Psychology Unit 2 Flashcards
What 2 things does a question have to be and why?
It must be clear and unambiguous so that the people know exactly what is being asked (increases ecological validity)
Can’t be emotive because this could upset the people and cause then to give biased answers
What is the advantage and disadvantage of questionnaires in general?
A lot of data can be collected very quickly
We don’t know if the answers given are actually true (people make themselves look good)
In what 3 ways is inter-observer reliability ensured?
The researcher designs a record sheet with suitable behaviour categories for observation that want to conduct
Two observers each have a copy of the same record sheet and watch the same behaviour / location at the same time recording what they see on their individual sheet
At the end of the observation, the observers compare their record sheets
What are the 3 disadvantages of case studies?
Data collected can be subjective because the psychologist can be biased
Can’t be generalised to other people because it is unique
There are ethical issues of confidentiality, right to withdraw and protection from harm. The last might occur because the person being studied is often suffering from psychological problems making them vulnerable
What is the advantage and disadvantage of interviews in general?
Produce large amounts of data in short time
Can’t be sure if interviewee is telling truth
What are the 3 advantages of case studies?
Provide detailed information about individuals rather than collecting just a score from a test from a person
Record behaviour over time so changes in behaviour can be seen
A single cause study that tells us that a theory is incorrect is very useful because it will encourage researchers to change the theory and make it more accurate
What is the case study method?
An in-depth study of an individual or a unique group in order to either learn about the specific person or the human behaviour in general
What is the difference between open and closed questions?
Closed questions limit the possible answers that can be given
Open questions allow the person to give an individual answer which is never limited by the question
What is the advantage and disadvantage of open questions?
They make sure that a more truthful answer is given that is not limited by bounds in the question
However, the results are qualitative meaning that they can be hard to put into categories, group together or put into a numerical system
What are the 2 disadvantages of correlation?
Don’t indicate which of the 2 variable caused the relationship to occur
Lots of data needs to be found in order to make an accurate correlation
What is the advantage and disadvantage of closed questions?
The results are easy to put into a numerical system such as a graph
People might not give the answer that they actually think because their answer isn’t one of the options
What is inter-observer reliability?
This means that every time a behaviour that fits the behavioural categories occurs, it is recorded
This causes all records done by the different observers to have the same behaviours recorded on their sheets
What are the 3 advantages of the observation method?
Very high ecological validity because you are observing real world behaviours
In interviews etc. people make up answers to make themselves look better, in this method, people don’t even know they are being observed so this won’t happen
Observation records whole behaviours that people do regularly instead of very small, minimised behaviours
What are the 5 words to use when describing correlation?
Positive
Negative
Strong
Weak
No correlation
What are the 2 advantages of correlation?
Allows the researcher to see if 2 variables are connected in some way. Then a experiment can be done to find out why
Can be used when it is impossible or unethical to use an experiment
What is the advantage and disadvantage of structured interviews?
Data can be collated and analysed easily
Interviewer can’t ask questions that might help
What is the advantage and disadvantage of unstructured interviews?
Results are detailed and have ecological validity
Difficult to collate and analyse
What are the 3 disadvantages of observation studies?
You can record a behaviour but you don’t always know why it happened
People being watched can become aware of this and change their behaviour as a result
Ethical issues of watching people who want to be watched
What is the difference between a structured and an unstructured interview?
Structured interviews are where all of the questions are pre-set and given a fixed order (every interviewee has same questions)
Unstructured interviews are where only the first question is set and the other questions depend on the answers of the interviewee
What is imitation?
Copying the behaviour of a role model
Describe the Electra complex
A girl is unconciously attracted to her father and jealous of her mother but she doesn’t want to lose her mother’s love but she isn’t as fearful as the boy because she believes she has already been castrated
To resolve this, she identifies with her mother
What is gender schema theory?
The theory that tells us that we develop our gender identity as we make more gender schemas
What a gender schema?
A mental building block of knowledge that contains information about each gender
What is modelling?
When a role model provides an example for the child
What is the phallic stage?
Freud’s third stage of psychosexual development, in which gender development takes place
What is gender stereotyping?
Believing that all males are similar and all females are similar
What does it mean when someone is highly gender schematised?
When gender is the most important factor when the person is making decisions
Evaluate the media social learning study
It doesn’t explain why children brought up in one-parent families have no problem developing their gender
This theory is well supported by other cases and studies
What is identification?
When a child adopts the attitudes and behaviours of the same sex parent
What are gender roles?
Behaviour seen as masculine or feminine by a particular culture
What happens in the phallic stage?
The child of 3 - 5 unconciously desires the opposite sex parent and is jealous of the same sex parent
In order to deal with these feelings, the child begins to behave like the same sex parent
This occurs differently in boys and girls
Give a study on media and social learning
Williams (1986)
To investigate the effects of television on the gender development of children
Williams studied the effects of television on children living in Canada. At the beginning of the study, one of the towns was being provided with television for the first time while the other towns already had television. He measured the attitudes of children living in these towns at the beginning of the study and 2 years later
The children who now had television were more sex stereotyped in their attitudes and behaviour than they had been 2 years previously
Gender is learnt by imitating attitudes and behaviour seen on television
What is the psychodynamic theory of gender development?
Freud’s theory of what happens in the phallic stage
What is the psychodynamic approach?
The theory that tells us that our behaviour is a reaction from our subconcious forces and emotions
What is the social learning theory of gender development?
The theory that tells us that gender is learnt from watching and copying the behaviour of others
Give a study into gender disturbance
Rekers and Moray (1990)
To see if there is a relationship between gender disturbance and family background
Researchers rated 46 boys with gender disturbance for gender behaviour and identity. Their family background was also investigated
Of the group, 75% of the most severely gender-disturbed boys had neither their biological father nor a father substitute living with them
Boys who don’t have a father figure present during their childhood are more likely to develop a problem with their gender identity
Evaluate the psychodynamic gender development study
There is no evidence to prove Freud’s claims because he talks about unconcious feelings which can’t measured or noticed
He only analysed one person so the results can’t be generalised
Evaluate the differences of gender ideas study
The theory is supported by a lot of evidence and it fits with our experience
It doesn’t explain why gender starts to develop at the age of 2 and why some children are more highly gender schematised than others
Give a study into the psychodynamic theory of gender development
Freud (1909)
To investigate Little Hans’s phobia
At the age of 4, Hans developed a fear of horses. He was frightened that a horse might bite him or fall down. He was particularly afraid of large white horses with black around the mouth. Freud analysed this information
Freud claimed that Hans was experiencing the Oedipus complex. He unconciously desired his mother and saw his father as a rival and feared castration. He displaced the fear of his father onto horses. The white horse with the black around the mouth represented his father who had a dark beard. His fear of being bitten represented his fear of castration and his fear of horses falling down was his unconcious desire to see his father dead
This supports Freud’s ideas about the Oedipus complex
Evaluate the gender stereotype study
The theory seems to fit with our experiences of seeing people grow up
It could simply be that the older children are more perceptive and so they are the only ones that noticed the interest in toys not associated with the gender of the people
What is the difference between gender and sex?
Gender (psychological) can be identified by attitudes and behaviour and decides if a person is masculine or feminine
Sex (biological) can be identified by hormones and chromosomes and decides if some is male and female
What is vicarious reinforcement?
Learning from a model being rewarded or punished
What is gender disturbance?
Not developing the gender identity usually associated with one’s sex
Give a study on individual differences of ideas about gender
Levy & Carter (1989)
To show that there are individual differences in the way children think about gender
Children were shown pictures of 2 toys and asked to choose the one they would like to play with. Sometimes, there were both stereotypically masculine, sometime both feminine and sometimes one of each. The pictures were shown high and low gender schematised children
The highly gender schematised children, when one of each gender-based toy was shown, chose the toy associated with their gender. If two masculine or 2 feminine toys were shown, they couldn’t decide. The low gender schematised gender just chose the toy they liked the look of quickly
Highly gender schematised children choose things primarily because of their gender where low gender schematised children choose the things that they actually like the look of
Evaluate the imitation study
The study shows definite evidence of children imitating role models of their own sex
Lacks ecological validity because it takes place in an experimental setting
Evaluate the gender disturbance study
Only 46 boys were rated so the results can’t be generalised
The study definitely shows that gender disturbance dramatically increases when there is no stable father figure
Give a study on imitation
Perry and Bussey (1979)
To show that children imitate behaviour carried out by same-sex role models
Children were shown films of role models carrying out activities that were unfamiliar to the children. In one condition, all of the male role models played with one activity while all the female role models played with the other activity. In the second condition, some of the male role models and some of the female role models played with one activity while the other male and female role models played with the other activity
In the first condition, the children played with the activity that the role models of their sex played with. In the second condition, there was no difference in what the boys and girls chose
When children are in an unfamiliar situation they will observe the behaviour of the same-sex role models. This gives them information about whether the activity is appropriate for their sex. If it is, the child will imitate that behaviour
What would happen if boys were given girl toys and vice versa?
Boys treat the girl toys like boy toys and vice versa
Give a study on gender stereotypes
Martin (1989)
To show that children’s understanding of gender becomes less stereotyped and more flexible as they get older
Children heard stories about the toys that male and female characters enjoyed playing with. Some of the characters were described as liking gender-stereotyped activities while some were described as the opposite. The children were then asked to predict what other toys each character would or would not like to play with
The younger children only used the sex of the characters to decide which toys they would like but the older children used the sex of the character but also the other toys that the character played with to make their judgement
Older children have a more flexible view of gender than younger children do
Describe the Oedipus complex
A boy is unconciously attracted to his mother and is jealous of his father and wants to take his place
He fears that the father will discover his feelings and will castrate him
In order to deal with this fear, he gives up his feelings for his mother and identifies with his father to resolve the Oedipus complex
What are the chromosomes and hormones for males and females?
Female chromosome is XX and hormone is oestrogen
Male chromosome is XY and hormone is testosterone
What is the difference between a primary and a secondary reinforcer?
A primary reinforcer is something that is needed to survive like food
A secondary reinforcer is something that can be cashed so that rewards can be purchased from a selection of possible rewards
Describe the experiment of Pavlov’s dogs
Each time Pavlov’s dog was fed and the amount of saliva produced was measured and a bell was rung
This was repeated many times
The bell was rung and the amount of saliva produced was the same as the amount with the food present
Give a study about classical conditioning
Watson & Rayner (1920)
To see if the emotional response of fear could be conditioned in a human being
Albert was 11 months old, he liked white rats and had no fear of white furry objects, the rat was shown to Albert and as he reached for it, a metal bar was hit with a hammer behind him, this was done several times
When the rat was presented, Albert screaming and tried to get away even though the metal bar was not hit, he also screamed in the presence of a Santa mask
Fear responses could be learnt and very young children can learn in the way suggested by classical conditioning
What is reinforcement?
A consequence of behaviour that encourages or strengthens that behaviour
What do we call the actual procedure of classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning schedule
What is the Garcia effect?
When one incident is enough to produce a conditioned stimulus and response
Evaluate the classical conditioning study
This was very unethical to scare the child in this way
The study only used one child so they needed more evidence to generalise the results
What are the stimuli and responses in the classical conditional schedule?
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) Unconditioned response (UCR) Conditioned stimulus (CS) Conditioned response (CR)
Describe the classical conditioning schedule
Before conditioning: there is an UCS and a UCR
During conditioning: there is CS with the UCS and a UCR
After conditioning: the behaviour is learnt so only the CS is needed to trigger the response which is now called the CR
What is aversion therapy?
A treatment for addictions which makes the addict have an extremely negative reaction to the substance
What is spontaneous recovery?
After a conditioned response becomes extinct, it suddenly returns again
What is discrimination in terms of conditioning?
When the conditioned response is only triggered when a specific stimulus is presented
What is classical conditioning?
A procedure where someone learns to associate a reflex response with a new stimulus
What is learning?
Changes in behaviour due to experience or repeated events
What is token economy?
Giving people either primary or secondary reinforcers as a reward for doing the things that you need them to do
What is generalisation in terms of learning?
When similar stimuli to the original conditioned stimulus can trigger the conditioned response
What is flooding in terms of learning?
A treatment for phobias that immediate exposure of the person to the feared thing until there is no fear response
What is behaviour shaping?
Changing behaviour in small steps
What did Skinner do to discover reinforcement?
He put a rat in a box and when the rat touched a button, food was given to it
Over time, the rat learned to push the button as soon as it entered the box
He also put the rat into a box that gave the rat electric shocks and when it pushed the button, the shocks stopped
This negative reinforcement had the same effect as the positive reinforcement
What is extinction?
When a conditioned response dies out
What is negative reinforcement?
When an unpleasant experience is removed to reinforce a behaviour
What is punishment?
A stimulus that weakens behaviour because we try to avoid it
What is operant conditioning?
Learning due to the consequences of behaviour through positive or negative reinforcement
What is positive reinforcement?
When a reward is presented to reinforce a behaviour
What is the hierarchy of fears?
A series of feared events ranked from least frightening to most
What did Thorndike do to prove the law of effect?
He placed a cat in a box where the door would open if it pulled a string
He timed how long it took for the cat to open the door 40 times in a row
The cat learnt how to open the door and when it did, it was rewarded by the door opening
This caused the cat to open the door faster and faster as time went on
What is the law of effect?
Behaviours that are followed by rewards are usually repeated
Those that are punished are not usually repeated
What is systematic desensitisation?
A treatment for phobias in which the person is told to relax and gradually exposed to the feared thing
What is the main criticism of the psychodynamic approach to aggression?
Dollard argued that aggression needs something to trigger it and that aggression wouldn’t just happen without a trigger
Give 2 evaluations of psychosurgery
Once a part of the brain is destroyed it can’t be replaced
It is a very dangerous procedure
Give a study into the frustration-aggression theory
Barker (1941)
To see the affect of frustration on aggression
Children were kept waiting a long time before they could play in a room full of attractive toys. Their behaviour was then observed
Children were much more aggressive and destructive to the toys to children who did not have to wait
Being frustrated does lead to an increase in aggression
Evaluate the biological explanation of aggression study
It was done on monkeys so it is hard to generalise the results to humans
It could be unethical to affect the monkeys in this way
Give a study about reducing aggression using social learning theory of aggression
Bandura (1965)
To see if observing a role model being punished will reduce the chance of aggression being imitated
Children were shown an adult model either being punished or rewarded for acting aggressively
The children who saw the model being punished were less aggressive than those who saw the model being rewarded
If children see that aggression brings punishment, they will not copy it
Give 2 evaluations of the Ritalin method of reducing aggression
Ritalin can have some quite serious side effects
Ritalin also reduces activity of some other brain processes and can make people slower to think and act
Describe the psychodynamic explanation of aggression
Freud said that there is an unconscious force called Thanatos that builds up pressure until we can’t control it and we do something aggressive
He said that Thanatos drives us towards self-destruction and that we protect ourselves using ego defence mechanisms which are called displacement (being aggressive to other people) and sublimation (channelling aggression into acceptable activities)
Describe the 2 biological methods of reducing aggression
The drug Ritalin can be used to stimulate the prefrontal cortex in order to calm somebody down and reduce aggression
Psychosurgery involves inserting a probe through the eye and into the brain. The end is then heated up and destroys the nerve endings of a specific part of the brain in order to prevent aggression
Give a study into biological explanations of aggression
Young (1959)
To see what effect hormones have on aggressive behaviour
They injected pregnant monkeys with testosterone and observed the levels of aggression in their offspring
The female offspring grew up to behave like male monkeys and played rough games and challenged the males for dominance in their troop
Testosterone plays a vital part in aggressive behaviour
For what 4 reasons is a child more likely to imitate a role model?
Similar to the child
Attractive
Powerful
Caring
What are the 3 biological explanations of aggression?
Men are usually more aggressive than women and since men have more testosterone, this seems to be cause of aggression (violent criminals usually have high testosterone levels)
Male violent criminals also often have chromosomal abnormalities and the most common of these is the XYY arrangement
The limbic system is the part of the brain that causes aggression, sexual behaviour etc. and the prefrontal cortex stops us being aggressive. An abnormality in either of these can lead to aggression
How was the social learning theory added to?
Bandura stated that we also monitor our own behaviour and if we feel good about something (acting aggressively) then we are likely to do it again
Describe the 2 psychodynamic ways of reducing aggression
The idea of catharsis is that if you witness something strongly aggressive or emotional (could be films), this will make you less likely to be aggressive (got it out of your system)
Sublimation is where you channel your aggression into an acceptable activity like boxing or other types of intensive exercise
Evaluate the reducing aggression using the social learning approach study
When the children saw the model being rewarded, they all copied the behaviour even though they knew it was wrong (they will do it anyway if there is no punishment)
It could be considered unethical to purpose set out to make some of the children more aggressive
Give a study into the social learning theory of aggression
Bandura (1963)
To find out if children would imitate aggressive behaviour performed by role models
They divided 96 children into 4 groups. 3 of the groups were shown someone throwing, kicking and punching a “bobo” doll. They were then observed playing with the doll
The children who had seen the aggressive behaviour showed more aggressive behaviour against the doll than those who didn’t
Children will imitate the way role models behave
How does the frustration-aggression theory explain how to reduce aggression?
To reduce aggression, reduce the amount of things you do that make you frustrated
Describe the theory that takes the criticism of Freud’s theory into account
Dollard proposed the frustration-aggression theory that said that we were slowly driven to aggression in the same way that Freud explained except the frustration of everyday things drives us to aggression
What are the 3 explanations for aggression?
Biological
Psychodynamic
Social learning
Evaluate the social learning study
It lacks ecological validity because the aggression was directed towards a doll and the setting was experimental
There is a lot of evidence that contradicts these results (watching aggressive behaviour doesn’t have an effect on aggression)
Describe the social learning theory of aggression
When people encounter new situations, they look to other people. This would be true for children learning from other people to be aggressive so that they are aggressive in adulthood. This is called imitation
Social learning theory also proposes the idea of vicarious learning which is where people (especially children) learn new ways to behave by observing other people and causes them to do things they wouldn’t normally do
Evaluate the frustration-aggression study
It could be considered unethical to frustrate children in this way
The destructive behaviour could be just a result of the children being excited because they finally could play with the toys
Evaluate the deindividuation study
This study lacked mundane realism (the situation was not realistic) meaning the participants would behave differently to how they normally would behave
This could simply be because there are many more people in a big city meaning there is a much higher chance that there are people that steal
What is a buffer?
Something like a wall that stops the teacher from seeing the consequences of their actions on the learner
It is a reason for obedience
Evaluate the social loafing study
Only 2 countries were compared and other cultures could give different results
Hard to measure effort of participants
What is bystander intervention?
When people do nothing to help someone in need of help because there are multiple people present
Evaluate the appearance bystander study
In a train carriage, there are many variables that the researcher can’t control
In 1983, Batson conducted an experiment to show how the characteristics of a victim can have a different sort of impact on whether they receive help or not
Give a study into similarities between people and bystander intervention
Batson et al. (1983)
To see if the similarity of a victim to a bystander will affect whether they receive help
Participants watched a woman who they thought was receiving electric shocks. Each participants was made to think the woman was either like themselves or not. They were given the opportunity to take the woman’s place in order to stop her suffering
More participants were prepared to take the place of the woman they thought to be similar to themselves than dissimilar
People are more likely to offer help to someone they feel is similar to themselves in some way than to someone they can’t relate to. This is because we have empathy for people to ourselves
Give a study on deindividuation
Zimbardo (1969)
To see if people in a big city behave in a more antisocial way than people in a small town
He parked a car in each place with its bonnet up, as if it had broken down, and observed what people did as they passed by
In New York, people immediately stole all of the parts of the car but in Palo Alto, the only time that the car was touched was when the bonnet was lowered to stop the engine getting wet when it was raining
The deindividuation caused by living in a big city leads to an increase in antisocial behaviour
What are the 3 causes of deindividuation?
Being able to hide one’s identity
Wearing a uniform
Being part of a gang or clearly identifiable group
Give a study on conformity
Sherif (1935)
To discover the effect of judgement of listening to other people
He asked participants to estimate how far a spot of light moved when they were sitting in an otherwise completely dark room. In fact, the light didn’t move at all but owing to an optical illusion, it did appear to
Individually, the participants gave a variety of estimates which differed quite widely from each other’s. However, when they undertook the same task in groups of three, the estimates were more similar
The participants used other people’s opinions to help them form a judgement in an ambiguous situation
Who was Kitty Genovese?
In 1964, Kitty was attacked in New York
She was attacked for over half an hour until she was killed
Only after, did someone call the police even though the attack could have been stopped almost straight away if someone had called the police earlier
38 people witnessed the attack and did not act
What is social influence?
The effect that other people have on our behaviour
This includes conformity, social loafing and obedience
Give a study providing an alternate explanation for bystander intervention
Schroeder et al. (1995)
To explore different reasons for bystanders not helping
They studied the findings and conclusions from many previous pieces of research
They were able to provide an alternate explanation for bystander intervention
Bystanders are concerned about victims but when other people are present, they think someone else might be more capable of helping
Evaluate the similarities bystander study
The participants were not part of a crowd so bystander intervention doesn’t come into this
People might be helping people similar to them because they thought they were part of their in-group
What is deindividuation?
The state of losing our sense of individuality and becoming less aware of our own responsibility for our actions
Give a study on bystander intervention
Latane & Darley (1968)
To see if people are less likely to react in an emergency when there are others present
Participants sat in a room either alone or in threes while completing a questionnaire. While they were doing this, smoke began coming into the room
75% of those sitting alone told someone in the next 6 minutes but only 38% of those in groups of three did
If there are other people around you, it will make it less likely that you will react in an emergency
What is social loafing?
Putting less effort into sonething when you are with others doing the same thing
What is altruism?
Helping someone without thinking of yourself, sometimes at great cost
What is the diffusion of responsibility?
In a group of people, there is less need for the individual to act because someone else is present could also do something
Evaluate the alternative explanation of bystander intervention study
This doesn’t support Batson’s study because no one was able to help more easily than anyone else
They were relying on the research and findings of other people which could be wrong
Give a study on social loafing
Earley (1989)
To see if culture makes a difference to social loafing
Participants from the US and China had to complete tasks alone and in groups. The level of social loafing was measured by how much effort was put into the tasks
The US participants reduced their effort when in groups but the Chinese did not
Social loafing does not exist in all cultures. In some cultures, people are prepared to work just as hard for the good of the group even when they do not need to
Evaluate the conformity study
The situation was ambiguous because the distance the light moved was not known by the participants, so this did not demonstrate conformity
Lacks ecological validity because study took place in a laboratory setting
What is conformity?
A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as the result of group pressure
What is obedience?
Following the orders of someone we believe to have authority
Give a study on obedience
Bickman (1974)
To see if people would be more likely to obey an order if it came from somebody in uniform
He had actors dress as either a security guard or just in a casual jacket. They asked people in a park to pick up litter
He found that 80% of people who obeyed the “guard” compared with 40% when the casual jacket was worn
Wearing a uniform will increase the sense that a person is a legitimate authority figure
What are the 3 factors that affect social loafing?
The size of the group you are with
The nature of the task you are performing
The culture to which you belong
Give a study into how appearance affects bystander intervention
Piliavin (1972)
To see if the appearance of the victim would influence helping behaviour
Piliavin had an actor pretend to collapse in a train carriage. His appearance was altered several times and the amount of help he received each time was recorded by an observer
When the victim carried a walking stick, he received help within 70 seconds, 90% of the time. When he had an ugly facial scar, this dropped to 60% and when he acted drunk, it dropped to 20%
The appearance of the person needing help will affect whether and how quickly they get that help
What is socialisation?
A reason for obedience where people naturally obey authority figures because they have grown up doing this
Evaluate the bystander intervention study
It was conducted in a laboratory setting so people could have behaved differently to how they normally would
The fact that no one else was reacting could mean that you might not think what is happening as a problem. This would cause the people in groups to not react
Evaluate the obedience study
Has ecological validity because participants didn’t realise they were part of an experiment
They could have picked up the litter when the guard was there because they feared what the guard could do if they did not pick up the litter
