9.1 Introduction
Early in 1909, educational psychologist and geneticist, Cyril Burt, worked at Liverpool University. He claimed to be able to measure the speed of thought of a child with a chronoscope, to an accuracy of two hundredths of a second. The research that he started in Liverpool would go on to define his life's work in the study of the inheritability of intelligence. It would earn him a knighthood in 1946, for contributions to psychological testing and promoting educational opportunities. Shortly after his death in 1971, his research branded him as one of the most notorious fraudsters in the history of experimental psychology. This became known as 'The Burt Affair'.
Cyril Burt remains a controversial figure in the annals of educational psychology. But his contribution to the establishment of experimental research in this field cannot be diminished. He was the forerunner of a proud tradition of research and development over the last one hundred and fifty years, which has enabled us to have a clearer understanding of the human psyche in the 21st century. However, many questions remain unanswered. In this module, we will look at some of the tools and techniques used by educational psychologists, in order to explore the vast field of human learning. How do we learn? Is intelligence - however we may understand it - innate or acquired? What is intelligence? How do we measure intelligence?
The Early Years In 1913, Burt took up the position of School Psychologist to the London County Council (LCC). Even in those early years, there was recognition that this scarce and valuable resource had to be shared amongst many. Even today, not much has changed, and county councils remain a primary source of employment for educational psychologists. In 1924, Burt was appointed as Professor of Educational Psychology at the London Day Training College (LDTC). In 1927, the London Child Guidance Clinic opened in Islington and was a centre fortraining.
The LDTC was incorporated within the University of London in 1932, as the Institute of Education, and included a Department of Child Development. That same year, Burt was appointed as Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology at University College, London, a post which he held until 1950. During this time, he continued researching and teaching, mainly in the field of behaviour genetics. It was mostly this research on the inheritance of intelligence using twin studies that caused the later controversy referred to above. His statistical analysis of the data relating to the intelligence scores of monozygotic (identical) twins who had been reared apart was said to be falsified. There is still no clear evidence that he did contrive the results of his later studies, and the Burt Affair perhaps did more to harm the reputation of the experimental psychology community than it did to damage Burt's personal reputation. However, it also highlighted the status of experimental psychology as a science, something that would continue to be debated to the present day.
9.2 Is Psychology a Science?
Is the practice of psychology an art or a science? Should the Department of Psychology be located in the Arts Faculty or the Science Faculty of any university campus? If it is to be classified as a science, what makes it so? The answer is complicated, due to the fact that both science and psychology are complex constructs. What makes a science so that it follows a methodology or set of procedures, arising out of a hypothesis, which is rigorously tested to see whether there is evidence in the real world, in order to support or verify the hypothesis?
The testing methodology itself varies, depending on the hypothesis and the subject matter, and can range from simple or naturalistic observation, to highly complex laboratory-based experiments, with experimental and control groups, double-blind and test-retest set-ups, placebos, structured interviews, and more. Psychology is often labelled a 'soft science', as averse to the 'hard' or pure sciences, such as physics and chemistry, partly due to the nature of psychology's subject matter: human behaviour. In the world of B F Skinner's behaviourism, the only relevant object of study is observable behaviour.
Internal processes can only be
assumed from what can be seen and observed. By contrast, the psychoanalytic
school of thought pioneered by Sigmund Freud assumed all sorts of internal
conflicts, which were said to guide or control our behaviour. He behaved that
the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego and the
superego. The scientific community is drawn to certain aspects behaviourism:
strictly controlled laboratory- based studies, with experimental backing
producing empirical evidence. However, it fails to impress many others because
much of the research conducted in support of the theoretical constructs of
behaviourism was carried out using laboratory rats and pigeons. Can human
behaviour be extrapolated from the stimulus-response reactions of a lab rat?
It is often argued that psychology is not a science, for the very reason that there is no unifying theory of knowledge that unites the subject field and upon which all psychologists can agree. It is plain to see that, throughout the history of psychology, there have been competing theories, which attempt to explain human behaviour, often, rather small and insignificant aspects of humanb ehaviour. For instance In some circles, Freud was criticised for developing his theories based on his observations of neurotic Viennese women.
Herzberg's two factor theory of workplace motivation was said to have been developed from interviews with a limited sample of knowledge workers: managers, accountants and engineers. Clearly, such limited sampling techniques do not adequately represent the total population of humans, and this is frequently a problem with psychological studies. Humanity is so diverse in its cultures, languages, customs and traditions that it is nearly impossible to test a representative sample of people. However, such universality may not be necessary, if the resultant theory adequately explains an aspect of human behaviour that it purports to measure. We will touch on this, when we look at one of the psychologist's most useful tools: statistical analysis. However, it also points to the necessity of ensuring that any psychological test is both valid (it measures what it is supposed to measure) and reliable (it produces the same results over time).
Many tests can be seen to have a built-in bias towards the population amongst which they were developed. For example A Hispanic child raised in Ohio may not perform as well on an IQ test, simply because the cultural and language references in the test are unfamiliar to them. It does not mean that they are unintelligent. Science relies on the systematic collection of data (information) and the coherent analysis of that data, usually using statistical methods. The development of applied statistical analysis techniques in the human sciences has added considerably to the credibility of those human sciences - such as psychology and sociology - as bone fide sciences. Thus, any self-respecting undergraduate course in any field of psychology will include a course in research methodology and statistical methods. 9.3 Research Methodology If anything defines the field of psychology as a science, it is its reliance of the principles of scientific research methodology.
Research methodology is the primary tool used by psychologists, in order to gather information, analyse it and draw conclusions. All psychological tests are established based on 'norms'. People taking a test are measured in comparison to these norms, which have been established by subjecting hundreds, if not thousands, of subjects (people) to the questions or situations in the test. Their responses are then collated (gathered and compared), in order to obtain a distribution of scores, known as the normal distribution curve.
As we will see from the normal distribution curve below, there are degrees of 'normality', and these deviations from the norm are fundamental to the study and understanding of human behaviour. An important division of psychology is the study and practice of abnormal psychology, which is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behaviour, emotion and thought. Normal Distribution Curve.The normal distribution curve is an important concept in the human sciences for another reason: it supposes that there is such a thing as 'normal' or accepted human behaviour. People who deviate from this norm are, at best, labelled 'eccentric', and, at worst, diagnosed with a mental disorder.
9.4 Should we be Measuring IQ?
The measurement of intelligence
has a long history in educational psychology, and it may be useful to explain
it as an example of the application of the normal distribution curve. It was
first developed by Alfred Binet, whose name is still associated with a number
of intelligence tests. He distinguished mental age (MA) from chronological age
(CA), as a starting point, on the assumption that, as a child grew older (CA),
they were capable of doing more complex tasks more quickly (MA). Binet's test
was adapted for an American audience at Stanford University, becoming the
well-known Stanford-Binet test, and adopting the term 'intelligence quotient'
(IQ), to reflect the relationship
between mental age and chronological age, multiplied by 100.
For example
A 10-year-old, with a mental age
measured by the test as 10 years old, has an IQ of 100, which is average. A
10-year-old, with the mental age of 14, will have an IQ of 140. In a normal
distribution, about 50% of all 10-year-olds will have an IQ of between 90 and
110. Only 0.5% will have an IQ above 140. Such a child would be labelled
'extremely gifted', while those measuring below 70 on the scale - 2.5% of the
population - would be labelled 'mentally deficient'.
The value and ethics of
such labels is increasingly questioned, and even the concept of IQ and
itsmeasurement has been brought into question because of the issues we
previously discussed in relation to cultural, environmental and language bias.
It is clear to even the most casual observer that IQ and intelligence is not
the same thing. Firstly, an IQ test measures different but only limited aspects
of a person's intelligence, such as verbal, mathematical and spatial
recognition ability. It does not measure the popular concepts of creativity or
emotional intelligence (EQ). These days, EQ is regarded by many recruiters as
more important than IQ. However, again, there is the question: how are we to
measure it?
9.5 Two Case Studies Illustrating some of the Difficulties of Psychological Experimentation
The Hawthorne Effect: a Study in Industrial Psychology
In a famous study conducted at
the Western Electric Company in Hawthorne, Illinois in 1939, the investigators
sought to establish the effect of varying certain physical factors in the
workplace, such as lighting and length of breaks, on worker productivity. In
line with good experimental practice, the plant was divided into experimental
and control groups. Over a period of time, the level of illumination was
increased and decreased for the target group, and changes in productivity were
measured. The control group experienced no changes. The findings were puzzling.
Not only did productivity increase when the illumination was changed in both
directions - at one point employees were toiling away in what can only be
described as dim moonlight - but productivity also increased in the control
group, who had experienced no change in their working environment at all. The
investigators determined that the positive changes in productivity had been as
a result of the attention that the company's management was perceived to be
paying to the workforce. Someone was trying to improve their working
conditions; therefore, they worked harder. One of the lessons arising out of
this study is that there are many more variables at play than we can possibly
control and these uncontrolled variables may influence the outcome of what we
are trying to study or prove.
Pygmalion in the Classroom
In another landmark study, to
demonstrate the effect of teacher expectations on student performance, pupils
in Grade 1 and 2 were tested using a disguised IQ test. Their teachers were
told the names of those pupils who were said to be 'intellectual bloomers',
meaning that they could be expected to be bright, high-potential students. At
the end of the study, the same IQ test was administered, and those pupil
identified as 'intellectual bloomers' showed a significantly increased IQ
score, compared to the other students. It was concluded that the way in which
the teacher interacted with these pupils became a self- fulfilling prophesy,
and the change in pupil performance was due to teacher expectations. Its basic
conclusions were: When teachers expect students to do well and show
intellectual growth, they do so; when teachers do not have such expectations,
performance and growth are not so encouraged and may, in fact, be discouraged
in a variety of ways. The study has been criticised as 'worthless', due to the
sloppy administration of the tests. Nevertheless, the outcome was a forceful
reminder to the teaching profession that their presence in the classroom has a
significant effect, both positive and negative, on all pupils.
9.6 Statistics: A Powerful Tool
Although there is doubt regarding
its authenticity, former British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, was said to
have remarked, 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and
statistics.' Be that as it may, the application of statistical methods to the
behavioural sciences has provided some of the necessary credibility required,
in order to support experimental findings. What are statistics - apart from a
bunch of numbers - and how does an educational psychologist use them? Firstly,
the investigator will identify the population - for example, all pupils in
their final year in high school in a particular region - from which they will
draw a representative sample for the purposes of the study. The more clearly
the parameters of the study are defined, the more likely it will be that the
inferences drawn from the study will be useful.
For example
Does the investigator wish to control or eliminate certain variables, such as age, gender or ethnic grouping? All of these factors will go into the sampling technique. On the basis of a theory, hypotheses (predictions) can be deduced, which will form the basis of the sample selection and the design of the experiment. An example of a hypothesis might be:
The proportion of women aged 18-25 favouring stricter censorship would be less than the corresponding proportion of women aged 35-50. A sample of such women is then randomly selected and a questionnaire administered to them, todetermine whether or not this hypothetical statement is true. The outcome is then extrapolated (extended) to the population as a whole. An important element of research design is the identification of dependent and independent variables and their possible interdependence.
For instance The question of whether or not there is a relationship between intelligence and creativity is a problem, which could be investigated in a study of interdependent variables. In the classic experiment conducted by Ivan Pavlov with the dogs, the independent variables were the ringing of the bell, which had become associated with the provision of food. The dependent variable was the dog's salivation. The salivation is also known as a conditioned response. Measurement is another crucial statistical concept. The measurement of most variables that the social scientist has to deal with is not so straightforward.
For example
They will distinguish between discrete and continuous variables, nominal and ordinal measurement and interval and ratio measurement. The type of measurement selected will be built into the appropriate experimental design. For example The measurement of intelligence, achievement motivation and anxiety cannot be assessed, simply by asking the subject how intelligent or motivated or anxious they feel. Therefore, psychologists spend much of their time devising ever more sophisticated and accurate forms of psychological measuring instruments.
9.7 Bias in Psychological Research
We have mentioned some of the limitations of psychological testing in relation to the drafting of such tests using a particular population sample. It is sometimes said that psychological measuring instruments are devised and applied by middle- class white (mostly American) men for a middle-class white (mostly American) population. It is hard to refute such accusations - there is little doubt that many tests are inherently biased. The same can probably be said for personality testing. After all, who defines 'the norm'? There are potentially many different types of method bias that can creep in. Some of the more common forms of bias are ae follows.
Design bias
Design bias is the way in which the experiment itself is contrived and conducted may not suit the purposes for which it is conducted. Selection/sampling bias Sample selected for research purposes must be done so randomly from the defined population. Excluding a certain segment of the population from the sample selection process is an example of sampling error or bias.
Procedural bias
When something goes wrong with the way in which the experiment is being conducted, for example, subjects are forced to complete a questionnaire in a hurry.
Measurement bias
The investigator skews or favours the data towards a particular outcome.
Interviewer bias
The interviewer encourages a particular response, through the phrasing or structure of the question(s). Similarly, the interviewer's interpretation can affect the response.
Response bias
Some of the survey respondents
may anticipate what the researcher is looking for and tailor their responses
accordingly. This is a response bias. There is also a non-response bias,
whereby the people responding to a survey (such as, an online questionnaire on
lifestyle habits) differ from those who do not respond. Is there a particular
'type', who typically respond to these kind of random surveys? The latter is
also referred to as a 'self-selection' bias.
Reporting bias
Reporting bias refers to the
subject of an experiment, selectively recalling or reporting information or
omitting some evidence, (such as, under-reporting their alcohol consumption or
whether they smoke). It also commonly refers to the author of empirical
research omitting or under-reporting
findings that were unexpected or not in support of the hypothesis. In extreme
cases, the unexpected findings may be withheld from publication altogether.
Psychological Testing Tools
We have already mentioned the wide availability and application of IQ testing tools and some of the more recent concerns with using these tools. One way of addressing these concerns is to categorise these tests and lay down legally enforceable guidelines as to who is qualified and trained to administer them.
Activity 1: Experimental ethics
Estimated time: 15 minutes
As an undergraduate project in third-year psychology, a student devised and administered a 'personality assessment', loosely based on the 16 Personality Factor Test, to a sample of twentyfriends and acquaintances. The hypothesis was that recipients of feedback following a psychological test would tend to believe what they were told. The subjects of the experiment were given varying degrees of feedback, following their 'personality assessment', ranging from vague statements of probability, for example, 'Sometimes you wake up feeling as though you don't want to get out of bed.', to emphatic statements of fact, for example, 'You always follow a strict routine in your daily habits.'
The hypothesis suggested that, the more emphatic the statements, the less likely they were to be accepted by the subjects. The results were startling. The majority of subjects accepted the assessment's judgements unconditionally and without question. Subjects were then debriefed by the investigator that the 'personality assessment' and its feedback had been made up and bore no relation to the subjects' actual personality. Comment on the ethics and validity of this experiment.
Feedback and Advice
The experiment is invalid because the sample was not randomly selected - 'a sample of twenty friends and acquaintances' is not random sampling. The subjects were deceived as to the purpose of the experiment and were given false feedback on what was supposedly a personality assessment. This is unethical. Then they were told in the debriefing that they had been deceived - this too is unethical and casts a bad light on psychological testing and experimentation.
Psychological tests
There are literally hundreds of psychological tests available to psychologists, including self-report inventories.
For example
A biographical data questionnaire
Objectively-scored inventories, for example, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory or MMPI
Projective tests, for example, the Rorschach Inkblot Test
These are usually categorised into the following groups:
Intelligence tests: a wide range
of IQ tests are available, some of which have been discussed above Cognitive
development tests: for example, problem-solving, reasoning, creative thinking, cognitive
learning, social and moral learning and memory Personality tests: tests of
feelings (sensory feelings, emotions and moods), instincts, drives and needs
Skills assessment or aptitude tests: perceptual motor/sensorimotor skills,
interest questionnaires, vocational testing
Language tests: language development and learning disabilities
The ethical issues surrounding psychological testing focus on whether the subject of the test has given informed consent to be tested. Have they given their permission to be tested? Do they know why they are being tested? What form will the test take? What will the probable outcome be? In the case of a child, this consent needs to come from a parent. Maintaining the confidentiality of the results of the testing is another ethical issue. Who has access to this information, and for what purposes? Dealing effectively with these issues is part of maintaining psychology's reputation as a legitimate science.
There are also legal issues, when it comes to using tests, for example, for the purposes of recruitment and selection. Tests must be proven not to discriminate unfairly between groups of people, be it on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, lifestyle or disability. Such groups must be accommodated by the test, without giving them an unfair advantage. Given the increasingly heavy reliance by recruiters on psychometric tests, to 'weed out' supposedly unsuitable applicants for a job, it is important that the psychology profession ensures that these rights are protected.
Fact
About 80% of Fortune 500 companies in the US and 75% of UK Times 100 companies use psychometric tests, as an employment screening mechanism, or to assess an employee for promotion.
Source: graduatemonkey.com
Psychotherapy
The practice of psychotherapy is how most people see the work of the psychologist. One of the issues surrounding psychology's reputation and status as a science centres on the evidence that there are nearly as many different psychotherapies as there are practitioners. The basis of these therapies ranges from the long-established Freudian psychoanalysis to the more recent but also well- established behaviourist school of thought. There are also a host of other more esoteric therapies, such as those that are based on the humanistic-existential view of the world and its people, and other therapies that are more bizarre, such as Primal Scream therapy.
All treatment therapies claim varying degrees of success - otherwise they would not continue to exist - which can be explained in terms of a more or less coherent theoretical framework.
For example
Any self-respecting textbook on the treatment of neurosis will list the possibility of at least five different therapeutic treatments. With the help of a testing regime (psychodiagnosis), the experienced psychologist will be able to assess which of these therapies is likely to be most effective. This may just be one particular therapy, but it is more likely that a combination of various therapies is used, in order to suit the particular stage of development of the problem.
Fact
According to an article in the Independent (8th July 2014), 28% of people in the UK have sought help from a psychotherapist or counsellor. Most are women, aged between 35 and 44, and most are seeking treatment for anxiety and depression.
Source: independent.co.uk
Advice and Feedback
For the most part, Freud's psychoanalytic approach seeks to expose the unconscious motives of subjects, in order to assist with cure neurosis. He proposed three fundamental structures of the mind: the id, the ego and the superego, which are in conflict. The goal of psychoanalysis is to bring the repressed unconscious into the consciousness, in order to understand and confront the causes of neurotic behaviour. Skinner's behaviourism puts forward the idea that all behaviour is as a result of the consequences of that behaviour. Through the system of reward and punishment, rewarded behaviour is likely to be repeated, and punished behaviour will be 'extinguished'. He called this 'operant conditioning'. The theory gives no credence to unconscious processes in the 'mind'.
Activity 2: Freud and Skinner
Estimated time: 15 minutes
Freudian psychoanalysis is sometimes contrasted with Skinner's behaviourism as being on the opposite end of the therapeutic (and theoretical) spectrum. Compare and contrast the two approaches.
Module Summary
Educational psychologists usually form part of a multidisciplinary team attached to a local council. In some cases, they perform a specialised function in a clinic, school, hospital or private practice. Their training and experience equips them to apply a range of psychometric tests, in order to diagnose educational and developmental problems, including learning disabilities and emotional and psychological issues in the child and adolescent. Educational psychologists are also trained to choose and apply an effective form of treatment from the range of therapies available. This module discussed the status of psychology as a science and the implications that this may have for the practice and reputation of psychology in general, for its practitioners and for the work that they do.
How psychologists gather information, interpret their data statistically and use their research findings, in order to formulate theories of human behaviour, was also discussed under research methodology. We looked at how bias may creep in to research findings. A discussion of the testing and therapeutic resources available to psychologists and the different types of tests and some of their applications formed the core of this module. Some of the ethical and legal issues surrounding test application and interpretation are an important focus of the educational psychologist's work.
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