Tricky Topics Flashcards
What is Consistency in minority influence?
Consistency refers to the minority maintaining the same view over time (diachronic consistency) and within the group (synchronic consistency) this level of persistence causes doubt in the majority, for them to reconsider their views as they realise the majority may have a valid point.
What is Commitment in minority influence?
Commitment is demonstrated when the majority shows dedication to their cause, often by making personal sacrifices or risks. This suggests they genuinely believe in their message, making the majority more likely to internalize their viewpoint.
What is Flexibility in minority influence?
While the minority holds strongly to their beliefs however the minority need to show some level of flexibility through accepting compromise rather than being unreasonable.
3 evaluations for the role of flexibility and consistency in minority influence
- Moscovici et al. (1969) found that a consistent minority (who repeatedly called blue slides “green”) influenced the majority 8.42% of the time, while an inconsistent minority had much less influence (1.25%). This supports the idea that consistency is key to minority influence.
- Nemeth (1986) demonstrated that minorities who were flexible in a simulated jury decision-making task (e.g., adjusting their compensation offer slightly) were more influential than those who were rigid. This suggests that a balance between consistency and flexibility is most effective.
- A limitation is that the studies lack ecological validity. Do not reflect the real life minority influence which involves deeply held beliefs and high stakes decision making. reduces generalisability of the findings as influence in a control lab setting may not translate to complex social change in the real world.
Two differences between Episodic and Semantic memory (4 marks)
One difference is that episodic memories can be linked to the time and place which the memory is encoded. they revolve around a personal experience and event which happened at a set time. Whereas semantic memories refer to general knowledge which is not linked to a time and place when you encoded that information.
A second difference is that episodic memories requires conscious effort to recall, as it involves retrieving specific details about a past experience. In contrast, semantic memory is generally retrieved automatically, as it consists of facts which do not require conscious recollection of when they were learned.
what are 4 evaluations for the romanian orphan studies
+ Practical application - social care and early intervention (pre 6 months) and understanding of the critical period. Furthermore, it has shaped policies around the importance of nurturing attachments for children in institutional care
+ Supporting evidence - Chugani et al (10 Romanian orphans vs 2 controls) PET scans, dysfunction in areas responsible for impulsivity, attention etc.
- Sample was from extreme institutionalisation (severe overcrowding, poor nutrition) so does not reflect typical institutions effect on attachment and development
- Long term effects are still unclear - study was stopped at 15. Once in adulthood, children may have caught up. hard to draw firm conclusions
What is the critical period (3 marks)
Bowlby initially proposed that the critical period for attachment occurs before the age of two and a half years, during which an attachment must form for healthy emotional development.
If attachment did not occur within this window, he suggested it would never happen.
However, Bowlby later revised his theory, introducing the concept of a sensitive period, which extends up to five years. During this period, attachments can still form, but the process may take longer and be less effective than if it occurred earlier.
What is the Internal Working Model (3 marks)
According to Bowlby, an internal working model is a mental representation of our early attachment experience with our primary caregiver that becomes a template for future relationships
Influencing how individuals perceive themselves, others, and their interactions.
It allows individuals to predict, control, and interpret their environment, shaping their emotional and social responses throughout life.
4 Evaluations for the cognitive approach for explaining depression
+ Supporting evidence - Tagvani et al
+ real world application - ABCDE + CBT
- Compare to biological - cannot be used alone to explain
- “it blames the person rather than the situation”
A Researcher wanted to test if there is a relationship between the passage of time and recall of nonsense words. They gave 30 participants 40 nonsense words to learn, then tested recall at fixed intervals over several weeks. The nonsense words were standardised to ensure they were of similar difficulty and length.
When writing up the investigation, the researcher represented their data on a scattergram.
Briefly explain how the use of inferential statistics would improve this investigation. (3 marks)
Inferential statistics will allow for the researcher to determine whether there is any statistically significant relationship between the passage of time and recall of nonsense words.
This is because the inferential statistics allow for statistical testing to determine whether this relationship is significant or occurred due to random variation.
If significant, they can draw firm conclusions from the 30 participants and generalise the findings to a wider population.
6.) A Researcher wanted to test if there is a relationship between the passage of time and recall of nonsense words. They gave 30 participants 40 nonsense words to learn, then tested recall at fixed intervals over several weeks. The nonsense words were standardised to ensure they were of similar difficulty and length.
When writing up the investigation, the researcher represented their data on a scatter gram.
Suggest an appropriate statistical test to improve this investigation. With reference to the study. Outline two reasons for your choice of test. (5 marks)
Reason 1:
The study aims to investigate the relationship between the passage of time (independent variable) and recall of nonsense words (dependent variable).
Since it is a correlation between two continuous variables (time intervals and recall scores),
Spearman’s rho is ideal for assessing the strength and direction of this relationship.
Reason 2:
The data in this study, consisting of recall scores at different time intervals, can be considered ordinal rather than interval or ratio
As the intervals represent ordered categories rather than precise measurements.
Outline one limitation of retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting.
A limitation of retrieval failure as an explanation of forgetting is that it does not account for forgetting due to decay, where memories fade over time due to a lack or maintenance rehearsal rather than an absence of cues or displacement.
This suggests that retrieval failure is not a complete explanation of forgetting, as some memories can be lost permanently rather than just being inaccessible.
What is the encoding specificity principle
Key component of retrieval failure
Endel Tulving suggested that for recall of a memory, the cues that are present at recall have to be the same specific cues that were present at learning (encoding of the information)
Two evaluations of post event discussion on the accuracy of EWT
+ Supporting evidence from Gabbert et al (2003) provides empirical evidence that post event discussion can alter reccolection or modify memories
- The controlled research by Gabbert is a limitation as the artificial nature of the reserach limits the findings. Factors like stress and anxiety impact. Foster et al (1994) found that eyewitnesses were more accurate when they believed the video was of a real robbery and their responses will influence the trial.
