw an opportunity to prove gender is learned behavior, and Bruce was an ideal subject with his twin brother Brian as a scientific control. Bruce was reassigned as Brenda. Money reported several times that the experiment was a success, and Brenda had adjusted well and liked to help her mother with traditionally female tasks around the house. Money built much of his career and theories of gender on the "successful" outcome of this case. Reality was far from the rosy domestic picture Money was reporting, Brenda never adjusted.

As a young teenager, refusing to take the prescribed female hormones and facing vaginoplasty surgery, Brenda rebelled to the point that her father broke down and confessed to her the botched circumcision which had led to the forced feminization. Brenda immediately assumed a male identity and took the name David. (Text taken from http://youtu.be/bw24j0Litlc)

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The Social Learning Theory and Development of Gender Roles

OUTCOME: DISCUSS THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF GENDER ROLES IN PEOPLE

Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura, 1977).
The social learning theory is a theory that suggests that children learn by observing and emulating adult models that are alike to them. Thus, this theory could explain why certain characteristics belong to the female category, and why others belong to the male category. The social learning theory reasons that boys and girls behave differently because they are treated differently by their parents and others. 

For example, it is known that the toys that are given to boys and girls are different. Boys may get air-guns, truck toys or trains as toys, while girls prefer to receive dolls, doll-houses and other toys.

Generally, children learn to behave in ways that are rewarded by others, while they also learn to avoid behaviors that are punished or frowned upon by others. (=Direct tuition). The social learning theory, as you may remember from socio-cultural psychology, involves the following steps:
1. observation
2. retention
3. motor reproduction
4. motivation
There are two important factors in the social learning theory when considering the development of gender roles. One is the necessary rewards / punishments that will serve as instigators to behave in a certain way (or to emulate a model). A reward will typically be given for a gender-appropriate behavior, and a punishment will be given if the behavior is gender-inappropriate. Additionally, there is an important factor that the model must be alike to the subjects (children who are developing gender identities and roles). The modelling of behavior will be done through same-sex adult models; the child will learn through observing the way the model behaves throughout the day, By observing how others of the same sex behave in certain ways, children receive positive reinforcement for behaviors that are considered gender-appropriate. (Bandura 1977). See the Bobo doll experiment in 1961, where there were interesting reactions of children (with already developed sense of gender roles in a society) against gender-inappropriate behaviors of models.
Children can act as gender police, Fagot in 1985 observes. Gender police is a term that refers to how informed a child is of gender roles, and how they react in the face of other children that have not fully understood gender-appropriate or inappropriate behavior. Fagot found that in an observational study of children ages 12-25 months, boys made fun of boys who played with girls' toys, while girls disliked it when boys acted girly. The children in this study were very young, which means that it is unlikely that gender identity had been achieve at this point. Thus, the reactions upon having a few gender-inappropriate behaviors can be seen as a socially learned behavior, through the observance of daily social interaction or other sources of information such as TV. 
Sroufe et al (1993) observed that children around the age of 10-11 years old were more popular if they acted according to their gender. These studies indicate that children establish a kind of social control in relation to gender-roles very easily, and that peer-socialiastion might be an important factor in growth.
The social learning theory takes into account the social and cultural context in which gender socialisations occur. It predicts that children acquire internal standards of gender roles and gender-based behaviors through reward and punishment, from models, and from observing their actions.

Weaknesses of the social learning theory:
- it cannot explain why there seems to be considerable variation in the degree to which individual boys and girls conform to the gender role
- the theory suggests that gender is more or less passively acquired by an individual, through simple observation.

Developing gender identities and roles is a rather complex process that involves cognitive (social learning theory) factors in addition to social factors (biosocial theory of gender role development) and biological factors (the psychosexual differentiation).

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Gender Schema Theory and the development of gender roles within children

Schemas are mental frameworks of perception that originate from an individual's experiences and expectations for situations in the future. The gender schema theory therefore is a mental representation of the genders and their behaviors. An example of a gender schema would be stereotypes. The gender schema theory is based on the fact that knowledge of gender roles and gender identity may be developed through cognitive processes. Children constantly construct gender identity based on their experiences (ie schemas turn into stereotypes).

Gender schemata can turn into gender stereotypes

The gender schema theory of gender roles suggests that the most important influencing factor of establishing gender identities and gender roles is the children's abilities to label themselves as boys or girls (i.e. their ability to distinguish their gender identity). Once the children are cognisant of their gender identity, the children will have established a gender schema that guides to subsequent information processing.

Because children tend to categorise on the basis of gender this leads the children seeing the girls and boys as different existences. Once they have identified their own gender identites, they will be motivated to be alike the others in their gender group, causing them to observe their own sex-roles more closely (i.e. observation Albert Bandura's constructivist theory of social learning). Martin and Halvorson state that children have schemata of what are suitable for boys and what are suitable for girls. They thus have a gender schema for their own group (this is an in-group) and a gender schema for the other gender-group (this will be known as the out-group). These schemata include attributes, activities and objects that are gender consistent or definite.

Gender schemata determine what attracts a child's attention, what they are meant to pay attention to, what attracts them, and what they remember. A boy is more likely to imitate same-sex models because gender schemas serve as an internal, self-regulating standard.

Martin et al in 1983 showed how information that is not consistent with a child's schemata will be distorted when recalled. They used a sample of 5-6 year old boys and girls. The boys and girls were shown photos of males and females that were doing activities that pertained to the children's gender schemas (females that play with dolls, or of boys who are holding guns). However, there were also photos of gender-inappropriate actions, such as a female holding a gun. The interesting result was that any information that was not in line with the children's schemata (anomalies such as the female with the gun) were altered within the children's minds so that it was a male holding the gun. This is an example of assimilation due to the strength of gender schemata.

Strengths of the gender schema theory:
- this theory suggests that memory and gender role formations are a constructivist process, rather than a passive process like it is suggested in the social learning theory of gender role development.
- this theory can explain why children's gender roles do not change over time: regardless of time, because evidence that supports the framework of gender identity within the child will continue to be paid attention to.
Limitations of the gender schema theory:
- there is too much focus on the individual child in gender development
- in reality, social and cultural factors should be taken into account: not only cognitive processes
- we do not know how these gender schema developed (through observations of models, such as the social learning theory?)

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Sociocultural Influences on Development of Gender Roles

OUTCOME: EXPLAIN CULTURAL VARIATION IN GENDER ROLES.

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Focus questions:
Are gender roles universal?
What is the evidence that gender roles are biologically based?
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Cross-cultural studies of gender have been an effective method to determine the extent to which culture plays a role in allocating gender roles. For as long as can be remembered, there have been different jobs for women and men, simply because women were weaker, had childbearing and nurturing to do, while men were stronger and larger. Work that was most compatible with women were assigned to women, and the men did the rest of the work. Eagley in 1987 suggested the social role theory that suggests that gender stereotypes arise from the differing roles that men and women occupy. Usually, societies have "gender ideologies" that promote some roles to women, and others to men, while simultaneously restricting access to that role to the "inappropriate sex". These societal beliefs are integrated into the culture: through religion, through social norms, and through daily communications.

Williams and Best (1990) argued against Eagly, suggesting that gender stereotypes arose from the gender roles of men and women. The gender stereotypes will establish what individuals should expect from each sex; that is, they provide models for gender role socialisation. 

Research by Best et al (1977) shows that gender stereotypes (expectations) of females and males are adopted by an individual at a very early age. A cross-cultural study that included Ireland, the UK and the USA, with subjects that were five years old and eight years old. The majority of boys and girls in both groups identified that females were more gentle, calm and soft-hearted, whereas boys were aggressive, rough, and cruel. More characteristics were stereotyped by those in the eight-year old group than the five-year old group. The eight-year old group's stereotypes were similar to the same stereotypes of gender that adults held.

Mead was an anthropologist that set out to suggest that gender roles were more culturally influenced than it was thought to be at the time. Mead believed that gender roles and traits were merely the result of cultural beliefs in a society, and not dependent on biology. In 1935 Mead compared gender roles in three tribes in New Guinea, all of the tribes at a 100 miles radius from each other. The first tribe will be known as A, the second tribe will be referred to as B, and the third tribe will be referred to as C. 

Results:
A- this tribe displayed very different gender roles from the Western world. Men and women were all cooperative, loving and caring - which are considered "feminine" in the Western world. Both men and women took care of their children in great care, and would share tasks for crops and other chores.
B- in this tribe, both men and women were aggressive, rough, competitive and arrogant. They were also emotionally unresponsive. The men and women alike were known to be consistently quarreling, and neither cared for the children very much which resulted in the children becoming self-reliant at a young age.
C-  this tribe had opposite gender roles from the Western world: men gossiped and were concerned with accessories and garments while women were responsible for the production of food and other chores.

Interpretation:
Mead found the results of her study to support her theory that gender roles were influenced greatly by cultural norms and beliefs, instead of being biologically hardwired within people. Mead's study shows that labor division is not the same in all cultures, and that roles of gender are not universal.

Criticisms:
Her self-report is not reliable (-)
Her view undermines the importance of biological influences on gender-roles (-)
The study takes on an etic approach (a scientist looking into a foreign culture) which could be biased to some extent (-)

She showed that cross-cultural research can provide evidence to falsify theories (+)
She used three tribes that were not exposed to a Western culture (+)

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In Denmark, the gender roles of men and women differ slightly from those that face men and women in the Western world. Men are more involved in the child-care process of a new born, where they will take paternal leave in order to care for their child. Additionally, new fathers form communities on websites to share tips, questions and stories about their child. Women are often found to be working in place of men during this time. Men in a survey by Reinicke (2006) answered that it was important for them to have a close relationship with their baby and take part in caring for the child.

This indicates that Mead had validity in her theory that gender roles are a result of cultural beliefs and norms rather than biology.

CLA: Further Evaluation of Principles

• Principles in the cognitive level of analysis:

1. Human beings are information processors -- mental processes guide behavior:
   - The mind can be viewed as a complex machine, like an intelligent, information processing computer. The brain is the hardware, while the mental processing that takes place in the brain is the software. Mental processing is performed in order to make sense of the world. There are ways in which people can make mistakes when they process information, such as by the influence of schemata. (Schemata are mental frameworks developed by previous experiences that influence the way future events and situations are perceived.) In addition, the mind is able to fabricate completely false memories, which can often make our mental processes fallible.
   According to the cognitive level of analysis, information input to the mind occurs via bottom-up processing -- from the sensory systems of the organism to the mind.
2. The mind can be studied scientifically, with the use of developing theories and scientific technology / scientific research methods: New theories that are often developed in the cognitive level of analysis can serve as an amendment for old theories, or can disprove old theories as false. This principle of the cognitive level of analysis is debatable because the research of scientific research methods in studying human behavior means that the studies often lack ecological validity. Cognition should be studied both in the laboratory environment as well as in a daily context.
3. Cognitive processes are influenced by both social and cultural factors: Frederic Bartlett (the cognitive psychologist known for coining the term "schema" with his 1932 experiment, War of the Ghosts) was the first to suggest this principle. He observed the effect of cultural cognitive frameworks on memory (aka cultural schemata on memory) and found that the memories were greatly influenced by the subjects' already-possessed frameworks of thinking. He found that people had problems remembering details from stories that are from different cultures. Bartlett demonstrated in his research that memory is not like a tape-recorder, simply recording what is"there", but is a reconstructive process. The reconstructing of memory for recall is why memory has the tendency to be distorted. 

CLA Study - Frederic Bartlett (1932)

Cultural Cognitive Schema
Frederic Bartlett - considered one of the first cognitive psychologists of his time.

• Studied the recall abilities in subjects who heard a story from a different culture in order to examine the relationship of cognitive schemata and memory capacity. 

Bartlett used British subjects and gave them a short Native American legend called "The War of the Ghosts". They were told to read the story two times, and then after a short interval they were told to recall the story that they had just read. They were then to visit the laboratory several times over the course of weeks, months and years. This method is called serial reproduction - where the subjects have to recall the same story over different intervals of time.

• Laboratory experiment - question the ecological validity of this study.
• Cultural diversity - all the subjects were British, and the story they read was a Native American legend.
• Read the story here

As a result, Bartlett found that the subjects were all prone to similar errors in their recall abilities. These are:

• Assimilation: the subjects contorted the story so that it would fit their cultural standards. Bartlett interpreted this to be because it made it easier for the subjects to remember the story if it fit their cultural norms. The subjects' cultural schemata was responsible for the distorting of the true facts  during their recall.
• Cognitive schema: a mental view or expectations you have on certain subjects due to past experiences. Current or inherent cognitive schemata will alter the way you will interpret information in the future. In this case, cultural experiences and schemata have altered the facts of the legend in a way that made it easier for the subjects to make the incongruous facts more coherent to themselves.
• Leveling: when the subjects recalled the story, it was much shorter than the original. This is because the subjects unconsciously discarded information from the legend that did not fit their cultural schemata or standards. Information that was not comprehensible culturally was considered excess / incongruous.
• Sharpening: the subjects tended to change the order of the story in order to make it more coherent to themselves. They also tended to add emotions and extra information that was not in the original story in order to fit their own cultural frameworks. 

The subjects still recalled the general theme of the story but changed small details in order to make the stories more coherent to their expectations. The subjects distorted the story in this way because it is easier to remember things that follow a certain cognitive rule - in this case, it is cultural schemata. 

*However, it should be noted that extreme schemata-contradicting facts tend to stick in one's memory as well. This is because the information comes as a "shock" to the subjects.

Interpretation: Bartlett concluded that memory recall was a reconstructive process, not a passive process of simply remembering the words for what they are. The fact that the subjects were prone to alter the stories to fit their expectations supports Bartlett's theory. Reconstruction allows subjects to making meaning out of what they remember.

• Memories are not copies of experiences. The mind alters and interprets these experiences. 

Evaluation / things to consider:

• Gender of the subjects is not considered - most likely, both genders were used
• Serial reproduction was a method, but otherwise nothing was rigorously controlled
• Laboratory experiment = are the results ecologically valid?
• Naturalistic material was used instead of non-sense material = good
• Distinct instructions were not given to the participants

3.2 CLA Outcomes

Learning outcomes for 3.2
Cognitive Level of Analysis: Cognition and Emotion

A little insight into the power of emotions in cognitive processes:

- People remember better the experiences that involve emotions. Emotions are rich and diverse, and they are often what make the experience something special. Antonio Damasio, a brain researcher explains that emotions are simply the physical signs of the body which react to outside/external stimuli.

- The three components of emotion:

Physiological changes; arousal of the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system that are not conscious

Subjective feelings; a person's own subjective feeling of an emotion (e.g. happiness)

Associated behavior; such as smiling [happy] or running away [frightened]

- A perceived dangerous event or stimulus will result in a physiological response known as fight or flight, which prepares the individual for direct action to confront the danger or to avoid to, and a cognitive appraisal of arousal - a decision about what to do based on previous experience.



- Discuss the extent to which cognitive and biological factors interact in emotion:

① Biological factors in emotion: 

The amygdala is a small structure in the temporal love that is known to be critical in the brain's emotional circuit. The amygdala is thought to have an important role in emotional memories. 
Studies performed on animals and humans indicate that the stress hormones (e.g. adrenaline) are released when strong emotions are evoked.

LeDoux's model of biological pathways of emotion in the brain

In The Emotional Brain (1999), the author LeDoux delineates two biological pathways of emotions in the brain.

1. Short route: goes from the thalamus to the amygdala for induction of emotional response
2. Long route: passes via neocortex and hippocampus before reaching an emotional response 

The amygdala receives input from the sensory processing areas in the neocortex and thamalus, and projects / expresses these to areas in the brainstem that control response systems. The connections in between the different brain structures is what allow the amygdala  to transform sensory information into emotional signals and to control our emotional responses.

Most of these processes are non-conscious.

According to LeDoux, the advantages of having direct and indirect pathways to the amygdala is flexibility in responses. When danger is perceived, the fast and direct pathway is useful because it saves time. Long pathways are useful because they allow for a more thorough evaluation of a situation that can help people and animals to avoid inappropriate responses to certain situations.

② Cognitive factors in emotion - appraisal:

Lazarus' definition of appraisal: evaluations related to how the situation will impact one's personal well-being. If the appraisal is positive: positive emotions will emerge. If the appraisal is negative: appraisal that assesses potential harm will result in negative emotions.

Lazarus (1975): "Cognitive appraisal is an important part of people's reaction to emotional stress , and that stress experiences are not only physiological." This statement means that people are psychological beings that are not simply passively responding to the world - they actively interpret and evaluate their situation.

- According to the appraisal theory, cognitive factors can modulate stress responses, such as the psychological and physiological reactions that are involved in the experience.
- Appraisal can be seen as an evaluation of the situation, like how people evaluate psychological and material resources to cope with the stressful event at hand.

⇒Speisman et al. (1964) An Experimental Manipulation of Emotions Through Cognitive Appraisal
Aim: To investigate the extent to which manipulation of cognitive appraisal could influence emotional experience.
Procedure: In this laboratory experiment, the participants saw anxiety-evoking films, such as one with an aboriginal initiation ceremony  where adolescent boys were subjected to unpleasant genital cutting.These films were shown with three different soundtracks that were intended to manipulate emotional reactions. The trauma condition group has a soundtrack with emphasis on the mutilation and pain; the intellectualization condition group has a soundtrack that gave an anthropological interpretation of the initiation ceremony; the denial condition group showed the adolescents as being willing and happy in the ceremony.
During each viewing of the film various objective physiological measures were taken, such as heart rate and galvanic skin response.
Results: The participants in the trauma condition group showed higher physiological measures of stress than the participants in the other two conditions. The results support the appraisal theory in that the manipulation of the participants' cognitive appraisal had significant impacts on the physiological stress reactions. The participants in the trauma condition reacted much more emotionally.
Evaluation: This lab experiment had a lot of controls, so lacks ecological validity. However, research on the role of appraisal in real-life emotional events tend to find the same relationship as the lab results. This study could be a demonstration of how biological and cognitive factors interact in emotion and illustrates LeDoux's theory of the two pathways in emotional processing.

Cognitive and biological factors interact in emotion to a large extent, but in complex ways tat are not well known. Emotions may influence cognitive processes such as memory, and cognitive processes like appraisal can influence emotions, but little is known about the exact workings of the physiological correlates of emotion.
The influence is often bidirectional and this has been explored within health and abnormal psychology. Neuroimaging investigators of emotion have identified areas in the prefrontal loves associated with active reappraisal of the emotional importance of events. This indicates that it is possible to regulate negative emotions via appraisal. (Ochsner and Gross, 2008).



- Evaluate one theory of how emotions may affect one cognitive process (flashbulb theory)
According to LeDoux, the arousal of emotion can facilitate the memory of events that occur during that aroused state. However, these memories might not always be accurate.
The theory of the flashbulb memory was suggested by Brown and Kulik (1977). Flashbulb memory is a special kind of emotional memory which refers to vivid and detailed memories of very emotional events that appear to be recorded in the brain as though with the help of a camera's flash. 
Brown and Kulik found that people said that they had very clear memories of where they were, what they did and what they felt when they first learned about an important public occurrence, such as assassinations of JFK, and Martin Luther King. The participants of the study recalled the assassination of JFK most vividly. People in the study were also asked if they had flashbulb memories of personal events... out of the 80 participants, 73 participants said that they had flashbulb memories associated with a personal shock such as a sudden death of a close relative.
Brown and Kulik suggested that there might be a special neural mechanism that triggers an emotional arousal because the event is unexpected or very important. This was only a hypothesis, but it is supported by modern neuroscience. (That is, emotional events are better remembered than less emotional events - perhaps because of the critical role of amygdala.)

Criticisms of the flashbulb theory:
Neisser (1982) questioned the idea of the flashbulb theory because people don't always know that an event important, until later. Neisser suggests that the memories are so vivid because the event itself is rehearsed and reconsidered after the event. According to Neisser, what is called a flashbulb memory might just be a narrative convention. These flashbulb memories are governed by a story-telling schema that follows a specific structure, such as place (where we were), activity (doing what?), informant  (who told us?) and affect (how do we feel about it?).

Example: January 28th, 1986:
Seven astronauts on the space shuttle CHALLENGER were killed in an accident. It was a shocking experience for those who saw the shuttle launch, in person or through the TV. Neisser and Harsch (1992) investigated people's memory accuracy of the incident 24 hours after the accident and once again two years later. The participants were confident that their memory was correct, but the researchers found that 40 percent of the memories were distorted in their final reports. Perhaps post-event information had influenced their memories. The researchers concluded that inaccuracy of emotional memories is very common.

It has been stated that current attitudes and emotions also affect the accuracy of memory. Past emotional memories are partly reconstructed based on the individual's current appraisal of events.
Holmberg and Holmes (1994) = found that men who had less happy marriages recalled early interactions in the marriage as being more negative than they really were.
Breckler (1994) = found that people's current attitudes towards blood donation impacted their memories about how they felt when they donated blood in the past.
*These are just theories.

3.1 CLA Outcomes

Learning outcomes for 3.1
Cognitive Level of Analysis & Cognitive Processes:

First of all, what is cognitive psychology?

Cognitive psychology concerns itself with the structure and functions of one's mind. Cognitive psychologists are involved in finding out how the human mind comes to know things about the world and how the knowledge is used.

-Outline principles that define the cognitive level of analysis

1. Human beings are information processors and mental processes guide behavior.

The mind can be viewed as a complex machine - like an intelligent, information-processing machine that uses hardware (brain) and software (mental images) in order to understand concepts

2. The mind can be studied scientifically by developing theories and using a number of scientific research methods.

This can be demonstrated in theories of cognition which are discussed, then tested. New findings can serve to be amendments for old theories, or can disprove old theories altogether. However: this scientific reliance is not ecologically valid.

3. Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.

British psychologist Frederic Bartlett, founder of the term "schema", created this word to define the mental representation of knowledge. Bartlett was interested in seeing how cultural schemas influenced one's memory. For example, people have a hard time remembering other cultures' story, and were prone to reconstruct the story to fit in their OWN culture.

-Explain how principles that define the cognitive level of analysis may be demonstrated in research

The first principle of the cognitive level of analysis, 'mental processes guides behavior' can be demonstrated by research performed by Dweck and Blackwell (2007). They researched about the role a person's mindset has in affecting a person's behavior. The participants used were low achieving students aged 12-13 y/o. All students were given an introductory lecture about the brain, and study skills. Then, half of the students took lectures of how intelligence can be developed through physical exercise, just as a body can be trained through physical exercise. As a result, the students who were trained to adopt a growth mindset about how intelligence can be improved were more motivated. This was demonstrated in their maths grades. Students in the group that did not attend the intelligence lecture showed no improvement, despite all the other interventions. Dweck states that by telling the students that their intelligence can be developed, their motivations to learn are impacted greatly. This research shows that mental processes do guide behavior.
The second principle, 'the mind can be studied scientifically' is possible because of the amazing technology that we have access to in the 21st century. CAT and fMRI scanes make it possible for us to look into peoples' brain processes. This is shown in theories and modes of cognition that are discussed and continuously tested. At times, new findings result in amendments to the original theory. The old theory or model can even be rejected completely because the empirical evidence does not support it. Also the experimental method is good because the variables can be altered freely, ecological validity is a problem. In the 1960s, Ulric Neisser said that cognitive psychology was too artificial and that researchers should never forget that cognition cannot be isolated from everyday experiences. This is why cognitive psychology is studied both in the lab and out of the lab.
The third principle, 'cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors' can be demonstrated in research done by the British psychologist, Fredric Bartlett. He coined the term 'schema', and carried out research related to how cultural schemas influence rememvering. He found that people have problems when they tried to remember stories from other cultures, and tried to reconstruct the stories according to their own cultural schemas. This also explains why memory can be subject to distortions.

-Discuss how and why particular research methods are used by cognitive researchers

Originally, laboratory experiments were the most popular methods of studies of cognitive psychology. The strengths of lab experiments were that all the variables could be controlled. However, the lack of ecological validity in lab experiments was a large disadvantage - human nature changes depending on the situation. Of recent, case studies have become increasingly popular methods of study in the field of cognitive psychology. Modern technologies (CAT and fMRI scans) are also technologies used by cognitive psychologists to study the areas of the brain that make decisions, etc.

-Discuss ethical considerations related to research studies at the cognitive level of analysis

For studies that use modern technology such as CAT and fMRI scans, the most worrisome ethical aspects would be: anonymity and the right to withdraw. If the anonymity of a subject is not respected, then their self-esteem can be hurt. Also, for case studies, the anonymity should definitely be kept (confidentiality).

-Evaluate schema theory with reference to research studies

A lot of research support the idea that schemas affect cognitive processes such as memory. This theory of schemas is useful in order to understand how people interpret information, stories, and make inferences. A limitation is evident with the schema theory that Bartlett had thought of: this is due to the ambiguity and vagueness of the theory itself. Cohen (1993) criticized the schema theory saying that the concept was too vague to be helpful in understanding the cognitive processes of humans.

A study that supports the fact that schema has effects on memory: Anderson and Pichert (1978) proceeded with an experiment in an attempt to investigate whether schema processing was able to influence encoding and retrieval of the memory making process. Participants heard a story about a pair of boys who skipped school and went to the home of one of them, knowing the parents would not be home. The participants were described the facts of the story - and were told to re-understand the story of the house from the point of view of a buyer and the point of view of a burglar. (This was the encoding period). Then, for 12 minutes the subjects were given tasks that kept their minds off of things. After another 5 minute delay in the experiment, half of the participants were given the OTHER point of view to consider. The other half was told to retain their schema from the "encoding" process. As a result, the researchers found that the group with the CHANGED schema recalled 7 percent more points on the second recall test compared to the first trial. The recall of the points that were directly linked to the new schema was increased by 10 percent, whereas recall points that were important to the first schema (and only the first schema) declined. The researchers found that the group which continued with the first schema remembered FEWER details at the second trial. This research suggested that people encoded information, but this was irrelevant to their prevailing schema. The second schema was more effective. 

-Evaluate two models or theories of one cognitive process with reference to research studies

Cognitive process: the multi-store and working model of memory
How many: there are two - Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) and Baddeley and Hitch (1974)
Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968): Multi-store model of memory

The multi-store model of memory / Atkinson & Shiffrin (1968)

Atkinson and Shiffrin were among the first to create a basic structure of memory, using their "multi-sore model of memory". The model created after this, called the working model of memory was based on this model.
This model is based on the two assumptions that memory consists of a number of separate stores and that the memory processes are sequential. 
"Rehearsing" simply means that a task/something needs to be repeated several times in order to be stored into our heads. Information from the world enters sensory memory, which is modality specific - this means that it is related to various senses. Information in this store only stays for a very short time... only a small amount will be passed onto the short-term memory store. 
The capacity of the short term memory is limited to around seven times, and only lasts for six to 12 seconds. Rehearsals play key roles in determining what traits get to go to the long term memory store.
In the long term memory store, there is a vast, limitless storehouse of information. However, psychologists do not specifically know how much information can be stored there. The material is not an exact replica of events or facts, but is stored in a outlined form. Memories can even be distorted. 

Baddeley and Hitch (1974): the working model of memory

The working model of memory (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974)

This view challenges the multi-store model of memory in the sense that it challenges the fact the short term memory store is a SINGLE store.
The central executive is a sort of controlling system that monitors the operations of other components, called slave systems. It's sort of like the CEO of a company. The central executive (that is, short term memory store) has a limited capacity and is modality free, so any sensory information can be processed here.
There are two important jobs of the central executive, called the AUTOMATIC LEVEL and the SUPERVISORY ATTENTIONAL LEVEL.
- The automatic level: based on habits and is usually controlled by stimuli from the environment. This includes daily and routine procedures and tasks.
- The supervisory attentional level: deals with emergencies and makes new strategies where the old ones are no longer applicable... when a car is zooming and about to hit your bicycle!
People focus a lot on automatic processing in their daily lives. 

The episodic buffer: acts as a temporary and passive display store until the information is needed - like a t.v. screen. Imagine when you try to remember a scenery that you saw a long time ago - this will appear through the episodic buffer.

Phonological loop: divided into two components - the ARTICULATORY CONTROL SYSTEM and hte PHONOLOGICAL STORE. 
- Articulatory control system: is the inner voice. It holds your information in a verbal form. This happens when you try to remember lyrics and repeat them to yourself. This articulatory loop holds words ready as you prepare to speak.
- The phonological store: the inner ear. It holds speech-based material in phonological forms. 
A memory trace can last only 1.5 to 2 seconds if its not refreshed by the articulatory control system. The phonological store can only receive information directly from sensory memory in the form of auditory material, from long term memory into the form of verbal information, and from the articulatory control system.

The visuospatial sketchpad: inner eye. Deals with visual and spatial information from either sensory memory or long term memory.

Evidence of the working memory model: the prediction of the working memory model is that there will be impairment in the concurrent task when a dual-task technique is being used. (Multi-tasking). The findings of the dual-task study show that although there was an impairment in the efficiency of the subject, it was not catastrophic. The researchers take this as evidence that the short term memory has more than one unitary store, and that a total breakdown of working memory demands more pressure than the concurrent task in the experiment.

Evaluation of this model: working memory plays a big role in learning in childhood years. Pickering and Gathercole (2001) used the Working Memory Test Battery for Children and found that there was an improvement in the performance in working memory capacity from the ages of 5-15 years. Holmes et al (2008) studied the association between visuospatial sketchpad capacities and childrens' maths attainment in relation to age. As a result, they found that older children could have their maths performance significantly predicted by their performance on the visual patterns test. According to Eysenck (1988) there is evidence that individual differences in intelligence can depend on difference in working memory quality.

-Explain how biological factors may affect one cognitive process

Cognitive process: memory
There are two general categories for long-term memory. These are explicit memories and implicit memories. Explicit memories can be retrieved consciously, while implicit memories cannot. There are also two sub-categories within each category. In explicit memory, there are semantic memories (factual memories) and episodic memories (memory based on personal experiences). In implicit memory, there are emotional memories and procedural memories (memories based on habit, repetition and skills).

Eric Kandel found (through animal research) that explicit memories are affected by the hippocampus of the brain. The hippocampus is responsible for explicit memory formation. Case studies of humans who have hippocampal damage and invasive studies on animals have revealed that a damaged hippocampus results in the inability to form explicit memories. However, the interesting fact is that emotional memories are unaffected. Therefore, memories that are intertwined with an emotion tend to stick.

On the other hand, researchers have also found that the amygdala is responsible for the storage of emotional memories. LeDoux, a neuroscientist, claims that certain memories have emotional significance and this may be why memories that are based on emotional events are easier to recall. Something to consider: people with PSTD might have problems forgetting a traumatic event because the event is strongly tied with an experienced emotion. Researchers recently found that damage in the prefrontal cortex of the brain makes memories hard to eliminate, and makes controlling emotional outbursts a difficulty.

-Discuss how social or cultural factors affect one cognitive process

US psychologist Jerome Bruner states that children of any culture learn the basics of culture through schooling and daily interactions with people of their culture. These people can include: parents, grandparents, friends, peers, siblings and teachers. These people are important in the transmission of knowledge (whether the transmission of knowledge is informal or formal, doesn't matter).
There was once an hypothesis that assumed that cognitive processes such as memory follow universal laws, and humans around the globe all process information in the same way. Following this logic, this meant that memory tests could be applied globally, and that researchers could expect the same results (regardless of culture). However, we now know that this was not the case. When Western researchers performed tests with participants in non-Western countries, they found that the results were different - they did poorly. Cross-cultural psychologists know now that if you want to test memory in a group of people, you need to consider the insight and culture of that group.

Cole and Scribner (1974) aimed to investigate the memory strategies in different cultures. They compared the recall ability of a series of words in the US and among Kpelle people in Liberia.
The researchers knew that they couldn't use the same list of words for the Kpelle people as they did with those in the US due to the difference in culture, so they started by observing everyday cognitive activities in Liberia.
This helped them develop relevant memory tasks. They also used Kpelle college students to act as researchers because they spoke the same language as the participants. They also made sure that the words that were used in the experiment were familiar to the Kpelle people.
In spite of these precautions, Cole and Scribner were amazed at the results of this experiment. There were striking cultural differences in the way that the Kpelle people went about remembering and solving the presented problems.
Cole and Scribner asked Liberian children from different age groups to recall as many items as possible from four categories: utensils, clothes, tools and vegetables. It was expected that the older children would recall more items after practice, but researchers found that this wasn't the case UNLESS the children had attended school for several years. The non-schooled children did not improve their recall ability after the age of 10. They remembered around 10 items the first time. After 15 trials, they only remembered two more items. Children who had attended schools learned the lists as rapidly as the children in the US have - they even used the same strategy to recall: based on categorizing similarity of objects.
When the data was analyzed, the researchers found that the illiterate children did not use the strategy "chunking", where bits of information were grouped into larger units. They also found that the Kpelle people did not use "rehearsal", as the position of the word in the list did not have an effect on the rate of recall.
After this, Cole and Scribner presented the items in a meaningful sequence, as a part of a story. This is called a narrative. The illiterate children were able to recall objects easily, and even chunked them according to the roles they played in the story.
Memory studies like this invite reflection. Even though the ability to remember is universal, the strategies that are used to remember are not. It's a problem that so many memory studies are associated with the formal schooling of the participant - especially when the participant has never attended school before. The conclusion is that people learn to remember in ways that are related to their cultures and everyday lives.

-Evaluate the extent to which a cognitive process is reliable

Vocabulary:

• Reconstructive memories: the tendency that people have to try to make/recall a coherent memory - to try to make sense of the world
• Repression: the causation of "forgetting" - a definition by Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, people who have experienced intense emotional and anxiety provoking events may use defense mechanisms such as repression to take these painful memories and send them to the unconscious area of the mind. They "forget" about these events.
• Serial reproduction: when a person reproduces the original story, a second person reproduces the first person's reproduction, a third person reproduces the reproduction of the second person... on and on.
• Ecological validity: the artificiality of a study - can the findings be applied outside the lab?

Empirical testing of the reliability of memory:
Frederic Bartlett (1932) The War of the Ghosts memory experiment: 
Frederic Bartlett argued that memory is reconstructive and schemas affect memory recall. He also demonstrated the role of culture in schema processing with this experiment.
Method: serial reproduction of a story from a foreign culture. Around six or seven reproductions are made in total. This method is meant to duplicate the process by which rumors and gossip are spread, or how legends are passed on through generations.
Procedure: The story used by Bartlett is an American Indian story called The War of the Ghosts. 
a. Asked participants to read the story two times, without telling them what the aim of the study was
b. 15 minutes pass, and Bartlett asks the participants to reproduce the story from memory
c. Tells them to reproduce the story a few more times once they moved to his laboratory
Results:
a. Each participant's memory of an experience changed with each reproduction
b. The story became shorter - the original story was 329 words, but the 6, 7th reproductions were a mere 180 words
c. The story remained coherent no matter how it deviated from the original piece
d. The story became more conventional - it retained only the details that could be assimilated to the shared past experiences and cultural backgrounds of the participants
Interpretation:
a. It was difficult for people from Western cultures to reproduce this story because of the difference in culture
b. The people reconstructed their pasts trying to fit it into existing schemas
c. The more complicated the story, the more likely that it is to be distorted
d. People have an effort for meaning - they try to find a familiar pattern in their own experiences
= As a result, this study shows that FAKE memories can be made. Memory is not always reliable. More experiments and studies that test the reliability of memory are on pages 81-85.
Eyewitness testimonies are often incorrect - a good study to focus on as well.

-Explain the use of technology in investigating cognitive processes

Neuro-imaging techniques allow researchers to obtain images of brain functioning and structures. This knowledge that is gathered is used to understand the relationship between cognitive processes and behavior.
PET scans:
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a scanning device/method that can measure crucial functions in the brain, such as glucose consumption and blood flow. PET scans can even detect brain tumors and memory disorders due to Alzheimer's disease. The use of new technology has helped neuroscientists make methods to detect the signs of Alzheimer's disease so early that patients may not even have thought something to be wrong themselves.
MRI scans:
Magnetic resonance imaging is a technology that provides 3D pictures of brain structures. The MRI and fMRI work by detecting the changes of the use of oxygen in blood. When an area in a brain is more active, it uses more oxygen. This is used to see what areas are active when people perform cognitive tasks such as reading and problem solving. (These scanners can even be used in marketing research, to detect which areas are active when you look at a picture of your favorite brand.)
These technologies make it possible for researchers to observe brain damage - like the case of HM. It's also possible to relate this to cognitive functioning, such as with memory. However, the brain is a very complex organ and not totally understood. Just because one part of the brain is active when it performs a particular cognitive process does not mean that cause-effect relationships can be established between specific brain structures and human preference for things (like brands).