Scientific Method. Five Steps To Conducting A Study Formulate a hypothesis Design a study Conduct study Analyse/evaluate data Report findings

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1 Contents Lectures 1 & 2: Scientific Method Lecture 3: Attitudes Lecture 4: Persuasion Tutorial 3 & 4: The Bystander Effect Lecture 5: Aggression and Prosocial Behaviour Lecture 6: Assignment (not included) Lecture 7: Prejudice & Stereotypes Lecture 8: Non Verbal Communication Lecture 9: Infancy Lecture 10: Attachment Lecture 11: Language Development Tutorial 5: Gender Roles Lecture 12: Cognitive Development Tutorial 6: Theory of Mind Lecture 13: Social Development Lecture 14: Moral Development Lecture 15: Adolescence Lecture 16: Later Life Lecture 17: Social Cognition Lecture 18 Psychological Therapies Tutorial 9: Clinical Psychology Lecture 19: Depression and Anxiety Lecture 20: Schizophrenia Tutorial 10: Personality Lecture 21: Measurement and Intelligence Lecture 22: Personality Lecture 23: Stress and Coping Lecture 24: Cross Cultural Psychology

2 Scientific Method Scientific Method Psychology is an empirical science Theories must be tested Theories must be supported by evidence Scientific attitude Open minded Critical thinking Public scrutiny Replicability Skepticism Thinking About Psychology Goals of the scientific method: Observe and describe Understand and predict Apply and control A good theory Leads to new predictions that can be tested Fits the known facts Makes new testable predictions If falsifiable o Understand when the theory holds up and when it doesn t o Conditions Five Steps To Conducting A Study Formulate a hypothesis Design a study Conduct study Analyse/evaluate data Report findings 1. Formulate a hypothesis Generated from theory Prediction about relationship between variables Specific and testable 2. Design a study Operational definitions

3 Turning abstract concepts into concrete variables we can measure and manipulate How would you measure and manipulate these variables? Reliability Internal validity Are the results consistent? Validity External validity Does it measure what it is supposed to? Types of studies (from more discovery to more justification) Observation Naturalistic o Researcher observes behaviour without intervening Participant o Researcher is also a participant Advantages o Behaviour in natural setting, not contrived o Can provide new insights Disadvantages o Reactivity: difficult to remain unobtrusive o Hard to identify cause-effect relations Case study In-depth investigation of individual person/situation Using interview, observation, records, psychological tests Advantages o Can provide rich compelling data to support a theory Disadvantages o Representative of individual only o Subjectivity: investigators may see what they expect to see o Lack of control Survey Use questionnaires or interviews to gather information about specific aspects of behaviour Advantages o Data on difficult to observe behaviour o Data from a large sample Disadvantages

4 o Can be unreliable o Intentional deception, social desirability, reliance on memory Correlational Looking for relationships among variable Advantages o Useful for studying variables the researcher can t manipulate Disadvantages o Can t demonstrate causality Experiment Manipulate one variable (IV) to see the effect on another variable (DV) Advantages o High level of control o Cause and effect Disadvantages o Artificial scenarios o Can t explore some research questions (ethics) Elements of an experiment o Hypothesis o Manipulation of IV o Measurement of DV o Eliminate bias o Conclusion Random assignment o Equal chance of being in either condition o Individual differences are spread Confounding variables o Variables that are linked in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their specific effects Sources of bias o Demand characteristics! Participants respond in the way that they think the experimenter wants them to respond o Placebo effects! Participants condition improves because they believe the procedures will help them

5 Social: Attitudes Definition An association between an act or object and an evaluation Can be thought of as having three components o Beliefs o Feelings o Behavioural Tendencies Beliefs The cognitive component is the opinion or belief segment of an attitude Feelings The affective component is the emotion of feeling segment of an attitude Behavioural Tendencies The behavioural component is the intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something Attitudes differ from: Values Broad abstract goals that lack a specific reference point Example: achievement, salvation, etc. Opinions Verbal manifestations of an attitude, the expression of an evaluative position Schemas Attitudes suggest how people feel about objects, schemas are not necessarily affective Schemas are how you expect something to operate in an environment Attitude Change Yale studies focused on 4 factors: The communicator o The who, or the source of the message The message o The what, or the content of the message The audience o The whom, or the target of the message The channel

6 o How the message is delivered Communicator Factors Credibility More credible sources would have more effect on attitude change than non-credible sources Hovland and Weiss (1951) o Participants read article about practicality of building nuclear powered submarines o Message attributed to: Oppenheimer or Pravada o The Sleeper Effect! Discounting " Initially giving message from non-credible source less credence o Disassociation! Uncoupling of message content and source over time! If we can understand the message, who said it doesn t really matter! Over time we get convinced Attractiveness Ethos that attractive, likeable people are more persuasive o Also that they possess greater sociability and social competent than those who are not Debono & Telesca (1990) o Attractive woman was seen as more persuasive, but only for the strong message Message Variables Fear Common tool used in advertising Early studies showed fear can have the opposite effect Janis & Feshbach (1953) o Varied the extent of fear causing information about dental decay o Found that participants given high fear message were less likely to follow recommendations in the message o They were so caught up in the fear, they didn t take home the message o Depends on efficacy

7 o Can have the opposite pattern if you provide information about how to effectively respond. Protection motivation theory (Rogers 1983) Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) Petty & Cacioppo Dominant model Central Route o Process! Persuasive message! Elaboration of strengths and weaknesses! Association with positive stimuli unimportant! Attitude change based on quality of argument! Attitude change o Issue is important to us o Time to think about the issue o Cognitive capacity to think about the issue Peripheral Route o Process! Little or no elaboration! Association with positive stimuli is influential! Attitude change based on emotional appeal! Attitude change o Issue not important to us o Limited time to think about the message o Distracted or in a good mood Attitudes Are Poor Predictors May conflict with other influences on behaviour o Social norms, other conflicting attitudes, and situational factors may also influence behaviour May be inconsistent o Affective and cognitive aspects may conflict May be based on second hand information o Attitudes based on first hand information better predict behaviour Attitudes are poor predictors of behaviour but behaviours are good predictors of attitudes May change in order to be consistent with behaviours

8 Cognitive Dissonance Theory Festinger (1957) Inconsistency between cognitions results in an aversive psychological state called dissonance Constant cognitions o Beliefs that are consistent/compatible Dissonant cognitions o Beliefs that are inconsistent/logically discrepant Dissonance can be reduced by: o Changing thoughts, feeling, or behaviour in order to make them consistent! Example: Smoking will not cause cancer in me o Adding thoughts, feelings, or behaviour to reduce apparent inconsistencies! Example: Smoking relaxes me o Changing behaviour! Example: I do not smoke Induced Compliance (Festinger & Carlsmith 1959) Two simple motor tasks performed for 1 hour Participants were offered $1 or $20 to tell the next person that the task was enjoyable Then rated how much they enjoyed the task High dissonance when paid $1 and thought the task was boring o Low incentive o Induced compliance o Rated the task as more enjoyable to reduce dissonance Lower dissonance when paid $20 o Higher incentive

9 Social: Persuasion Compliance Definition Agreeing to a request from someone who does not have the authority to make you obey The power of commitment The power of reciprocation Contrast effects The Power Of Commitment Once a choice has been made people feel pressured to act consistently with that commitment We tend to add new reasons to justify the decision Even if the original reason is taken away the new reasons are often enough to support the commitment This can be exploited by others Foot In The Door Technique A person first makes a small request, then makes a larger, related request. Freedman and Fraser (1966) o 36 people were surveyed on household products o Were later asked if a team could go through their house and classify products! 53% agreed o 36 new people were asked! 22% agreed Low Balling A person makes what seems to be a reasonable request, then reveals a hidden cost afterwards. Optimal Conditions Power of commitment is increased by: Getting people to commit to something in writing Getting people to make public commitments Making the individual feel that the commitment was freely chosen rather than one that was induced by outside pressure The Power of Reciprocation If somebody does something nice for you then you should do something nice back

10 Regan (1971) o Small act of kindness towards participant encouraged them to buy raffle tickets from confederate Tends to overwhelm other considerations o Even if the act of generosity comes from a stranger or someone they don t necessarily like o Even when the favour is costly Reciprocal Concessions When someone makes a concession to us, we often feel obliged to make a concession too. Effective strategy in international relations Exploited by sales people Contrast Effects Humans are better at making relative judgments than absolute judgments. When preceded by a very large request, subsequent requests seem more reasonable Door In The Face Technique A ridiculously large request, followed by a smaller more reasonable request. Partly due to reciprocal concessions Partly due to the power of contrast effects Obedience When an authority specifically commands us to change our behaviour and we do Milgram s Obedience Study Strong obedience High status of the authority figure Absence of a clear-cut point for disobeying Belief that the authority figure will take responsibility for actions Barriers to empathy for victim The Role of Empathy Greater potential for empathy reduces obedience

11 Social: The Bystander Effect The likelihood that an individual will intervene goes down as the number of bystanders increases The Case of Kitty Genovese Bystander effect Stabbed twice in the back o She screamed before falling o Crawled towards her apartment o No one helped her despite hearing her screams Why Does This Happen? Pluralistic ignorance Diffusion of responsibility Factors That Influence Helping Perceived cost Gender Cause of need Personality Similarity Mood Factors For A Person To Intervene They must: Notice the event Interpret the event as an emergency Accept responsibility for helping Decide on an appropriate form of assistance Implement the action

12 Social: Aggression and Pro-Social Behaviour Causes of Aggression Biological Explanations The amygdala is important in regulating aggression Alcohol reduces the ability of people to monitor the consequences of their actions o Increasing the likelihood of aggression Genetic link o A violent temper is heritable o Giving people a hard time is heritable o Assault is heritable o Antisocial behaviour is heritable o Genetic basis for criminality o Propensity for adolescent misconduct is heritable BUT o No person is inevitably aggression o There are social factors involved Observational Learning / Modeling Explanations People (particularly children) learn how to behave by watching others Research suggests there is a strong correlation between watching violent TV and aggression levels The link is complex o Aggressive kids watch more violent TV, which makes them more aggressive Some evidence of copy cat effect when people witness or hear about acts of violence Josephson (1987) Children played more aggressively after watching a violent TV program than when they watched a non-violent TV program The effect was enhanced when given a cue reminding them of the violent TV Werther Effect A high profile suicide spawns a sharp increase in singlepassenger car fatalities Murder-suicides are associated with an increase in multiplepassenger car fatalities Tendency for trends to emerge in crimes Social Cognitive Explanations