WordPress.com



The Individual Differences AreaThe individual differences area looks at differences between people, whereas previous approaches have tended to look at factors that are common to all people. This means we will be looking at differences between people, rather than what people have in common. This area covers intelligence and personality and the way that these have been tested, concepts and definitions of normality and abnormality, and a huge range of descriptions and explanations of a variety of mental health disorders. Key assumptions:Behaviour can be explained by focusing on the differences between individualsResearchers should focus on dispositional explanations of human behaviour,?where behaviour is caused by you as an individual, rather than the situation you are inAssumes behaviour can be largely explained in terms of personality traits, intelligence,?normality, ways of thinking and emotional responses.-269913395031Key terms:00Key terms:Every individual is uniqueKey terms:StrengthsWeaknessesYear 1 core studies: Year 2 core studies:Gould (1982) Bias in IQ testingHancock et al. (2001) The language of PsychopathsGould (1982) Bias in IQ testingArea:Theme:Background: What is the purpose of an IQ test?Intelligence IQThis is not a study conducted by Gould. The research we are going to look at is by Yerkes. Stephen Gould did the very same when he published ‘A Nation of Morons’ in 1982, in which he reviewed Yerkes’ study. Gould, along with many others, were very critical of the research and the impact that it had on many people’s lives. This key study is about Gould. He conducted a review article of Yerkes’ original study. This presentation will discuss Yerkes in order to critique his work, just like Gould did. When America became involved in WW1, over a million recruits were required. Colonel Yerkes combined his early ideas of inherited intelligence and the development of mental testing and developed the?Army Alpha and Beta tests?as a way of selecting recruits.Test 1: Army AlphaWritten test for _____________ menIncluded questions about ___________________________ and other familiar IQ questionsYerkes believed the test measured native _______________, which is not influenced by education or cultureHowever, it is criticised for being _______________ – someone unfamiliar with American culture would perform poorly on thisTest 2: Army BetaDesigned for ____________ individuals or those who failed the Alpha testPicture testPictures used were culturally specific and if participants had no knowledge of the items, they would have been _____________ to the answer questions correctlyInstructions were written in ___________ and three parts of the test required written answers – ________________________________________________Those who failed this test = individual verbal examAims:To examine…Issues with psychometric testing, specifically IQ testsWays in which IQ test support racist views on inherited intelligenceSample:_______ million US army recruits?from different backgrounds during?WW1The recruits included _________________________________________Do not refer to the Army recruits as ‘participants’Yerkes noted:Many recruits had ________________________ and so the queue for the Beta test grew. The standards required to take the Alpha were __________________, but ______________ across all army camps. In some, schooling up to the third grade counted as literate (so they would have to take the Alpha) and in others anyone who could read took the Alpha.Those individuals who failed the Alpha should have filtered through the system and taken the Beta, but due to time constraints they didn’t and as a result many scored zero.Results:Data was analysed (by E.G. Boring) looking for racial and national averagesFound:Average ___________________ = mental age _______ Average _______________ = ________ (______________________________)Who are Eugenicists?What is their explanation for the racial differences? Realistically… why were there differences?Men were often allocated an _______________ test – __________ results _______________ barrier – recent immigrants highly disadvantages________________ correlation between stay in US and score – what does this mean?ConclusionsIQ tests are both ___________ and ________________?biasedIQ tests do not _________________IQ tests do ______ provide valid results, offering unreliable results._____________ and _______________ IQ tests have led to tragic consequences. (See below)Conclusion 1, 2, 3:‘It was touching to see the intense effort … put into answering the questions, often by men who never before had held a pencil in their hands.’ Examiner for the Beta test, 1968, recalling his experience. The Beta test was designed to be used by illiterate men, but it still relied on pencil work (writing), knowledge of numbers and how to write them.Conclusion 4:These tests had large implicationsBaring in mind that these tests were now accepted measures of innate intelligence, here was evidence that there really was a difference between racial and national groups in their levels of intelligenceIn 1924 the?Immigration Restriction Act?was passed, Europeans who had scored very poorly on the tests were consequently no longer welcome in the countryIt was then decided a quota of immigrants were to be allowed into America (2%), ensuring the ‘unwanted’ were low in the USOne of the groups that was found to be low in intelligence were the Jews. Many fled their country of origin and were denied entry to the US. The fate of many of these are known from the Nazi regime…‘I believe those tests were worth what the war cost, even in human life, if they served to show clearly to our country, and the degrees of intelligence in different races who are coming to us, in a way which no one can say is the result of prejudice … We have learned once and for all that the Negro is not like us. So in regard to many races and sub-races in Europe we learned that some which we had believed possessed of an order of intelligence perhaps superior to ours [i.e. Jews] were far inferior.’ Henry Fairfield Osborn (president of the American Museum of Natural History), 1923‘We know what happened to many who wished to leave but had nowhere to go. The paths to destruction are often indirect, but ideas can be agents as sure as guns and bombs.’ Gould, 1982EvaluationExperimental designControl of variablesValidityReliabilityMundane realismEcological validityEthical issuesRepresentativenessEthnocentrismExam questionsDescribe how Gould collected the data [2]Explain why Gould’s review is not considered a study [2]Gould conducted a review of IQ testing. Explain what a review is [2]Outline one strength of a review [2]Outline one weakness of a review [2]Outline two problems with the way IQ tests used by Yerkes were administered [4]Describe one piece of quantitative data and one piece of qualitative data from Gould’s review [4]Outline one conclusion that can be drawn from the review by Gould of intelligence testing [2]Explain how the Gould review falls under the Individual Differences area [3]Hancock et al. (2001) The language of PsychopathsArea:Theme:Background:What is a psychopath?Why look at the language of psychopaths?Language communicates __________ an individual’s thoughts to another person. Words can reveal significant insights about psychological functioning. Underlying _________________ _________________________________________________________. Also, there has been little examination of _________ associated with psychopaths who comprise about ____% of the general population.Previous research by Williamson (1993) found psychopaths are ______ likely to use ___________, logically inconsistent statements, than non-psychopaths.Aim:To see whether traits of psychopaths could be found in their speech.The researchers examined the ______________________ (in describing their violent crimes) on _________ major characteristics:1. ________________ As psychopaths appear to view the world and others instrumentally as they are talking, Hancock et al. were interested in seeing if this would be reflected in their speech in the form of subordinating junctions (eg. ________________________). These are words associated with ___________________ statements. It can be suggested offenders whose crimes are ________________ and ________________ by the achievement of an external goal, are open to the use of case and effect explanatory language.2. Their unique material and socio-emotional needsIt seems to be the case that satisfying ones basic physiological and material needs (eg food, sex and shelter) matters ______ to psychopaths than the need for higher level needs (meaningful relationships, spirituality, self-esteem).Hancock et al. were interested in seeing whether their narratives about their crimes would contain more references to food, drink, clothing, sex and resources (money) and _______ references reflecting high level needs such as love, family and spirituality.3. Their emotional deficitPsychopaths exhibit a generalised deficit in their ability to experience emotions themselves and to recognise ________________________________. Hancock et all. Hypothesised that this emotional deficit might lead psychopaths to…Produce fewer and less ___________Produce more ______________ (‘uh’, ‘um’) reflecting the increased cognitive load being placed on them by the challenge of describing what happened in a manner that appears appropriateUse of language that reflects psychological ‘distancing’ from and a lack of ____________ responsibility for the crime, such as a high rate of ___________ verbs, fewer present tense verbs, and a high rate of articles (‘a’, ‘the’) in line with more use of concrete nouns.right141811Task: Using different coloured highlighters, identify the above characteristics in an extract from Ted Bundy’s final interview:“My exposure to pornography and alcohol reduced my inhibitions, allowing me to be involved in the situations I have been. I know people will accuse me of being self-serving, but through God’s help, I have came to the point umm, much too late, where I can feel the hurt and the pain I am responsible for. During the past few days, myself and a number of investigators have been talking about unsolved cases - murders I was involved in. It’s hard to talk about all these years later, because it revives all the terrible feelings and thoughts that I have steadfastly and diligently dealt with - I think successfully. It has been reopened umm and I had felt the pain and the horror of that.”00Task: Using different coloured highlighters, identify the above characteristics in an extract from Ted Bundy’s final interview:“My exposure to pornography and alcohol reduced my inhibitions, allowing me to be involved in the situations I have been. I know people will accuse me of being self-serving, but through God’s help, I have came to the point umm, much too late, where I can feel the hurt and the pain I am responsible for. During the past few days, myself and a number of investigators have been talking about unsolved cases - murders I was involved in. It’s hard to talk about all these years later, because it revives all the terrible feelings and thoughts that I have steadfastly and diligently dealt with - I think successfully. It has been reopened umm and I had felt the pain and the horror of that.”Method:Procedure:Hancock et al. measured psychopathy using __________________________. Example questions are: Hancock et al. found: ____ (of 52) to be?___________?and ____(of 52) to be?________________Groups were matched on type of murder and age?(Psychopaths mean age 39.71; control mean age 39.1) and amount of time since homicide was committed (psychopaths mean = 11.87 years, Controls = 9.82). This means the experimental design is ___________After groups were made, participants were interviewed. At the beginning of the interview, the purpose of the study (to examine the manner in which homicide offenders recall their homicide offence) and the procedure were verbally explainedPpts were asked to describe their offences in __________________Interviews lasted around _______ minutes and were recordedTwo senior psychology graduate students and one research assistant conducted the interviews and they were unaware of the psychopathy scores of the offenders.Evaluate this:Results:Difference in number of words spoken was __________Psychopaths produced?_______?words that are subordinating conjunctions, such as: _____________________________. This links to characteristic ___________?Psychopaths also used approximately?_________ as many?words relating to basic physiological needs such as food, drink, sex and money when describing their crime. This links to characteristic _______Non-psychopaths used significantly ________ language relating to social needs, including family, religion and spiritualityExamined through use of past and present verbs…Psychopaths…Used?______?past tense verbs (______ rather than stab)Produced a?________ rate?of articles (‘a’ and ‘the’) than controls, showing a greater use of concrete nouns (material objects).?Language was significantly?___________________ differences?in the emotional content of language between the two groups in relation to pleasantness, intensity or imageryLanguage was?______?positive and?_________?emotionally intense.ConclusionsPsychopaths are more likely to…Describe _________ relationships when describing their murderLinguistically frame crime as more in ______ and more ______________________ View crime as __________ outcome of plan and focus more on ______________ than higher level social needsOperate on a primitive but rational levelDescribe crimes with _______________ and use _____________ languageEvaluationExperimental designControl of variablesValidityReliabilityMundane realismEcological validityEthical issuesRepresentativenessEthnocentrismExam questionsWhat was the aim of the study by Hancock et al [2]Describe the research method used by Hancock et al [4]Evaluate the research method used in Hancock [6]From the study by Hancock et al, describe what is meant by the term psychopath [2]Describe the sample used in Hancock at el [3]Identify two findings from Hancock [2]Outline one explanation Hancock gave for one of these findings [2]Suggest one problem with the way the data was interpreted in Hancock [2]Outline one conclusion from the Hancock study [2]Describe the purpose of one control used in Hancock [2]Describe how the level of psychopathy was measured prior to the collection of data in Hancock [3]Outline one way Hancock can be considered to be high in validity [2]Outline one way Hancock can be considered to be low in validity [2]Outline one way in which the Hancock study could be considered ethical [2]Explain one difference between the Hancock and Gould study [3]Explain one similarity between the Hancock and Gould study [3]Outline how the Hancock study falls under the area in which it does [3] ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download