Heaven and cooper

• Heaven's 1996 study aimed to test the correlation between Eysenck's personality traits and delinquency.
• The sample for the study consisted of 282 teenagers aged 13-15 from 2 Catholic schools in Australia.
• The research method was a questionnaire and longitudinal study.
• In the procedure of the study, participants completed questionnaires at time 1 and 2 years later at time 2.
• At time 1 of the study, participants measured psychoticism, extroversion and self esteem, and at time 2 they used self report to measure delinquency (violence & theft).
• The findings of the study showed that males were more likely to be involved in delinquency at both times, and there was a positive correlation between psychoticism and delinquency at both times.
• The limitations of the study include being culturally biased and unrepresentative, and using self reports can lead to social desirability in answers.
• Cooper and Mackie's 1986 study aimed to investigate if aggressive video games lead to increased aggression.
• The sample for the study was 84 children ages 9-11 from schools in New Jersey, USA.
• The research method used in the study was a lab experiment with independent measures.
• In the procedure of the study, two groups of children played or observed high/low aggression or control games, and in the playroom the children observed which toys each child played with (aggressive, active, quiet or skill).
• The findings of the study showed that children playing aggressive games spent longer playing with aggressive toys, and the conclusion of the study was that playing or watching a video game has an impact on only girls aggressive behaviour.
• The limitations of the study include being culturally biased and lacking ecological validity as it was a lab experiment.