Psychological research is governed by a strict code of ethics covering things like obtaining participants’ consent; protecting them from possible harm and allowing them to withdraw from the research. But there are some “participants” who can’t give consent, may be harmed and…
This haunting film provides a brilliant summary of one of the most infamous experiments ever conducted in psychology, looking at its origins, methods, quite extraordinary findings and its lasting impact on psychiatry.
This film illustrates both the importance and limitations of reductionism in psychological explanation using the example of research into diet and obesity. It compares reductionism and holism and cautions students against simply using reductionism as a critique to be compared unfavourably with holism.
Psychologists have told us a lot about human behaviour, but can we trust the findings? This film looks at the part played by reliability and validity in helping to answer this question. Reliability and external and internal validity are explained and the key tests of face, concurrent and ecological…
This film explores an interactionist approach to obesity: Part 1: shows how cultural and environmental changes have altered our relationship with food and created an ‘obesogenic environment’. But why isn’t everyone obese? …
Sampling is crucial in psychology but can be difficult to understand. This film offers a helping hand with a series of visual images that take students through target population, samples, representativeness and generalisability. It then looks at how sampling is done, illustrating differences between…
Self Report methods gather data directly from the participants. Here, we illustrate and compare questionnaire and interview methods, then look at some of the problems and limitations common to all self report methods and show how they may be avoided or overcome.
While ethics is about the conduct of research, socially sensitive research is about the consequences. Might it harm some individuals or groups? Using the example of recent research into genetics and education, this film illustrates the questions typically asked about socially sensitive research…
Is the brain more malleable than we thought? Recent developments in brain scanning have shown how environmental factors affect brain development and have called into question the usefulness of the age-old nature vs. nurture debate. This film uses evidence from recent research into deprivation,…
Everything we do, think, and feel comes from our brain. This new series of short films, with neuroscience expert Dr Guy Sutton, has been designed to make the complexities of the human brain as accessible as possible to students. The first film begins by looking at the structure and function of…
Neuroimaging is re-writing our map of the brain. The second film in the series looks at how our knowledge and understanding of the brain was revolutionised towards the end of the 20th Century by developments in neuroimaging, such as CT, PET, MRI, fMRI and DTI scanning. The film then explores some…
The ERA was the first study to follow a cohort of children who had suffered periods of institutional deprivation through into adult life. To their surprise, researchers found that problems experienced by many of the Romanian adoptees were neurodevelopmental, suggesting that deprivation had affected…
