Classic Research Mark Scheme Flashcards
Bowlby Methodology
Methodology:
* Use of case studies.
* Use of interviews.
* Use of a control group.
* Sample of 44 ‘thieves’ who attended the London Child Guidance Clinic. 31 boys and 13
girls aged between 5 and 17 years old. Grading of ‘thieves’ (I to IV). IQ score range (50%
85-114, 15 with a higher IQ and 2 of an IQ below 85).
* Sample of 44 children who attended the clinic and were ‘emotionally disturbed’ but were
not thieves.
* Sample of mothers who were interviewed to assess the case history of the children.
Bowlby Procedures
Procedures:
* Opportunity sampling.
* Mental tests to assess intelligence using the Binet Scale.
* Social worker interviewed the mothers.
* Both the psychologist and social worker reported to Bowlby.
* Psychiatrist interviewed the mother and child for 2 hours.
* School reports and other reports were analysed.
* Children met with the psychiatrist once a week for the following 6 months.
* Emotional issues were diagnosed by the psychiatrist.
* Use of the Binet Scale to test intelligence.
* Psychologist notes on the emotional attitude of the child.
* Meeting between Bowlby, the social worker and the psychologist.
* Further therapy after the initial study.
* Use of a control group
Watson and Rayner’s Ethical Issues
Ethical issues:
* Use of a vulnerable participant (a
baby).
* Consent from the mother of Little
Albert.
* Consent was not necessarily informed.
* Right to withdraw was given (the
mother removed Little Albert from the
research).
* No counterconditioning took place (not
necessarily the researchers’ fault
because the mother removed Little
Albert before counter conditioning
could take place).
Watson and Rayner’s Social Implications
Social implications:
* Links to education e.g. conditioned learning
techniques, classroom environment of
pleasant associations.
* Links to families e.g. conditioning to shape
the behaviour of children.
* Links to work e.g. application to advertising,
stress response through association.
* Links to health e.g. cures for phobias,
medical waiting rooms to have pleasant
environments for positive associations.
* Links to the law e.g. prevent smacking of
children, use of aversion therapy for illegal
behaviours
Evaluate Raine
- Methodological issues; use of a quasi-experiment, matched pairs design,
scanning techniques. - Sampling issues; use of NGRI sample, use of a control group, ethnocentrism, use
of male and female participants. - Consideration of the ‘blame on biological influences’.
- Application of findings to the real world.
- Issues and debates; reductionism, biological determinism, individual differences.
- Ethics of the findings e.g. socially sensitive nature, use in court, right to withdraw
Raine Findings
Findings:
BRAIN DIFFERENCES
* Significant lower glucose metabolism in cortical regions between murderers
and controls in lateral and medial prefrontal cortex in both hemispheres.
* Same for parietal glucose metabolism especially in angular gyrus.
* Identical to controls in temporal lobe glucose metabolism.
* Significantly higher on occipital lobe glucose metabolism.
* Abnormal asymmetries of activity in murderers (left hemisphere lower than
right) in amygdala, thalamus, and medial temporal lobe including the
hippocampus.
* Bilaterally lower glucose metabolism in the corpus callosum than controls.
* As predicted no significant differences for the amount of midbrain and
cerebellum activities between murders and controls (areas linked to mental
disorders).
PERFORMANCE ON CPT
* No difference in any aspect of behavioural performance on the continuous
performance task (CPT).
OTHER DIFFERENCES
* Handedness, ethnicity and head injury – these not controlled for but ethnicity
and head injury did not show any significant differences although left
handedness 6/41 had less amygdala asymmetry and higher medial prefrontal
activity than right-handed murderers.
Raine Conclusions
Conclusions:
* Findings cannot be taken to demonstrate that violence is determined by
biology alone; clearly, social, psychological, cultural, and situational factors
also play important roles in predisposing to violence.
* Data does not demonstrate that murderers pleading NGRI are not responsible
for their actions, nor do they demonstrate that PET can be used as a
diagnostic technique.
* Findings do not establish causal link between brain dysfunction and violence.
* Findings cannot be generalised at the present date from NGRI murder cases
to other types of violent offenders.
* What these findings do document is that as a group, murderers pleading NGRI
have statistically significant differences in glucose metabolism in certain brain
regions compared to control subjects. They also suggest that reduced activity
in the prefrontal, parietal, and callosal regions of the brain, together with
abnormal asymmetries of activity in the amygdala, thalamus, and
hippocampus, may be one of many predispositions toward violence in this
specific group.
* Future independent replication, refinement, and extension are greatly needed.
* Any other relevant finding or conclusion from original journal article.
Myers and Diner Ethical Issues
Ethical issues:
* Psychological harm.
* Informed consent.
* Use of socially sensitive data.
* Confidentiality.
* Right to withdraw information.
Myers and Diener Social
Social implications:
* Penn Resilience Programme e.g.
uplifted students, well-being days,
could be badly taught.
* Importance of family life e.g. work/life
balance.
* Improved health.
* Leading to other positive activities
e.g. charity work.
* Role of law e.g. employment law,
minimum wage.
Myers and Dieiner Findings
Findings:
* Happiness and age; no real difference. A survey of roughly 170,000 people from
16 different countries (Ingelhart, 1990) revealed that no time of life is notably
happier or unhappier than others, but predictors change with age.
* Happiness and gender; generally, no difference. Women are twice as vulnerable
as men to depression and anxiety. Men are five times as vulnerable to women
to alcoholism and anti-social personality disorder (Robins & Reiger, 1991).
* Happiness and race; no real difference. People of different nationalities score
similarly on tests of self-esteem (Crocker & Major, 1989).
* Happiness and culture; large differences found e.g. in Portugal, about 10% of
people say they are very happy whilst in the Netherlands, about 40% of people
say the same.
* Money and happiness; moderate positive correlations. Many adults believe that
increased income would make them happier (Strumpel, 1976).
* The traits of happy people; the best indicators of a happy person are; selfesteem, a sense of personal control, optimism, and extraversion.
* The relationships of happy people; those with more friends are happier and have
higher positive emotion. People who can name several intimate friends are
healthier, less likely to die prematurely, and happier than people who have few or
no friends.
* The “flow” of happy people; People with greater work satisfaction also have
better life satisfaction. For many people, work provides personal identity. Work
also adds to a sense of community.
* The faith of happy people; religious people report higher levels of happiness.
Myers and Diener Conclusions
Conclusions:
* A viable theory of happiness must recognise the importance of adaption. Over
time, the immediate emotional response to significant events inevitably fades.
* One’s cultural template influences how life events are interpreted, which can
have a significant effect on SWB.
* Having non-conflicting goals and making progress towards them are all
predictors of SWB.
* Knowing a person’s age, race, sex and income does not inform us about how
happy a person is. Better clues come from knowing a person’s traits, whether the
person has a strong network of supportive relationships, whether the person’s
culture offers positive interpretations of daily events, whether the person is
engaged in work and leisure, and whether the person has a faith that entails
social support, purpose and hope.
* This new research on psychological well-being is a welcome complement to the
long-standing studies of depression and anxiety, and of physical and material
well-being.
* By asking who is happy, and why, we can help people rethink their priorities and
better understand how to build a world that enhances human well-being.
* Both findings and conclusions must be included to access marks in the top
bands.
Bowlby Ethical issues
Psychological harm from results of
the IQ test.
* Informed consent from the
mothers.
* Use of socially sensitive data e.g.
school reports.
* Confidentiality of interview
material.
* Right to withdraw information
gathered by psychologists.
Bowlby Social
Families e.g. adoption, foster care, gender
roles.
* Work e.g. parental leave, flexible working,
and effects on economy.
* Health; parental rooms in hospitals,
premature babies, hospital visiting hours for
children.
* Law e.g. use findings with young offenders,
less crime costs and welfare support.
* Education e.g. nursery education, support
for those with attachment issues.
Loftus Evaluate
Use of the experimental method e.g. cause and effect, standardised procedures,
artificial environment, demand characteristics.
* Reliability and validity issues e.g. ecological validity, consistent use of video clips and
verbs.
* Sample used e.g. student sample, American participants.
* Use of the findings in society e.g. the Innocence Project, use of the Cognitive
Interview.
* Ethics of the research e.g. risk of harm due to the nature of the video clips, informed
consent.
* The points above can be strengths or weaknesses.
Raine methodology
Methodology
* A quasi-experiment.
* Matched pairs design.
* IV = Not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) – Not manipulated by the experimenter
* DV = Activity of brain regions
* Experimental group: 41 participants; 39 men and 2 women; mean age 34.3; all
charged with either murder or manslaughter; all had been referred to the University
of California to obtain evidence using PET scanning for a NGRI defence or they
had been found guilty and were referred to obtain information that may reduce their
sentence. Reasons for referral included history of head injury or brain damage.
* Control group: 41 participants; 39 men and 2 women; mean age 31.7; formed by
matching each murderer with a normal subject of the same sex and age who was
tested using identical PET imaging procedures in the same laboratory; 6
schizophrenics were matched from the University of California from a large
psychiatric sample; participants were screened for health with a physical exam, a
psychiatric interview and their medical history was checked
