Outline principles that define the SCLOA
Explain how principles that define the SCLOA may be demonstrated in research
- State principle 1
- Sociocultural psychologists believe that social and cultural environment influences behavior.
- Describe the Principle
- States that behavior can be influenced by the social and cultural environment
- For Example:
- Social and Cultural Environment: you eat with a knife and fork whereas in some other places/cultures, you may eat with chopsticks or a spoon and fork
- This further reinforces the idea that the real or imagined pressure of others influence behaviors
- Culture can be defined as the norms and values that define a society
- Research into conformity outlines social norms and also how, in the form of internalized standards of behavior, they regulate our social behaviors
- Conformity also shows that strong situational influences may cause us to put our own believes, values and morals to the side in order to fit in and be accepted by our social world (thus influencing behavior)
- This principle is further supported by research conducted by Asch (1951)
Aims:
- To test the extent of conformity in a non-ambiguous task
- 1 real subject among 7 confederates
- They were asked to judge which of the 3 lines on the right corresponded to the line presented on the left (in regards to length)
- Confederates of the study were told to give incorrect answers (that were obviously incorrect)
- There was also a separate condition where the participant was told to write down their answers individually
- Also, in another part of the experiment, the subject was given a supporting confederate
- 32% conformity rate
- 74% of subjects conformed at least once
- When given a supporting confederate, the conformity rate dropped to 5.5%
- When participants were allowed to answer privately, conformity rate dropped again
- People change their behavior in accordance with others
- Deception
- Participant protection (distressed)
- Participant bias
- State principle 2
- A second principle the SCLA assumes is that we construct our individual and social self through our conceptions.
- Describe the Principle
- This social self is how we construct our social identity and is also dependent on the types of groups that we belong and identified with.
- These identities reflect the influence of society on oneself and have been seen to extensively affect our behaviour.
- Building who we are around our culture and environment (studies have shown that 'norms' considered in one culture may be completely opposite in another).
- Further links to the principle discussed above
- This principle give rise to the fact that people not only have a individual identity but also a collective or social one
- Likewise our social identity is important as it defines who we are and these behaviours are determined by social groups (such as memberships, communities, clubs, nationality or family)
- A study that supports this principle is Zimbardo et al. (1995)
Aim:
- To investigate how people react in difficult situations.
- Zimbardo created a simulation of a prison in Stanford University basement.
- He randomly assigned the volunteers/participants to be either the guard or prisoner in the prison simulation. Therefore the IV was role (prisoner or guard).
- DV was behaviour observed through direct observation, video and audiotape.
- After a while, the volunteers playing the role of guards started to show acts of empowerment, aggression and a more confident attitude compared to the volunteers playing the role of the prisoners.
- Whilst the prisoners became passive, depressed, anxious and experienced loss of control over life.
- The volunteers acted like what their roles in their situation/predicament would be in real life prison conditions.
- Zimbardo"s study is a prime example of how people can use either dispositional situational attribution to explain the behaviours of certain people.
- Prison environment had influenced the guards into performing brutal and sadistic behaviours even though none of the guards had shown any previous tendency before the experiment.
- People will readily conform to social roles that they are expected to play
- The roles that people play shape their attitudes and behaviours
- Showing that our social self is constructed by our own conceptions (prisoner or guard) and thus we will act in a way that fits with this conceptions
Describe the role of situational and dispositional factors in explaining behavior
Zimbardo (1971) – Stanford Prison Experiment
Aim:
Aim:
- To investigate how people react in difficult situations.
- Zimbardo created a simulation of a prison in Stanford University basement.
- He randomly assigned the volunteers/participants to be either the guard or prisoner in the prison simulation. Therefore the IV was role (prisoner or guard).
- DV was behaviour observed through direct observation, video and audiotape.
- After a while, the volunteers playing the role of guards started to show acts of empowerment, aggression and a more confident attitude compared to the volunteers playing the role of the prisoners.
- Whilst the prisoners became passive, depressed, anxious and experienced loss of control over life.
- The volunteers acted like what their roles in their situation/predicament would be in real life prison conditions.
- This study demonstrated that situational rather than dispositional factors caused negative behaviour and thoughts found in prison settings.
- Zimbardo"s study is a prime example of how people can use either dispositional situational attribution to explain the behaviours of certain people.
Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect on behavior
Explain Social Learning Theory, making reference to two relevant studies
- Intro: SLT states that people learn by observing those whom they look up to, then by replicating their actions.
Attention – Paying attention to the model.
Retention – Retain the behaviour of the model that was observed.
Reproduction – Replicate the behavior of the learning model.
Bandura 1977
[A]To demonstrate that learning can occur through observation of role models.
[P]
- 36 boys and 36 girls from age 3 to 6 were divided into groups according to their aggression evaluation from their parents and teachers.
- Group 1 was exposed to adult models who showed aggression by beating up a Bobo Doll. Models were of both genders.
- Group 2 observed an adult model who displayed no aggression. Models were of both genders.
- Group 3 was a controlled group who did not see any model. (Control)
- The children were then placed into the room with a Bobo doll after 10 minutes of watching the model.
- Children who observed the aggressive model showed significantly more aggression both physically and verbally.
- Boys were more likely to imitate physical aggression.
- Girls were more likely to imitate verbal aggression.
- Social learning theory was demonstrated in the study because the children showed signs of observational learning.
Charlton et al. (2002)
Observation of the introduction of television in a remote community (St. Helena)
Aim:
To investigate whether children in St. Helena would exhibit more aggressive behavior after the introduction of television to the island in 1995.
Procedure:
- The study was a natural experiment. Children (aged three to eight years) were observed before and after the introduction of television through cameras set up in the playgrounds of two primary schools on the island. The level of aggression in television matched what children in the UK were exposed to.
- The researchers also conducted interviews with teachers, parents, and some of the older children.
There was no increase in aggressive or antisocial behavior. This was also the case after five years.
Discussion of results: (goes against SLT)
- The data showed that children did not change their behavior after television had arrived although they saw the same amount of violent television as British children.
- The parents and teachers said that antisocial behavior was not accepted on the island and that there was a high degree of social control in the community. It shows that people may learn aggressive behavior but they may not exhibit it for several reasons.
- Social and cultural factors also play a role in what behaviors are acceptable, so even though the children had no doubt learned aggressive behavior, they did not show it.
The study investigated a real-life event and is high in ecological validity. It does not question SLT but rather the results of Bandura and Ross (1961). The results also confirm the idea that people must be motivated to imitate behavior.
Conclusion:
All 4 of the ARRM need to be present for the most replicated SLT. With one of them lacking, the same conclusive results from Bandura's study is not seen.
Define the terms "Culture" and "Cultural Norms"
Culture: common rules that regulate interactions and behavior in a group as well as a number of shared values and attitudes in a group
Hofsteade - cultural dimensions
- Like a mental software ; Cultural schema that is internationalized so that they influence thinking, emotions, behavior
- The mental software is shared across the members of a sociocultural group
- Learnt through daily interactions and feedback from the members of the group
- Regulating behavior in a group
- As humans are social animals, the need to belong plays a strong role in the desire to conform to group norms.
- Often passed down generations through observational learning by the group's gatekeepers - parents, teachers, religious leaders and peers
- Includes things such as how marriage partners are chosen, attitudes to alcohol, and acceptance of spanking children
Hofsteade - cultural dimensions
Using one or more examples explain 'emic' and 'etic' concepts
Used in cross-cultural psychology – how cultural factors influence human behavior
Test validity of truths/principles previously thought to be true for everyone
Etic:
· Emphasizes similarities between cultures
· Considers behavior patterns invariant and universal
· Brings an outside perspective
· E.g female circumcision seen as barbaric practice that traumatises women.
Study: Ekman
· Aim: to investigate that certain emotion is innate (people from different culture share the same facial expression for an emotion)
· Sample: members of the Fore tribe in Papau New Guinea who were not exposed to television, movies, magazines, or many outsiders.
· Method: When he showed them photographs of faces with various expressions, they interpreted them exactly as Westeners would. A sad face, for example, made them wonder if the person’s child had died
· Findings: members of the fore tribe and other people worldwide have similar facial expressions for an emotion
This shows that the interpretation of human emotion in the same way is etic. If the faces would have been interpreted differently it would have showed the emic nature of expressions as emic is the differences seen between cultures.
Test validity of truths/principles previously thought to be true for everyone
Etic:
· Emphasizes similarities between cultures
· Considers behavior patterns invariant and universal
· Brings an outside perspective
· E.g female circumcision seen as barbaric practice that traumatises women.
Study: Ekman
· Aim: to investigate that certain emotion is innate (people from different culture share the same facial expression for an emotion)
· Sample: members of the Fore tribe in Papau New Guinea who were not exposed to television, movies, magazines, or many outsiders.
· Method: When he showed them photographs of faces with various expressions, they interpreted them exactly as Westeners would. A sad face, for example, made them wonder if the person’s child had died
· Findings: members of the fore tribe and other people worldwide have similar facial expressions for an emotion
This shows that the interpretation of human emotion in the same way is etic. If the faces would have been interpreted differently it would have showed the emic nature of expressions as emic is the differences seen between cultures.