Classical studies

Aim:

• to evaluate similarities and differences in the ratio of attachment types in different countries

Research method and design:

• meta analysis

• Repeated measures

Meta-analysis

• 32 studies carried out in 8 countries (1990 strange situations classifications)

• All children were under 24 months and none had special educational needs

Countries studies

1. USA: 18 studies

2. UK: 1 study

3. Germany: 3 studies

4. Netherlands: 4 studies

5. Sweden: 1 study

6. Japan: 2 studies

7. China: 1 study

8. Israel: 2 studies

Data collection methods and type of data collected:

• observation

• Qualitative

• Secondary data

Results:

• type B was the most common in all 8 countries

• Germany had a high proportion of Type A

• Japan had high proportion of Type C

• There was a greater difference in attachment types in studies from the same culture there were from studies on different countries

Conclusions:

• Type B is the most common attachment in all 8 countries could be a result of mass media spreading ideas about parenting

• The idea that Type B attachment is needed for healthy social and emotional development- Type B being the most common supports this

Validity:

• Eurocentric

• 32 different countries in different regions of the world - different cultures

Reliability:

• standardised procedure

• Replicable

• Structure to follow for all countries (SSP)

• However, we don’t know if structure was followed properly

Generalisability:

• large sample from a good variety of countries

• Eurocentric

Analysis procedures

• used appropriate categorical data analysis

• Standardised residuals

• chi-squared

• correspondence analysis

Aim:

• To see if psychiatrists can distinguish the ‘sane from the insane’

• See what life is like inside a psychiatric institution

participants used and sampling technique:

• over 100 pts

• Hospital staff

Procedure:

• 8 pseudo patients (3F + 5M) recruited

• Phoned 12 psychiatric hospitals in America (range of good/old/new/private

• Said they could hear voices saying “thud, empty and hollow”

• Once admitted they stopped faking their symptoms and acted normal

• Answered all Qs from staff honestly and tried to get out

• Pseudo patients observed life in ward and made nots

Research method ad design:

• field experiment

Data collection methods and type of data collected:

• Observation (naturalistic)

• Quantitative and qualitative data

Results:

• all 8 pseudo patients admitted - 7/8 diagnosed with schizophrenia and 1/ manic depression

• Sanity never detected by staff - all released with schizophrenia in remission (still having disorder but no symptoms)

• In hospitals between 7-52 days (average 19 days)

• Normal behaviour were seen as symptoms

• 71% of the time patients were ignored when trying to make contact

• 23% eye contact, 2% verbal responses, 185 Qs none answered

Validity:

• lack of informed consent and naturalistic observation

• Lack of experimenter effect

Reliability:

• lack of control - can’t be replicated fully

Generalisability:

• over 100 pts an 12 hospitals ranging = large sample size = generalisability

• Took place in America - ethnocentric

• DSM- time locked

DSM:

1st and 2nd education of the DSM

(have been updated since)

Aim:

• Is there a difference in the structure of brain activity between people who have committed murder (NGRIs) and non-murderers

Sample and sampling technique:

• opportunity sampling

Sample of 82

• 41 murderers- 39M, 2F

• 41 control (non-murderers, same age and sex)

Pts in murderer group had history of schizophrenia, brain damage, drug abuse, epilepsy, learning or emotional disorder

Independent Variables (IV)

• whether the participants was pleading guilty by reason of insanity or a non-murderer

Dependent Variable (DV)

Relative glucose levels-revealed by PET scan

Experimental controls

• NGRIs on no medication 2 weeks before PET scan

• Participants practiced CPT 10mins before injection

Research method and dsign:

• quantitative data

• Brain scans

Procedure:

• Participants was injected with glucose tracer

• Then, they performed the continuous performance task (CPT) for 32 mins

• PET scan carried out

Reults:

• brain abnormalities in NGRIs might translate into violence or antisocial behaviours

• Performance deficit: impulsive + emotional more

• Lambic system deficit: aggressive because amygdala controls urges and desires- deficit makes it harder to learn from mistakes or understand emotion

• Corpus Callosum (communication): deficit makes it harder to think through long term consequences

Validity:

• CPT artificial and unconnected to violence or provocation

• Low ecological validity

Reliability;

• PET is a reliable brain imaging technique

• Objective and replicable

• Standardised procedure

• High reliability

Generalisability:

• 82- large sample

• Representative of wider population

Aim:

• to find out if classical conditioning works on humans. Specifically, to find out if fear response can be conditioned into a 9 month old baby boy

• Also to see if the fear responses will b generalised to other animals and objects and how long the conditioning last.

Independent Variable

1. Before conditioning compared to after-conditioning

2. Being presented with the white rat compared to being presented with other white, fluffy animals or objects

Repeated measure design

Dependent Variables (DV)

• the number of fearful behaviours Albert shows when presented with the stimuli

Research method and design:

• Lab experiment

• Repeated measures

Procedure:

• at 9moths, Albert was with a white rat, a rabbit, cotton wool and other stimuli to see if he had a fear reaction- he didn’t, this shows these were neutral stimuli (NS)

• The researcher also checked his fear response by banging an iron bar. Albert cried at the loud noise

  • Noise= unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

  • Crying= unconditioned response (UCR

• At 11 months, Albert was conditioned. He was shown the white rat 3x each time the paired with striking the iron bar. Albert started to whimper. A week later, Albert was conditioned again. The rat was presented 3x paired with the noise

Data collection methods and type of data collected:

- natural observation

Results:

• when the rat was later presented alone, Albert whimpered. The rat was presented alone another time, Albert cried.

• This suggests that the NS is not a conditioned stimulus (CS) and Alberts crying is a conditioned response (CR)

Conclusion:

• W&R concluded that they had successfully conditioned Albert to fear the white rat and that his fear response generalised to other white, furry things (with a stranger response the more closely they resembled the rat) and transferred to other situations

• Watson propose that the conditioned responses Albert was left with would last lifetime

• Conditioned emotional response can occur in human after only a few pairings of the stimuli

Aim

To find out if long-term memory encodes acoustically (based on sound) or semantically (based on meaning)

Independent variables (IV)

1. Acoustically similar or dissimilar word list

2. Semantically similar or dissimilar word list

3. Performance before 15 minutes “forgetting” delay and performance after

IV (1) and (2) are tested using independent groups design but IV (3) is tested through repeated measures

Dependent variables (DV)

Score on recall test of words; words must be recalled in the correct order (really, this is a test of remembering the word order, not the words themselves)

Participants used and sampling technique:

• Male and females

• From Cambridge university

• Mostly students (some lectures)

• Volunteer sampling

Participant groups

• 4 groups according to IV(1) and (2)

• Acoustically similar

• Acoustically dissimilar

• Semantically similar

• Semantically dissimilar

Research method and design:

• Lab experiment

• Independent groups + repeated measures

Procedure:

Think of how to shorten

Results:

• Baddeley found that participants had greater difficulty recalling lists of acoustically similar words compared to acoustically dissimilar words when tested immediately.

• Short-term memory primarily encodes information based on sound, while semantically similar words were harder to recall after a delay, suggesting that-term memory encodes information based on meaning; this supports the idea that ST and LT memory are separate stores with different coding mechanisms.

Validity:

• Standardised procedure and controls - high internal validity

• Artificial task (recalling words)- low ecological validity

Reliability:

• High reliability

• standardised procedure

• Replicability

Generalisability:

• Large sample of 72

• However; 4 groups = 15-20 pts = small

• Sample made up of the same age group

• Anomalies "averaged out”

Aim:

• wants to instigate intergroup relations over a period of time when various experimentally included situations were introduced

• Particularly invested in group formation, the effects o competition and the conditions under which

Sample and sampling technique:

• 22 boys

• 11-12 years old

• White middle-class

• Opportunity sampling

Procedure: stage 1 (in group formation)

• in-groups were created by facilitating tasks that required in-group cooperation

• 2 groups were involved in activities designed to encourage formation

• 2 groups were kept separate from each other

• Researchers who the boys thought were camp staff, observed the verbal and non-verbal communication and the relationship that emerged

• Sociometric data was collected (how the boys rated each other in terms of popularity, initiative etc.)

Procedure: stage 2 (friction phase)

• boys were in contact with each other - competition as part of camp tournament

• It was necessary for each individual group member to contribute in the competition in order to win points towards the tournament total

• Both groups were also subject to orchestrated situations that they would find frustrations and believe were caused by the other group.

• During this stage stereotypes between each group were recorded and behaviours an attitudes

Procedure: stage 3 (cooperation phase)

• devoted to bringing about conflict resolutions through the induction of common gals (designed to ensure cooperation between groups)

  • Fixing the water tank that provided water to both groups

  • A joint camp-over where group members had to work together for food and sleeping gear

  • Staring the broken-down camp bus

Research method and design

• Field experiment

• Independent groups

Data collection methods and type data collected

• Observation (covert) - only 12 hours

• Quantitative and qualitative data

• Example: Tape recordings of conversations

Results:

Study strongly supports RCT by showing that

• competition leads to hostility (friction phase)

• Merge group identity isn’t enough for conflict (competition was required)

• Superordinate goals reduce hostility (cooperation phase)

Validity:

• Several different research methods

• Ecological validity - real boys and activities

• However, there are some unrealistic features

Reliability:

• Numbered scoring system for the boys friendship patterns - quantitative data

• Multiple observers- inter-rater rehability

Generalisability:

• 22 boys- not large

• Any anomalies (unusual characteristics)

• Sherif screened boys before

• Only boys - no girls or mix sex