Sample response

One research method used at the cognitive approach is experiments. Experiments are used to establish a cause and effect relationship between two or more variables. In an experiment, the research manipulates an independent variable and measures its effect on a dependent variable while all other variables are held constant. Participants are randomly allocated to conditions and the environment in which the study is done is controlled to make sure that extraneous variables do not have an effect on the results of the study.

One example of an experiment is Loftus & Palmer’s study on how leading questions may affect one’s memory of an automobile crash. Participants watched a movie in which two cars hit one another. The participants were given a questionnaire with several questions about the accident, but only one question was actually important. One question asked the participants how fast the car was going when the accident occurred.  For some participants, the question ended with "when the two cars smashed into each other."  For other participants, the word smashed was replaced with bumped, hit, collided or contacted. The IV was the intensity of the verb in the leading question. The DV was the speed that the participants estimated. The researchers used an independent samples design, so the participants experienced only one condition. Otherwise, they would not have been able to carry out the experiment because the participants would have figured out the actual goal of the study. Therefore, deception is sometimes used in experiments to avoid the participants demonstrating demand characteristics, where they do what they think that the researcher wants them to do. As part of the experiment, when the task is completed, the researcher must debrief the participant and reveal any deception.

The results of the experiment showed that the stronger the intensity of the verb, the higher the estimate of the speed of the car when the accident happened. As the data was quantitative, statistics could be calculated to see if the results were significant or due to chance. This showed that the wording of the question had a direct cause and effect relationship on the estimation of speed made by participants.