all case studies Flashcards
biological
harlow
phineas gage: aim
- investigate how serious damage to the left frontal lobe impacts behaviour
biological
harlow
phineas gage: procedure
- phineas gage was a railroad worker who suffered a severe accident
- metal rod went through his skull almost fully destroying his left frontal lobe
- harlow observed gage’s behaviour after the accident and interviewed people who knew him both before and after
biological
harlow
phineas gage: findings
- gage’s personality changed dramatically due to the brain damage
- before he was responsible and capable
- after he was highly emotional and unable to control impulses
- incapable of following through with plans
- began to behave inappropriately using vulgar language, acting violent and potentially touching children
biological
harlow
phineas gage: conclusion
- this case study shows us that the frontal lobe plays an important role in personality
- impacts goal setting, self regulation and following social norms
biological
harlow
phineas gage: evaluation
- first evidence on the role of the left frontal lobe on behaviour
- supports the principle of brain localization ie frontal lobe has a particular function
- not possible to replicate this study so not generalizable
- gage’s behaviour was inconsistent and there is unclear information
- don’t know that much information about his personality before the accident so we don’t know how much his personality actually changed
biological
rosenzweig and bennet (1961)
rat neuroplasticity: aim
- investigate neuroplasticity in rats
biological
rosenzweig and bennet (1961)
rat neuroplasticity: procedure
- rats were randomly placed in one of two different environments
- one was enriched environment (EE) where rats played with toys, games and a maze
- other was the deprived environment (DE) where they were alone in a cage with no toys
- rats either spent 30 or 60 days in their enclosures and were then killed to examine the changes in their brains
biological
rosenzweig and bennet (1961)
rat neuroplasticity: results
- rats in the EE had a heavier frontal lobe and thicker cortex in comparison to rats in the DE
- a thicker cortex means more neural connections
- frontal lobe is important in decision making and self control
biological
rosenzweig and bennet (1961)
rat neuroplasticity: conclusion
- being in a more stimulating environment causes new connections to form which changes brain structure
- this study supports the idea of neuroplasticity
biological
rosenzweig and bennet (1961)
rat neuroplasticity: evaluation
- lab experiment so extraneous variables were controlled
- cause and effect relationship as rats were randomly chosen for each group
- questionable if rats apply to humans even though we have genetic similarity
- ethical issues as the rats were killed
biological
maguire
(2000)
taxi neuroplasticity: aim
- investigate whether neuroplasticity occurs in london taxi drivers who need to memorise the area to get their license
biological
maguire
(2000)
taxi neuroplasticity: procedure
- a sample of 16 healthy right handed london taxi drivers
- had their brains scanned using an MRI
- their brains were compared with non taxi drivers with the same characteristics
biological
maguire
(2000)
taxi neuroplasticity: results
- the posterior (rear) of the hippocampus was significantly bigger in taxi drivers
- the anterior (front ) of the hippocampus was larger in the control group
- positive correlation between years of experience being a taxi driver and the size of the posterior hippocampus
biological
maguire
(2000)
taxi neuroplasticity: conclusion
- hippocampus is the region of the brain associated with memory
- posterior hippocampus is related to spatial memory and navigation
- taxi drivers have a mental map which causes the increase
biological
rogers
(2011)
serotonin: aim
- investigate the role that serotonin plays in perceiving emotional intimacy
biological
rogers
(2011)
serotonin: procedure
- participants were 40 healthy male adults
- half the participants received a drink with tryptophan in it which increases levels of serotonin and the other half had a drink without it
- after participants were given photos of couples and asked to rate how “intimate” and “romantic” the couples seemed
biological
rogers
(2011)
serotonin: results
- participants with lower serotonin (did not have tryptophan) rated the couples less intimate and romantic than the other group
biological
rogers
(2011)
serotonin: conclusion
- serotonin plays a role in how humans judge the closeness of people’s relationships
- possible implications of depression as they perceive their relationships as less than they are
biological
rogers
(2011)
serotonin: evaluation
- casual relationship between the levels of serotonin and ratings of relationships
- rating closeness is not something people would do in real life, low ecological validity
- only in one culture (british) findings should be replicated on a bigger scale
biological
albert
(1986)
testosterone: aim
- investigate how testosterone influences aggression in “alpha male” rats
biological
albert
(1986)
testosterone: procedure
- rats were placed in cages and the alpha males were identified by observation
- alpha males randomly assigned to one of 4 conditions
- A castration
- B castration followed by implanting tubes of testosterone
- C castration followed by implanting empty tubes
- D “fake” operation where rats were cut open and sewn up again with no change
biological
albert
(1986)
testosterone: results
- A and C rats whose testosterone levels were diminished displayed less aggression
- B and C rats testosterone levels remained the same so there was no change in behaviour
biological
albert
(1986)
testosterone: conclusion
- testosterone plays an important role in aggression and status seeking
- higher testosterone = higher levels of aggression and dominance
biological
albert
(1986)
testosterone: evaluation
- carefully controlled extraneous variables in a lab, causal relationship between IV (testosterone levels) and DV (aggression and status)
- rats may not be generalizable to humans
- permanent surgery on rats, ethical?
biological
dabbs
(1995)
testosterone crimes: aim
- investigate the relationship between testosterone and criminality
biological
dabbs
(1995)
testosterone crimes: procedure
- testosterone levels were measured by saliva samples from 692 male prisoners
- prisoners criminal records analysed for violent and non violent crimes
biological
dabbs
(1995)
testosterone crimes: results
- prisoners with higher testosterone levels, more likely to commit violent crimes (rape, murder, assault)
- prisoners with lower testosterone levels, non violent crimes (credit card fraud etc)
biological
dabbs
(1995)
testosterone crimes: conclusion
- testosterone is seemingly linked to violent criminal acts
biological
dabbs
(1995)
testosterone crimes: evaluation
- correlational study as no variables were manipulated
- can’t be sure testosterone was the cause of people being more violent
- lots of extraneous variables
- strength is large sample size
- only conducted on males so not generalizable to women
biological
savic et al
(2009)
human pheromones scan: aim
- investigate whether human pheromones exist and how they impact our brains
biological
savic et al
(2009)
human pheromones scan: procedure
- researchers exposed participants (24 men and women) to the smell of two chemicals
- chemicals were almost identically to naturally produced sex hormones, testosterone and estrogen
- as participants smelled the chemicals their brains were scanned with a PET machine
biological
savic et al
(2009)
human pheromones scan: results
- hypothalamus became activated in men when they smelled the female hormone and in women when they smelled the male hormone
- hypothalamus is linked to sexual behaviour and not normally activated by other smells
biological
savic et al
(2009)
human pheromones scan: conclusion
- suggests sex pheromones exist in humans and they influence sexual behaviour
biological
savic et al
(2009)
human pheromones scan: evaluation
- well controlled lab experiment showing a causal relationship between the chemicals (IV) and activity in the hypothalamus (DV)
- small number of participants, needs to be replicated to confirm
- measured changes in brain activity not actual behaviour
- would these people act on the brain activity? unknown
biological
zhou
sex pheromones: aim
- investigate how sex pheromones can alter perception
biological
zhou
sex pheromones: procedure
- involved 4 groups of people
straight men, straight women
gay men, gay women - participants were shown a shape made out of light dots that appeared to be walking
- the gender of the shape was androgynous but participants had to say whether or not they thought the shape was male or female
- during this the scent of either a male or female pheromone was released in the air
- male sweat, female urine
biological
zhou
sex pheromones: results
- participants responded to the pheromones of the gender they were attracted too
- when straight women/gay men smelled the male pheromone, they were more likely to view the figure walking as male
biological
zhou
sex pheromones: evaluation
- well controlled lab experiment, casual relationship between IV and DV
- low ecological validity
- pheromones came from areas that people wouldn’t normally be exposed too
- not sure how it would impact real world behaviour or if it even would have an effect
biological
francis et al
(2003)
genes and environment: aim
- investigate how interaction between genes and the environment impacts how rats nurture their offspring
biological
francis et al
(2003)
genes and environment: procedure
- mothers separated into groups of either high licking or low licking
- licking in rats is a sign of care and affection
- after 12 hours of being born rats with high licking mothers were switched to rats with low licking mothers and vice versa
biological
francis et al
(2003)
genes and environment: findings
- rats raised by high licking mothers were less stressed and grew up to be high licking mothers too even if their biological mother was a low licker
- lost the methyl groups around high licking causing that gene to be turned on
biological
francis et al
(2003)
genes and environment: conclusion
- being in a loving environment impacts genes
- those epigenetic changed genes are passed on to the next generation
biological
francis et al
(2003)
genes and environment: evaluation
- well controlled experiment
- use of animals is less unethical, switching human babies in real life?
- easier to study across generations due to rats and not humans
- done on rats so not sure generalizable to humans
biological
waran and tod
(2005)
dog pheromone: aim
- investigate impacts of DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) on behaviour on dogs in the animal shelter
biological
waran and tod
(2005)
dog pheromone: procedure
- DAP is a synthetic chemical that mimics pheromones released by lactating dogs 3 days after birth
- DAP was released in the air to 37 dogs while 17 dogs had nothing
- a student who didn’t know which group of dogs observed their behaviour over a week
biological
waran and tod
(2005)
dog pheromone: results
- DAP dogs barked less and were more interested in strangers
- sound levels 80 peak db for DAP dogs
- 100 peak db for control dogs
biological
waran and tod
(2005)
dog pheromone: conclusion
- pheromones send chemical signals to dogs that make them less anxious and more relaxed
biological
waran and tod
(2005)
dog pheromone: evaluation
- well controlled lab experiment, clear relationship established
- use of animals was ethica; no dogs were harmed
- could have benefited the animals
- unlikely DAP would impact humans at all
- DAP can be used to calm down anxious dogs
cognitive
bransford and johnson
(1972)
washing machine: aim
- investigate how schemas help us to store new information in our memory
cognitive
bransford and johnson
(1972)
washing machine: procedure
- participants randomly divided into 3 groups
- group 1 told the story is about laundry before they are read the story
- group 2 is told the story after
- group 3 is not told
- then all participants are tested on how well they can recall the paragraph
cognitive
bransford and johnson
(1972)
washing machine: findings
- group 1 that were told the topic before they heard the paragraph had a much better memory than the other groups
cognitive
bransford and johnson
(1972)
washing machine: conclusion
- schemas help participants encode new information by helping them interpret what is happening
- memory isn’t just copying what you hear but interpreting it based on past experiences
cognitive
bransford and johnson
(1972)
washing machine: evaluation
- easy to replicate, high reliability
- experimental design, casual relationship
- wouldn’t happen in real life low ecological validity
cognitive
bartlett
(1932)
cultural schemas: aim
- investigate how cultural schemas influence can memory
cognitive
bartlett
(1932)
cultural schemas: procedure
- british participants asked to read native american folk story “war of ghosts” twice
- asked to use serial reproduction soon after being read it
- then that person had to write it down
cognitive
bartlett
(1932)
cultural schemas: findings
- the length of the story became shorter
- story became more conventional canoe: boat, eel hunting: fishing
- no matter how different the story remained whole
cognitive
bartlett
(1932)
cultural schemas: conclusion
- participants found it hard to remember because it didn’t fit their own cultural schemas
- couldn’t relate to prior experiences
- cultural schemas can lead to memory distortions
cognitive
bartlett
(1932)
cultural schemas: evaluation
- supports the idea that schemas can lead to false memories
- took place a long time ago, modern psychological research was not developed
- procedure was not carefully controlled
- not ecologically valid but some argue it is because we remember information our friends and family tell us
cognitive
murdoch
(1962)
remember list: aim
- investigate how the position of words in a list affects memory
cognitive
murdoch
(1962)
remember list: procedure
- shown a list of words 1 at a time or 1-2 seconds
- as soon as all the words were shown participants had to recall as many words as they could
cognitive
murdoch
(1962)
remember list: results
- remembered more words at the beginning of the list (primacy effect) and the end (recency effect)
- worst recall for the middle of the list
cognitive
murdoch
(1962)
remember list: conclusion
- words at the beginning put into long term memory
- words at the end put into short term memory
cognitive
murdoch
(1962)
remember list: evaluation
- supports the multi store model of memory
- debatable if the beginning of the list is really in long term memory
- low ecological validity
cognitive
loftus and palmer
(1974)
words memory: aim
- investigate how leading questions can influence eyewitness memory
cognitive
loftus and palmer
(1974)
words memory: procedure
- study conducted on american students
- shown a video on a car crash
cognitive
loftus and palmer
(1974)
words memory: findings
- participants estimated the car was going much faster when they question said smashed vs contacted
- more participants said there was broken glass when the question was smashed even when there was none
cognitive
loftus and palmer
(1974)
words memory: conclusion
- leading questions can change the memory of an event
- “smashed” is associated with more severe accidents which suggests higher speeds and broken glass
cognitive
loftus and palmer
(1974)
words memory: evaluation
- well controlled lab experiment
- findings may not apply to other age groups or cultures
- speed estimates have low ecological validity, may not have been motivated to be accurate
cognitive
brown and kulik
(1977)
emotional memory: aim
- investigate whether people have unusually vivid memories of highly emotional events
cognitive
brown and kulik
(1977)
emotional memory: procedure
- 80 americans, half white half african american
- participants asked to recall assassinations of famous people like JFK
- also asked to remember an emotionally intense personally event, death of a family member etc
cognitive
brown and kulik
(1977)
emotional memory: results
- nearly all participants had vivid memories of where they were and what they were doing when they heard JFK was assassinated
- african americans had vivid memories of martin luther king assassination
- 73/80 had vivid memories of an emotionally intense personal event
cognitive
brown and kulik
(1977)
emotional memory: conclusion
- emotionally intense events are remembered in great detail
cognitive
brown and kulik
(1977)
emotional memory: evaluation
- study supports the idea of flashbulb memory showing the connection between emotion and memory
- study could not verify if their memories were accurate
- details of their memories could have changed over time
cognitive
neissar and harsch
(1992)
flashbulb true: aim
- access the accuracy of flashbulb memories
cognitive
neissar and harsch
(1992)
flashbulb true: procedure
- challenger space ship broke killing all members on board
- within 24 house american psychology students filled in a survey with 7 questions asking what they were doing and where they were when it happened
- 2.5 years later participants filled in the questionnaire again
- researchers compared both versions to see if the participants memories would be accurate 2.5 years later
- participants were also asked how confident they were on a scale of 1 -5 on their memory of the event
cognitive
neissar and harsch
(1992)
flashbulb true: results
- most participants there were significant changes between the 2 questionnaires
- out of the 7 questions, only 2.95 were answered identically to the original survey
cognitive
neissar and harsch
(1992)
flashbulb true: conclusion
- flashbulb memories may be detailed and vivid but not accurate
cognitive
neissar and harsch
(1992)
flashbulb true: evaluation
- all american university students so not generalizable
- contained a real life event so ecological validity is high
- although the event was shocking, didn’t contain personal relevance for the students
- death of a parent in their own lives maybe would have been remembered better
cognitive
phelps
(2004)
brain region flashbulb: aim
- investigate which brain regions play a role in flashbulb memory
cognitive
phelps
(2004)
brain region flashbulb: procedure
- 24 participants who were in new york when 9/11 happened recalled their memories of that event while having their brain scanned by an fMRI machine
- participants were also asked to rate how detailed and vivid their memories were of the 9/11 attacks
cognitive
phelps
(2004)
brain region flashbulb: results
- only participants who were very close to the attacks had very vivid and detailed memories of 9/11
- the further away from the attacks the less detailed the memories were
- participants who were closed showed increased activity in the amygdala
- amygdala regards emotions
cognitive
phelps
(2004)
brain region flashbulb: conclusion
- flashbulb memories are likely to occur when witnessing a shocking event firsthand not just seeing it on the news
- the amygdala is involved in flashbulb memories
- strong emotions = vivid detailed memories
cognitive
phelps
(2004)
brain region flashbulb: evaluation
- study supports the theory of flashbulb memory and supports brown and kulik’s hypothesis
- suggests flashbulb memories are only created when the event is personally relevant
- small scale study only involving 24 participants
- did not verify the accuracy of the participants memories of 9/11
cognitive
atler and oppenheimer
(2007)
font system thinking: aim
- investigate how font impacts thinking
cognitive
atler and oppenheimer
(2007)
font system thinking: procedure
- 40 princeton students completed a cognitive test
- test contained 3 questions and measures whether people use fast thinking and get it wrong or slow thinking and get it right
cognitive
atler and oppenheimer
(2007)
font system thinking: findings
- with students using the easy font only 10% answered all three questions correctly
- hard font 65% of participants answered all three correctly
cognitive
atler and oppenheimer
(2007)
font system thinking: conclusion
- difficult to read font = slowing down using system 2 thinking and vice versa
cognitive
atler and oppenheimer
(2007)
font system thinking: evaluation
- strong evidence for dual processing theory, supports Kahneman’s model of fast system 1 and slow system
- study only involved princeton undergrad students, not representative or generalizable
- ecological validity is low
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1974)
cognitive anchors: aim
- investigate how anchors influence thinking and decision making
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1974)
cognitive anchors: procedure
- participants spun a wheel with numbers ranging from 1 to 100
- the wheel was rigged so it would only land on either 10 or 60
- afterwards participants were asked to estimate what percentage of U.N. member countries were african countries
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1974)
cognitive anchors: findings
- participants who spun the number 10 gave a significantly lower estimate for african U.N. membership than those who spun the 60
- mean estimate for the low spinning group was 25% compared to 45% for the other group
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1974)
cognitive anchors: conclusion
- the random number had an anchoring impact on the participants estimates even though it had no relation to the topic
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1974)
cognitive anchors: evaluation
- well controlled experiment
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1973)
availability heuristic: aim
- investigate how the availability heuristic impacts judgement
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1973)
availability heuristic: procedure
- participants were asked if a random word is taken from the english language, is it more likely that the word starts with the letter k or that is the third letter?
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1973)
availability heuristic: results
- over 2/3rds of participants thought it was more likely words would begin with the letter k
- in reality twice as many words that have k as the third letter
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1973)
availability heuristic: conclusion
- results of this study are likely to due the availability heuristic
- they found it easier to find words that have k as the first letter and then assume there are more
cognitive
khaneman and tversky
(1973)
availability heuristic: evaluation
- easy to replicate, reliable
- low ecological validity
- participants were all american college students, not generalizable
cognitive
bechara et al
(2000)
brain damage decision: aim
- investigate the effects of ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPRC) damage on decision making
cognitive
bechara et al
(2000)
brain damage decision: procedure
- 2 groups of participants, 5 with vmPRC damage and 13 healthy controls
- participants played an online gambling game, after clicking a card they were told if they either won or lost money
- decks A and B would give higher and higher losses as the game continued
- testing skin conductive response to measure the participants emotional reaction
cognitive
bechara et al
(2000)
brain damage decision: findings
- normal controls (no brain damage) quickly learned to avoid decks A and B and exhibited a stress response
- participants with brain damage continued to choose the bad edecks and showed no stress reaction
cognitive
bechara et al
(2000)
brain damage decision: conclusion
- study suggests that participants with vmPRC damage do not experience somatic markers
cognitive
bechara et al
(2000)
brain damage decision: evaluation
- study supports the somatic marker hypothesis
- small study so should be replicated with a larger sample
- correlational results no manipulation of variables
cognitive
sparrow et al
(2011)
offloading: aim
- investigate how technology can lead to cognitive offloading of factual information
cognitive
sparrow et al
(2011)
offloading: procedure
- participants were asked to type 40 trivia facts into a computer
- randomly assigned 2 groups
- group 1 told the computer would store everything and the other group 2 were told everything would be erased
- within the 2 groups they were divided again, half were told to remember the facts and the other half were not asked
cognitive
sparrow et al
(2011)
offloading: findings
- participants that were told the computer would erase the information remembered 30% more facts
- told the computer would store remembered 20%
- telling the participants to remember had no impact on memory
cognitive
sparrow et al
(2011)
offloading: conclusion
- when people think information will be stored electronically, they make less effort to remember
- even when told to remember they won’t bother because they can just look it up later
cognitive
sparrow et al
(2011)
offloading: evaluation
- supports the theory of cognitive offloading
- well controlled lab experiment showing a causal relationship
- potential demand characteristics
cognitive
hoffman et al
computer hire: aim
- compare the hiring decisions of human managers with computer algorithms
cognitive
hoffman et al
computer hire: procedure
- 15 businesses who employ low skilled service workers
- computer algorithm to predict the job performance of 300,00 job applicants based on questions about skill and personality
- algorithm sorted them into high, medium and low potential
- hiring managers could still overrule the algorithm
cognitive
hoffman et al
computer hire: results
- algorithm was correct, employees rated green stayed 12 days longer than yellow employees who stayed 17 days longer than red employees
- hiring manager overruled , wrong
cognitive
hoffman et al
computer hire: conclusion
- computer algorithms can make accurate predictions
- human intuition is often wrong
cognitive
hoffman et al
computer hire: evaluation
- high ecological validity
- not generalizable to other types of jobs
- nothing about job performance
sociocultural
cialdini
(1976)
football team group: aim
- investigate the role of social identity in self esteem
sociocultural
cialdini
(1976)
football team group: procedure
- 7 large american universities which had popular football teams
- researchers recorded the clothing worn monday after a big football match against a rival uni
- also asked their opinion on the team performance
sociocultural
cialdini
(1976)
football team group: findings
- students more likely to wear clothing associated with their school if the team won
- “we” of team won
- “they” if team lost
sociocultural
cialdini
(1976)
football team group: conclusion
- social identity is important in self esteem
- people associate themselves with the group when its successful and distance when it fails
sociocultural
cialdini
(1976)
football team group: evaluation
- ecological validity is high
- unsure if generalizable to other cultures and age groups
- not sure if findings apply to other groups such as politics or religion
sociocultural
tajfel
(1971)
group allocation: aim
- investigate how even minimal groups effect behaviour
sociocultural
tajfel
(1971)
group allocation:
- british schoolboys were randomly divided into groups by which painting they prefer or over/under estimating the number of dots on a picture
- after playing competitive games participants had the opportunity to divide money or points to members of each group
sociocultural
tajfel
(1971)
group allocation:
- majority of boys gave more money/points to members of their own group
- wanted to maximize the difference between the groups to their own benefit
- would accept less money for their group if the other group had even less money
- rated their own group members as more likeable
sociocultural
tajfel
(1971)
group allocation:
- supports social identity theory
- even random meaningless groups impact our behaviour
sociocultural
tajfel
(1971)
group allocation:
- teenage boys known to be competitive, not generalizable
- could have had demand characteristics if they felt the aim was to get the most money possible
sociocultural
bandura
(1961)
bobo the clown: aim
- investigate whether aggression can be learned by observing others
sociocultural
bandura
(1961)
bobo the clown: procedure
- performed on 3 groups of uk kindergarteners
- children were first rated on how aggressive they tended to be and matched to be in a group with the same average rating
- group 1 saw adult behaving aggressively to “bobo doll”, hitting kicking and smashing
- group 2 saw adult assembling toys
- group 3 was the control and they saw no model
- after children were taken into a room one at a time with the doll and their behaviour was observed
sociocultural
bandura
(1961)
bobo the clown: findings
- group 1 (seen the aggressive model) more likely to behave aggressively towards the doll imitating the model
- boys were more likely to be more aggressive if the model was a man than a woman
sociocultural
bandura
(1961)
bobo the clown: conclusion
- supports social cognitive theory, behaviour can be learned by observing and imitating others and with identification with the model
sociocultural
bandura
(1961)
bobo the clown: evaluation
- casual relationship between variables
- demand characteristics, hitting the doll because they thought they were supposed too
- low ecological validity, doll = real person ?
- limited generalizability to other age groups
sociocultural
carney and levine
(2015)
16 and pregnant: aim
- impact of the show “16 and pregnant” on teen sexual behaviour and teen pregnancy rate
sociocultural
carney and levine
(2015)
16 and pregnant: procedure
- identified areas where the show was popular
- measured whether those areas had greater decreases in teen pregnancy in comparison to areas where the show was watched less
- analyzed google searches right after a new episode
sociocultural
carney and levine
(2015)
16 and pregnant: findings
- areas where “16 and pregnant” were watched more had a greater decrease in teen pregnancy in comparison with other areas
- spike of search terms like “how to get birth control” after a new episode aired
sociocultural
carney and levine
(2015)
16 and pregnant: conclusion
- “16 and Pregnant” had a positive impact in reducing the rate of teen pregnancy
sociocultural
carney and levine
(2015)
16 and pregnant: evaluation
- supports social cognitive theory, outcome expectancies on behaviour
- seeing negative consequences teens are less likely to have unprotected sex
- high ecological validity
- correlational study so can’t be sure extraneous variables were the cause of reduction in teen pregnancy rates
sociocultural
shih et al
(1999)
stereotypes and performance: aim
- investigate how negative stereotypes can hurt performance (stereotype threat) while positive stereotypes can improve performance (stereotype boost)
sociocultural
shih et al
(1999)
stereotypes and performance: procedure
- 46 asian american women studying in uni randomly assigned to 3 groups
- 1: questionnaire about their identity as women
- 2: questionnaire about their identity as asian
- 3: control group given no questionnaire
- all groups were given a test with difficult math problems
sociocultural
shih et al
(1999)
stereotypes and performance: results
- when reminded of their gender, negative stereotypes about women and maths caused increased anxiety and worse performance, stereotype threat
- when reminded of their race, positive stereotypes about asian people and maths caused increased confidence and better performance, stereotype boost
sociocultural
shih et al
(1999)
stereotypes and performance: conclusion
- gender, worse performance
- race, better performance
- due to existing stereotypes about both those parts of themselves
sociocultural
shih et al
(1999)
stereotypes and performance: evaluation
- use of asian american female participants was useful as researchers could see both boost and threat
- well controlled lab experiment clear casual relationship between stereotype and performance on math test
- small sample size, needs to be replicated
- may not be generalizable to other race, gender and age groups
sociocultural
berry
(1967)
pressure conform: aim
- investigate cultural differences in the pressure to conform
sociocultural
berry
(1967)
pressure conform: aim
- investigate cultural differences in the pressure to conform
sociocultural
berry
(1967)
pressure conform: procedure
- 3 groups of participants from different cultures
- africa, rice farming
- canada, hunting and fishing
- scottish people, reference
- each participant were shown cards with 1 standard line and 3 comparison line
- participants had to match the standard line to one comparison line in length
- after completing the task twice, on the third time, participants were told that “most ___ people think the correct answer is line ___” , correct line
- for the next three cards the experimenter gives a hint but points to the wrong line each time
- seeing if they ignore the advice or follow their group in choosing the obviously incorrect line
sociocultural
berry
(1967)
pressure conform: findings
- african group had highest rate of conformity
- inuit had the lowest rate of conformity
sociocultural
berry
(1967)
pressure conform: conclusion
- african culture is more conformist
- canadian culture is more individualistic
- rice farming in africa needs coordination of many people while hunting fish is an individual activity
sociocultural
chen et al
(2005)
orientation decision: aim
- investigate how long term or short term orientation impacts decision making
sociocultural
chen et al
(2005)
orientation decision: procedure
- bicultural singaporean americans, exposed to both cultures
- randomly assigned to have one culture primed (brought to mind) over another by showing photos of either culture
- afterwards participants were asked to order a book from an online shop with 2 delivery options
- option one free shipping but taking longer, option 2 pay for shipping but faster delivery time
sociocultural
chen et al
(2005)
orientation decision: findings
- american culture more likely to pay extra for fast shipping
- singaporean culture more likely to opt for the free shipping
sociocultural
chen et al
(2005)
orientation decision: conclusion
- singaporean culture has long term orientation so they value patience and saving money for the future
- american culture has short term orientation so they want immediate gratification
sociocultural
chen et al
(2005)
orientation decision: evaluation
- well designed experiment, casual relationship
- bicultural participants absorbed values of both cultures
- only involved singaporean americans don’t know if it is generalizable to other orientations
- could be extraneous variables that explain the results
sociocultural
odden and rochat
(2004)
learning samoa: aim
- study the role of observational learning based on social cognitive theory (SCT) in enculturation in Samoa
sociocultural
odden and rochat
(2004)
learning samoa: procedure
- observational, longitudinal study, 25 months with 28 children
- adults have non interventionist approach to their children, they can learn important skills and values on their own
- children’s behaviour was observed
- completed a multiple choice test on samoan values and society at the end
sociocultural
odden and rochat
(2004)
learning samoa: results
- children were never taught how to fish but through observing at age 12 were capable fishermen despite never being taught
- through the test, most children knew the norms of their culture through observing and imitating
sociocultural
odden and rochat
(2004)
learning samoa: conclusion
- observational learning plays a significant role in enculturation
- children can learn values, norms and behaviours of their culture by observation and imitation
sociocultural
odden and rochat
(2004)
learning samoa: evaluation
- strength is longitudinal and can observe new skills learned
- only one samoan village can’t be sure it applies to other cultures
- researcher bias
sociocultural
lueck and wilson
(2010)
immigrant stress: aim
- factors that can affect acculturation stress in asian immigrants to america
sociocultural
lueck and wilson
(2010)
immigrant stress: procedure
- 2000 asian americans, half born in asia and immigrated to america, other half
children of immigrants - interviewed about their acculturation experiences
- semi structured interview
sociocultural
lueck and wilson
(2010)
immigrant stress: results
- around 70% of participants felt acculturation stress
less acculturation stress
- bilingual participants
- same values as their family member
- satisfied with economic opportunities
more acculturation stress
- discrimination, prejudice, stereotyping
sociocultural
lueck and wilson
(2010)
immigrant stress: conclusion
- acculturation stress is very common with immigrants
- many factors that impact acculturation stress
sociocultural
lueck and wilson
(2010)
immigrant stress: evaluation
- large, diverse sample size
- researcher bias, looking for patterns in the data that confirm their hypothesis
- difficult to translate questions from languages so there can be different interpretations
