Journey's end

Well, almost there.  Some of you have decided enough is enough, and realising that youn have earned enough credits have decided to cash in early.  But for those who are still determined, here are some hints for assignment 17.

Assignment 17 is about ethics, obedience research and application of social psychology to the real world. 

Part A has two questions:

1 is about ethics.  You are to do an ethics discussion around Zimbardo’s prison experiment and Milgram’s obedience project. Each of these are controversial for different reasons,  and in addition to discussing how the ethical principals of deception, harm, right to withdraw etc. are applied (or not!) you must discuss whether the ends of the research justified the means.  Focus chapter 15 (page 218) contains most of the information you need for this.

2 is about evaluation of Milgram.  In this assignment, you will be looking at one evaluative issue, that of ecological validity.  This basically asks “does Milgram’s research translate to other situations?  We don’t normally go round giving electric shocks to other people, but there are instances in real life when we might do things against our principles or normal instructions when we are told to do so.  To pass this section you must describe at least one piece of research that tests obedience to authority and supports Milgram's results.  Hofling (1966) and Meeus and Raaijmakers (1987) (see pages 208-209 Focus) are two pieces of research that might help.

Part B has three questions, but you can combine these into one piece of writing.  There is no word limit here but I have suggested a cap of 5000 words.  Many people get into the discussion and get carried away…

To do the first part, you should compare the Iraqi prison with Zimbardo’s research.  Is there any suggestion that the behaviour of the guards was because of their personality?  or because of their situation?

The second part is fairly general, and is really focused on majority influence.  Were conformity issues involved here? You could discuss that aspect of the soldiers’ behaviour. 

The third section is about minority influence.  How could the influence of a minority help to reduce abusive behaviour?  Could the research of Moscovici, or perhaps Gamson, be of any help? Moscovici is on page 196, Gamson page 214.  Or are there any other psychological explanations?  Whatever you say, you must support with empirical evidence.

I MUST have the assignments by 2nd June.  I can’t guarantee marking stuff in time for 4th after then.

Nearly there ... Don't Panic!

So now, we're coming towards the end of the course.  The final unit "Conformity and Obedience" which has two assignments, and by now, if you've got thus far, you'll take them in your stride.  But if you can you really should get to the lessons!


Assignment 16 looks very long, but it's not that bad.  The first thing to say is that you can find just about everything you need inn the Focus book.  It's almost as if it was written with this course in mind!  There are three parts to it.  The first is about informational and normative social influence.  We look at two models and map examples of behaviour on to them.  Activity two on page 187 (guessing the page, but it's about the ladies at the golf  club and the Orson Welles play) is a good one to try, and we worked it in class if you weren't there.

These are the models we refer to. (From Gross (2005))


Next, we shall look at the autokinetic effect experiment of Sherif.  This is available on the website page (find it without a link, I'm feeling lazy!)  but also in the Focus book.  Again, try and map the experiment onto the model.


Finally, for this post, look at the Asch line size experiment.  We'll spend a lot of time on this one.  Try and map that on to one of the models - and that's a fair bit of the assignment started!


More to follow ...

Insanity - what is it?

Basically, this is about Assignment 14.  What is madness?  More to the point, how can we define abnormal behaviour?  The assignment asks for you to choose three out of the five, describe/explain and evaluate them.  You know how to do this by now.  You see, the assignment appeared at the beginning of last year's course and the headings in task 2 are designed to help people evaluate.  So you can set the assignment out as a standard piece of writing - describe/evaluate one approach, describe evaluate second approach, describe evaluate third approach, finish off with perhaps a paragraph that brings it all together.

You can actually find all that you need to achieve a pass in the Focus book and the handout for DSM IV.  About 750 - 1000 words if you feel you need a ball-park figure.  Remember that an opinion expressed in a text book is perfectly OK as a reference of supporting or contradicting evidence for an approach.

But you can in fact find much more outside the Focus book.  For example, if you choose to discuss classification methods, then you should include discussion on Rosenhahn (1973) "On being sane in insane places".  

The picture is of Bedlam, a famous picture from Rakes Progress.  It is not a picture of room M41 on a bad day.

On 13th May you have a short exam.  The subject is stress, and anything in your Focus book between pages 91 and 136 is fair game.  Try and de-stress like the girl in the picture. Have a great weekend!

A Very Fine Specimen

When I put the mindmaps up (see last post) it seems there was a bit cut off.  So, I've put the tree on the wall, photographed it again, and left in the background (wall).  What you see below is the whole tree.  And everyone agreed that it was indeed a very fine specimen.  Here it is:

Hint for Assignment 13:  The minimum needed to achieve a pass is to write about one way in which Piaget, Vygotsky and Information Processing research have each been applied to education.  The pink book has it all just about.  You can find extra in Gross, pages 592, 595 and 599.  Other text books will have even more, you would just have to find it.  And that is how to get the merits and distinctions, of course.  For this assignment, "more gets you more!"

Assignment 13 - so try your luck!

Well, first of all, follow this link to the mindmaps you all made.    It's a 6.5Mb pdf file and might take a minute or two to download, depending on your connection, and if you absolutely cannot access it then let me know and I'll see what I can do.

So, how to do Assignment 13.  Basically it's a written assignment, probably about 1000 words or so by the time you've finished.  All thye mindmaps/flipcharts call them what you will, have enough information on them to help you ploan.  The major resource will of course be the pink book, from where most of the mindmaps were developed.  And they're all very good.  But there's also some stuff in Gross and I expect some of you will go even further afield.

Don't forget that if you are stuck, then ask.

And if you do it Sunday afternoon, here's a piece of music (a favourite of mine, so you know what I like!)

Holidays? Whatever gave you that idea?

Assignment 12 seems to be causing a lot of grief.  And I tried to make it easy for you!   Well, here are some hints.  Anyone who has seen this before, yes, I know you emailed me and this was the reply.  But quite a few others have the same problem as well.

If you are having problems with the first part of assignment 12, I think you will be better off with sensorimotor stage and pre-operational stage.  I have generally advised this because most of the obvious changes and research are focused on these two.  Also, the main difference between pre-  and concrete operational stages is that, in my words, pre-operational children can’t and concrete operational children can.  Think of the difference between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. (These are stages of development in English primary schools distinguished by the assessed achievement of standard attainment tests, or “SATS”).  The assignment asks for a piece of research from each of the two stages you choose, not the whole stage!

Sensorimotor research includes research into the development of object permanence.  Piaget (1937) demonstrated that children in this stage do not develop object permanence until several months of age.  Most of the evaluative research (e.g. Baillargeon and Devos (1991)) shows that object permanence develops earlier than Piaget reckoned.

Pre-operational research is usually about egocentrism (three mountains task, which was challenged by policeman-doll experiments) or conservation tasks, which are challenged by “naughty teddy”.    You can find all you need in the pink booklet, or from Gross.

So, have some sustenance before you go any further...

Mindmaps:

Some of you have been asking for software to do mindmapping.  I was rather hoping that you might hand-draw them.  But FreeMind  (click on the link and download)  is not only free but better than mine!  I use Mindjet mindmanager  software, which I had to buy several years ago.

This link http://www.jeffstanden.net/Piagetmap.pdf  is to a mindmap on my website.  Trouble is, they are software produced and not very detailed or attractive.  If you don’t know about mindmaps, then I’m sorry.  I did ask if you knew!  I thought you had covered them in study skills.  These YouTube links might help:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLWV0XN7K1g&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8_H42Z9wxA&feature=fvw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UCXalYcoko&feature=related

Basically the assignment is to make mindmap notes of the evaluation of Piaget, Vygotsky  and Information Processing approaches to cognitive development.  It’s a short (-ish!) way of covering a lot of material – far better than a 2500 word essay!  Use bullet points or single phrases to explain each evaluative concept on a mind map.

If there are any more doubts, I’ll do a mindmap session on the day we get back (19th).  In fact, I think I’ll do that anyway.

Meanwhile, something to drool over:

His name is Jonathan Ansell, and he's a singer.  Here he is with Lesley Garrett.  You drool over him.  I'll settle for the girl in the red dress!

Presentations over, now you're mine again!

OK. I'm not here for a couple of days, so I've put a worksheet up on the Developmental page. Mainly, you need to be catching up assignments, but if you've done them, or you want a rest after the rigours of presentation week, then try the worksheet.

And I'll see you all on Monday!

And yet another picture...

It's called "Party Girl".  You should.  Party.

It's been a long time...

Good Heavens it’s four weeks since I updated the site!  Quite a bit to catch up on.

Assignment 9:  I’m in such a rush that I can’t remember when it’s due in.  I would hate to think I’m giving hints for something that should have been submitted a week ago.  Especially if you read this and think you’ve got it wrong!

This is the assignment about childcare and enrichment studies.  You should first read the chapter in Focus about Childcare.  You will find information there about Headstart, with some evaluative comment.  Then, read through the first of the stimulus pieces.  Understand it.  Then comment on it.  Does it look as though it’s related to Bowlby, or deprivation studies?  If so, then describe Bowlby and say how it is related.  Similarly, anything about childcare or nursery care etc.  But – support what you say with empirical evidence.  This means references.  You don’t have to reference the stimulus materials. 

Then, read the two pieces about Headstart and Surestart.  Comment on those in the same way.  There is no right or wrong answer here, only your comments, supported with evidence.

No word count.

Assignment 10:

Remember the lesson on “conceptualise”?  External stimulus, internal response and transaction?  That is the key to this part of the assignment.  It’s in the Focus book.  In fact, you should by now have read (and I mean hold a book in your hands and read it page by page, making notes and doing activities as they appear) all the stress stuff in Focus.  Especially since the exam is going to be on stress. 

The next bit is about describing research.  A physiological piece (G.A.S. perhaps?), a cognitive piece (must be Lazarus and cognitive appraisal) and a behavioural piece, ideally Friedman and Rosenman Type A personality.  Then choose ONE of them and evaluate it.  The merits and distinctions will mostly be in the evaluations in this assignment.

Then, back to Sam.  Discuss how the stress experienced could be measured in each of the three ways indicated.  Biochemical means measuring drugs or hormones etc. in the body.  Usually invasive.  Physiological and self-report  are straightforward.   There is a section in Focus on self  reports. Finally, you don’t have to evaluate these, but evaluate = higher grades.  No word count!

I’ve had enough for now. 

Here’s the usual:

It's a long day so far...

I'm just doing too much marking today.

Here's the solution:

I wish! !

Here's the therapy, I suppose...

Time to even things up a bit...

Oh dear, now I'm in trouble.  It's all from the last post about assignment 8.  It seems that one of my male students objected to the fact that the girls got a real picture, while the blokes only got a cartoon.

Well, not to worry.  I've scoured the internet and found just the picture to even things up a bit.  Here's a picture of a famous and yet somehow romantic girl - she is true only to one - her frog.

So, I hope this evens out the balance.  You know who you are!

Assignment 8

Assignment 8 Notes and Hints

Just step back and look at the requirements of this assignment. You only need to concentrate on TWO of the topics. It’s your choice as to which two. But here are some pointers as to what is needed as a minimum to PASS the assignment.

First, a note about evaluation. Most of the resources you will be using have an evaluation section. You should start there. Evaluation should include (a) Is the research ‘good’ research (Oh how I detest value judgements!) in other words, does it show or demonstrate or explain what it sets out to do? (b) What doesn’t it do or explain? (c) Find some (at least one) empirical study or studies that support the research and (d) find some that either don’t support it or at least offer an alternative explanation.

Here's a bit of motivation for you.         

Bowlby’s monotropic theory.

Start by describing the theory. Hint – see the website! This is really about maternal deprivation. You have to evaluate the theory, and this implies that you should pose the question “What if attachment to mother is broken for some reason?” How might mental health be affected? So deal with the 44 thieves research, and evaluate it. That’s the minimum for this section. You might be so interested that you can’t stop and want to discuss privation and deprivation generally, who am I to criticise?

Harlow and Zimmerman.

This is one of several pieces of research published by Harlow and one or more of his colleagues. Basically, it’s Harlow and his rhesus monkeys. Describe the research in terms of aim – method – results – conclusion. Include evidence of strength of attachment, however distasteful you may feel about it. In fact, a brief evaluation of the ethics in Harlow’s research would not go un-noticed! But don’t forget there were two parts to Harlow’s research. Not only was there the investigation of ‘cupboard love’ theory, but also the effect of returning the subject monkeys to the rest of the herd. And make sure you evaluate. See the book page 65.

Schaffer and Emerson

Phases of attachment based on the longitudinal study of 60 Glasgow families. Nuff said.

Ainsworth and Bell.

Sensitive responsiveness and the strange situation. Types of attachment. Loads of opportunity for evaluation here. The really ambitious ones among you will go on to discuss the cross-cultural element. Often a long answer to this part, but if you are interested you can easily get carried away. I don’t mind, and again, it won’t go un-noticed!

If you find a connection between the two you are writing about, then mention it. For example, the strange situation relies on a characteristic of attachment described by Schaffer and Emerson...

By this time you are probably feeling like this:

But you'll be sooo glad it's finished.  Number 9 is just around the corner, and that's over half way. Time for celebration!

You wanted some references...

Leifer, A.D., Leiderman, P.H., Barnett, C.R. and Williams, J.A. (1972) Effects of Mother-Infant Separation on Maternal Attachment Behavior.  Child Development, 43, 1203-1218

Klaus, M.H. and Kennell,  J.H. (1976) Human maternal and paternal behavior,
in Klaus M.H. and Kennell J.H.  (editors)  Maternal-infant bonding, (1976) St.Louis, The CV Mosby Company

That's all for now!

Assignment 7 here already!

Assignment 7 is meant to be a fairly short assignment, which is really a nature/nurture discussion on child development.  Well, not quite but nature nurture comes into it.  The first bit requires you to outline (what's this?) psychological theories of imprinting, then temperament.  You can find just about all you need for that in the Focus book.  Just remember the KISS principle!

The second part wants a description of Klaus and Kennell's research followed by an evaluation.  You really need to have been at the lesson for that, but here is a link to the notes we used in class.

The third part asks for a nature nurture discussion on the first two parts.  Basically, imprinting is nature, temperament could be both (and say why!) and Klaus and Kennell is nurture (and say why.)  Don't kill yourselves over it, because Assignment 8 will be along soon and that will be a bit more challenging.

So have a nice cup of tea now...

Oh, to hell with it, go for the biggie...

PS, congratulations to those who've had successful interviews. 

Developmental Psychology - some You Tube clips

Here are some clips that we've viewed in class recently. You might want to see them again, you might want to see them for the first time! And you might want to refer to them in Assignment 7.

First a clip of some old and original footage of Konrad Lorenz and his geese.

Next, a clip on temperament, from Thomas and Chess.

Here is a clip on temperament from Jerome Kagan.

Also today, here is the reference for Guiton (1966) and the chickens.  He reared some male chicks in isolation for 47 days, i.e. until they were mature (oven ready?).  While in isolation, they were fed only by an assistant in yellow gloves.  They became imprinted on yellow rubber gloves, and at one stage they attempted to mate with yellow rubber gloves.  The chicks had developed inappropriate social and sexual behaviour.  Guiton then kept the chickens with normal females and eventually they developed normal sexual behaviour, although they were past imprinting age.  This suggested the critical period may not be quite so critical.

Guiton, P. (1966) Early experience and sexual object choice in the Brown Leghorn.  Animal Behaviour, 14, 534-538.

Assignment 6

Assignment  Six is up and running!  Here are some hints from our classroom discussions.  If you haven’t been able to get in, you might be at a disadvantage until you can get the hand-outs.  Since they are mainly photocopies of excerpts from textbooks, I can’t put them on the website because of copyright issues.  Also, if you can’t get to classes the assignment is on the website here, and must be submitted by Monday 1st February.

Oh, and I might have confused and worried a few people last week.  Assignment 5 is due in 18th January, not 11th.  Ho hum. 

Back to Assignment 6.  The two most important words in the assignment are “discuss” and “two”.  You are only required to discuss two of the three options. 

Discuss is best summed up as ‘describe, explain, evaluate, giving examples where appropriate’. 

I’ve made three burger diagrams (link 1) (Link 2) (Link 3) which are nothing more than basic suggestions as to how the options might be answered.  They are not set in stone!  And there’s no right or wrong answer for these – there rarely is for a discussion!

There is no word count for this assignment, but you must reference.  I would expect the whole thing to be about 1000-1500 words, may be more, may be less. 

Might be a lot of wine in this assignment. 


Perhaps you’d better sit back and have a nice cup of tea instead.

As usual, if you're stuck, then ask.  Ask me, ask your mate, ask anyone but don't sit and let it fester.

Looks like it's getting warmer!

As I look out of the window today, much of the snow seems to have melted, and although there have been some flurries, it is now raining.  So, assuming the thaw has started, perhaps it's back to normal.

If you can't get in on Monday, please email Assignment 5 and I will accept it as on time.  If I mark it before I see you (unlikely!), I'll put on a fresh front sheet.  Most resubmissions of assignment 4 have to be in by 11th (tomorrow).  It's difficult to email them, so I'll have to accept them when I see you, but to qualify for grading I must have them as soon as possible.

On Monday, the lesson will be about recovered and false memories.  Follow this link to the crime studies page on my website, scroll down and open or download the powerpoint.  You will need some of this if you tackle that part of assignment 6.

Access Bad Weather Update – Friday

You might have noticed the college was closed today!  I hope you discovered that via the internet or radio or anything other than walking up to the front door!

Notice that most of the snow today landed on our part of Lincolnshire.  Such is life.  Anyway, there were no lessons today, have a nice weekend.

Access Bad Weather Update – Thursday

I think the weather caught us by surprise today. 

 (OOPS! Picture fail!)

The forecast was for the rest of the country to be snowed under while our little corner  of the world was to be clear, sunny and a little bit cold.  No such luck, we had a bit of snow as well.  Enough to keep many of my students away today.  So here is an update on what we covered.

Access classes continued with memory.  We watched this video, which introduces some of the forgetting issues we are studying.  Then, we discussed some of the points on the mindmap about forgetting.  (Link to website - paper copies available when you're next in class)

The points we concentrated on today were system failure (displacement, interference and trace decay.  I call them system failure because they can be related to breakdown or leakage from the multistore system), retrieval failure, biological explanations of forgetting and an introduction to psychoanalysis and motivated forgetting.   You should really read Focus pages 22-33.

Here are some more  notes on  forgetting.  References to Gross are from an earlier edition, but you should be able to find it in the latest edition. Notes 1 – system failure.  Notes 2 – amnesia.

Finally, if you're still having trouble producing a bar chart for asssignment 4, here's a walkthrough (kind of!)

Access Bad Weather Update – Tuesday

We’ve taken up the story again with memory. Moving away from information processing models and looking instead at real life memory – sometimes called autobiographical memory. Find some more on page 18 Focus under Long Term memory.

In class, we worked through this powerpoint (direct link to my website)

You know you just can't wait to get back!

So, another term and a new year – decade even!

New fascia for the PsychoSpace blog as well!

Trouble is, as I write this (Sunday evening) it looks as though some of my students may have difficulty getting to the college.  I am relying on you to go to PsychoSpace if you can’t make it.  Please keep a regular watch here for messages and lesson exercises if the weather gets much worse.  Two snowflakes and a sparrow fart and Boston grinds (slides?) to a halt!

The plan for the next couple of weeks is to look at some theories of forgetting and how they are applied to the Criminal Justice System.  In particular, eye-witness testimony and interviewing.  You can find this in Focus Chapter 3 pages 34-47.  Assignment 6 is based on this.  Talking about assignments, if you are snowed in over an assignment deadline, email it to me.

I’ve marked Assignment 4 for those who were able to submit on time.  Those of you who missed the deadline, please try and get it in as soon as you can.

Many of you have to resubmit some questions.  These are the main problems, and some hints if you’re still stuck:

Questions 1 to 8 are about correlation. 

The graph associated with correlation is a scattergram.  Please don’t join the dots, because then it isn’t a scattergram any more.  It’s a line graph.  Here’s a scattergram.

Correlation invites a particular terminology for hypotheses.

“There will be a positive/negative correlation between (variable 1) and (Variable 2)” and the null hypothesis “There is no (or zero) correlation between (Variable 1) and (Variable 2)”

Remember that GSR measures emotional arousal, not just fear!

Strengths and weaknesses for correlation can be found in the Focus book, page 240.

Questions 9 to 21 are about Experiments.

The Experiment is a separate research method in its own right.  Don’t confuse with correlation.  Yes, they are connected.  A frequent research story will start with observation, then be tested with a correlational study, and finally with experiments where the intervening variables are controlled.  So yes, questions 9 to 21 do continue the story.

Most people managed the calculations.

Most people described the results.  “The results showed that (Dependent variable) was (higher/lower) under condition 1 than condition 2.”

Very few people got the bar chart correct.  KISS never was more important than here!  Why are you producing a graph of the results?  To make the results easy to understand, using a graphic image rather than words.  You described the results.  The graph should be just as simple.  TWO BARS.  How many times have you done this?  So why oh why were you fannying about with multi column charts and such like?  When did you see me using them?  Truth is, the charts you have produced are not summary charts, but pictorial representations of raw data.  In this case, waste of ink.

 Rant over.

Remember me drawing two column bar charts and saying “If you do it this way, you will always get IV and DV the right way round?  Say no more…

Hypotheses for experiments are slightly different from correlational hypotheses.   We did a practical memory experiment and wrote down a specimen hypothesis.

Experimental design is a subject apart.  See Focus pages 253-254, or follow this link to my website.  Page 5 has experimental design. Read the whole document if you can, it is interesting and informative and I wrote it.

Extraneous variables are linked with correlation intervening variables. (In this case they’re almost the same.)  You should identify them, describe them, say what the effect would be on the results if they were not controlled, and then how you would control them.

Ethics is a subject apart;  we do more on this later in the year, but for now see page 259 Focus for a short summary.

Hope all this helps.