10 mark questions psychology Flashcards
Evaluate the study by Dement and Kleitman (sleep and dreams) in terms of two strengths and two weaknesses. At least one of your evaluation points must be about generalisations. (10)
The aim of the study by Dement and Kleitman is to investigate if dream recalls differs between REM and nREM stages of sleep. One strength of the study is that it used machines to collect data such as the EEG machine. Using a machine in psychological research allows for objective data to be collected as it allows for brain activity to be measured. The researchers were able to determine the stage of sleep the participants were in, allowing them to assess whether dream occur in REM or nREM stage of sleep. Machines such as the EEG are standardized, and therefore act as a control in the experiment, which allows for reliability to be tested as it can be replicated by other researchers. Another strength of the study is that it maintained ethical guidelines. Participants had provided consent to take part of the study and had exercises their rights to withdraw as some participants withdrew after two nights. They were debriefed about the true purpose of the study as well, and had their confidentiality maintained as their names were not taken, but rather, their initials in order to collect data about each individual participant. A weakness of the study is that it was a lab experiment and conducted in a highly artificial setting, it lacks ecological validity. Furthermore the task of sleeping in a lab with electrodes attached to one’s scalp is not something experienced in everyday life, therefore it lacks mundane realism as well. Another weakness of the study is that it had low generalisability as the sample size was very small of only 9 participants, which further reduced to 5 after 2 nights. All participants were adults, and therefore, the sample is not representative of children, or a wider group, and so, cannot be applied to a wider population.
