Classic Studies Evaluation Flashcards
Evaluate the social classic study in terms of generalisability.
The participants were all 11-years old, White, middle class and American. The findings cannot be used to represent other age groups, genders, backgrounds or cultures. This limits the generalisability of findings as they only apply to a small proportion of the sample. Also, was done in 1954 when society had very different views so it is not easy to generalise findings to todays society.
Evaluate the social classic study in terms of reliability.
The design of the study was a field study which means that it lacks control over variables. This means that we can’t achieve a standardised procedure despite standardised elements.
Evaluate the social classic study in terms of opposing research.
Tyerman and Spencer followed a very similar procedure using English boy scouts who did know each other. Competition between them remained friendly throughout and friendship ties across the groups was not affected.
Evaluate the social classic study in terms of applications.
The study demonstrates the potential origins of prejudice and how it can be reduced in a school. Aronson’s jigsaw technique says that if a large task can be broken down in to smaller parts, divided out to each person, prejudice will be reduced.
Evaluate the social classic study in terms of validity.
High in ecological validity as for the boys, this was a natural environment. The tasks were also typical of a sports camp.
Evaluate the social classic study in terms of ethics.
Sherif used deception to keep the true aim of the study from the boys. Also, the aim of the study was to cause hostility which could have led to psychological harm.
Evaluate the biolgical classic study in term of generalisability.
Generalisability is low. The criminals pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, the same findings may not be true of violent offenders who pleaded not guilty or guilty. This shows how we can only apply findings to a very specific group. However the sample size of 41 in each group is large for this type of experiment involving PET scans. This may improve the representativeness of findings.
Evaluate the biolgical classic study in term of reliability.
The study was carried out in a lab which is a very controlled environment which allows for control over extraneous variables. This means it can be repeated by a different researcherto obtain similar results.
Also, a carefully documented and standardised procedure was used. For example, the CPT was done for exactly 32 minutes by every single participant. This makes it easier to be replicated by another researcher.
Evaluate the biolgical classic study in term of validity.
Validity can be questioned as brain scans took place after the violent acts had taken place. Therefore we can’t say for certain that the brain differences were there before and not as a result of the crime. Reduced brain activity may act as a predisposition to violence. This could have implications of prescanning individuals and judging them before any behaviour has even been shown
Evaluate the biolgical classic study in term of ethics.
Informed consent was obtained however as they argued their case as not guilty by reason of insanity, it could be argued that they may not have been in a fit state to give informed consent. This could also have affected their understanding of having the right to withdraw.
Evaluate Watson and Rayner in terms of generalisability.
Low in generalisability. Little Albert was an 11 year old infant who had not tey learnt any fear responses. Also, it was only a single case lab study. Therefore, the results might not be generalisable to other aged children or adults who have existing fears. However, previous research has only been done on dogs so this is now research on humans.
Evaluate Watson and Rayner in terms of reliability.
Not very reliable as it was a single case lab exeriment which means that it is hard to compare results to test for reliabilty. However, there was a standardised procedure and so strict controls over extraneous variables by limiting any distractions. An example of the standardised procedure is that he had 7 classical conditioning pairings every five days.
Evaluate Watson and Rayner in terms of applications.
Can be used as a way to help people with phobias as a treatment, systematic desensitisation. By understanding that fear can be learnt by association we can help people to extinguish the behaviour and change the lives of many people by allowing them to do things that they previously couldn’t.
Evaluate Watson and Rayner in terms of validity.
Low in ecological validity. The experiment took place in a laboratory which is not an everyday environment for a baby.
However, the child was the son of one of the nurses at the hospital and so spent a lot of time in the hospital in the nursery there. This increases the validity.
Evaluate Watson and Rayner in terms of ethics.
The researchers gained informed consent as the mom was fully informed and gave consent for Little Albert to take part. The mom was made aware of her right to withsraw and used this right to remove Little Albert from the study prior to completion. The fact that Little Albert was removed from the study poses the question that the mother didn’t fully understand what the study would involve.
