Educational Psychology: Own Research (A-Level and Counselling)

Provide research discussing the bystander event.

Latane and Darley 1970

Participants were tested either alone or in groups. Confederates were asked to ignore the smoke filling the room.

The participants tested alone - 75% reported the smoke within two minutes

Tested in confederate group - less than 13% reported the smoke

Provide research discussing Locus of Control in University students.

Spector 1988

Gave the Locus of Control scale to university students and found that students with a high external LOC did conform more than students with a high internal LOC, but only in tasks involving normative social influence and not informational.

Provide the key evidence for Classical Conditioning.

Pavlov 1889

Demonstrated classical conditioning in dogs.

Being given food (UCS) → Salivating (UCR)

Being given food - Bell ringing (NS) → Salivating

Bell ringing (CS) → Salivating (CR)

Provide the key evidence for Reinforcement

Skinner 1930

Skinner’s box was a controlled environment where an animal would be placed. There is a lever which delivers a food pellet if pressed or pecked, or connected to an electrified grid which either turns off or on when the lever is pressed. →separate boxes!

* positive reinforcement : pressing the lever would give the animals food
* negative reinforcement : pressing the lever stops the electric current
* punishment : pressing the lever causes an electric current

Evidence of children modelling aggressive behaviour.

Bandura (1961)

Experiment on nursery age children who observed aggressive or non-aggressive behaviours from adult models, to see whether these would be imitated.

one condition: children were shown models acting aggressively towards a bobo doll, eg. hitting it with a mallet and yelling POW!

second condition: children were shown models acting non-aggressively towards a bobo doll

control group: children were shown no model

In all conditions, the children were taken to a room full of toys and told that they were not allowed to play with them, then taken to the room with the bobo doll.

Findings:

* children who observed the aggressive model imitated the psychical aggression they had seen, 1/3 repeated the verbal aggression
* children who had seen the non-aggressive model showed virtually no physical aggression and no verbal aggression
* children were also more likely to imitate models of the same sex

Evidence of children adapting behaviour based on the consequences they see.

Bandura (1965), follow up study:

Children were shown videos of adults acting aggressively to the bobo doll.

one condition: saw the adult praised for the behaviour

second condition: saw the adult punished for their behaviour by being told off

control group: observed the aggression with no consequence

when they were given the doll to play with, the first condition (aggression rewarded) were more likely to show aggression.

How can attachment types predict bullying behaviour?

Myron-Wilson & Smith (1998)

Bullying behaviour can be predicted by attachment types, attachment types and bullying behaviours were assessed using a standardised questionnaire for 196 children aged 7-11.

They found that secure children were unlikely to be involved with bullying, insecure avoidant children were most likely to be victims of bullying and insecure resistant children were most likely to be bullies.

based on attachment styles established by Ainsworth 1970s

Provide the details of Jonothan Haidt’s research

The Anxious Generation (2024)

Attributes the rise in mental health problems among young people to the increase in the use of technology by young people, particularly mobile phones.

He suggests the Four Foundational Harms of mobile phone use: Social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction.

Discussion of race and mental health.

Ginwright (2023)

Suggests the idea of a Post Traumatic Stress Environment.

Discussions of vulnerability.

You are your Best Thing

Relationship with Physical Disability.

Wilson, 2003: Disability, counselling and Psychotherapy.

Provide an example of social media being used to better mental health.

NottAlone podcast - local professionals talking about mental health.

Provide an example of the rise of mental health problems in CYP.

Guardian article, post-covid. 2022. Denis Campbell, policy edit.