BIOLOGICAL APPROACH-Hassett et al (monkey toy preferences)

Question 1

Describe the background of the study

Answer 1

• 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

Question 2

Why were primates chosen for this study

Answer 2

-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

Question 3

What are 2 ways in which the study by Hassett is different in comparison to the previous study by Alexander and Hines

Answer 3

• Alexander did not show the toys simultaneously however Hassett did
• Alexander used different species
  while Hassett used Rhesus monkeys

Question 4

State the psychology being investigated

Answer 4

• socialisation
• Gender stereotypes/ sex differences
• Play(activity)
• biological predisposition (role of hormones)

Question 5

what is Socialisation

Answer 5

The process of learning to behave in socially acceptable ways and differs between cultures and gender. Several other factors can play a role

Question 6

What are Gender stereotype

Answer 6

a bias/ belief that members of one gender shares the same characteristics

Question 7

What are the 2 aims of the study

Answer 7

• 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.

Question 8

Describe the observation used

Answer 8

• it was structured
• it was controlled
• non-particiapnt covert observers were used.
• it involved 2 video cameras

Question 9

what were the 2 variables used in the study

Answer 9

Variable 1- the individuals monkeys ranks within the social hierarchy
Variable 2- the frequency or duration of activities with each type of toy

Question 10

What type of experiment was this and which experimental design

Answer 10

• Field experiment
• Independent measures design

Question 11

What was the IV and DV

Answer 11

IV- Either female or Male
DV- toy preferences

Question 12

How was the DV operationalised

Answer 12

• measuring the mean, frequency and duration of interactions (behaviours on checklist) of wheeled (boy) toys and Plush (girl) toys

Question 13

Describe the wheeled toys

Answer 13

• Were 6 in total
  consisted of;
• truck
• wagon
• car
• construction vehicle
• shopping cart
• dump truck
• ranged from 16-46cm

Question 14

Describe the plush toys

Answer 14

-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

Question 15

Describe the features of the sample and technique used

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

Describe the living conditions for the monkey

Answer 16

• was a 25m x 25m outdoor compound with attached temperature controlled indoor quarters

Question 17

How as the study ethically controlled

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

How many trials were used and how long were each of them

Answer 18

7 Trials
- each 25 mins

Question 19

Why can cameras be useful

Answer 19

• can replay the video multiple times
• presence of observers may cause an altering of behaviour

Question 20

How was counterbalancing used

Answer 20

• The position of the toys LEFT or RIGHT

Question 21

How were the monkeys introduced to the toys

Answer 21

• 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 `

Question 22

What is Time sampling

Answer 22

• Used in structured observation to record a behaviour for a particular period of time e.g in the study 25mins

Question 23

How was data collected and why was it collected in this way

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

How was ranking of the participants investigated

Answer 24

By looking at how dominant, submissive and groomed they are. (those who did the grooming were lower in rank)

Question 25

Describe 6 behaviours from the behavioural checklist

Answer 25

- 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.

Question 26

State 6 ways in which it was controlled

Answer 26

- 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

Question 27

What percentage of female and male monkeys preferred plush toys

Answer 27

Males- 9% Females- 30%

Question 28

what percentage of female and male monkeys preferred wheeled toys

Answer 28

Males- 73% Females- 39%

Question 29

State 4 results found

Answer 29

- 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

Question 30

what refers to Magnitude of preference

Answer 30

investigates how much males preferred wheeled toys and how much females preferred plush toys

Question 31

Describe the different correlations found in the study

Answer 31

- 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

Question 32

State 4 conclusions made

Answer 32

- 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.

Question 33

NATURE vs NURTURE

Answer 33

Nature: Hormone differences played a role in toy preferences Nurture: The correlation between ranking and frequency of interaction of both toys for females

Question 34

State one point for Individual explanation

Answer 34

- The only difference between the participants conditions was their gender as well as how they interacted with the toy differed between every monkey

Question 35

How applicable is this study in everyday life

Answer 35

> 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

Question 36

Strength and weakness of using animals in the study

Answer 36

+ 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

Question 37

Strengths :

Answer 37

+ inter observer reliability +standardisation + counterbalancing reduced practice effects and responder bias + High controls as the IV was gender + use of 2 cameras

Question 38

4 Weakness:

Answer 38

-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

Question 39

How was inter- observer reliability shown and standardised

Answer 39

- 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

Question 40

How was ranking measured

Answer 40

- They investigated it through grooming - through dominance and submissive - through age, the older the higher the rank.

Question 41

only animals that had a minimum number of ______ behaviours would be included in analyses of results

Answer 41

FIVE!!`

Question 42

Why did one particular trial end 7 minutes early?

Answer 42

This was because a plush toy was torn into ,multiple pieces by a monkey