Perry et al (personal space)

Question 1

what is the psychology being investigated in perry et al

Answer 1

1) interpersonal distance/personal space

this is the relative distance between two people in social setups. It is the area of space around a person in which they prefer others not to enter

2)Empathy
this is the ability to imagine another person’s thoughts , feelings and intentions and respond appropriately

3) Social hormones
Oxytocin is a social hormone that interacts with empathy to create a differential effect on personal space

Question 2

What is the background perry

Answer 2

Interpersonal Distance in Social Interactions – Prior studies highlighted that interpersonal distance plays a crucial role in shaping the dynamics of social interactions. This distance serves as an important cue signalling comfort and responsiveness in social settings

Hall introduced the idea of interpersonal distance and propesed four zones of space
intimate
personal
social
public

Question 3

what is the aim in the study by Perry

Answer 3

To test the differential effect of Oxytocin on high empathisers compared to low empathisers

Question 4

What is the sample in the study by perry

Answer 4

-54 male undergraduates from the university of Haifa
-Aged between 19-32 years
-Mean age of 25.29 years
-They were given incentive in the form of course credit/payment
-5 ss were left handed
-They all had normal vision and no history of psychiatric or neurological disorder

Question 5

what is the experimental method in the study by perry

Answer 5

Lab experiment because it is happening in an artificial setting with strict controls over extraneous variables

Question 6

what is the experimental design in the study by perry

Answer 6

Both independent and repeated measures

Question 7

what is the iv in the study by perry

Answer 7

-OT
-Empathy
-Cognition

Question 8

what is the dv in the study by perry

Answer 8

-Personal space

Question 9

What are the controls and standardization the study by perry

Answer 9

Double blind technique ,
both the ss and the experimenter did not know whether the subject got OT or a placebo -saline solution.This helped to minimise demand characteristics from the ss and experimenter bias

Counterbalancing,
the order of the experiments were counterbalanced , the ss were divided into two halves

In the choosing rooms experiment 2 the images of the room were shown for a standard 2 seconds to all the ss

-All the images were computer generates for maximum accuracy and consistency

-

Question 10

How was counterbalancing done in the study by Perry

Answer 10

The ss were split into two halves
Half 1 took OT on the first week followed by a placebo (saline solution) on the second

Half 2 took a placebo (saline solution) on the first week followed by OT on the second

Question 11

What is the OT administration procedure in the study by perry

Answer 11

In week 1 ss were randomly administered either
1)250ml of Intranasal OT 3 drops , each self administered by a medicine dropper

2) An equivalent saline solution taken from a salt solution that was used to dissolve OT but without the OT

Question 12

What is the assessment of empathy procedure in the study by Perry

Answer 12

Right after the OT administration participants completed an online Interpersonal Reactivity Index IRI
After completing the questionnaires ss were given nature magazines and were put in a quiet waiting room for 45 min to allow the OT to be absorbed into the central nervous system and to minimise interactions

Question 13

how were participants allocated to low/high empathy groups

Answer 13

Based on the results of the IRI
High empathy group had 20 participants with an IRI score of over 40
Low empathy - 20 participants with an IRI score of under 33

Question 14

What is the experiment 1 (comfortable interpersonal distance paradigm experiment) procedure in the study by Perry

Answer 14

-Here a circle was presented on a computer screen
-Participants were instructed to imagine themselves in the centre of the circle with another person (protagonist) approaching them along a radius
-The task was for the participant to indicate by pressing the keyboard spacebar at the point along the radius where they would like the person to stop

The computerised animators provided options for 4 protagonists approaching the person at the centre of the circle;
-A rolling ball
-A close friend
-Authority figure e.g teacher
-Stranger

The animation stopped when the protagonist collided with the person at the centre or when the ss pressed the spacebar to stop the protagonist.

Question 15

How was personal space measured/calculated in the study by Perry

Answer 15

Personal space was measured by calculating the percentage of the remaining distance from the total distance
rd-td

Question 16

How many trials were there for experiment one (Comfortable interpersonal distance)

Answer 16

There were 24 trails for each protagonist and a total of 96 trials

Question 17

Explain experiment 2 - choosing rooms in the study by Perry

Answer 17

SS were told that after doing two rounds of OT administration that they would be asked to sit in a room with another participant to discuss personal topics

SS were informed that they were going to be shown pairs of similar rooms and for each trial choose the one room they prefer
They were told that this info would be used to design a room based on their preference

The goal for this experiment was to investigate whether OT would prepare ss to chose a room with a particular arrangement

Question 18

Explain the control condition condition in the choosing rooms experiment from the study by Perry

Answer 18

This was the preferred distance between the table and plant
a)Distance between the table and plant
200-320 cm with intervals of 20cm

b)Angle of the table and plant position
0℃ = both facing fowards
45℃ =
90℃ = table opposite the plant

Question 19

What were the 6 computerized stimuli (the items) that were shown in the choosing rooms experiment in the study by Perry

Answer 19

-2 identical chairs
-A table on one side
-A cupboard
-A plant
-A lamp
-A clock
they were all colored

Question 20

How many pairs of table-plant and chair distances were there in the study by Perry

Answer 20

21 different pairs of table-plant distances , 21 different pairs of chair distances and 3 options for each pair of angles repeated 7 times to equal 21 pairs of comparative angles

Question 21

How was personal space computed in the study by Perry

Answer 21

by calculating the mean preferred distance between the chairs and the mean preferred distance between table and plant
also the mean preferred distance between furnitures was also calculated

Question 22

Explain the experimental condition in the choosing rooms experiment from the study by Perry

Answer 22

This was the preferred distance between the chairs
a)Distance between the chairs 20-140cm within intervals of 20 cm
b)Angle of the chairs position
0℃=both facing forward (sitting side by side)
45℃
90℃ = chairs facing each other

Question 23

What are the results in the study by Perry

Question 24

What are the strengths of the study by Perry

Answer 24

• High internal validity-
  strict controls over extraneous variables
• High reliability of data-
  bcoz of a highly standardized procedure, researches were able to gather CONSISTENT data from ss to ss. Examples:
• Quantitative data-
  gathered in the form of of mean preferred distance between the ss and the protagonist, this helped researchers to compare the differential effect of OT on preferred distance between high empathizers and low empathizes

Question 25

What are the weaknesses in the study by Perry

Answer 25

• Low ecological validity-
  a lab based study, standardization and controls that limits the dynamics of real life
• Low generalizability- data was obtained from an all male sample, so researchers should be careful generalizing data to females
  • Ethics-
  Breach of Right to Withdraw:
  giving incentives in the form of post credit payment, they were committed to the research by payment.

Deception:
Choosing rooms were a form of deception as ss were shown pairs of similar rooms and were asked to pick one they preferred and were then told that their choice would be used to design a room according to their preferences. Ss were also told that the rooms were to be used to discuss personal topics, however they did not get to discuss any personal topic.

• Low validity of quantitative data
  Ss could not explain their responses for their preferred personal space, lowering validity of quantitative data gathered

Question 26

Why is the study from the social approach

Answer 26

Behaviour of preferred interpersonal distance is influenced by characteristics of the protagonist.This is consistent with the assumption that our behaviour can be influenced by other people

Question 27

What were the results for experiment 1 CID- comfortable interpersonal distance

Answer 27

There were differences found between preferred distances between stranger , authority , ball and friend across all trials.

Mean distance for ;
stranger - 39.72%
Friend - 12.46%
authority - 34.12%
Ball - 20.20%

Question 28

What were the results for experiment 2 ; choosing rooms experiment
for the preferred interpersonal distance between chairs in the study by Perry

Answer 28

Participants in the high empathy group chose closer chair distances following OT administration than Placebo administration

While participants in the Low empathy group chose further chair distances following OT administration than placebo administration.

High empathy group;
OT grp- 78.07cm
Control grp - 80.58cm (more distance)

Low empathy group
OT grp - 80.14cm
Control grp - 78.33cm

Question 29

What were the results for OT administration and preferred distance in the study by Perry

Answer 29

OT was found to decrease the mean preferred distance from participant to other in the high empathy group but had the opposite effect in the low empathy group.
The findings suggests that the administration of OT has a differential effect rather than the same effect on high and low empathisers.

High empathy group ;
OT group = 23.9%
Control group = 26.11%

Low empathy group ;
OT group= 30.20%
Control group = 26.98%

Question 30

What were the conclusions of the study by Perry

Answer 30

• OT enhances social cues in opposite ways for individuals with different empathetic abilities. This supports the idea of social salience, which is the idea that we pay attention to cues from other ppl such as body language,
  interpersonal distance, expressions- in order to enhance social interactions.
• The results confirmed the findings of previous personal space research (eg.
  Edward T Hall) that ppl need less distance between themselves and their close friends than they need with strangers

Question 31

Results for preferred distance between
stranger , ball etc after OT administration

Question 32

What is the social salience theory

Answer 32

oxytocin affects preferred interpersonal space by increasing our responses to social cUes.this could affect different people in different ways might enhance somebody’s outgoing nature while making somebody else anxious

Question 33

features of the IRI interpersonal reactivity index

Answer 33

28 item online questionnaire
High empathy group scored 40 and higher
low empathy group scored 33 and lower

Question 34

What results show how OT affects preference of chair distance for low empathy people

Answer 34

OT increased preferred chair distance in the low empathy group 78.33 vs 80.14cm

Question 35

What results show how OT affects preference of chair distance for high empathy people

Answer 35

OT decreased preferred chair distance in the high empathy group 80.58 vs 78.07cm

Question 36

Was social salience theory supported

Answer 36

Yes, OT did not affect distance or angle between table and plant hence proving that it only affects social contexts

Question 37

individual vs situational - perry

Question 38

nature vs nurture - perry