Prosocial behaviour is voluntary behaviour intended to benefit another person. Some research suggests that individuals with higher perspective-taking skills are more likely to behave cooperatively in social groups. A psychologist wanted to investigate this relationship using a sample of 32 undergraduate history students from a local university.
In the first part of the study, the psychologist administered a standardized psychometric scale to measure perspective-taking. The maximum possible score was 50. She found that the lowest perspective-taking score in her sample was 15, and the highest was 48.
In the second part of the study, each participant took part in an online cooperative decision-making simulation consisting of 40 trials. In each trial, the participant had to choose whether to share resources with a virtual partner (cooperative choice) or keep them. The computer recorded the total number of cooperative choices made by each participant, which ranged from 8 to 38.
Identify an appropriate sampling technique for this study and justify your choice.
Practise AQA A Level Psychology Scientific processes with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 689 questions, matched to the AQA A Level Psychology (7182) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.
