Here are some notes and hints which reinforce the stuff we’ve been doing in the run up to the Easter Hols.
Let me just go over, once again, how I would like you to do these assignments. (Of course, you can try them any way you like really, as long as the criteria are met.) Assignment 11 is about the contribution each piece has made in the study of psychology. You can concentrate here on the autism study by Baron-Cohen. You should describe and evaluate the study first, using information from the assignment package, Gross textbook and any other resource. But I suggest that you try to avoid the web because there is the possibility of overkill. Also, you will encounter referencing difficulties. Then, explain how it supports the ‘theory of mind’ explanation of autistic behaviour. Finally, mention the other two studies (Zimbardo and Bandura) and say how they have contributed to our knowledge and understanding of human behaviour. Remember the focus of this assignment is on the Sally’s marbles research – the other two pieces are dealt with in the other two assignments!
Time for a little reward.
OK. Hope you enjoyed that nice cup of tea and feel a bit better!
Assignment 12 is about ethics and methodology. For this assignment you should be concentrating on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Describe what was done, and evaluate the method as well as the research. Again, the information is available in the class booklet. There are also bnumerous sites on the web, some of which I have linked to from my website. But then you should evaluate the ethics of the experiment, not just a review of the ethical principles but thye wider implications. Was the research necessary? Did the results justify the means? Here, you should reference some ethical criticism where you can, but you also entitled to say whether you think participants were harmed based on your viewing of the video evidence. Don’t forget also to consider the ethics around Bandura, and Sally’s marbles. (Remember the participants were children, and in the autism research they were also psychologically disadvantaged.)
Time for a bit more motivation. You need this by now!
Feeling better?
Assignment 13 is about the application of psychological research. It’s great knowing all this stuff about psychology, but what use does it have? Well, Bandura’s BoBo-Doll research has been used as a support for many theories and issues. The original research was to develop a theory of aggression via imitative, or vicarious learning. But in recent years, it has been used as a platform to argue the effects of violent videos on children and young people. “Everybody knows that children who play violent video games and watch violent TV will become violent through imitating the characters in the videos.” But everybody doesn’t know, because they haven’t done the research to find out. So, to do Assignment 13, you should concentrate on Bandura’s research (describe and evaluate it) and then discuss the video violence issue, producing evidence for your discussion. The best answers here will have two or three examples of research supporting and challenging the video aggression argument.
Time for another quick break.
I’ve put a new page into the website, especially for this unit, because the materials and resources are so scattered! You could do worse than visit it by clicking here!
And remember, it may seem like a lot of work, but this unit does carry SIX BIG FAT CREDITS.
So, you’ve finished the big unit. (Sounds like IKEA doesn’t it!) Go on. Relax. Party. You know you deserve it!
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