Fundamentals of Cognitive Psychology - Essay Example

? FUNDERMENTALS OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY EXPERIMENT ONE: THE MOTION AFTER EFFECT (MAE) Eye movements that are repetitive give out motion after-effect (MAE) if it is made to have a moving stimulus attacked (Carpenter, 2006). A number of evidence centre on the motion of the retina that is established in the visual field of the peripheral through eye movement. Retinal motion is thought to precipitate motion that is perceived in the central test by interaction of the peripheral MAE and the target that is central. However, remarkably little has been done in establishing of the origin of the MAE. The question raised, in this case, is whether MAE originates from the centre or from the peripheral. In attempts to fill this gap, an experiment was set to investigate the origin of the motion after-effect. In this experiment, swirling patterns were given to the subjects. The participants were required to observe the screen for sixty seconds. Their eyes were kept still during the observation. The data, for MAE same and different eye time, was collected and recorded. Introduction. Motion after-effect occurs when one experiences a visual illusion just after visualizing a moving stimulus in motion for some duration of time (Carpenter, 2006). In this case, the stimulus that is stationery moves in a direction opposite to that of the physically moving stimulus. After, this motion is believed to have come from an adapted motion. This means that, the coding of neurons in a specific movement lowers its response with exposure time to a stimulus that is constantly moving. This is referred to as neural adaptation (Anstis, & Gregory, 2002). Neural adaptation equally lowers the spontaneous activity baseline of the same neurons when having a stationery stimulus response (Anstis, Verstraten & Mather, 2007). The MAE (motion after-effect) has for decades had a venerable history in the science of vision. Recent studies reported that the knowledge about the mechanisms that contribute to MAE is extremely sophisticated. These studies have also shown out that the stimulus that is critical is retinal. Despite this, a number of stimuli which brings about MAE like rivers, waterfalls, gratings, and cavalries, could give out eye movements that are tackling and whose main function is to have objects’ stability in the image. Eye movements like these ones precipitate changes to the velocity distribution along the retina (Anstis, & Gregory, 2002). In many cases eye movements that are accurate makes the waterfall image to be stationery for a longer adaptation period. Research has also shown that observers experience MAE that is compelling if allowed to have part of the pattern adopted pursued with their eyes. In this case, such an eye movement MAE is not caused by the targets retinal motion that is pursued. This is so because the present retinal slip in that specific visual field part could be in the wrong direction or too small. On the other side, the existence of landmarks that are stationery next to the target pursuit gives out an explanation of the effect. In this regard, they do move via the retina when the eye goes through an eye movement creating their own MAEs in the visual field of the peripherals. Another study in MAE reported that these peripherals could have the central test motion introduced. Other studies report that the eye-movement is due to a relative motion of the surround and the centre. The MAE, therefore, may be caused by reducing activities in the direction of the sensitive retinal ganglion cells. These studies have also been suggested that the MAE may originate from the centre (Anstis, & Gregory, 2002). This means that, the activity reduction in the direction of sensitive cells happens in the visual cortex. These two arguments have established a gap in the research. In this regard, the gap is that it is not clear as to what argument to rely on. The question raised in this case is whether MAE originates from the centre or from the peripheral. In attempts to fill this gap, an experiment was done to investigate the origin of the motion after-effect. The method used for testing whether after effects are peripheral (retinal) or central (visual cortex) was by assessing the inter-ocular transfer. In this study, the hypothesis was that motion after-effect originates from the visual cortex. Methods. Participants. This study involved 136 participants. Of these, 34 of them were male where as102 of them were females. The average age of the participants was 22.4 years old. These participants were divided into pairs. Apparatus. The computer, which had an installed optical program, was used in this experiment. Procedure. The stimulus in this study was swirling patterns that were made in the optical program from the desktop. This file was observed from the computers of the participants. The subjects were asked to look at the screen for sixty seconds. Then, they were requested to keep their eyes still during the observation. After 60 seconds, the participants were asked to look at their partner’s face. This task was repeated using only one open eye. At this stage, one participant was expected to time as the other one remains adapted. First, the adaptation was made by the left eye, then testing done to the left eye. The lasting time for MAE was recorded (Mae-same eye time). Second, the right eye was adopted then the left eye tested. The MAE lasting time was also recorded (Mae-different eye time). The participants were then asked to swap among their pairs. The second subject in the pair adapted with the right eye and tested with the left eye first. After this, this participant then, adapted with the left eye and tested with the left eye. This was demonstrating counterbalancing. Results. All the data collected was recorded in the table (Table 1). Table1: Table showing MAE data. Mae-same eye (time) Mae-different eye (time) 8 2 5 2 2.8 2 2.7 1.5 10.9 0 6.8 1 12 14 14 9 8 5.8 7 1.5 6.6 2.4 6 3 5 3 15 0 11 0 1.13 10.3 5 9 12 13 12 7 6.14 5.32 0 0 8.58 2.19 18 3 15 4 4.7 0 9.3 0 0 0 7.21 3.74 2.5 6 10.91 7.62 15.5 2.8 23.23 4.21 8.94 20 7.71 16.42 4 0 4 0 1.52 1.11 4.26 0.79 14 4 8 6 8 6 12.3 0 14 0 11 0 7 4 10 2 5 1 4 2 5.8 6.4 5.3 3.1 9.3 0 10.32 0 10.17 4.5 7.27 1.74 11 18 17 0 17.81 12.95 24.71 7.23 13.4 0 8 8 47 27 6.8 2.6 4.5 1.3 6 0 6.6 0 6.4 0 10.91 2.92 5.38 3.09 13.04 7.77 10.71 9.09 8 6 17.51 6 12.62 0 4 3.8 6.6 0.2 8 0 7 5 0 0 10 6 1 0 7 3 12.5 8 12 3 14.2 10.48 10.96 6.53 10.59 1.88 12.75 2.59 11.49 10.05 19.28 9.96 13.34 6.34 14.86 8.91 12.48 6.6 16.78 5.13 17 7 27 17 23.2 13.6 18.2 10.4 12.07 8.74 18.435 5.594 12.157 5.125 14 6 17.25 10.48 10.64 3.64 14.44 6.95 19.49 4.21 14.46 0 12.52 0 28.62 27.8 15.08 15.46 18.4 11.8 11 3.1 9.97 0 15.99 6 12.38 9.42 14.26 4.48 15.2 0 2 2.6 0 0 3.6 4.3 9 0 7.6 9 0 8.5 6.64 5.41 7.7 4.35 7 8.3 3.82 2.6 6.35 1.5 4.5 0 5 0 6.58 6.37 5.29 2.49 10 5 7 5 1 0 9 5 10 12 12 11 Analysis of data. Mean for the Mae same eye time (1) = = = 10.16 Mean for Mae different eye time (2) = = =4.97 Standard deviation for the Mae same eye time (s. d1) = = 6.43 Standard deviation for Mae different eye time (s. d2) = = 5.19 Where is mean and is equal to S. d is the standard deviation and is equal to N is the total number of entries which is 137. Therefore t1= = 0.13 and t2 = = 0.08 Discussion. From the experiment, the mean for the MAE same eye-time was higher than that for the different eye-time. The standard deviation for the MAE same eye-time was equally found to be greater than that for the different eye-time. Additionally the calculated t-test value was higher in MAE same eye-time than in MAE different eye-time. These results gave out further evidence concerning the extra-renal part to MAE. An eye movement performs more than distorting the retina. During adaptation, they normally establish signals that are non-visual that take part in the after effect. The specific signal, in this case, is one given out by the desire to suppress the afternystagmus so as to establish a test that is stationery. One study advanced in the MAE reported a significant correlation in MAE after a number of eye movements and afternystagmus eye movement. In this study the adapting stimulus appeared to have no retinal motion apart from the drive eye-movement. This study concluded that the origin of MAE was retinal. This experiment extended the finding of the prior study to nystagmus, more reflective eye-movement. This experiment equally found out MAE in some specific visual field that had never obtained previous retina stimulation when adapting the eye-movement. In testing the hypothesis for this study, the origin of MAE was found to be retinal. Extra- retinal did not store appreciably after the period of time between test and adaptation. Comparing this by use of the same eye observers, it was found that there existed a complete storage of the retinal MAE. The duration of MAE is a measure that is dependent and subjective. Other techniques that could be used to observe the perceived motion is by making the motion perceived to be null though opposition with motion of the test. This could be done by either changing the motion of energy or by adjusting the speed. Research has also shown another method as matching the after effect speed with visual stimulus positioned in a prior position that was not adapted. EXPERIMENT TWO: THE SERIAL POSITION EFFECT. Abstract. The Serial Position Effect Abstract. As humans seek to understand what constitutes nature and how nature affects them, they tend to get to appreciate why they need to understand the biology that underlies their being. In this respect, learning about them has become exceedingly fundamental as it has increased their awareness about the biology that underlies their well being. In the quest to achieve such discoveries, experiments have become part and parcel of man’s way of life and as such Cognitive psychology has significantly played a role in many discoveries humans have sought to make. In this experiment, we sought to know the underlying principle behind human beings variations of recollecting the daily activities often undertaken. This way, an experiment is set up to test the Serial Position Effect. First, all the instructions were set on the screen with slide shows being used as the experimental set up. The scoring document created and printed out. Six out of twelve words were read while making sure the words are recalled after each list. For some of the list, words were written down straight after reading, while for others some calculations were done thirty seconds before writing down the words. Introduction For many years, in the field of psychology, human memory has remained one of the most investigated yet least understood phenomena. A literature search provides many thousands of publication in the last decade investigating aspects that are related to the memory. A four volume textbook publication recently presented the most current research especially, in the field of psychology, as well as in the field of neurobiology of memory and learning that attests to the breadth and depth of learning and memory (Welch, & Burnett, 2004).. Memory has been known to be one of the complex phenomena and has been studied in various fields including ethology, neurochemistry, system neurobiology, as well as in psychology. Research has shown that memory presents itself in many forms, as well as in the human psyche integral part. There are many situations that present themselves in people’s lives in which they are required to recall lists of items. They are presented with some situations as straightforward as recalling what they need to purchase from the store to even more complicated situations that require memorizing lists of vocabulary words their everyday lives. It is, therefore, very vital for one to understand how he or she is capable of remembering such things so that he or she can effectively remember them when it is necessary. Typically, he or she is not always required to recall the exact order in which such items were presented in the course of recalling them. According to Rundus (2003) such type of recall, where the order in which items occur is not required for accurate recall is termed free recall. However, various researchers have shown that the likelihood of recalling items does depend on the items positions in a list (Rundus, 2003). The area that most psychologists are yet to fully explore and many are now looking forward to explore is in relation is in line with the Serial Position Effect. The term Serial Position Effect is a memory-related term often used to refer to the tendency to recall the information that is always presented first, as well as the piece of information presented last better than the piece of information presented in the middle. Serial position effect serves as vital evidences for studies of patient’s brains that are damaged, and for the multi-store model. The tendency for individuals to remember earlier words first is referred to as primary effect whilst the tendency to recall the last words is referred to as recency effect. This experiment was set to explore the Serial Position Effect. The hypothesis that is in relation to the explanation that underlie the serial position effects is that it is because of the operation of the two memory types i.e. the short-term, as well as the long-term memory was tested. The hypothesis stated that words at the end and the beginning of the sequence of letters are to be more recalled accurately as compared to those words in the middle of the sequence. The null hypothesis (Ho) states that, there is no significant difference, in remembering the words found at the start, middle and, as well as the end of the entire sequence. The more significant and specific hypothesis was that the primacy effect (a theory that supports the improved items rehearsal), would be investigated. Method Participants. This study involved 131 participants. Of these, 30 of them were male where as101 of them were females. The average age of the participants was 19.88 years old. The median age of the participants was 19 years old, and the age range of the subjects was 18 to 44 years old. Apparatus. The materials for this study were printouts, pens, and a computer. Procedure. With printouts and pens ready for use, participants of this study were asked to follow slide show instructions. First, the participants were asked to read about six lists of twelve words. Each participant was expected to remember after reading each of the lists. In some lists, the subjects were asked to write down the words that they read. For other lists, the participants were asked to do some mathematics for thirty seconds before having the words written down. All participants were asked to follow all the on-screen instructions while running the slide show. All the data collected was recorded in the table (Table 2) Results Table 2: Duration of recall. Immediate Recall Delayed Recall Early Middle Late Early Middle Late 33.3 33.3 58.3 50 25 8.3 83.3 16.7 58.3 50 25 16.7 83.3 41.7 83.3 91.7 25 83.3 75 41.7 66.7 33.3 25 41.7 66.7 58.3 66.7 41.7 33.3 25 83.3 16.7 66.7 33.3 41.7 33.3 75 33.3 16.7 41.7 25 0 58.3 25 33.3 16.7 33.3 33.3 8.3 41.7 58.3 16.7 25 25 58.3 58.3 75 41.7 8.3 41.7 41.7 16.7 41.7 25 16.7 33.3 58.3 41.7 50 58.3 58.3 41.7 58.3 25 66.7 16.7 41.7 16.7 41.7 66.7 66.7 41.7 41.7 25 58.3 16.7 66.7 33.3 50 50 75 33.3 66.7 58.3 50 33.3 50 33.3 66.7 33.3 66.7 25 75 8.3 8.3 16.7 58.3 25 66.7 58.3 33.3 50 25 33.3 50 58.3 50 58.3 33.3 58.3 50 58.3 100 58.3 50 33.3 91.7 33.3 58.3 75 25 41.7 83.3 41.7 75 83.3 58.3 58.3 58.3 16.7 41.7 41.7 66.7 33.3 75 16.7 25 16.7 8.3 16.7 25 66.7 75 50 25 58.3 50 41.7 25 33.3 25 25 66.7 33.3 33.3 50 25 41.7 66.7 25 33.3 33.3 41.7 41.7 41.7 16.7 50 16.6 8.3 33.3 41.7 16.7 33.3 25 0 25 41.7 8.3 8.3 0 16.7 33.3 41.7 33.3 16.7 41.7 0 33.3 16.7 33.3 41.7 8.3 25 8.3 15 41.7 66.7 41.7 25 25 83.3 25 33.3 66.7 25 41.7 33.3 25 50 25 25 25 8.3 8.3 25 8.3 25 25 58.3 50 75 50 50 50 75 41.7 58.3 75 66.7 50 33.3 25 83.3 41.7 8.3 8.3 83.3 100 75 91.7 83.3 100 33.3 33.3 58.3 83.3 8.3 33.3 66.7 41.7 33.3 58.3 16.7 25 58.3 25 33.3 41.7 50 25 33.3 25 41.7 16.7 50 25 66.7 83.3 75 83.3 75 66.7 100 83.3 66.7 100 75 75 66.7 25 50 75 50 8.3 66.7 16.7 16.7 50 33.3 33.3 58.3 50 41.7 58.3 41.7 33.3 50 8.3 50 16.7 8.3 8.3 41.7 50 41.7 33.3 41.7 50 33.3 41.7 58 41.7 16.7 41.7 41.7 33.3 75 50 25 75 58.3 33.3 50 41.7 41.7 8.3 50 33.3 41.7 75 16.7 25 41.7 50 25 25 16.7 16.7 66.7 16.7 50 25 25 50 75 83.3 50 66.7 50 58.3 91.7 100 91.7 91.7 91.7 100 75 66.7 41.7 66.7 33.3 8.3 41.7 16.7 41.7 33.3 33.3 25 33.3 16.7 41.7 50 16.7 8.3 41.7 8.3 16.7 0 33.3 8.3 75 41.7 58.3 75 50 33.3 41.7 8.3 50 8.3 41.7 41.7 50 33.3 66.7 16.7 25 33.3 66.7 25 33.3 33.3 33.3 0 33.3 41.7 41.7 8.3 25 25 91.7 50 66.7 41.7 58.3 50 50 8.3 50 33.3 41.7 50 91.7 41.7 41.7 83.3 50 66.7 83.3 50 33.3 41.7 8.3 41.7 41.7 8.3 16.7 16.7 8.3 25 50 58.3 50 25 33.3 8.3 0 25 33.3 25 0 16.7 33.3 58.3 50 41.7 25 25 50 41.7 66.7 75 58.3 33.3 50 25 33.3 33.3 8.3 33.3 16.7 25 66.7 66.7 16.7 25 58.3 41.7 66.7 41.7 25 41.7 66.7 16.7 23.3 50 23.3 41.7 58.3 50 50 33.3 25 33.3 8.3 16.7 58.3 10 10 16.7 33.3 25 41.7 33.3 8.3 41.7 41.7 41.7 58.3 16.7 25 25 58.3 8.3 33.3 67.7 33.3 41.7 41.7 25 83.3 50 66.7 41.7 100 58.3 33.3 75 50 58.3 41.7 58.3 25 41.7 58.3 25 100 100 33.3 0 66.7 100 100 91.7 83.3 75 58.3 83.3 33.3 16.7 33.3 50 33.3 25 50 0 41.7 35.3 41.7 16.7 100 25 16.7 75 33.3 50 66.7 75 75 75 83 91 83.3 33.3 33.3 41.7 50 50 100 41.7 33.3 66.7 58.3 41.7 33.3 16.7 50 16.7 33.3 33.3 58.3 33.3 41.7 25 8.3 33.3 0 0 16.7 16.7 25 8.3 83.3 66.7 83.3 100 58.3 41.7 25 25 41.7 8.3 0 16.7 58.3 16.7 33.3 33.3 25 25 58.3 16.7 0 41.7 50 50 66.7 75 66.7 58.3 33.3 66.7 41.7 0 41.7 50 8.3 33.3 58.3 41.7 50 66.7 25 33.3 25 16.7 83.3 25 58.3 50 25 58.3 66.7 58.3 16.7 47.7 75 41.7 50 50 41.7 50 41.7 58.3 58.3 16.7 50 25 25 16.7 25 25 16.7 41.7 58.3 8.3 25 16.7 0 16.7 41.7 16.7 66.7 8.3 8.3 0 66.7 33.3 33.3 33.3 25 25 58.3 33.3 66.7 41.7 0 33.3 67.7 55 50.1 18.3 50.2 32.5 33.3 8.3 16.7 0 0 0 83.3 25 25 66.7 33.3 25 58.3 16.7 33.3 41.7 33.3 25 41.7 33.3 50 25 50 25 100 66.7 75 58.3 66.7 100 41.7 33.3 66.7 25 41.7 25 75 75 91.7 83.3 75 66.7 41.7 25 50 58.3 33.3 41.7 83.3 16.7 83.3 41.7 33.3 16.7 50 50 50 75 33.3 8.3 58.3 50 50 33.3 25 41.7 33.3 16.7 41.7 0 0 16.7 75 50 67 50 50 50 Data analysis. Mean for the early immediate recall (1) = 55.61 Mean for the middle immediate recall (2) =36.28 Mean for the late immediate recall (3) = 49.30 Mean for the early delayed recall (1) = 44.11 Mean for the middle delayed recall (2) =33.96 Mean for the late delayed recall (3) =35.64 Standard deviation for the early immediate recall (s. d1) = 22.76 Standard deviation for the middle immediate recall (s. d2) =22.01 Standard deviation for the late immediate recall (s. d3) =20.22 Standard deviation for the early delayed recall (s. d4) = 23.05 Standard deviation for the middle delayed recall (s. d5) =20.39 Standard deviation for the late delayed recall (s. d1) =21.16 Where is mean and is equal to S. d is the standard deviation and is equal to N is the total number of entries which is 131. Therefore t1= = 0.21, t2 = = 0.14, t3= = 0.21, t4= = 0.18 t5= =0.15, and t6= =0.15. Discussion. The experimental results were analyzed using the t-test. A primacy effect was shown among the first serial position. At a significant level 0.05, the values were calculated to be 0.21 for the immediate recall, which was greater than the critical value hence the primacy effect was proved. A strong recency effect displayed with the late positions of the immediate recall and late positions of delayed recall with t calculated being greater than the critical t values. The recency effect strength is also clear when the lists of words are delayed and words recalled are reviewed. All of such positions in the first and end were higher than those in the middle positions basing on the t-test. Hence the end and the beginning of the sequence of letters are to be more recalled accurately as compared to those words in the middle of the sequence. This implies that there is a significant difference in remembering the words found at the start, middle and at the end of the sequence. The primancy effect (a theory that supports the improved items rehearsal), was confirmed, as well. Hence the serial position effect. References Rundus, D. (2003). Analysis of rehearsal processes in free recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 89, 63-77.  Welch, G. B, & Burnett, C. T. (2004). Is Primacy a Factor in Association-Formation. American Journal of Psychology, 35, 396-401.   Carpenter, H. (2006). Movements of the Eyes. London: Pion publishers. Anstis, S. Verstraten, A. & Mather, G. (2007). The motion after effect. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 2(3), 111–117 Anstis, M. & Gregory, R. (2002). The after effect of seen motion: the role of retinal stimulation and of eye movement. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 17, 173–174.             Read More