Physiological Psychology

Core Study 6.4: Dematte et al (2007) Attractiveness and Smell Evaluate at least one strength and one weakness of the study in detail (1 long paragraph minimum)

(Lab experiment and quantitative data). Repeated measures accounts for participant variables, such as attraction preferences. May have worked out aim from smelling and judging.

Core Study 6.4: Dematte et al (2007) Attractiveness and Smell In Dematte et al, what were the pleasant odors?

A male fragrance called Gravity, and geranium (a flower). The unpleasant ones were body odor and rubber.

Core Study 6.3: Maguire et al (1997), Taxi Cabs in London and the Hippocampus In Maguire et al, identify at least two of the tasks the taxi drivers had to complete.

1. Describe the shortest route between a starting point and a destination and the city of London (topographical/sequencing). 2. Describe a famous landmark note to all taxi drivers in terms of features, appearance, etc. (topographical/non-sequencing). 3. Describe the plot of a familiar film between tool given point in the film (non-topographical/sequencing). 4. Describe individual frames of some famous, familiar films- not the plot but imagery, characters, etc. (non-topographical/non-sequencing). 5. Repeat two sets of four digit numbers (this was a baseline task so that this simple level of activity could be compared to that seen in the other four tasks).

Core Study 6.3: Maguire et al (1997), Taxi Cabs in London and the Hippocampus Identify two features of the sample used in the study (age, profession, experience, handedness, and so on).

A total of 11 right-handed qualified and licensed male taxi drivers took part in the study. The average age was 45 years old and none of them had any history of neurological illness. All participants gave informed consent prior to taking part and all volunteered to take part.

Core Study 6.4: Dematte et al (2007) Attractiveness and Smell Outline two controls used in the study.

All odors were diluted to ensure equal smell intensity. All had to complete a questionnaire to ensure a regular sense of smell and normal or corrected vision.

Core Study 6.2: Dement & Kleitman (1957), REM Sleep and Dreaming Define EEG, EOG, and EMG. Which was used in D&K? Define REM and nREM sleep. What are the stages of sleep?

EEG stands for electro-encephalograph, which is a machine that detects electrical changes in your brain based on nerve and muscle activity, showing brain waves. EOG stands for electro-oculogram, which is similar to and EEG except it is used to record eye movements (size and direction) during REM sleep. EMG stands for electromyography, which is a diagnostic procedure to assess the health of muscles and the nerve cells that control them. REM sleep is a kind of sleep that occurs at intervals during the night and is characterized by rapid eye movements, more dreaming and bodily movement, and faster pulse and breathing. nREM sleep is dreamless sleep. Brain waves are typically slow and of high voltage, the breathing and heart rate are slow and regular, the blood pressure is low, and the sleeper is relatively still. Sleep has five stages: 1, 2, 3, 4 and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. These stages progress cyclically from 1 through REM then begin again with stage 1. A complete sleep cycle takes an average of 90 to 110 minutes, with each stage lasting between 5 to 15 minutes.

Core Study 6.2: Dement & Kleitman (1957), REM Sleep and Dreaming How does Dement & Kleitman's study reflect/test the physiological approach in psychology? (1 long paragraph minimum)

It is based around biological mechanisms affecting our dreaming state. Some see this as reductionist as there could be psychological components affecting dream content. Despite that, it has high generalizability as most share same brain structure (unfortunately only 5 were studied in detail and 4 to confirm, small sample size doesn't allow it).

Core Study 6.2: Dement & Kleitman (1957), REM Sleep and Dreaming Outline two aims of D&K's Sleeping and Dreaming.

Overall: Investigate the relationship between eye movements and dream recall. Whether dream recall differs in REM and nREM. If there is a positive correlation between estimate of dream length and length of REM period. Whether eye movement patterns relate to dream content.

Core Study 6.4: Dematte et al (2007) Attractiveness and Smell Identify two features of the sample in Dematte et al. Who were the participants in the sample, and how was deception a part of their experience?

Participants were 16 females from the University of Oxford. They were deceived to reject demand characteristics, where participants form an interpretation of the experiment's purpose and subconsciously change their behavior to fit that interpretation. This way answers would be more natural and valid.

Core Study 6.4: Dematte et al (2007) Attractiveness and Smell Outline how quantitative data was collected in the study.

Participants were given a 9-point grading scale, after each image and scent, and had to rate them (1 for least, 9 for most attractive). Also asked to rate the odor for intensity, pleasantness and familiarity, using a 100-point labelled magnitude scale.

Core Study 6.3: Maguire et al (1997), Taxi Cabs in London and the Hippocampus Discuss the procedure; specifically the questionnaire and MRI scanner, how, and why, are they used?

Prior to experimental tasks, participants had to complete a questionnaire that asked them about: 1. The areas of London they were familiar with. 2. Films he thought were "very familiar" with from a list of 150 films. 3. Which of 20 world-famous landmarks they could visualize in their minds eye and had visited. The research team could choose taxi routes, films, and landmarks with information.

Core Study 6.2: Dement & Kleitman (1957), REM Sleep and Dreaming Discuss the quantitative data and qualitative data collected in D&K. How was this data collected? (1 long paragraph minimum)

Result 1 (Dream Recall, nREM vs REM): -Quantitative: Recorded number of the times dreamer recalled a dream. -Qualitative: Told to describe dream and feelings. Result 2: (Duration estimates and REM period) -Quantitative: Asked if awake for 5 or 15 minutes. Counted number of words in dream narrative. -Qualitative: Described dream in a narrative. Result 3: (Eye movements and dreams) -Quantitative: Number of wakings and dreams recalled to get a percentage if his often dreams where recalled. Qualitative: Dream narratives, eye movement patterns (asleep and awake- to confirm findings) which could be vertical, horizontal, both, or little.

Core Study 6.3: Maguire et al (1997), Taxi Cabs in London and the Hippocampus Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of a repeated measures design, using Maguire as an example (1 long paragraph minimum).

Strengths: Since the design tests the same thing, it requires less participants. Participant variables are also controlled since they all do all tasks multiple times under the same conditions. Weaknesses: Since all participants do all tasks they may find out the aim and affect the study with demand characteristics. Participants can also skew results by becoming bored, fatigued, or practicing skills by doing the same task multiple times.

Core Study 6.3: Maguire et al (1997), Taxi Cabs in London and the Hippocampus To what extent are the findings of Maguire useful in everyday life? (1 long paragraph minimum)

The findings in Maguire are useful to everyday life because it helps people understand more on how the brain works. Since the study tested out physiological mechanisms, the results could be generalized to a wider population as we all have the same brain regions explored in the study, like the right hippocampus.

Core Study 6.2: Dement & Kleitman (1957), REM Sleep and Dreaming D&K's study was based on the previous work of whom?

This study is based on Aserinsky and Kleitman's study. They uncovered he occasional occurrence of very rapid movements of the eyes at various times during the sleep cycle. They studied sleeping people and since the movements of their eyes appeared as if the sleepers were scanning, they decided to awaken them and ask what they were looking at. They were, more often than not, dreaming. When they woke sleepers up when there was no eye movement, they rarely reported dreams. It is weaker as it relied on self report.