Evaluation Of Classic Research Flashcards
What is a strength of the methodology of W+R’s study (standardised procedure)?
Each observation followed set structure, recorded in detail, control condition, increases internal validity. Eg- use of wooden blocks.
What is a weakness of the methodology of W+R’s study (artificial environment/task)?
Study took place in a contrived environment where Albert was introduced to a stimuli in an unnatural way (part took place in a lecture hall - learn phobia in lecture hall????). As the observation was so controlled it may have sped up the process of learning a phobia, in reality it may be slower to learn. Lacks ecological validity.
What is a weakness of the methodology of W+R’s research (sample)?
They only studied 1 child, behaviour may not be representative of how others react/be conditioned, therefore a lack of external/population validity.
What is a strength/weakness of the ethics of W+R’s study (protection from harm)?
They conditioned a baby to feel fear when faced with a rat. May have caused psychological harm in future/outside the study. However, they stated that the harm Albert came to wasn’t any more than what he would experience outside the ‘rough and tumble of the home’.
What is a strength/weakness of the ethics of W+R’s study (confidentiality)?
Albert was known as Albert B to hide his identity however a code or number could have been better at hiding his identity properly.
What is a strength/weakness of the ethics of W+R’s study (right to withdraw)?
Albert showed signs of distress during the study like crawling away, crying and falling over. Even though he is too young to express his right to withdraw, his behaviour suggested that he wanted to leave. However his mother withdrew him from the study when she found out what was happening.
What is a positive social implication of W+R’s study (education)?
Classical conditioning techniques are used to improve learning. Le Francois suggested that by maximising pleasant stimuli in the classroom and minimising unpleasant stimuli, students will create a positive association with their environment. Students would create more positive feelings about their working environment so their academic performance will improve.
What is a positive social implication of W+R’s study (advertising)?
Advertising using music takes advantage of classical conditioning. Music that is happy/repetitive helps consumers feel happy when they hear it. Consumers then associate the feelings of happiness with the product and will be more likely to buy the product. Certain products are associated with different times of day eg, coffee in the morning/alcohol at night.
What is a positive social implication of W+R’s study (MH treatment)?
Research suggests that systematic desensitisation is the most effective therapy for treating phobias and is based on Watson’s principle of classical conditioning. Eg, conditioned response changes after therapy. Phobic response becomes associated with relaxation so the og response is counter-conditioned.
What is a strength/weakness of the methodology of Raine’s study (quasi).
Naturally occurring (NGRI) allows study of something we can’t manipulate. However, we have less control as we don’t have the full history of each p so cannot say that violence is caused by brain activity alone.
What is a strength/weakness of the methodology of Raine’s study (PET scan)?
Allowed brain to be examined - not possible before. We can see differences in brain activity in comparison to controls. However, the use of radioactive tracer makes it difficult to replicate with the same ps as the radioactivity causes damage.
What is a strength/weakness of the methodology of Raine’s study (sample)?
82 ps - not big but good for the type of research. NGRI murderers - not representative of all types of violent crime. Lacks population validity.
What is a weakness of the ethics of Raine’s study (consent)?
Can NGRI murderers give valid consent, if they are not of sound mind?
What is a weakness of the ethics of Raine’s study (protection from harm)?
The prisoners were kept from medication for two weeks, prior to the study, which may have had an effect on the ps, physical or psychological health.
What is a strength of the ethics of Raine’s study (privacy)?
The names of the participants were not revealed in the study.
What is a negative social implication of Raine’s study (responsibility)?
It could remove responsibility of actions - ‘diminished responsibility’ - blame brain for criminal actions.
What is a positive social implication of Raine’s study (preventative technique)?
It could be useful for preventative/diagnostic technique to identify possible violence in the future and treat it.
What’s a negative social implication of Raine’s study (stigma)?
It could lead to stigma or stereotypes of ‘all brain dysfunction leads to violent behaviour’.
What is a weakness of the methodology of Bowlby’s study (retrospective data)?
Mothers in the study were asked for detailed data about the child’s behaviour in the past, but this is a problem as it relies on the mother’s opinion and ability to recall events accurately. They may not be truthful or accurate and give a better description of the child to put themselves in a better light (social desirability). This means the internal validity is questioned as memory is subjective and unreliable.
What is a weakness of the methodology of Bowlby’s study (bias)?
The study was to support maternal deprivation, so Bobby may have interpreted qualitative data subjectively to support his study. so the study lacks validity
What is a strength of the methodology of Bowlby’s study (matched pairs)?
The experimental group and control group were matched by gender age and IQ using match pairs design. This reduces participant variables within the study.
What is a weakness of the ethics of Bowlby’s study (privacy)?
There was a lack of privacy. In research, questions shouldn’t be personal or sensitive. However, in this study interviews could be seen as an invasion of privacy as children and mothers were asked for detailed info about difficult childhood experiences. According to the BPS guidelines, interviews shouldn’t ask private/personal questions.
What is a weakness of the ethics of Bowlby’s study (confidentiality)?
In the study, the boys were named using their first name and their last name initial and the name of the clinic that they attended was named as well. Their personal data was also exposed, making it very easy for people to find the participants. To fix this pseudonym, could have been used to make it more ethical and more difficult for the participants to be found.
What is a strength/weakness of the ethics of Bolwby’s study (valid consent)?
The age range of participants was 5 to 17 years all under age, meaning they may not have been able to give valid, consent or know what the study was about. Therefore, the mothers had to give consent instead.
What is a positive social implication of Bowlby’s study (maternity leave)?
This study creates evidence for longer maternity leave for mothers, which means that they will have financial support. So mothers can stay at home and look after their child.
What is a negative social implication of Bowlby’s study (guilt)?
Mothers may feel guilty if they need to return to work during the critical period.
What is a negative social implication of Bowlby’s study (stereotypes)?
This may reinforce sexist stereotypes of the mother being the caregiver and the father, the worker.
What is a strength/weakness of the methodology of Loftus and Palmer’s research (independent groups design)?
An independent group design was used in the experiment. They split their participants into five groups in experiment, one and three different groups in experiment two and each participant only took part in one condition. This reduces demand characteristics. However, using this means that there is difficulty controlling participant variables as differences in speed estimates could be due to individual differences and not the change in verb.
What is a weakness of the methodology of Loftus and Palmer’s study (sample)?
The sample was only students from America, therefore not generalisable to the rest of the world.
What is a strength of the methodology of Loftus and Palmer research (standardised)?
Participants all watched the same video and asked the same questions and overall the procedure was very standardised which means the participants had consistent experience therefore making it more reliable.
What is a strength/weakness of the ethics of Loftus and Palmer’s research (deception)?
The students weren’t told the aims of the study as this may have affected speed estimates they gave. But from the participants point of view, it’s not serious and wouldn’t have led to refusal to take part.
What is a strength/weakness of the ethics of Loftus and Palmer’s research (consent)?
Students were naive of the aims of the study. They weren’t aware it was a study on memory, and the effect of leading questions or post event information, so they couldn’t give fully informed consent, but we can assume the participants were briefed and debriefed.
What is a strength of the ethics of Loftus and Palmer’s research (protection from harm)?
A real car crash may have been distressing to the participant and therefore caused long-term trauma. So a strength is that the distress was avoided by using film clips of car crashes rather than a real car crash.
What is a positive social implication of Loftus and Palmer’s research (law)?
It has led to new developments in questioning techniques used by the police. They are now more aware of the effect of the questions and wording of questions that they ask.
What is a positive social implication of Loftus and Palmer’s research (EWT)?
Unreliable eyewitness testimony is costly to society and economically. Retrials and compensation mean that governments have to spend a lot of money as a result of unreliable eyewitnesses. If individuals are wrongly convicted, then it means that the real criminal is still at large.
What is a positive social implication of Loftus and Palmer’s research (school)?
The research can prevent leading questions being asked in school.
What is a strength/weakness of the methodology of Myers and Diener’s study (literature review)?
It allows us to see a range of different factors and trends to show a pattern for subjective well-being. however, Myers and Diener may have chosen studies to include that support their theories or research bias.
What is a strength/weakness of Myers and Diener’s research (sample)?
Large sum of people studied across wide range of countries. E.g. Inglehart. Across 16 countries, however samples were mainly from individualistic cultures in the west and there are only a small number of collectivistic cultures studied.
What is a strength/weakness of the methodology of Myers and Diener’s study (self-report)?
It was standardised, so ps asked the same questions on surveys and interviews. however, participants may lie and say that they are happier than they are due to social desirability bias.
What is a strength/weakness of the ethics of Myers and Diener’s study (literature review)?
A literature review means that there are no active participants which is a very ethical way to study, subjective well-being. However, the studies may have encountered ethical problems.
What is a weakness of the ethics of Myers and Diener’s study (harm)?
Asking about religion, race and relationships could create anxiety or stress, which should not occur in research.
What is a strength of the ethics of Myers and Diener’s study (confidentiality)?
Nobody was named throughout the research, and it was just an overview of the studies, which meant that personal data was kept confidential.
What is a positive social implication of Myers and Diener’s study (money)
Learning that happiness does not mean having money means that you can find a job that makes you happy which encourages workflow.
What is a positive social implication of Myers and Diener’s study (relationships)?
Relationships are important for subjective well-being, so we can encourage, social groups and hobbies to avoid isolation.
What is a negative social implication of Myers and Diener’s study (negatively viewed traits)?
Traits may be viewed negatively which may impact relationships.
