In “Distortions of mind perception in psychopathology,” Gray, Jenkins, Heberlein and Wegner investigated the effects of psychopathology on social perception. Rather than compartmentalizing different disorders, as is often done when studying psychopathological conditions, this study wanted to consider these disorders differently, but not independently. Therefore, the researchers decided that a 2-dimensional model of mind perception was an effective way to compare and contrast the effect of these disorders on the perception of others. This 2-D model measured perception on two different dimensions: experience (the capability of experiencing fear, hunger, etc.) and agency (the ability for self-control, planning, memory). Using this model, subjects
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To find participants, they recruited university students from college campuses. In surveying this particular group, the issue of generalizing results from WEIRD participants to other populations arises. As we learned in Dr. Cheung’s class, this privileged demographic represents only about 12% of the world’s population, therefore limiting the potential for external validity, as it is a non-representative sample. In discussing the recruitment of participants, this also calls into question their other method of recruiting test subjects: online advertisements. This recruitment led to sampling bias, in which some members of the intended population have a lower chance of being included than others. In this case, the recruitment process limits itself to those who can afford a computer and Internet connection. This implicates socioeconomic status, an extraneous variable that was not controlled for in the study. As far as the design of the study, it was a correlational survey. This leads to issues of internal validity, as correlation is not causation, and an at-home computer survey cannot control for extraneous variables. Lastly, on the topic of correlation, the correlations found, while significant, were fairly small, and should be replicated in another study to test their …show more content…
Doing cross-cultural studies would give insight into whether these patterns are universal or only specific to certain societies. For example, how would the importance of religion or spirituality in a certain country affect perception of experience in non-human entities? Also, diversity in the disorders studied would help us extend results to other areas. The 2-D perception model could be used on subjects with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or ODD, which also affects interpersonal relationships. This disorder is characterized by a strong defiance to orders and authority figures. I would predict that subjects scoring high on an ODD scale would be less likely to perceive agency in adult humans, which would explain why they go against their rules and requests. Extending the results of this study through exploring different cultures or disorders would allow the results of this study to be generalized to more populations and have more practical uses through etiology and
To find participants, they recruited university students from college campuses. In surveying this particular group, the issue of generalizing results from WEIRD participants to other populations arises. As we learned in Dr. Cheung’s class, this privileged demographic represents only about 12% of the world’s population, therefore limiting the potential for external validity, as it is a non-representative sample. In discussing the recruitment of participants, this also calls into question their other method of recruiting test subjects: online advertisements. This recruitment led to sampling bias, in which some members of the intended population have a lower chance of being included than others. In this case, the recruitment process limits itself to those who can afford a computer and Internet connection. This implicates socioeconomic status, an extraneous variable that was not controlled for in the study. As far as the design of the study, it was a correlational survey. This leads to issues of internal validity, as correlation is not causation, and an at-home computer survey cannot control for extraneous variables. Lastly, on the topic of correlation, the correlations found, while significant, were fairly small, and should be replicated in another study to test their …show more content…
Doing cross-cultural studies would give insight into whether these patterns are universal or only specific to certain societies. For example, how would the importance of religion or spirituality in a certain country affect perception of experience in non-human entities? Also, diversity in the disorders studied would help us extend results to other areas. The 2-D perception model could be used on subjects with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, or ODD, which also affects interpersonal relationships. This disorder is characterized by a strong defiance to orders and authority figures. I would predict that subjects scoring high on an ODD scale would be less likely to perceive agency in adult humans, which would explain why they go against their rules and requests. Extending the results of this study through exploring different cultures or disorders would allow the results of this study to be generalized to more populations and have more practical uses through etiology and