GCSE Psychology 9-1

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.