Usefulness

Why may psychology not be considered useful?

Lacking internal, ecological and population validity

Why may psychology be considered as useful?

• Useful for understanding psychological phenomena

• Useful for practitioners (clinical psychology for example)

• Useful for the general public to understand themselves and the world

• Useful for policy makers and politicians to make good decisions and policy?

What are some examples of studies lacking usefulness people of population validity?

• Freud

  • Only uses Little Hans

• Sperry

  • 11 split brain participants

  • Niche sample

• Milgram

  • Gender bias

  • 40 males

Low population validity means that findings cannot be generalised to groups that aren’t represented within the study

What studies lack usefulness because of low internal validity?

• Chaney

  • Field experiment

  • Many EV’s out of p’s control so less able to assume cause and effect

• Any quasi experiment

  • The researcher cannot manipulate naturally occurring variables so we cannot establish cause and effect

What studies may be considered useful and why?

• Grant

  • Practical application- students should revise in silence as they are tested in silence

• Loftus and Palmer

  • Same seven car crash clips increases internal validity

• Bandura- quantitative data

  • 13.7 vs 6.7

• Kohlberg

  • Quantitative data increases insight so increased validity

  • Responses to moral dilemma