PSYC 3240 Cognitive Psychology Paper 1 Required Article In order to complete this assignment, you must read the article entitled “Realistic context doesn’t amplify the survival processing effect: Lessons learned from Covid-19 scenarios” by Kroneisen et al. (2022). A pdf of this article can be found on Canvas in the module entitled “Paper Module 1”. There is also an html version of the article here if you prefer that.1 Some Background Kroneisen et al.’s (2022) article examines the survival-processing effect, a memory phenomenon you are unlikely to have encountered in your previous courses. Because Kroneisen et al. are writing for an audience of cognitive scientists rather than an audience of undergraduate students, they will assume that you know more than you probably do. Some of you are already familiar with this aspect of scientific articles: Those in their last semester will probably have read dozens already. For other students, this may be the first journal article you have read. As such, I want to provide some of the scientific background guiding Kroneisen et al.’s work and to provide some tips for how to read journal articles. I will start with the scientific background. If you can understand the following, you will have an easier time understanding Kroneisen et al.’s (2022) 1 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691821002092 1 paper. One area of inquiry in memory research centers on processing differences. How material is processed affects the likelihood of that material being remembered. You can grasp this point through simple introspection: Imagine you watched an episode of a show while carrying on an engaging conversation with a friend; then, imagine you watched another episode and gave it your undivided attention. You will almost certainly remember more about the second episode than the first.2 A common approach to studying memory in the lab is to give participants a list of words to memorize. These words are presented one at a time on a computer screen. After the last word is presented, participants are given instructions for the memory test. In a free-recall test (the kind of test used by Kroneisen et al., 2022), participants are simply asked to name as many of the words as they can remember in any order. Craik and Lockhart (1972) presented a framework called levels of processing. In this framework, studying words at a shallow level—by, for example, counting the number of letters in each word—leads to poorer memory than studying words at a deep level— by, for example, putting each to-be-remembered word into a sentence. Hardly surprising, right? Nairne et al. (2007) reported an unexpected processing effect called the survival-processing effect. They gave participants a list of words to memorize 2 At this point, laypeople often object that it probably depends on what kind of learner you are. However, please note that no memory experts take learning theory seriously. There is literally no evidence that we can divide people into visual learners, kinesthetic learners, auditory learners, and so on, despite what well-intentioned but misguided highschool teachers may have told you. 2 for a free-recall test. One group was instructed to rate each of the to-beremembered words on their usefulness in a “grasslands scenario”; the other group was instructed to rate each of the to-be-remembered words on their usefulness in a “moving scenario”. For the grasslands scenario, participants had to imagine that they were living in the environment of our evolutionary ancestors (the grasslands of Africa hundreds of thousands or millions of years ago). For the moving scenario, participants had to imagine that they were moving to a new country. They then rated how useful each word would be in the given situation—for instance, it is easy to see that matches would be extremely useful in the grasslands scenario but that a television would not. Here’s the startling finding: Nairne et al. found that memory was better for the grasslands scenario than the moving scenario. Nairne et al. (2007) interpreted their findings through the lens of evolutionary psychology. Our brains evolved to successfully hunt for food, evade predators, find protection from the elements, and so on. As such, processing words with reference to a survival scenario provides a memory benefit. Moving to another country was not something our distant ancestors did. Consequently, processing words in the moving scenario is less effective for long-term retention. The survival-processing effect has been replicated a number of times and is considered robust. No one doubts the empirical basis for the phenomenon. However, since Nairne et al.’s (2007) publication, debate has raged concerning the cause of the survival-processing effect. Evolutionary psychology provides 3 one potential explanation, but it is not the only one.3 When you read Kroneisen et al.’s (2022) article, keep in mind that the purpose of the article is to identify the cause of the survival-processing effect. This is how science works: Once an effect is documented, scientists design experiments to disambiguate among competing theories. A good study is one where Theory A predicts one pattern of results and Theory B predicts a different pattern of results. If you do not have a lot of experience reading scientific articles, here are a few tips: • Remember that you will not understand everything the first time you read the paper. As mentioned earlier, scientists are writing for other experts in the field, so they assume a certain level of background knowledge that you do not currently have. If you don’t understand absolutely everything, don’t panic! • The Results sections tend to be very challenging for undergraduate students. Provided the tables and figures make sense to you and you can follow what the authors are saying in the Discussion section that follows the Results sections, don’t worry if you don’t know what all of their F tests, t tests, and p values mean. • What question(s) are the researchers trying to answer? If you can figure 3 It should be noted that, although the theory of evolution is one of the strongest theories in biology specifically and science more generally, its application in psychology is contentious. No serious scientist doubts that humans and all other life on earth evolved from a common ancestor through natural selection, but the extent to which this evolutionary history affects higher-order cognitive processes like memory is unclear. 4 that out, it will probably help other parts of the paper fall into place. • Try to identify the authors’ “take-home message”. What do they want readers to take away from their paper? What have they contributed to our body of knowledge? Remember that every paper contributes something novel, even if that contribution is relatively small in the grand scheme of things. A study that teaches us nothing is a study that is unlikely to ever be published. Instructions Answer the following short-answer questions. All answers should be in complete sentences and free from proofreading errors. Do not include the homework questions in your submission. Just give the question number and your answer. Because I use screen-reading software, it’s irritating to read a submission if the questions are included, so please leave them out. All sentences and ideas are assumed to be your own unless you cite your source. Using someone else’s work without attribution is plagiarism and will result in an F in the course. If you consult any outside sources to help you answer questions, those sources must be properly cited. Failing to do so constitutes plagiarism and will result in an F in the course. Questions 1. Kroneisen et al. (2022) were investigating the survival-processing effect. Explain this phenomenon in your own words. 5 2. Kroneisen et al. (2022) discuss an account of the survival-processing effect called the richness-of-processing hypothesis. Explain the richness-ofprocessing hypothesis in your own words. Remember that this is a proposed cause of the survival-processing effect. So, according to the richnessof-processing account, why does the survival-processing effect occur?4 3. Kroneisen et al. (2022) discuss an account of the survival-processing effect called the emotional-response hypothesis. Explain the emotional-response hypothesis in your own words. Remember that this is a proposed cause of the survival-processing effect. So, according to the emotional-response account, why does the survival-processing effect occur?5 4. For this question, I’m testing your understanding of Kroneisen et al.’s (2022) procedure. Specifically, Kroneisen et al. had participants evaluate words with respect to four scenarios. Explain these scenarios. 5. Go through the four scenarios from Question 4 above. Use the word “umbrella” as an example. For each, explain why umbrella would receive a high or low rating for each scenario.6 6. Were Kroneisen et al.’s (2022) results consistent with the richness-ofencoding hypothesis or the emotional-response hypothesis? Explain. Plagiarism 4 If you’re a methodology junky like I am, you may be confused/annoyed by Kroneisen et al.’s (2022) use of the word “hypothesis” to describe an explanatory framework. Their “hypothesis” here is more appropriately described as a “theory”, “account”, or “model”, but the lines among these terms tend to get fuzzy in a lot of scientific writing. 5 See previous footnote. 6 If this question sounds peculiar, you aren’t misinterpreting it. This is a way for me to assess your understanding of the scenarios and procedure. 6 You are assumed to be familiar with CSUB’s policy on academic integrity. Intentional or accidental violation of the policy constitutes academic dishonesty (cheating) and will result in an F in the course. Please never cheat—it is not worth it! Artificial Intelligence You are explicitly prohibited from using artificial intelligence, including tools like ChatGPT, to complete this assignment. Engaging in such practices would not only constitute academic dishonesty but also have severe academic consequences, including receiving a failing grade (F) for the course, being referred to the Dean of Students Office, and having a permanent mark attached to your academic record. While I cannot guarantee that I will detect every use of artificial intelligence, I urge you to consider the long-term effects and ethical implications of dishonest behavior. Moreover, it is worth keeping in mind that ChatGPT’s knowledge cutoff is January 2022, before Kroneisen et al.’s (2022) article was published. ChatGPT knows nothing about Kroneisen et al.’s paper. Acceptable File Formats This assignment must be completed electronically using a text-based file format. Because I am blind, there are limitations imposed on me by the screen-reading software I use. Pictures are completely inaccessible, so do not write your answers by hand and take a picture. Instead, type your answers in a word processor and submit that file. The following file formats are permissible: doc, docx, rtf, txt, and pages. Note that pdf files will not be accepted. 7 Submission Requirements This assignment must be submitted on Canvas by 11:59 P.M. on Sunday March 10, 2024. Late submissions will not be accepted without prior permission of the instructor. Canvas is unforgiving, so make sure you give yourself plenty of time to submit—that is, don’t wait until the last minute. If you submit at 12:00 A.M. instead of 11:59 P.M., Canvas will not allow you to upload your assignment. 8 References Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning & Verbal Behavior, 11(6), 671–684. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(72) 80001-X Kroneisen, M., Kriechbaumer, M., Kamp, K.-M., & Erdfelder, E. (2022). Realistic context doesn’t amplify the survival processing effect: Lessons learned from Covid-19 scenarios. Acta Psychologica, 222. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103459 Nairne, J. S., Thompson, S. R., & Pandeirada, J. N. S. (2007). Adaptive memory: Survival processing enhances retention. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33(2), 263– 273. http://doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.33.2.263 9
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