Evolutionary Explanations of Parental Investment
The parental investment theory was put forward by Robert Trivers in 1972, and argues that differences between males and females have their origins in the different amount of time, energy and effort being put into having a child. We often hear that males seem to behave in a more aggressive manner, they care more about physical attractiveness in a partner than personality, and that women value financial capacity of potential partners the most (Buss, 1989). An explanation of this is that males and females have a different amount of parental investment, and the root of the behaviour is in Darwin's natural selection theory which proposes that those who are reproductively successful and leave more offspring will have their characteristics passed on. Therefore, the aim for both males and females is to create as many living, healthy offspring as possible. A male's investment is relatively small, as he has almost no limit to how many children he can make, and therefore the best way to maximise his reproductive success is to have many matings with multiple fertile partners. However, a female's investment is very substantial. She has a limited supply of gamete and her reproductive life is short, she carries the growing foetus around for 9 months and after giving birth, she must continue to nourish the child by breastfeeding, or else the child will not survive. Therefore, her best chance
Describe and evaluate one or more theories relating to the formation and/or maintenance of relationships
Psychology Assignment 1 Describe and evaluate one or more theories relating to the formation and/or maintenance of relationships. The scientific study of how relationships form has shown that, at least in the initial stages, this process may have little to do with deep feelings and shard emotions, and more to do with self-interest. There are two main theories of relationship formation: The Reinforcement Affect Model and The Social Exchange Theory. The Reinforcement Affect Model The Reinforcement Affect Model was suggested by Byrne and Clore (1970). It proposes that we enter into a relationship because the individual concerned creates positive feelings in us, which makes them more attractive to us. The 'reinforcement' aspect of this model concerns operant conditioning; we like some individuals because they provide us with direct reinforcement (I.e. they make us feel good). This is supported by Griffir and Guay (1969) who found that participants rated and experimenter more highly if he/she had given them a positive evaluation. The 'reinforcement' aspect can also be associated with classical conditioning; we like some individuals because they are associated with pleasant events. This is supported by Grifit and Guay (1969) who found that onlookers were also rated more highly when the experimenter had rates participants positively. The affect of the classical and/or operant
Describe and evaluate one social psychological theory of aggression?
Describe and evaluate one social psychological theory of aggression? AO1 Deindividualisation is when someone loses their sense of identity and engages themselves in immoral things. The theory of deindividualisation suggests that when an individual is involved in a crowd they act like the crowd i.e. such as football hooligans. Just as the saying goes you are what you wear or eat can be applied here i.e. you are upon what your crowd or peers are upon. Le Bon proposed that there were a number of factors that lead an individual to become psychologically transformed in a crowd. One being remaining anonymous in the crowd i.e. when you're around a lot of people you are unlikely to be spotted. Zimbardo however argued with Le Bon saying that deindividualisation is a result of reduced responsibility, increased arousal, sensory overload and altered consciousness. Research study into deindivialistion - Zimbardo prison experiment Aim: o To investigate whether situational or dispositional factors are what make us aggressive. Procedure: o 24 emotionally stable men were recruited o There were 2 groups one was guards and the other one was prisoners. o Zimbardo changed the identity of prisoners by giving them numbers, and being referred to by numbers. o Zimbardo also changed the identity of guards by making them wear military clothes. They carried whistles, handcuffs
free will and determinism
Discuss the free will and determinism debate in psychological research. There have been many arguments questioning the existence of free will and determinism. There have also been endless debates regarding if individuals are capable of making their own choices or if behaviour is predetermined and controlled by internal and external forces instead of an individual's will. Free will is the notion that we are able to make choices in our behaviour, allowing us to separate our intentions clearly from events that have been caused by internal or external factors. One argument for the existence of free will is the psychological argument, stating that everyone has a subjective sense of free will, and that many individuals feel that they are able to make their own free choices. However, simply experiencing this sense of free does not necessarily mean that it is true. Skinner claimed that free will was simply an illusion, we think we are free as we do not understand how our behaviour is determined by reinforcement. Freud too claimed free will was an illusion, stating we think we are acting freely but really our behaviour is determined by unconscious forces, thus making all behaviour predictable and pre determined. Another argument for the existence of free will is the ethical argument. This argument implies that if behaviour is controlled by forces beyond the individual's
Friendship and development
Psychology Half-Term assignment Name two indicators of attachment identified by Schaffer and Emerson Schaffer and Emerson identified two aspects to use indicators for attachment these are:- Separation anxiety and Stranger Anxiety. John Bowlby advocates the idea that deprivation during the critical period has derogatory effects in later life in extreme cases of maternal deprivation it leads to affectionless psychopathy Jack’s case show cognitive difficulty as his case seems to support Bowlby’s maternal theory as he never had an attachment to his mother and lacked the continuous care that Bowlby insists must be present for 5 years. Furthermore, the child’s attachment relationship with their primary caregiver leads to the development of an internal working model Jack’s model is based upon a broken relationship and so moral decline and lack of cognitive development with a lack of social skill is quite evident. Discuss what psychologists have discovered about the development of friendship. Refer to evidence in your answer. (12 mark) Many factors are indeed involved in the formation and development of friendships on important factors is Psychologists have observed that there is a difference in the type of friendships that are formed within different age groups Selman attempted to categorise these groups and came up with the following: - 0-2 Months Pre-attachment
I think that Social Psychology can only explain some of why football hooliganism happens
Outline and describe the issue you have studied in Social Approach. (12 Marks) [First Draft] Ever since football has been a sport, there has been the social problem of football Hooliganism. Football hooliganism refers to destructive behavior that is performed by football fans and is widely considered to be unruly and destructive behaviour. Actions such as fighting, vandalism and intimidation are carried out by football fans participating in football hooliganism. The behaviour is often based upon rivalry between different teams and conflict may take place before or after football matches. In this question I am going to be describing football hooliganism, explaining the theories behind it, what studies support the theories, evaluating these theories and then subsequently using alternative theories to explain how football hooliganism occurs. The key issue we studied in the social approach was football hooliganism; we looked at what it is, who gets involved, why is it such key issue in society and how can Social Psychology be used to explain why football hooliganism occurs. It is a substantially large issue society because the football hooligans believe that they’re above the law as they feel they can do it without any repercussions. There are many explanations of why football hooliganism occurs, but one we have looked at is Social Identity Theory. This theory states that
Psychology formation of relationships
Psychology – formation of relationships One theory is ‘The Matching Hypothesis’ which is a social psychological theory based on relationships, proposed by Goffman in 1952. It suggests that in order for a relationship to be a long and successful, both partners in the relationship must be equally matched in attractiveness. The reason for this is due to fear of rejection, therefore when searching for a life partner the main aim is to select someone who is similarly attractive. Walster et al (1966) carried out a study to test the Matching Hypothesis he did this by advertising a dance during university fresher’s week in the United States. The total number participants were 752, 376 males and 376 females. When signing up for the dance, the judges rated the participants on physical attractiveness, and asked the participants to complete a questionnaire; the results were inserted into a computer database to pair the participants up for the dance. However, the real purpose of the questionnaire was used later in the research to assess the similarity. By not informing the participants of the real purpose of the questionnaire this raises ethical issues such as deception and fully informed concent as the participants can not give fully formed consent to something if they are being decived and do not no the full extent of what is going on or what there questionnaire is being
Outline and evaluate research into obedience
________________ Outline and evaluate research into obedience (12 marks) Obedience is complying with an order from another person to carry out an action. Many studies have been conducted into looking at obedience in people and what factors in a situation lead people to obey. Milgram (63) conducted a study to find out whether ordinary Americans would obey an unjust order from a person in authority to inflict pain on another person. Milgram gained a volunteer sample of 40 males from a range of backgrounds who were each paid $4.50 and were deceived into thinking they were giving electric shocks. The participants were told the study concerned the role of punishment in learning. The participant had the role of a teacher and a confederate played the learner. He had to memorize pairs of words. The teachers role was to administer a shock every time the learner made a mistake. The teacher had 30 levers each indicated the level of shock to be given. The participant watched the confederate being strapped into the electric chair. The learner began to answer correctly but then made mistakes. Shocks started at 15 volts and rose in 15 volt increments up to 450 volts. The researchers encouraged the teachers to give the shock when they hesitated. However no shocks were actually administered. The experiment continued until either the teacher refused to move on or 450 volts were reached and
