Environmental psychology Flashcards
what was the aim of Johansson’s study
to test the psychological and physiological stress response in two types of employees depending on the stress level of their job
what was the sample in Johansson’s study
high-risk group = 14 “finishers” at a Swedish sawmill
control group = 10 cleaners and maintenance workers
what were the two dependent variables in Johansson’s study
levels of stress related to chemicals in their urine
self-reports of mood
what experimental design did Johansson use?
Independent measures design
What type of experiment did Johansson conduct?
quasi-experiment
How did Johansson measure the DV
workers gave a daily urine sample which was tested for levels of adrenaline
ps completed self-reports measuring their moods using rating scales
What were the results from Johansson’s study
the experimental group’s adrenaline levels were twice as high as their baseline at the start of their day and continued to rise throughout
control groups urine sample showed their adrenaline levels were higher than their baseline at the start of the day but decreased throughout the day
high-risk group showed significantly higher levels of stress-related illness and rated their wellbeing lower
What can be concluded from Johansson’s study?
work can be a cause of stress as even the control group showed higher levels of stress
What were the strengths of Johansson’s study?
standardised procedure
ethical
quantitative and qualitative data
What were the weaknesses of Johansson’s study?
socially sensitive
small sample
ethnocentric
What was the aim of Black and Black’s study?
to investigate whether aircraft noise had an impact on the health of a community of people living in the areas surrounding Sydney airport
What was the sample in Black and Black’s study?
approximately 750 ps as 1500 were initially asked to participate but only half sent back answers to questionnaires
What sampling technique did Black and Black and Johansson use?
opportunity sampling
What type of experiment did Black and Black use?
quasi-experiment as they didn’t control whether the ps lived in the areas surrounding the airport
How did Black and Black ensure reliability?
They conducted a pilot study using 100 ps
How did Black and Black ensure validity?
ps were told that the research was to look at environmental noise, not aircraft noise in order to reduce demand characteristics
control areas were selected from locations not exposed to aircraft noise and matched in socio-economic status to the exposed areas
to rule out extraneous variables ps were asked questions about their employment status, smoking, alcohol intake etc,.
How did Black and Black collect their data?
Ps completed questionnaires to measure physical functioning, mental health and general health
To measure ps annoyance they had to identify noise sources at home and rate their annoyance on a 10 point scale
What were the results from Black and Black’s study?
Participants in the noise-exposure group had significantly higher levels of reported noise stress and aircraft noise annoyance compared with the controls
The experimental group had lower scores on the mental health measures and had more problems with blood pressure
What can be concluded from Black and Black’s study
Black and Black suggest that there are biological solutions in terms of prescribing drugs to help reduce high blood pressure
What are the strengths of Black and Black’s study?
high controlled standardised procedures
demand characteristics were eliminated
ethical as ps identities were kept confidential
natural experiment makes it more ethical
What are the weaknesses of Black and Black’s study?
may be less ethical as ps were deceived of the true aims
all ps were from the same country so ethnocentric
self-reports can be subjective
socially sensitive
What was the aim of Czeisler’s study?
investigate the effects of taking the properties of the human circadian system into account in the design of work schedules, specifically in relation to the direction in which the shifts are rotated and the interval between changes in the shifts the people work
What was the sample in Czeislers study?
153 male employees from a potash harvesting plant in Utah
What type of experiment did Czeisler use?
Field experiment
