Canli et al - Evaluation Strengths and Weakness of the Study Standardized Environment – Highly controlled – laboratory experiment and – given same items to rate in each condition – means all variables are under control and therefore eliminates the risk of an extraneous variable affecting DV and only IV causing an effect on DV. Quantitative Data – fMRI scanner used therefore helps the researcher is able to gather a vast amount of quantitative data relating to activation of Amygdala. Moreover, also helps to analyze the data easily and can be used for further analysis. Increases Reliability and Validity – Using of fMRI scanner reduces the possibility for the participants to respond to Demand Characteristics as it’s impossible for them to change their answer because the scan is right there. Therefore increases the reliability and validity of the study. Moreover, as it has a standardized procedure it allows for replication. Hence, consistent results which make it highly reliable. Standardized Procedure increases internal validity – standardized procedure – the level of time for each item presented for and the duration of the interval between presentations. Therefore, the researcher can be more con dent that there are a few confounding variables affecting the variables that are being measured. Informed Consent – Aware of the nature of the experiment – ethically valid Con dentiality – The study only mentions that there were 10 right-handed healthy female there is no more information about them like the age – ethically valid However, Low Validity – cannot be generalized – small sample size, no males, no left-handed females Low Ecological Validity - fMRI are unfamiliar environments, therefore, the participants’ emotional behavior may have been affected the making of the dependent variable of emotional arousal unrealistic. Low Validity - the fact that the participants must be emotionally low prior to the experiment must have affected the results and therefore reduces the validity. Application to real life fi fi fi • It gives a base theory to understand the dif culties in emotional experiences – especially for those with intense emotional experiences who have a damaged amygdala. • Contributed to the understanding of emotional memory of negative experiences faced by an individual that can be useful in therapy that attempts to help individuals with trauma to forget such kind of experiences. • The nding of the study can be extremely useful for the advertising agencies if emotionally intense information is more likely to be recognized and recalled at a later date than advertisements that will appear on the television or in a magazine may be designed to contain intense imagery on purpose. Therefore, it will leave an impact on consumers. Nature V/s Nurture Debate Nurture based explanation - as it correlates the person’s own amygdala functioning to his or her experience of emotions and subsequent memory. The amygdala functions similarly for all humans and has developed out of evolution. It helps to understand the impact of natural human inheritance on human emotions. However, it fails to consider the differences people might show in their emotional experience because of the different environments that they come from. Individual and Situational Explanations fi Individual explanation - it correlates the person’s own amygdala functioning to his or her experience of emotions and subsequent memory. It helps to understand why different memories in a person’s life may be remembered with different intensity. However, it does not consider the fact that few memories can be remembered as strongly as other memories which have a lesser emotional impact. Aim/Why was the study carried out? • To show that emotive images will be remembered than those that have a little emotional impact on an individual. • Whether the amygdala is sensitive to varying degrees of emotional intensity to external stimuli and if the level of intensity enhances memory for the stimuli. Background Brain scanning has been a huge advancement in biological psychology. Living brains can now be studied to draw conclusions about relationships between brain structure and behavior. There are two types of medical scan : • Structural Scan – detailed pictures of the structure of the brain. • Functional Scans – shows activity levels in different areas of the brain. fMRI – Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging fi fl It is a neuroimaging procedure and uses MRI Technology which measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood ow. In an FRMI study, a participant would alternate periods of completing a speci c talk and control or rest state to measure baseline activity. Then FRMI data is analyzed to identify brain areas in which the signal changed between activity and the rest state and it is inferred that areas were activated by the task. The use is to generate images that can illustrate how the brain is working during a different task. Amygdala An almond-shaped set of neurons located deep in the brain’s medial temporal lobe and has been shown to play a key role in the processing of emotion such as pleasure, fear, and anger. Amygdala is responsible for determining where the memories are stored in the brain and which ones are kept. Also, they have a signi cant association with emotion and memory. Hypothesis • Emotional Experiences are known to be better recalled when compared to non-emotional memories and emotional arousal appears to increase the likelihood of memory consolidation during the storage stage of memory. • There can be other explanations for the ndings as it is an independent measure design used for the experiment. Research Method and Design Laboratory Experiment – Environment used for the experiment was not an environment which individuals will experience in their daily life. Independent Variable (IV) – Intensity of emotional arousal to every 96 scenes presented to each participant. Dependent Variable (DV) – Firstly the level of activation in the amygdala measured by the fMRI during the rst stage of the experiment when participants were exposed to 96 scenes. Secondly, it measures the memory of participants after 3 weeks if they could recognize the same images after the initial experiment. Repeated Measure Design - participants contributed to each of the 4 fi fi fi conditions depending on their rating scale. Participants – 10, right-handed female volunteers Why were women chosen for this experiment? It was believed that women are likely to show intense emotional experiences and show more physiological reactions to the stimuli when compared to men. Procedure 1. 96 scenes projected overhead and mirrored to participants during scanning to allow them to see it while in the fMRI scanner. 2. Informed Consent taken as all participants were aware of the nature of the experiment 3. The Medical Technicians were present during the scanning 4. 96 scenes were taken from the International Affective Picture System 5. Average Ratings of Valence 6. Randomly the scenes were presented and each picture shown for 2.88 seconds. Intervals of a xation cross for 12.96 seconds. 7. Participants were instructed to view each picture for the entire time displayed. 8. After the replacement of the xation cross, they had to indicate their emotional arousal by pressing one of the four buttons on the Likert scale from 0 to 4 with their right hand. 9. Measure the Activity in the brain – fMRI data collected by a 1.5 Tesla fMRI scanner – used to measure blood-oxygen level dependent contrast. 10. 3 weeks after the rst stage participants were tested in an unexpected recognition test in a lab. The task was conducted and showed 96 previous scenes and foils – 48 new scenes. 11. These foils needed to match previously scenes valence and arousal characteristics. 12. Participants were asked whether they had seen the scene previously. If they answered Yes, then they had to further report – remember – remember with certainty or know – a less certain feeling of familiarity. 13. Participants saw neutral and negative scenes. Open-Ended Questions fi fi fi Is the amygdala sensitive to the varying degrees of individually experienced emotional intensity? Close-Ended Questions What degree of emotional intensity affects the role of the amygdala in enhancing memory for emotional stimuli? Results • Participants’ experiment of emotional intensity correlated well with the average ratings of emotional valence. • The average correlation coef cient between intensity ratings on the one hand and normative valence, and on the other hand were -0.66 and 0.68. Amygdala activation was signi cantly correlated with higher ratings of experienced emotional intensity. Conclusions • Findings showed an association between individual experiences of emotional intensity for stimuli with Amygdala activation and subsequent memory of these stimuli. • The more emotionally intense an image is the more likely it will be remembered. • Activity in the left amygdala during the encoding can predict subsequent memory. fi fi • Amygdala is sensitive to the individually experienced emotional intensity of visual scenes.
