Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.2.2 - Van Houtte and Jarvis (1995) The Role of Pets in Preadolescent Psychosocial Development: Aims - To investigate the impact of pet ownership on adolescent personality provided evidence in terms of self-esteem and a more positive self-concept. Procedures - 130 pupils aged 8-13 white american, divided into two groups, pet owners and non pet owners and then matched on marital status, wealth and siblings. Results - 1. Higher self esteem was reported in pet owners than non pet owners. 2. 11 years old with pets had more positive self concept. 3. Higher autonomy was reported by pet owners of all ages. Conclusions - Pet owning adolescents would report higher levels of autonomy and self esteem than non pet owners. Pets provide unconditional positive regard for pet owners. Strengths - The results of the experiment were content with the hypothesis. Well known scales were used which is a reliable way of measuri...
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Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.2.1 - Vohs and Schooler (2008) The Value of Believing in Free Will: Encouraging a Belief in Determinism Increases Cheating - Aims - To investigate whether inducing participants to believe that human behaviour is predetermined would encourage treating. Procedures - In experiment 1: Participants read either text that encouraged a belief in determinism (i.e that behaviour is the result of environmental and genetic factors) or neutral test. Results - In experiment 2: Participants who read determinism text cheated by overpaying themselves for performance on a cognitive task, participants who read free will did not. Participants in the anti-free will condition reported weaker free will beliefs than the other participants in the control condition. Conclusions - The more participants endorsed statements of free will, the less they paid themselves.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.6 - Understand the use of trait theory as a measure of personality, including strengths and weaknesses of trait theory: b) Allport (1936) cardinal, central and secondary personality traits - In 1936 allport found that one English dictionary alone contained more than 4,000 words describing different personality traits. He categorised these traits into three levels. Cardinal Traits - These are traits that dominate an individuals whole life, often to the point where an individual becomes known specifically for these traits. These are rare and tend to develop later in life. Central Traits - These are general characteristics that form the basic foundations of personality. These central traits, whilst not as dominating as cardinal traits, are the major characteristics you might use to describe another person. Terms such as 'intelligent', 'honest', 'shy' and 'anxious', are considered central traits. Secondary Tr...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.5 - Understand how personality can be measured, including: a) Personality scales - Finding scales to measure particular personality constructs. Personality scales will measure where you are on a spectrum for a particular personality trait. Measuring on an individual trait is more reliable as it generalises less. b) Personality types - This is a more generalising approach as they group together multiple traits rather than measure them individually. They are more used to roughly fit people into a category.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.4 - Understand the role of internal and external influences on the self and self-esteem, including: a) temperament - Your temperament permanently effects your behaviour and in a big way. It may determine the nature of the situations you get yourself into and how you react to them and what effects they have on you. Your temperament also effects your self esteem. b) Experience - Experiences shapes the way you think about the world and yourself as it shapes your schema. It is not just dependent on experience alone its how you perceive these experiences and whether you learn from them or not. Childhood experiences shape our base schemas and temperament as this is where we develop most of our understanding of things.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.3 - Understand the Humanistic Theory of Self, including strengths and weaknesses of each theory: a) Humanistic explanations of the development of self-esteem - Humanistic theories look at the whole individual and stresses concepts such as free will, self efficiency and self actualisation. Rogers (1951) believed feelings of self worth developed in early childhood and were formed by interactions of the child with their mother or father. b) Humanistic explanations of the development of personality - This is defined as 'the organised', the consistent set of perceptions and beliefs about ourselves. The self is the humanistic term for who we are as a person. It can be likened to the 'soul'. It is mainly influenced by our experiences in life and how we perceive them. Two primary sources are childhood experiences and evaluation by others. We want to feel, experience and behave in ways that are consistent with our self image. Rog...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.2 - Understand the role of identity and free will in the development of self, including strengths and weaknesses of each theory: Erikson (1959) - 1. Trust vs Mistrust - Hope / Anxiety - 0 to 1 ½ 2. Autonomy vs Shame - Will / Inadequacy - 1 ½ to 3 3. Initiative vs Guilt - Purpose / Insecurity - 3 to 5 4. Industry vs Inferiority - Competency / Inferiority - 5 to 12 5. Identity vs Role Confusion - Fidelity / Identity Crisis - 12 to 18 6. Intimacy vs Isolation - Love / Loneliness - 18 to 40 7. Generativity vs Stagnation - Care / Disconnected - 40 to 65 8. Ego Integrity vs Despair - Wisdom / Despair - 65+ Strengths - Changed how people think of later years in life. Realistic personality development. Provides a framework. Weaknesses - They are very vague descriptions. Does not explain the causes. Does not explain how it effects you in the future. Baumeister (2008) - Some actions are freer than others an...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 7.1.1 - Understand the concepts of the self and self-concept, including: Lewis (1990) a) Existential Self - The sense of being separate and distinct from others and the awareness of the constancy of the self. Begins as early as 2-3 months old. b) Categorical Self - Having realised that they are a separate entity, the child now becomes aware that they are an object in the world and that they have properties too. Rogers (1959) c) Self Image - How we see ourselves, important to good mental health. d) Self Esteem - Self esteem (or self worth) comprises what we think of ourselves. e) Ideal Self - This is the person who we would like to be. It consists of our goals or ambitions. f) Self-Actualisation - When someones ideal self is congruent with their self image. g) Congruence - When a persons ideal self and actual experience are very similar. h) Incongruence - When a persons ideal se...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 6.2.2 - Charlton et al (2000) Children’s Playground Behaviour Across Five Years of Broadcast Television: A Naturalistic Study in a Remote Community: Aims - To investigate the effect of the introduction of satellite TV on the aggressive behaviour of children. Procedures - Conducted on 3-8 year olds who had not yet seen TV. aggressive behaviour was analysed before the study and then after. A schedule of pro-social and anti-social behaviour was kept. Results - There were no significant differences in the results. The levels of anti-social behaviour were very low on first observation and remained this way throughout various viewings. The children displayed almost twice as much pro-social behaviour than anti-social behaviour both before and after the introduction of TV. Conclusion - Exposure to more violent TV does not necessarily result in an increase in aggressive behaviour. Strengths - ...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 6.2.1 - Bandura, Ross and Ross (1961) Transmission of Aggression through Imitation of Aggressive Models: Aims - To investigate if social behaviour can be acquired by observation and imitation. Procedures - There was a control group with no model shown, a group with an aggressive model, and one with a non-aggressive model. Each group had 24 children in it. 12 boys and 12 girls. Results - Children who observed in the aggressive model were a lot more likely to imitate aggressive responses. Boys were more likely to imitate same sex models than girls. Boys were more physically aggressive than girls. Girls showed more physical aggression if the model was male, but more verbal if they were female. Conclusions - The findings support Bandura's social learning theory. Children learn social behaviour such as aggression through the process of observational learning. Strengths - It all...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 6.1.4 - Understand two treatments to rehabilitate and reduce criminal and antisocial behaviour and increase pro-social behaviour, including strengths and weaknesses of each treatment: a) Token Economy Programmes - Use the principles from operant conditioning as a behaviour modification technique. The focus is on the offender and the guard identifying. What the desired behaviour is e.g not swearing or getting into a fight and are therefore used to encourage pro-social behaviour. If the offender does the desired behaviour they are given a token - this acts as a secondary reinforcer that can be traded in for a primary reinforcer which meets a basic need. This acts as a way of reinforcing the good behaviour. It is important that an exchange rate is established, this determines how many tokens are required for the reward to be given. Strengths - Milby found that TEP were successful in psychiatric hospitals however follow up studies a...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 6.1.3 - Understand the effects of punishments on recidivism, including strengths and weaknesses of each punishment: Recidivism - The tendency of a criminal to re-offend. Prison - The use of prisons to control crime has increased in frequency in the last decade. Most recently, mandatory minimum sentencing policies have gained widespread popularity throughout the united states, severely limiting judicial discretion in sentencing. The rationale for minimum sentencing is it will be a deterrent to criminals to re-offend. Strengths - The unpleasant environment makes them not want to go back. Negative social stigma with being an ex con. All the while they're in there they can't re-offend Weaknesses - Negative environment can cause re-offence. Adverse effect on low risk offenders. Psychological deep freeze effect where it has little to no effect. Community Sentencing - Strengths - ...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 6.1.2 - Understand biological explanations of criminality, including personality types (Eysenck, 1964), to include strengths and weaknesses of the theory: a) Extraversion - This is associated with traits such as sociability, talkativeness and excitability. b) Introversion - A preference for quiet settings and being alone, the opposite of extraversion. c) Neuroticism - A tendency towards anxiety, self doubt, depression and shyness and other negative feelings. d) Psychoticism - Aggression, impulsitivity, aloofness and antisocial behavior.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 6.1.1 - Understand learning theories as an explanation of criminality, including strengths and weaknesses of each theory: Operant Conditioning (Skinner, 1948) - a) Positive Reinforcement - This strengthens behavior by providing a consequence an individual finds rewarding. He used a rat in a box to prove this with a lever that released food. b) Negative Reinforcement - The removal of an unpleasant reinforce can also strengthen behavior. This is known as negative reinforcement because it is the removal of adverse stimulus. c) Positive Punishment - Positive punishment removes a positive reinforce to weaken a response. d) Negative Punishment - This is applying an unpleasant stimulus to weaken a response. e) Primary Reinforcers - There is no learning necessary for these to be reinforcing. These are things like eating, sleeping etc. f) Secondary Reinforcers - This ...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 5.3.1 - Understand social and cultural issues in psychology, including: a) know the terms ‘society’ and ‘social issues’ - Society - A group of individuals involved in a persistent social interaction, or large social group sharing the same geographical or social territory. Social issues - A social issue is a problem that influences a considerable amount of individuals in a society. These issues are often out of an individuals control. b) Know the term 'culture' - The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement reguarded collectively.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 5.2.2 - Haney, Banks, and Zimbardo (1973) A Study of Prisoners and Guards in a Simulated Prison: Aims - To find out whether the brutality reported in prisons was due to the sadistic personalities of the guards or the situation. Procedure - Randomly assigned people who applied to guard or prisoner set up in a prison environment, prisoners were treated like real prisoners. Referred to not by their name but by their number. Guards were dressed identically. Results - Within a very short time, both guards and prisoners were settling into their roles. Within hours of the experiment the guards began to harass prisoners. Guards found it easy to dehumanize the prisoners. Conclusions - People will readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play. Especially if the roles are strongly stereotyped. The prison environment was an important factor in creating the guards brutal behav...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 5.2.1 - Piliavin et al (1969) Good Samaritanism: An Underground Phenomenon?: Aims - To investigate factors affecting helping behavior. Procedures - They investigated helping behavior with: 1. The type of victim (drunk or ill). 2. The race of the victim (black or white). 3. The speed of helping. 4. The frequency of helping. 5. The race of the helper. It investigated this on a train on a 5-7 minute journey. Results - Helping behavior was a lot higher than previous laboratory studies. They did not investigate the effects of the models helping as people stepped in before the model could. Race had no effects on the results. But there was a slight tendency for some race helping. Diffusion of responsibility was not present the more bystanders there were. Conclusions - Observation of an emergency situation creates an emotional arousal in bystanders. State of arousal can be effected by factors like; if you see you...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 5.1.1 - Know the terms: a) Obedience - A form of social influence where an individual acts in response to a direct order from another person, who is usually an authority figure. b) Conformity - A type of social influence involving a change in belief or behavior in order to fit in with a group. c) Deindividuation - The phenomenon of people losing self awareness, restraint and responsibility for their actions when in a group. In a sense people will do things in a group they would otherwise not have done individually. d) Bystander effect - Also called bystander apathy. Refers to the tendency of people to take no action in an emergency situation when there are others present.
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 4.2.2 - Sperry (1968) Hemisphere Deconnection and Unity in Conscious Awareness: Aims - To show the independent streams of conscious awareness possessed by each hemisphere and to show how each hemisphere has its own memories. Procedures - It had two visual fields. Left is what we can see on our right, right is what we can see on our right. Information from the left visual field goes to the right hemisphere. Information from the right visual field goes to the left hemisphere. They were given visual tasks and stimuli and tactile tasks. Results - Participants would recognize the stimuli if it was presented again to the same visual field, but if it was presented to a different one from before, they would claim to never have seen it. Objects placed in the right hand could be described in speech or writing, if the same objects were placed in the left hand participants couldn't recognize them. C...
Psychology 9-1 GCSE - 4.2.1 - Damasio et al (1994) The Return of Phineas Gage: Clues About the Brain from the Skull of a Famous Patient: Aims - To investigate if areas other than the frontal lobe were damaged. Procedures - 1. They took pictures and measurements of the skull and built a 3D replica of Gage's skull. 2. They measured the iron rod. 3. They measured the possible exit and entry points for the iron rod. 4. Found 5 most likely paths and mapped out damaged areas in each case. Results - Found that it was likely to have been damage in both hemispheres of the frontal lobe. Confidently assumed that the frontal lobe was only damaged. Found that the white matter in the left hemisphere had more damage caused to it. Conclusion - The ventromedial area of the frontal lobe seems to be important for making sensible decisions and for controlling our impulses. Gage found these things difficult after his injury, ...