social cultural saq+ studies

Question 1

hamilton and gifford aim

Answer 1

to confirm their theory of illusory correlation

Question 2

hamilton and gifford procedure

Answer 2

participants listened to a series of statements made about people from two groups: A or B. there were twice as many people in group A as B, making group B the minority group. the statements were either positive or negative. each group had the same proportion of positive and negative comments. Participants were then asked how many of the people in each group had positive v negative traits

Question 3

hamilton and gifford findings

Answer 3

participants overestimated the number of negative traits in the minority group

Question 4

asch aim

Answer 4

to test the power of normative social influence on one’s likelihood to conform in an unambiguous task

Question 4

asch procedure

Answer 4

• 123 male US college students
• told it was a vision test
• used a naive participants and 6 confederates → presented with unambiguous stimulus - on card 1 there is a single line, the participants were asked to choose the line on card 2 which has the same length as the first card.
• 6 confederates were instructed to give wrong answers on certain trials and a naive participant always answered next to last
• 18 trials
• Control for experiment: another condition where one participant answered all 18 trials without the confederates present and with only the experimenter in the room
• after the experiment was completed, asch carried out interviews with each of the participants

Question 5

asch findings

Answer 5

• about 75% conformed at least once
• 25% of participants never conformed
• control condition: less than 1% of the participants gave wrong response
• through interviews, asch find out why the participants conformed:
  -> they thought they were wrong
  -> they were unsure of their answer
  -> they didnt want to be ridiculed by the group, so therefore went along with the wrong answer, knowing it was incorrect

Question 6

odden and rochat aim

Answer 6

To study the role of observational learning (based on social cognitive theory) in enculturation in Samoa

Question 7

odden and rochat procedure

Answer 7

• 25 month longitudinal study
• observed 28 children to see how they learned fishing techniques and understood social hierarchy without direct adult instruction
• interviews + observation to gather data
• gave a multiple choice test to 46 twelve year olds to gather knowledge of chief system

Question 8

odden and rochat findings

Answer 8

• Children were not taught how to fish, as the supply of fishing equipment was limited. However, children spent a great deal of time observing how adults fished. By the time the children were 10, they began borrowing fishing equipment (without any adult supervision), and by 12 most were capable fishermen (despite never being taught how to fish)
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• The multiple choice test demonstrated that most children had a basic understanding of the concepts, rites and rituals of their society, including the Chief system, despite not having been explicitly taught these by teachers or parents. Children were able to learn the norms of their culture simply by observing and overhearing the conversations of others

Question 9

odden and rochat conclusion

Answer 9

Observational learning plays a significant role in enculturation. It is possible for children to learn the values, norms and behaviours of their culture simply by observation and imitation

Question 10

hamilton and gifford conclusion

Answer 10

argued that the findings were the case because the minority group was by nature smaller in number, so their negative behaviours were perceived to represent the group as a whole. this demonstrates why negative stereotypes may be more common for minority groups than for the majority.