Bennett-Levy Flashcards
What were the 3 things Bennett-Levy aimed to do?
- Why people fear certain things
- Whether these fears are innate
- Whether its the movement and looks which makes us fear them
How can Bennett-Levy’s study be placed in a social and historical context?
Since Darwin interest in evolutionary psychology and the nature Vs nurture debate. How much fear is due to nature rather than learning has been an important question. Survival of society depends on avoiding harmful things. People who aren’t fearful didn’t survive to pass their genes on. Some fears are adaptive. Bennett-Levy wanted to find out if why we feared snakes was due to their looks and how they felt.
How can Bennett-Levy’s study be placed in an academic context?
Seligman - looked at how many shocks it took for people to have a fear of spiders and snakes. 2-4 shocks for spider, but much larger shocks for a flower phobia. People innately prepared to fear harmful things
What was Bennett-Levy’s research method?
Questionnaire
What type of sampling method did Bennett-Levy use?
Opportunist
How many pps were there altogether?
113
How many pps were there in group 1?
64
- 30 males
- 34 females
How many pps were there in group 2?
49
- 24 males
- 25 females
What was the mean age of the pps?
35
What did group 1’s questionnaire designed to do?
Measure fear and avoidance
- fear on a 3 point scale
- avoidance on a 5 point scale
How many animals were used in the questionnaires?
29
What were the pps told about the animals?
They are harmless
What were the 4 questions in the questionnaire group 2 had to answer?
How ugly they are
How slimy are they
How speedy are they
How suddenly do they move
What was the scale group 2 had to use?
3 point scale
Why did they talk to the pps?
So they knew what they meant by ugly
How did Bennett-Levy address some ethical issues?
He rejected using people with a fear
What did Bennett-Levy find between the fear and the characteristics?
Positive correlation
What was the most feared, ugly and speedy animal?
Rat
What 2 animals were the least feared?
Rabbit
Tortoise
What was the mean fear score for the rat and cat?
2.1 & 1.0
What was the mean score for avoidance for the rat and cat?
3.9 & 1.1
What was the mean score for ugliness for the rat and cat?
2.2 & 1.0
What was the mean score for sliminess for the rat and cat?
1.1 & 1.0
What was the mean score for speediness for the rat and cat?
2.4 & 2.2
Were there any sex differences in question 1?
Yes - females less willing to pick up 10 animals & were more fearful than males, in question 1
Were there any sex differences in question 2?
No
What did pps describe ugly as?
Hairy
Dirty
Lots of legs
What did one pp say?
Spiders are very fast and I couldn’t stand one of them running up my legs
What did Bennett-Levy conclude about the most feared animals?
They’re likely to be avoided and are the most ugly, slimy and speedy
What did Bennett-Levy conclude about humans?
We are prepared to fear certain animals through evolution
What did Bennett-Levy say needs to be treated?
A phobics’s perception
Was reliability a strength for Bennett-Levy?
Yes - used scientific methods, so would be possible to repeat i.e. same rating scales
Was validity a strength for Bennett-Levy?
No - used an independent measures design. Differences between group 1 and 2 could’ve meant comparisons couldn’t have been made
Was sampling a strength for Bennett-Levy?
Yes - 113 pps is large sample, used males and females. However all pps were from 1 town and visited same health centre - biased
What data was collected from Bennett-Levy’s study?
Both - quantitative-enables comparisons & qualitative-gives depth and detail
Why was ethics a problem for Bennett-Levy?
Avoided using phobic people, but how did he know whether any of the pps had a ‘hidden’ fear? he failed to protect pps from harm if they did have a ‘hidden’ fear
Whose evidence supports Bennett-Levy and how?
Seligman - 2-4 small shocks needed for a spider phobia, but lots for a flower phobia. This supports because both suggest we are innately prepared, however could Seligman’s be stronger because he used an experiment under controlled conditions, but B-L used a questionnaire
Whose evidence challenges Bennett-Levy and how?
Watson - Little Albert’s fear of white rats was learnt by association - after pairing a loud sound (UCS) with a white rat (CS) produced the fear (CR). This challenges B-L because little Alber wasn’t scared of the rat before the conditioning began suggesting no genetically preparedness, however could B-L be stronger as he used more pps.
Whose evidence challenges Watson, but supports Bennett-Levy?
Ohman - found conditioned fear (houses) disappeared when shocks no longer applied, however fear response still persisted when the stimuli were snakes. This supports because both suggest innately prepared.
