What is validity?
Trying to accurately measure psychological concepts or constructs
What are the 3 types of validity?
Ecological
Population
Construct
What does ecological validity mean?
The extent to which the study represents a real life senario
Why would Milgram’s study lack ecological validity
You don’t shock people often/you are never asked to go into a room and shock a person
Why would Milgrams study have a high level of ecological validity?
People working in the nazi death camos were also required by authority figures to inflict harm upon other people
Why would Piliavin’s study have low levels of ecological validity?
The study took place during day time (11-3pm), so participants may not expect to see drunk people on the train at that time
Why would Piliavin’s study have high levels of ecological validity?
It’s on a train, a popular public transport that millions use everyday
Covert observation - won’t act differently
People often fall on a subway
Why would Bandura’s study have low levels of ecological validity?
Children don’t typically see adults beating up a doll
Why would Bandura’s study have high levels of ecological validity?
Use toys that kids would play with everyday
Adults often demonstrate playing with toys
What is the benefit of research being ecologically valid?
It makes the research more accurate and useful as it has practical applications.
People act more naturally.
More likely to get funding because it’s seen as useful.
what is population validity?
the extent to which the sample is generalisable
why might milgram’s sample lack population validity?
- not studying women
- only studied americans in new haven
- no younger/elderly individuals
why might milgram’s sample have high levels of population validity?
- different jobs
- big age gap
- apply to people similar to nazi regime
why might piliavin’s sample lack population validity?
- only carried out in america
- only black/white - no other races accounted for
- no rush hour - less people
why might piliavin’s sample have high levels of population validity?
- study carried out in New York, which is a very diverse city. the sample included people from different ethnic backgrounds
why might bandura’s sample lack population validity?
- sample only included children of a very small age range - 3-5 years - other children of different ages may have behaved differently
- parents f children probably worked at standford university which is a good university so the sample may have been more educated + middle class than the children in other areas of the USA
why might bandura’s sample have high levels of population validity?
- equal amount of boys and girls
- no bias from researcher as the children that were used were there on the day of the research
why do researchers often carry out their studies on samples of university students?
- available
- willing to participate
- interested
- easy to get participants
- researchers are often professors in uni
- may get international students to help generalisability
what is construct validity?
where the test has been shown to measure what is supposed to be tested
are there any factors that could have influenced participant’s behaviour in milgram’s study?
- milgram didn’t do much to ensure participants were all psychologically healthy
- milgram would not have been testing obedience if a participant enjoyed hurting people and shocked the learner for pleasure
what did milgram do to ensure that they were measuring what they wanted to?
- didnt tell the participants the real aim
- controlled e.g prods
are there any factors that could have influenced participant’s behaviour in piliavin’s study?
- unable to move - participants were stuck in a train carriage
- didn’t know participants ages/jobs etc.
- may have realised it’s fake if people take the train everyday
what did piliavin do to ensure that they were measuring what they wanted to?
- the victim always fell in the same place so there is less chance of the environment changing the participant’s helping behaviour
- passengers didn’t know they were taking part in a psychological experiment
are there any factors that could have influenced participant’s behaviour in bandura’s study?
- didnt know about parents/home life
- children might’ve been tired and frustrated
