Describe and Evaluate two or more explanations of the pro-social effects of the media (24)
Describe and Evaluate two or more explanations of the pro-social effects of the media (24) One explanation of the pro-social effects of the media on behaviour comes from Bandura's Social Learning Theory. Bandura's research suggests that children learn through observing a behaviour, then later imitating it if the expectation of reward is high. For example the child needs to pay attention to a role model for example seeing a super hero, then there needs to be retention of the information into the LTM, reproduction, so the child imitates the same type of behaviour such as helping others, and finally the child needs to be motivated to imitate the behaviour such as, being the same gender. The process of social learning works in the same way for learning pro-social acts as seen on television as it does for learning anti-social acts (vicarious reinforcement). Unlike the depiction of anti-social acts, however, the depiction of pro-social acts (such as generosity or helping) is likely to be in accord with established social norms (e.g., the need to be helpful and generous to others). Assuming that these social norms have been internalised by the viewer, the imitation of these acts, therefore, is likely to be associated with the expectation of social reinforcement, and so the child is motivated to repeat these actions in their own life. Furthermore, Bandura would also suggest
How does obedience differ from Conformity?
How does obedience differ from Conformity? Both obedience and conformity involve social pressure in obedience the pressure comes from behaving as you are instructed to do; whereas in conformity the pressure comes from group norms Behaviour in obedience is determined by social power, whereas in conformity it is influenced mostly by the need for acceptance. In nearly all societies, certain people are given power and authority over others. Our society, for example, parents, teachers, and managers are invested with various degrees of authority. Most of the time, this does not cause any problems. The issue of why some people obey with out question or justify their actions has been of interest to psychologists and researchers for many years. Milgram (1974) suggested that we live in a socially obedient environment. Our experience has taught us that authorities are generally trustworthy and legitimate. This creates a socially obedient environment. Adorno et al. (1950) felt that personality was a better explanation of obedience. They proposed that some people had an authoritarian personality. Such people are most likely to be obedient (and most likely also to be prejudiced). Milgram's (1974) hypothesised if people were asked by a person in authority to do something that they think is wrong what would happen? To work out how far most people are willing to go in their obedience to
A Study to Show the Effect of Conformity on Estimating the Number of Sweets in a Jar
A Study to Show the Effect of Conformity on Estimating the Number of Sweets in a Jar Abstract: The research was designed to test the claim by Jenness that conformity levels increase in an ambiguous situation. The method was a Laboratory experiment and the design was an independent measures design and the participants were an opportunity sample of fourteen Sixth Formers (16-17 years old). Participants in the control condition had to individually guess the number of sweets in a jar. The average score was relayed to the group and they were then, as the experimental condition, asked to re-guess the number. The one tailed hypothesis was that estimates in the experimental condition would produce estimates closer to the group estimate. The findings were that conformity exists in an ambiguous situation. The data was put to the paired t test because the data was interval and from repeated groups. The results were significant at the 0.05 level. One can conclude that ambiguity induces conformity and so the one tailed hypothesis was accepted. Introduction: Much work has been undertaken in the field of conformity. Psychologists such as Asch, Sheriff, Crutchfield and Jenness have all conducted valuable studies which can be used as a basis for conformity research. Asch investigated if people yield to group pressure when the answer is obvious. He gave participants a simple perceptual
Describe and evaluate the research methods used by the behaviourist approach
Question: Describe and evaluate the research methods used by behaviourism Behaviourism is a belief that the environment causes and affects our behaviour. The approach accepts determinism and believes that all behaviour can be explained in terms of, behaviour is a direct result of environmental stimuli that can be predicted. Empiricism is accepted and behaviourism rejects 'abstract' terms such as 'id', 'ego' etc. Lab based experiments have taken place in the field of behaviourism to come up with empirical evidence to support theories, experiments such as, Pavlov's dogs, The skinner box, Bobo the doll and Little Albert are among them. This is an advantage as it means results are reliable, meaning that they can be repeated and still achieves consistent results making the research valid. Behaviourism did experiments on both humans and animals. In using humans, the experiment is at risk of obtaining false results because as humans we have a conscious thought and can tell the experiment is not real. The 'Hawthorne Effect' suggests that we, as humans, perform better when being watched. This is a disadvantage of empirical research being carried out on humans. A disadvantage of using animals in experiments is that the results obtained from the experiment can not be generalised to humans and it has been accused of ignoring important biological and cognitive differences as
Factors underlying anomalous experience
Evaluate cognitive factors underlying anomalous experience. A considerable amount of research has explored the possibility that cognitive biases may underlie paranormal experiences and belief. Gray found that believers have significantly lower levels of academic performance than sceptics. Research has also found that believers perform less well on tests of syllogistic reasoning. However, The finding that poor cognitive poor ability is linked with anomalous experience hasn't been confirmed in all studies. Many researchers are unable to replicate their findings and some researchers have found the opposite, that believers are more intelligent. It was found in a survey of 1500 readers of 'New Scientist', intelligent people whom we expect to be non-believers that 67% regarded ESP as an established fact or a likely possibility. In conclusion, with the exception of syllogistic reasoning research does not support a difference in terms of general cognitive ability. Believers underestimate the probability that certain events may simply happen by chance and thus reject coincidence as an explanation for paranormal events. Blackmoore argued that individuals who made poor probability misjudgements were more likely to suggest that their experiences were psychic. However, Musch urge caution since this could be explained by poor cognitive ability and not a component in paranormal belief.
Describe and discuss ethical and methodological issues which have arisen in studies of conformity.
d) Describe and discuss ethical and methodological issues which have arisen in studies of conformity. (10 marks) The ethical issue which has arisen in studies of conformity is use of deception. This is where the participants are misled as to the task they are involved in or not fully informed of the situation. Asch deceived their participants about the purpose of the study and the role of other participants. The participants do not know that the participants who are involved in the experiment are confederates. Sherif also deceived their participants about the purpose of the study. However, without deception the aim of these could not be achieved and internal validity would have been compromised. As the participants have known that the psychologists are going to test the conformity, the experiment will not be success because they know the psychologists are going to look at their response when they are being with a group. Therefore, deception will be necessary in the studies of conformity. The ethical issue which has arisen in studies of conformity is protection of harm. Participants should be carefully debriefed so that they feel no worse about themselves after the study than they did before. Any possible harm should be no greater than in normal life. Asch's participants suffered from stress because when the participants gave different answers then the confederates might look
Describe and Evaluate Studies on Conformity. (Key study Solomon Asch)
Name: Odesanya Atilola Class: AS Psychology group1 Key Skills Assignment Topic: Describe and Evaluate Studies on Conformity. (Key study Solomon Asch) Lecturer: Kim Weeks Conformity is defined as a change in a person's opinion or behaviour as a result of real or imagined pressure from a group of people. This pressure to act like other people sometimes, despite our true feelings and desires, is common in our everyday lives. This is due to implied and spoken rules of the situation. People conform due to two different reasons. People conform either by informational influence or normative influence. Deutsch and Gerard (1955) gave a definition on informational and normative social influence: Informational social influence is a situation whereby the individual has a desire to be right in the knowledge and judgement of others, shown in Sherif's study. People change their opinion because of a number of different reasons including status and roles and familiarity. Informational influence leads usually to internalisation, where what a person believes actually changes. While Normative social influence is basically a situation whereby an individual has the urge or the want to be liked and accepted by others, as shown by Asch's experiment. Normative does not change private opinion; it affects public opinion because of compliance, where people, even though they don't believe in it,
What are ideal types? How useful are they in helping us to understand contemporary social structures?
What are ideal types? How useful are they in helping us to understand contemporary social structures? Burger (1976) points out that "the conception of the ideal type has been regarded by many as the crowning achievement of Weber's efforts in the field of methodology" (pg.154). In this essay I will attempt to lay the foundations of Webers beliefs and show how the relate to his use of the ideal type. Firstly I will negotiate Webers path through the two dominant sociological traditions, Positivism and Historicism and pick out common themes along the way. I will show why Webers middle way required such a novel device as the ideal type and I will highlight the methods Weber must first follow before the ideal type is constructed. Drawing on the work of Parking I will highlight some fundamental flaws in Webers approach after which I will critically examine the use of ideal types in practice. Max Webers sociology sought to find a middle way between two sharply contrasting methods of analysing human behaviour. On one hand, positivists maintained that causal relations must be sought using scientific methodology; advocating the objectivity of the natural sciences, they sought to find causal explanations for empirically grounded collective behaviour. Going against the trend of the time, Weber embraced some of the aspirations of the positivist approach while retaining the historians'
Sexual Selection
Sexual Selection * Darwin noticed that there were certain features that he could not explain by Natural Selection * Such as differences in size, body form, colouration and behaviour between males and female of the same species - why are females often smaller and less colourful than males? o Infact, in some species, the male seems at a real disadvantage in that he would show up to predators by being brightly coloured, he might have huge antlers that mean he can hardly lift his head, or he may have a huge tail that would get caught in the undergrowth o Why would it make evolutionary sense to have such features that are only going to get you eaten??? Differences in the appearance etc. between males and females of the same species are referred to as SEXUAL DIMORPHISM Humans are sexually dimorphic to a certain extent with females being generally smaller, less muscular and without features such as facial hair Sexual Selection (as opposed to Natural Selection) was Darwin's solution to this problem: * He suggested that the differences must be due to an advantage they give in passing genes into the next generation * Females are 'in demand', so sexual selection will mostly operate on the males who have to work to get access to the females * The features will either help the males to compete with other males and 'fight them off' for access to the females, or they will make them
Discuss evolutionary explanations of intelligence
Discuss evolutionary explanations of intelligence (30 marks) Intelligence has been considered a unique feature of human beings as it gives us the ability to devise elaborate strategies for solving problems. There are three key evolutionary explanations of intelligence, which are, foraging/ecological, social and sexual selection. Foraging is when animals learn food preferences from others. This ability has clear survival advantages because the animal can learn from others rather than using trial and error process to identify which foods are harmful. The larger the range of food required, the larger the foraging area must be and the greater the requirement for more complex abilities. Many primates have to balance their diet by selective eating through successful hunting, which requires forethought, planning, cunning and the ability to coordinate the actions of a number of individuals. Finding food over a particular area may require a cognitive map (memorized spatial knowledge).Obtaining the food requires tool use and hunting techniques, which is another indication of intelligence in both human and non-human species. Visalberghi and Trinca (1987) did a study to look at the effects of tool use. Capuchin monkeys were given task of pushing peanut butter out of a tube. They found that the monkeys were quick at finding a suitable stick but tried out many unsuitable ones first.
