SOCIAL APPROACH -Perry et al (PERSONAL SPACE) Flashcards
What was the background of the study
- Perry wanted to investigate peoples personal space based on several factors with one of them being interpersonal distance.
- oxytocin: a hormone that affects social bonding between people. He wanted to test the effect of OT as well on social interactions
- the Amygdala
Describe the Amygdala as part of the background
- This is a brain structure involved in processing emotions
- they trigger strong emotions when it comes to following personal space violations and so it regulates interpersonal distance in humans
- Oxytocin also regulates amygdala activity
What was the psychology being investigated
- Interpersonal distance- the physical space between interacting people
- social salience- the attention someone gives to social cues from another person such as body expressions
- Social salience hypothesis- this suggests that oxytocin improves someones attention to these social cues and respond differently depending on the social setting.
- Effect of OT in social interactions and Empathy
- Personal space: the invisible boundaries around our bodies and if crossed can lead to feelings of uncomfortableness or threat
- Empathy
List different zones of space
public
intimate
social
personal
What is empathy
The ability to recognise ones thoughts and emotions.
what is an interaction effect
This is the effect of two or more IVs affecting ONE DV and in which the performance of both IVs is greater than their own
What is a placebo and Why were Placebos given
- Any substance that has no effect on the body with no chemical additives
- This was in order for it to act as a control to compare the effects of the treatment of OT
What was the aim of the study
testing the differential effect of the social hormone OT on personal space preferences in relation to a persons empathy ability.
What were the 3 IVs of the study
- Empathy
- OT
- conditions
What was the DV of the study
Personal space preferences
(IPD)
How were the OT and Placebo saline solutions administered
-They were self administered through the nasal pathway by a solution of 24 international units of 250ml
- this was done with a nasal dropper with 3 drops in each nostril
-this was a double blind technique as neither the participants nor the researcher knew which solution was administered to who
What type of experiment was it and where did it take place
University of HAIFA
It was a Lab experiment
What’s a weakness of using a lab experiment
-Demand characteristics
-Low ecological validity
when they allocated participants, which design was used
Repeated measures design- participants took part in 2 conditions with an without O.T
Independent measures design- whether they were in the “high” empathy or “low” empathy
For the IV empathy, how was it operationalised
-HIGH (X > 40 SCORE) Mean age of 24
-LOW (X <33 SCORE) Mean age of 26
In both experiment 1 and 2, they used a repeated measures design, what’s a weakness of this
Order effects