Experiments

Introduction

5/3/2012 11:16:00 AM Title: Banduras Bobo Doll Experiment in 1960s on young children

Background information: Completed in 1960s Aim: To explore observational learning on young children.

Independent Variables: Whether the adult model was rewarded Whether the adult model was punished Whether no response was given to the adult model Dependant Variables: Amount of aggression shown to the bobo doll

Method: Participants: young children, caucsian Materials: Participants Room of toys including Bobo the clown Model demonstrating aggression VCR/ TV Rewards such as stickers and juice One way mirror

Procedure: A group of children were split into three groups each group watched a different video. In the first a model was praised for hitting the doll, in the second the model was punished for hitting the doll and in the third no consequence were given to the model. Afterwards the children were placed into a room with toys including a Bobo doll. Through a one way mirror the children were observed. Some children were offered rewards such as fruit juice stickers and praise for imitating the models behaviour, while others were not.

Results:

When the model was rewarded and there were no consequences the child who had witnessed this imitated the aggressive behaviour of the model. But when the model was punished the child was less aggressive but when the child was rewarded for being aggressive all the children acted to the same level of aggression. Whereas when they were not rewarded the children were less aggressive.

Discussion:

Conclusions Children who watched the aggressive model either being reinforced or experiencing no consequences for their aggression more than the children who watched the aggressive behaviour more than the children who watched the aggressive model being punished. When children were offered a reward for imitating the models aggressive behaviour even children who had seen the model be punished tended to imitate the model. Some children did not perform what they had learnt until offered an incentive to do so. Assumptions: Children learn through observing behaviours and consequences for behaviours. For example a child growing up in a rough neighbourhood compared to a child grown up at a nice play school where they are taught right from wrong. Generalisation: People we can generalise this too only four year old children in the states

Limitations: Study completed in a lab so only with caution can this data be generalised No control group who had seen none of the videos Ethical considerations: Informed consent form Childs guardians Behaviours learnt carried on so debriefing must take place.

Future experiments: Use a mixed background of children from other nations to see cultures effect

Cognitive level of analysis: Principles

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1. Human beings are informational processors and those mental processed guide behavior 2. The mind can be studied scientifically by developing theories and using a number of scientific research methods 3. Cognitive processes are influenced by social and cultural factors

Robert Cialdinis Principles of Influence

Principle 1 reciprocation you scratched my back Ill scratch yours get your free samples get a free trip to Reno door in the face technique Principle 2 commitment and consistency cognitive dissonance Leon Festinger we like our attitudes and behaviours to be consistent when they are inconsistent , we feel tension Tension is uncomfortable and we wish to reduce it We can change behaviour or attitude to align the two Foot in the door technique ask for a small act of compliance then build on it Low- ball Technique make a low offer , then increase once people are hooked

Principle 3 social proof Conformity to norms Asch and sherif Laugh tacks Best seller lists Descriptive vs. Injunctive norms Descriptive norms : what the majority of others are doing Injunctive norms: what people should do Descriptive norms and the environment Sherif and Asch Informational influence Situation is ambiguous Information dependence We conform to gain information Sherifs Auto kinetic study Normative influence Situation is clear Outcome dependence

We conform to receive rewards and avoid punishment Aschs conformity studies

Environmental theft: the negative power of descriptive Norms By Robert Cialdini A national park in Arizona had a sing which said your heritage is being vandalized every day by theft losses of the wood of 14 tons a year An alternative sign said please dont remove the wood Because the first sign indicated that it was normal to take the wood, more people took then wood then when the other sign was present. Littering Cialdini, Reno and Kallgren ( 1990) Subjects find flyer on their windshield that they can litter Environment is either clean or littered Clean environment conveys descriptive norm that people dont litter Littered environment conveys descriptive norm that people do litter Subject sees another person ( confederate) litter or not

Recycling towels in hotel rooms Control help save the environment, you can show your respect for nature and help save the environment by reusing the towels during the stay Social norm join your fellow guests in helping to save the environment Results: when the social norm since was displayed 10% more people reused their towels

Principle 4 Liking We are more likely to comply with requests from those we like Liking often is based on: attractiveness, familiarity, similarity Similarity and compliance Jerry Burger Four experiments on impact of incidental similarity on compliance with requests for help Experiment 1= same birthday and asked to help with a report

Experiment 2 = same name and asked to donate to cystic fibrosis foundation Experiment 3= same personality ( either common or uncommon) and asked to help with a report Experiment 4 = same personality ( but here DV = rated attraction to other person) All studies show similarity ( especially uncommon similarity) increase compliance with requests for help

Principle 5 Authority Authority We are more likely to comply with requests from authorities Milgrams classic studies on obedience to authority Principle 6 Scarcity Scarcity We believe that things that are scarce are more valuable More likely to pay more for scarce resources Overlapping appointments for sellings cars Excuse me while I take this call One day only at Bon Marche

Socio-cultural Level of Analysis

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Principles of socio-cultural levels of analysis: 1) Human beings are social animals with a basic need to belong. ( define ourselves as part of a group, the way we dress) 2) Culture influences behaviour culture is the norms and values that define a society ( drinking society) 3) Humans have a social self as well as an individual self and one can help define the other. (when you lie about your true opinions and feelings) 4) Peoples world views are resistant to change ( the older generations stuck in the time period they grew up in) How can we study society and culture? Naturalistic : 1) Observations o Things and people in movies are usually stereotyped to be good or bad. This creates the tendency to think people are either good or bad, but in fact people can be both good and bad. When Prophecy Fails Leon Festinger (1956) on a cult who believed in the end of the world on a certain day. He studied the cult before and during this day and when the world did not end and aliens did not appear he studied the ending of the cult. Problem with ethical considerations: o Festinger relied on memory, making assumptions and people lie so we can never know what they truly think or feel. Attribution Theory Attribution How people interpret and explain casual relationships in social world. We lay attribute to every situation we are put in.

Actor-observer Effect People tend to make an attribution about a behaviours according to whether they are performing the behaviour themselves or observing someone else do it. Situational factors are outside factors causing the behaviours. Depositional factors are behaviours that are caused by personality. Fundamental Attribution Error When people over estimate the role of dispositional factors in an individuals behavior and underestimate situational factors. Example road rage

Fundamental attribution error research, Page 105. Lee et al 1977 Aim o To see if student participants would make the fundamental attribution error even when they knew that the actors were playing a role and they were not representing their true identity. Procedure o Participants were randomly assigned to one of three roles, a game show host and its contestants or the audience. o The game show hosts had to come up with their own questions on an area of knowledge they knew about. o The audience then observed the game show host asking the contestants their series of questions. o When it had finished the audience were asked to rank the game host and the contestants in order of intelligence. Results o The audience had consistently marked the game show host as the most intelligent even though they had known this person

was assigned to this role as well as the game show host had written their own questions. Conclusion o The audience had failed to attribute the role to the persons situation and the fact that the game show host was allowed to ask their own questions and instead attributed the persons performance to dispositional factors in this case intelligence. Analysis o This study reflects what we see in everyday life. o People with social power usually initiate and control conversations. If their knowledge is particularly high in one subject area they can give off the impression of overall intelligence as well as having knowledge on a wide area of topics even if it is not true. o For example when a specialist scientist publishes work outside of his field their work is rarely questioned. Limitations o The experiment only used student participants who spend the day listening to lectures who hold a position of authority, therefore we cannot be sure that this is the response to authority figures who ask questions is not a learnt response. o So we are unsure whether it was a learnt response or is the attribution error.

Self serving Bias Attributing success to dispositional factors and attributing failures to situational factors. Effect of culture on ssb difference between eastern and western cultures and collectivist and individualistic culture? Modesty bias Western cultures attribute success to dispositional factors eastern cultures attribute failure to dispositional factors. Modesty bias is giving a reason to a situation to make ourselves feel better. For example when we do badly on a test we blame the situation.

Social Identity Theory

Tajfel 1978, Tajfel and Turner 1986 Two component of self image : 1)personal identity traits and relationships 2)social identity groups and membership

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Tajfels definition of social image We as individuals strive for a positive self image with emphasis on positive aspects of the different groups we belong to: o in-group favouritism effect- group you are in is the best o negative out-group bias groups outside yours are bad Tajfel based this on minimal group experiments, it had been done: in different cultures using participants of different ages participants told/ not told they were randomly allocated Critics against the studies: demand characteristics? Ecological validity? o In Tajfels studies out-group was rated as less likeable but never disliked but in other studies hit has been shown that group identity alone ( without competition) does not cause intergroup conflict. Strengths of SIT (social identity theory) Helps to understand the effect of groups memberships on our social judgments. Critics against SIT (social identity theory) Doesnt predict behaviour: doesnt explain why personal identity is sometimes stronger then the group identity Doesnt take into account the effects of environment and cultures ( e.g. rewards and motivators, societal constraints) Lack of cross- cultural validity o Wetherall 1982: study of white and Polynesian children less negative out-group bias in cultures.

SOCIAL IDENTITTY THEORY Social categorisation theory Classification of in group and out group o 1) Reduces perceived variability with the group o 2) Reduces perceived variability in the out-group o 3) Increased perceived variability between in group and out group o 4) (Everyone outside your group is more alike, everyone in the group are themselves) Difference between in-group and out-group are greater

Classification maintained through social comparison o Positive social identities result from social comparison o Positive distinctiveness motivation to show our in-group is preferable to an out group.

Kandinsky versus Klee experiment, Tajfel et al (1971) Boys 14-15 years old were shown 12 slides portraying different painting. One half of the paintings were by Kandinsky and the other half were painted by Klee. Boys were asked to express their preferences, which paintings did they like and which paintings did they hate. The boys were seemingly allocated to two groups they were given the impression that this grouping was based on their impressions that the experimenters received from them after the initial part of the experiment The two groups were named Kandinsky group and Klee group. The names that were given to the group added to the impression that the groupings were based on the expressed preferences of the boys but the truth is the grouping was completely random. The last stage of the experiment is the reward allocations task. Each boy was given a task to award points to two other boys, one from his same group and one for the other group. The only information that

each boy was given were the code numbers and the name of the group of the two boys they were supposed to award. There were two systems if awarding points that were employed by the researchers. One of the most obvious conclusions is that natural tendency of ebers of a group to favour their in-group. Despite the seemilignly meaningless groupings created but the experimenters. The subjects were able to identify with their respective groups and create a positive social identity through giving in-group-points. This phenomenon# can be linked to self serving bias since every individual within a group was able to identify themselves with their group the group is now associated with ones self thus benefit of the group identify with the self is prioritized.

Social representation Shared beliefs and expectations held by the society in which we live. The foundation of social cognition: o helps us make sense of the world and to master it Enable communication to take place among members of community by providing them with a code for social exchange and for naming ambiguous aspects of the world. Stereotypes Threat Happens when theres the fear of being judged or would confirm a stereotype Atonson (1995) verbal abilities of African Americans.

Emotion as a cognitive process

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Biological factors in emotion page 89 Sensory information is transformed into emotional signals with the help of the amygdale to imitate and control emotional responses Le Douxs model of biological pathways of emotion in the brain, model was created in 1999 This model explains human responses both physical and emotional This model only says what not why or when. It doesnt go into depth as to why except for fight of flight response. Cognitive factors in happiness page 93 Four levels of cognitive factors o 1) Social comparison Explains how individuals evaluate their own opinions and desires by comparing themselves to others REAL LIFE EXAMPLE: video Game one buys a game and they are happy but when a friend buys the same they are not happy anymore. o 2) Level of aspiration theory People examine what they can gain and how likely it is they will achieve it before they make decisions on what to do REAL LIFE EXAMPLE: setting a goal for you like a school grade. If that goal is not reached, one sets the goal lower and if it is reached one sets the goal higher. o 3) Upward comparison Type of social comparison, or an assessment of how we measure up against our peers REAL LIFE EXAMPLE: one compares them self upwards and this makes them depressed as that person is of a higher league but if you compare downwards you feel happier with better self-esteem.

o 4) Illusory correlation Making wrong associations between variables

REAL LIFE EXAMPLE : if you get a promotion = get more money = happier

Superstitions Study: Hegerty (2003) Studied the relationship between happiness and the distribution of wealth. It is an example of social comparison theory which leads to dissatisfaction within more wealthy people. There might be a problem since the data collection was from several different countries and therefore culture will be different and also the style of life. Biological factors in happiness p99 study on p95 Biological factors in happiness refers to the neurotransmitters and hormones that directly correlate with happiness o 1) Serotonin chemical messenger that a role in modulating anxiety, mood, sleep, appetite and sexuality o 2) Norepinephrine which influences sleep and alertness, its believed to be correlated to the fight or flight stress response o 3) Dopamine influences body movement and is also believed to be involved in motivation, reward reinforment and addictive behaviours. CASE STUDY conjoined twins Lori and Reba schappel who had been attached at the side of their skull of 40 years. They share a blood supply, part of the skull and some brain tissue according to the sisters, they are happy and optimistic. They have a good life together and would not want to be separated. o STRENGTHS gave highly detailed information which allows us to gain information on humans in an area where experimental methods would be unethical a and high ecological validity

o WEAKNESSES conclusions about cause and effect relationship cannot be drawn, it cannot be generalized. o RESULTS happiness comes from an idvadiuals perspective. o CONCLUSION once people have established beliefs it is difficult to change them. Claims about happiness come from an individuals unique perspective which is a lens for the evaluation of experiences. o EXAMPLE: ecstasy and the brain users claim the use of MDMA produces intense feelings on pleasure, empathy, warmth and happiness. The drug is absorbed into the blood stream and travels to the brain. In the brain it causes release of neurotransmitters called serotonin as well as dopamine and norepinephrine. Cognitive factors in emotion: Appraisal Depending on what you think of a situation, whether it is good or bad, or an advantage or disadvantage, you will respond and feel in a positive or negative fashion. Appraisal : Coping Two types o 1) Problem focused coping aimed to change the problematic situation that causes emotional stress o 2) Emotion focused coping the purpose is to handle the emotions rather than changing the problematic situation. E.g. escape, self-control over expression of emotion, seeking social support. o STUDY = different sound track were played for an unpleasant scene to a group of people. One track was the trauma, one was denial and the last was a neutral feelings. It was discovered that participants showed the strongest to the trauma soundtrack. o REAL LIFE EXAMPLE = if you feel like a class wont help you then you will be more likely to have a negative feeling, and vice versa o Problems: it cannot be generalised to the entire population, cultures can react differently, People watch scary movies which disproves the theory. The study above was conducted in lab.

Memory
swHow does memory work? http://prezi.com/w4mannirurzk/models-of-memory/ The multi-store Model of memory (1968) Bradley and Hitch

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The senses provide information that makes up sensory memory The memories form sensory memory go into short term memory To remember something for long then average short term memory of 7 seconds you have to rehearse to matina memory and encode it into long term memories Then using retrieval we can have access to these memories

Short term memory This model claims we cannot remember more than one thing at a time

Working memory model Bradley and hitch (1974) They have tested this part of the model through the use of MRIs. The central executive that controls it all and organises the other components The episodic buffer helps store things until needed The phonological loop had a limited capacity for example shorter words are easier to multitask whilst saying compared to long words. The Visio spatial sketchpad deals with use of visual and spatial information from sensory memory or long term memory. In the working memory model you can only use one section once at a time so you cannot use one section thinking for two different things but you can use each section independently at the same time. It has been greatly debated the value of the role of the central executive.

16/01/2012 Memory Long Term The multi-story model does not take into consideration multi tasking. Working memory model with 4 concepts, the chief executive , the episodic buffer, phonological loop and Visio spatial sketch pad. The problem with this model was the questioning of the role of the chief executive.

Long term memory Explicit/declarative memory

Semantic Memory (what) Episodic Memory (when) Implicit memory Procedural Memory Emotional Memories Explicit memories are more reactive to your life while implicit is more recalled. Examples: Semantic memory: remembering two different prices of an object form two different stores Episodic memory: what happened last Tuesday Procedural memory: doing things without thinking about it such as riding a bike Emotional memory: death

When long term memories are formed new neural networks are created. There are many different neural networks which correspond to the different types of long term memory. Two specific parts, o hippocampus o amygdale o If lesions appear in either of these two areas you will lose ability to form, recall or use long term memory.

The case study of HM One of the most famous case studies of amnesia in the history of the psychology Milner and Scoville (1957) Over the years many studies have been conducted on HM and still his identity has remained anonymous. As a result of a head injury that HM sustained when he was 9 years old, he suffered from elliptic seizures. During surgery preformed to stem these seizures, surgeons removed tissue form he temporal lobe, including the hippocampus. After the operation HM could recall information acquired in early life but was unable to form new memories. HM suffers mainly form anterograde amnesia and similar to Clive Wearing he is unable to remember faces of the people he meets. He is able to only recognise people who visit him regularly. It was a breakthrough in understanding the damage to HMs brain when researchers could use MRI scans in 1997. HM had been studied for 44 years before he was put into the scanner and this made it clear which areas were affected. The damage was pervasive and included the hippocampus, the amygdale and other areas related to memory and skill learning.

COGNITION

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Mental Representation: your perception of an event, person, object, or place, according to your experiences. Perception: cognitive process that interprets and organizes information from the senses to produce some meaningful experience of the world. Reconstructive nature of memory: filling in the gaps as memory fades. Encoding: memories are recorded using information from our senses Storage: biological changes in your brain as information is stored. Retrieval: use of the memory Examples: Meeting someone who becomes highly significant to you- Encode through senses (sight), later was written down. Retrieval through the emotions that became connected with that person. Concert- feel of lots of people, sound of songs, smell of sweat. Stored through videos.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

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All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communication using perception, information, processing, and language. Jean Piaget 1896-1980 How do children adapt to the world? Accommodation: individual adjusts to the outside world by adjusting his/her cognitive organization Assimilation: Individual adjusts his/her interpretation of the outside world to fit his/her existing cognitive organization Schema: Organized knowledge used to guide action Equilibration: Individual needs to keep a stable internal state within complex changing environment Constructionist approach Environmental interaction changes people Cognitive development is dependent on how the individual child interacts with the social and physical world. 4 Stages of Development Sensory Motor Stage Pre-Operational Stage Concrete Operations Stage Formal Operations Stage Sensory Motor Stage Birth to 2 Years Object Permanence Pre-Operational Stage

2-7 Years Centration: Children pay attention to only part of the information given Conservation: Objects stay the same in spite of the changes to one or more of its dimensions Egocentrism: Their way of thinking is the only way. Concrete Operations Stage 7-11/12 Years Decreased dependence on perception Increased logical thinking skills Reversibility Formal Operations Stage 11/12 years + Ability to think in possible rather than only actual stages Piagets Influence on Education Children learn through self-discovery Teachers provide disequilibrium by presenting difficult situations/ questions that shows that the childs schema is inadequate. Stage appropriate learning.

Critiques of Piaget Oversimplified Stages Underestimated cognitive skills of child

Siegler 1998 Overlapping waves model of problem solving and reasoning in children

Visual Cliff Experiment (Gibson and Walk 1960) Pre- Operational

Brain Development Neuro-plasticity: The brains ability to develop and change in response to the environment.

Development 6-9 Months The frontal lobes and the prefrontal areas of the cortex begin to function more fully Growth in hippocampus and cerebellum Steady increase in glucose metabolism Pruning Development

5/3/2012 11:16:00 AM http://prezi.com/chbldxddchs_/this-is-a-prezi-there-are-many-like-it-but-this-oneis-mine/

5/3/2012 11:16:00 AM Case Study In-depth investigation of human experience Can be done on A single person Social group Event Organization Can be a single case or a comparison of multiple cases Intrisic or instrumental case studies Intrinsic: single case that is interesting and worth studying in its own right E.g. Oxana Instrumental case studies a more general phenomena such as being hoeless. Any individual who has experienced this is useful. Descirptive case studies generate a desription of a phenomenon, e.g. the symptoms and effects Explanatory case studies are used to find possible explanations of the penemoenon e.g. analyze an existing theory