Psychology: Individualism vs. Collectivism
Psychology: Individualism vs. Collectivism
AS LEVEL - 1
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY
Biculturalism
Scenario: An adolescent of Mexican heritage living in the United [Link] individual navigates two cultural
identities: their Mexican heritage and the dominant American culture.
At home, they celebrate traditional Mexican holidays, speak Spanish, and learn about their cultural history. In
school and social settings, they adapt to American customs, speak English, and engage with peers from diverse
backgrounds.
This bicultural individual may feel comfortable switching between cultural norms depending on the context, such as
using Spanish with family and English with friends. They might also develop a unique identity that incorporates
elements from both cultures, enhancing their adaptability and social skills.
e n ce
n fl u ns Holism:
Individualism vs. Collectivism: ily I tio
Fa m te rac Examining the whole system rather than just
Cultures can be characterized as al In
oc i oo ls its individual components
S Sch ia
emphasizing either individual d
Me The idea that the whole is greater than the
goals and autonomy
sum of its parts
(individualism) or group goals and Considering how all aspects of a system
harmony (collectivism), which influence each other
can influence various tio n
ap ta
Ad tio n
psychological processes: tural rm a ons
i
Cul tity Fo ectat
n p
Ide ural ex
t
Cul Reductionism:
Cross-Cultural Researchs Explaining phenomena by reducing them to
their simplest components
Biculturalism is when a person belongs to two cultures and Assuming cause-and-effect relationships and
mixes them in daily life. They adapt to both their home culture determinism
and the culture they live in.
Enculturation is the process of learning one's culture from family
and society. It happens naturally as people grow up.
In biculturalism, a person learns and follows the rules of both
cultures they are part of.
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY
The term "holism" is derived from the Greek word
"holos," meaning "whole" or "entire."
ica l
g
Biolo
itive
What does it mean if you take a holistic approach in
o gn
C
e arnin g psychology?
L a l
ci
So
Idiographic Approach:
Determinism:
Focus: Studies individuals in detail.
Behavior is controlled by internal or external forces,
Goal: To understand unique aspects of a
meaning individuals have no real choice in their
person.
actions.
Example: Case studies, like Freud’s work
Example: A person's aggressive behavior might be with specific patients, focusing on personal
determined by genetic factors or past experiences experiences.
(biological or environmental determinism).
Nomothetic Approach:
Focus: Studies large groups to find general
laws of behavior.
Goal: To identify universal principles that apply
to everyone.
Free Will: Example: Using experiments or surveys to
Individuals have the power to choose their actions discover patterns, like the Big Five
independently of external influences. personality traits.
Example: A person choosing to behave kindly,
In short:
even when raised in a harsh environment.
Idiographic = Focus on individuals.
Determinism:
Behavior is controlled by internal or external forces,
meaning individuals have no real choice in their
actions.
Example: A person's aggressive behavior might be
determined by genetic factors or past experiences
(biological or environmental determinism).
Free Will:
Individuals have the power to choose their actions
independently of external influences.
Example: A person choosing to behave kindly,
even when raised in a harsh environment.
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and
behavior.
Examples:
Studies on how brain damage affects behavior.
Research on the genetic basis of mental disorders like schizophrenia.
THE COGNITIVE
APPROACH
The cognitive approach investigates internal mental processes, such as thinking, memory,
perception, and problem-solving. It views the mind as an information processor, similar to a
computer.
Examples:
The study of memory processes, such as how we encode, store, and retrieve information.
Research on decision-making and problem-solving strategies.
THE LEARNING
APPROACH
This approach emphasizes the role of learning and experience in shaping behavior. It
primarily looks at how behavior is learned through interaction with the environment.
Examples:
Experiments on how animals and humans learn behaviors through rewards and
punishments.
The role of observation and imitation in learning new behaviors.
THE SOCIAL
APPROACH
The social approach examines how social interactions, group dynamics, and societal influences
affect behavior. It considers the impact of social contexts and relationships on individual behavior.
Social influence: How the presence or behavior of others affects an individual’s behavior
(e.g., conformity, obedience).
Group dynamics: How people behave in groups (e.g., groupthink, social loafing).
Social identity theory: The influence of group membership on self-concept and behavior.
Examples:
Studies on conformity and obedience, such as Asch’s conformity experiments or Milgram’s
obedience study.
Research on how social roles and group membership influence behavior.
WHY DO PSYCHOLOGISTS DO
RESEARCH?
The process of research allow scientists such as
psychologists to test ideas to discover whether
there is evidence to support [Link] is how we
decide which drug or therapies work best for
mental illnesses, whether different displays or
music help to sell products and how we should
organise factories to help workers to be efficient
and healthy.
1. Forming a question
2. Performing background research
3. Creating a hypothesis
4. Designing an experiment
5. Collecting data
6. Analyzing the results
7. Drawing conclusions
8. Communicating the results
AIM AND HYPOTHESES
Aim - What you are setting out to achieve in the experiment
Example: to investigate effects between drinking caffein and
amount of sleep
E.g. Drinking caffein will alter how much sleep you will get in hours.
- Example:In the learning experiment, the time of day when the test is
conducted could affect students' performance.
- Control variable: **Time of day** (all students take the test at the same
time).
standardisation of processes
Extraneous Variables
Extraneous variables are variables that aren't the focus of the study but could
still influence the dependent variable if not controlled. They are not
intentionally manipulated, but they can affect the results.
Advantages
Group are made of the same people, so no differences make it easy to control
Group of Students: The same group of students will participate in both conditions.
Condition 1: Students study with background music.
Condition 2: The same students study in silence.
1. All students first study a set of material with music and complete a test to assess their performance.
2. Later, the same students study a different set of material in silence and complete another test to measure their
performance in the silent condition.
Disadvantages
The fatigue effect occurs when people get tired during a study, causing
their performance to decline over time. For example, if students take
several tests in a row, they might do worse on later tests because they’re
tired.
The practice effect happens when people improve at a task simply
because they’ve practiced it multiple times. For instance, if someone
takes the same test repeatedly, their performance might get better due
to familiarity, not because they’ve become more skilled.
MATCHED PAIR DESIGN
Different people do different parts of the experiment but they are
similarly matched
Similar common things IQ levels, Gender
Identify Key Characteristics: Decide on characteristics that could influence performance, like academic ability, study habits, or concentration
level. You can test students beforehand or use past grades to match them.
POPULATION
TARGET
POPULATION
SAMPLE
SELECTING PARTIPANTS
In every experiment, participants must be selected from a
population.
There are 3 types of sampling
[Link] Sampling
[Link] Sampling
[Link] Sampling
RANDOM SAMPLING
Where every member of population has an equal chance
in being selected.
Not bias
Not everyone in the population could do the experiment
By chance you may get an inadequate group
OPPURTUNITY SAMPLING
Where participants are selected from target population
Advantages:
You can easily control the variables
Controlled conditions makes it easily replicable
Cause and Effect
Disadvantages:
Lacks ecological validity
Demand characteristic ( lab place)
Evaluation Apprehension
FIELD EXPERIMENT
An investigation in a natural enviroment where an independent
variable is manipulated to see its effect on dependet variable
Advantages:
High ecological validity
Less evaluation apprehension
Less demand characteristics
Disadvantages:
Harder to replicate
May not give informed consent
Hard to control variables
OBSERVATIONS
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
Observing behaviour in a natural setting where the researcher may or may
not inluence behaviour.
It can be:
Disclosed ( Where the researcher reveals him/herself)
Undisclosed ( Where the researcher remains hidden)
Advantages:
High ecological validity
If undisclosed, there are no demand characteristics
Reflect real life situation
Disadvantages
Hard to replicate
If disclosed, there are demand characteristics
Observer bias
CONTROLLED OBSERVATION
Observing behaviour in a natural enviroment but the researcher can
manipulate aspects of the situation.
Advantages:
High ecological validity
Easier replicate
Easier of researcher to focus on behaviour
Disadvantages
Demand characteristics
Observer bias
SELF REPORTS
QUESTIONNAIRES
A list of pre-written questions that a participant will answer
Advantages
Fast. Cheap. Easy to replicate. Closed questions can be easily analysed.
Disadvantages
Limited responses
Social Desirability
Low response rate
Open questions hard to analyse
STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
A conversation between partipant and researcher where fixed questions
are asked in a particular order.
Advantages
Fast,cheap,easy to replicate, researcher can easily focus on what he/she
wants
Disadvantages
Closed questions give limited responses
There can be social desirability effects
Evaluation apprehension
UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
A conversation between researcher an participant with no fixed
questions in np particular order
Advantages
Provides qualitative data
Can develop into clearer answers
Disadvantages
Demand characteristics
Hard to replicate
Hard to compare
Investigator may manipulate answers
LONGITUDINAL STUDIES
A longitudinal study is a research method that involves repeatedly observing the
same participants over an extended period, often years or decades. This approach
allows researchers to track changes and developments in variables like behavior,
health, or attitudes over time.
Pros:
Provides detailed data over time.
Helps identify causal relationships.
Cons:
Time-consuming and costly.
Risk of participant dropout, leading to incomplete data.
CORRELATIONAL ANALYSIS
A technique to see if a dependent variable and independent variable
are associated and measures the strength of the relationship
Advantages
Allows us to measure the strength of the correlation
Trends can lead to research to establish a research project
Disadvantages
You cant tell which variable causes which
whether chance or relationship caused the correlation
RELIABILITY
The degree to which an experiment produces similar scores each time it
is used
Replication is based on how reliable an experiment is
The degree to which humans produce or sees similar behaviour is inter
observer reliablility
Test- retest reliability: take the test and 6 month or less more take again. each
participants simply re-test again. eliminate bias peki people get better because
they can remember question or they find answers online so how we solve this
problem?
VALIDITY
The extent to what a test measures compared with what it is expected to
get
There are 2 types of validity:
Internal validity is how accurate the results are
External validity is how accurate the results in the real world would be
criterion-related validity
if there is a relationships w/ other outcomes
concurrent : does is related to other outcomes, does the IQ test can say me anything
about school performance? behaviours yani.
predictive : maybe predict outcomes, okul başarısı ve IQ test gibi future outcomes
Measures of Central Tendency
Mode: The most frequently occurring value in a data set. If a number appears more often than others, it’s the
mode.
Median: The middle value when a data set is ordered from least to greatest. It divides the data into two equal
halves.
Mean: The average of a data set, found by adding all the values together and dividing by the number of values.
Measures of Spread
Range: The difference between the highest and lowest values in a data set. It shows the extent of the spread.
Standard Deviation: A measure that indicates how much the values in a data set vary or deviate from the mean.
A low standard deviation means the data points are close to the mean, while a high standard deviation means
they are spread out.
Data Visualization
Bar Chart: Displays categorical data with rectangular bars. Each bar’s height represents the value of the
category. Useful for comparing different categories.
Histogram: Similar to a bar chart, but used for continuous data divided into intervals (bins). Shows the
frequency of data within each interval.
Scatter Graph: Displays two variables plotted as points on a graph. Useful for identifying relationships or
correlations between the variables.
Step 1: Formulating the Hypothesis
Hypothesis:
Students who sleep for 8 hours before a memory test will perform better than those who sleep for only 4 hours.
Null Hypothesis: There will be no difference in memory test performance between students who sleep for 8
hours and those who sleep for 4 hours.
Step 2: Operationalization
To measure sleep and memory performance, we must define these variables clearly:
Independent Variable (IV): The amount of sleep (4 hours vs. 8 hours).
Dependent Variable (DV): Memory test performance, measured by the number of correct answers on a
standardized memory test.
Step 3: Choosing the Research Design
We will use a Between-Subjects Design, where different participants are assigned to different conditions. This
design will help us compare memory test performance between two separate groups: one group sleeps for 8 hours
and the other for 4 hours.
Independent Measures Design: Participants are divided into two groups, with each group experiencing only one
of the conditions.
Step 4: Sampling
We must select participants who will be representative of the larger population. We’ll use Random Sampling to
ensure that each member of the target population (e.g., university students) has an equal chance of being selected.
Sample Size: Let’s say we decide on a sample size of 60 participants.
Sampling Method: Random sampling to avoid biases and ensure the sample represents the general population
of students.
Step 5: Random Allocation
Once we have our sample, we randomly assign participants to one of the two groups to avoid bias. This ensures that
any differences between the groups are due to the manipulation of the independent variable (sleep) and not due to
pre-existing differences.
Group 1: 30 participants will sleep for 8 hours.
Group 2: 30 participants will sleep for 4 hours.
Step 6: Controlling VariablesTo ensure that the experiment measures the effect of sleep on memory accurately, we
need to control other variables:
Same Memory Test: Both groups will take the same memory test.
Same Environment: All participants will sleep in a controlled environment with similar conditions (e.g., same
room temperature, noise level).
Same Pre-Test Routine: Participants should refrain from consuming caffeine or alcohol and should not engage
in strenuous physical activity before the test.
Step 7: Procedure
Pre-Test: All participants complete a practice memory test to establish a baseline and reduce practice effects.
Sleep Manipulation: Participants are assigned to sleep for either 4 or 8 hours.
Memory Test: The next morning, participants take the standardized memory test.
Data Collection: The number of correct answers is recorded for each participant.
Step 8: Avoiding Bias
Demand Characteristics:
Participants might guess the study’s aim and alter their behavior (e.g., try harder or relax more during the test).
We’ll use single-blind design where participants are not told the specific aim of the study.
Investigator Effects:
Researchers might unconsciously influence participants. We’ll use double-blind design, where neither the
participants nor the researchers interacting with them know who is in which group.
Step 9: Data Analysis
Statistical Tests:
We would use an Independent Samples t-test to compare the mean memory test scores between the two groups (8-
hour sleep vs. 4-hour sleep). This test helps determine if there’s a statistically significant difference between the
groups.
Effect Size:
We would calculate the effect size to measure the strength of the relationship between sleep and memory
performance.
Step 10: Interpreting Results
Results:
Let’s say the 8-hour sleep group performed significantly better on the memory test than the 4-hour sleep group.
This result would support our hypothesis.
Conclusion:
The experiment suggests that getting more sleep (8 hours) improves memory test performance compared to getting
less sleep (4 hours).
Step 11: Ethical Considerations
Ethical Guidelines:
Informed Consent: Participants are informed about the study’s nature, risks, and their right to withdraw at any
time.
Confidentiality: Personal data and results are kept confidential.
Debriefing: After the study, participants are informed about the study’s true purpose and any deception used.
Step 12: Evaluating the Study
Reliability:
Would we get the same results if we repeated the study? We’d assess the test-retest reliability to ensure
consistency.
Validity:
Internal Validity: We ensured a well-controlled experiment, so we can confidently say that differences in
memory performance are due to sleep.
External Validity: We’d consider how well these results generalize to other populations, settings, and times.
Limitations:
We’d reflect on any limitations, such as sample size, potential confounding variables, or how representative the
sample is of the broader population.
Suggestions for Further Research:
Future studies could explore different age groups, the impact of sleep quality, or use a larger sample size to increase
generalizability.
ETHIC
Protection from harm Privacy
Debriefing Confidentiality
Informed consent
Deception