Developmental contemporary - Lee

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

To see if Chinese and Canadian children would differ in how they rated truth telling in both pro and anti social settings

Question 2

type of study

Answer 2

cross sectional (an alternative to longitudinal studies - collects sample of children of different ages to see what different ages are capable of)

Question 3

IVs (4)

Answer 3

nationality - Chinese/Canadian
age - 7/9/11
prosocial/antisocial
physical/social

Question 4

Canadian sample

Answer 4

36 aged 7
40 aged 9
32 aged 11
overall 108

Question 5

Chinese sample

Answer 5

40 aged 7
40 aged 9
40 aged 11
overall 120

Question 6

procedure

Answer 6

.randomly allocated to physical or social story condition
.when children answered questions they used rating scale with words or symbols
.each child listened to all 4 social or physical stories
.counterbalancing was used

Question 7

story 1 results

prosocial/tell truth

Answer 7

no significant difference between cultures
Chinese rated truth less positively as got older
Canadians similar at all ages

Question 8

story 2 results

prosocial/ tell lie

Answer 8

all rated different
Canadians rated negatively, but less so as got older
Chinese rated negatively at 9y/o but positively at 11y/o

Question 9

story 3

anti social/tell truth

Answer 9

no significant difference

all rated positively

Question 10

story 4

antisocial/tell lie)

Answer 10

negative ratings increase with age - both cultures

Question 11

qualitative results

Answer 11

When asked why they rated lie telling as positive in prosocial situations, many said truth tellers were ‘begging for’ or ‘wanting’ praise.
Common Chinese phrase - “one should not leave ones name after doing a good deed” (54% used this)

Question 12

conclusions

Answer 12

.differences in moral development between cultures is not just down to cognitive development (i.e childrens’ views of right/wrong change as get older) but also due to social/cultural norms

Question 13

ethics kept

Answer 13

withdrawal
informed consent
confidentiality
deception
protection from harm

Question 14

ethics broken

Answer 14

debriefing

Question 15

internal reliability

Answer 15

yes - controlled experiment - same stories/instructions/rating scale

Question 16

external reliablility

Answer 16

yes - large sample (120 Chinese, 108 Canadians)

Question 17

internal validity

Answer 17

yes - children didn’t know aims
no - risk of demand characteristics as children came into contact with researchers
yes - children too young to understand demand characteristics
no - may be measuring use of rating scales

Question 18

ecological validity

Answer 18

no - out of ordinary task

yes - true to life stories

Question 19

ethnocentric?

Answer 19

yes - can Canada represent whole of Western culture?

no - cross cultural research