3.3.3 - Contemporary Study Flashcards
AO1
Aim:
- to study the relative contribution of genes on the environment to social aggression compared with physical aggression
- To study what might lead to the positive correlation that is found between social and physical aggression
Procedure:
- there were 234 pairs of six-year-old twin pps that came from the comeback newborn twin study from the Montréal area of calendar, recruited from the UK in 1995 and 1998 or a mixture of MZ and DZ twins
- Teachers completed behaviour questionnaires for the twins in their class, rating social and physical aggression using standardised scales, e.g. how often they got into fights
Results:
- boys were rated more physically aggressive and girls were more socially aggressive
- They found that social aggression seem to be caused by more environmental factors (60%) and physical aggression was more by genetic factors (63%)
Strengths
R) this study is reliable as the results showed inter-rater reliability As there were well controlled procedures. For example teacher and peer ratings were collected from behaviour questionnaires with a set list of questions. The teachers and peers also found similar results, eg both showed genetics are the biggest factor in physical aggression. Therefore the same questionnaire could be used to replicate the study in another place or with other ages making the findings more reliable
A) this study has application to society. Results found that environmental influences are strong in social aggression but also that there is a positive correlation with more physical aggression in an individual also meaning of high social aggression. Therefore schools should be mindful of the environment and put in place policies to prevent physical aggression as this would also decrease social aggression
weaknesses
G) This study was not generalisable as participants were 234 pairs of MZ & DZ six-year-old twins from the Quebec newborn twin study from Montréal Canada. Therefore the results may not be representative of other ages as well as developmental changes after age 6, making generalisation harder
V) this study lacked task validity. Filling out questionnaires was not a normal tasks they did at school and it only showed results for one moment in time. Therefore it may not represent the children’s aggression levels in every day life as its not longitudinal data so developmental issues cannot be followed through
