psychological themes through core studies Flashcards
milgram aim
Milgram
Aimed to investigate how far an individual will obey an authority figure, even when the command breaches moral codes.
milgram method and sample
. Studied obedience in a lab setting. Volunteer sample of 40 men asked to give electric shocks to a confederate in a ‘learning experiment’.
milgram results
65% (26/40) went up to the highest 450V level and 5/40 stopped at 300V.
milgram conclusion
Proposed the concept of an agentic state to explain the high level of obedience. Anyone could be obedient to authority, and the tension witnessed was due to the conflict between the desire to obey and the desire not to hurt another.
bocchiaro aim
Wanted to study the types of people that disobey and their personal characteristics.
bocchiaro method and sample
Studied whistleblowing using 149 students and a comparison group of 138 at VU university in Amsterdam (volunteer sample)- took part for either €7 or course credits. Greeted a stern researcher and asked to endorse an ethically unsound study on sensory deprivation and encourage friends to participate.
bocchiaro results
76% did as asked and only 9% whistle blew. Comparison group said that most would not comply.
bocchiaro conclusion
Behaving against authority is hard even when it seems easy, and people are bad at predicting behaviour.
pillavin aim
Investigated a situational explanation of bystander behaviour by looking at the race and state of the victim and number of bystanders- following the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 with 38 unresponsive witnesses.
pillavin method and sample
Field experiment that took place on the New York subway (opportunity sampling) that lasted 7.5 minutes and studied 4,450 men and woman over two months. IVs- race, state of victim, early/late helping model, and the amount of people in the carriage. Fake emergency involving a drunk or ill victim who was black or white that staggered forward and collapsed.
pillavin results
More help was given to the ill victim (received spontaneous help 95% of the time) compared to the drunk condition (50%).
pillavin conclusion
Did not find diffusion of responsibility but found that behaviour is linked to the arousal-cost-reward model.
levine aim
Looked at whether helping varies across different cultures- studied community variables such as population size, economic well-being, cultural values and pace of life.
levine method and sample
Conducted studies (opportunity sampling) in 23 cities across the world. Three non-emergency situations- a dropped pen, someone with a bad leg picking up magazines and a blind man crossing the road.
levine results
Helping rates in each city were stable across the three measures. Huge cross cultural differences found in the Overall Help Index- 93% in Rio to 44% in New York.
levine conclusion
Simpatico cultures helped more, whereas richer and fast-paced individualist cultures helped less.
loftus and palmer aim
Schema theory proposes memory is influenced by what people already know. Follows Bartlett’s theory of reconstructive memory, which forms the basis for unreliable eyewitness testimonies. Wanted to see if words affect memory recall.
loftus and palmer method and sample
Two studies using video clips of car crashes on 40 and 150 students (self-selected sampling) respectively. Each participant asked a question with a critical verb, and effect on estimate of speed or recall of broken glass was measured.
loftus and palmer results
Smashed- 40.5mph
Hit- 31.8mph
Smashed- 16 said yes to broken glass.
Hit- 7 said yes to broken glass.
loftus and palmer conclusion
Information making up memory is received during and after an event.
grant aim
Interested in whether context-dependency would be found in the type of material and tests used at school.
grant method and sample
Studied context-dependent memory using recall and recognition. 40 participants (snowball sampling) read an article on psychoimmunology wearing headphones in either noisy or quiet conditions.
grant results
Both tests showed context-dependency effects and performed better in matching conditions.
grant conclusion
Context clues are important in the retrieval of newly learned, meaningful information.
moray aim
Conducted three lab experiments into dichotic listening. Aimed to test Cherry’s method of shadowing and the cocktail party effect.
moray method and sample
In the first a list of 35 words was read to one ear whilst participants shadowed a message from their other ear. After 30 seconds they were asked to recall the list but could not.
In the second they were instructed in the non-attended ear to change ears- some had their names called and these paid significantly more attention.
The third experiment had numbers in the messages- some participants were asked to remember the numbers and others just the content- but there was no significant difference in the numbers recalled.
moray conclusion
Only subjectively important messages can penetrate the attentional block.
simons and chabris aim
Studied visual attention and perception using 228 participants (self-selected) in an independent laboratory experiment- testing theories of change blindness and inattentional blindness.
simons and chabris method and sample
They watched one of four 75 second tapes and were asked to count how many times the basketball players passed a ball. After 45 seconds either an umbrella woman or gorilla walked across the screen.
simons and chabris results
46% failed to notice the unexpected event (65% noticed the woman and 44% noticed the gorilla).
simons and chabris conclusion
Shows inattentional blindness as if we are paying close attention to certain aspects of the environment we may fail to notice another.
bandura aim
Investigating Social Learning Theory and imitation of aggression.
bandura method and sample
Studied 72 children (opportunity sampling) in four groups from SU nursery school- saw either an aggressive or non-aggressive model play with a Bobo Doll and were either the same sex or opposite sex- along with a control group. Pre-rated for physical aggression, verbal aggression, and aggressive inhibition.
bandura results
Children in the aggressive condition produced more imitative aggression and a tendency for same-sex imitation.
bandura conclusion
Supports Social Learning Theory as children imitate behaviour of role models.
chaney aim
Aimed to show that positive reinforcement can improve adherence in young asthmatics.
chaney method and sample
Compared adherence to asthma medication using a traditional spacer or a Funhaler. Pilot study involved questionnaires to parents of 32 asthmatic children (random sampling) in Australia, one at the start of the study and one two weeks after use. Had a whistle and spinning disk to reinforce correct use.
chaney results
More success with the Funhaler- 22/30 compared to 3/30.
chaney conclusion
Novelty and reward can improve adherence and operant conditioning can be useful.
kohlberg aim
Inspired by Piaget’s theory of cognitive development with its structural approach.
kohlberg method and sample
Looked at moral reasoning by studying 75 boys from Chicago over 12 years. He also studied boys in Britain, Canada, Taiwan, Mexico, and Turkey. They were presented with hypothetical moral dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma.
kohlberg results
He found three levels and six stages of invariant moral reasoning- preconventional, conventional and postconventional. Not everyone achieves all stages.
lee aim
Wanted to compare how lying and truth telling are regarded in pro and anti-social situations across different cultures.
lee method and sample
Chinese and Canadian children aged 7, 9 and 11 were given four stories- two had intentional good deeds and two had intentional bad deeds where characters told the truth or lied when questioned. Children were then asked to evaluate the deeds.
lee results
Chinese children rates lying more positively in pro-social situations- suggesting emphasis on modesty can override lying. Both groups rated truth telling positively and lying negatively in anti-social situations.
lee conclusion
There is a close relationship between sociocultural practice and moral judgement.
freud method and sample
Studied a phobia of white horses in a five year old boy (opportunity sampling) called Little Hans. Received letters from Hans’ father and replied with his interpretations.
freud results
Hans’ phobia was caused by the Oedipus Complex- a strong unconscious sexual desire for his mother, hatred of his father and fear of castration. His fear of horses was a subconscious fear of his father, the plumber dream was him identifying with his father, and the giraffe fantasy was him wanting to take his mother away from his father.
freud conclusion
Once Hans identified with his father and took on his morals, the Oedipus Complex was resolved, and his phobia disappeared- evidence of the phallic stage of psychosexual development.
baron-cohen aim
Wanted to devise a test for adults similar to the Sally-Anne test for children. Investigated Theory of Mind and autism.