psych Flashcards
what is a stereotype?
an oversimplified, generalised set of ideas that we have about others
what is an independent variable?
the variable the experimenter deliberately changes
what is a dependant variable?
the variable that is measured
what is an alternative hypothesis?
states that their is a relationship/difference between the two variables and tries to show that the null hypothesis is not true
what is a null hypothesis?
a statement of no relationship between two variables
what is a variable?
a thing that can vary or change in an investigation
what is a hypothesis?
a clear, precise, testable statement that can be proven right or wrong, like a prediction. E.g the IQ of boys will be greater than the IQ of girls
what is meant by operationalised?
variables in an investigation need to be clearly defined (making it clear)
what was the aim of the key study ‘William and Best (1994)?
to investigate the extent of stereotyping over 30 different countries
what was the method used in the key study ‘William and Best (1994)’?
participants were given over 300 characteristics and asked to state whether the characteristic were more likely to be associated with men, women or both sexes
what were the results of the key study ‘William and Best (1994)’?
across the countries, the same characteristic tended to be associated with males and females.
females were described as understanding, emotional and warm
males were described as reckless, hard headed and determined
what is a strength of the key study ‘william and best (1994)’ ?
there is a large sample which increases the details, we get a variety of viewpoints and shows us the different stereotypes across the globe. results can also be generalised across the globe
what is the aim of the key study ‘rubin et al. (1977)’ ?
to find out if new parents stereotype their babies
what method is used in the key study ‘rubin et al. (1977)’ ?
parents were asked to describe their babies within 24 hours of them being born
what were the results of the key study ‘rubin et al. (1977)’ ?
parents stereotype their children from a very early age based on their sex despite them showing no stereotypical behaviours.
parents of baby boys described them as being alert and strong whereas parents of baby girls described them as soft and delicate
what is observation?
when a researcher watches or listens to participants engaging in whatever behaviour is being studied. they then record what they observe
what is a naturalistic observation?
the observation takes place in a natural setting and nothing in the environment is manipulated or changed
what are the strengths of a naturalistic observation?
it has high external validity, this means it can be generalised to everyday life
what are the weaknesses to a naturalistic observation?
they are not easily replicable as it is taken in a natural environment
lack of control over extraneous variables, things that can affect the investigation for example the time of day which can impact results
what is a controlled observation?
the researcher controls or changes aspects of the environment
what are strengths of controlled observations?
high control over extraneous variables, high internal validity
easily replicable as your controlling it
what are weaknesses of controlled observations?
low external validity- can not be generalised to everyday life because it’s too controlled
