SOCIAL APPROACH -Perry et al (PERSONAL SPACE)

Question 1

What was the background of the study

Answer 1

• Perry wanted to investigate peoples personal space based on several factors with one of them being interpersonal distance.
• oxytocin: a hormone that affects social bonding between people. He wanted to test the effect of OT as well on social interactions
• the Amygdala

Question 2

Describe the Amygdala as part of the background

Answer 2

• This is a brain structure involved in processing emotions
• they trigger strong emotions when it comes to following personal space violations and so it regulates interpersonal distance in humans
• Oxytocin also regulates amygdala activity

Question 3

What was the psychology being investigated

Answer 3

• Interpersonal distance- the physical space between interacting people
• social salience- the attention someone gives to social cues from another person such as body expressions
• Social salience hypothesis- this suggests that oxytocin improves someones attention to these social cues and respond differently depending on the social setting.
• Effect of OT in social interactions and Empathy
• Personal space: the invisible boundaries around our bodies and if crossed can lead to feelings of uncomfortableness or threat
• Empathy

Question 4

List different zones of space

Answer 4

public
intimate
social
personal

Question 5

What is empathy

Answer 5

The ability to recognise ones thoughts and emotions.

Question 6

what is an interaction effect

Answer 6

This is the effect of two or more IVs affecting ONE DV and in which the performance of both IVs is greater than their own

Question 7

What is a placebo and Why were Placebos given

Answer 7

• Any substance that has no effect on the body with no chemical additives
• This was in order for it to act as a control to compare the effects of the treatment of OT

Question 8

What was the aim of the study

Answer 8

testing the differential effect of the social hormone OT on personal space preferences in relation to a persons empathy ability.

Question 9

What were the 3 IVs of the study

Answer 9

• Empathy
• OT
• conditions

Question 10

What was the DV of the study

Answer 10

Personal space preferences
(IPD)

Question 11

How were the OT and Placebo saline solutions administered

Answer 11

-They were self administered through the nasal pathway by a solution of 24 international units of 250ml
- this was done with a nasal dropper with 3 drops in each nostril
-this was a double blind technique as neither the participants nor the researcher knew which solution was administered to who

Question 12

What type of experiment was it and where did it take place

Answer 12

University of HAIFA
It was a Lab experiment

Question 13

What’s a weakness of using a lab experiment

Answer 13

-Demand characteristics
-Low ecological validity

Question 14

when they allocated participants, which design was used

Answer 14

Repeated measures design- participants took part in 2 conditions with an without O.T
Independent measures design- whether they were in the “high” empathy or “low” empathy

Question 15

For the IV empathy, how was it operationalised

Answer 15

-HIGH (X > 40 SCORE) Mean age of 24
-LOW (X <33 SCORE) Mean age of 26

Question 16

In both experiment 1 and 2, they used a repeated measures design, what’s a weakness of this

Answer 16

Order effects

Question 17

How many participants took part

Answer 17

54 male participants

Question 18

Give 5 features of the sample used

Answer 18

-All were male
-ages ranged from 19-32
-Normal vision
-fifty four in total
-No history of neurological disorders
-All were undergrad students from University of Haifa
-were given course credit or paid (volunteer sampling)

Question 19

How far apart was each experiment

Answer 19

a WEEK

Question 20

Describe the IRI questionnaire

Answer 20

-online
-Interpersonal Reactivity Index
5 point scale from A= does not describe me well to E=does not describe me well
-28 item self report measures
-7 item sub scales
these subscales included;
perspective taking, (difficult to see others POVs)
fantasy empathy (I daydream and fantasize about my future)
, empathic concern, ( I often have tender concerned feelings for those less fortunate than me)
personal distress (In emmergency situations I feel ill-at-ease)

Question 21

How were the participants counterbalanced

Answer 21

-1st week half the participants did exp 1 and the other half did the exp 2 next week and vice versa for the 2nd half

Question 22

What’s an advantage of using the counterbalancing technique

Answer 22

-In order to ensure internal validity by controlling potential confounders

Question 23

The experiment 1 had a third IV known as conditions, what were the 4 conditions

Answer 23

-Authority
-friend
-ball
-stranger

Question 24

Describe the procedures done in experiment 1 the CID

Answer 24

• Use of the CID (comfortable interpersonal distance) paradigm
• A circle was presented on the screen and were told to imagine that they were at the centre of the room
• One of the conditions was then introduced for 3 seconds
• their name was on the screen for a second followed by a fixation point of 0.5 seconds
• at one of the 8 entrances, a figure appeared
• The participants were told when to indicate when the persona approaching should stop along the radius on the screen by pressing the space bar
• each protagonist would appear 3 times from the 8 entrances available
• this would be in total 96 trials

Question 25

How many trials in total were done in Exp 1

Answer 25

96 trials

Question 26

What was the DV in Exp 1

Answer 26

-The preferred distance measured between participants and an approaching person/ball
-the percentage score was collected for the remaining distance measured by the CID

Question 27

describe the procedures done in Experiment 2 The “Choosing rooms task”

Answer 27

-Participants were told that they Will be in a room where they will talk about intimate topics
-They were shown rooms on a computer screen and were told to chose which they’d like the conversation to happen in’
- each participant was shown 84 pairs each repeated twice
- the 2 picture sets were shown for 2 seconds
-The stimuli in the experiment was distance between chairs and angles of the chairs

Question 28

What was the DV of Exp 2

Answer 28

The preferred distance and angle between two chairs in a room.

Question 29

what is a differential effect

Answer 29

This is when one or more individuals experience a difference in outcome when exposed to the same stimuli

Question 30

list 3 findings found in Experiment 1

Answer 30

-The administration of OT showed differential effects on high and low empathisers with high empathisers having a closer distance compared to low empathisers
-There was a big difference in friend vs authority in both the placebo and OT conditions ( 12% VS 34%)
-There was also a big difference in ball vs stranger (20% VS 39.8%)

Question 31

list the finding found in Experiment 2

Answer 31

-The administration of OT on high empathisers showed a closer preferred distance with the two chairs compared to those who were low empathisers and had the opposite effects.

Question 32

Give 2 conclusions found in the study

Answer 32

-The administration of OT enhances social cues in OPPOSITE ways for those with different empathetic levels which supports the idea of social salience
-The study confirmed that individuals preferred a closer distance between friends than it did with a stranger
-The distance preferences in the CID are determined by the degree of perceived threat from each protagonist

Question 33

what is 1 weakness that the study had

Answer 33

It lacked ecological validity- mundane realism. Personal space between people could depend on complex cues such as tone, gestures etc

Question 34

List 3 strengths of the study

Answer 34

• Counterbalancing improved the internal validity of the study
• Highly standardised and controls i.e used the same CID paradigm for all participnts
• The double blind technique reduced researcher bias and demand characteristics
• quantitative data

Question 35

How was the study ethically strong

Answer 35

> gave Informed consent
Were deceived however was less likely to cause any psychological harm
No side effects from the solutions given
Participants were debriefed

Question 36

List some situational factors that could affect personal space

Answer 36

-culture
-the type of relationship
-social cues in the situation & environment
-Gender and age

Question 37

List some individualistic factors that could affect personal space

Answer 37

-The nature of the relationship
-The empathy levels
-the individuals characteristics

Question 38

How can this study be applicable/ Useful

Answer 38

• The study showed the effect of administering OT. With those who have social difficulties, administering OT may not have a positive outcome as seen by the results, those with low empathy on OT showed a greater personal distance compared to the placebo.
• social distance applied in jobs
• teaching boundaries between teachers and students

Question 39

Examples of controls in the study

Answer 39

• all waited the same 45 mins
• used counterbalancing
• they used double blind technique
• fixation point of 0.5 seconds was for attention
• same CID used
• use of IRI

Question 40

What was the control condition in experiment 2

Answer 40

“preferred distance between table and plants” (200-320cm)