BIOLOGICAL APPROACH-Hassett et al (monkey toy preferences) Flashcards
Describe the background of the study
- Hassett et al. was interested in the condition Congential Androgen Hyperplasia CAH.
-This condition in girls showed that they had a strong preference for boy toys even when encouraged to go for the girl toys - Hassett concluded that prenatal hormones play a role in toy preferences than just socialisation
- this was tested on monkeys and previous studies showed that male monkeys had a strong preference for masculine toys and likewise for female monkeys with feminine toys
Why were primates chosen for this study
-They are closely related to Humans genetically with some similar behaviours
- Some ethical issues may arise with humans as they deprive certain conditions in their environment
What are 2 ways in which the study by Hassett is different in comparison to the previous study by Alexander and Hines
- Alexander did not show the toys simultaneously however Hassett did
- Alexander used different species
while Hassett used Rhesus monkeys
State the psychology being investigated
- socialisation
- Gender stereotypes/ sex differences
- Play(activity)
- biological predisposition (role of hormones)
what is Socialisation
The process of learning to behave in socially acceptable ways and differs between cultures and gender. Several other factors can play a role
What are Gender stereotype
a bias/ belief that members of one gender shares the same characteristics
What are the 2 aims of the study
- Investigate whether sex differences in toys preferences is a result of biological factors rather than socialisation
- investigate whether female and male rhesus monkeys have similar toy preferences to human infants despite no socialisation experience with human toys.
Describe the observation used
- it was structured
- it was controlled
- non-particiapnt covert observers were used.
- it involved 2 video cameras
what were the 2 variables used in the study
Variable 1- the individuals monkeys ranks within the social hierarchy
Variable 2- the frequency or duration of activities with each type of toy
What type of experiment was this and which experimental design
- Field experiment
- Independent measures design
What was the IV and DV
IV- Either female or Male
DV- toy preferences
How was the DV operationalised
- measuring the mean, frequency and duration of interactions (behaviours on checklist) of wheeled (boy) toys and Plush (girl) toys
Describe the wheeled toys
- Were 6 in total
consisted of; - truck
- wagon
- car
- construction vehicle
- shopping cart
- dump truck
- ranged from 16-46cm
Describe the plush toys
-Were 7 in total
Consisted of;
- Ruggedy Anne
- Winnie-the pooh
- Koala bear
- Scooby doo
- teddy bear
- armadillo
- Hand puppet
- Turtle
- Ranged from 14- 73cm
Describe the features of the sample and technique used
- Opportunity sample
- 82 monkey sample used
- 21 Males
- 61 females
- from the Yerkes Primate Research station USA and lived together for 25 years
- 14 adults were excluded and 39 infants as well
- Lived in natal social groups and in total 135 animals
Describe the living conditions for the monkey
- was a 25m x 25m outdoor compound with attached temperature controlled indoor quarters
How as the study ethically controlled
- water was continuously given
- Given fruits and veggies once a day
- approved by the Emorys institution animal care
- final animal used 11 males and 23 females
- fed monkey chow 2x a day
- Temperature controlled indoor quarters
- lived in a 25m x 25m outdoor living space
How many trials were used and how long were each of them
7 Trials
- each 25 mins
Why can cameras be useful
- can replay the video multiple times
- presence of observers may cause an altering of behaviour
How was counterbalancing used
- The position of the toys LEFT or RIGHT
How were the monkeys introduced to the toys
- the group of monkeys were placed indoors
- one wheeled toy and one plush toy was were placed in the outdoor area which was 10m apart `
What is Time sampling
- Used in structured observation to record a behaviour for a particular period of time e.g in the study 25mins
How was data collected and why was it collected in this way
- by converting the records of each behaviour for each participant into an overall average frequency and duration
- this was done as each monkey could have participated in a different number of activities per trial
How was ranking of the participants investigated
By looking at how dominant, submissive and groomed they are. (those who did the grooming were lower in rank)
Describe 6 behaviours from the behavioural checklist
- Extended touch: place hand or foot on toy
- Hold: stationary support with one or more limb
- Jump away: Approach then back away from toy
- Throw: project toy into the air
- Drag: Moving the toy along the ground behind them
- Manipulate part: turning, moving and twisting.
State 6 ways in which it was controlled
- all were placed in the same enclosure of 25 x 25
- used the same plush and wheeled toys for all monkeys
- fixed time of 25 mins in each trial
- the toys were always 10m apart
- the use of a standardised behavioural checklist
- use of 2 video cameras with one recording the masculine toys and the other recording the feminine toys
What percentage of female and male monkeys preferred plush toys
Males- 9%
Females- 30%
what percentage of female and male monkeys preferred wheeled toys
Males- 73%
Females- 39%
State 4 results found
- Males preferred wheeled toys
- No siginifcant preference between wheeled and plush toys for female
- females interacted more with plush toys than males did
- males interacted longer with wheeled toys than with plush toys
- time spent on both toys showed no significant difference
- Rank is not responsible for sex differences in overall toy preferences
what refers to Magnitude of preference
investigates how much males preferred wheeled toys and how much females preferred plush toys
Describe the different correlations found in the study
- Positive correlation between rank and frequency of interactions for both males and females combined
- No correlation was found for males for ranking when it came to frequency or duration
- females only (positively) correlated with rank and frequency spent on plush toys than wheeled toys
State 4 conclusions made
- Males prefered masculine toys like human males
- Females had variable preferences like human females
- Males preferred masculine toys more than females preferred plush toys
- Hormonal differences can be responsible for differences in their development and not social ones and this gives reason as to why males and females prefer different activities.
NATURE vs NURTURE
Nature: Hormone differences played a role in toy preferences
Nurture: The correlation between ranking and frequency of interaction of both toys for females
State one point for Individual explanation
- The only difference between the participants conditions was their gender as well as how they interacted with the toy differed between every monkey
How applicable is this study in everyday life
> Visuospatial skills in girls can be improved by having toys with moving parts for a social situation such as a wheeled bus with dolls inside.
> Allows toy making companies to design certain toys specific for that gender
> Empathy and language skills can be developed in boys by having toys such as wheeled toys with expressive emotions
Strength and weakness of using animals in the study
+ allowed to investigate the aim in a more practical manner as it is easier to control their environment as well as the fact that no socialisation occurs in animals compared to humans
- Controlled environmentand the toys shown could have acted as an aversive stimuli for the monkeys
Strengths :
+ inter observer reliability
+standardisation
+ counterbalancing reduced practice effects and responder bias
+ High controls as the IV was gender
+ use of 2 cameras
4 Weakness:
-each monkey interacted differently
-researcher bias as they subjectively were coding the different behaviours shown
-Low generalisability as it was larger to females than males
-monkeys are not shown these toys daily and were held captive so may act different towards a new stimuli (lack of ecological validity
How was inter- observer reliability shown and standardised
- Two independant observers coded the behaviours observed and used Handobs, a program designed for entering time-stamped behavioural info, ensuring the coding was standardised and replicable
How was ranking measured
- They investigated it through grooming
- through dominance and submissive
- through age, the older the higher the rank.
only animals that had a minimum number of ______ behaviours would be included in analyses of results
FIVE!!`
Why did one particular trial end 7 minutes early?
This was because a plush toy was torn into ,multiple pieces by a monkey
