week 13

CLOA & summative ERQ

9 December 2015

13.01 Principles of the CLOA

Read pp. 67-72 from your Course Companion eText.

Read pp. 1-11 of the Pamoja Supplementary eText, The Cognitive
Level of Analysis: Section 1. Principles and Research Methods of the
CLOA.
View this presentation on the Principles of the CLOA (Links to an external
site.) and write a brief comment on the IB Psychology@Pamoja blog,
identifying which principle makes the most sense to you.

Cognitive level of analysis: cognitive processes

Cognitive psychology concerns itself with the structure and functions of the mind.
Cognitive psychologists are involved in finding out how the human mind comes to
know things about the world and how it uses this knowledge
perception, thinking, problem solving, memory, language, and attention
Cognition is based on ones mental representations of the world, such as images,
words, and concepts
mental processes guide behaviour.
information input to the mind comes via bottom-up processingthat is, from the
sensory system. This information is processed in the mind by top-down processing
via pre-stored information in the memory. Finally, there is some output in the form of
behaviour.
stereotyping
peoples memories may not be as infallible as they think because of the
reconstructive nature of memory.
perception, defined as the cognitive process that interprets and organizes
information from the senses to produce some meaningful experience of the world
the mind can be studied scientifically by developing theories and using a number
of scientific research methods
study cognition in the laboratory as well as in a daily context.
cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.
British psychologist Frederic Bartlett, who coined the term schema, which is defined
as a mental representation of knowledge
experimental research may suffer from artificiality.
cognitive processes are localized in the brain
Neuroscientists can now study which brain areas are active when people make
decisions, and how cognitive processes can be disrupted by brain damage
Mental representations are organized in categories, and the mind contains all sorts
of mental representations stored in memory.
pre-stored mental representations called cognitive schemas.
cognitive schema can be defined as networks of knowledge, beliefs, and
expectations about particular aspects of the world.
o can describe how specific knowledge is organized and stored in memory so
that it can be accessed and used when it is needed
humans are active processors of information.
Schema theory has been used to explain memory processes.

encoding: transforming sensory information into a meaningful memory

storage: creating a biological trace of the encoded information in memory,
which is either consolidated or lost
o retrieval: using the stored information
Anderson and Pichert (1978)
o to investigate if schema processing influences both encoding and retrieval.
o Half of the participants were asked to read the story from the point of view of
a house-buyer (the buyer schema) and half from the point of view of a
burglar (the burglar schema).
o distracting task for 12 minutes before their recall was tested. Then there was
another 5-minute delay in the experiment.
o participants in the changed schema group recalled 7 per cent more points
on the second recall test compared to the first trial.
o schema processing must have some effect at retrieval as well as at
encoding, because the new schema could only have influenced recall at the
retrieval stage.
o controlled and conducted in a laboratory, so there may be issues of
ecological validity
o variable control, which enabled the researchers to establish a causeandeffect relationship on how schemas affect different memory processes.
schemas affect cognitive processes such as memory
not entirely clear how schemas are acquired in the first place and how they actually
influence cognitive processes.
o
o

The Cognitive Level of Analysis (CLOA)

1.
2.
3.

1.

Mental representations guide behaviour.

Mental processes can be studied scientifically.
Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors.
Alloway and Alloway (2009)
MacDonald et al. (2000)
Case studies
1. Baron-Cohen et al. (2007)
b. Laboratory experiments
1. Lustig and Hasher (2002)
b. Observations
1. Miranda et al (2002)
b. Interviews
1. Wade et al. (2002)
. Ethics and Research Methods at the CLOA

Loftus and Pickrell (1995)

http://blogs.pamojaeducation.com/psychology/2012/06/15/principles-of-the-cloa-2/
I understand the first principle the best, which states "mental processes can and should be
studied scientifically. In the 21st century, technological advances have allowed and
encouraged psychologists to attempt to understand mental processes in order to form
theories to be tested in laboratory experiments and brain imaging studies. Through these
studies, comprehensive explanations will be found to prove or disprove theories of cognition.

The mind is not separate from the brain. If we study the brain, we are at the same time
studying the mind. On the other hand, the mind is a product of brain function.
Therefore it can be studied scientifically by.(How would this be done?)

IB Psychology
Name: Natalie Cassello
December 2015
Teacher: Helen Loughran

15

Learning Outcomes
Outline principles that define the CLOA.
Explain how principles that define the CLOA may be demonstrated in
research (theories and/or studies).
Section 1
In this first table write the principles in your own words. An
example has been provided for you.

Principles

In my own words

Mental representations
guide behaviour.

An example:
The images and symbols that we have in our mind
from our experiences affect our memory, our
perception and our actions.

Mental processes can be

studied scientifically.

In my own words:
The thought process of interpretation in our minds have
an effect on understanding, distorted memories, and
selective perception.
In my own words:
Laboratory experiments and case studies can lead to
correlations between the mind and behaviors.

Cognitive processes are

In my own words:
Education, family, country, gender, age, and many other

Mental representations
guide behaviour.

influenced by social and

cultural factors.

facts have an effect on behaviors, such as memory,

perception, attention, and problem-solving.

Section 2
In the table below you can see how a particular principle
guides research on a question about behaviour. Read the
example and then think of your own research question and
approaches.
Research Question: How can the loss of memory experienced by some residents
of an elderly care facility be slowed?

Principles
Mental representations
guide behaviour.

Mental processes can be

studied scientifically.

Cognitive processes are

influenced by social and
cultural factors.

Approach
The researcher working from the first principle
might look into making sure that each
persons room in the home has plenty of
reminders of his/her earlier life, so that
schemas relating to their experiences are
activated. They could encourage the sharing of
stories and ask relatives to provide reminders
of the past. (Case study)
The researcher working from the second
principle might set up an independent
measures design experiment, pre-testing
everyones memory with a standardized recall
test, and then engaging half of the elderly
people in memory games that exercised their
working memory for a certain period of time.
The researcher would then re-administer a
similar recall test to everyone and measure
performance. (Controlled experiment: IV =
presence/absence of memory games; IV =
performance on recall test, as measured by
number of questions answered correctly).
The researcher working from the third
principle might take an oral history from each
person concerning their earlier life, and then
try and activate social and cultural schemas,
using music, songs, films, smells, clothing - so
that they re-experience some of their history
to reactivate a sense of belonging. (Case
study)

My research question: When being interviewed at a crime scene, do men

or women more accurately able to explain the crime?

Principles
Mental representations
guide behaviour.

Mental processes can be

studied scientifically.

Cognitive processes are

influenced by social and
cultural factors.

Approach
The researcher who believes mental
representation guide behavior will look at the
schema theory to see how the men and
women reconstruct memories.
The researcher would use interviews after the
participant has been exposed as a bystander
at a crime scene. (controlled experiment:
IV=males vs. females, DV=number of details
recalled)
A case study could be used to gain information
on the background of the participants to see if
their environment of upbringing had a lot of
crime.

IB Psychology
Name: Natalie Cassello
15
December 2015
Teacher: Helen Loughrin
Learning Outcome
Evaluate schema theory with reference to research studies.
Studies that
support
schema
theory
Bartlett (1932)
Andersen and
Pichert (1978)

Studies/critici
sms that
challenge
schema
theory
Clark (1990)
Cohen (1993)

To demonstrate your ability to evaluate schema theory you would need

to write about the studies by Bartlett (1932) and Anderson and Pichert
(1972). To meet the demands of the command term you must also
write about studies that challenge or criticize schema theory. Clark
(1990) and Cohen (1993) do so.

Level of Analysis
Investigator/s
Date
CLOA
Bartlett
1932
Description (Aim, Type of study, Participants, Procedures, Findings
Conclusions):
Bartlett aimed to prove that information is retrieved according to
expectations formed by cultural schema with this laboratory
experiment. When recalling the old Native American folktale, The War
of the Ghost, hours, days, weeks, months, or even years after initially
being told, British students would simply replace forgotten information
with something more familiar and similar to that persons past
experiences, otherwise known as memory distortion. It was found that
participants were able to remember the overall theme, but changed
unfamiliar parts to match their own cultural expectations. Memories
seem to be more of reconstructions of events, rather than exact
copies.
Methodology
Considerations
The time between all
participants being
asked to recall the
story was different. If
they were asked
multiple times over
the years, they also
probably started to
remember from
repetition.

Evaluation
Ethical Considerations
All rules of ethics
seemed to be
followed. Informed
consent was received,
participants were
debriefed,
confidentiality was
kept, no harm was
done, no deception
was used, and
participants had the
ability to withdraw.

Gender/Cultural
Considerations
The participants were
only Brits who had
learned about Native
Americans, but would
the same case be it
were another group of
people. Maybe they
were simply
uninterested.

Level of Analysis
Investigators
Date
CLOA
Anderson and Pichert
1978
Description (Aim, Type of study, Participants, Procedures, Finding,
Conclusions)
In this laboratory experiment, participants were told to read a story
from either a burglar or house-buyers point of view, asked to do a 12
minute distraction task, asked to recall the story, and then wait
another 5 minutes. Half of the participants recalled the same story
again, while the other half switched to the opposite schema. The aim
of the experiment was to investigate if schema processing influences
both encoding and retrieval. In participants who switched, it was found
that they remembered more from the last schema and the group that
didnt switch remembered less from the second schema. It was found

that schema processing has an effect on retrieval and encoding stages.

A cause-and-effect relationship was established between schemas and
memory process.
Methodology
Considerations
Issues of ecological
validity because it
was a controlled
laboratory
experiment.

Researchers
Clark (1990)

Cohen (1993)

Evaluation
Ethical Considerations
Seems to be a
completely ethical
experiment.

Gender/Cultural
Considerations
It is unknown whether
this was a crosscultural experiment,
however, these results
most likely can be
generalized.

Studies that challenge schema

Brief Description
How is schema theory
challenged?
This experiment
Schema theory has
looked at schema in
its limitations--for
reading
example, it makes too
comprehension.
much of an attempt to
Students can use
fit something as
content schema,
evidently complex as
which prior knowledge knowledge
of objects, or textual
acquisition, storage,
schema, which is
and retrieval into a
knowledge of
simple, familiar
conventions. Schema
frameworktheory explains failure prototype.
to comprehend.
Aim was to
Schema is too vague
investigate the effect
and hypothetical to
of stress on resistance observe because
to disease to see how there is not an actual
the immune system
cause-and-effect
was functioning. 394
relation being
participants received
investigated. The
a nasal drip of either a experiment lacks
common cold or saline ecological validity due
solution after filling
to the control of the
out a stress survey. It
nasal drip.
was found that the
majority of
participants who were
stressed got sick.

13.03 Schema Theory

Review Andersen and Pichert (1978) p. 72 of the Course Companion

eText and the section titled Evaluation of Schema Theory.

Undertake some additional research on this important study of schema theory.

Formative ERQ
Summative ERQ
Discuss the use of brain imaging technologies to investigate the relationship between
biological factors and behaviour.
Two brain imaging technologies used in investigating the relationship between
biological factors and behavior are MRIs, such as in Maguires study of 2000,
and fMRIs, used by Iacoboni during a study in 2005.

magnetic resonance imaging

o

3D digital image of the brain

scanning the body with a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave
energy

brain functions can be exaggerated with contrast materials

limitations: allergic reaction, people with metal implants cant be

scanned, more sensitive than CT scans

magnetic field is used instead of a computer and X-ray

technology

Maguires natural study in London of 2000 to investigate plasticity and

localization of the brain, MRI scans of 66 males were observed.
o

Data of the anatomy of the brain was collected with MRI scans and
then were analyzed to calculate the amount of gray matter in the
hippocampus of the brains of taxi and non-taxi drivers with voxelbased morphometry and pixel counting.

hippocampus does play a role in spatial memory due to the high

dependence on navigational skills

The gray matter was calculated with VBM, which provides a 3D

measurement of the volume of the area. It was found that the posterior
hippocampi were significantly larger and the anterior hippocampi were
smaller of taxi drivers and there was more gray matter in the right
posterior hippocampus due to plasticity and the environmental
demands of drivers to use spatial memory.

This procedure was only possible due to the images created by the MRI
scan.

link to question

the biological factors were able to be observed through

these MRI scans in order to create a correlation with the
behavior of using spatial memory often

natural experiment, the strengths of this study include following all

guidelines of ethics and a strong methodology

limitations include not being able to generalize the results for all
genders in all countries.

Other factors also may have had an effect of the spatial

memory of the participants.

functional magnetic resonance imaging

o

used to map changes in the brains metabolism by showing active

regions of neurons during certain activities

investigate localization of the brain and correlations between the brain

and behavior when engaged in an action

easy to carry out and give a higher resolution than PET scans

same limitations as MRIs

Physiologist, Iacoboni, used fMRIs in his study of 2005, which investigated

localization of brain mechanisms responsible for understanding the intentions
of others when watching them perform an action
o

Twenty-three subjects observed a stimulus of something being grasped

premotor mirror neurons are active in the understanding of others

actions, as well as the action recognition

fMRI scans were helpful in this methodology because they allowed the
researcher to track the brain patterns while the participant observed
the different scenarios

This microscopic brain imaging technology gave the scientist

an opportunity to learn more about premotor mirror neurons
and their correlation with the behavior of understanding future
actions and identifying with present actions.

follow all rules of ethics

slight deception was used, but was explained at the end

cross-cultural study, can be generalized

participant bias and wanting to give the experiment the expected

results

evaluation of the use of brain imaging technologies.

o

cant provide scientist with all information or reasoning of development. In the

end, they are just pictures of the brain that must be analysed.

MRIs and fMRIs also may not be the most ethical technologies because of the
exposure to foreign chemicals, magnetic field, and pulses of radio wave energy

however, more ethical than other technologies, such as PET, which expose
participants to radioactive material

correlational studies, not cause-and-effect relationships

MRIs and fMRIs have given scientists the ability to actually study psychology
and other medicine practices at the biological level of analysis.
o

MRIs because they provided him with clear, microscopic brain images
for his study to find the which region controls spatial memory

Iacoboni used fMRIs which allowed him to watch the movement and
function of the brain while the participants were stimulated in
understanding the intentions of anothers actions.

its crucial that these two brain-imaging technologies be used in order

to investigate the relationship between biological factors and behavior.

Two brain-imaging technologies used in investigating the relationship between

biological factors and behavior are MRIs, used by Maguire in 2000, and fMRIs,
used by Iacoboni in 2005.
MRIs, or magnetic resonance imaging scans, use a magnetic field and pulses of
radio wave energy in order to create a static image of the brain. Patients must lie
still to get a picture of internal organs. MRIs are most often used to find where
damage has occured internally, however, these scans are also extremely helpful
in providing data for brain function. Certain regions may be exaggerated with
contrasting dyes to be able to tell which area is active. Limitations of this
technology is that there is no way to tell whether or not a person may be allergic
to the foreign material and patients with metal implants cannot be scanned due
to the magnetic field, rather than computer and X-ray technology.
Maguire used MRI scans to collect data about the anatomy of the brain in his
study in London of the year 2000. All participants were right-handed, middleaged males. 16 of these men had been licensed taxi drivers for over two years
while the remaining 50 participants were controls, or normal men whose jobs did
not necessarily rely on spatial memory. Through voxel-based morphometry, or
VBM, and pixel counting, Maguire was able to calculate the amount of gray
matter in the hippocampus of the brain. It was found that the taxi drivers tended
to have a larger posterior hippocampus and smaller anterior hippocampus than
the non-taxi drivers. Also, the drivers who had been licensed the longest had the
most gray matter in their posterior hippocampus. It was completely necessary to
use MRIs in this natural experiment because it allowed the researcher to gather
information in order to create a correlation between the behavior of using
navigational skills and spatial memory often to biological factors, otherwise
known as localization of function of the brain. The MRI scan really allowed
Maguire to look at the hippocampal region of the brain microscopically in order to
calculate the gray matter and mass and then analyze the data collected to create
the correlation. From this study, scientists now know that the posterior
hippocampus is responsible for navigational skills and will overdevelop to adapt
to a lifestyle that often uses spatial memory, such as taxi driving. Whereas a
business man who sits at his desk for the majority of his day has no need for the
enhanced skill. As this was a natural experiment, there were no ethical concerns.
Confidentiality was kept for all participants after receiving consent and a debrief.

As the procedure of the experiment was only analyzing brain images, there was
absolutely no mental or physical harm caused to the participants. However,
because this experiment used only right-handed, middle-aged men as
participants, these results cannot necessarily be generalized for everyone. For
example, it can be hypothesized that left-handed women may have bigger left
posterior hippocampus, but this would be a different experiment than Maguire's.
Another brain-imaging technology is fMRIs, or functional magnetic resonance
imaging. This advanced technology is able to locate active regions of neurons
and look at changes of the brain's metabolism. While performing a specific
action, this technology can investigate localization, therefore creating
correlations between the behavior and biological factors, or function of the brain.
fMRIs are easy to carry out and give a better resolution than other technologies,
such as PET scans. However, limitations are the same as mentioned earlier for
MRIs, which are the possibility of allergic reaction to the contrasting material and
the disability to scan patients with metal implants.
In 2005, Iacoboni used fMRIs in his research to be able to make a correlation
between brain function and one's ability to understand and predict the intentions
of others' actions. 23 participants watched scenarios of something being
squeezed with and without a context to localize the region of the brain
responsible for understanding intentions. It was found that the premotor mirror
neurons were activated during action recognition and comprehension. It was a
good decision to use fMRIs because this technology gave Iacoboni the best
opportunity to track the patterns of the brain. fMRI scans also allowed the
physiologist to learn more about premotor mirror neurons and how they correlate
between a human's ability to understand a situation by watching the changes in
the brain's metabolism based on the active regions of neurons. As the
participants watched the different scenarios, Iacoboni watched the moving
neurons in the actived parts of the brain. Scientists now know how people
identify with others' present action and understand others' future actions. This
experiment successfully followed the rules of ethics. Even though slight
deception may have been used, it was described in the debrief at the end,
making this labatory experiment ethical. Because it was cross-cultural, the
results may be generalized, however, there also may have been participant bias
because it was in a laboratory setting.
The microscopic brain-imaging technologies of MRIs and fMRIs have greatly
benefited and helped to advance the medical world. Scans today may simply be
images that are taken to be analyzed, but they still have provided science with a
lot of information. The anatomical data collected from the pictures must then be
analyzed by researchers, but the images themselves do not provide reasoning of
development. This information, however, supports correlational studies because
the technology cannot directly show cause-and-effect relationships between
behavior and biological facotrs because there are so many other environmental
factors that must be thought about which have the possibility of contributing to
the behavior of a person, rather than just their biological makeup. These modern
technologies also may be debated as unethical because they expose patients to
foreign contrating chemicals as well as magnetic field and radio wave energy.
MRIs and fMRIs have had a positive impact on science at the biological level of
analysis. These advanced, modern technologies of the 21st century have proven
to be crucial to investigate the relationship between biological factors and

behavior. While a specific behavior is performed, these imaging technologies

allow for the behavior to be localized at the biological, microscopic level. Without
MRIs and fMRIs, it would be much more difficult to create correlations for reasons
of humans' actions.