REASONS FOR OBEDIENCE:

o   Socialization – throughout our lives, and especially when we are young, we are taught to obey authority figures, such as parents and teachers. This means that it becomes a normal thing for us to do.

o   Legitimate authority – we are more likely to obey someone if they are wearing a uniform/ lab coat. In a similar way, we might questioningly obey a doctor because we have faith in their superior knowledge.

o   Gradual commitment – as the shocks in Milgram’s study started quite low and increased by small steps, it was difficult for the participant to know where to draw the line. After all, if you’ve given someone a shock of 150, why not 165 volts?

o   Buffers – as the participants could not directly see the victim of their actions, they were shielded from the consequences of what they did. This made it easier for them to deal with.

o   Not feeling responsible – Milgram suggested that the situation he created caused people to lose their sense of responsibility for their own actions. Normally, we feel responsible for what we do. However, here the participants were acting on behalf of someone else; they were just doing as they were told. This stopped them from feeling they would be blamed for what they did. 

STUDY (CONFORMITY)

Aim: to see the effect on judgement of listening to other people.
Method: He asked participants to estimate how far a spot of light moved when they sitting in an  otherwise completely dark room. In fact the light didn’t move at all, but due to an optical illusion called the autokinetic effect it did appear so.
Results: Individually tha participants gave a variety of estrimates, which different quite widely with each other. However, after being allowed to undertake the same task in groups of three, their estimates became more similar until eventually they were very c;lose.
Conclusion: The participants used other peoples opinions to help them form a judgement in an ambiguous situation.

Token economy programs

Token economy programs have been set up in some hospitals, usually in psychiatric wards, to reward socially acceptable behavior in people who have stopped looking after themselves properly. Every time the person produces an appropriate behavior, hospital staff immediately gives the person a token. Tokens are given for making the bed, brushing teeth, and so on and can be used to ‘pay for’ activities like watching a favorite TV program.
Evaluation:

·         They have been criticized; critics argue that they make the patients focus on the reward rather than on wanting their own behavior to improve. Even when the behaviors in hospitals improve, this change might not last in the outside world.

·         If the reward is not immediate then the association between the reward and the action is lost. This means that the behavior is not being reinforced.

·         Ethical issues are involved if patients are not able to watch a favorite TV program because they have not got enough tokens.

There are many people who don’t agree that behavior should be manipulated or changed using systems like this that rely on tokens. Some have suggested that, when we learn to produce good behavior only because we receive a ‘token/reward’, we will not become social or kind humans. They have said that we need to learn to reward ourselves by feeling good when we do good things. We should not need other people to give us a reward all the time.

Short Stories - The Third and Final Continent analysis

The third and final continent was written by Jhumpa Lahiri in 1999. It is about an Indian man who lived in Europe and then moved to America. The author is Indian and was born on July 11, 1967.

The narrator was first living in India, but he doesn’t tell us a lot about his life there. He then left India and sailed 3 weeks on the SS Roma. He ended up in England and then lived in North London, in Finsbury Park, and he had to share his room with three or four other people. Then he moved to America, Boston, because he was offered a full time job. There, he first spent some nights in the YMCA in Central Square, Cambridge. Then he moved to a house for eight dollars per week. He shared this house with an old lady. Then the narrator’s wife came and they moved into an own apartment for forty dollars a week.

The narrator is an Indian man from Bengali. He had no high demands and got used to new places very fast. He can act like a gentleman and seems to be really nice. He often thinks about his mother who died a long time ago. Then there is his wife, Mala. He married her, but has never seen her before. She later joins him in America. For some time, they are like strangers to each other. She doesn’t get used to America very fast. Then there is the old (103 years old) woman Mrs. Croft. She was a bit crazy, because she always repeated the same scene each evening, and she couldn’t move very well. She used to play the piano once, but now her fingers were really bad. And she couldn’t get used to the new century. It meant a lot to her, that there was a flag on the moon. Then there is Mrs Croft’s daughter, Helen. She is 68, but is still treated by her mother as if she was a little child. Helen visits her mother once a week and brings her soup. 

The story starts with the narrator leaving India. He comes to England by ship and he lives there for quite a while. He was really poor at the start. Then he got married(arranged marriage) with a woman from Calcutta. About at the same time, he was offered a full time job in America. So right after the wedding, he moved to America, but without his wife. In America, he soon lives in a house with an old woman, Mrs Croft. This woman is really happy about the flag on the moon and tells the narrator every evening, that this was really ‘splendid’. Helen visited Mrs Croft to give her food. Later, the narrator’s wife arrives, and so he moves to a new apartment. They behave like strangers, but that is understandable, because apart from the wedding, they have never met. She has some difficulties getting used to America. Then they visit Mrs Croft, and she says that the narrator’s wife was right for the narrator. The evening at Mrs Croft, made the couple laugh together and for the first time the distance between them got smaller. Later, Mrs Croft dies, which effects the narrator, because she was important to his life. He saw his dead mother in her. Even years later, he often drove past her house and remembered the time with Mrs Croft.

The story is a lot about Indian traditions. We learn that the Indians get married even if the couple don't even know each other. 

The main idea of the story is different cultures and moving. It describes America as something new and different. And then the narrator says some differences. Also comparisons with England are there. The narrator has lived through a lot and shows us his experience. First Asia, then Europe and in the end living in America isn’t a life everybody goes through, especially when you are so poor. Then the story is also a lot about changes. Changes, because of the move, but also changes like Mrs Croft has lived through in her century of life. 

Short Stories - The Lemon Orchard analysis

The story 'The Lemon Orchard' was written by Alex La Guma in 1962, and is set in South Africa at the same time it was written, when South Africa was having political issues.

The setting of the story is South Africa, in the 1960s, and it is set in a lemon orchard at night, and it is very cold apparently. The period South Africa is going through is called the Apartheid, which is a racist system that relied on the splitting up of colored people, and white people.

There are 5 characters in total (assumed); 1 of these is a ‘colored’ captive, who has been taken from his home, still in his pyjamas, and he is being ‘escorted’ by 4 local people, who are treating him badly, and appear to be about to beat him, or even kill him. He is a well-educated school teacher, and has come to work in South Africa. He has been taken from his house for supposedly insulting a white Minister, and he has been punished before for bad behavior. The other 4 men are all local men, presumably, and are not known by name. One, the leader, is carrying a shotgun, one, the lamp holder, is at the front of the party, and the other two are mocking the colored man.

The main story of the Lemon Orchard takes place in a lemon orchard in South Africa, and starts off with a description of the setting, and about how the party is complaining about how dark it is, and how cold it is. They are taking a captive, a colored man, into this lemon orchard, and are going to presumably punish him. They proceed on further into the lemon orchard, and they mock this ‘colored’ man, and physically abuse him. They are taking him into the lemon orchard for a punishment, as a course of his actions, which he was said to have insulted a white minister, and when the Apartheid government was around, this was seen as disgraceful. He had already been beaten up before, and now it seems that they may even kill him. We do not know what happens to him though, and at the end, the 4 men accompanying him are talking about a dog, that is barking.

The styles of this story are quite racist based, and the whole story relies on this ‘colored’ man being physically and verbally abused by these local men, who are out to beat him, or even kill him. Also, these men, local to the area, speak English in the story, but they also throw Africaans words into their dialect, such as Kaffir, or Oom. But these men speak mostly English throughout the story. The language is also quite descriptive, a huge part of this story is descriptions of the night, the scenery, the temperature, the actions towards the ‘colored’ man, etc..

The themes of this story are also racist, and are taken from the daily life in the 1960s from South Africa. They associate the era with that of the Apartheid government, and how it divided the community between the privileged white-skinned locals, and the ‘colored’ people, who were often beaten, and attacked. This also shows what the white locals thought of themselves, as they obviously liked to beat these ‘colored’ men, and make themselves feel more dominant than these foreigners. 

Short Stories - On Her Knees analysis

“On Her Knees” is a short story written by Tim Winton the year of 2004. Its key themes are family, proof and pride. 

The setting of “On her Knees” is supposed to be in New Zealand since Tim Winton is from New Zealand. Most of the story takes part in this wealthy woman's home where the cleaner there is the narrator's mom. The house contains a lot of 'knick-knacks' and normal modern/expensive stuff that wealthy people own in their houses. The year of the story is probably the same year as it was written, in 2004.

The main characters in this story is the narrator, Victor, and his mom who is a cleaner. Another character which is not actually 'live' in the story, but since they are both in her house cleaning, we learn a lot about this 'snobby' rich woman which in fact doesn't look so mean as she seems to be in the pictures of her in the house. Victor is a young adult in University who is very skeptic about things, especially rich people who he for sure is not really fond of. His mother is a very friendly but also a hard-working mom regarding cleaning all of these rich peoples houses. She is very proud of her fame, and has a lot of pride for what she does.

The plot of “On her Knees” is about the narrator and his mom who cleans for a living. In the story, the boy's mother gets a note from one of the rich women she cleans for saying that she suspects that the narrator's mom stole her $500 earrings and that she is fired but that she first needs her to clean her house once more until she is fired. When the narrator hears about this he thinks its crazy and that his mom shouldn't go but his mom wants to keep her cleaning- pride so she goes anyway. Victor as well volunteers to come with and help her clean, but really he wants to snoop around to see what kind of lady this is. But when he's there he can't find anything specifically bad that proves that this woman is mean. While they clean the house they find the $500 earrings and put them next to the letter of money that his mom didn't want to accept for the job by the end of the story.

The language style of the story is in 1st person and in the point of view of the narrator, a.k.a Victor the son of the cleaner. It is in quite an objective voice throughout the story showing what the narrator thinks of this woman and the other rich people. The dialogue between the narrator and his mom is not like other dialogues. It has a more realistic atmosphere.

The theme of “On Her Knees” is to show that people shouldn't always choose their first instinct of things- for e.g. when losing something you think someone stole it- but that you should think about it first and make sure of your accusation and that you have proof for it. 

Death of a Salesman - Themes analysis

Betrayal
Willy's primary obsession throughout the play is what he considers to be Biff's betrayal of his ambitions for him. When Biff walks out on WIlly's ambitions for him, Willy takes this rejection as a personal affront. Willy, after all, is a salesman and Biff's ego-crushing rebuff ultimately reflects Willy's inability to sell him the American dream - the product in which Willy himself believes in most faithfully. Willy assumes that Biff's betrayal stems from Biff's discovery of Willy's affair with the woman - a betrayal of Linda's love. Whereas Willy feels that Biff has betrayed him, Biff feels Willy, a "phony little fake", has betrayed him with his unending stream of lies.

Death of a Salesman - Themes analysis

Abandonment
Willy's life charts a course from one abandonment to the next, leaving him in greater despair each time. When Ben leaves to Alaska, Willy develops a fear of abandonment, which makes him want his family to conform to the American dream. His efforts to raise perfect songs, however, reflect his inability to understand reality. The young Biff, whom Willy considers the embodiment of promise, loses his trust in Willy and Willy's ambitions for him when he finds out about Willy's adultery. Biff's ongoing inability to succeed in business furthers his estrangement from Willy. When, at Frank's Chop House, Willy finally believes that Biff has landed a job, Biff shatters Willy's illusions and abandons him.

Death of a Salesman - Themes analysis

The American Dream
Willy believes wholeheartedly in what he considers to be the promise of the American Dream - that a "well-liked" and "personally attractive" man in business will indubitably and deservedly acquire the comforts offered by modern American life. Oddly, his fixation with the superficial qualities of attractiveness and likability is contradicting with a more gritty, more rewarding understanding of the American Dream that identifies hard work without complaint to be the key to success. Willy's interpretation of likability is superficial - he childishly dislikes Bernard because he considers Bernard a nerd.

WHAT IS CLASSICAL CONDITIONING?

Learning: a relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience.

Classical conditioning: a procedure during which an animal or person learns to associate a reflex response with a new stimulus.

Classical conditioning schedule: the steps in the procedure to condition a new response.

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): the stimulus that produces a reflex response, such as the food for Pavlov’s dog.

Unconditioned response (UCR): the reflex response to an unconditioned stimulus, such as Pavlov’s dog’s salivation.

Conditioned stimulus (CS): a new stimulus presented with the UCS, such as the bell in Pavlov’s experiment.

Conditioned response (CR): the response that is learnt; it now occurs when the CS is presented, such as Pavlov’s dog’s salivation.

Extinction: a conditioned response dies out.

Spontaneous recovery: a conditioned response that has disappeared suddenly appears again.

Generalization: the conditioned response is produced when a similar stimulus to the original conditioned stimulus is presented.

Discrimination: the conditioned response is only produced when a specific stimulus is presented.

Sampling method	Advantages	Disadvantages
Random	No researcher bias Likely to be representative	Time-consuming
Opportunity	Quick and easy	Not likely to be representative and may have researcher bias
Systematic	Simple procedure with no researcher bias	Sample may not be representative
Stratified	Very representative	Very time-consuming

WHAT ARE SAMPLING METHODS?

Random sample: every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample.
Opportunity sampling: people who are members of the target population and are available and willing to take part.
Systematic sample: every ‘nth’ member of the target population is selected for the sample.
Stratified sample: to obtain this type of sample, the different subgroups in the target population are identified; then people are randomly selected from these subgroups in proportion to their numbers in the target population.

Seeing as my blog is looking extremely boring, even for a revision blog, I am going to be putting random pictures of people/ things every now and then. Yep.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EXPERIMENTS

ADVANTAGES

§  The control of EVs in an experiment means it is easier to identify the cause and the effect. This means the experimenter can be more certain that it was the IV that affected the DV.

§  Experiments are controlled and standardized so they can be replicated by other researchers.

§  Experiments are objective because the procedures are set up in such a way that biases from the researcher are not present.

DISADVANTAGES

§  The settings for experiments can be very artificial. The tasks can be unrealistic. There can be a lack of ecological validity. It is possible to overcome this by using more natural settings for experiments.

§  Participants usually know they are in an experiment and this could affect the behavior they produce. The results could be untrue and misleading because the behavior was not normal.

Standardized procedures: a set order of carrying out a study that is applied to all participants when necessary.

Random allocation: a procedure for putting participants into conditions by chance.

Counterbalancing: a procedure for evening out the order in which participants complete both conditions of an experiment.

Extraneous variable (EV): a variable that is not the IV but might affect the DV if not controlled.

Control: making sure procedures are the same when necessary. Not controlling procedures leads to the possibility of extraneous variables occurring and confounding the results. 

Ecological validity: the results of the investigation can be said to apply to real-life behavior. They are an accurate account of behavior in the real world.

	ADVANTAGES	DISADVANTAGES
INDEPENDENT GROUPS	o   There are no order effects because people only take part in one condition. o   Often the same material can be used for the task in both conditions. o   Participants cannot work out the aim of the study because they only take part in one condition.	o   There are different people (participant variables) in the two conditions so that may be why the results are different. o   You need more people for the study. To get 10 in each group you need 20 people.
REPEATED MEASURES	o   The people in both conditions are the same so there are no participant variables. o   You only need 10 people to produce 20 results because each person produces two ‘scores’.	o   There are order effects as people have to do two tasks. o   You may need two tasks (they cannot learn the same list twice). o   Participants may work out the aim of the study because they take part in both conditions.
MATCHED PAIRS	o   Participant variables are reduced. o   There are no order effects. o   Often the same material can be used for the task in both conditions.	o   Matching is difficult, time-consuming, and not always successful. o   Some participant variables are still present.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS

Ø  Independent groups: the available people for the experiment are divided into two groups. One group takes part in one of the conditions of the experiment and the other group takes part in the remaining condition. In the ‘music study’ experiment, one group of participants would learn with music present and the other group would learn without music present.

Ø  Repeated measures: there is one group of participants. The participants would take part in both conditions of the experiment. In the ‘music study’ experiment all participants would learn some material with music and they would also learn some material without music.

Ø  Matched pairs: the available people are tested before taking part and are matched for qualities into pairs. They could be identified at pair Aa, pair Bb, and so on. One member of the pair takes part in one condition of the experiment (A, B, C, etc) and the other member takes part in te remaining condition (a, b, c, etc). Identical twins are often considered to be perfect matched pairs in psychology research. 

WHAT IS THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD?

Hypothesis: a testable statement about the relationship between two variables. In an experiment these variables are called the independent variable (IV) and the dependant variable (DV).
Variable: a factor or thing that can change – it varies.
Independent variable (IV): the variable that the researcher alters or manipulates in order to look for an effect on another variable. This variable produces the two conditions of the study.
Dependent variable (DV): the variable that the researcher measures in order to see if the IV has affected it.
Experiment: the method of research in which all variables other than the IV and DV are controlled. This allows the researcher to identify a cause-and-effect relationship between the IV and DV.
Condition: an experiment is usually organized so there are two trials, after which the performances of the participants are compared. These are the conditions of the experiment.

EVALUATION

Sherif
Sherif's method may have only been successful because his groups and the prejudice between them were artificially created. However, his method did show that if two groups work together to achieve a common goal, prejudice can be reduced.

Aronson
Aronson found that his jigsaw method did lead to prejudice between the racial groups being reduced. However, the positive perceptions of the other racial groups were not generalized outside of the classroom.

Elliot
Elliot's research could be considered unethical as the children suffered from psychological stress. However, when she contacted the students nine years later, they were more tolerant and showed more empathy towards others, than children who had not experienced her lesson.

Harwood
Information gathered from interviews are not always reliable. There are people who don't have regular contact with their grandparents and still have positive attitudes towards the elderly.

REDUCING PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION

Evidence from Sherif (1961)
After Sherif investigated prejudice amongst the groups, his next aim was to try and get them to become friends. He attempted this by arranging joint activities for them such as trips to the cinema and meals out. This did not work however and the boys continued to call each other names, etc. He then set up a situation where the truck got stuck in mud and needed help pulling out, otherwise they would all miss dinner. This was successful because the task could not be completed without help from everyone. Sherif concluded that cooperation on an important task is one way of reducing prejudice and discrimination. 


Evidence from Aronson (2000)
Aronson was given the task of eliminating prejudice amongst black and white students in a school in Texas. He developed a technique called the jigsaw method, which involved the students being in mixed-raced groups, each taking responsibility for a part of the lesson. They has to become experts on their part and then pass the information/ knowledge to another group of students within the class. The technique proved successful because each student was responsible for their own learning as well as that of others. Aronson interviewed the students afterwards and found that this method had:

• enhanced their self esteem
• increased their liking of their classmates
• improved their perceptions of other racial groups within the class

Jigsaw method: the name given to the technique used by Aronson to reduce prejudice within a group of mixed-race students.

Expert groups: another name fro the jigsaw method. Its called expert groups because each student had to become an expert on their particular topic and then they pass this information/ knowledge to the rest of their group.

Evidence from Elliott (1970)

The morning after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, Jane Elliott was teaching a class of white, nine-year-olds. These children had never met anyone of a different color to themselves. She wanted to explain to them what happened the night before. She decided the only way to do this would be to explain to them how it feels to be judged by a physical appearance you have no control over. She decided to do this using the color of their eyes. She told her class that: blue-eyes children are smarter than those with brown eyes, brown-eyed children cannot use the drinking fountain, etc.

EXPLANATIONS OF PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION

• ·         ADORNO believes you are likely to be prejudiced if you are brought up by strict, critical parents and have an authoritarian personality.
• ·         SHERIF believes you are likely to be prejudiced if you are in competition with another group for scarce resources.
• ·         TAJFEL believes you are likely to be prejudiced because you favor your in-groups over your out-groups and believe our in-groups to be superior.

I may need to make revision cards later on from these. I think it would help me remember them more if I wrote them out by hand. Effort.

STUDY (IN-GROUPS/ OUT-GROUPS)

Tajfel (1970)
Aim: To show how easily people discriminate against their out-groups.
Method: 14-15-year-old-boys were randomly assigned to two groups. Each boy was given a game to play where he has to award pairs of points. They were told the point could be swapped for prizes at the end.
Results: The boys awarded points by choosing the pairings that created the biggest difference between the groups, not the pairings that gave them the most points.
Conclusion: People will discriminate against others just because they are members of an out-group.
Evaluation:

·         Tajfel used boys aged 14-15. Therefore results cannot be generalized to females of other ages.

·         The groups were artificially created so it doesn’t reflect real life. In real life, the groups we belong to mean something to us.

·         Other research, using participants of both sexes and all ages, has supported Tajfel’s findings. Just assigning people to groups is enough to get them to discriminate against each other.

waaah, so many studies to remember for prejudice and discrimination. it's only the aim's of the studies that i really keep forgetting.

STUDY (ROBBERS CAVE EXPERIMENT)

Sherif (1961)
Aim: To find out of prejudice develops when groups are in competition for scarce resources.
Method: An American summer camp was organized for 22 boys. The boys were randomly split into two teams and they were kept away from each other. They were not aware that the other team existed. The boys were given time to settle into their camps and form a group identity. After a while, the groups discovered each other and the camp staff introduced a series of competitions with the prize fore the winning team being a silver cup.
Results: Very quickly, the teams began unpleasant name calling each other and tried to attack each other.
Conclusion: Competition is a cause of prejudice.
Evaluation:

• ·         The groups and competitions are artificial so don’t necessarily reflect real life.
• ·         He used 12-year-old, middle-class, boys. The results cannot be generalized to other sexes, age groups or ethnicities.
• ·         The boys were American, cannot be generalized to other nationalities.
• ·         It has real-life implications. He study clearly demonstrated how quickly prejudice can arise between groups when they are competing for the same thing.

In-groups: a group of people you believe you have something in common with.
Out-group: a group of people whom you believe you have nothing in common with.

STUDY (AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY)

Adorno (1950)
Aim: To find out if there is a relationship between a person’s personality type and prejudiced beliefs.
Method: Hundreds of people were interviewed and tested using the F-scale.
Results: They found a relationship between personality traits and prejudiced beliefs.
Conclusion: There is an authoritarian personality and people with these characteristics are likely to be more prejudiced than others.
Evaluation:

• ·         The theory doesn’t explain why people are prejudiced towards some groups and not others.
• ·         There are some prejudiced people in society who didn’t grow up with strict or critical parents. Also, there are people in society who grew up with strict or critical parents but are not prejudiced.
• ·         The statements in the F-scale have been criticized. It is said that the statements were easier to agree with than disagree so they were not a reliable way of measuring people views.
• ·         The research was done in America so cannot be applied cross culturally.

FIRST POST.

Well hello, this is exciting i guess. I am solely going to be using this blog for revision purposes only though. Mainly psychology, maybe some science.

And so, the revision commences.