Critical analysis of article posts
Question 1: Write an analysis for each diverse psychological research study and fully explain.
Question 1: Write an
analysis for each diverse psychological research study and fully
The study by Mischel et al. (2011), titled: “Willpower over the life span: decomposing
self-regulation” reviewed major findings from the longitudinal works
testing the validity of the “mashmallow test” developed in the 1960s for
measuring the ability of preschoolers to delay gratification, assessing the
cognitive appraisal as well as the attention control strategies that make this
ability possible. The study also outlined a set of hypothesis that emerged from
the intersection of these key findings, discussing the implication of such
hypothesis for decomposing the phenomena of “willpower” as well as the lifelong
individual differences in the ability of the preschoolers to self-regulate
Larsen’s (1974) work, titled: “Conformity in the Asch Experiment”, was designed with the intent to
replicate the empirical work of conducted by Asch. Findings from the study show
that self-esteem is a predictor of conformity, supporting the findings from
other studies where it has been shown that self-esteem under certain conditions
is linked to persuasion.
Haslam and Reicher (2012)
focused their own study on Contesting the
‘‘Nature’’ Of Conformity: What Milgram and Zimbardo’s Studies Really Show.
The scholars stated that understanding the psychology of tyranny has been
dominated by classical studies from the 1960s to 1970s Milgram’s research on
obedience to authority and Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment. Supporting
popular notions of the banality of evil, this research has been taken to show
that people conform passively and unthinkingly to both the instructions and the
roles that authorities provide. However, notwithstanding how meticulous these
findings might look, it has been challenged recently by empirical works that
are informed through theorizing of social identity. The implication is that the
willingness of individuals to follow authorities is actually conditional on
whether or not they identify with the said authority and it is linked to their
belief about the authority being right.
Question 2:
Thoroughly critique and define ethical considerations with strong supporting
evidence.
The first work by Mischel et al. (2011) is a secondary
research that is review of analysis and experiments from other studies. Thus,
no human interaction was necessary for data gathering and the researchers faced
no ethical issue. The only ethical consideration is whether or not the
researchers reported the work as they appeared in their original form, not
altering any of the findings from the studies they reviewed and ensuring that
their report represents these findings in the best possible way. The article
was succinct in attaining its set objectives, critically reviewing existing
empirical works within the context of the present study and aggregating the
findings from these studies to developed informed meaning on the topic under
consideration.
The work of Larsen
(1974) involved 24 participants (who were all college students). Therefore,
there are a number of ethical considerations that should come in place. First
is informed consent, the researcher needs to obtain the consent of the
participants by telling them what they are doing and the purpose of the
research. Secondly, there should privacy of data as the researcher needs to
ensure that the respondents’ information are protected against any form of
breach capable of revealing their actual identity. However, based on the
document provided, there was no indication of whether or not these ethical measures
were applied, although one cannot be certain about such.
Haslam and Reicher (2012) this is also a secondary research
like the first journal article. Thus, similar ethical considerations apply. The
only ethical consideration is whether or not the researchers reported the work
as they appeared in their original form, not altering any of the findings from
the studies they reviewed and ensuring that their report represents these
findings in the best possible way. The article was succinct in attaining its set
objectives, critically reviewing existing empirical works within the context of
the present study and aggregating the findings from these studies to developed
informed meaning on the topic under consideration.
References
Haslam, S. A., & Reicher, S. D. (2012). Contesting the
'nature' of conformity: What Milgram and Zimbardo's studies really show. Plos
Biology, 10(11), doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001426
Larsen, K. S. (1974). Conformity in the Asch experiment. The
Journal Of Social Psychology, 94(2), 303-304. doi:10.1080/00224545.1974.9923224
Mischel, W., Ayduk, O., Berman, M. G., Casey, B. J., Gotlib, I. H., Jonides, J., & Shoda, Y. (2011). 'Willpower' over the life span: Decomposing self-regulation. Social Cognitive And Affective Neuroscience, 6(2), 252-256. doi:10.1093/scan/nsq081
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