Socially Sensitive Research (SSR) Flashcards
1
Q
Definition of Socially Sensitive Research
A
- Psychological research with potential consequences or implication (+/-) either directly for the participants in the research or the groups in society
- After the research is finished
2
Q
Positive Implications: Sherif
A
- Understanding the creation and reduction of prejudice may be used by governments to implement policies to reduce conflict in society, demonstrates the power of Sherif’s research to inform and address socially sensitive issues
- Justifies - research explains how values (competition, independence) are part of being raised in an individualistic culture (America), explains why the boys became prejudiced
- Has broader implications for social issues (racial and ethnic conflicts), demonstrate that shared goals could lead to conflict resolution through promoting unity
3
Q
Negative Implications: Sherif
A
- Could inadvertently create harmful steroetypes, lead to the negative labelling of all American boys, others view them as highly competitive and likely to resort to conflict to secure their status
- May have led to lasting psychological harm for the boys studies due to manipulation of group dynamics and the competition between groups, induced real hostility and aggression causing negative emotions and behaviours, challenges the balance between scientific exploration and the welfare of the participants
- Issues such as conflict and prejudice are often sensitive -> touch on topics of social division, discrimination, and the potential for harm when conflicts arise between different groups, study may draw attention to these issues, increase prejudice in society
- Could be used to legitimise discriminatory behaviour when resources are scarce
4
Q
Positive Implications: Baddeley
A
- Focused on how acoustic and semantic similarity affects STM and LTM, does not involve examining vulnerable populations or controversial topics, relatively neutral in terms of direct social sensitivity
- Can influence educational practices such as designing effective teaching strategies or assessment methods, positive implications for teachers and students
- Findings could be applied to workplaces to enhance productivity (training employees using memory-based techniques)
5
Q
Negative Implications: Baddeley
A
- Use of housewives - paid for their participation and may have later questioned their cognitive abilities if their performance was below average
- Findings could influence educational practices - memory performance may be unfairly used to label and categorise individuals (children/adults with poor memory may face stigma or exclusion in academic or occupational settings - raises concerns about fairness and equality)
- Could be applied to the work place, may raise socially sensitive concerns about exploitation, individuals may be pressured to exceed reasonable cognitive capacities, impacting mental wellbeing
6
Q
Positive Implications: Raine
A
- Enhances our understanding of the biological causes of aggression (role of brain abnormalities in violent behaviour) - lead to more informed discussion about criminal behaviour (not just stemming from personal choices alone but biological predispositions as well)
- Influence the legal system, provide evidence for mitigating factors in criminal cases - individuals with brain dysfunctions receive treatment instead of punishment, more rehabilitative approach
- Lead to policymakers promoting brain scans to identify individuals who may be at risk of developing aggressive behaviour due to recognisable brain abnormalities - monitoring and treatment, shows SSR is important for improvements in society
7
Q
Negative Implications: Raine
A
- Lead to stigmatisation of individuals with similar brain abnormalities who have no history of violence - individuals with lower activity in their pre-frontal cortex may be labelled as predisposed to aggression -> social discrimination, exclusion
- May reinforce social stereotypes about certain group sin society who are represented by the results from the NGRIs - young males may be labelled incorrectly as prone to violence (negative implications of SSR about causes of aggression)
- Findings may be seen as offering an excuse for murder, remove blame from NGRIs which may divide members of society (justice for NGRIs but not NGRIs’ victims’ families)
8
Q
Positive Implication: Watson and Raynor
A
- Findings have been applied in
behaviour modification techniques, including therapy for phobias (systematic desensitisation), help patients overcome anxiety associated with their phobia - Led to improvements in
therapy settings, ensure that clients are fully informed and involved in their treatment decisions, emphasise importance of autonomy and consent - Contributed to the development of
behaviourism, reinforces the idea that behaviour can be shaped through environmental influences, significant positive social implications (in areas like education and therapy, behaviourist principles have been widely applied)
9
Q
Positive Implication: Watson and Raynor
A
- Findings have been applied in
behaviour modification techniques, including therapy for phobias (systematic desensitisation), help patients overcome anxiety associated with their phobia - Led to improvements in
therapy settings, ensure clients are fully informed and involved in their treatment decisions, emphasise importance of autonomy and consent - Contributed to the development of
behaviourism, reinforces the idea that behaviour can be shaped through environmental influence - significant positive implications in areas like education and therapy (behaviourist principles have been widely applied)
9
Q
Negative Implications: Watson and Raynor
A
- Particular groups in society - development of aversion therapy from the principles of their study, implications for homosexual men (forced to undergo therapy to change their sexuality), may be seen as manipulating behaviour, has social consequences for these men.
- Showed that fear can be learned and generalised, could be misinterpreted or used to reinforce harmful societal beliefs (emotional responses are easily manipulated, can condition individuals to develop phobias), concerns about the responsible use of research findings (in areas like parenting, education, or therapy)
- Misuse in areas like advertising (artificially inducing fear to sell products), using conditioning to change behaviours or deliberately bring about a fear response
against someone’s free will (aversion therapy with alcoholics)
9
Q
Positive Implications: Rosenhan
A
- Highlighted the subjective nature of psychiatric diagnoses and the potential for
error, led to critical discussions about the reliability of the DSM, contributed to the development of the DSM-III in 1980 (more standardised criteria for diagnosing mental disorders), shows importance of SSR to drive change - Showed how psychiatric labels influenced the perception of normal behaviours (pseudo patients writing notes, labelled as ‘engages in writing behaviour’, viewed as symptom of their illness), prompted efforts to reduce stigma, improve treatment of individuals with mental health conditions (both within and outside institutional settings)
- Revealed the dehumanising treatment of patients in psychiatric hospitals,
emphasised the need to protect patient autonomy and dignity, contributed to
advocacy for better mental health care practices, led to development of anti-stigma campaigns, improved societal attitudes toward mental illness
9
Q
Negative Implications: Rosenhan
A
- Topic was of a socially sensitive nature, cast doubt on the competence of mental health professionals, portrayed them as overly reliant on labels, cannot distinguish between sane and insane, challenged public trust in psychiatry and mental health services, may have discouraged individuals aware of his research to go seek necessary treatment
- Findings may have had implications for hospital staff involved when they became aware of the study, may have felt their reputation was being questioned - Rosenhan ensured confidentiality (did not name hospitals), the generalisation of his findings stigmatised psychiatric institutions as a whole
- SSR like this often has long-term consequences (difficult to predict), Rosenhan aimed to reduce stigma in patients with mental health conditions, findings may have inadvertently reinforced stereotypes about individuals with mental health conditions, negative implications for this group in society
