Psychology AS; Core Studies

Background:
-best known for developing the social learning theory (learning through those around us; observation and imitating. Cognitive processes are also important in studying behavior)
Aim:
Demonstrate that if children were passive witnesses to an aggressive display by an adult they would imitate this when given the opportunity.
Hypotheses: - 4 predictions;
1)Children exposed to aggressive models will imitate acts resembling those of the models.
2)Children exposed to non-aggressive models will produce less aggressive acts.
3)Children will imitate the behavior of a same sex model as opposed to oppsite.
4) Boys will be more predisposed in imitating aggression.
Method/Design:
Lab experiment and matched pairs.
3 conditions; control group, the group exposed to the aggressive model, the group exposed to a passive model. 24 in each.
36 boys and 36 girls (mean=52 months).
Aggressive condition; 12(6 boys/6 girls) = Same sex model. 12 = Opposite

Same with the Non-aggressive condition.
3 IV's - Condition, sex of the role model, sex of the child.
Procedure:Stage one - N-AC = model ignores bobo doll. AC = Model aggressive to the Bobo doll with physical aggression and verbal aggression. After 10mins child taken to another room
Stage two - taken to another room and told they were the researchers special toys and they were reserved for other children. (mild aggression arousal)
Stage three - Taken to another room with a variety of non/aggressive toys. Kept in for 20 mins.
Response measures: 1)Imitation of physical aggression 2)Imitation of verbal aggression 4)Imitative non-aggressive verbal responses.
2 behaviors = mallet aggression and sits on bobo.
3 behaviors = punches bobo aggressive gun play and non-imitative verbal/physical aggression.
Results:1)children in the AC made more aggressive responses
2)Boys made more aggressive responses.
3)Boys in the AC showed more aggression responses if the model was male.
4)Girls in the AC showed more physical aggression if exposed to a male model however more verbal if exposed to a female model.

Background:
Piaget - Sensory motor stage, per-operational stage, concrete operational stage and Formal operational stage. POS = Conservation experiment. The POS child has not decentred and is therefore centering on one dimension.
Aim:To challenge Piaget's findings by altering the method.
Method/Design:
Laboratory experiment and independent measures. 252 divided into 4 groups (5.3m,6.3m,7.3m,8.3m) Then divided into 3 sub groups.
3 IV's; 3 conditions, 4 age groups and materials used
Procedure:
1)Standard - Traditional 2 questions carried out by Paiget.
2)One Judgment - Conservation task however only asked one question(Post-transformation)
3)Fixed array control - Only saw PT.
3 Different materials used: a)mass b)number c)volume
Results:
1)children found the OJ easiest.
2)Sig, difference between the age groups. Older did better
3)Children made fewer errors on the number task compared to other tasks.

Background: Believed unconscious contains unresolved conflicts and has powerful effects on our behavior and experiences. 5 stages of development = oral, anal, phallic, latency and genital. Phallic stage = Oedipus complex. ID, super ego and ego.
Aim:Report the findings of the treatment of a 5 year old boy for his phobia of horses.
Method and design:
Case study of Little Hans
Procedure: Carried out by the boys father via correspondence. First report was when he was 3 years old.
Results:
-developed interest in his 'Widdler'. Main theme within dreams and fantasies
- Feared his father as he believed he would find out about his sexual desire fr his mother and castrate him.
-Horse reminded him of his father therefore he imposed fear onto the horse,
-Dream of the crumpled giraffe - Reworking the morning exchanges in the parental bed
- Developed interest in toilet functions; mothers underwear and going to the toilet with the nurse or maid.

Background: Murder of Kitty Genovese. Diffusion of responsibility. Pluristic Ignorance.
Aim: Investigate factors affecting helping behaviour; type, race of vitctim, speed and frequency of helping, race of helper.
Method and Design: Field experiment usuing participant observation.
DV = race and gender of helper,whether people left the critical area, no. of people helping
Iv = race and gender of the vctim, drunk or ill, no. of people on the train.
Sample:  4,450 men and women on New York subway between 59th street and 125th street stations. 45% black, 55% white. 60% males in critical area.
Conditions: Black or white victim, drunk victim, or victim with black cane
Procedure:  on ride of 7 ½ minutes between stations, four researchers boarded train carriage.Observers = two females who sat outside critical area taking notes. Model (male) would step in and help victim if no other person helped A)critical early B)critical late C)adjacent early D)adjacent late E)no model condition
Victim = smelling of drink with bottle in brown bag or with black cane
After passing the first station (70 seconds) the victim ‘collapsed’ and lay on floor.At next station, if no one helped, model sat the victim up and all observers got off.

Results:Cane victim received spontaneous help in 62/65 trials.
Drunk victim received spontaneous help in 19/38 trials.
Mean number of travellers with cane victim was 45.
Mean number of travellers with drunk victim was 40.
Only three cane victims needed the model’s help.
16 drunk victims needed the model’s help (some from the late model).
Too few cases for analysis but generally the area made no difference, early model elicited more help than late model.
The same number of black and white victims was helped.
Median time taken to help ill victim = 5 seconds
Median time taken to help drunk victims = 109 seconds
90% helpers were male
64% helpers were white
68% helpers of white victims were white
50% of helpers of black victims were white

Background:'germans are different hypothesis'. Milgram set out to diprove the dispositional and prove the situational.
Aim: To see what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer shocks to another person.
Method and Design: laboratory experiment but no IV so also controlled observation. DV = voltage of shock participants gave to ‘Learner’ and comments by and observations of participants.
Sample: 40 males 20-50; wide range of occupations. self-selected from an advertisment. Memory.
Procedure: They were invited to Yale University.They were told they would get paid ($4.50 for attending).They were met by experimenter in grey technician’s coat.One participant and one accomplice met.They drew lots to see who would be teacher and who would be learner.Draw was fixed (teacher on both bits of paper) so that participant always the teacher.‘Learner’ was taken to room. ‘Teacher’ watched as learner was wired up to shock generator. Learner told shocks would be painful but cause no tissue damage.Learner explained about a heart condition.Each teacher was given sample shock of 40v. Teacher was taken to adjacent room. Teacher sat in front of shock generator and was told to test learner on word pairs.If the answer is incorrect or no answer is given the teacher has to administer a shock.

The voltage increased by 15v each time from 15v to 450v. Teacher read out list of word pairs then asked what the pair was of each word.Teacher gave shocks for incorrect or no answer. If hesitated or asked experimenter, etc. was given verbal prod, e.g. ‘It is absolutely essential you continue’. The teacher heard a mixture of correct and incorrect correct answers. No other vocal feedback was heard until 300v shock was given: The learner pounds on the wall between the two rooms. This is repeated after the 315v shock is given.
Results: 40/40 gave shock of 300v 26/40 gave shock of 450v Participants exhibited nervous behaviour: sweat, stutter, tremble, nervous laughter.
Three participants had seizures.              

Background: Zimbardo; situational. Social identity theory.
Aim: Investiagate if dominant group members will idnentiy with their group and impose power. Subordinate group members; challange inequalities.
Method and Design: Experimental case study. Mixture of Independant measures and matched pairds.
IV = Gaurd, prisoner. DV = Video and audio recordings, saliva swabs(hormone cortisol), daily psychometric tests; social, organisational and clinical.
Sample: 15 males; self-selected frough advertisments. Went through screenings. Randomly divided.
Conditions: Guards =  told they had to ensure smooth running and that prisoners completed tasks, e.g. cleaning. Asked to draw up rules and punishments. Give prisoners human rights. Had better conditions. Could enforce authority.
Prisoners were: made to have their heads shaved. Given uniform and prison rules and prisoner rights.
Procedure:  Guards: met at hotel night before experiment, were given prison timetable. Were taken to the experiment via blacked out van. were given means to enforce authority, e.g. keys, access to surveillance system, rewards for prisoners, e.g. snacks  

Prisoners: arrived one at a time, had their heads shaved. All behaviours were observed via CCTV and psychometric tests were given each day to test a variety of attitudes, e.g. authoritarianism or depression.
Planned intervention

1. permeability: guards were told they deserved their role

2. Legitimacy: participants were told allocation was nothing to do with ability/personality.

3. Cognitive alternatives: new prisoner was introduced who would provide new ideas.

Results: Statistical tests showed: Prisoners’ social identification increased over time. Guards’ group identification declined over time (but not significantly).
Prisoners = self-efficacy increased (by day 4 it was greater than guards)and became less depressed than guards by end of study
Guards = self-efficacy decreased (not significantly) and depression increased (not significantly)
At the beginning, neither guards nor prisoners could envisage any alternatives, e.g. guards having less power than prisoners.
Over time, both groups increased in their cognitive alternatives.After removal of the new prisoner, the self-efficacy of both groups declined.
After the breakdown of guards’ regime on day 6, most participants wanted to continue in self-governing community (two of them left)By morning of the second day, social structure was breaking down.
Four participants planned a harsher prisoner/guard regime.

It was decided by experimenters that the situation was gridlocked and that this new regime would probably result in physical aggression so the experiment was stopped.

Background:
Aim: To rigorously test the relation between eye movements and dreams
Hypothesis: 1.Participants who are woken during REM sleep are more likely to recall dreams. 2.Participants who are woken after 5 or 15 minutes will be able to say how long they have been dreaming. 3.Eye movements will link to the content of the recalled dream.
Conditions: non-REM sleep, characterised by high-voltage, slow-activity pattern or frequent, well-defined sleep spindles with low-voltage background. REM sleep characterised by low-voltage, fast-activity patterns
IV = 1.whether woken in REM or non-REM sleep 2.whether woken after 5 or 15 minutes 3.movement of eyes
DV = 1.whether dream recalled 2. estimate of length of dreaming 3.content of dream
Method and Design: Lab experiment with repeated measures.
Sample: 9; 7 males 2 females. 5 studied indepthly.
Procedure: Adults reported to sleep laboratory just before normal bedtime.
No alcohol or caffeine was allowed that day. Electrodes were attached to record: – eye movement – brain waves. Participants were woken:some randomly, some in pattern. Woken by a bell, not by the experimenter.

Results
Hypothesis 1 awakenings in REM sleep:– 152 dream recall – 39 no dream recall
awakenings in non-REM sleep:– 11 dream recall – 149 no dream recall
NB: some dream recall in non-REM sleep, mostly within 8 minutes of end of REM sleep
Hypothesis 2 woken after 5 minutes: – 45 correct estimations – 6 incorrect estimations
Woken after 15 minutes:– 47 correct estimations – 13 incorrect estimations
Hypothesis 3 Participants were woken after at least 1 minute of pattern.
a) mainly vertical eye movements
Dream recall included: – standing at bottom of tall cliff looking up at climbers – climbing ladders and looking up and down them
– shooting netballs, looking down to pick up the ball and up to the net.

Background:
Aim:

Results
There was significantly more grey matter volume found in the brains of taxi drivers than of the control group in right and left hippocampus only, not other parts of the brain.
Only found in posterior hippocampus,
Taxi drivers had a larger posterior hippocampus but a smaller anterior hippocampus.
Data correlated between the time spent as a taxi driver and the volume of the hippocampus.Positive correlation was found only in the right posterior hippocampus.
Negative correlation was found between anterior hippocampus and time spent as a taxi driver.
Taxi drivers had a larger posterior hippocampus and a smaller anterior hippocampus.
Correlation suggests that this is a result of being taxi driver, not a pre-existing structure that predisposes a person to become taxi driver.
Posterior hippocampus deals with previously learned information e.g. taxi drivers’ ‘knowledge’ or test that they take to become licensed. As this is fine-tuned, the posterior hippocampus becomes larger.

Baclground:
Aim: To study the functional outcome of surgical disruption of all direct communication between hemispheres of the brain.
Method & Design: Quisi experiment. Oppotunity sample.
Sample: 11 patients with epilepsy who had surgical section of the corpus callosum as treatment for epilepsy.
DV = Naming of objects, recognition of objects, moving hands.
Procedure: Visual tests-Stimulus was presented to one or both visual fields for 1/10 second or less. Participant had to say what he/she saw.Hands and objects on the table were kept out of sight.
Tactile tests-Object was presented to the right hand. Object stimulus was presented to the left hand. Different objects were put in both hands. One hand was touched or put into position.

Results
Image was projected to left visual field (LVF); not recognised, not even ‘seen’
Image was projected to right visual field (LVF); named.
Images were projected to both visual fields; Only images projected to right visual field were seen and named.

If two signs were flashed up:$                        ?
Participant drew the $ with the left hand but said it was a question mark.
Images were split between both VF - key    case
Participant said ‘case’, but didn’t know what type of case. Participant selected the key with left hand.
Images projected to RVF were picked out by the right hand, not found by left hand.
Images projected to one visual field were only remembered if projected to same visual field.
Tactile stimuli were presented to the right hand. They would be able to find,name and recognise however not recognised by left hand.
Tactile stimuli were presented to the left hand. They couln't name it. They could draw it, find it with same hand. Right hand wouldnt recognise.
Different objects were put in each hand. Only able to name the one in right hand

·          If given bag of objects to search through, the right hand ignored the object in the left hand.

·          only able to find again with same hand

Background: Previous research has shown greater cognitive abilities in pygmy chimps.
Aim: To provide case study on first non-human to acquire symbols without specific training. To compare pygmy chimps with another species of chimpanzee, the common chimp (Pan troglodytes) – ‘Sherman’ and ‘Austin’
Sample: Kanzi and Mulika were pygmy chimps. Pygmy apes have more natural eye contact, gestures and vocalisations than other apes.
Method: Case Study lasting 17 months.
Method of Measurement: Lexi gram - Kanzi from 30–47 months and Mulika from 11–21 months.
Recorded - when lexigram was used, whether it was correct or incorrect and whether it was spontaneously initiated by ether, imitated (researchers utterance) or Structured (related to r. question) Appropriate use: If behaviour verified spontaneous utterances, 9/10 times. For example, if Kanzi said he wanted to go to the tree house, he had to then take the researcher to the tree house.

Procedure: Communication system- geometric symbols; Words are vocalised synthetically.
American Sign Language (100) used by researchers and chimps.
Kanzi stayed with mother (Matata) until two and a half years old. Matata was informally taught symbols/used keyboard. Keyboard was used in ordinary daily life. Food was placed in 17 locations in the forest.
Photo of food was placed at location e.g. photo of bananas, at the bottom of tree and bananas put in the tree house in the tree.
Kanzi had photos of all food and would choose which one he wanted to go and find.
Researcher with no knowledge of foods or locations was taken into wood by Kanzi, who initiated route, and pointed to picture or lexigram to show next food stop, then took researcher to that place. Formal tests used: where lexigrams were presented and Kanzi asked to choose lexigram of specific object, where pictures were presented and Kanzi asked to choose lexigram for specific object, where words were spoken (either by human or synthesiser) and Kanzi picked related picture/lexigram from choice.

Results:
At one and a half years, Kanzi showed interest in keyboard symbols: He touched symbols and ran to where food appeared as reward. He spontaneously used ‘chase’ symbol on keyboard and chase ASL sign to initiate game of chase. Kanzi used symbols without training.
He did not confuse symbols, e.g. an orange for an apple
He identified symbols wherever they were shown.
He comprehended the spoken word.
Within four months Kanzi had learned where all the foods were.
He could choose food and guide a person to it.
He could choose not to eat food but put it in a pack for later.
He could differentiate between food in pack and food at location in forest.
He took the most direct route, on test run.
He reminded himself of destination by pointing at photograph or symbol.
Indoors Kanzi usually chose to watch TV in the evenings.