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    Cards (43)

    • What are the key evaluation concepts in psychological research?
      Reliability and validity
    • What do psychologists aim to achieve by designing studies that can be replicated?
      They aim to ensure reliability and validity in their research findings.
    • What does reliability refer to in psychological research?
      It refers to the consistency and stability of measurements.
    • Why is validity important in psychological measurements?
      It ensures that we are measuring what we claim to be measuring.
    • What does validity in psychology research refer to?
      It refers to the extent to which a test accurately measures what it's intended to measure.
    • What is internal validity?
      It is the extent to which you can be confident that other factors cannot explain a cause-and-effect relationship.
    • What does external validity refer to?
      It refers to the extent to which study results can be generalized to other populations and settings.
    • How does internal validity affect external validity?
      Low internal validity means results cannot be generalized because they lack real meaning.
    • What are the three types of external validity?
      • Population Validity
      • Ecological Validity
      • Temporal Validity
    • What does population validity refer to?
      It refers to the extent to which findings can be generalized from a specific sample to a larger population.
    • What is ecological validity also known as?
      It is also known as historical validity.
    • What does temporal validity measure?
      It measures how generalizable experimental findings are to real-world situations.
    • What does generalisability mean in research?
      It refers to the extent to which findings can be applied to other settings, populations, times, and measures.
    • What are the two main ways psychologists investigate human behaviour?
      Experimental and non-experimental methods.
    • What does the experimental method involve?
      It involves the manipulation of an independent variable to measure its effect on the dependent variable.
    • What are the three requirements of a true experiment?
      Change an independent variable, random allocation of participants, and control all variables.
    • What are the four types of experimental settings?
      • Laboratory experiments
      • Field experiments
      • Natural experiments
      • Quasi-experiments
    • What is a laboratory experiment?
      It is an experiment conducted in highly controlled environments.
    • What is a strength of laboratory experiments?
      Replication is more possible due to high levels of control.
    • Why is internal validity high in laboratory experiments?
      It is easier to control extraneous variables in a laboratory setting.
    • What is a limitation of laboratory experiments?
      They tend to have low ecological validity and may lack generalisability.
    • What are demand characteristics in laboratory experiments?
      They are cues that participants may use to guess the study's aims and change their behaviour.
    • What is a field experiment?
      It is an experiment conducted in a natural, everyday setting.
    • What is a strength of field experiments?
      They often have high ecological validity.
    • Why do field experiments reduce demand characteristics?
      Participants are often unaware they are participating in an experiment.
    • What is a limitation of field experiments?
      They tend to have lower internal validity due to loss of control over extraneous variables.
    • What ethical issues can arise in field experiments?
      Participants may not give informed consent and their privacy may be invaded.
    • What is a natural experiment?
      It is when the researcher takes advantage of a pre-existing independent variable.
    • What is a strength of natural experiments?
      They tend to have high ecological validity due to the naturally occurring independent variable.
    • Why are results from natural experiments more likely to show true behaviour?
      Because they are conducted in natural settings without direct manipulation of the independent variable.
    • Aim of Lorenz's study
      The aim of much of this research was to see how the young animals formed an attachment with a 'parent figure'.

      To investigate the mechanisms of imprinting where the youngsters follow and form an attachment to the first large moving object that they meet
    • Procedure of Lorenz's study
      Method used: Field experiment
      Sample:Greylag Geese
      Independent variablewas whether the eggs hatched with the human mother or the goose mother
      Dependent variablewas who the goslings followed and therefor formed an attachment to
      What happened?1 Lorenz (1935) split a large clutch of greylag goose eggs into two batches, one of which was hatched naturally by the mother and the other hatched in an incubator, with Lorenz making sure he was the first moving object the newly hatched goslings encountered. Following behaviour was then recorded.
      2 Lorenz then marked all of the goslings, so he could determine whether they were from the naturally hatched batch of eggs or the incubated ones, and placed them under an upturned box. The box was then removed and following behaviour again recorded.
    • Findings of Lorenz's study
      1) Immediately after birth the naturally hatched goslings followed their mother and the incubator hatched eggs followed Lorenz

      2) When released from the upturned box, the goslings continued to follow the one they first saw when they were born (incubated goslings showed no bond with real mother)
      -These bonds proved to be irreversible

      3) Lorenz also noted how imprinting would only occur within the critical period (between 4 and 25 hours after hatching) ( Imprinting- the child will immediately attach to the first large moving object it sees)
    • Conclusion about animal attachment (Lorenz)
      Imprinting is a form of attachment, exhibited mainly by nidifugous birds (ones that leave the nest early), whereby close contact is kept with the first large moving object encountered.
    • Aim of Harlow's study
      To test learning theory by comparing attachment behaviour in baby monkeys given a wire surrogate mother producing milk with those given a soft towelling mother producing no milk.
    • Procedure of Harlow's study
      Method used: Lab experiment
      Sample:Rhesus Monkeys
      Independent variable:The two types of surrogate mothers - a harsh 'wire mother' which supplied milk and a soft 'towelling mother'
      Dependent variable: Which mother would the monkey run to when frightened / distressed
      What happened?1) Two types of surrogate mother were constructed - a harsh'wire mother' and a soft 'towelling mother'. Sixteen baby monkeys were used, four in each of four conditions:
      • a cage containing a wire mother producing milk and a towelling mother producing no milk• a cage containing a wire mother producing no milk and a towelling mother producing milk• a cage containing a wire mother producing milk• a cage containing a towelling mother producing milk
      2) The amount of time spent with each mother, as well as feeding time, was recorded.
      3) The monkeys were frightened with a loud noise to test for mother preference during stress.
      4) A larger cage was also used to test the monkeys' degree of exploration.
    • Findings of Harlow's study
      1) Monkeys preferred contact with the towelling mother when given a choice of surrogate mothers, regardless of whether she produced milk; they even stretched across to the wire mother to feed while still clinging to the towelling mother.

      2) Monkeys with only a wire surrogate had diarrhoea, a sign of stress.

      3) When frightened by a loud noise, monkeys clung to the towelling mother in conditions where she was available.

      4) In the larger cage conditions, monkeys with towelling mothers explored more and visited their surrogate mother more often.
    • Conclusion about animal attachment (Harlow)
      Rhesus monkeys have an innate, unlearned need for contact comfort, suggesting that attachment concerns emotional security more than food.

      Contact comfort is associated with lower levels of stress and a willingness to explore, indicating emotional security.
    • What does Lorenz's study tell us about human attachment?
      "a strength of both of these studies is that they can tell us a lot about human attachment"
      Suggests that attachments are innate (in-born)
      Imprinting led to Bowlby's idea of a 'Critical period'
      Led to the idea of Monotropy - one attachment only
    • What does Harlow's study tell us about Human attachment(implications)
      • Challenges the Learning theory idea of 'cupboard love'
      • Supports Bowlby's later theory of maternal deprivation (Broken attachment or no attachment forms serious problems later)
      • Suggests that "contact comfort" helps attachments form - was used on maternity units: skin to skin contact