research/ethic studies Flashcards
Passamonti et al
- 30 healthy participants
- Drank a tryptophan lacking drink, or placebo (different days)
-Low tryptophan = low serotonin
-But we can’t measure serotonin in the brain of living participants
Randomized order (some T→P, others P→T)
-Double-blind procedure.
-Viewed images of different types of faces (sad, angry, neutral)
-The participants were put in fMRIs and their brain activity was measured (to observe the activation of different areas
-The results showed that there was reduced activity in the frontal lobe during the low serotonin conditions when the participant was viewing the angry face. Moreover, communication between the amygdala and the frontal lobe was weaker in this condition.
Feinstein et al. 2012
Case study:
S.M has a rare genetic condition
Damage to both amygdalae (localized damaged)
bilateral lesions in her amygdalae
which
Previous studies show reduction in fear conditioning and recognizing fear
This case study tested ability to experience fear
Three tests
Pet Store
Haunted House
Scary Film Clips
-
Took her to an exotic pet store
Observed and took notes of her reactions to the snakes and spiders
She says she doesn’t like them and “tries to avoid them”
Her reactions in the shop showed otherwise
She was intrigued, curious, touched the snakes, even said “this is so cool.”
She didn’t display any fear.
-
Took her to a “haunted house”
An old sanitorium turned into a haunted house once per year.
5 other female volunteers joined.
Researchers followed and took notes of their behaviour.
The volunteers were scared and shrieking, whereas SM displayed no fear.
She even scared one of the “monsters” by mistake.
-
Conclusion:
This case study suggests that the amygdala might play an important role in the experiences of fear in scary and threatening situations. If we have damage to this area of the brain, perhaps we won’t be able to experience fear.
Radke et al. (2015)
Technique used to study the brain in Radke et al. (2015)
fMRI
Aim: to investigate relationships between perceiving a social threat, testosterone, and the amygdala
-54 healthy females
- half given small dose of testosterone
- half given placebo
- laid in fMRI and shown pics of “happy” or “angry” faces
- “Approach” or “avoid” faces as instructed to by researchers using joystick
- Group with testosterone had more activation in amygdala when approaching angry faces and was higher approaching happy face
- In situations involving social threat, people are more motivated to defend themselves, thus test increases activation of amygdala
Enhrenkranz
3 groups of prisoners
Very aggressive group, social dominant group, non aggressive and nondominant group
Measured testosterone levels and compared averages
Average levels were higher in first 2 groups than in third
Shows link between testosterone and aggressive behavior and social dominance
Bandura et al
- Bandura (1961) conducted a controlled experiment study to investigate if social behaviors (i.e., aggression) can be acquired by observation and imitation.
- Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) tested 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School aged between 3 to 6 years old.
24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) watched a male or female model behaving aggressively towards a toy called a ‘Bobo doll’. The adults attacked the Bobo doll in a distinctive manner - they used a hammer in some cases, and in others threw the doll in the air and shouted “Pow, Boom.”
Another 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were exposed to a non-aggressive model who played in a quiet and subdued manner for 10 minutes (playing with a tinker toy set and ignoring the bobo-doll).
All the children (including the control group) were subjected to ‘mild aggression arousal.’ Each child was (separately) taken to a room with relatively attractive toys.
• The next room contained some aggressive toys and some non-aggressive toys. The non-aggressive toys included a tea set, crayons, three bears and plastic farm animals.
—-
Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups.
- There was more partial and non-imitative aggression among those children who had observed aggressive behavior, although the difference for non-imitative aggression was small.
- The girls in the aggressive model condition also showed more physical aggressive responses if the model was male, but more verbal aggressive responses if the model was female. However, the exception to this general pattern was the observation of how often they punched Bobo, and in this case the effects of gender were reversed.
- Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls. The evidence for girls imitating same-sex models is not strong.
Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the behavior of another person.
Cialdini et al (2008) - towel study
Arizona, USA
8- day period
one card: help save the environment
one card: didn’t focus on environmental benefits, tried to influence behaviour through social influence by making descriptive social norms obvious
“join your fellow guests in helping to save the environment - almost 75% of guests who are asked to participate - in our new resource savings program do help by using their towels more than once)”
-
environment: 38%
using descriptive social norms: 48%
(Loftus and Palmer, 1974) glass
150 students (not the ones from the first experiment) Watched one film of a car accident
Only used smashed and hit verbs (and a control condition with no questions)
Asked for speed estimates.
smashed 10.8 mph (37% broken glass)
hit = 8mph (14%)
control w/ no questions - 12%
-
higher the speed estimate, the higher the the recollection of broken glass.
(Stone et al.)
College-aged participants
Were asked to listen to a basketball game (a radio commentary) and make judgements about one of the players in the game
They were shown a picture of the player they were supposedly listening to
Half were shown an image of a black player, the other half a white player (IV)
They were then asked to make judgements (DV)
Context = there is a common stereotype in American sports that white athletes are “smart players” whereas black athletes are more athletic
-
Black athlete condition: they rated him a “significantly more athletic and having played a better game” than those who thought he was white
White athlete condition: more likely to judge the player as “exhibiting significantly more basketball intelligence and hustle.”
-Schema theory: it shows that activating a particular social schema (someone’s race) can influence our processing of new information. We focus on schema-consistent information, which reinforces that schema.
Stereotypes: stereotypes can be reinforced because of our innate tendency to focus on schema consistent-information. Stereotypes can lead to confirmation bias, which just reinforces the stereotype (this is one way stereotypes affect behaviour)
Bias in thinking (confirmation bias): this study demonstrates confirmation bias and how it could reinforce stereotypes.
loftus and palmer
speed
Two experiments; today we’re focusing on Experiment #1
45 students
Watched filmed car accidents Were given a series of questions One question was the “critical question” (the one about speed estimates of the car The IV was the verb used: Smashed Collided Bumped Hit Contacted The DV was the speed estimate -- The verb affected the speed estimates: Smashed = 40mph Collided = 39 mph Bumped = 38 mph Hit = 34 mph Contacted 31 mph
#1) Participants may have been unsure so the leading question guided their answer (this does not necessarily suggest memory can be manipulated).
#2) The leading question actually caused participants to recollect the car crash differently, thus affecting their memory of the speed of the vehicle They conducted a second experiment to get more evidence for explanation #2, as this would suggest memory can be manipulated.
